Primer: Customer Service
Seamless travel is the goal of airports. At its best, a passenger’s airport experience is safe and secure, yet pleasant, efficient and hassle-free. Customer service in the truest form is the synergy created when an airport’s ability to exceed its customers’ needs and expectations consistently matches the customers’ perception that their needs are being met.
This is particularly challenging in the airport environment where many are responsible for the delivery of services but customers often do not always know who to hold accountable for service delivery failures at the airport. Therefore, airports work in partnership with others including federal agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the airlines to provide excellent customer service.
Airports are usually organized into 1 of 2 structures:
- Hierarchical: The most common, generally characterized as process-driven with staff focused on reporting to upper management. Back-office staff does not see themselves as serving customers. Top-down decision-making.
- Customer-centric: Generally characterized as customer-driven, managers focused on supporting staff who are focused on customers. Staff trained to understand its impact on customer satisfaction. Decisions are participatory and driven by customer needs and expectations.
Customer-centric advantages:
- Prioritization of investments across the airport community to improve customer experiences.
- Focused attention given to improve financial performance and airport image.
- Understanding of what customers will need and want in the future and flexibility as customer needs and perceptions change.
Defining airport customers
For airports, customers are persons or entities that:
- Pay or have the potential to pay for a product or service
- Benefit in some manner from the services provided by the airport.
- Different airports define customers in many ways including:
- Passengers
- Meeters and greeters
- Airlines
- Tenants
- Airport employees
- Neighboring communities
While there is no right or wrong definition, it’s important for airport operators to identify who the “customer” is and communicate the decision to employees and business partners to assure alignment and consistency.
Defining the airport’s business partners
An airport’s business partners can include:
- Airlines
- Tenants
- Service contractors
- Governmental authorities and agencies
- Police jurisdictions
- Neighboring communities
Although some might debate whether business partners can also be customers, business partners should afford each other the same level of excellent service as expected by customers recognizing that their collaboration results in a mutual sharing of the airport’s performance.
The airport as a brand
An airport’s logo, tag line, and advertising are not the airport’s brand but should be representations of the brand. The airport’s brand exists in the minds of its customers and is reflected in the thoughts that arise when customers think about a particular airport. An airport’s brand is the sum total of all the customer experiences at an airport as perceived by the customer. Airport brands can be:
- Ad-hoc - Formed by customer perceptions of the typical experiences encountered there.
- Strategic - Defined and managed by the airport operator in collaboration with its business partners, representing an airport’s promise to its customers.
- For airports that are recognized among the best airports in the world, the strategic approach is mostly used.
Understanding customer’s needs
There are myriad products, services, facilities, personal interactions, and amenities that make up the airport experience from a customer’s point of view. Taken as a whole, they can create an ambiance that result in the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Individual customer experiences have a large impact on customer satisfaction, perception, and behavior. Airports use this knowledge to determine customer priorities.
Tools are used to measure customer feedback and customer satisfaction including:
- Surveys
- Comment cards
- Complaints
- Web-based feedback
- Focus groups
- Mystery shopping and inspections
- Benchmarking
Role of airport standards
An airport operator is like the conductor of an orchestra. Without a song book, music can quickly become a cacophony. Published airport standards are an airport’s song book.
Airport standards are used to:
- Communicate the airport’s brand to business partners and airport employees.
- Assure a consistent and reliable level of performance.
- Guide customer communications and marketing campaigns.
- Manage customer expectations.
Airport standards encompass areas such as:
- Facility condition and cleanliness
- Operational efficiency
- Employee behavior, appearance, and knowledge
- Signage
- Airport and terminal planning and design
- Minimizing construction impact on customers
- Concessions
Branded customer service programs
- Customer service programs provide facilities, products, services and amenities that fulfill customer needs and wants.
- Resonate with the airport’s brand and respond to customer priorities in a way that differentiates the experience from another airport.
- Provide opportunities for new or enhanced revenue streams, as well as opportunities to improve customer satisfaction and airport image.
- Airports that are rated by customers as among the best to use these practices.
Staying on brand
Performance management is critical to assure that the airport community is delivering on the airport’s promise to its customers and, therefore, staying on brand. It involves monitoring and managing the airport’s collective performance utilizing airport standards and key performance measures that indicate that the airport is moving in the right direction.
Characteristics of a sound performance management program include:
- Baseline measures
- A “critical few” realistic targets
- Reliable feedback systems for all customers
- Scorecards, action plans, incentives and disincentives
- Energizing and engaging airport employees
Involvement and buy-in
Customers judge an airport’s performance on the collective performance of all the airport partners that provide service. Every aspect of an airport’s business has repercussions on the service and products provided to its customers, which is then personified by face-to-face customer interactions with airport employees.
Key strategies are:
- Airport business partner involvement in all activities and obtaining their buy-in.
- Collaboration through participation in Airport Business Partner Councils, which provide a forum for the airport community to develop a shared agenda, adopt service standards, solve problems, manage performance, and implement community programs.
- Educating, engaging and energizing airport employees.
- Providing airport orientation programs, customer service training for supervisors and front-line employees, and reward and recognition programs.
Conclusion:
Airports that are customer-centric and focused on achieving the buy-in of business partners and airport employees will enjoy more delighted customers, a more positive airport image, and a beneficial impact on its bottom-line.
Compiled by Joanne Paternoster (jpaternoster@gatewaygroupone.com)
www.gatewaygroupone.com