A huge percentage of the activities that make up general aviation can be categorized as service oriented.
Some consider the term “service economy” to be a disparagement of sorts. It is not. Providing a desirable level of service is something to be proud of. High quality service is what prosperous businesses base their success on.
A lack of service is where unsuccessful businesses find their Waterloo.
Recently I visited an airport to meet a Part 107 Unmanned Aerial Systems applicant. I had been asked to recommend the application through the FAA’s Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA), which should lead to the applicant becoming a certificate holder.
That sort of thing pleases me. Participating in even a peripheral way in someone’s achievement is a worthwhile experience. I highly recommend it.
When I arrived at the FBO where the applicant suggested we meet, there were four young men working the counter. None looked up. All four had their faces glued to a screen. They took no notice of the few people in the lobby, including myself.
Being familiar with the facility I directed myself to the Flight Planning Room. The applicant was already there, 10 minutes earlier than we’d agreed to meet. He was diligently working to get an internet connection on one of the flight planning computers. Of the three available, one didn’t work at all. The other two refused to connect to the internet. The applicant tried mightily to connect using his phone as a hot spot. No luck.
After several minutes of trying unsuccessfully to connect, I went back to the front desk and got the attention of one of the line staff on duty. I explained the problem. The young man leapt into action immediately.
He was friendly and cooperative. Two of his peers looked up and flashed smiles my way. These kids weren’t disinterested at all. They simply hadn’t been taught how to be proactive in their work. They were passive by habit and training.
In the Flight Planning Room the line guy was as unsuccessful as the applicant and I had been. I asked if there was another computer in the building where we could get a connection. Recommending the application was our priority, after all.
The young line guy had an answer. He led us to a back office, fired up the computer there, verified that it was online, and left the applicant and me to do our stuff.
It would be easy to sink into a depressing diatribe about the laziness of kids today. To disparage those four young men at the counter for being self-absorbed and disconnected from the customers they were meant to serve. But that would be wrong. They weren’t unwilling to help. They weren’t surly, or rude, or impolite. They were simply left adrift without direction from their management.
It’s not their fault. Their lack of customer service, inattention to their primary purpose while at work, the inefficiency of their time spent on the clock all comes down to less than ideal management.
The role of a manager is to provide support, direction, and encouragement to their subordinates. By setting out specific expectations the employees benefit from known goals they can aspire to. They know what the baseline of expected effort is. In due time they’ll discover how to go above and beyond when it’s appropriate. This shows the employer the employee has potential. It tells the customer the business values their time and money.
Good management results in a big win for all involved. Less effective management will generally achieve lesser results.
This problem is an epidemic in the general aviation world. Most pilots have flown into a distant FBO at some point to find their dollars are accepted, but are very much unappreciated.
Some of us have lucked into the FBOs where service with a smile is the standard. Those experiences are priceless — often resulting in the pilot telling friends and peers about their visit. Which, in turn, tends to make those friends and peers think about making the trip themselves.
It will come as no surprise to any adult living in the western world that government-operated entities tend to run much less efficiently than privately-run competitors. In many cases there is no competition at airports open to the public. A government office has dominion over the field, rents the hangars, sells the fuel, and staffs the FBO.
A second alternative involves contracting those services out to a private company. Yet, like the young line staff whose poor performance was a direct result of inadequate management, a private company that is allowed to languish by its public benefactor will often do just that.
The key to success for any of us is to have specific goals we hope to achieve. To establish measurable metrics that can be evaluated periodically. That’s as true for an individual as it is for a company. If we know where we hope to go and know where we are on the path to that destination, our chances of success are enhanced significantly.
Conversely, if we simply fumble around in the dark with no plan, doing little more than unlocking the doors and turning on the lights, few customers will be singing our praises. Profits will be few, costs will be uncontained, and dissatisfaction will become the operative phrase on both sides of the service counter.
The solution is simple. Seek out training for managers who can then provide direction and meaning to their subordinates. Encourage commitment to duty. Incentivize active engagement for those on the job. Provide a path to promotion to those who measure up.
Finding success isn’t all that complicated, especially in a service-oriented industry. It’s not easy, but the path to success isn’t well hidden. It’s right out in plain sight. Start with a smile and a willingness to help. Run with that. Profits will follow.
I owned a small fbo up in NH back in the 90’s. If you’ve been following, it’s the one Scott Poteet started at. I always had the last interview with new hires. There were two bits I impressed new folk with. First, there are only two people that walk through that door with money for your payroll and as one of them I’m going to run short. The CUSTOMER came here with money and intent. Please listen to them and make every reasonable effort to help them leave some of their money with us. The second was a question of hierarchy in the company. I would ask who they report to/work for. They invariably named my ops manager as she was the one that had hired them. Then I would ask who worked for them. This usually threw a young line person into a “well… no one”. I pointed out that I, as owner and overall “boss,” worked for THEM. It was ultimately my job to see to it that they had whatever they needed to do their job. Publix groceries teaches much the same, It works. I had a very young stock boy tell me that since there had been a supply issue and they were out of the coffee I preferred, if the substitute I was settling for didn’t work out to come back and he would make it right. THAT is great management.
This concept was published in Automotive News in the early 70’s. Didn’t make any difference then either. The direct point was when your dealership GM leaves, don’t make your best salesman the new GM. Now you’ve lost your best salesman and have a lousy GM. Or best mechanic to salesman. Called an owner once on that to remind him as a flat rate mechanic I was the highest paid person in his company, why would you want me as a salesman?
Unfortunately, this is not new. In 1982 (how many years ago was that?) I had a pocketful of cold, hard CASH and wanted to buy an airplane. FBO had three Tomahawks on their flight line with for sale banners on the props. Couldn’t get anyone’s attention to take my money, after the third try (“The sales guy is out of town, come back in a week or two.”), I bought a C150 from someone else. That FBO is long out of business.
A few years later, I wanted to stop for fuel at a nearby and growing airport. Made a radio call, got a very snippy reply “This is a non-federal control tower, you ask for LANDING INSTRUCTIONS here.” I replied telling them I would continue on and buy my fuel someplace else. Now they have a legit federal tower.
It isn’t just airplanes . . . went into a Pontiac dealership fully intending to buy a new Fiero, the entire sales staff was too busy watching a football game to talk to me. I left and bought something else (guess I inadvertently dodged the bullet on that one, so they did me a favor). That dealership was gone long before GM spiked Pontiac.
Here’s the deal – customers pay your bills. Business rule for success number one: “Always make it easy for people to give you money.” Rules two through ten are also quite simple: “Refer to rule number one”. If you don’t have any customers you won’t have any money, but you will still have bills, and shortly thereafter, you’ll be broke. Customers keep you in business. Act accordingly. Tell your employees as well.
This article is spot on. many companies promote people to the management level based solely on their performance at a lower level. They provide no leadership training whatsoever and simply rely on the “sink or swim” method for the development of managers. I was taught leadership as a young Marine Corps officer. The Marine Corps understood that there is no such thing as a born leader. Leadership is taught and if more companies and organizations understood this, they would be much more successful.
Recognizing someone who did their job well goes a long way. Always looking for a reason to encourage is a good habit.
Unfortunately, most people don’t, and also unfortunate is that many in customer service don’t deserve it.
GA News Readers…please share widely. An objective narrative for us all.
It’s easy to find fault, more difficult to uncover potential especially with those (mostly) young folks who’ve simply been conditioned to default to “that screen.” Catch them doing something right, and recognize it!
Well said Mr. Segall. I am sharing with a few right now.