Deliver Great Customer Service by Practicing Your Craft

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Recently, I was reading a newspaper article about the practice habits of professional golfer Vijay Singh, and I thought this would be a good basis for a blog post on delivering the ultimate FBO customer service experience. Perhaps this seems a little disjointed, so allow me to explain.

Whether you follow golf or any other sport, I’m sure you’ve run across articles and have heard TV announcers remark about the successes and failures of professional athletes. Frankly, I like to learn about the elements of success, rather than the failures, so when I read this article on Singh, it reminded me of his breakout year in 2004.

As you may recall, Tiger Woods had vaulted to the top of the world ranking and looked invincible. Then came Singh, playing like a man possessed, and he eventually replaced Woods as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world, at least for a period of time. He openly admitted that his goal was to become the No. 1 golfer in the world, thus replacing Woods, and he knew it would take long hours of practice.

Even Madison Avenue took notice that year. Singh appeared in a TV commercial where he was shown practicing putting on a frozen lake in Alaska while native Eskimos looked on in bewilderment.

And what was the message the commercial was trying to drive home? What made Singh so successful?

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The Cost of Aviation Fuel, Part 2

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Recently, I was reading an article posted to Eye on the Economy on msnbc.com. The article was titled “As oil prices drop, Fed should get credit.” After reading the article, I decided to write Part 2 to a previous blog post titled The Cost of Aviation Fuel.

In the first post, I talked about continued increases in the cost of aviation fuel and what FBOs can do to mitigate high retail prices. We looked at a number of the reasons for the increasing cost of fuel:

  • The Fed policy of a weak dollar — a weak dollar requires more dollars to buy a barrel of crude oil.
  • The continued unrest in the Middle East.
  • Uncertainty with the federal deficit.
  • Speculators betting on the increased price of fuel.
  • Lack of offshore drilling in the United States.

Since then, here is what is happening in the world markets:

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FBO Marketing, Part 2: Affordable Promotions

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As any FBO owner or operator knows, attracting new customers and keeping current customers is the lifeblood of your business.

In previous blog posts, we have discussed the aspects of keeping current customers by providing an exceptional customer service experience: Be the restaurant owner, and don’t forget the cheese!

In this multipart series, we talk about attracting new customers with little or no cost. In Part 1, Low- or No-Cost Promotions, we discussed the basics of promoting your FBO on a limited budget. In this post, we’ll talk about public and media relations as an affordable promotion that will help extend your brand reach even further.

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The Value of a Business Plan in Managing Your FBO

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In some of our previous blog posts, we have mentioned the need to develop a strategic business plan, not only as a way to define business goals, but also to help formulate your personal goals, such as detailing an exit plan from your FBO business.

As most of you know, if you want to borrow money from a bank, the SBA or other sources, one of the first things they will ask you for is a business plan. This alone is a good reason to develop one. However, beyond this basic need, a business plan can be much more and serve your business in many different ways.

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FBO Marketing, Part 1: Low- and No-Cost Promotion

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Did you know there are ways you can market your FBO with little or no out-of-pocket expense?

At our NATA FBO Success Seminars, we examine various aspects of marketing for an FBO. One of the most popular sessions is Marketing and Communications for Any Size FBO.

Many FBOs that attend our seminars believe they can’t compete with the big FBO chains because they don’t have the money and resources. To that, I kindly say, “Bunk”. There are plenty of ways you can “shake hands” with your customers or potential customers without breaking your budget or robbing your kids’ piggy bank.

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Is Your Cost of ‘Plastic’ out of Control?

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One of our more popular courses at our FBO Success Seminar is Maximizing Your Credit Card Transactions. We discuss in detail the credit /debit card processing system and how it affects your FBO business. Needless to say, the cost of this vital service is substantial and increasing.
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FBO Customer Expectations: How High Should You Set the Bar?

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Is the level of customer service expectation set high enough at your FBO? Does it meet or exceed the standards of the industry, or are you doing just enough to get by?

Recently, I was reading a customer service-related blog titled: “Did You Know You’re Competing with Apple?” The premise piqued my interest. Could it be possible the level of service a customer expects to receive at an FBO can be properly compared with the expectation of service offered by the top brands in their respective industries — companies like Apple, Virgin America and Amazon?

I was hooked on the notion. So I read on, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Customers who walk into any FBO have already been exposed to the highest level of customer service possible because they are all consumers.

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The Cost of Aviation Fuel

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We think it’s fair to say we are all feeling the impact on fuel price increases over the last six months or so. As a pilot, I’m seeking the best fuel price and am modifying my flying patterns to get the best deal.

Historically, after an initial spike in oil prices, the market tends to settle down. So why haven’t we seen a stabilization in Jet A fuel prices? What’s causing the volatility in the open and spot fuel markets?

Besides the obvious affects of world events, including the disaster in Japan and political upheaval in the Middle East oil-producing regions, there are other underlying dynamics that contribute to rising aviation fuel prices.

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Measuring Your FBO Customer Service Experience

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Now it’s time to measure the effectiveness of all your good work to improve the Customer Service Experience!

Just as a good measure of one’s intellect is the Intelligence Quotient or IQ test, at Aviation Business Strategies Group (ABSG), we have developed the means to test your FBO’s Customer Quotient or CQ™. The results of determining your CQ™ is a good measure on the overall effectiveness of your FBO customer service initiatives.

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Flight Schools: Time to Think Outside the Box

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It wasn’t that many years ago that the majority of FBOs were defined as “full-service companies” offering flight school training, new and used aircraft sales, charter, maintenance, hangars, and terminal facilities.

The business model was to market to potential pilots, both professional and recreational, train them, sell them an airplane, hope they would trade up, maintain the airplane, hangar it and, of course, sell them fuel and various services. As the pilot grew in experience and need, the FBO could make a good living by selling the next biggest aircraft.

It was a cradle-to-the-grave concept, and it seemed to work just fine.

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Building Long-Term Profitable Customer Relationships, Part 3: Don't Forget the Cheese!

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“Here is a simple but powerful rule, always give people more than what they expect to get.” – Nelson Boswell

In the quest to build long-term profitable customer relationships, we can’t overlook the basic foundation of delivering exceptional customer service. At the end of the day, if you can’t walk up to a customer preparing to depart your FBO with confidence and ask the question, “Would you recommend us?” then please read on.

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Optimizing Your FBO, Part 2: Cross-Train and Outsource

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In Part 1 of Optimizing Your FBO, we talked about analyzing your business and investing in your front line employees. It just makes good business sense, even in tough economic times, to invest your time and resources in your front line employees because they have the first and the most important contact with your customers.

In this post, Part 2 of Optimizing Your FBO, I want to share additional strategies that will help prepare you to weather any kind of economic environment and increase the efficiency of your operation.

Cross-Train

For most FBOs, employees must learn to multitask — a term that management gurus have coined. It’s really a new term for an old axiom. The best employees, who do the best jobs, can do many different tasks. Gee, what a concept!

For FBOs that are consistently successful, employees do many different job functions that result in a more efficient operation and better employee morale. A happy employee, a happy customer. It can be a very contagious working environment that results in better customer service. Cross-training makes all employees more valuable and better motivated.

Let’s look at some ideas:

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Pricing Your FBO for Sale

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As we start to see a small ray of sunshine peeking out from behind the lingering recession cloud, we find some encouraging news in the industry. Flight hours are increasing, used aircraft are starting to sell, and we see a resurgence in the continued consolidation of the FBO industry.

In the last couple of months, we have witnessed chain operators sell a couple of locations and sell one location to a competitor. We also saw the sale of a small chain to a larger chain. Therefore, I pose the proverbial question in the manner Harvard Business School types might ask: Is it time to “harvest” your business?

Only you can determine this. But if you’re getting into the sell mode, here are few things to keep in mind as you move forward.

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Building Long-Term Profitable Customer Relationships, Part 2: Do You Feel Lucky?

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We’ve all seen Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry scene when he aims his seemingly empty .44 Magnum, “the most powerful handgun in the world,” in the face of the bank robber and taunts, “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well do ya, punk?”

FBOs shouldn’t have to feel lucky when putting together their marketing plans to attract new customers, yet during our NATA FBO Success Seminars, I often sense the frustration FBO owners and operators verbalize when we discuss this very subject.  

Over the years, FBOs have tried all sorts of things to attract customers. Wine, steaks, bobblehead dolls, free this and free that. Sometimes they get lucky, but mostly they’re just shooting blanks!

Many FBOs, when facing seemingly stiff competition, have done the unthinkable to attract customers. They resort to lowering their price of fuel beyond reason. Yikes! 

To be sure, an FBO should always manage its fuel price in order to be competitive and as a component to provide a customer value proposition (CVP). However, nothing good happens when you subjectively lower the price of fuel just to attract customers.

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Optimizing Your FBO, Part 1: Pay Your Front Line Employees More

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Often, when FBOs, and other businesses for that matter, are faced with an economic downturn, one of the first places they look to make cuts is their payroll. That might work if you are operating a clothing or grocery store, but take a moment and think about the time that has been invested in training your employees, especially the ones who are out there on what I call The Front Line, marshalling, fueling, and, most importantly, meeting and greeting customers.

These are the employees who have built a relationship with your customers. There is a certain amount of trust and comfort that a flight crew feels when someone familiar is handling the company’s most prized possession, the corporate jet. And if you are looking to increase your fuel sales at the point of transaction, who is in a better position to positively influence the sale: you or the line service technician or CSR?

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Building Long-Term Profitable Customer Relationships, Part 1: Are You the Restaurant Owner?

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The lifeblood of any FBO is building loyal customer relationships. The success of these relationships can be measured in two ways:

Are they long-term, and are they profitable?

Studies on consumer behavior show a loyal customer:

  • Keeps coming back
  • Is willing to pay more, thus providing better margins
  • Loves your FBO and tells other pilots, aircraft owners/operators
  • Lowers your customer “churn” rate — you don’t have to replace a satisfied loyal customer
  • Boosts your long-term revenue and prevents profit erosion so you outperform your competitors

In the end, the effort we put into building these kinds of relationships will pay high dividends year after year, so let’s examine the process.

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FBO Fuel Pricing: Seeking a Silver Bullet

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Ever since the Lone Ranger first loaded his trusty six-shooter with silver bullets, I’ve been intrigued with the idea of formulating a single straightforward solution for pricing fuel at FBO operations I’ve managed over the years.

This search for the silver bullet is a subject we discuss at our FBO Success Seminars, and FBO managers in attendance often voice their concerns about how to effectively price fuel. On one hand, they’re concerned about the bottom line. On the other hand, they don’t want to price themselves out of the market and lose valuable customers in the process.

Indeed, it’s a two-edge sword. The trick is to maximize both cutting edges. Let me explain.

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Welcome to AC-U-KWIK's FBO Connection Blog

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We would like to welcome you to AC-U-KWIK’s FBO Connection, a source for discussion, ideas and general conversation on the FBO business. Here you’ll find weekly contributions from seasoned FBO professionals, sprinkled with bits of wisdom and peppered occasionally with some hot topics. We like to call it “Sage Advice for the FBO Community.”
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