I’m often asked how our global clients create best-in-class customer experiences for their passengers and, from working with them, Aer Lingus is a great example of a travel brand that is getting it right. As the first and only Irish carrier to receive a 4-Star rating from Skytrax, the world’s leading airline and airport rating organization, they really understand that customer expectations have changed, and they’ve made a commitment to rise to these demands. Ireland’s national airline doesn’t just talk about making changes to customer interactions; they invest in the technology to make every moment count through personalized experiences.

So, if you’re looking to create standout customer experiences, here are a few things you can learn from Aer Lingus:

• Define a Clear Strategy – First, decide what you’re trying to achieve by improving customer experience: more ancillary sales, brand loyalty, something else? Aer Lingus created a clear roadmap and committed to adding the people and technology necessary to deliver world-class customer experiences. The airline has placed customer experience at the heart of its business and this was echoed in the latest Irish Customer Experience Report, issued in October 2017, where Aer Lingus won a CXI Excellence Award within the travel sector.
• Understand Your Personalization Journey – Explore your personalization journey to date and determine where you are and how you can get even closer to true 1:1 personalization.
• Establish an A-Team – It’s important to not only hire the best-in-class airline professionals but also to ensure you have the right skills set to support your personalization strategy. This includes digital marketing engineers, integration engineers and data scientists who can influence the personalization strategy through meaningful insights.
• Make the Inflight Experience Unforgettable – From Business Class lie-flat beds to onboard Wi-Fi to the best of modern Irish cuisine, Aer Lingus is serving up a flight to remember. Consider what changes you can make to surprise and delight your customers.
• Revamp Your Service Across All Channels – Having exceptional people is great, but it’s important to extend that level of service across your digital channels as well. To ensure consistency, Aer Lingus is letting data and AI drive smarter engagements with their customers, across all channels. And they’re not the only ones: Forrester research found that investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are tripling this year as businesses work to convert customer data into personalized experiences.
• Partner with the Best – Before adopting any new technology, research and consult with leading experts within the airline industry to ensure your technology can go the distance. Aer Lingus recognized Boxever as a partner that met its personalization needs: a 360 view of its customers’ data – including historical, behavioral and purchasing insights – and the ability to anticipate the needs of its guests to create personalized engagement across all channels.
• Monitor for Success – The foolproof way to ensure success is to measure it in numbers. It’s important to establish a baseline to track the impact of the personalization strategy. Once baseline data has been collected, comparisons can be made at multiple points so that adjustments can be made along the way to ensure success.

What does ‘personalized’ actually mean to Aer Lingus? It’s simple: it’s about putting the customer first to better anticipate and act on their needs.

Want to know how to bring your customer Personalization to the next level, contact us or schedule a demo.

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