Managing AOGs, optimizing inventory, sourcing aircraft parts, and coordinating orders is an overwhelming task.
3 Quick Steps Guaranteed To Get The Best Aircraft Material Support
How To Decide What Strategic Partners To Invest In
Companies are making hard decisions to survive. They're taking a near term approach, so they don't go bankrupt. Surviving is on all business executives' top list. How one company survives may cause another to close its doors. It's never an all or nothing approach to survival…besides; cash is king.
How You Benefit From A WOW Experience When Purchasing Aircraft Parts
A WOW experience develops trust.
There's a saying that everyone hates being sold to, but everyone loves buying.
The problem with being sold too — it's often with selfish intent. There's no value exchange.
How an MRO uses options to save you time and money
In the aircraft part repair world, your MRO should be your ally.
Your ally, or your partner, should be there to make the process as easy as possible for you. To really be effective, they should give you options to save you money, work around issues when they arise and lower your turn-around times.
Choose a Repair Partner with True Service Excellence
Everyone thinks they have great customer service.
Have you had a vendor that never answered your emails? Or, worse, one that locked you into a contract but now won’t take your calls?
When it comes to delivering excellent service, MROs are from Mars.
10 Ways To Spot A Customer Service Robot
When you pick up the phone do you hope to talk to a human?
In the not so distant past I was calling an OEM for status on a repair we had gone through.
I picked up the phone, palms slightly sweaty as I was already anticipating what I was about to encounter.
After dialing the number the phone began to ring...
My ears aware of what was coming next I hear “You have reached ___ please listen carefully as our menu has changed”
Oh no!
After 8 options I chose 4 for repairs.
“You have reached the repairs dept. please press 1 for…” and they go on to list customer support, shipping, QC, among 5 other options.
I chose the option that I thought was best, customer support.
They then go on to list 5 people whom I can press an extension for and talk to. Frustrated being on the phone for 5 minutes at this point I press 3.
I call the extension and it goes to voice-mail. I was nearly a few seconds away from throwing my phone across the room but I decided to leave a voice-mail. I received a return call 2 days later.
To me, this is horrible customer service and is no way how to interact with paying clients.
Would this even be considered customer service?
This is why I give you 10 ways to spot a robot and avoid situations like this.
10 Ways to Spot a Customer Service Robot
1) Pressing multiple numbers to reach one person Just as you saw in my beginning story, pressing all sorts of crazy numbers adds stress, anxiety and annoyance in a world where you already get plenty of that. Hang-up the phone, throw it across the room, or avoid any companies who want you to go through 15 robots automated answering machines to get to a human. Clearly they're too busy or cheap for you.
2) Overpromise and underdeliver Have you ever talked to a person who overpromises on everything but never pulls through? “Oh you need it there by Thursday, I’ll get it to you by Wednesday.” Come Friday you still don't have your order. Or they quote you an average repair price and they either find out they no longer have capabilities after you send them the unit or their average is double just from labor.
3) No personality If you call a company and the other person doesn't sound alive, like they want to talk to you, or are miserable...RUN. You’ll be on a fast track of a whole mess of “I Don't Care About You” if you continue any further.
4) Significantly delayed responses People are busy and delayed responses are normal. But and I mean a big “but” is when you see a company that says if you do not hear from us in 48 hours consider it a no quote. This statement shows this company has their priorities straight (incredible amount of sarcasm in that sentence).
5) “Sorry for the inconvenience” We've talked about this before and I hear this often. You order something and they can’t locate the part or whatever excuse it may be. They then send you an email saying “sorry for the inconvenience.” Inconvenience? You deserve more than than an inconvenience statement. An inconvenience is when you run out of salt for your dinner, the dry cleaners are closed on Saturday, but this order, your time is much more than an inconvenience. It’s a distribution nightmare that you now have to fix.
6) Poor problem solving skills The people who write “sorry for the inconvenience” are always people with poor problem solving skills. If a problem occurs you deserve solutions to be presented to you. Or better yet they just figure out a solution and go on as normal and don’t stress you out.
7) Unreachable on weekends Now, you may debate with me on this one but if you are close with your supplier they should be accessible to you on weekends. Aviation is an industry that never sleeps and for you, neither should they.
8) Avoids emailing after closing Companies close and that’s fine. Your account manager or whomever you talk to should still be able to respond via email after closing. Granted, they can’t make magic happen but they can still address you if its pertinent. This small step shows they care and that they’re not a robot.
9) Constant push lists and sales tactics This drives me crazy. I get a push list from a particular company every single day. I've actually tried to buy off this company. I submitted the PO, I never got a confirmation and my phone calls would go straight to voice mail. Surprisingly, I still received push lists despite them ignoring my attempt to buy. Crazy I know.
10) Reading from a script This is the worst case of I’m a robot. Just recently we contacted a company and a young lady answered. Sounding rather timid we advised her the reason of our call. I kid you not, she replied after a brief pause “So it looks like I’m supposed to ask you how the weather is". Wait, what? After a brief laugh we parted ways.
There are plenty of articles on customer service and how it should be done but there’s no magic formula.
Just deal with a human that cares about you and you’ll be all set.
Avoid robots, talk to humans and live stress free.
Have you experienced dealing with a robot? Comment below.
What A Small Burger Joint Can Teach Aviation Professionals
I’m just going to throw this out there and you tell me if I’m wrong. Good customer service in the aviation world is often times…nonexistent.
Most companies worry about the sale and couldn't care less about your needs, wants, stresses or the 1,000 other things you have going on.
Don’t get me wrong sales is still important, otherwise how would anyone survive? Too much attention goes into the sale and not enough focus on the human behind the purchase.
You know what I’m talking about don’t you?
Well, I love great customer service and I’m sure you’re no different.
My burger joint experience
Just recently I decided to try a new local restaurant called BurgerFi.
It’s a nice little restaurant where the atmosphere is casual and the air smells like grease. Yum!
But of course eating like this is on occasion, right?
I go up to the counter and order 3 traditional burgers (of course not all of them are for me) and proceed to pay. They give me a gadget that vibrates when your meal is ready and we go sit down.
About 10 minutes later the little gadget still hasn't gone off. This is annoying and way too long for 3 simple burgers.
I go to the register and see my order sitting on the counter. Visibly frustrated I direct my attention to the manager. I told him that their little gadget didn't go off and there's only 2 burgers on the tray and I ordered 3.
I pull out the receipt to show him that as a customer I’m always right. But only 2 burgers were on the ticket. Yikes! Now at this point he probably thinks I’m full of you know what but I told him ordered 3. There must have been a miscommunication.
Obviously, right?
He said he’ll take care of it and had another burger tossed on the grill. I went to the register to pay and not shortly after he handed me the missing burger.
He said not to worry about paying. The burger was on the house.
Now, you may be thinking it’s only a $4.49 burger but it's MUCH more than that.
Regardless if I was lying or not he was willing to listen to his customer and make things right.
By this simple, low cost gesture he acquired a lifelong customer / advocate (as long as they don’t ruin it).
Lesson to be learned
You see, the story above isn't about how I got a burger for free. It’s about how great this small burger joint, BurgerFi made me feel.
In that moment I felt special, cared about and genuinely appreciated.
As aviation professionals, many of whom you deal with go about their day, they often forget that it’s the small things that matter most to you.
Now, it may be nice but you're not looking to be given a $25,000 actuator to “make things right.” But you would appreciate someone who cares about you as a person. Someone who listens, takes notes and makes things right.
I know this because I’m that person as well.
If we can learn one thing from my friends at BurgerFi, it’s to make people who you work with feel special, because they are.
If you’re dealing with someone who doesn't care, fire them.
You deserve a cooperative relationship so don’t settle for less.