"BRANDING" Yourself in Business Aviation -- A Different Type of Service In recent years, we have all become much more aware of service, service culture and customer service. Service industries have become a fast growing sector in world economies. Services now account for a significant portion of the labor force in the United States. As we are all aware, Aviation is a service industry. In particular, business aviation.
While this piece is geared towards the commercial aviation audience, most of the findings about the relationship between perceived value and repeat purchases are also relevant to the business aviation industry.
At aviation conferences, Board meetings and investor presentations, Executives understandably have their attention focused on managing costs, reviewing operating models, exploiting revenue opportunities and coping with changing customer behaviours. One of the biggest challenges is pricing activity being its own opposing force; a lever that is pulled down low to attract new business but only really creates healthy revenue when it’s pushed up high.
Small – Lite Aircraft are effective means of travel in the 200 to 700 mile range. When we ignore the Business owners not yet ready to spend millions on jet equipment we leave even fewer prospects of future business when they (smaller growing organizations) are ignored. Exposure to the “short/mid-range” travel via “Lite” aircraft serves to “prime” the pump of future national and international successes.
Aero Friedrichshafen, the Global Show for General Aviation in Germany next week, an unlikely exhibitor will be attendence. The Honda Aircraft Company, a division of Japanese automaker, Honda will be represented and talking about their first-ever commercial aircraft, the HondaJet.
Over the last week, actions by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and its membership have reaffirmed the important influence that a professional organization can have in our industry. Testimonies submitted at the national level show how critical it is for business aviation professionals to share expert information and voice their opinions with legislators.
When Air Australia grounded all flights last month thousands of passengers were left stranded. Passengers were stuck in Bali, Thailand, Hawaii and all over Australia. The airline went into voluntary administration and had no funds to meet operating expenses. For American travelers, this left many people on the other side of the globe, looking for a long, and costly flight home. Yet for business jet fliers, this isn’t a concern.
Refresh your client relations and communications this spring by revisiting your own business models.
The first item that comes to my mind would be Service. Customer service is a top priority for Air Charter Brokers and Air Charter Operators alike.
A few years ago I remodeled my house. I had seen some TV shows about people who would spend a few thousand dollars in preparation for selling and completely changed the look of there homes. I decided that if there were projects worth doing for someone else, it would be even better if I also enjoyed the investments that my house needed. The same thing applies to airplanes.
Face Time for Business Growth There is no substitute!
Business Growth comes from getting more clients, getting more from the clients that you have or simply getting more done in less time, so I asked the question: Does the face to face meeting make a difference?
The acronym SMS - which stands for safety management systems - has become a standard term in the Canadian aviation vocabulary. Depending upon who you speak with or what aspect of SMS you are covering, it is either a wonderful and great addition to the aviation operational structure or could be laying the groundwork for potential disaster.
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