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Carpal Tunnel
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when I refer to a stewardess as a stewardess rather than a "flight attendant."
It doesn't bother you that "flight attendant" describes the job better than does "stewardess"?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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It doesn't bother you that "flight attendant" describes the job better than does "stewardess"?
Does it really? What do you think that they mostly do?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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> describes the job better hey, don't go and confuse a perfectly good set of prejudices with boring old facts!  Some customer service facts from a report I am just drafting, for the record: Only 4% of dissatisfied customers complain 96% just slip quietly away, and 91% never come back! 68% quit because of an attitude of indifference by contact Unhappy customers tell 8-10 people on average 1 in 5 dissatisfied customers tell 20 other people about their bad experience what a powerful advert! 70% complainers can be won round, rising to
95% if settled on the spot A resolved dispute creates a more committed customer Low service companies typically lose 2% market share High service companies typically gain 6% market share Retention @ 90% = customer life of 10 years on average Retention @ 95% = customer life of 20 years on average! High retention = Good word of mouth recommendation
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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having been one of these front end 'people'--it depressing to find, companies pay lip service to front end /first contact employees--they are charged with a lot of responsibilty, but are often (USUALLY) the worst compensated employees in the company.
They are held responsible for customer satisfaction --but when its there, and there is customer loyalty, its the managment, not the actual customer service provider that reaps the monitary rewards!
the janitorial staff is more likely to be organized into a union than the 'sales clerks' and get more a higher compensation-- the less contact an employee has with actual customer, the more they get paid...
so providing 'customer service' is valued (by lip service), but customer avoidence is rewarded by money.. hmm.. interesting.
-------------------------------------------------------
my own personal story about customer dissatisfaction:
i am (or have been) a dissatified customer (of Macy's department store)--30 years ago, when i had a toddler and infant, (in tow!) i walked (because there was no good public transportation to) almost 2 miles to 'local' Macy's store to make a purchase --i had a newpaper ad, featuring the item i wanted, and the ad noted the item was not avail at every Macy's store, (BUT was available in the local one)
so off i went.
when i got to the store, i looked, couldn't find the item, or any sales help. so waited on a long slow line (there was no help on the floor but at the cash register) asked were to find the item, and was told "We don't stock that." (NEXT)
i walked out angery as all get out.
i didn't shop in macy's (again) for over 20 years.
i have a large range of stores (NYC is a bit of shopping mecca) i had a choice--i exersized my choice. with 2 incomes, 2 kids (and 2 homes purchased during my marriage) i spend a lot of money--clothing, sheet, curtains, furnature, gifts--over the next 20 years. and not one dime went to macy's. i still don't shop at macy's..mostly now out of habit. (i don't know their stores, or stock or layouts, so it more inconvenient to shop there, so i tend to go to stores i am more familiar with...)
one clerk, with a few words, turned me into a lifetime macy's avoider.
once when i told this story, a long time macy's shopper said "she didn't offer to have it shipped to you? they can do that easy enough." --and i realize, if the clerk had followed up, "i sorry the ad stated we stocked the item, but i can order for you, and have it shipped to your home, would you like that?" i would have jumped at the chance. i ended up buying the item mail order anyway.. and i would have thought, "what a nice idea". certainly it wasn't an idea i thought of. (my parents were poor,and never would have paid the extra cost for shipping.. but i was middle class (econamically) enough that the small extra charge wouldn't have mattered.
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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"flight attendant" describes the job better than does "stewardess"
Without doing the research (I gotta leave for court in a few minutes), I suspect that stewardess was derived from steward when a whole set of nautical terms were imported into the airline industry. If I am correct, and if one understands the role of a steward on an ocean liner, then the term stewardess is a perfect job description.
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Carpal Tunnel
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re: I suspect that stewardess was derived from steward when a whole set of nautical terms were imported into the airline industry. If I am correct, and if one understands the role of a steward on an ocean liner,
then the term stewardess is a perfect job description.
[rant]
why wouldn't steward still be the correct term? OH, yeah, they are women mostly (or were exclusively at first)
and they weren't quite stewards, they were a little less.. (how do we know? cause they got the 'feminized/diminutive ' term--stewardess.
call them stewards. or flight attendants. now that they come in both male and female varieties..
cabin steward is fine term. stewardess, is not.
and lets not forget, the first flight attendents, (on Pam Am for sure, and many other airlines as well) had to be RN's, and to meet specific qualification on height and weight.
now weight was an issue on flights in the past (i remember in the 1960's it was normal to for the ticket/check in clerk to ask your weight, and to weigh all of your luggage, (carry ons as well as stowed bags) and they were very strict about weight limits on luggage.
so, it makes sense to be concerned about flight attendants weight too.
but, there were no heigh or weight requirements on the pilot, co pilot, navigator or engineer (or other 'command' personel.) Hmm. i guess their weight didn't effect the plane/flying the way the flight attendents weight did. or maybe it just wasn't part of their job requirement to be eye candy. It wasn't enough to qualified (ie an RN).
[/rant]
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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<<i guess their weight didn't effect>>
Without disputing the likelihood of sexism, another market consideration was probably at play: the size of the pool of workers with qualifications and the likelihood that persons trained as pilots (by the military) met weight qualifications. Of course, since civilian aviation probably really took off after WWII, when there were many highly qualified female pilots, I might want to shut my mouth. [/coverin all bases]
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Helen, do I have my blinders on, or what? I see stewardess as simply the feminine form of the word, nothing more (or less). As somebody posted on an other thread, different doesn't automatically equal inferior. But how stewards and stewardesses are treated is not something I really know about, so I'll shut up on that, now!
I was fascinated to read your Macy's story; I had a similar experience at Sears. Although I didn't have any difficulty getting to the store, I stood at the cash register holding a--one--pair of socks out, as the lady carried on a phone conversation. It should have been a snap for her to have rung up my single purchase while she talked, but she didn't; and then walked away without a single word to me. And I haven't shopped at Sears for three decades.
It occurred to me later that possibly my lady wasn't a checkout clerk or that maybe that wasn't her register...or something; but she could have TOLD me something. And your lady was likely thinking only of getting rid of the long line; it may never have occurred to her to wonder whether any of the customers might have had a hard time getting there; but she COULD certainly have been more helpful!!
mav, your statistics are correct as far as my experience goes: high customer satisfaction = high customer retention.
And I reckon one good way to give high customer satisfaction would be to have satisfied employees; not ones whose main characteristic is griping about their low wages.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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> not griping about low wages
True. But feeling properly valued, and empowered to take appropriate action in response to the customers you are serving (which also necessitates proper investment in training by the company) all count for just as much, imho.
OK, most of the terms suggested in FS's story don't merit much more than a smile - but yours and oftroy's stories are dramatic (yet entirely typical) examples of what happens when companies don't respect their employees. And the savvy customers quite rightly draw the message that the company therefore does not respect them either...!
So people feeling important in their job is maybe not something to sneer at too lightly. Doesn't mean you are pretending to be a heart surgeon.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I remember hearing that patients (I work in health care) tend to sue for malpractice not when a mistake has been made, but when they feel like the professional doesn't care about the mistake.
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