How to Generate Orders From Airlines
Three prescriptions for suppliers who need to get more of their projects sold
From time to time people contact me to explore working together. Then on our call they tell me that they would like me to learn about their product and take it to my airline customers. This is not actually something I offer for two reasons:
1. The best person to sell your services is not me but you
2. If you are struggling to get airline customers there is something wrong in your sales and marketing process which needs to be fixed – this article will help you find the solution.
Here are three common issues:
1. You offer revenue management solutions to revenue management, sales to sales, marketing to marketing etc…
Symptoms: Airlines say they will evaluate your proposal and perhaps you are invited to participate in an RFP – you have good experience and could deliver the results the customer needs, but your success rate is low. You find it hard to stand out from the crowd or inspire the airline to take action.
Diagnosis: The supply chain is congested with people just like you doing exactly the same as what you are doing. You are struggling to sell your services because you are crowding into the same space as everyone else rather than a genuine gap in the market.
Prescription: Find another use case who is not currently aware of what you do or how it can help them.
Example: A revenue management systems and data supplier offering a demand forecast might find interest from airline catering, who need to know how many passengers will be travelling to India next year and hence their requirements to order spicy ingredients.
My unique selling point is using revenue management principles to figure out which on-board products like seating, catering and entertainment will generate the most revenue.
2. You are speaking to senior people but not the right people
Symptoms: Your proposal is well received by a Vice President, a Director takes a look but your project is not a priority right now. It gets forgotten about.
Diagnosis: Airline executives are busier than you can imagine, with hundreds of projects under consideration at any one time. You have a good solution but your customers are simply unable to give it the time it needs. You might also be speaking with somebody who has a job title that sounds right, but actually is not.
Prescription: Look for other teams and departments that have a stake-holding in the relevant decision process and pitch to them instead. Sometimes it is worth reaching out to non-buyers like Analysts and Managers who can consider your proposal properly – also, one day they will be promoted and if they are your fan then they can place an order directly. It is important to be familiar with a wide range of roles in a wide range of departments and be able to quickly judge who you are speaking to and what their priorities are (and are not!) to get this right.
Example: A seat manufacturer has a meeting with Vice President Technical – Aircraft Programs. The title sounds great, but the VP in question does not have a program for a new seat right now. The seat manufacturer then reaches out to a Fleet Planning Manager who has no budget but is worried that there are not enough premium seats on her single-aisles – eventually an order is placed and the VP the manufacturer met before is closely involved.
My unique selling point is offering all my airline-related insights to suppliers like you rather than airlines directly.
3. You are a great revenue manager/network planner/marketing guru and think you can now do the same for twice the money as a consultant
Symptoms: The airline says that they are already doing that thing you do.
Diagnosis: You might well be better than the airline’s team right now. But because they already have people doing your thing they will not see a need to engage you.
Prescription: You need to find a way to use your skills to achieve something that the airline is unable to achieve on their own. Audits and transformations are one way of doing this – I had some success with this myself – but you will have some large competitors firmly entrenched and there are easier ways to earn money.
My unique selling point is applying my revenue expertise to help other departments. How does network planning influence loyalty? How does catering impact finance? If you can take your expertise and make somebody think “that’s interesting, I didn’t know that”, you are already half way to your next Contract.
If you want to plug the leaks in your sales and marketing pipeline, get in touch.
oliver AT ransonpricing DOT com