The Value of a Business Plan in Managing Your FBO

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In some of our previous blog posts, we have mentioned the need to develop a strategic business plan, not only as a way to define business goals, but also to help formulate your personal goals, such as detailing an exit plan from your FBO business.

As most of you know, if you want to borrow money from a bank, the SBA or other sources, one of the first things they will ask you for is a business plan. This alone is a good reason to develop one. However, beyond this basic need, a business plan can be much more and serve your business in many different ways.

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FBO Marketing, Part 1: Low- and No-Cost Promotion

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Did you know there are ways you can market your FBO with little or no out-of-pocket expense?

At our NATA FBO Success Seminars, we examine various aspects of marketing for an FBO. One of the most popular sessions is Marketing and Communications for Any Size FBO.

Many FBOs that attend our seminars believe they can’t compete with the big FBO chains because they don’t have the money and resources. To that, I kindly say, “Bunk”. There are plenty of ways you can “shake hands” with your customers or potential customers without breaking your budget or robbing your kids’ piggy bank.

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Is Your Cost of ‘Plastic’ out of Control?

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One of our more popular courses at our FBO Success Seminar is Maximizing Your Credit Card Transactions. We discuss in detail the credit /debit card processing system and how it affects your FBO business. Needless to say, the cost of this vital service is substantial and increasing.
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Wooten Returns to Cutter Aviation as Regional Aircraft Sales Manager

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R.D. Wooten has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry. He had worked for Cutter Aviation in the 1980s and 1990s.Cutter Aviation has appointed R.D. Wooten to the new regional aircraft sales manager role at Cutter Aircraft Sales in Phoenix.

Wooten is no stranger to Cutter Aviation. He spent more than 20 years through the 1980s and 1990s with Cutter Aircraft Sales as a Beechcraft sales representative. His experience and history with the company made him a perfect choice for the new position, in which he will manage sales and acquisitions of pre-owned turbine and jet aircraft and high-performance piston aircraft for Cutter Aviation. Wooten will also be the Arizona sales manager for the Cutter Aviation Southwestern U.S. dealership for the American Champion Aircraft family of aerobatic and backcountry light aircraft.

Wooten started in aviation more than 30 years ago as a flight instructor and charter pilot building flight time from a small airport in Missouri. Moving to Phoenix in the late 1970s, Wooten began his aircraft sales career in 1979 with Cutter Aviation as a salesman for the Beechcraft dealership at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. His two decades of experience with Cutter Aviation and Beechcraft and experience in the past decade with EADS-Socata (now Daher-Socata) TBM 700 and 850 turboprop single aircraft afforded Wooten the opportunity to develop a high-level understanding of the executive piston, turboprop and light jet market.

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FBO Customer Expectations: How High Should You Set the Bar?

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Is the level of customer service expectation set high enough at your FBO? Does it meet or exceed the standards of the industry, or are you doing just enough to get by?

Recently, I was reading a customer service-related blog titled: “Did You Know You’re Competing with Apple?” The premise piqued my interest. Could it be possible the level of service a customer expects to receive at an FBO can be properly compared with the expectation of service offered by the top brands in their respective industries — companies like Apple, Virgin America and Amazon?

I was hooked on the notion. So I read on, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Customers who walk into any FBO have already been exposed to the highest level of customer service possible because they are all consumers.

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NBAA Announces 34 Maintenance TRACS Winners

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NBAA and its Maintenance Committee congratulated 34 recipients of the 2011 Maintenance Technical Reward and Career Scholarship (TRACS) at NBAA’s 26th Annual Maintenance Management Conference on April 5 in San Diego.
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The Cost of Aviation Fuel

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We think it’s fair to say we are all feeling the impact on fuel price increases over the last six months or so. As a pilot, I’m seeking the best fuel price and am modifying my flying patterns to get the best deal.

Historically, after an initial spike in oil prices, the market tends to settle down. So why haven’t we seen a stabilization in Jet A fuel prices? What’s causing the volatility in the open and spot fuel markets?

Besides the obvious affects of world events, including the disaster in Japan and political upheaval in the Middle East oil-producing regions, there are other underlying dynamics that contribute to rising aviation fuel prices.

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Measuring Your FBO Customer Service Experience

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Now it’s time to measure the effectiveness of all your good work to improve the Customer Service Experience!

Just as a good measure of one’s intellect is the Intelligence Quotient or IQ test, at Aviation Business Strategies Group (ABSG), we have developed the means to test your FBO’s Customer Quotient or CQ™. The results of determining your CQ™ is a good measure on the overall effectiveness of your FBO customer service initiatives.

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