COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          10c 
ACTION ITEM                            Date of Meeting       May 11, 2021 

DATE :     April 28, 2021 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Lance Lyttle, Aviation Managing Director 
Julie Collins, Aviation Director, Customer Experience & Brand Strategy 
SUBJECT:  SEA Customer Experience Quality Assurance Program 
Amount of this request:              $1,360,000. 

ACTION REQUESTED 
Request Commission authorization for the Executive Director to execute a contract to establish
a new airport-wide quality assurance program that will provide anonymous and periodic 
measurement,  reporting  and  action-planning  to  enhance  employee  engagement  with
customers. The contract term is five years. 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
The SEA Customer Experience Quality Assurance program will engage a consultant that
specializes in measuring and reinforcing employee engagement service standards and brand
compliance to raise the bar to a world-class SEA customer experience.  The Confidential
Customer is a program component that utilizes professional evaluators anonymously posing as
customers to utilize various airport services and report on every aspect of their experience. 
Confidential Customer representatives  will follow detailed, scripted, typical scenarios  and
record their observations and experience. Confidential Customer feedback will provide SEA
leaders and airport tenants with valuable insights that will lead to actions to improve customer
satisfaction, reward positive behavior, and to identify training opportunities. 
To support a deep and lasting service excellence cultural airport-wide, a 5-year commitment is
proposed at an estimated value of $1,360,000. 
2021           $140,000. 
2022           $300,000. 
2023           $300,000. 
2024           $300,000. 
2025           $320,000. 
Total           $1,360,000 

Template revised January 10, 2019.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. 10c                                  Page 2 of 4 
Meeting Date: May 11, 2021 
JUSTIFICATION 
In January 2020, the Aviation division launched a new brand for SEA with our promise "to
create, through a passionate service culture, an elevated travel experience that is inspired by
the original nature of the Pacific Northwest.  Last year, the Aviation division published a new
customer service standards manual. Quality standards in this manual help to create, measure
and sustain a service culture by establishing a clear and comprehensive set of priorities that
detail  high  expectations  to  help  the  airport  achieve  them.  This  standards  manual  was
developed for the benefit of all airport customers and outlines the customer service
expectations for all SEA employees, regardless of employer, as well as volunteers. This SEA
Customer Experience Quality Assurance program is intended to help uphold that promise. 
The SEA Customer Experience Quality Assurance program  adds another layer of quality
assurance, utilizing the SEA Customer Service Standards Manual, to help evaluate employee
customer  engagement  performance.   This program  will  be  joined  with  existing  SEA
performance measurement methods that include world airport rating system Skytrax, Airports
Council International (ACI)  Airport Service Quality (ASQ) customer surveys, as well as daily
inspections by terminal operations and custodial services.  It is a common industry practice
among the nation's large hub airports to maintain quality assurance programs like this one. 
Diversity in Contracting 
Port staff is partnering with Diversity in Contracting to determine the aspirational women and
minority business enterprise (WMBE) goal and conduct outreach as necessary in support of the
program. 
DETAILS 
The SEA Customer Experience Quality Assurance Program will utilize Confidential Customer
representatives who will monitor and measure service excellence by SEA employees at
important touchpoints in the SEA customer journey. 
Scope of Work 
This new airport-wide quality assurance program will consist of five components: Program
planning/development, confidential customer fieldwork logistics, data collection, reporting, and
action planning. The Confidential Customer fieldwork will be launched in two phases. 
Schedule 
We estimate the contract to be executed in the fourth quarter, this year (2021). The program
will be launched in two phases. Exact phasing may vary according to Aviation needs and
priorities. 


Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. 10c                                  Page 3 of 4 
Meeting Date: May 11, 2021 
Phase I will measure frontline employee engagement at the departure  2021 Quarter 4 
curbside, ticketing, wheelchair services, custodial services, checkpoint
queues, checkpoint screening, and with airport customer service
representatives (Pathfinders). 
Phase II will expand to include airport dining, retail, and services, and    2022 
landside customer engagements linked with the parking garage and
the rental car shuttles.

ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED 
Alternative 1    Status quo, do not implement a quality assurance program to measure
employee engagement 
Cost Implications: $0 further cost 
Pros: 
(1)   Budget could be re-allocated 
Cons: 
(1)   Provides no method for SEA to measure customer engagement across the airport 
(2)   Does  not  support  the  Aviation  division's  strategic  goal  to  increase  customer
satisfaction. 
This is not the recommended alternative. 
Alternative 2  launch program at once to avoid phasing 
Cost Implications: $300,000. 
Pros: 
(1)   A comprehensive, airport-wide quality assurance program would be in place sooner. 
Cons: 
(1)   This timing is not supported by Aviation Commercial Management and airport tenants. 
(2)   Funds are not currently available in the Aviation 2021 operating budget to launch both
phases. 
This is not the recommended alternative. 
Alternative 3  Develop and launch the program in two phases, during 2021 through 2022. 
Cost Implications: $1,360,000. 
Pros: 
(1)   The timing to launch the Phase II in fourth quarter 2022, works best for the airport
dining and retail tenants.
(2)   The incremental, two-phased approach to program planning and the launch, enables
the best practices that are achieved in the first phase to be applied to phase II.

Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. 10c                                  Page 4 of 4 
Meeting Date: May 11, 2021 
Cons: 
(1)   Implementing the airport-wide quality assurance program will take longer, over two
years, vs. one year's time. 
This is the recommended alternative. 
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 
Annual Budget Status and Source of Funds 
The approved 2021 Aviation Customer Service operating budget includes $140,000 for program
planning and a phased program launch.  The estimated cost for this contract over five years is
$1,360,000. The funding source will be the Airport Development Fund 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST 
(1)   Presentation slides 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
None 











Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).