If you think a better customer experience isn't in your future, you must be a traveler.
I mention travel because, when it comes to customer service, it's a real bottom-feeder. Airlines, for example, earned an average score of just 73 on the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, down 2.7 percent from last year. Hotels aren't much better, with their 76 average.
They deserve these grades. I know because I write a nationally syndicated column on customer service and run a nonprofit organization that helps consumers.
Oh, the stories I could tell about travel companies. I'll save that for another time.
So, when I saw a new survey on the future of travel, I suspected it might forecast a better customer experience. And it does.
Bottom line: The future is not as bad as you would think, despite our current customer service malaise. Our perceptions of good service and bad service may be about to change dramatically. Consumers and businesses have to either prepare for that what's next -- or perish.
The survey in question is the latest Allianz Travel Insurance Vacation Confidence Index. It concludes that most Americans are interested in trying experimental methods of travel, despite enormous logistical and security concerns.
Interest levels rise and fall based on the mode of transportation. For example, 22 percent of travelers are "very" interested, and 32 percent "somewhat" interested, in self-driving vehicles. Supersonic travel ranks a little higher, with 24 percent of travelers very interested and 30 percent "somewhat" interested.
"Technology," says Allianz spokesman Daniel Durazo, "is poised to change the way Americans travel."
A model of Virgin Galactic Spaceship 2, the world's first commercial spacecraft, is displayed during... [+]
Is a better customer experience in your future?
Why the strong interest from consumers? Look at the latest Customer Rage study from Arizona State University, which suggests more than 62 million families experienced at least one customer service problem during the past 12 months. Almost 8 in 10 customers are still not happy with the way their complaints are handled. The research paints a bleak picture of the future. But it also might explain why Americans are eager to jump into an autonomous vehicle.
Angry consumers are reaching for the future, hoping for something better.
See a trend? Customers are reaching for the stars -- literally -- to get away from the awful service they're receiving on the ground. They're ready for a better customer experience, even if it's untested.
Like spaceflight.
"Space tourism is going to happen," says Valerie Stimac, editor of the Space Tourism Guide. "It's only a matter of time."
Allianz found 22 percent of travelers are "very" interested in space travel, and 24 percent "somewhat" interested. Those are astonishingly high numbers, considering there have only been seven space tourists.
Here's a thought: With entrepreneurs like Richard Branson getting into space tourism, customer service expectations are high. His Virgin Atlantic Airways already treats customers well. Will Virgin Galactic bring that same five-star service to space?
A row of Google self-driving Lexus cars at a Google event outside the Computer History Museum in... [+]
Will this change the way we think about a better customer experience?
In the Allianz survey, travelers also expressed strong interest in high-speed magnetic levitation trains (27 percent) and flying cars (25 percent). That suggests people are willing to embrace alternative forms of transportation -- prodded, perhaps, by their current unsatisfactory options (airline, bus, conventional train).
"The possibilities are endless," says Jon Sadow, chief product officer for Scoop, a carpooling company. "Autonomous vehicles, hyperloops, and the like will make it easier for people to access destinations from far away."
As our focus shifts to the future, so will our ideas about customer service. Does anyone really think that hyperloop transportation, delivered by the likes of Elon Musk, will offer the same dreadful customer service as today's "ultra low-cost" air carriers? Or that the flying cars, when they come, will be junk automobiles?
Of course not.
People stand in a metal tube after a test of a Hyperloop One propulsion system, Wednesday, May 11,... [+]
What the future of customer service means to you
This glimpse of the future offers some revealing insights into customer service, whether you're a customer or a company.
Customers are always looking for lower prices and better service. That's particularly true for travelers. If you can offer a hyperloop ticket from Washington to New York in less than 20 minutes, for $19, you'll win -- and Amtrak and the airlines will lose.
People are constantly complaining about lousy customer service through my nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. They send angry emails to their CEOs, whose names and numbers I publish in my list of executive contacts. But if they would move their business to another company that offered better service, maybe the problem of bad service would go away.
But the surveys are a real wake-up call to companies, particularly those who think their market position is secure. Because it isn't. If I'd told you a few years ago that we'd have self-driving cars, you probably would have laughed. If I'd predicted Airbnb and Uber would turn the travel industry on its head, would you have believed me?
These market-disrupting changes are happening across every industry, not just travel. And that's good news. A better customer experience is in your future.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes weekly columns for King Features Syndicate, USA Today, and the Washington Post. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter.
