Archive for January, 2007

Business Aviation Industry Needs To Improve Service Attitude, Says ServiceElements

Scottsdale, Ariz. (January 22, 2007) – A good service attitude needs improvement in the business aviation industry, ServiceElements’ President Bob Hobbi said today.

He warned that when business, corporate and general aviation companies focus all our energy and resources on technical proficiency and know-how, we tend to forget about our customers. This is a catastrophe as we will follow and become like other mass transportation providers.

Hobbi said at the opening of the ServiceElements workshop at NBAA’s Annual Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in Phoenix on Monday that schedulers and dispatchers play a key role in improving overall attitude because of their contact not only with passengers and users but with all others who provide services including crew members, technicians, flight attendants, other schedulers and dispatchers, line service providers and customer service.

Hobbi explained that while the attitude of many individuals in the business aviation industry is not bad, it is an attitude that “has served us well in the past. But as our industry continues to mature, we need to recognize that the service field is much more diversified and complex today. Re-invigoration of our service attitude is critical to address today’s customers and services those customers expect. A bad attitude on the part of anyone in our industry can permeate through the entire flight department,  FBO or any service providing organization.”

An improved attitude on the part of a scheduler or dispatcher has major financial ramifications, Hobbi said.  “For a company which is a profit and loss center it means more customers, profit and revenue because customers who feel good come back and use your services again.”

“For a non-profit driven organization, like a flight department which is part of larger enterprise, the benefit is that they provide a valuable service for their enterprise.  If the perception is that the flight department is not serving its customers well, it may mean that the department could be shut down.  The perception of good service varies from one company to another and it is incredibly important for the flight department.”

Hobbi pointed out that traditionally business and corporate aviation has been a highly technical focused industry.  “We spend a great deal of time, money and resources on improving technical proficiency for pilots, maintenance technicians and others.  This is very important because of safety and security.  But it is imperative for team members at all levels to provide outstanding service to internal and external customers.”

“Safety and security is really part of the overall package for our aircraft users, and today, it is a given.  By themselves safety and security mean little if the customers don’t feel like they received the full package.  The best companies are those that balance safety and security with a high level of emphasis on service.”

What ServiceElements, an organizational and behavioral culture enhancement company, has been doing since 2003 is providing workshops, seminars and keynote facilitations to enhance and elevate the power of excellent service in aviation/aerospace.

“We are helping the business aviation industry develop service attitude standards,” Hobbi said.

“Service attitude is not just being polite, shaking hands, saying hello and smiling.  We’re living in a sophisticated and complex industry with some of the most demanding customers in the world.  They expect us to be smart enough to use our knowledge and recognize what the ultimate goal is.  The ultimate goal is not for us to fly airplanes but to provide a service by flying airplanes.  A lot of people in our industry miss that point.”

“Ask a typical pilot what he does.  He/She says, ‘I fly airplanes’.  No, he/She provides a service and flying airplanes is part of that.”

In an ever-changing environment regulated by the FAA, TSA, local airports and company policy, procedures and business direction, Hobbi said “it is our responsibility to provide a safe and professional level of service to customers.   We are the ‘human’ assets of our companies, and our attitude is key in delivering premium customer service.”

He emphasized that what is needed is an attitude of managing customers.  “That is really critical in our industry,” he said.  “It doesn’t mean the customer is always right.  Actually, aviation is one of the few industries where we can say that customer is not always right.  What we want to do is make the customer feel right.”

About ServiceElements
ServiceElements, an organizational and behavioral culture enhancement company, provides stimulating, highly interactive workshops, seminars and keynote speeches to enhance, elevate and awaken the power of excellent service in various industries.  Industries include Aviation/Aerospace, Banking, Construction/Home Building, Healthcare, Resort & Hotel, Restaurant and Tehnology. ServiceElements ’ goal is to create a cooperative drive toward customer success, equipping companies and individual departments with tools to re-focus service culture and sharpening service delivery skills. With more than 20 years of experience in business, technical training, service excellence, Six Sigma, ISO 9000, quality management processes, Customer Relationship Management programs and process re-engineering, ServiceElements can provide needed techniques to help serve customers the way they demand, deserve and desire.

For additional information on ServiceElements, visit www.serviceelements.com.

Tom Whittaker MBE, First Disabled Person To Conquer Mt. Everest, Joins ServiceElements as Motivational Keynote Speaker

Whittaker To Speak at ServiceElements Workshop at Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, January 22, Phoenix Convention Center, Room 211, 6 PM

Scottsdale, Ariz. (January 22, 2007) – ServiceElements, an organizational and behavioral culture enhancement company, announced today that teamwork and leadership guru Tom Whittaker MBE, who stepped into history as the first disabled person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, has joined the company as a motivational keynote speaker.

“Tom’s story is world class, powerful and if you weren’t watching it unfold before your eyes, you would say it is unbelievable,” said Bob Hobbi, president of ServiceElements. In November 2006 Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, honored Tom Whittaker by awarding him the most Excellent Order of the British Empire at a Royal Investiture in Buckingham Palace.

“Tom has an amazing pedigree.  Not only did he climb into the history books as the first disabled person to climb Mount Everest, he is also a teamwork and leadership guru that has 35 years of experience working on three continents.”

“Adding the Tom Whittaker brand to ServiceElements’ capabilities is an honor. Now we can offer a powerful inspirational keynote speaker/facilitator and strategist who makes people laugh, cry and think.  But more than anything else, he brings an incredible teamwork and leadership message.”

ServiceElements is turning into a learning powerhouse by expanding its reach and capability by adding Whittaker’s inspirational ‘can do’ message and his teamwork and leadership acumen.  ServiceElements is further accomplishing its goal of a premier learning service provider by identifying exceptional people in the corporate education field and bringing them into the ServiceElements fold.

“Tom Whittaker’s real-life challenge is a story that has inspired people to embrace change, take responsibility, and to drive forward with integrity and passion,” said Hobbi. “Adding Tom to our growing roster of motivational speakers will help organizations tap into the limitless resources their people have as individuals, team members and leaders.”

Tom Whittaker’s story is inspirational.  On Thanksgiving Day 1979, a drunk driver struck Whittaker’s van and shattered his legs.  When he awoke, the 31-year-old mountaineer’s right leg had been amputated at mid-shin and the kneecap removed.  This extreme adventurer faced the seemingly impossible task of reinventing himself.  Fueled by his determination to rebuild himself, as a more potent individual than before the tragedy, Whittaker overcame pain and anger to embark on an extraordinary life of service and adventure.  Nineteen years later, Whittaker became the first disabled person to summit Mount Everest.  He has written a book “Higher Purpose” about his conquest of Everest.

Since 1973 Whittaker has been in the forefront of human development programming on three continents.  For the past eight years he has specialized in customizing teamwork and leadership training that builds self-esteem, confidence, and the ability to be highly effective as a team member or a team leader for organizations such as IBM, Dell, Merrill Lynch and NASA.

In 1991 he created the Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group.  He provided the lessons of his own recovery to assist others and this ground-breaking work led Newsweek magazine to name him as one of “America’s Unsung Heroes.”  He accepted a faculty position in 1991 with Prescott College in Arizona, the nation’s premier Wilderness Leadership Program, where he taught for nine years.

In November 2006, Queen Elizabeth II, honored Whittaker by awarding him the most Excellent Order of the British Empire at a Royal Investiture in Buckingham Palace.

About ServiceElements
ServiceElements , an organizational and behavioral culture enhancement company, provides stimulating, highly interactive workshops, seminars and keynote speeches to enhance, elevate and awaken the power of excellent service in various industries.  Industries include Aviation/Aerospace, Banking, Construction/Home Building, Healthcare, Resort & Hotel, Restaurant and Technology. ServiceElements’ goal is to create a cooperative drive toward customer success, equipping companies and individual departments with tools to re-focus service culture and sharpening service delivery skills. With more than 20 years of experience in business, technical training, service excellence, Six Sigma, ISO 9000, quality management processes, Customer Relationship Management programs and process re-engineering,ServiceElements can provide needed techniques to help serve customers the way they demand, deserve and desire.

For additional information on ServiceElements, visit www.serviceelements.com.