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What can a freight dog do to gain customer service experience?

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What can a freight dog do to gain customer service experience?

Old 05-30-2008, 10:49 PM
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Default What can a freight dog do to gain customer service experience?

Greetings and thank you for your time.

I'm a lear PIC for one of the larger 135 freight companies looking to move on to fractional or corporate aviation. It seems more and more common in this competitive environment for freight dogs to get shot down based on our lack of customer experience; specifically flying passengers versus cargo. Obviously we all provide a service to the customer in some way, but people and boxes are two different things.

Are there any proactive steps I can take to perhaps enhance my resume or skill set in this regard?

Thanks Again
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Old 05-31-2008, 08:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Chickenwolf View Post
Greetings and thank you for your time.

I'm a lear PIC for one of the larger 135 freight companies looking to move on to fractional or corporate aviation. It seems more and more common in this competitive environment for freight dogs to get shot down based on our lack of customer experience; specifically flying passengers versus cargo. Obviously we all provide a service to the customer in some way, but people and boxes are two different things.

Are there any proactive steps I can take to perhaps enhance my resume or skill set in this regard?

Thanks Again
Even though you are hauling boxes you still must utilize customer service skills. Instead of an "external" customer you have "internal" customers. Namely, the couriers. When you interview draw on the stories you have with the drivers/couriers for customer service answers (or other internal customers.)

If you are flying the requisite equipment type and have the hours necessary then these stories will certainly fit the bill. Although you may not have specific passenger stories, that's not necessarily required. As long as you have what it takes to provide that customer service. They will see whether or not you have a customer service oriented personality in your demeanor and how you present your "internal" customer stories.

I've met many who have the required "passenger" experience, but have no idea what customer service means. The two don't always go hand-in-hand.

I hope that helps!

Lori
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Old 06-01-2008, 05:27 AM
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Chickenwolf,

Lori is correct in saying that you still exhibit customer service skills in your job- just through a different channel or outlet.

Speaking from a corporate point of view, as an interviewer, I wouldn't disregard a resume from a person that hasn't had passenger experience simply because they may not have "customer service skills". I know many airline folks (some with which I have flown) that don't even come close to knowing the meaning of the term, much less putting it into play. I've personally found that vetting candidates based on flight time/experience type is good for the interview, but when it comes down to it, nothing on paper can really detail customer service skills as well as a face to face interaction/interview.

If you are going to interview with any passenger operation, particularly corporate or fractional, take some time to think through some customer service situations and how you would react. While there isn't as much gouge out there about some of the companies that you might interview with, many customer service scenarios apply across the board. Here are a few examples- consider how you would handle each of these situations if you were the PIC (all of these have happened to me at some point or another):

- Passengers arrive earlier than scheduled without notifying you (before they drive up to the curb). As a result, the pre-ordered catering has not yet arrived and isn't scheduled to show up for another hour. What do you do?

- Your boss, the aircraft owner needs to get to NYC for a noon meeting with the CEO of a partner firm. Unfortunately the weather at your primary and secondary destionations (TEB and LGA) is low and there are lengthy delays. You don't think that you can get him to either airport in time to make the meeting. What do you do?

- After arriving at back at your home base (after an empty repo flight), you realize that your passengers left a briefcase and laptop in the rear baggage closet. What do you do?

- You are flying between two rural airports, one in Virginia and the other in Missouri. There is a very large line of weather that crosses Tennessee and Indiana, then extends into Canada. Although the weather at both airports is nice, there is a 4 hour ground delay program for your flight due to "enroute weather" in Indianapolis Center. What do you do/tell your passengers?

- A business trip has been scheduled for over a week. As the departure date nears, it is evident that winter weather is going to become an issue, especially since you are going to be operating into/out of mountainous terrain. Is there anything you can do/suggest to minimize the impact of approaching weather system?

- While flying enroute on a leg that is near the max endurance of the aircraft, you have your FO pull out the aircraft operating manual to check more accurate fuel burn numbers. After landing at your destination, your passengers comment that they are not comfortable flying back with your crew because you "had to read the manual". How do you handle the situation?

- NetJet's (I believe) used to ask a question in their interview that I found interesting, but also pertinent- "When does customer service go too far?" Consider that a bit.

I've found that the simplest way to approach CS is to remember the golden rule... Anytime that I am approached with a difficult situation, I consider- how would I want to be treated if I was on the other side of the scenario. Remember- in addition to ensuring safe operations that are compliant with the regs and SOP's, your job is to be a problem solver- both in the air and on the ground.

I've found that in many cases, the best thing you can do is come up with multiple alternative solutions (that are acceptable from an operations standpoint), and then ultimately let the passengers/boss decide.

Good luck!
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Old 06-01-2008, 07:24 AM
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FlyerJosh -

An excellent post and very informative. Thank you.

Using your experience, and some of the 'real world' situations you mention, would you possibly share some of your answers to the offered scenarios?

I've thought that the general answer of - try to find a way to say YES - while not sacrificing safety, rules, regs, SOPs, etc....... is an acceptable approach to most situations. Now the devil is still in the details and often the correct answer given (especially with regards to the weather/delay questions) will not always lead to an understanding/happy customer (just look at the general flying public's reaction to the same at the terminals), but then it is the company's responsibility to back your decision. If they are not willing to then you must decide if it is a company you still want to work for.

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Old 06-01-2008, 07:59 AM
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Tell you what, I'll wait a day or two and then post how we as a crew decided to approach each of these situations. If I think of any other scenarios, I'll be happy to post them...

Here's an interesting one that I encountered while flying for the airlines:

I was the FO on a flight with a very young crew. The captain had flown for the airline for 4 years and had just upgraded at 23. I was 23 1/2 (with 18 months of experience on line), and our FA was 19. Upon boarding at an outstation we were approached by an elderly couple, one of whom has serious concerns about our "youthfulness" and refused to board. How would you as PIC handle this situation?
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Old 06-02-2008, 07:09 AM
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JMHO -

Take a minute to introduce myself, explain the crew's background vs. regs, and give enough detail to show how familiar I am with the route, A/C, weather, etc. Also, the pax might actually just be nervous about flying in general and the "youthfulness" is a trigger point, so explain the A/C a bit. This happened to me a couple times at ASA when I was 22.

If that doesn't work, too bad. They can wait for the next one.
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Old 06-03-2008, 01:44 PM
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Thank You all for the responses! I definitely have plenty of scenarios to use for CS questions I just wanted to see if anyone had any "outside the box" type ideas. I guess you just have to work with what you got, its not like theres a customer service certificate I can get. Though I have received internal awards for CS. Thanks again some good info on here.
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Old 06-04-2008, 10:39 AM
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Excellent info, guys! Here are my responses, let me know what you think please. BTW, I'm just a CFI, I have no real experience dealing with these situations.

- Passengers arrive earlier than scheduled without notifying you (before they drive up to the curb). As a result, the pre-ordered catering has not yet arrived and isn't scheduled to show up for another hour. What do you do?
Let the passengers know that the Catering is on the way, and that it is scheduled to arrive based on the arranged meeting time. Don't harp on the fact that they are too early, but mention that things can operate more smoothly if they call ahead to let you (the pilot) know about their new show time. Offer to pick up some local food in the meantime if they want, while they wait.

- Your boss, the aircraft owner needs to get to NYC for a noon meeting with the CEO of a partner firm. Unfortunately the weather at your primary and secondary destionations (TEB and LGA) is low and there are lengthy delays. You don't think that you can get him to either airport in time to make the meeting. What do you do?
Tell him the situation and offer alternate destinations that have better weather. Arrange to have a car pick him up from this destination and get him to the meeting. Possibly depart earlier to allow more time for the longer drive.

- After arriving at back at your home base (after an empty repo flight), you realize that your passengers left a briefcase and laptop in the rear baggage closet. What do you do?
Call the passengers and ask them if they would like you to send the bags. If so, overnight them as soon as possible after landing.

- You are flying between two rural airports, one in Virginia and the other in Missouri. There is a very large line of weather that crosses Tennessee and Indiana, then extends into Canada. Although the weather at both airports is nice, there is a 4 hour ground delay program for your flight due to "enroute weather" in Indianapolis Center. What do you do/tell your passengers?
Tell your passengers what is going on, and advise them on alternate options. Consider a longer route that would bypass the weather and Indy center, but burn more fuel.

- A business trip has been scheduled for over a week. As the departure date nears, it is evident that winter weather is going to become an issue, especially since you are going to be operating into/out of mountainous terrain. Is there anything you can do/suggest to minimize the impact of approaching weather system?
Let your passengers know that the weather gets tricky in this particular area, and that if they are more flexible then they will have a better chance of getting in to the airport. Perhaps departing a day earlier or later than planned will provide better weather to get into the airport.

- While flying enroute on a leg that is near the max endurance of the aircraft, you have your FO pull out the aircraft operating manual to check more accurate fuel burn numbers. After landing at your destination, your passengers comment that they are not comfortable flying back with your crew because you "had to read the manual". How do you handle the situation?
Advise the passengers that it is standard procedure to check the book for specific numbers on certain flights, and that any other crew would do the same in this situation. Offer to arrange for ground transportation if they do not feel comfortable flying with you.

- NetJet's (I believe) used to ask a question in their interview that I found interesting, but also pertinent- "When does customer service go too far?" Consider that a bit.
Customer service goes to far when it is put ahead of safety.
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Old 06-08-2008, 05:50 AM
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Kicking around ways to answer customer service questions is always healthy. BUT...
Are you missing the reason they ask these questions?

Take a step back and look at the big picture here. Why in the world would an airline ask these questions? I mean, let's face it, the guys in the ivory tower don't really care how you interact with customers... or do they?

Before answering any hypothetical situation take in the whole picture, not just the "narrow" question. There is NO right or wrong answer. It's about YOU and how you resolve any given situation - knowing that customers (internal or external) are the bread-and-butter of the company.

Interviewers aren't looking for perfection, or even the right answer. They are looking for thinkers. People who have the customer's interests in mind and are willing to "think out of the box" to resolve a situation.
Sometimes there isn't a happy ending, but that's not the point.

So, if you're studying for an interview, by all means practice these types of questions for the experience of "thinking through it" but please, please, please don't memorize someone else's answer. They may be approaching the question incorrectly.

I hope this makes some sense - it's a little difficult to write than describe verbally.

Originally Posted by USMCFLYR View Post
FlyerJosh -

An excellent post and very informative. Thank you.

Using your experience, and some of the 'real world' situations you mention, would you possibly share some of your answers to the offered scenarios?

I've thought that the general answer of - try to find a way to say YES - while not sacrificing safety, rules, regs, SOPs, etc....... is an acceptable approach to most situations. Now the devil is still in the details and often the correct answer given (especially with regards to the weather/delay questions) will not always lead to an understanding/happy customer (just look at the general flying public's reaction to the same at the terminals), but then it is the company's responsibility to back your decision. If they are not willing to then you must decide if it is a company you still want to work for.

USMCFLYR
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Old 06-08-2008, 08:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Lori Clark View Post
Kicking around ways to answer customer service questions is always healthy. BUT...
Are you missing the reason they ask these questions?

Take a step back and look at the big picture here. Why in the world would an airline ask these questions? I mean, let's face it, the guys in the ivory tower don't really care how you interact with customers... or do they?

Before answering any hypothetical situation take in the whole picture, not just the "narrow" question. There is NO right or wrong answer. It's about YOU and how you resolve any given situation - knowing that customers (internal or external) are the bread-and-butter of the company.

Interviewers aren't looking for perfection, or even the right answer. They are looking for thinkers. People who have the customer's interests in mind and are willing to "think out of the box" to resolve a situation.
Sometimes there isn't a happy ending, but that's not the point.

So, if you're studying for an interview, by all means practice these types of questions for the experience of "thinking through it" but please, please, please don't memorize someone else's answer. They may be approaching the question incorrectly.

I hope this makes some sense - it's a little difficult to write than describe verbally.
Makes plane sense Lori
I was interested in whether I was in line with the civilian way of dealing with these problems.
I actually think that my military background prepares me well for this problem solving. The standard mantra being "don't come to me with a problem, come to me with a solution". Also - when we are out on the road we are doing all of the flight planning, fuel planning, checking weather and deciding whether we can complete our mission or need to change plans constantly. After talking to FJ and hearing how he would approach these scenarios, I now have greater confidence that my way of dealing with each of the situations is very close to how they would expect you to handle the problems - thus I have greater confidence now. Whew!

USMCFLYR
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