I would like to explore the ways in which a large full-service carrier is able to develop relationships with customers.

Is it possible for a customer to have a relationship (in the marketing sense) with an airline? My position is no, I do not think that it is possible for an individual to have a relationship with an entity, I am convinced after years of experience in airline customer service that individuals can only develop relationships with other individuals. Why do I say this? our airlines are spending millions of dollars on our marketing departments each year with the singular goal of developing relationships in mind, is this wasted money? is the investment working? Surely, we would not be spending this money if the enterprise has not succeeded to some extent, otherwise how does the marketing department deserve such large budgets year after year?

My position is based on the fact that it is very unlikely that a customer deals with the same agent or other point-of-contact airline employee more than once. Of course I am not talking about the top tear customers that many airlines have become adept at customizing relationship tools such is VIP agents and the like. It is the every day typical customer that flies no more than three or four times a year. Of course, we train our front line employees in ‘moment of truth’ principles to ensure a uniformed and satisfying experience, but this only results in various levels of satisfaction, I think it is a mistake to classify a ‘satisfied’ or a ‘dissatisfied’ customer as one that has a ‘relationship’ with our airline.

Without getting into too much detail at this point, I would like to leave the subject open to discussion and expand on my position based on any replies or other comments received. I will close by simply stating that while our marketing departments go to great lengths to distinguish their activities from those of the sales department by saying they are ‘relationship building’. It is my position then, that we are involved in ensuring that we meet our customer’s expectations (by understand the expectations and then surpassing them) thus leading to more sales. Therefore, the marketing department is engaged in ‘sales’ not ‘relationships’.

Do you disagree? Do I have the wrong interpretation of ‘relationships’ let me know what you think.

Hi Paul, thanks for contributing to the forum --

I agree with you in a broad sense. Business spends a lot of time trying to package the various approaches, systems, and software for capturing customers -- there's customer relationships management, customer relationships marketing, and now the one that seems to resonate with the issues you'ved raised: Customer Experience Management. Have a look at the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_experience_management

If airline seat miles have now become a commodity business, attention in this area might be the most visible way that the LCC's have distinguished themselves from the majors. The best example that comes immediately to mind is JetBlue with the seat-back TV's and program choices. Neeleman says that that service is over-hyped, but the truth is, his airline has been the beneficiary of a lot of buzz about that.

What do you think? Does this feed into your original observations? Does CEM drive repurchase intent and thus, long-term relationships with customers?

Interesting issue: As an IT masters grad who became a marketeer (!), I would like to think that it is possible to cater for all customers. But yes, the extent of 1-to-1 realtionships is virtually impossible. An airline can never be everything to everyone (true for any organisation with large customer bases).

Hence, this is why I think CRM is evolving to identify the most critical customers, ie the VERY FFs, or the Top 20% who provide 80% of the revenues. It is possible to build more personalised realtionships with these customers. There is an increasing application of science to identify and segment customer bases for this very reason.

The closer the customer is to the top of the "pyramid" the more personalised attention they are likely to receive - or should be anyway!

Hello..
There are many benefits of having the CRM software for the business as it keeps the record of the clients and help in maintaining the good relationship. The business growth usually depends upon the client satisfaction and a good interaction with them.
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Have a look at: crm in the cloud | crm system .