Avinode Group / The Node
5 tips on winning customer loyalty
28 Feb 2020Hard data can be a powerful marketing tool…but so can a trusted opinion. Cold facts mixed with red-hot reviews make an irresistible combination. So let’s look at five ways to boost customer confidence, retention and loyalty in private aviation. Firstly, make the most of objective data:
- Build trust: People often say you can’t put a price on trust. True, but as an operator you can certainly make sure brokers know your prices are worth trusting. Have you seen our new price accuracy percentage feature? We’re letting brokers review how closely an operator’s prices on Avinode match the company’s final charges for flights, measuring the difference between listed and quoted prices.
From airlines to private aviation, people today want an easy ‘click and book’ service. To make that idea work, you need reliable data. It’s so great when the first price the customer sees for a flight is the price the customer ends up paying.
And while we’re on the subject, our ‘Take off Ready’ search filter – which effectively pre-answers the question: “Is the aircraft actually able to fly within 96 hours?” – is another big step toward ‘click and book’.
- Be transparent, be dynamic: flexible pricing is an essential part of modern bizav. Everybody wins if you lower your prices in a seasonal trough. The client enjoys a fantastic deal and you drive demand to your jets.
Play fair, though. Let clients know if and why your prices will rise. Our new seasonal pricing profiles allow operators to upload fluctuating monthly or quarterly charter rates in advance.
- Be seen to be green: if you want loyal customers for years ahead, you’ll need evidence of your commitment to long-term environmental progress. The intense media spotlight, and the strength of public feeling, means you can’t just talk about global warming and the importance of cutting bizav’s emissions. You need to act and you need to prove the scale and success of your actions.
And as you build your strong objective arguments, maximize the incredible value of subjective opinions and the personal touch too:
- Give ‘word-of-mouth’ a helping hand: in many ways, the internet changed marketing forever. In some ways, the internet changed nothing. One recommendation from a trusted friend or colleague still has more influence on most people than any advert. It’s just that ‘word-of-mouth’ is often online now (and global).
Of course you respect client privacy but are you giving willing clients a platform to share their love for your company? Online reviews play a huge part in the decisions of digital natives. That’s why iconic companies from Expedia to Amazon place so much importance in user-generated content.
Every good operator and broker is driven to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of staff. But the very best companies nurture clients to be brand ambassadors too. Loyal customers, spreading the word of your excellence, are more powerful influencers than even the most committed employees.
- Embrace the personal pitch: loyalty works in both directions. If you want a client to see your business as the unique industry leader, prove you know that customer is unique too. Even tough executives want to feel loved. Analyze the data of each customer’s choices to personalize every pitch you make.
Perhaps you could turn targeted empty leg deals into loyalty rewards? Why not reach out to regular clients who often fly, say, Paris to London when you know you have an empty leg on that route? Perhaps customers might even be flexible enough to arrange their meetings and travel around your empty leg offers?
Data is very powerful indeed. So is opinion. When you bring these two forces together in the right way, your marketing success – and your customer loyalty – will soar.
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