South Asia : The Value of Service
Value and, Value in Service. What does it mean ?
Imagine there are two taxi drivers in your neighbourhood.
One has a brand new car, with very comfortable seats and offers the service at a moderate price. But he always hesitates to stop for a few extra minutes till you get ready and even when he rarely does, he would ask you for a few more dollars.
The other one has a good car, but it is neither new nor comfortable as much as the first one’s. His rates are also equal to the first one. But he is really easy going and never forgets to relate a funny old experience of him while driving. Whenever you have a few large bags to carry, he always carries them himself from your home to the car and never lets you have the hassle. He never minds waiting a few extra minutes for you and never asks any extra money for it.
Which one will you prefer to travel with ? Undoubtedly, the second one. Why ? Because his service is excellent. This same theory can be applied to airlines – you only need to replace the car with an aircraft.
This is key when you’re flying into South Asia. Because South Asians value service a lot more than anyone else. But unfortunately, some airlines appear to have misunderstood service as in-flight services.
In-Flight Service is an important part, to which I will agree hands down. But, if you have a Service that beats your ( and other airlines’ ) In-Flight Product, this will be your winning niche and a Unique Selling Point. It is the prime Value of your airline. And it can highly increase the Value of Service Offering, which is your In-Flight Product, even if you have a not-so-great product.
What can you do to increase the Value of your airline ?
Be Personal
Treat your customers as to friends – not ‘plain customers’ both on ground and in flight. A simple smile can change the total perspective. This makes a big difference. Always be human and never forget that you are in a service industry. Read this excellent work by Southwest in ‘being personal’ at FlyingWithFish .
Find Your Niche
Find your airline’s unique selling point and do not be just another me-too. This makes your customers find a unique value in your airline and it will keep them loyal to your airline. This is why Southwest leads when JetAmerica got bankrupt even before launch of operations. I will be covering this in more specific detail in the ‘Marketing’ section of this series.
Advertise the Reality
This does not mean you should stop promoting what you have on offer – but you will have to be realistic. You will get no benefit by over-promoting and under-delivering. Instead, under-promise and over-deliver. It really works and will make your customers love your airline for a long time.
Provide Options
Not all the South Asians are same. They come from different backgrounds and different economy levels. If you can provide Options to suit any of them – you will have a great value in service offering.
Price and fare segmentation is something that will work well in South Asia due to the varied economy scales of South Asian.
This is why I specifically mentioned Premium Economy in the last part of this series.
Premium Economy can become a phenomenon in South Asia, because..
2. Not many airlines offer Premium Economy class service to South Asia. If you offer a good service, you will have a great chance in attracting even the Business Class passengers of some ailing carriers.
3. If pitched to corporate travel policy makers correctly – this would become the next Business Class of choice to many South Asian companies that are troubled by the recession.
The above steps might appear simple and basic. But they are not. There is a big value in them. Because, there is a real value in passengers who will come to fly with you again.
Expect my next installment of the South Asia 101 series on Airline Marketing for South Asia.
This is the third installment of the South Asia 101 series, you may find the full table of contents here .
[...] iii. The Value of Service for South Asians [...]
[...] we’ve been examining various details of operating flights to South Asia, such as demand, service offering, marketing and operational challenges recently, let’s talk about the bigger picture in [...]