Just One question- What question about sales and marketing do you most want answered? Click here to take survey
Of course we will share the answers!
Responses so far:
How do I reach my potential customers when our product isn’t something they would necessarily search for on the internet? They need to be made aware of the benefits of our product.
5/15/2012 1:44 PM
Does direct mailing still work for business aviation operators?
5/15/2012 1:11 PM
How can a PART 145 CLASS 1V Airframe Repair Station remain profitable performing maintenance at 45 USD pmh, when automotive garages charge 80 to 100 USD pmh?
5/15/2012 12:17 AM
How to find the clients or have them find me
5/14/2012 9:34 PM
How and what is the best way we can sell the empty legs created from a series of charters flights?
5/14/2012 10:02 AM
WHAT SHOULD WE BE DOING TOGETHER? THIS IDEA MIGHT WORK FOR MY BUSINESS
5/14/2012 9:31 AM
How do I find and get a meeting with the decision makers who would use our air charter service.
5/14/2012 9:28 AM
Is this prospect truly in the market for my products and services and if so, where are they in the purchasing process?
5/14/2012 8:21 AM
Where can I find list of only active charter clients?
5/14/2012 8:00 AM
For companies engaged in systems packaging and integration, what are the most effective channels to expand business into China, India, Russia and the Middle East?
5/14/2012 7:58 AM
How to have customers call and make appointments instead of people calling to sell some thing.
5/14/2012 7:54 AM
Okay – we’ve committed to a PR/Marketing person in our small firm. Besides training, what does she need from us to do the best possible job?
5/14/2012 7:27 AM
How does one effectively and efficiently identify the business aviation reporting executive in the host organization or corporation?
5/14/2012 6:52 AM
The world is going mobile and with it so is the aviation industry. Should an FBO, Charter Company, and/or Maintenance Shop have a strategy for mobile and if so, what should form the basis for that strategy?
Discussion at the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) Confrerence in Las Vegas, with Dan McElhattan III of Brand and Paula Williams of ABCI, moderated by Katie Pribyl of GAMA
Many business owners think they are in competition only with the owners of similar businesses. Component manufacturers are in competition with other component manufacturers. Flight schools are in competition with other flight schools. Charter companies are in competition with other charter companies that serve the same area.
That may be true as far as it goes, but thinking that way has two problems:
1. Aviation (or any other industry) is not a zero-sum game.
2. It also precludes working together in ways that are profitable to everyone.
Last week I spoke in a panel discussion on PR and publicity at the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) and was truly impressed by a group of companies that are theoretically in competition with one another, but that worked together in truly inspiring ways.
Why are more than 100 owners of flight schools willing to spend money, travel, and share ideas with their supposed competitors?
Because they understand who their competition really is.
They are really competing against the other things their prospective students do with their time and money.
If they’re in the business of training career-minded pilots, they’re competing against other colleges, universities, trade schools, entry level jobs and the military.
If they specialize in training recreational pilots, they’re competing against other recreational opportunities that cost similar amounts of money – golf, scuba, sailing, country club memberships, commercial travel, motorcycles, and so on.
By getting these prospective students interested in flight training as an option, they’re not just taking a bigger slice out of the same sized pie, they’re expanding the pie, making more business for everyone.
Whatever business you’re in, it can be beneficial to think about your business as larger than a zero-sum game. What options to your prospective customers have, besides going to your competition? If you’re a component manufacturer, what might be eating at your business is not a competitive component maker, but the fact that your customers are flying less. If you’re a charter company, your competition might be that your customers are doing more business remotely rather than in person.
This knowledge can help you frame your marketing to address the real problem. It can also open up opportunities for you to work with other businesses you formerly thought were your competitors, thus “enlarging the pie.”
These flight schools we were talking about?
The association has developed programs to help inform school and other organizations about aviation careers. They give kids opportunities to learn about airplanes and have experiences with them in their AeroCamp programs.
AeroCampers are more likely to become flight school students, and eventually pilots.
More pilots enlarges the entire industry. Which is good for everyone.
Photo from a Cygnus Aviation Expo Panel Discussion in March 2012 – A frequent question we’re asked is “When Will the Industry ‘Get Back to Normal?’”
“When do you think things will get ‘back to normal?’”
This seems to be the question, sometimes asked outright, sometimes under the surface of various discussions at aviation conventions, roundtables and expos.
Our Buyers Have Changed.
“Our buyers have changed.” One aircraft sales exec told me at last year’s NBAA Annual Convention.
“They used to be the guys we played golf with. We knew who they were and we knew how to reach them talk to them in a way that resonates, because we understand their pressures and motivations. But this year it’s as likely to be a 30-year-old real estate or high-tech entrepreneur, or someone who lives outside the U.S. How do we figure out who our prospective buyers are now, and how do we connect and relate to these people?” he asked.
Is it Worth Upgrading Our Technology?
We got a call last week from one of our long-time coaching members who is trying to decide whether to make the capital investment required to make an information subscription product work with new smart phones and other technological devices. “Our product is based on technology so old that we might as well start over,” she said. “But is it really worth it?”
Both are tough questions, and they both illustrate the reality that the industry has changed, and not just because of the economy.
The Economy is Improving, For Some
There is anecdotal evidence the economy is improving among our clients. The telephones are ringing more with interested buyers on the other end of the line. The daily queue of email includes more product inquiries from prospective customers and payments from customers.
We still hear about companies going out of business, some because the economic downturn has outlasted their cash reserves, many because advances in technology are disruptive. Today’s pilots carry an iPad instead of a huge case of paper charts and approach plates. Remote or auto-controlled drones can carry a miniature camera that takes photos good enough to check pipelines or fence lines for some real estate and technical applications, displacing some aerial photographers that fly “real” airplanes. Every flight school and FBO seems to have a few aircraft that are perfectly airworthy, but that no one will fly because their avionics rely on the old “steam gauges” instead of the newer “glass cockpits” that students will need to learn to advance to a career as a pilot.
While it’s great that new companies have opportunities based on the new technologies, some older companies are feeling the pinch and many are going out of business, unwilling or unable to adapt or make the capital investments necessary to keep customers from being lured away by a disruptive competitor.
Extending Beyond Traditional Markets
Brad Harris of Dallas Jet International (DJI) is convinced the economy is improving. “Last week was the best week we’ve had in a long time. March has just been on fire.” He added, listing seven total transactions including contracts for new listings, sales and purchases.
Of course, part of the economic recovery is experienced best by companies like DJI that are well-positioned for international business. This may not be as easy as it sounds.
“If you sell an U.S. aircraft into a foreign country, an Export Certificate of Airworthiness may be required, which would entail additional inspections. Different controlling government bodies have various requirements, for example, in Switzerland it’s the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA); however, the European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA) governs the majority of Europe.” Harris has written an article on the topic of international transactions on DJI’s blog.
Besides different regulations and procedures, buyers and sellers in international transactions must consider currency fluctuations, delivery logistics, and customs and immigration. Not every aviation company has the tools, experience and connections to do business internationally simply because they know the market is larger.
Customers Expect More Convenience
Thriving in a changing market requires reaching out to new populations, and making information convenient for customers. H. Lee Rhode of Aviation Management Services (AMS) recognizes that, while they’ve always been successful with referral-based marketing, they need to reach out to new markets using new technologies.
“While we are fortunate to have a segment of our business come by way of referral, we have committed resources to focus on applying new methods for marketing our services to a client base that is looking to makes decisions based on fast, efficient and effective information which AMS provides. We also came to terms with the concept that in order to evolve from yesterday’s traditional marketing ideas and keep pace with result oriented techniques available today, would require us to engage marketing expertise who understands how to effectively apply these new ideas and measure how effective they are.
In the business aviation industry that AMS supports, the use of a private jet aircraft symbolizes efficiency at many levels. We believe in a similar way that choosing how to best market our services, even starting with a knowledge based company website design, is a vital step in allowing a client to learn who we are and how we can help them as quickly, effectively and easily as possible.”
Our Advice – Focus on the Value Proposition for Your Customer.
Customers can shop for options for products and services worldwide, with a simple Google search. Many of these options may be less expensive because they’re based on new technology. The good news? Customers are getting more sophisticated as they are exposed to more choices. The recession has taught them to be more careful with investments and they do more research before making a purchase. They also understand the least expensive option is becoming less likely to be the best value.
Overall, this is good news for exemplary businesses in the aviation sector, as long as they are able to adapt to changes in technology, extend beyond their traditional markets, and provide exceptional convenience and service.
The only losers will be companies that are holding out waiting for “normal” to return. . .
I was talking with Southwest’s Jonathan Nield the other day, and found out that he is getting back into the marketing end of business.
The usual expression among sales and marketing professionals is “Welcome to the ‘Dark Side!’” Mostly because of the “dark” reputation of sales and marketing as professions.
This got me thinking about the fact that most of the sales and marketing professionals I know now are the most scrupulously honest people in business.
What’s changed? Two things, actually.
First, the economy.
Second, the transparency of media.
The economy has forced many of the salespeople and marketing professionals we affectionately called “shysters,” “hucksters,” and “snake oil salesmen” out of the business.
When people have less money to spend, they do their homework more carefully. People who were, ahem, less than perfectly honest tend not to survive such scrutiny.
Regarding transparency of media – the Internet has done many things good and bad, but among the good is that due diligence for purchases is much easier. It’s possible to verify facts from a second (or third or more) source. You can find reviews of products and services from former customers and third parties.
I have to laugh when politicians get caught in the “Internet fishbowl.” Representatives used to be able to say one thing in Washington and another thing in their hometown, but now everything is preserved and broadcast on YouTube and Twitter. Things they say in a Tea Party Rally are likely to be repeated back to them at a Sierra Club benefit. Facts can be looked up instantly, and any discrepancy in their message is instantly held up for public scrutiny, commented and dissected by bloggers and pundits.
While some of this dissection can be taken too far, one thing is for sure- duplicity is out of fashion! And it’s not as easy to get away with as it used to be, even for people who used to have a talent for that sort of thing.
There are some very specific circumstances in which you actually WANT to recommend your competitor’s product.
There are always differences between two similar products and services and there will occasionally be a case where a prospective customer has a specific set of needs that happens to be better met by your competitor’s product.
But those cases can only really be determined by an expert and knowledgeable salesperson. When asking about a competing product or service, I always respect a salesperson who is honest enough to say:
That is a good company, and they have a good product. Here are the key differences between the their product and ours. . . (and proceed to outline the differences objectively.)
They may lose a customer at the moment but they gain an ally who will refer business to them when circumstances warrant it.
On the other hand, deliberately sending prospects to your competitors before you even have a chance to talk to them is simply wasteful.
Don't arbitrarily send prospects to your competitors!
Companies spend a lot of money on an advertisement that has as its “call to action” -
“See our ad in the Yellow Pages!”
Right! You’ll see their tiny ad next to everyone else who is in their business.
Besides sending visitors to where they will see all of your competitors’ ads, having one ad refer to another simply clouds the marketing process.
Each advertisement should have its own tracking mechanism so that you know how many people responded to it. That’s how you determine the effectiveness of any particular ad.
If one ad simply sends people to another ad, you are wasting the time of prospects who don’t have the patience to follow your trail of breadcrumbs, and you won’t know how many people who actually finally call you after following this chain of events were first attracted by the initial ad (in a magazine or whatever) or by the secondary ad (in the Yellow Pages.)
In aviation, a critical mistake that we see a lot from aircraft brokers is to send visitors from one advertisement (such as an email broadcast or postcard) to a listing on Controller or Trade-A-Plane.
These listings are particularly insidious because brokers typically spend a lot of time, money and work preparing an aircraft for sale. They do a lot of research and records preparation. They pay for detailing and photography. They pay for advertising in the form of lists to send an email broadcast or postcards. And then they wonder why their marketing is so ineffective and they blame it on the economy.
It could be the economy, but it’s more likely to be the 37 other aircraft of the same make and model that are listed on Controller or Trade-a-Plane! That expensive, well-crafted email or postcard may have convinced your customer this was the make and model for them and may provide the motivation to go look at it. But an email or postcard is certainly not going to convince a customer that this particular airplane, or that this particular broker selling it is “the one” to do business with without a little more personal contact.
In response to this, our partners at Esajee Solutions have developed an affordable alternative that allows brokers to add beautiful, custom aircraft listings to their own websites without hiring a webmaster or having any programming skills. This Custom Airplane Showroom is an excellent supplement to listing in Controller or Trade A Plane. Your postcards, email broadcasts and other advertisements (as well as your listings on Trade A Plane) should bring visitors IN to your website, rather than AWAY from it.
This way, those email broadcasts and postcards can send visitors to a location that is tracked (enhancing the precision of the marketing campaign) and controlled (ensuring that everything the visitor sees on this page is put there intentionally by the broker, not by every other broker on the planet with a King Air or Citation to sell!)
There is probably no better Information Technology (IT) folks around than those on our staff! They are absolute wizards and we don’t know what we would do without them.
But we don’t let them write web content!
Some busy managers and business owners assume that people who work on websites are perfectly capable of writing the content. They’re the ones working on it, they seem to communicate pretty well, what the heck. Let’s just get something out there and be done with it!
We are often called in after a company has had a major website redesign. The web site company creates a slick beautiful site with interactive menus that flash or light up. It might even make a jetlike “whoosh” when a menu is opened. It made the CEO smile, so they accepted that design.
The content of the page comes from one of three places:
It was cut and pasted in from a years-old promotional brochure or annual report.
It was written by a member of the IT staff who has taken a class in Business English. This is pretty obvious when the first sentence is something like “Welcome to our web site. Please feel free to have a look around . . . “
It was not written at all, leaving the visitor to surmise from the graphics and navigational items what the company does and why they are the best choice for aircraft sales, insurance, parts or whatever.
In Content Rules, Ann Handley describes this phenomenon very very well:
Most organizations readily distinguish themselves through the basics: design, graphics, logo, signage and so on. Content is an afterthought – or sometimes barely a consideration. In web site design, for example, nonsensical Latin filler called lorem ipsum is commonly used as placeholder text, to show where the words will go. Since the actual words are usually added after all the other elements of a document or website, like the typeface, typography, layout and navigation – are squarely in place, the role of content is minimized. That’s just nuts.
“I’ve heard the argument that lorem ipsum is effective in wire framing or design because it helps people focus on the actual layout, or color scheme, or whatever,” says Kristina Halvorson, author of Content Strategy for the Web. What kills me here is that we’re talking about creating a user experience that will (whether we like it or not) be driven by words. The entire structure of the page is for the words.
Your website has a lot of work to do. And the words on the page, not the nifty moving pictures or whooshing menus, are what do the heavy lifting.
They need to clearly and persuasively communicate these four things within fifteen seconds; (with the marketing textbook definition in parenthesis)
What the company does (identification)
Who buys or uses their products or services (merchandising)
Why they are the best choice for this product or service (positioning)
Why the visitor should interact with them right now (call to action)
You’ll notice that “winning beauty pageants” is not listed. Most of us would not hire a person simply because of their gorgeousness – we expect them to have the skills and experience necessary to do the job. We should extend the same rigor to our websites. You’ll be more satisfied with a slightly less gorgeous design that gets the job done than with one that you love to look at all day but that doesn’t attract customers and sell product.
It takes some skill and a lot of editing to get web content right. Especially for the home page.
Aviation consumers are increasingly particular, and have an increasing number of choices. They quickly jump to conclusions about who can help them, and who doesn’t have a clue about what they want or need, based on the words on a company’s website. To do a credible job of attracting customers (or at least not creating a “sudden loss of credibility,” as they say in the military) a site has to be written with some expertise in aviation and with a lot of consideration for your prospective customers.
What does the company do?
If the top third of your website is consumed by clipart or stock photography of a beautiful airplane or of people in business suits shaking hands, you are likely a violator of this principal. These are usually the sites that begin with “Welcome to our website! Please feel free to look around.” You could do quite a bit of “looking around” before you figure out whether the company does aviation taxes or sells catering flatware.
Unfortunately, nobody has time to admire the aesthetics or clever design unless it actually helps them find the information they want or need more easily.
Who buys or uses the product or service?
This clearly lets people know if they’re in the right place. Nobody has time to waste searching a site that sells aircraft parts only to find out they only carry Embraer components or they only sell to distributors.
Visitors appreciate being able to quickly determine whether or not they fit the profile of a potential customer for your product or service. Ideal prospects will feel right at home when they say “this is exactly what I needed, and they were thinking of people like me when they created this site.”
Why is this the best choice for this product or service?
Within every category, there is a range of options that will appear to particular customers. What is it that differentiates you from your competitors? Are you the lowest-cost provider? The highest quality? The most convenient or fastest service? Do you serve a particular geography or demographic niche? Once again, this gives people the reason to quickly determine if it’s worth the time to dig into the content of your site, and they are more likely to be an ideal customer if they stick around.
Why should the visitor should interact right now?
Since the purpose of your website (or at least one of its purposes) is to attract new customers, it is very important to include a “call to action” or a reason the visitor should fill out a form, call a number, or click a chat button. You want to involve the visitor in some activity that lets them signal their interest and helps them take a step toward solving their problem or getting some help right away, while it’s convenient and they were motivated enough to search for a solution.
ABCI maps out these key content and marketing messages before we design a web site. For a redesign or refresh, we sometimes work with a design that is already in place, if it meets our 31 Point Usability Checklist.
In any case, we don’t let the IT staff do the writing!
Note – we’re beginning a series of articles about Random Acts of Marketing. These articles will be randomly numbered. If you have a particular favorite Random Act of Marketing you’d like to suggest, feel free to leave a comment below, write it on our Facebook Page or Twitter #RandomActofMarketing, or write to me at paula@aviationbusinessconsultants.com with “Random Act” in the subject line.
You’ve heard the metaphor about the duck, haven’t you?
The duck looks pretty serene when you watch them glide across a lake. But what you can’t see is that underwater his little yellow, webbed feet are paddling like mad.
The same thing happens in great restaurants. Out in the dining room, everything is quiet and serene, while behind the swinging doors to the kitchen there is chaos and drama as the chefs and waiters scramble to make everything perfect.
We do our best to make our clients’ experience with us very simple and clear. We know you have enough to do without worrying about your marketing channels.
Web sites need to work perfectly, load quickly, do their job unobtrusively. Visitors should get so involved with the content that they just forget the web site is there.
Printed materials should have great paper that feels good, colors that match perfectly, and smooth printing that subconsciously conveys quality and attention to detail.
Although these things should “just work,” most often, that doesn’t happen by accident. We obsessively sweat the details so that our clients’ marketing channels seem simple, elegant and effortless.
Behind the scenes, we’re paddling like mad. Here’s a few of the things we did last month that our clients didn’t even know about:
Our technicians spent 34 hours fixing malware and viruses on two client websites.
We spent 3 hours testing and optimizing a website that seemed slow.
We spent 2 hours adding spam prevention measures to a web site that has been getting a number of irrelevant comments so that our client doesn’t have to moderate garbage.
We spent 17 hours proofreading client materials before we published them on the web.
We spent 3 hours learning new desktop publishing software to determine if it would meet a clients’ needs better than what we’re using now.
We spent most of an hour cleaning and tuning up our office printer to improve the quality of printing.
We press-checked many print jobs and sent two of them back to the printer for printing or color problems.
We hand-applied postage to a mailing because hand-applied postage gets a better response rate than metered postage.
We scrapped hundreds of pages of sub-quality printing.
Most of the time our clients don’t notice these things we do, which is as it should be. (We try to keep the mad paddling to ourselves.) Occasionally, when clients notice the difference between ABCI and other firms, they sometimes comment:
I appreciate you taking care of the website and trouble-shooting problems as they arise and making minor changes as needed. That in itself is worth the fee you charge.
-Paula Woellhaf, Summit Aviation
All of this is par for the course for us. Which is why we’re so puzzled when we receive marketing materials on the web, via email, or via postal mail that has misspellings, grammatical errors, technical issues or other problems that reflect badly on the company that is doing the advertising.
Apparently, their marketing company isn’t paddling hard enough to create a serene, elegant impression “above the surface.”
Many of us dream of writing the Great American Novel someday.
When we have time.
Yeah, right!
But seriously, writing a book is an excellent way to promote your business and get new clients, and it’s actually easier than you think.
Being the “person who wrote the book” on a particular topic can be an enormous competitive advantage. Whether your topic is aviation insurance, aircraft safety, or flight department accounting, you could be known as an authority simply by sharing information about your profession that seems pretty simple to you but could be of great value to people who need your product or service.
Books have an appeal and credibility that comes from centuries of tradition. We are all trained from birth to respect books and authors. Books, especially physical, beautifully printed, well-crafted books have a certain cachet that no amount of online content can match.
Here are ways you can use a book:
As a client gift to assist with your loyalty and referral campaigns
To differentiate between your company and your competitors.
To generate referrals
As a separate revenue stream
To acquire media coverage
As an “expensive business card” for networking contacts that want to know more about what you do
To build brand recognition and brand equity
To acquire speaking engagements
To generate leads from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other sources that you may not have considered!
You can create a very nicely printed book, less expensively than you might think, and also have your book available as an ebook available on the popular Kindle, iPad and Nook formats.
We create books for many of our clients as a byproduct of ghostwriting articles for their blog. It’s a great way to leverage your investment in professionally written articles. Here’s how we could produce a high-quality, highly-readable book in a year and three months:
We plan the book outline
We ghostwrite one article per week for a year (52 total articles)
We arrange for (and often ghostwrite) an expert or celebrity to write an introduction
We have an artist create the cover
We obtain Library of Congress and ISBN numbers
We arrange for printing using a Print on Demand provider (this could be hardback, leather-bound, paperback, trade publication, or any number of options)
We arrange distribution for the book (paper, ebook or both) through Amazon.com
Realistically, you may not make the New York Times Bestseller List for a specialty book in the aviation field, but you could acquire serious credibility within your community of prospective buyers, which is better than fame and fortune, anyway.
Nobody will know that you used a ghostwriter.
Note – if you’re already a client of our TurboProp or BusinessJet service levels, it’s pretty simple to add a book as a deliverable and will take very little additional time and effort on your part. If you’re not a consulting client, this is another good reason to become one!
Another Note – as an experiment, we published our latest book using the Kindle Direct Publishing as an ebook only. (If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow it for free for a limited time.)
As always, we’ll keep you posted on the results of this experiment.
Many business owners think they are in competition only with the owners of similar businesses. Component manufacturers are in competition with other component manufacturers. Flight schools are in competition with other flight schools. Charter companies are in competition with other charter companies that serve the same area.
I was talking with Southwest’s Jonathan Nield the other day, and found out that he is getting back into the marketing end of business.
There are some very specific circumstances in which you actually WANT to recommend your competitor’s product.
You’ve heard the metaphor about the duck, haven’t you?
Many of us dream of writing the Great American Novel someday.
