當(dāng)一位銷售人員接受采訪時(shí),所有關(guān)于銷售或如何銷售的問(wèn)題都會(huì)毫無(wú)保留地被拋出去,或許你得到的是一個(gè)數(shù)字,也許是一個(gè)有起伏線條的表格。當(dāng)賽斯納亞太區(qū)銷售副總裁Bill Harris坐在《私人飛機(jī)》面前時(shí),“賣(mài)了多少架飛機(jī)?”、“為什么賣(mài)了這么多飛機(jī)?”,針對(duì)這些問(wèn)題,《私人飛機(jī)》得到的答案都和售后服務(wù)有關(guān)。
“我們不僅要有更多人賣(mài)賽斯納的飛機(jī),更要重視每位購(gòu)買(mǎi)賽斯納飛機(jī)客戶的需求。”Bill Harris的回答很漂亮。不過(guò)當(dāng)他告訴本刊,賽斯納推出 “獎(jiǎng)狀M2”、“獎(jiǎng)狀Latitude”和“獎(jiǎng)狀Longitude”——賽斯納推出的首款超中型公務(wù)機(jī),這三款公務(wù)機(jī)都是來(lái)自客戶意見(jiàn)回饋的產(chǎn)物,是應(yīng)客戶需求而研制生產(chǎn)的,售后服務(wù)在整個(gè)產(chǎn)業(yè)鏈扮演的角色當(dāng)真不可小覷。
彰顯全球影響力
到今年賽斯納已成立85周年,過(guò)去的85年間,賽斯納共生產(chǎn)了193700架飛機(jī),其中約6500架是公務(wù)機(jī)。“良好的售后服務(wù)正是我們可以堅(jiān)持到現(xiàn)在的原因。”賽斯納的飛機(jī)在美國(guó)廣受追捧,現(xiàn)在,它正在將自己的流行度擴(kuò)散到世界的任何角落。
Harris表示,目前賽斯納正極力在北美以外的地區(qū)彰顯自己的影響力和存在感。9月份,在西班牙瓦倫西亞,新的賽斯納廠家零配件中心開(kāi)業(yè)了,同時(shí)賽斯納還將繼續(xù)在歐洲地區(qū)拓展售后服務(wù)體系。Harris同時(shí)也表示,歐洲是賽斯納重要的市場(chǎng)之一,德國(guó)更是“獎(jiǎng)狀”系列除美洲地區(qū)之外保有量最大的國(guó)家,賽斯納希望可以開(kāi)設(shè)更多的自由零配件中心和售后服務(wù)中心,使客戶的飛機(jī)有需要時(shí)可以得到更及時(shí)和全面的服務(wù)。
在亞洲,賽斯納將和姐妹公司貝爾直升機(jī)合伙于新加坡開(kāi)設(shè)新的售后服務(wù)中心。在中國(guó),越來(lái)越多的售后服務(wù)中心授權(quán)的維修保養(yǎng)中心將會(huì)開(kāi)啟。緊跟市場(chǎng)走向,是賽斯納至今依然維持自己主流公務(wù)機(jī)制造商地位的原因之一,維護(hù)市場(chǎng)和客戶則是塞斯納屹立市場(chǎng)的另一個(gè)重要密碼。“這個(gè)行業(yè)不只是制造飛機(jī)和賣(mài)飛機(jī),如何維護(hù)飛機(jī)才是不被排擠出圈子外的核心問(wèn)題。當(dāng)你的飛機(jī)需要維護(hù)時(shí),你需要聯(lián)系的是售后服務(wù)中心。”
競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的砝碼
談到市場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力時(shí),售后服務(wù)再次出現(xiàn)在Harris的回答中。Harris表示,賽斯納有2項(xiàng)最強(qiáng)優(yōu)勢(shì)。首先,賽斯納一直在追求創(chuàng)新,并有著很好的成績(jī)。不僅在過(guò)去的一年間推出三款新的公務(wù)機(jī)機(jī)型,這些新飛機(jī)同樣采用了最新的產(chǎn)品和技術(shù),對(duì)市場(chǎng)起到推動(dòng)作用,另外賽斯納還推出了一款具備超強(qiáng)引擎的“大篷車(chē)”和改進(jìn)后的輕型機(jī)賽斯納182。
其次,售后服務(wù)在整個(gè)公務(wù)機(jī)產(chǎn)業(yè)中扮演著極其重要的角色。“要想賣(mài)更多架飛機(jī),售后服務(wù)和技術(shù)創(chuàng)新一樣重要。”已經(jīng)在這個(gè)行業(yè)賣(mài)了15年飛機(jī)的Harris不無(wú)感慨地說(shuō)。“如果客戶在購(gòu)買(mǎi)飛機(jī)后產(chǎn)生后悔心理,那么你不僅不會(huì)得到來(lái)自這位客戶的第二張訂單,同樣也不會(huì)得到來(lái)自客戶的親朋好友的訂單。”
賽斯納生產(chǎn)噴氣式、渦輪螺旋槳等三種不同類型的飛機(jī),每種都有最受歡迎的一款機(jī)型。在中國(guó)內(nèi)地,最受歡迎的噴氣式賽斯納公務(wù)機(jī)是“獎(jiǎng)狀君主”,最受歡迎的螺旋槳飛機(jī)則非賽斯納162莫屬,并正在變得越來(lái)越受歡迎,以致賽斯納甚至把生產(chǎn)線全部搬到沈陽(yáng)。賽斯納172R作為旗下最經(jīng)典的機(jī)型之一,很多飛行駕駛學(xué)校都在使用這款飛機(jī)。
售后服務(wù)為銷售“服務(wù)”
當(dāng)被問(wèn)到今后的目標(biāo)時(shí),Harris的回答很簡(jiǎn)單,他笑著說(shuō):“賣(mài)更多架飛機(jī)。”隨后又表示他對(duì)目前“大篷車(chē)”系列在中國(guó)的表現(xiàn)很滿意,今后會(huì)將部分重點(diǎn)放在高端客戶市場(chǎng)上。9月份,第一架私人采購(gòu)的“獎(jiǎng)狀君主”已經(jīng)交付,前途樂(lè)觀。但Harris對(duì)銷售數(shù)字的表現(xiàn)不能說(shuō)滿意,“我是一名銷售負(fù)責(zé)人,永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)對(duì)銷售量感到滿意的。”Harris幽默地說(shuō)。
不過(guò)說(shuō)到如何賣(mài)更多飛機(jī)時(shí),Harris給出兩個(gè)計(jì)劃,增加銷售人員和售后服務(wù)中心。早在1982年,賽斯納就已經(jīng)進(jìn)入中國(guó)市場(chǎng),算是國(guó)際主流公務(wù)機(jī)制造商進(jìn)入中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的先行者。遲遲未能開(kāi)花的中國(guó)市場(chǎng)讓賽斯納等待多年,突然火爆的市場(chǎng)又讓賽斯納有些措手不及。直到去年,賽斯納在整個(gè)亞洲地區(qū)僅有兩名銷售人員,今年這個(gè)數(shù)字已經(jīng)增加到17,明年將計(jì)劃增加到25。
身為亞太區(qū)銷售副總裁,Harris的團(tuán)隊(duì)目前共有70人,覆蓋了從澳大利亞、印度、菲律賓到中國(guó)等多個(gè)地區(qū)。此外一些地區(qū)還有代理銷售。每個(gè)地區(qū)都有售后服務(wù)代表,負(fù)責(zé)聆聽(tīng)客戶們的意見(jiàn)并將其上報(bào)給Harris,以確保每位客戶都滿意。如果說(shuō)銷售人員是前線,那么售后服務(wù)中心就是后勤保障,因?yàn)椤笆酆蠓?wù)中心的存在也是為了能夠賣(mài)出更多架飛機(jī)”。
“對(duì)于那些需要乘坐公務(wù)機(jī)但沒(méi)有很多預(yù)算的年輕商人或中小型企業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō),賽斯納就是為他們存在的。”Harris認(rèn)為,雖然目前的中國(guó)市場(chǎng)受歡迎的總是那些遠(yuǎn)程的大型公務(wù)機(jī),但就像現(xiàn)在的美國(guó)或巴西等國(guó)家一樣,中國(guó)的客戶們會(huì)逐漸從個(gè)人或市場(chǎng)需求的角度來(lái)衡量,到底什么樣的公務(wù)機(jī)最適合他們。“隨著中國(guó)內(nèi)地市場(chǎng)的擴(kuò)大,這里的客戶也會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到公務(wù)機(jī)價(jià)值的真正所在。”
When interviewing a sales guy, one is tempted to throw him questions on numbers. In return, you get a nice figure, or perhaps even a table and a chart with multiple numbers. We kept to our script when we met Bill Harris, Vice President of Sales, Cessna Asia Pacific. How many planes have you sold? Why so many? What we heard was rather unusual: the guy liked to talk about a rather boring subject, after-sale services.
“We definitely want more people buying Cessna planes, but we focus more on real customer need.” Bill Harris might sound like most other sweet-tongued sales, but he had evidence to support his claim. Cessna has launched three latest business jets, Citation M2, Citation Latitude and Citation Longitude, all super-midsize aircrafts, developed on the basis of customer feedback.
Global Reach
This year is the 85th anniversary of Cessna. In the past 85 years, Cessna has produced 193,700 planes, about 6,500 of them are corporate jets. “Excellent after-sales service sustains us till today.” Cessna planes have always been popular in the U.S, and now they are gaining traction all over the world.
Harris told us that Cessna is making efforts to enhance its presence and impact outside North America. In September in Valencia, Spain, Cessna opened a new parts centre. At the same time, Cessna will continue to expand its after-sale service network in Europe. Europe is indeed one of the most important markets for Cessna, and Germany in particular has more Citations than any other places outside North America. Cessna hopes to establish more parts and after-sale services centres, to offer more timely and comprehensive services to customers.
In Asia, Cessna will partner with its sister company Bell Helicopters to open a new after-sale service centre in Singapore. In China, more and more authorized repair and maintenance centres will be established. Taking care of customers is another important factor for Cessna’s market position. “This industry is not just about manufacturing and selling planes. The core is maintaining the fleet in the market. When you need to maintain your plane, you have to contact the after-sale service centre,” said Harris.
Competitive Edge
Harris again emphasized after-sale services when he talked about market competitiveness. Cessna has two major advantages according to him. First, Cessna has a wonderful track record in innovating. The company launched three aircrafts in the last year, equipped with latest products and technologies. Cessna has also launched two other planes, “Caravan” with super engine and Cessna 182, an upgraded light aircraft.
Second, its after-sale service is very strong. “If you want to sell multiple planes, after-sale service is as important as technical innovations,” said the man who has been selling planes for 15 years. “When a customer regrets his procurement, you will never get a second order, and you won’t get any from his friends.”
Cessna produces three categories of planes, including jets and turboprops. The company boasts a most popular model under every category. In mainland China, Citation Sovereign is the most popular jet and Cessna 162 undoubtedly the most popular turboprop. It is getting so hot that Cessna moved all its production to Shenyang. Cessna 172R is the most classical one, used by many flying schools.
After-Sale for Sales
Cessna’s future goal is rather simple, “to sell more planes”. Harris said that he was happy with the performance of Caravan in China and the company will shift its focus to luxury high-end segment. In September, the first Citation Sovereign for a private individual was delivered and the prospect looks great. Harris said though he wasn’t completely satisfied with sales numbers. “I’m a sales head, and you are not supposed to be completely satisfied with sales,” he said humorously.
Harris has two plans for his ambition, hiring more sales and building up after-sale service centres. Cessna came to China as early as 1982, a relative pioneer among major international OEMs. It had to wait for years for the market to blossom and it was rather caught unprepared when the market suddenly exploded. Cessna had only two sales in the entire Asia region by last year. The number increased to 17 this sale and is expected to reach 25 next year.
As VP of sales in Asia Pacific, Harris manages a team of 70 covering Australia, India, the Philippines and China. Cessna also uses agents. Every region has after-sale service representatives, listening to what customers have to say and report to Harris, making sure each one of the customer is happy. Sales people are in the front line and after-sale service centre an important back office “making sure more planes can be sold.”
“Cessna exists for young businessmen and SMEs who want business aviation but don’t have a large budget,” said Harris. He acknowledged that long-distance jets are most popular in China right now, but Chinese customers will gradually choose the most appropriate planes for their individual and market needs, just like their American and Brazilian peer. “As the mainland market expands, customers will see the true value of business aviation.”