CUSTOMER SERVICES AND CUSTOMER RETENTION IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY (Exclusive)

The aviation industry, without doubt, is one of the key sectors in any economy all over the world. So, a sick aviation sector in any economy automatically impacts negatively on such an economy. For instance, apart from slowing down the economic activities, it puts the lives of the air transport users in danger. That makes it necessary for the government to monitor the sector to ensure it meets the international best practices at all time.

Today’s aviation industry is facing the toughest competition ever. Too many companies think that it is the marketing or sales department’s job to acquire and manage customers, but, in fact, marketing is only one factor in attracting and keeping customers. The marketing department can be effective only in companies whose employees have implemented a competitively superior customer value delivery system.

Customer retention management means making customers want to come back for more and getting them to recommend products and services to others. Customer services are not only about meeting customer’s expectation but delighting the customer by focusing staff energies on offering values, getting it right the first time and yet improving it in the future.

A comprehensive customer care service programme impacts on the organization through increased success and a developing and satisfied workforce. Excellence in customer care service is wholly reliant upon knowing your customers “needs” and “expectations”.

Customer retention management is a management strategy that unites information technology with marketing. It originated in the United States in the late 1990s, and, to date, has been accepted in a significant number of companies worldwide. However, some people have negative opinions of CRM; such views hold that it is difficult to implement successfully and that its cost-benefit performance is low, among others. In the early 20th century in Nigeria, demand outpaced supply to the extent that companies concentrated on selling as many products as possible. Suppliers focused on product development, manufacturing capacity, and securing distribution outlets, without regard to their consumers. They did not pay much attention to who bought their products or what their customers needed. They used classic marketing tactics, i.e., mass marketing – primarily print and broadcast advertising, mass mailings, and billboards.

By the middle of the 20th century, however, the economy had matured to a point where consumers had the power of choice because supply had outstripped demand.

The era of the passive consumer was coming to an end. Companies began to find out who their customers were, what they wanted, and how they could be satisfied. They analyzed data about their customers and segmented them based on their demographics, such as age, gender, and other personal information. Then they promoted their products or services to a specific subset of customers and prospects. This was called “target marketing”. Each company thought seriously about the “four P’s” (price, promotion, product, and placement), the basic concept of modern marketing, which was first suggested by the expert in the field.

Customer retention focuses on strengthening the bond between customers and the firm by maximizing the value of the relationship for the benefit of both the customer and the firm. As a business philosophy, customer retention is based upon individual customers and customized products and services supported by open lines of communication and feedback from the participating firms. The buying and the selling firms enter into a ‘learning relationship’, with the customer being willing to collaborate with the seller and grow as a loyal customer. In return, the seller works to maximize the value of the relationship for the customer’s benefit. With the objective of most businesses today being to create and maintain loyal customers at a profit, customer retention provides the platform for seeking competitive advantage by embracing customers’ needs and building a value-driven long-term relationship.

The adaptation of customer retention in every organization proposes to be part of the internal function of the management to help business leaders make sound decisions. The combination of customer retention and customer services can be described as another modernized communication, but it is more than just ordinary software. The essence of building the link between customer retention and customer services is to appropriately reach the customers without delay. The application of customer retention deals with the monitoring of the current and future needs. This is a great innovative approach in every organization to continuously add values to their customer. Although it is difficult to pin down directly the demand of the customers, it is still believed that a strong relationship between companies and their clients can help dictate the flow of competition as well as influencing the customers’ buying and decision behaviours.

Customer retention is more than just an excellent service or a first-class service; it involves a host of elements that contribute to genuine care and value for the customer in the sales process.