Aviation Marketing Intelligence

Most marketing at the FBO and Air Charter level is broken.

It is not that we are bad, inept or uneducated folk, we just have very poor role models. We never learned how to articulate “why we’re better” or anything that would drive more consistent recurring sales, and let’s face it.. that makes us feel like a rudderless ship when it comes to finding and retaining clients.

Then came NetJets and Signature, who proved to us that people will pay double or triple to ride in the very same aircraft or use the same fuel, or similar FBO for no particular reason other than their logo is cool and they made you feel good as they took your money.

Relationships have many parallels, and one of my favorites is the courtship dynamic, be it a client or romantic prospect. Perhaps one of the best examples was once explained to me by a Montreal native, who saw the universe of courtship as fundamentally bifurcated when it when it came to “the approach” that is to be flown when trying to connect with a mate.

There is no denying that marketing, sales and relationships (yes, the intimate human being kind) are all close cousins. That is why when I heard the theory on the two ways to approach a prospect it seemed interesting to evaluate these methodologies and identify which one made more sense and and where the strengths and weaknesses were.

The Screaming Eagle

The postulate is simple: There are two basic ways a man courts a woman. (Or, as we say in Montreal “Entity A” courts “Entity B.”) One is the Screaming Eagle: You make a full court press, you woo, you serenade, in short you don’t act like a conservative or shy person. You become “Ricky Suave” in his most intense manifestation that your Id brings out when focused on the mission. You have a plan, you take action, and … well that’s the tough part, once you’ve accomplished your goal (whatever it might be) you might feel a bit like the Navy Seals returning to Hometown, USA after an intense mission - namely, you are quite easily bored with the rest of the rest of your life, given what you have just accomplished. (There also may be casualties you left back on the ground in Chaosizstan.)

The Slow Simmer

Alternatively, there is the Slow Simmer, and as a one who really likes his curry dishes, french-canadian “cassoulet de canard,” you can guess why I like the Slow Simmer. Slow simmering is all about measured & careful progress and building great flavors by working with deliberate and careful steps. Now admittedly, my business partner made me into a slow simmer kind of guy. As did my wife. That might be because they are french-canadian, or extremely intelligent, or both - I am not sure. Either way, let me vouch for their wisdom - it works. Easily blinded, compusilve and dangerous need to learn the art of the slow simmer from these wise folk.
The Slow Simmer says to the client that you are an awesome stew, and that you get better by the day. Everyday that goes by that they “don’t get to taste your divine flavor” is their loss. Why? Because you are ever improving and you don’t need them. You are confident, you have rich aromas, you are .. some of the finest stew / duck known to humankind. If you’re a Seinfeld fan, you’ll remember the power of, “No soup for you.” (says “Soup Nazi” to Elaine.)

Now contrast that with our Commando friends in the Screaming Eagle crowd: They come flying over the horizon in their helicopters, they play their loud music, “Apocalypse Now” style, destroy the village and march off with the treasure. Yes, they might enjoy a little surfing while they wreck the village, and yes, it does look exciting, but it rarely works and can even prevent lasting relationships with customers.
And now you ask: “Adam, what the F&#%@ does this have to do with FBO’s and Air Charter?” A lot.

We are almost exclusively a “Screaming Eagle” crowd, and inept ones at that.

We stay up into the wee hours of the night writing proposals that our prospects will either throw in the trash or ignore in exchange for some insanely beautiful brochure from NetJets. We charge in with our beliefs that our piloting skills, fuel price, ability to talk the talk and discern subtle serial number differences in obscure breeds of aircraft are what makes the client see that we are “God’s gift to aviation“.

That is what must change. We need to look at what works in other industries and focus on one thing: Make your company into a delectable stew, where the prospect comes to you, rather than hunting them voraciously with an appetite that blurs your judgement and yeilds difficult management relationships and strange different prices for different customers arrangements. Our legacy of this behavior makes us unappealing and allows the uneducated buyers to get educated by better stew people, like NetJets. (Not having their money is not an excuse to not learn their craft.)
The energy (sweat, money and time) savings alone, in having prospects come to you, is significant. Imagine what you could do with that saved money, energy and emotional destruction of all those failed missions. (No one ever talks about all the commandos that die on the beach, do they?)

So, let’s play it smart… and make some stew. Think about what makes you a “good stew.” There are several cornerstones that don’t hurt to probe:

1. The Stew Smell - Your Website - the internet is not a new concept, yet to most aviation folk it is place to slap up a shoddy or “ok” business card-esque site. Not good enough. Provide content, be the expert, talk about your airport, your aircraft and things that allow you to be generally helpful to a web visitor - not why are you the best of the best of the best. No one believes that anyway. NetJets never reminds anyone they are the best - it is just assumed in all their dialogue with their prospects.
2. The Stew Flavor - Contact - when prospects do contact you, and they appear to have money, or are sincere about placing an aircraft in your hangar or on your certificate, don’t fall over yourself with gusto worrying and begging that they “pick you.” Have them understand that you are a business person, and that you work on a cost plus basis in order arrive at all of your fees. There is no magic in your pricing, in fact, it might be higher than your competition’s for a good reason. Then.. keep their email, and all other relevant personal data, and be exceedingly (and unconditionally) nice to them. Help them by offering free information, in advance of any sale. Remind them that there is little magic in this industry, there are just great and “not so great” people. Remind them again and again (through your words, actions and correspondence) that you are in the former category.
3. The Stew Nutrition - Systems - develop them. Have a pipeline, in which you have hundreds of such folks. Make a marix, and in that matrix rank 5 qualities about that person / company so that you can objectively see the value their business brings to your company. Then stay in touch with these prospects and re-shuffle your list of prospects based on new information about them you gain on each contact. (Doesn’t return calls easily? Give them a 2 out of 10 on the “accessability” column. Has the power to write the check tomorrow, without consulting the spouse? Give them a 10 out 10 on “authority.”) Systems like CRMs, matrices and other tools allow you to constantly be aware of the top ten best folks for you. Then you can focus your limited time on showering them with stuff that is just wonderful, yet doesn’t cost you a ton of money, energy and time. It doesn’t cost a stew much energy to let the aroma waft around its proximity. Nor does you just being good at being “you.”

And there ends my preaching for this Friday morning. Feel free to leave comments or berate me privately at adam@rsvpair.com for the dangerous mixing of romance, Dr. Phil and aviation marketing.

Or think of it this way: The eagle is fun and very appealing an image, but sadly, it must work and find its prospects. Alternatively, the stew, quietly draws the entire village to the fire to pay homage to its greatness. Who do you want to be?

Popularity: 66%