FBO Success: The 5 Secret Sauce Ingredients to Create a Customer Conscious Culture

By John Enticknap and Ron Jackson, Aviation Business Strategies Group ABSGgroup.com

There are many ways to attract customers to your FBO, including advertising, social media, word of mouth and face-to-face encounters at trade shows. But once you get first-time customers on your ramp, how do you motivate them to return and become loyal; the kind of loyalty that generates a recommendation to other flight crews and business aircraft operators?

In our discovery work within the FBO community, we found that the secret sauce to building customer loyalty is to create a customer conscious culture within in your organization. A culture where employees care about their customers because they are happy and care about their jobs, and it shows. Such a culture can make a lasting impression on the customer which, in turn, increases the likelihood of a return visit.

We call this a ‘sticky’ culture because once encountered, the customer can’t let go. The experience becomes indelible. Such a culture provides peace-of-mind to the customer, knowing that their company asset, the business aircraft, is in good hands.

So here are the five secret sauce ingredients to build a customer conscious culture within your organization:

1.     Ownership and Empowerment

Employees work best when they have a sense of ownership and have been empowered to make decisions. Since employees are already stakeholders in the organization, ownership can be as simple and being responsible for a certain aspect of your operation with the motivation to accomplish something meaningful. Example is a CSR who has been trained to deal with disgruntled customers and resolves issues to a win-win outcome. Another example are FBOs that have instituted a bonus pool which is divided between employees on a quarterly basis. Criteria may include reaching certain fuel sales goals or being recognized nationally as a top FBO destination.

 2.     Authorship & Inclusion

A customer service team, including both CSRs and line service personnel, works best in an FBO environment when collective leadership is encouraged. This plays out when the team is collectively engaged and taking part in developing initiatives concerning FBO marketing, mission statements, policies and procedures. A Safety Management System (SMS) offers opportunities to file safety reports, to serve on a Safety Committee and to effectively shape Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

3.     Contribution & Recognition

FBOs that have an open environment in place where employees are free to contribute to the outcome of the enterprise are more likely to have a head start in creating a Customer Conscious Culture. This is accomplished by having a working environment where everyone is recognized as a stakeholder. Keep in mind that stakeholders in an FBO are the customers, employees, vendors and suppliers, basically anyone that has a vested interest in the outcome of the enterprise. Together, this stakeholder group contributes their loyalty, time, effort, skills and resources. In addition, all the stakeholders mentioned like to be recognized for their contribution.

4.     Accomplishment

The human spirit soars when something meaningful is accomplished. Therefore, challenge your team to achieve and go beyond. Set goals for projects or even everyday tasks. And when tasks are accomplished and goals are met, celebrate! Various human behavior studies have indicated that what employees want most in their job, besides equitable compensation, is an occasional word of encouragement and a pat on the back.

5.     Learning & Advancement

Create learning opportunities for your team to advance skill sets and make clear a path for advancement. Instill a mentoring program for new hires and provide plenty of positive feedback to both the new hire and the mentor. Think job enrichment!

When all is said and done, a happy service team, pulling together to accomplish more, will be recognized by customers. It not only builds confidence in their decision to return as loyal customers, but also allows them to make an honest recommendation to peers.

Please leave any comments you have about this blog post below. If you have any questions, please give us a call or send us an email: jenticknap@bellsouth.net, 404-867-5518; ronjacksongroup@gmail.com, 972-979-6566.

ABOUT THE BLOGGERS: John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience and is an IS-BAH Accredited auditor. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group (ABSG) and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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