Masters of the Game

Building on the success of the first Best Get Better, AA invited us back to further hone their customer service skills. One problem was the tendency of different silos of the business to blame each other when something went wrong. "Who dropped the ball?" We needed to change the focus from blame to communication and accountability. We needed to help them increase communication cross-functionally.

We developed a candid-camera approach (similar to the hidden-camera technique used in the first Best Get Better). This time we paired actors with AA employees in unscripted situations. We captured the real emotions behind the behavior. We also taped a ‘story’ of one wily customer working the system from all angles. It was an eye-opener for people in baggage to see what people in reservations were dealing with, and for people in reservations to see what happens at the gate. Emotions in the training room ran high as people struggled to sort out the problems they had due to lack of clear communication, but this training received the highest marks for believability and relevance to the job.