Intent to Create a Trust

Below are some of the strategies that may be pursued to win business for an airline through its agent(s).

3.2.1 Advertisement

Aggressive advertisement has played a prominent role in various business circles today. Through advertisement, your product will get to the market and face competition with equivalent substitutes. The market is therefore the field for your product to prove its qualities and acceptability to consumers.

In our circumstance, service is the product. The airlines you are representing fly, in some cases, the same type of competitors’ equipment (aircraft). For example, KLM the Royal Dutch Airline flies some series of McDonnell Douglas DC10 aircraft and Nigeria Airways may be flying the same series in its fleet. These aircraft are made by the same American manufacturers. They have the same design and speed range. Mechanically, the difference could be in the engines. May be KLM has chosen Rolls Royce engines as against Nigeria Airways Pratt and Whitney engines.

Another difference could be the configuration (arrangement) of seats in the aircraft.

While Airline ‘A’ maintains a three class of First, Business and Economy, Airline ‘B’

may opt for two classes. Thus, you see one type of aircraft having lesser number of seats than another type of the same model and series.

Where major differences in the services rendered exist, cut-throat competition among the airlines arises. You are competing with other agents in the sale of services of airlines.

You have to create awareness for your Agency in, say, the dailies, business magazines, journals, radio and television.

3.2.2 Staff Attitude to Customers

Be ever ready to solve customers’ reservation problems. Confirmation of reservation is a serious problem facing passengers these days as flights on all the airlines are provisionally fully booked despite the general outcry of the biting effects of economic recession/meltdown and the resultant inflation. A passenger that feels well treated by staff of an agency will return his patronage in future.

3.2.3 Sales Calls

A door to door campaign for patronage of the Agency services has shown better results. It gives opportunity for the salesman to discover new grounds.

An indisposed business executive or private businessman may make enquiries about sending an under-aged child, say a 13 year old girl, to her parents in London without being accompanied on the flight by an adult. If the salesman is a seasoned one, he would know that it is a product of the airlines termed “unaccompanied minor”. An arrangement is made to deliver the child at the doorstep of her parents in London. As

age is a determining factor in fares payable to the airlines, her age bracket attracts half fare and the agency is entitled to 9 percent commission as well.

Cargo can as well be air freighted through the agent. In the course of combing the streets to canvass for passengers, an intending exporter of life animals or expert items like fruits hides and skin etc. may be by sheer coincidence meet the agency salesman who will secure the business for his company if his bargaining power is effective.

3.2.4 Refund of Unused Tickets

For one reason or the other, a passenger may return a completely or partly unused ticket for refund. Unreasonable period of delay before refund is made could constitute a potential source of frustration for the passenger and disaffection for the agency. Two weeks may be unreasonable time for a passenger to claim his money for a service not utilised.

Well-managed airlines and travel agencies make payments to their customers in respect of unused tickets on weekly basis. This policy will enable them hold on to what they have as regards retention of their share of the market. Refund is therefore a very sensitive aspect of both airlines and travel agency business.

3.2.5 Give-aways

This is a marketing tool for almost all the airlines in the world. Gifts in varied forms like cabin bags, fountain and ball pens, playing cards, ash-trays, cuff-inks, wrist watches, wallets and purses, tee-shirts, ties, sports caps, etc. with logos and names of the airlines inscribed on them. Some passengers may have vowed to fly particular airlines for their generosity in distribution of expensive give-way items.

Major distribution channels of these give-away are the travel agencies who in turn distribute, according to merit, to their customers who are indirectly customers of the airlines. Steady flyers of first class tickets or business class may be the yardstick of measuring the merit.

3.2.6 Discounts

It has become a common phenomenon that agents these days offer a discount of between 3 and 4 percent of the accruing 9 percent commission as an inducement for passengers to give them their patronage.

The practice has come to stay because there is no airline or IATA regulation forbidding such practice, just as deregulation of fares by the airlines has become an acceptable norm.

3.2.7 Sales Promotion

It is an exercise by which interest of big customers are promoted. For example, a big brewery like International Breweries based at Ilesha, Oyo State of Nigeria whose popular brand of larger beer is ‘Trophy’. The company has a football team playing in the premier division whose appellation is “Trophy Boys”.

The team played in the finals of 1989 F.A. Challenge Cup Championships. To further promote the business of a travel agency with the brewery that has a fairly large population of expatriates whose travel business is handled by that agency, its management could offer to sponsor the team by providing it with playing outfits like jerseys and shorts. A party can as well be sponsored by the agency to celebrate the team’s victory if it emerged champion. Name and logo of the agency, by agreement, would of course be written in front of the jerseys.

While promoting the interest of the customers, the agency was also advertising itself.

International Brewers would at least for sometime stay with the agency for travel business of its expatriate and local staff.