Avionics News June 2012 - 78

series

BUSINESS BASICS
B Y G R E G L A S L O

Radio Check
et’s face it, whoever first said “talk is cheap” never paid to have a new radio stack installed in an aircraft. For that matter, he or she clearly did not run the avionics shop that did the work, either. That’s because, in any relationshipdriven business – including this one – talk is gold when it comes to making sure you deliver exactly what your customer expects. And, no tool in your crib is as important for ensuring your shop runs effectively as the feedback you collect. But, to use it, you must let your guard down, ask and listen. “It takes a lot of courage, unless you’re pretty sure you’re doing a good job,” said Naomi Karten, author of Managing Expectations. “But, if it’s the goal to stay in business and be profitable, it’s better to find out proactively than when customers take their business elsewhere.” And, they will when they’re not satisfied – often without complaints or even thanks for years of service – and there goes any more repeat business or any referrals. “For those who hope to stay in
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avionics news

How to Get – and Use – Customer Feedback

business, especially in these difficult times, it can pay to know how the customer is receiving receipt of the service,” she said. To make it happen, you must understand why you should gather feedback in the first place, how to do it and what to do with the results to improve your shop’s operations. It is easier than it sounds, as long as you remember that, when it comes to working on your customer’s aircraft, your job is all about communication. The Process Piece Communication, of course, goes two ways: You tell the customer how you will perform a job, and the customer tells you what he or she expects as the process plays out. Those expectations are critical; they tell you how you’ll be measured, and that’s the kind of feedback you want. Yet, done right, feedback can also tell you much more. The reason you want to solicit customer feedback centers on the personal nature of this business: You’re working on an individual customer’s aircraft – their pride and joy. That’s a different game than selling breakfast cereals or washing machines, according to Ann

Thomas, co-author of Pay Attention!: How to Listen, Respond and Profit from Customer Feedback. Certainly, if you have been doing this long enough, you already have a pretty good feeling for what a customer wants technically. This is, after all, your expertise. The other half considers how he or she wants to be treated. “More often than not, it’s the process that will keep a customer coming back, or be wowed,” Thomas said. “It’s the how you do, not the what you do.” Indeed, the aircraft owner willing to drop five figures on a moving map display will have demands for service that balance the pain of writing the check. Thomas called these criteria the “RATER Factors:” reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness. In practical terms, they include such things as keeping your service promises, displaying competence, cleaning aircraft before it’s delivered, providing personalized attention and finishing the project on time. Together, this makes it easy to do business with you, even for demanding customers. Feedback measures how well you’re doing. Certainly, this is the “traditional”

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june

2012

Avionics News June 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News June 2012