The best part of my job is to visit our customers and meet them in person. It allows me to have longer conversations about what is going on in their business and what questions and thoughts they have for the future. It was a lot of fun to also join in on the country vibe at this year’s Schedulers & Dispatchers conference in Nashville. 

My main take-away from meeting my US clients is the uncertainty on where demand will go for the rest of the year and how the global economic climate will affect them. The insights we’ve shared from Avinode Group say that we are seeing a slight drop in demand during the first months of 2023 and that is also something our customers worry about.

It makes sense to prepare now for a possible uptick before the summer. Introducing more automations and digital best practices makes a difference and can be a real time-saver during busy times.

No matter if demand increases again, or turns out lower than expected, I recommend keeping these things in mind:

Explore data integrations to simplify your key workflows.

Operators of all sizes are now increasingly interested in using open APIs and integrations, which makes a lot of sense. According to a recent Apigee study, 65% of organizations have accelerated their digital transformation journeys during the pandemic.

We host a lot of data that can be leveraged through custom solutions and integrations. It can help to create new revenue streams but also increase efficiencies as more companies work remote. The use of open APIs also saves a lot of time and effort when you need to transfer data over to a new software solution.

Increase transparency and collaboration.

I know from my own experience that the collaboration between the charter sales and flight scheduling departments is where a lot of efficiencies can be achieved. When you get a pop-up trip, it’s important to have a good real-time overview of your crew’s duty so that you can quickly assign the right crew.

This year, we’re also launching a new and improved workflow from quote to payment, which further simplifies the collaboration between teams. It also makes it easier for the buyer to compare options and pay for a trip.

Communicate your business strategy and goals clearly.

When you communicate with external software providers, be clear on what you are trying to achieve and how you create business value. When a customer communicates clearly to us what they need, it is so much easier for us to help them grow their business.

One of our most valuable assets is our team that has a lot of first-hand business aviation experience – from dispatchers to pilots and payments experts. Having the industry background makes a huge difference when helping our users to efficiently keep track of their flight operations.

Invest in your customer relations.

A fully digital and transparent charter workflow will allow your team to invest more time in what matters to you – your customers. The aim is to take a lot of manual work off the hands of your staff, from dispatch to crew and finance.

ABOUT GENESIS
Genesis Dela Cruz is Account Executive with Avinode Group’s US team, based in Florida, and works primarily on our flight operations solutions. Genesis joined Avinode Group in 2019, after working as Charter Sales Manager out of Los Angeles, CA.