New Series: FBO Survival - Survival Tip #1: Keep Your Customers Close...and Your Margins Closer
/By Ron Jackson and John Enticknap, Aviation Business Strategies Group
Welcome to the first installment of our new AC-U-KWIK FBO Connection Series: FBO Survival. This series will focus on the various strategies and tactics needed to survive the daily rigors of running a successful FBO operation.
Our first survivor tip, ‘Keep Your Customers Close … and Your Margins Closer’, is inspired by dialogue in the film, The Godfather: Part II. It means, in order to survive today’s economic FBO climate, you need to focus on your two most important revenue generators: your valued customers and your fuel margins.
Keep Your Customers Close
At the beginning of 2013, we made our yearly FBO Industry Business Forecast by issuing a news release at the Annual NBAA Scheduler’s and Dispatchers (S&D) show and convention in San Antonio. The headline read: FBOs to Compete on Service, Not Price in 2013.
To recap, FBOs which compete on price will find it difficult to carve out a true Unique Value Proposition (UVP) in today’s competitive environment. Competing on price accomplishes two things - both negative:
- It attracts the bottom feeders. This type of customer is only interested in the best price on any particular day and they often flit from one FBO to another in their quest. They are not ‘loyal customers’ and are often the ones who complain the most.
- You compromise your fuel margins. Not only are you practically giving away your fuel, you’re setting yourself up for fiscal ruin. We’ll discuss this topic more in this blog.
When you compete on a customer service level, you start to create value for your own brand. You establish a UVP. Customers begin to take note and over time, become loyal.
Loyal customers complain less. They tend to pay a reasonable price in return for a good customer service experience. And, more importantly, they like your brand and are willing to recommend your FBO.
These are the types of customers you want to hold close, making sure everything goes well during their customer service experience. A repeat, loyal customer is more valuable than trying to go after a new customer based on price. And, when they are willing to recommend your FBO to other pilots and flight departments, there is only one word for this … priceless!
Therefore, train your employees in the art of delivering unique customer service, like the one we subscribe to at Aviation Business Strategies Group called, Don’t Forget the Cheese!©.
And above all, keep your customers close by building long-term relationships at all levels of your organization. Be the restaurant owner and lead by example. Create a working climate where every employee is customer service oriented. Let the customers know you appreciate their business.
Amazingly, only one in 25 customers will ever tell you there is a problem, so empower your employees to ensure any dispute is taken care of at the time of transaction. Up to 95 percent of disgruntled customers will return if disputes are handled in a timely fashion.
Keep Your Margins Closer
When we say ‘keep your margins closer’ we are recommending that you protect your fuel margins in order to survive. Often FBOs are under stress by customers, third party fuel providers, etc. to cut fuel prices thus eating into your fuel margins and your potential profit.
At our industry acclaimed FBO Success Seminar we conduct for the National Aviation Transportation Association (NATA), we have a session called ‘Seeking a Silver Bullet’ where we discuss maintaining healthy but fair fuel margins. Like the Lone Ranger, we are all seeking a silver bullet solution. Question is, does it exist?
Often times we run across FBOs that don’t really know what their actual operating costs are - which causes their fuel prices to be set arbitrarily. When your fuel truck hooks up to a customer’s aircraft, each gallon of fuel pumped should be priced to not only cover your set costs, but also yield a reasonable profit.
Therefore, you should have at least three desires or goals in mind when you set fuel prices:
- Be competitive within your marketplace
- Make a reasonable gross profit
- Retain customers
In order to reach these goals, we should understand the relationship between price and cost:
- The obvious -prices must exceed costs or we will ultimately fail
- Costs include all the normal items such as leases, equipment, labor, training, loan repayments, etc.
- But don’t forget to add costs of mark downs, shortages, discounts, marketing, overhead, etc.
- Treat profit as part of your costs - we don’t want to be in business for a hobby!
Now, let’s look at a real world pricing evaluation for pumping a gallon of JET A at our fantasy facility – we’ll call Ron/John’s FBO:
Cost of Jet A Platts 2/12 thru 2/18/2013:
LAPM 3.3876
Differential .15
Fed Tax .244
Lust .005
Flowage .10
Transportation .06
Total Cost of Jet A $3.9466/gal.
However, the above cost of fuel does not include our operating costs.
What does it really cost to pump a gallon of fuel? Here are our example numbers for Ron/John’s FBO:
- FBO X Pumps 584,910 gallons per year
- Annual revenue $2,278,000
- Cost of Sales 1,665,000
- Expenses 409,904
- Net Profit 203,000
Therefore, under this scenario, the cost to pump a gallon of fuel is $0.7007/gallon.
Now let’s take a look at True Cost Evaluation:
- Cost of Fuel $3.9466
- Cost to Pump $0.7007
Total Cost per Gallon $4.6473
In order to determine what your actual posted price should be, there are several cost pricing models to consider including, cost plus pricing, mark-up pricing, demand pricing and competitive pricing. At our NATA FBO Success Seminar we discuss each of these methods in detail. However, for this blog, let’s just keep it simple.
Think of a flat added-on margin of $2.00. It used to be $1.00, but we all know what time and inflation has done to our economy.
- For every gallon of fuel sold, you should have a goal of a $2.00 plus gross margin.
Sell a gallon - $2.00 in the bank!
- Conversely, think for every $2.00 in expenses; labor, cookies, papers, coffee, etc. you need to sell a gallon of fuel - $2.00 plus out of the bank!
- Therefore, our Ron/John's FBO example sale price would be $6.65/gal.
- Guess what the chain FBO’s are charging?
Earlier we talked about ‘Seeking a Silver Bullet Solution’? The solution is KNOWLEDGE. Therefore, in order to Keep Your Margins Closer, we should take into consideration the following:
- All prices must cover costs and profits
- The most effective way to lower prices is to lower costs
- Review prices frequently to assure that they reflect the dynamics of cost, market demand, response to the competition and profit objectives
- Prices must be established to assure sales, but don’t give it away
And lastly, remember to add value to your fuel transactions by providing the best customer service, and don’t just drop the price. Keep your customers close, and your margins closer. That’s our FBO Survival tip No. 1.
Let us know what you think about our comments on FBO Survival!
John Enticknap: jenticknap@bellsouth.net
Ron Jackson: rjacksongroup@earthlink.net
About the authors:
Ron Jackson
Ron Jackson is Co-Founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and President of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and CSR training. He has held management positions with Cessna Aircraft and Bozell Advertising and is the author of “Mission Marketing: Creating Brand Value” and co-author of “Don’t Forget the Cheese!” the ultimate FBO Customer Service Experience. Ron co-developed NATA’s acclaimed FBO Success Seminar Series and writes an industry blog for AcUKwikAlert.com titled: The FBO Connection.
John Enticknap
John Enticknap founded Aviation Business Strategies Group in 2006 following a distinguished career in aviation fueling and FBO management, including President of Mercury Air Centers network of 21 FBO locations. He is an ATP and CFI rated pilot with more than 7,800 flight hours and is the author of “10 Steps to Building a Profitable FBO”. John developed NATA’s acclaimed FBO Success Seminar Series and writes an industry blog for AcUKwikAlert.com titled: The FBO Connection.