The Importance of Communication in Customer Service

Communication plays a very important role towards the development of any organization. Through communication; commands and instructions are passed that guide people on the manner they should perform their tasks. For that reason, it is important for companies to ensure that communication within the company is enhanced in order to easily share professional and urgent information among the employees and the management. This paper will be looking into the case if American Airlines to establish how well the company has enhanced their communication and how effective their modes of communication are. This section will also highlight the roles of communication in customer service.

Social media is one of the most powerful tools in communication that has created a platform for many companies to reach out to their clients and customers. American Airlines has also seized the opportunity that social media has presented. Through various accounts in platforms like Facebook and twitter, American Airlines has managed to reach a wider customer base that they would have otherwise not reached (O'Rourke, 2014). There are millions of people who use social media on a daily basis hence if American Airlines was only able to target the right people, they would convert a portion of people on social media to be their customers. Nevertheless, social media has helped the company to market its brand to people who did not know it. American Airlines has been on the frontline of technology when it comes to communication (O'Rourke, 2014). They have developed new devices and apps for their staff that enable them to communicate easily and efficiently. The devices also contain the data of customers on board. The employees are encouraged by the management to scan the data and identify passengers with birthdays so that they can reward them. Through the devices, the employees are able to ask questions and get rapid answers which have helped the company to improve its operations.

Communication is the bottom line of any operation. Without communication, people cannot express their satisfaction or their aggression. Communication helps to collect the opinions of customers regarding a certain service. The data collected is later used to improve the relation between the employees and the customers (Baskas, 2015). The manner in which employees communicate with customers also determine the level of satisfaction that the client gets. It is therefore important to employ professional skills in communication in order to improve the satisfaction of customers.

For quite a length time, American Airlines had used informal methods of leadership until 2007 when there was need for professional leadership. Since then, the company has had effective leadership strategies that have enabled the company not only to thrive but also to expand. American Airlines employed both authoritative and pace setting strategies of leadership that have propelled the success of the Airline (Systems, 2015). These strategies enforced high engagement which in return bore dramatic success that continues to date. The main challenges that the leaders at American Airlines are facing are competition and lack of adequate skillful staff. The leaders have to ensure that the company remains competitive hence they have to come up with a workforce that is result oriented (Taneja & Echo, 2016). Competition from other Airlines has also challenge leaders at American Airline to come up with unique strategies of operation. Being one of the largest Airlines in the world, American Airlines has invested in Cross-cultural awareness where both leadership and subordinate positions have been distributed among different ethnicities. The company further ensures that the leaders are equipped with transformational skills through various assessment programs.