In yesterdays Coaching Program Webinar, Ryan Keough of Cutter Aviation  was our guest instructor.

We were talking about the difference between people that write the textbooks on customer service and people that are eyeball [...]]]>

Cutter Aviation is well-known for outstanding customer service. Part of their strategy for making that happen is setting realistic expectations.

In yesterdays Coaching Program Webinar, Ryan Keough of Cutter Aviation  was our guest instructor.

We were talking about the difference between people that write the textbooks on customer service and people that are eyeball to eyeball with real customers every day. Or” mouse to website,” or phone to phone, or email to email.

At any rate, the textbooks don’t always cover the reality of customer service.
“The customer is always right” is a nice thought, but in reality, there are some limitations to what we can and should offer our customers.  Sometimes requests fall outside the boundaries of what can reasonably done, given the realities of safety, regulations, finances, and logistics.

There is often tension between marketing, sales and customer service.  If marketing materials or a salesperson promise the sun, the moon and the stars to “make the deal,” customer service people must then deliver on those promises.

Ryan cited the very funny (and very popular) xtranormal video Lear Jet Captain. You may have seen it making the rounds on Facebook or Twitter, but if you haven’t, here it is.

The excellent point Ryan made was that customers sometimes walk in the door with unrealistic expectations.

Since these conditions can’t possibly be met, it leads to frustration and resentment on both sides.  That frustration and resentment can’t help but spill over onto other customers and other transactions as there are delays and expense in trying (and failing) to deliver the impossible.

Marketing and salespeople need to understand that setting realistic expectations might lose a few sales for them in the short run, but it will help their personal reputation for honesty (an absolute must in today’s sales climate) as well as their organization’s reputation for meeting (or exceeding!) expectations.

Some ways to set appropriate expectations with prospective clients and customers:

• Collect and use accurate data.  Report accurate service times, success rates and other data in your marketing materials. Make sure these are verified and current.
• Ask your prospective client what results he expects, and over what timeframe.  Let him know before the purchase if his expectations are out of line, and provide reasons.
• Give references and show testimonials.   The reactions of other people improve your credibility because they are real people talking about their real experiences with your company.

Ryan’s tip -  Politely hold your ground. Don’t cave in and scramble for a customer that’s completely  unrealistic.   Losing a customer is sometimes a necessary and reasonable outcome of doing business.  Sometimes it’s just not a good fit.

This is in line with the philosophy of long cycle marketing – although you may lose a customer or a sale in the short run, those watching or affected by your decisions are more likely to be a good fit, and refer other customers who are a good fit for your particular product or service.

The textbooks will never tell you that!

“But you don’t understand. There’s no WAY I can keep my prices the same when the guy down the street has reduced his prices.  No customer is crazy enough to pay more for the same product.”

When you [...]]]> I often advise clients not to reduce their prices. That usually gets  a response like this one.

“But you don’t understand. There’s no WAY I can keep my prices the same when the guy down the street has reduced his prices.  No customer is crazy enough to pay more for the same product.”

When you look at it that way, you’re absolutely right.  No customer is crazy enough to pay more for the same product.

There is a basic, but very powerful principle in marketing that everybody thinks they understand but that few people seem to be able to grasp and apply to their own situation.   That principle is this:

The customer doesn’t care about your product. 

The textbook example is “the customer doesn’t buy the drill, he buys the holes.”

He isn’t buying what you think he’s buying.  He’s not buying a 100 hour inspection, or an hour wet lease on a 172, or a tensionometer, or a software package, or a set of tires.  As a business owner, you must avoid the mindset that your product is a commodity like a sack of beans, that your customer can buy just as easily from the guy down the street.

Your offering needs to be structured such that it includes value that can’t be compared with those of your competitors.

Value takes many forms, but here are a few:

• Quality
• Opportunity
• Convenience
• Safety
• Peace of mind
• Recreation

If you can provide that better than your competition, you can charge higher prices.

Some examples:

Quality -

Most of us don’t buy the cheapest car on the market.  We don’t buy the cheapest shoes or the cheapest furniture.  This is particularly true when it comes to aviation products and services, we want quality.  Customers that buy a lesser-quality product or service usually resort to that for one of two reasons:

1. They can’t afford the better one.
2. They don’t know any better.

If you’ve positioned your product correctly and have a marketing system that seeks out qualified buyers, you don’t need to worry about the first one. If people can’t afford your product, you will never hear from them.   If the problem is that they don’t know any better, then you need to do a better job of educating them!

Opportunity -

Your customer wants to do business with clients in a city 200 miles away, and needs to take parts to service industrial equipment.   He doesn’t know, or much care, whether the transportation you provide for his technicians and parts  is in a Navajo or a King Air. He doesn’t much care what your operating costs are.  What he cares about is that he can confidently promise to serve his new clients because he trust that you’ll get him and his stuff there on time whenever you agree to.

In another case, if you can offer an opportunity for a student to earn a particular rating in two weeks, when all of your competitors require a month or more, you’re no longer selling hours of aircraft rental and hours of instructor time. You’re selling an opportunity.  (Of course they’ll expect you to show a track record and references!)

Convenience -

A scheduled inspection on a Citation II is the same regardless of who provides it. The legal requirements are the same, so it’s pretty much standard across providers, right?

Wrong.   We know a provider that will go pick up a client’s aircraft on the scheduled day, fly it to the maintenance center, perform the inspection, have it detailed, do all of the required service and paperwork, and return it to the client’s hangar.  (One client called to complain that the work had not been done because he hadn’t noticed that the aircraft had been moved!)

Safety -

Safety is a huge factor in any aviation transaction.  People are willing to pay for real and perceived safety for themselves, their employees and their families.  Charter providers, maintenance personnel, parts providers,  FBOs, and others who emphasize safety, have excellent safety records and certifications,  and those that take extra time to make their clients feel safe can charge more for their services.

Peace of Mind -

Related to safety, this also covers peace of mind from non-physical anxiety. You can “sell” peace of mind in several ways, depending on your business type:

• Provide a detailed manual
• Show that you have an easy-to-understand, logical, proven process and track record
• Provide a guarantee that you’ll stand by your work
• Guarantee that you’ll  reimburse any expenses if something related to your work results in an audit or fine,
• Guarantee that you’ll ensure transportation in case of unexpected circumstances

If you can provide better peace of mind than your competitors, customers will gladly pay more.

Recreation -

An “adventure” flying company near us offers several innovative packages for fixed wing and helicopter flights.  They work with other local businesses to create recreational packages and experiences for their clients. Some of their packages include:

• Romantic “date flight” to see the lights of the city.  This package includes dinner, limousine service, and flowers.
• Scenic canyon tours for families that include a picnic lunch.

The Golden Rule is often wrong

How do you know which of these values to concentrate on?    That can be a tough question.  If you lose a customer to a competitor, don’t assume you know the reason. We tend to guess either why WE would choose a competitor if we were in their shoes (a misapplication of the Golden Rule since we almost never truly understand their point of view) or guess the simplest possible answer, which is also often wrong.  People are seldom simple.

It’s easy to guess the customer chose the cheapest option (if your competitor’s option costs less) but people leave companies they’re doing business with more often because of a customer service factor – usually resulting in one of the items above.   An incident caused your customer inconvenience, or anxiety, or didn’t fit their business needs as well as your competitor’s offering.

One way to find out:

A charter pilot we know spends some time in conversation with his passengers, asking about their previous flight experiences and their plans once they get to the destination. This gives him an idea of their priorities.

Some passengers are interested in pure convenience.  The sooner he can get them to their hotel or place of business at the other end of the itinerary, the better.

Other passengers are uneasy about flying.  In these cases, our charter pilot spends the time to do an extended, reassuring safety briefing that goes beyond the regulatory requirements, explain key safety features of the aircraft, and make in-flight decisions more likely to produce a smooth, turbulence-free experience for his passengers, when possible.

Anyone can repackage products,  add services to their product, or make guarantees that provide more value with their product or service.   Finding ways to add value will require conversations with customers, creativity and an open mind.

You may have noticed that most of these items require excellent customer service.  To learn more about that, we’ll be talking with Ryan Keough of Cutter Aviation in our Aviation Sales & Marketing Coaching Webinar on February 8 at 1:00P.M.  MST.

If you’re in our Coaching Program or are a Consulting Client, you’ve already been invited. If you’re neither but would like an invitation, write me at paula@aviationbusinessconsultants.com for details.

There are many  “labor saving” devices for pilots.  We really like them a lot.

The trim tab lets you stabilize the attitude of an aircraft so you’re not fighting the yoke while dialing in a new radio frequency.  The GPS helps you navigate without a lap [...]]]>

The autopilot is no substitute for human intelligence!

There are many  “labor saving” devices for pilots.  We really like them a lot.

The trim tab lets you stabilize the attitude of an aircraft so you’re not fighting the yoke while dialing in a new radio frequency.  The GPS helps you navigate without a lap full of wrinkled charts.  The autopilot gives you a few seconds to find that airport information sheet on your kneeboard before you get there.

But all labor saving devices have their limitations, and pilots know this better than any group of people on the planet. Their lives and the lives of their passengers literally depend on them knowing when to use technology, automation and delegation, and when and where human intelligence is required to address a situation, opportunity or challenge.  Human creativity and resourcefulness can STILL come up with solutions that no computer could dream up.

Flight instructors teach their students to keep their hand on the throttle during takeoffs, landings, and other critical situations because there is no substitute for human attention, judgement and control.

The fields of sales and marketing also have a number of “labor saving devices,”  some new, some old.   We use web programs or applications to collect leads, automated campaigns to deliver information to people exactly when, statistically speaking, they are most likely to be receptive to it.   We use other tools to like search engine optimization to help prospective customers find us precisely when they need our product or service.

Smart business owners, like smart pilots, use labor-saving devices and delegation when it’s appropriate and they know when there is no substitute for human intelligence and ingenuity. Automated tools are fantastic. They give us the results we need while we devote our time and attention to other parts of our business. But smart business owners also keep the use of those tools in proportion to their objectives- making connections and making sales with real customers, who are human beings, not computers.

No computer program can create meaningful content for your website that engages with prospective customers.   There are technologies that claim to do so, but we’ve not seen an article written by a computer “spinner” that a typical customer couldn’t spot as a “fake.”  It’s important to use technology only when it serves our purposes and doesn’t harm your company’s image and long-term objectives.

Unlike many marketing companies that sell  automated tools which may or may not be appropriate for your situation, we provide a powerful set of carefully selected automated tools, talented writers who understand aviation, and the intelligence to make strategic decisions to make your marketing system serve your objectives, not the other way around.

Our agreements with clients are structured but flexible.  We follow a proven system (we follow checklists) and use automated tools in a very disciplined way, but we also collaboratively  help our clients shift resources and attention to where it’s needed most, based on the current situation.  Our ulterior motive- we want each of our clients to improve their cash flow so they need, and can afford, more of our marketing services over time. 

We meet with our consulting program clients regularly to review market conditions, competitor situations, new opportunities, and changes to their business objectives, and to come up with intelligent, human solutions. In other words, we help them keep their hands on the throttle.

Some examples:

• In January, one of our clients discovered that a competitor had completed some search engine optimization work and was “creeping up” on our client’s web site in their search engine results.   We reviewed their unique selling proposition and keywords and are in the process of refining their search engine optimization campaign so their ideal clients will find them first.
• Another of our clients discovered that much of their web traffic is coming from iPhones.  We are providing a cost-benefit analysis for building an iPhone “app” to explore that opportunity.  Serving that demographic with better technology may result in more sales.   We’ll research the options and costs for them.
• Yet another of our clients discovered an opportunity to hire a key team member for their sales team. This requires a change in their financial situation and a need to redeploy some finances.  We reviewed the options for conserving cash without impacting their sales numbers.  Since they have plenty of leads in the pipeline, we recommended temporarily discontinuing a direct-mail campaign to free up some cash so they can take advantage of this important opportunity.

A pilot and copilot should work together to smoothly respond to changing weather and traffic conditions and use their human intelligence to analyze the data and to implement creative solutions, using whatever tools are available,  to get the best outcome.

That is what we strive for in every client relationship.

We’ve seen the necessity of good marketing and good salesmanship first hand in the last couple of years.

When the economy is good, a company can do well with the following:

“We have a beautiful web site. We spent a lot of money on it.   But we aren’t getting many customers who say they find us on the web.”

If you have a beautiful web site that you’re very proud of, you should make sure it’s being [...]]]> Prospective clients often express a lot of frustration.

“We have a beautiful web site. We spent a lot of money on it.   But we aren’t getting many customers who say they find us on the web.”

If you have a beautiful web site that you’re very proud of, you should make sure it’s being seen by people other than your current customers, family and friends.

Years ago, before there were millions of sites on very similar topic competing for the attention of people on the web, Search Engine Optimization was much less necessary, and much less complicated.

Given the millions of sites on the Internet, that isn’t going to happen just because you’ve bought a nice domain name and put some money into a good-looking web site.  That’s like installing a great phone system and expecting customers to randomly dial numbers until they reach you and start buying your products and services.

SEO is not quite as simple as buying an ad in the telephone directory, but it’s the same principle.

Of course you CAN do “simply buy an ad,” using paid listings.  (also called Pay Per Click, PPC, Google Ad Words, Sponsored Site Listings, and other services.)  We recommend paid listings for very specific, short-term objectives.   If you have an event coming up and you need to get the word out quickly, you can have a paid listing campaign start this afternoon that will get you good results.   But it will also cost somewhere from seventy-five cents to over twelve dollars a click, depending on the keywords you choose.

For your long-term, sustainable advertising, we recommend making your site as attractive to the search engines as possible so they list it without charge.  This involves a variety of techniques, some are common-sense and some  are quite technical.

Here are a few of the many common-sense techniques

• Think like a prospective customer. What words is your customer likely to type into Google or Bing when he needs the particular product or service that your company offers?   Those words are a often a great starting point. Make sure you use those key words and phrases on your web site, particularly in page titles and image tags.
• Publish material that shows your expertise.  If you have published  a lot of material related to your topic on your website, and your competitor has only a page or two, the search engines are likely to “conclude” that your site is a better, more authoritative source of information on that topic.   All other things being equal, search engines will list your site first.
• Publish a variety of media.  Some people search the web for articles on a particular topic they’re interested in, others will search for photos, video, or audio such as podcasts.  Everybody has a preference.  A variety of materials on your web site, (besides the point above about having more material) gives search engines more opportunities to show your materials to prospective visitors.
• Publish frequently.  Search engines want to provide visitors with the best, most recent information available on the topic being searched for.   So even if you published an article on a similar topic six months ago, your competitor that posted an article yesterday is more likely to be favored by search engines at the moment. (Again, all things being equal.)

There are many other factors that go into the search algorithms.  Among them are preferred length of titles, preferred structure of metadata, preferred keyword density, post length, link density and structure, and so on. There are entire conferences of nerds that take place over several days that focus on the nuances of search technology, ethics, culture, future developments and so on.  We use two separate software packages, (HubSpot and SEOMoz)  two different professional organizations (American Writers and Artists International AWAI and Glazer-Kennedy Insider Circle GKIC) with their books and webinars to keep up with this technology.  We work on our client’s sites month-in and month-out to ensure that they continue to get good results.  Why the constant effort?

1. Because it’s a cost-effective way to help new customers find you when they need you.   Having customers find you on Google, Yahoo or Bing brings a steady stream of new customers exactly when they’re looking for your product or service, as opposed to an advertisement or trade show which might catch them at the wrong time in their buying cycle.
2. Because their competitors could hire an SEO company as well.  Smart competitors are always changing the way they do things.  We want to be the second to know if one of our client’s competitors have employed an SEO strategy. That allows us to respond and stay ahead of the game.
3. Because the search engines keep changing the game. Search engines are run by people who spend all day, every day plotting ways to get around the crazy tricks people play to get to the top of the search engines.  People use duplicate content, stolen content,  “article spinning” or software that creates multiple copies of the same article to make it look like original content; or “link farms,” which are automated reciprocal link exchanges (you leave a link on my site and I’ll leave a link on your site even though they have nothing in the world to do with each other.)    The key thing to know about these automated, “easy”  tactics, some of which are sometimes called “black hat SEO,” or playing tricks on the search engines, is that if a machine has done it, a machine can detect it.

As the search engines compete with one another to serve the best, most current, most authoritative content to their visitors, you know they are investing more in technology than a company for whom SEO is a sideline.   Tricks and fakery can work for a short time, but the search engines have invested a lot more time and money in their reputation than most of the clients we counsel who have been tempted to try such tactics.   Sites can be dropped from the search engines just as quickly for violating the “ethics” of the search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo,etc.)

Are you frustrated with how many customers are NOT finding you on the web?

Our Marketing Flight Plan includes a Search Engine Analysis, as well as a competitive analysis, that you will find enlightening.

For many, it’s also the first step toward a dramatic increase sales results. We have three service levels for working with clients – the Light Aircraft Program, for those who are fully-staffed and just need some pointers and coaching for optimal results.  The Turbo-Prop Program is a collaborative relationship where we provide great marketing materials and automation to round out an excellent sales and marketing system, and our Business Jet Program, which is our white-glove, full-service marketing program for companies that want to spend more of their time serving customers and contract with us to focus on bringing them new ones in the door and old ones back. Read more about our service levels here.

I was shredding old papers from last year, and had a revelation.

We have an extensive questionnaire that prospective clients complete as part of our Marketing Flight Plan Service, in which we offer a consultation, an SEO analysis, a 31-point website usability [...]]]>

Somebody needs to tell him that this just isn't going to work.

I was shredding old papers from last year, and had a revelation.

We have an extensive questionnaire that prospective clients complete as part of our Marketing Flight Plan Service, in which we offer a consultation, an SEO analysis, a 31-point website usability checklist, and a competitive analysis.  For the past eight months, we’ve required this before we accept anyone as a new client.

Why do we make it harder for people to work with us?

Because we want to be sure we’re working with the right people!

Of course there are other very good reasons. It gives s an excellent starting point to talk about a consulting or coaching relationship, get off on the right foot, understand our prospective client’s priorities and objectives, what’s already been tried and to what effect, what resources we have to work with, and so on.

We used to offer this service for free. We have since began to charge a nominal fee ($270) for it.

Why do we charge for this service?

Because we found that we were spending a lot of time working with prospective clients that didn’t have a chance for success.

The investment was a signal, to them and to us, that we expect them to put some thought and effort into it.  And to let them know that they could expect valuable information in exchange for their energy and money.

Some examples of things that we saw on these questionnaires, were from before we charged for the service.

• Last year’s expenditure for all marketing activities – $0  or “?”
• Budget for next year for all marketing activities  – $0 or  “?”
• Expectation (From a flight school)  -To double business volume in one year, while spending less time dealing with students and their problems.
• Expectation – “To outsource all marketing and customer service so my business will run without all these interruptions from customers.”  (Most people research marketing solutions because they want more customers. )
• Question – “What is the one thing that should I study or implement to bring in customers?”  (Answer- many things.)
• Question – “What one book will tell me everything I need to know to be able to sell every time?” (If you find this, let me know!)
• Competitive advantage – “My product sells itself.”  (Okay, so why did you just complete a 10-page questionnaire to ask for help selling it?)

So, how do you fail in marketing?  By working with people who are unwilling to invest time, energy or money in their own businesses and their own customers.   The world has always been full of them, and as long as they are out there, my spam folder will be full of offers promising people  “the easy button”  or “a turnkey solution” or “the magic bullet.”

If you try one of those, let me know how it works out for you!

Many of the companies we consult with have split personalities.  Here are some of the ways multiple personalities can manifest within organizations.

We had a three hour power outage the morning of the session and I thought we’d be on a noisy [...]]]> We had our first live coaching session today, and in spite of a thousand things that could have gone wrong, I’m always amazed at how things have a way of working out for the best.

We had a three hour power outage the morning of the session and I thought we’d be on a noisy generator.   Mark Leeper, our sales consultant, had a cable modem go bad on him this morning.  But the power came back on, the Internet spirits cooperated, and we had a great session.

In fact, one of our members (Taylor Greenwood) dropped out of the session for a bit.  He told me later that he had to leave the session to take a call from a prospective client that is now an “actual” client that he’d been pursuing for awhile.   (I’m sure he used some of the techniques he learned from the session!)

If you missed it, here are a few notes -

Mark shared his (very different) perspective of marketing – emphasizing  great sales presentations – in person and on the phone.

Here’s his formula for sales success:

1. Attitude
2. Accountability
3. Action

Most people gloss over attitude as “soft” skills and want to get right to technique, but attitude is usually the difference between success and failure for salespeople – probably more than any other profession, except maybe professional athletes.  Prospective clients can tell if you don’t have their best interest at heart. It’s not about manipulation, it’s about finding the best solution for the client, which sometimes is financially rewarding, and sometimes not. But always rewarding.

Accountability becomes a problem for people in small companies or entrepreneurs who do their own sales tasks.  Mark suggests that you find someone to be accountable to, just as having a lifting partner at the gym will make it more likely that you show up and give your best effort; rather than simply dropping in casually when you feel like it.Mark makes regular appointments with his sales manager and accounts for every lead, every day. He emphasized that being responsive in the sales process sets the tone of the whole business. If you can’t get back to someone on a regular basis in the sales process, they assume you won’t be responsive with customer service, either.

Action is about moving past all the psychology and technique and  getting it done.   “You can’t steer a parked car.” And you can’t perfect your sales technique while you’re safe in a classroom or in your office or in your home reading textbooks about sales.  You have to get toe-to-toe, or at least ear-to-ear, with customers to make sales.

Mark also provided specific techniques for getting in touch with the decision-maker, working with gatekeepers (rather than having them work against you)   and effectively using voice mail.  He even suggested ways to get the client to make 70% of the sales presentation himself.  And how to avoid leaving loose ends after a sales call or meeting.

He answered questions about using scripts, how often to call back, and setting yourself up to try again later when a prospect declines.

If you missed it, we’ll be sending the video and audio files to our Aviation Sales & Marketing Coaching Members.

Now that we’re comfortable with our  new technology and format, I’m really looking forward to February’s session – February 8th at 1:30 MST we have another great guest instructor who will answer your questions about applications, mobile apps, inventory systems, e commerce and other technology and how they can add a lot of horsepower to a marketing plan.

Not a member?

Join now!