In the name of customer experience
Carrying its founder and leader, along with a full crew, Virgin Galactic’s Unity 22 went into space. Though naysayers may argue about exactly where the finish line is, and say that the Unity 22 didn’t really get into space, all of us back here on Earth could see for ourselves when the spaceship reached apogee. Engulfed by the blackness of space with the crew floating about the cabin at Zero-G, if only for a few minutes, it was enough to convince me. After all, NASA recognized this crew as new astronauts, so who am I to argue?
From 53 miles/86 km above Earth, Astronaut 001, aka Sir Richard Branson, lay down the gauntlet to the next generation of space dreamers, with inspirational words challenging them to imagine the possibilities of what they could do in the future. I watched on in awe. I couldn’t help but wonder how we looked as a civilization from that far away. Does Astronaut 001 now think differently because he has literally seen the ‘big picture’? He struggled to articulate his experience at his post-flight press conference, which in all fairness makes sense as he was still processing everything that had just happened. After all, he is neither a poet nor a songwriter. However, what he did clearly articulate was his vision for the commercial space product and his strategy for creating exceptional customer experiences:
I’ve written down 30 or 40 little things that will make the next experience for the next person who goes to space with us that much better, and the only way sometimes you can find these little things is to get in a spaceship and go to space and experience it.
– Sir Richard Branson, post-flight press conference
As we develop products, we are guided by a vision of the opportunities they will bring and the innovations they can deliver. And as in the evolution of the commercial aviation cabin, we know the Virgin Galactic cabin and its future competitors in commercial space travel will also evolve to ensure customers a premium experience. It will be these pioneering moments that will serve as the basis for a seamless and exceptional customer experience.
Going to extremes to research the customer experience takes a kind of courage that some may never understand. Critics have argued it was all a marketing event with self-serving objectives or just a competition for the billionaire club; to this I say, ‘There will always be haters.’ One cannot deny that the mark of true leadership is walking, or should I say floating, the talk, flight-testing a product and taking risks in space. It also goes to show that no matter how clear our vision, how carefully we vet and execute our plan, there will always be changes required. For those future generations where space travel will be the norm, as air travel has become for us, the 30 to 40 little things Astronaut 001 noted will no doubt be corrected, and you will be thankful that Astronaut 001 risked it all by strapping himself to a rocket so you too can experience an exceptional space travel experience.