Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines (LUV) attributes its customer-service success to personality . . . and free peanuts.

In hiring flight attendants, Southwest prizes people skills and even a flair for entertainment over experience, company spokesman Chris Mainz says. "We hire for attitude and train for skill. It all begins with the hiring and providing our employees with a culture where they feel comfortable being themselves."

Flight attendant David Holmes has become a poster boy for Southwest's hiring philosophy. Holmes became an online sensation earlier this year after a video surfaced of him rapping preflight announcements to the apparent delight of customers. Other Southwest flight attendants sing or tell jokes at the beginning of trips to lighten weary travelers' loads, Mainz says.

Southwest has also won fans for its refusal to charge for many of the items that were once freebies throughout the industry. It still allows customers to check two bags without incurring fees and provides complimentary snacks. (Southwest has never provided meals.)



<<<--- PreviousNext --->>> No. 10: Southwest's secret is personality-plus

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines (LUV) attributes its customer-service success to personality . . . and free peanuts.

In hiring flight attendants, Southwest prizes people skills and even a flair for entertainment over experience, company spokesman Chris Mainz says. "We hire for attitude and train for skill. It all begins with the hiring and providing our employees with a culture where they feel comfortable being themselves."

Flight attendant David Holmes has become a poster boy for Southwest's hiring philosophy. Holmes became an online sensation earlier this year after a video surfaced of him rapping preflight announcements to the apparent delight of customers. Other Southwest flight attendants sing or tell jokes at the beginning of trips to lighten weary travelers' loads, Mainz says.

Southwest has also won fans for its refusal to charge for many of the items that were once freebies throughout the industry. It still allows customers to check two bags without incurring fees and provides complimentary snacks. (Southwest has never provided meals.)

Bing: Read more news about Southwest

The company ranks 10th in the 2009 MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Fame, a survey of 145 companies' service by Zogby International. Of respondents who said they'd had an interaction with Southwest's customer service, 36.7% said it was "excellent."

In addition to the personality and peanuts, price is a third factor making Southwest a favorite among customers. The airline offers some flights for less than $50.

Together, the three P's helped propel Southwest to the best-10 list in this year's MSN Money-Zogby International poll.

Continued: Costco keeping workers happy, too

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No. 9: Costco keeps workers happy, too

Costco Wholesale (COST) attributes its customer satisfaction to its employees' compensation. The company pays its 145,000 workers nationwide an average of $19 an hour. That salary is more than 40% higher than the average paid by many Costco competitors, such as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT).

As a result, the employees are happier, stay with the company long enough to build expertise on the sales floor and treat the customers better, says Costco's chief financial officer, Richard Galanti.

"We have a philosophy, in terms of our employees, of providing a living wage and high-quality benefits," he says.

Costco prides itself on not asking its employees to pay more than 10% of their health care costs. When corporate executives realized in 2007 that employees had actually paid 12% of their health care benefits
under a new company plan, Costco returned $8.5 million to employees, Galanti says.


Apple (AAPL) hires geniuses. They may not be the certified Mensa sort, but they are readily available in Apple stores to fix your iPhone, your iPod or your Mac. If they can't fix it, and it's new enough, they'll often hand you a replacement device free, on the spot.

With only about 200 stores worldwide, many folks have never had the benefit of Apple's on-site tech support. But Apple also offers complimentary online and telephone customer support for the first 90 days after any purchase, enabling customers outside major metropolitan areas to get some genius attention.

Apple ranks eighth in the 2009 MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Fame, a survey of 145 companies' service by Zogby International. Of respondents who said they'd had an interaction with Apple's customer service, 39.6% said it was "excellent."


http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Smart...?slide-number=3


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