The leader of Virgin Airlines and international entrepreneur Richard Branson writes in a column that second impressions are vitally important for businesses, primarily because many consumers get their first impression of a firm through the online channel, and Web impressions can be cold and impersonal. He notes that kiosks provide for many airlines the second interaction they have with the passenger.
"Most airlines (Virgin included) provide passengers with the option of checking in via a self-service kiosk — the company's chance to make a good second impression, since the first contact is usually the online booking process. This device will check passports, issue boarding passes and in some cases even print out baggage tags. If the process goes well, it makes a reasonably good impression; not only do these devices greet customers by name, but they're seldom impatient or surly. But still, it's best to always have human help on hand to assist customers when the process goes awry. And with all the complexities of national and international flights, you can be sure this will happen!"
Branson's column "Importance of a Second Impression," ran on Livemint.com, the online version of one of India's national business publications.
