January 25, 2012
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Demystifying some of the glamour behind the Singapore Airlines philosophy as a business can be a useful lesson for small businesses desiring to corner a segment of the niche luxury market with their product or service. To ask an almost 40-year-old, supremely established airline with a high-standing global reputation what exactly small businesses can learn from their best practices was an interesting exercise for Singapore Airlines’ James Boyd and C.W. Foo to think about, and advise on. Together they came up with some very useful universal concepts that helped establish and grow the airline’s brand and could also help a small business that also hopes to stay in the game with solid recognition and reputation for decades to come.
Here's what they had to say.
Maintain continuity and a steadiness in your business’ brand
Whether you’re Singapore Air or a small business, the experience your business offers must be a consistent one in order for your consumers to understand who you are and trust they will always get what they expect as well as pay to get.
“We work hard to make the experience that you have here on the ground, on board, and in Singapore, as consistent as possible,” says Foo. “That way there are no surprises for the customer and they are comfortable knowing what they are getting. No matter what the business is, that is always an important and good feeling for the customer to have that confidence.”
For four decades, Singapore Airlines has been able to stay consistently steady when it comes to extending the brand and adapting to growing business costs.
“We’ve always been what some would say is conservative, but we like to think of it as strategic with how we’ve steadily grown,” says Foo. “Single digit capacity growth and not overstretching ourselves in the good years has been key for when we’re hit with the bad years. That way we’re prepared and don’t have to cut back too much.”
Listen to your consumers, but always be who you claim to be
While you should always be mindful of what your customers want, you have to live up to the promise of what your company stands for and promises to be.
“If you claim to be a premium product, you must really be a premium product,” says Boyd. “And do that without apology because in some cases that means your clientele is going to have to pay a bit more. In most cases, because of the high standard with which we offer our services, our customers are willing to pay that. By doing thus you are really drawing the line in the sand to make a commitment to making a premium product, to truly being in the premium market, and then absolutely sticking to it.”
Carefully select the best possible staff imaginable
When you are a service company existing within a service industry, finding and then selecting the right staff is critical. Singapore Airlines has an incredibly comprehensive process for hiring their customer service staff.
“We are most particular about our cabin crew,” says Boyd. “It’s a very rigorous selection process where fewer then 10 percent of all applicants are ever offered the contracts or ever offered positions. Our process is to find staff that literally has service in their blood.”
Service in one’s blood sounds intense, and it is. The second interview round for Singapore Airlines cabin crew is a tea party where groups of potential recruits are led into an empty conference room where there are chairs on one side and a tea service on the other. The interviewers meanwhile are behind a two-way mirror observing the group for how they respond to the scenario.
“Only the candidates that get out of their chairs and go over to the table and proactively serve others the tea make it to the next round,” says Boyd. “That is one of the many specific ways we find people who truly have a service institution and provide service that comes from the heart.”
Develop a company blueprint or bible for a training process and stick to it
Investing in the most appropriate training for your staff to succeed under and represent your business best is paramount. When it comes to the airline industry, the average airline trains their flight attendants for roughly five weeks.
“Our flight attendant training lasts about five months,” say Boyd. “It’s dramatically more extensive. We teach everything from how to walk, to language training, sommelier training and deportment training.”
Part of being a Singapore Airlines flight attendance is learning and adapting to the image of the brand. The Singapore Girl represents this icon to the public, which means there are a lot of fine details to account for.
“There are three approved nail polish colors, and seven approved haircuts,” says Boyd. “Lancôme is our official makeup line and the experts at the end of the training come in a make a specific palette for each cabin crew member. The makeup then becomes part of the uniform too (along with the famed kebaya sarongs). All of this training helps to create the Singapore Girl the Singapore Guy’s personality. We find that raw material who have that hospitality and that intuition to serve, and then we refine it into something that make for a complete in-flight experience for our passengers.”
Constantly look for ways to refine the highest of standards
Cuisine is a large part of the Singapore Airlines experience. While they aren’t the first airline to use a panel of chefs, they have made it their mission to customize and take things beyond a laundry list of name droppable celebrity chefs.
“We are really listening and working to understand what our customers want, what these individual chefs bring to each flight menu, while also catering the cuisine to the country the flight departs from and enters into,” says Foo. “We’ve worked very hard to customize and refine our menus to suit a broad base and also to our customer’s individual palettes.
That means finding ways to be as green as possible considering the carbon footprint of airlines flying around the world. Singapore Airlines works specifically with chefs for local and seasonal dishes whenever they can.
“We recently introduced a California-based chef who works with local California farmers,” says Foo. “Working with her is not just about her designing exciting recipes. It is learning the trends and local elements that make what we serve thoughtful and responsible. We also include Krispy Crème donuts as a snack, which you can’t get more local with. I’m also working on getting In-and-Out Burgers.”
Naturally, Singapore Airlines also incorporates local Singapore dishes on into their flight menus. That means the best flavors of China, India and Malaysia are introduced to traveler’s palettes with traditional and modern fusion twists.
“Whether it’s our food or our flight attendants and their uniforms, our brand is a reflection of Singapore itself,” says Foo. “We’re a very international citystate with a population that is multi-cultural and global. That runs in our company as well. We don’t have a domestic network. All our flights are international (more than 200 cities from Sao Paolo, Moscow and Johannesburg, to Phoenix, Stockholm and Istanbul), so as soon as that plane takes off we’re global. It’s very much a part of our DNA to appreciate and introduce this concept.”
See the long-term victory for your business
Singapore Airlines has been flying under its brand for nearly 40 years and appears to have no intention of slowing down given it’s recent accolades such as service to Brazil and Sweden, thus introducing the airline as the tenth to fly six continents. Singapore Airlines has its route roots, however, throughout Asia and Australia where it’s presence continues to stand strong. Additionally, they offer the world’s two longest non-stop commercial flights: Singapore to Newark and Singapore to Los Angeles. The airline’s use of the A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world, adds to its long-term prominence in the industry.
Image credit: avinashkunnath on Flickr
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Drewry News Network 4 months ago
as they always say, building a strong brand always entails "being yourself always", as well as always honest, even if you come off a little [comical and entertaining] at times to consumers. At least they know the real side of your personality :-)http://www.drewrynewsnetwork.com/f10/improve-your-pc-health-now-having-house-online-security-guard-2580.html