Probably a bit dramatic. But you know what that means? There’s a chance it’s not dramatic enough. And I don’t know which is more accurate here, but I’d err on the side that it’s not dramatic enough because – as I’ve mentioned before – I’m a bit dramatic. Anyway, on to my frustration of the week.
Holy shit most of the sales efforts (in particular) and marketing in aviation is copied, masticated, and spit (back) out dogshit. Obfuscating at best, intentionally misleading at worst, and always slightly condescending in their preying and dependence on prospects knowing less than they do about the industry and the way it works. Every operator and broker has some “edge” with the way they quote (they don’t), or the way they schedule (they still don’t), or their programs are “revolutionary” in some way (they’re not), or they’re offering some “discount,” or, or, or……
Here’s my issue with all of it.
At the end of the day, what we do is expensive. And what we do is extremely well defined. There’s only so many ways to (not) reinvent the wheel in this space and no amount of “AI” or “revolutionary” programming will make this space anything other than what it is……which is a service with an insane regulatory barrier to entry (not dissimilar to the industry I left several years ago), is extremely capital intensive, and is incredibly intricate (and surprisingly delicate) in the ongoing management of fleet, schedule, and crew(s). And you know what? All of that considered, it should be expensive relative to the value it creates for clients.
So why, why, why does this time of year always turn into a copy fest of shitty promotions and discounts? Why market to make it seem more accessible than you know it is? Why bait and switch? Who wins? More importantly, who do operators/brokers that market and sell that way expect to win in those situations, and how? Is gaining market share worth sacrificing profitability? Is it worth the undue reputational risk? Maybe. In a hyper-specific set of circumstances, and only if you can back up the experience required to do so. If you can’t back it up? You create a revolving door of (now former) customers that lose you money.
But it’s not even about the money, or the marketing, or the sales practices. It is, like always, about the experience delivered. It starts with what’s promised and ends with what’s delivered, repeating ad nauseam. Say what you’ll do, do what you say. Doing that’s easy, figuring it out is hard.
None of this is to say that promotions don’t have a time and place. They absolutely do. But they should seek to enhance an experience, not reduce it.
Ultimately, I have no interest in a race to the bottom in a sea of sameness. And our clients shouldn’t want us to enter that race. It may not be felt right away, or by everyone, but there is always a cost.
And nobody wins in that situation, especially the client.
-Mark