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A CRM Question About Airlines in China
Interaction Between Advisors And Members
Mr. Simon Kriss, CRM & Call Centre Expert, APCCN
www.g-cem.org
Question: In your opinion, what's the best way to start CRM for the airline industry in China? Since customer information in airline industry is not as easy to access as in banking industry. Right now in China, most of the airlines companies are using similiar approaches, like Call Centre, Club, Loyalty Programs etc. Do you have any recommendation particularly for airlines industry to start CRM?
CRM In Airlines
Although CRM in an Airline may seem very different to Banking or Telecommunications, it really is not. At the heart of CRM is a desire by a company to get closer to their client, regardless of what product or service they sell.
Airlines have made themselves somewhat removed from their customers over the years by letting the customer feel like they are just a name on a ticket (and sometimes not even that). So, before any decision can be made around CRM we need lots of information - as much as we can get. We start with transactional information and build towards interactional information. Let me explain.
CRM, as we all know, is not a single solution (like Call Centres or Loyalty Clubs) nor is it a technology solution. CRM is a deep business transformational philosophy - a "way of existing" more than just a "way of doing business". Such a deeply profound impact on a business cannot be rushed and needs to be based on carefully analysed information rather than the "gut feel" of the marketing department. CRM should always seek to mirror that "amazing" relationship your mother or grand-mother had with their local store owner. When you think about that relationship, remember that often the customer (your mother) felt like she owned the relationship, not the store owner. Why was this relationship so special? Why would she keep going back to that store again and again, even if there were problems with the goods she bought? Why? TRUST! Trust in any relationship is key to success - friends, wives, husbands. They all centre around trust. Trust is built up by numerous encounters in which information is shared and remembered by both parties and the continuous deepening of the knowledge and understanding of the other person engenders the trust. Your Mum trusted the store owner to take care of her needs, and he trusted her to keep coming back. I'll bet you can remember going to the store with your mother or grand-mother and being amazed by how much the store owner knew about your family - how many brothers and sisters you have, what your father liked to eat, even what your name was and you had never met this guy before !!!
Many businesses today have forgotten the very very basic fundamentals of how to build relationships through engendering trust built from knowledge. It is not rocket science, just good business.
So, where do you start? Start by trying to understand as much about your customers as possible. I would start with whatever information you have at hand, which will probably be mostly transactional information (eg: who flew where and when). So let's start here. Try to analyse who repeats as a customer, between what cities, what days, what times. Flag your frequent flyers if possible and try to get to know them better. The other key to starting is to widen your current knowledge base. Start tracking more data points from every interaction with your customers. Start finding contact numbers, ages, geographics, etc. This, of course, needs to be done in a very relaxed and unobtrusive manner. Customer will run away at the speed of light if you start making each transaction feel like an interrogation. Only collect information that you can use in the short term, and that makes sense to the transaction at hand. Asking how many children a flyer has will seem crazy when all they want to do is book a ticket from Shanghai to Guangzhou.
You can then use this information to decide upon your full CRM strategy. Maybe your customers don't want a Frequent Flyer program, but they really focus on timely departures, or a comfortable Lounge to relax in, or SMS updates on expected departure times. Who knows? The CUSTOMER knows and we need to learn.
In summary, collect and review all of the information you already have (you might surprise yourself) and then examine you current customer touch-points to see how you can expand the information set you currently collect. Don't forget to also track HOW the customer wants to deal with you (eg: voice call, SMS, web, etc.) this information will become vital to tailoring very personalized offers later.
Good luck and remember CRM is all about TRUST.
What Does The Passenger Actually Want
Ron Ho, Chief of 3C Method Institute, 3C Method Certified Consultant
An airline company in China must first clearly answer a particular question before it starts to develop CRM. The question is: what does the passenger actually want? Is it because the airliner offers cheap tickets, a convenient way to buy or to return a ticket, or is it because of the sincere smiling face of stewardess (note: this is not a pretend or forced smile) that its customers like fly with them? Currently, my personal view is, that the in-flight services domestically are too different from those offered overseas. The stewardess from abroad genuinely care for the passenger, it is just like the genuine sympathy of an ordinary person and is not motivated by any thought of profit. From this aspect, the airliner should look for someone who is good-hearted and not just attractive and looks like a goddess. Even during a price war, you still have to have good manners, after all, this is a basic human quality. As to whether or not you provide drinks, which is actually just a "small advantage", this certainly is not so important. The in-flight service provided by airlines abroad is very good. Is it because the tickets are more expensive? If the ticket price of a domestic flight were as expensive as a foreign air ticket, could you ensure that the service would be improved? The base of the expense should be spent on the "quality of the staff's service". It is impossible to realize CRM if the airliner is only acting blindly in other aspects and not enhancing the quality of its staff. This is the core doctrine of CRM. It can never be substituted by any technology and it is the ultimate competitive advantage too. Starting from this point, you can definitely design a "quality supervisory system for service personnel" and establish a mechanism that can enhance the operation of "good service" from top to bottom as well as various appraisal mechanisms, etc. In this field, only the IT technology can display its talents.
Moreover, if you wish to set up a customer database, is it really that difficult? The airliner requires full information about each and every customer and this must be completed at the time. The name and the identity card of every customer can be recorded, and with this information you can find out the identity of the customers who travel regularly on your scheduled flights. You can carry out an investigation and find out why are they loyal to you or vice versa. Why are all airlines copying the same things that the other companies do? First of all, CRM is your marketing direction, service strategy and long-term communication strategy and is not a technical question. I believed, that you have enough capital to settle those questions about tactics, but the key issue is "where is your creativity?".
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