Contrary to how things were years ago, the aeronautical industry now has widespread patronage, as more and more people continue to book flights. According to a recent study from global records in 2019, an estimated 100,000 flights took off and landed daily in countries all over the world. This goes to show how essential the aeronautical industry has become for personal and business travel. Thus, this industry has a big task to accomplish nowadays and excellent customer support in this highly saturated market has become a competitive advantage!
Any industry that provides imperative services to customers also needs to provide adequate customer support. Aeronautical companies faced more obstacles during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the future looks brighter and there are customer support techniques for turbulent times as well!
Not everyone is as tech-savvy as a trained professional, which means not everyone will be able to book flights without hitches, find flight or airline information easily, or understand how airplanes, flight times, check-in, customs, and other flight elements and airline services work. This is why delivering superb customer support in the aeronautical industry is extremely important.
In fact, customer support agents in the aeronautical industry have one of the most important jobs. Fewer things are worse for travelers than missing an important flight or being unable to book a flight last second.
As a customer support officer in the aeronautical industry, you are oftentimes the reason why people are able to successfully fly to their destination for crucial business meetings, their kid’s wedding or graduation, vacations, or other important events. Customer support agents are real-life heroes who keep the aeronautical industry running smoothly.
With this in mind, we have created a list of six key tips for delivering superb customer support in the aeronautical industry. Follow these tips to become a passenger’s favorite representative or perhaps even the next customer support employee of the month!
Tip 1: The Passenger is Key
This does not mean that you should simply let everything a passenger does fly, or that all airline customers are always right. Rather, it means that in all customer support communications, you should always put the passenger or passengers first. For starters, you should always be friendly, polite, authentic, and empathetic in your writing. Listen attentively to everything that a customer or passenger that reaches out has to say and validate whatever concerns they may have before responding.
Regardless of what seat they are flying in, every customer that seeks support should be given first-class treatment. You can even go beyond the customer’s expectations and provide them with more assistance than they have requested. For instance, a customer reaching out to find out about available flight times can also be offered help in booking their flight ticket.
Tip 2: Offer Multi-platform Support
No customer is the same. Every customer has a go-to channel through which they prefer to reach out to businesses when they need to. Hence, it is important to provide customer support through multiple means and on multiple platforms to make your airline accessible to your customers. Satisfied customers are customers that feel like they are in control of a situation, making customers able to reach out to you on any platform of their choosing.
For starters, businesses should have an active phone number that customers can call and an email address that they can contact you through. Go a step further and offer customers the option to contact you through popular messaging platforms like iMessage and Whatsapp. If you have an active social media account, link them to your websites, so that not only can you publicize your airline on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media platform, but customers can also reach out on these platforms. On your website, you can also employ the use of in-site communication mediums such as helpdesks, including live chat where customers can request assistance or raise issues directly.
If you are looking for the best customer support platform that guarantees maximum privacy and security of your customer conversations and information, you should consider using Helpy. Helpy is for businesses that prioritize the protection of their customers’ data privacy. We provide a breach-proof avenue for communication with your customers as you deliver excellent customer support to them.
If you have thousands of passengers around the world that need assistance or you are an airline that caters to passengers of every language, Helpy has the perfect helpdesk support services for you. From AI-chatbot instant messaging to help you deal with multiple clients at once to security and privacy features that will enable you to keep everything ultra-confidential, Helpy has got you covered when it comes to delivering superb customer support in the aeronautical industry.
To learn more about Helpy and everything we have to offer, click here to visit our website.
Tip 3: Work Collaboratively With Other Departments
The aeronautical industry is extremely broad. Countless airlines exist in the industry, and each airline employs hundreds of people who play different roles that are integral to the smooth operations of the airline. Working in the passenger service or customer service department requires successful collaboration with other departments to provide first-rate services to customers.
These other departments include the department of operations responsible for flight routing and assigning the number of passengers in each flight, the flight dispatch department responsible for all things flight safety, and the sales and marketing departments.
Examples of this type of collaboration include a passenger that requests their ticket to be rescheduled. This would require you to check in with the operations department for future available flight times and seats. Another example includes a refund request, where you will need to forward the request to the finance department. Fostering effective collaboration with other departments will enable you to efficiently and expeditiously work together to manage client issues.
Tip 4: Tap Into Technology
The aeronautical industry already operates one of the most advanced forms of technology that man has ever created, which is airplanes. But when it comes to customer support in the aeronautical industry, you need to utilize advanced technology. Social media analytics and virtual CRM platforms that include chat options, automation, support ticketing, and performance analyses are some tech tools that you can employ in analyzing airline customer behavior. You can also make researched and smart decisions using passenger behavior data.
In line with data privacy requirements, customer data should only be placed in the hands of the right people, and these “right people” should also be decision-makers who will apply this data while making effective decisions that will positively affect the airline company as a whole.
Additionally, you also need to employ technicians that enable you to keep general customer communication secure. Some client conversations may involve the exchange of sensitive data like payment information or passport data. Unauthorized third-party access to this kind of data can be very dangerous, as we live in a time where cybercrime is abundant. The best practice is to communicate within a secure helpdesk channel, as it provides far more security than regular emails. Helpy provides a helpdesk filled with top-notch security features that protect your customer’s data at all times.
Tip 5: Keep All Communication Clear
The aeronautical industry is an expensive field. Customers who pay for expensive plane tickets will not want to reach out to customer support and be met with vague or unclear information. Thus, you must be clear in all communication with customers. Provide them with real-time and accurate responses that will enable them to make good, well-informed decisions.
Customer support is vital in the modern aeronautical industry, especially during a pandemic. Flight scheduling and movements are not as definite as they once were, so you may have to deal with numerous issues like handling flight cancellations due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, rescheduling tickets, discussing PCR and antigen test requirements, and more. Your responsibilities are more important now than ever.
Therefore, when a customer reaches out, respond as swiftly as possible to their messages with error-free writing that is positive, polite, friendly, and comprehensible. You should be easy to communicate and keep in touch with, as mentioned in Tip 2. More than just clear writing, you should also always ensure that customers remain clear on the status of any issues they have raised, and never leave clients in the dark.
Overall, prioritize establishing outstanding communication with passengers and customers.
Tip 6: Learning and Improvement Should Never Stop
As you work in customer support, you should continue to learn and improve your service skills with each customer you interact with. Continuously keeping track of regular passenger preferences will enable you to learn and anticipate their future needs. This will also establish an improvement in your customer support skills because once you can predict what a customer would like, you will find it very easy to make that customer happy in the future.
Experience will also teach you how to handle possible negative situations such as angry customers that are dealing with flight cancellations or delays. These things happen, and while it is never intentional from either end, it is still your job as a customer support agent to manage angry customers. Apologizing to an aggrieved customer before providing explanations or defenses will go a long way towards appeasing them. After solving whatever issue they may have, you can also offer them incentives such as ticket upgrades or exclusive discounts, which prevents the customer from encountering a bad experience.
By and large, delivering superb customer support in the aeronautical industry is all about honing important customer support skills. From listening skills to communication and problem-solving skills, and even good personal presentation are all essential towards facilitating customer satisfaction in this industry. You want loyal and trusting customers who will continue to fly with your airline every time, so you must be willing to put in the work to ensure this is achieved.
Begin by employing all of the tips provided above and see how your customer support reception improves instantly!