June 21, 2017
Airports around the world are working hard to keep up with the high expectations of their hyper-connected travellers – and to define the right roadmap to guide them to the desired destination, Digital Excellence, bringing the airport into the age of the connected traveller.
In a previous blog, I pointed out the importance of generating happy travellers. How to place them in the center of attention, by initiating digital engagement throughout their travel cycle, to set them in a shopping mood – and of course providing them with the ultimate omni-channel experience.
Today, I’m back. With a roadmap that will help you get on the right plane, so that you too can create the same feeling of convenience, excitement and happiness for your customers – airport or not!
I know, it’s a digital jungle out there and it might be a bit scary. But fear won’t help you reach the connected customers. And sticking with what you've already got definitely won't either. I know, adapting to these digital customers and putting a smile on their faces can be challenging, but not impossible.
Let me run you through some thoughts and principles that might help you with the transformation of your customer experience.
Principles of customer experience transformation
Building the roadmap
To even be on this step, you must have a basic understanding / idea of the services you need to provide, to make your connected travellers smile. Then you can build the roadmap that shows which current ‘station’ you’re at, and on which station you need to be, based on your customers expectations and your business strategy. Vision it as a subway map with a number of train lines leading to your vision of creating The Digital Airport that will transform your connected customers’ experience.
Before you start you should identify and map the unique digital maturity of your airport and based on this assessment, you can start building the roadmap needed to bring your airport into the age of the connected traveller.
Want to know more about building the roadmap? Get more inspiration from our whitepaper The Digital Airport.
Customer profiling
Selling products without having a holistic view of your customer, is like driving with closed eyes. Today’s customers are producing more data than ever before and understanding these data, is the dirty little secret of getting a happy and carefree customer that spends more money. Why? Because you will get a clear picture of your customers, which will help you tailor the communication to fit their individual needs.
A customer profile can basically include a mixture of demographic and event data, based on past behaviour and static attributes. The whole idea with profiling is to get under the skin of the traveller. Because, the more personal their airport experience becomes, the more appreciated they will feel and the more time and money they will spend.
If you want to achieve a successful marketing strategy, then customer profiling is the answer!
Drive awareness
Now that you have your digital initiatives ready to go, your customers need to be made aware of them. You can spread the words through a variety of ways. You can for instance use traditional in-store media, such as screens, banners etc., but the most powerful way to spread the word, is through personal vouching. You can use your skilled sales staff as an inspirational mouthpiece for your digital customer programme. After all, they are interacting directly with your customers!
Act NOW!
This is the principle of all principles!
You need to act - now. Do something to get moving towards the big vision. It can be scary out there, but if you don’t take the risk and try (and maybe fail), I can assure you’ll be left behind.
Even though the airline business is growing, doesn’t necessarily mean it will end up on your premises. If you don’t get out there and make your customer want to spend their valuable time and money with you, they will do it elsewhere.
This post is based on our whitepaper The Digital Airport, where you can get much more detailed information about the subject.
