Airport Business - 27

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Desert Jet Center's facility.
DESERT JET CENTER

Complimentary water is
offered as guests get off their
plane at Desert Jet Center.

when they go out of their way to share it
with their friends and family, that's the
ultimate compliment for us."

DESERT JET CENTER

Taking Time to Train

family, which many do and we're seeing
that," continued Fox.
And delivering that memorable
experience returns to providing their
guest customized experiences tailored
to their individual needs.
"We remembered a grandkid's
birthday. We remembered an anniversary.
A dog's name. Those types of things
really go a long way so the goals that
we're setting is to make sure that we take
every arrival, every customer interaction
and treat it as a special event," Mendez
described.
The attention to detail has garnered
Desert Jet Center the most reviews at the
airport and Palm Springs area, Mendez
said. In-person word-of-mouth and
referrals have also shown that the FBO's
approach is a winning one.
"The greatest delight we have, and
we see it all the time, is when somebody
shows up and they'll mention another
one of our customers and say John or
Jill or Lisa said we have to try Desert Jet,"
Fox said. "You can advertise, you can do
a lot of things, but the experience that
the existing customer base has, and then

Providing exceptional customer
service doesn't happen in a vacuum. It
takes a well-trained team from top to
bottom to make it happen.
"Initial and recurrent training are
vital to providing great customer service.
Our people are trained to be thorough
when they're taking down information
for a customer's arrival. We help our
customers think about things they may
have forgotten," said Hopkins. "Texas
Jet's training focuses on safety and service.
We have achieved IS-BAH Stage III
registration and it's crucial that all of
our standard operating procedures are
followed 100 percent of the time. All of
our employees also go through initial
and recurrent training with the NATA
Safety 1st Training Center."
Mendez said the fundamentals of
their training begins with NATA safety
training, which helps get those new
to aviation up to speed, and Desert Jet
Center is also the only IS-BAH registered
and NATA Safety 1st certified FBO in
the Desert Southwest Region, he added.
Then on top of that, there's personal
training by Mendez, his leads and the
FBO managers.
"I've been around a lot of people that
have great experience and I've picked
apart some of the things that I loved,
put it together and I've trained my team
around that," Mendez said.
The FBO also has a customer service
specialist who spends time with their
guest service representatives to make sure
that they understand how to deliver fivestar service - what details to pay attention
to, what things to remember, etc.
"We also take part in third-party
customer training. We encourage our
general managers and other executive
team members to pursue programs like
the NBAA Certified Aviation Manager
(CAM) Program or to participate in
training and educational sessions when

we attend the NBAA conferences and
other industry events," said Fox.
Chris Little, chief marketing officer,
Desert Jet, said that teams are cross
trained to give them an understanding
of the different roles at the FBO.
"Cross training gives FBO team
members the experience on how
to do various tasks. It also provides
them the opportunity to understand
the importance of each role and how
it contributes overall to the customer
experience," Little said. "The team
also takes part in a Four Seasons type of
concierge training so they can bring a
higher level of service to their customers.
And not just to their customers but also
to their team members. That is key here
in this environment. We're very team
oriented so the level of service and care
that we provide to our customers we also
provide to one another."
With training there also comes the
technology to help and enhance it, such
as an investment in a CRM concierge
program.
"What that allows us to do is build
profiles around every customer, so we
understand what their likes and dislikes
are. We get to know them on a more
intimate level. We understand what some
special events they may have in their lives
are, so we can plan around that and make
that special for them," Mendez described.
Recently, Desert Jet Center opened
its new 32,500 square foot facility, which
houses not only the FBO, but also their
charter and maintenance departments.
The facility features an observation
deck that overlooks the airport, airconditioned hangar, conference rooms,
shower, kitchen, fully stocked amenities
bar and a pilot's lounge, among other
customer-centric features.
"A big thing we wanted to do is to
make this a one-stop shop for all of our
customers," said Fox. 
Read more at
www.AviationPros.com/
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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2020 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 27
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Airport Business

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