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As the connectivity landscape becomes more complex, Michael Skou Christensen, CCO of Satcom Direct, explains how SD creates, manages and optimizes its dealer network to ensure the best customer connectivity experience.
When it comes to cabin and cockpit connectivity, can something be a deal without a dealer? At Satcom Direct, we don’t think so. In fact, our global dealer network is a value-added element of our offering.
As extensions of our team, our appointed dealers offer not only access to our equipment and services but a valuable ecosystem which includes our full range of training and 24/7/365 award-winning customer support.
Operators acquiring and installing connectivity through an SD-authorized dealer can select products with confidence, knowing that the vendor has been through rigorous quality checks, receives access to our best pricing, is aware of the latest updates to our hardware and services, and, most importantly, will be available for service before, during and after equipment installation and service activation.
For a dealer to be selected, they need to reflect our professional quality standards and company ethos, which puts the customers at the core of all we do. We pride ourselves on always being accessible to our customers, listening and adapting to their needs, and supporting them along their connectivity journey. Our dealers must demonstrate they operate to these high standards and mirror our philosophy in terms of service and professionalism. If our international dealer representatives are actively selling SD hardware and services to flight departments, operators and owners around the world, they must stand firmly behind our connectivity offering.
In addition, the quality of their work must meet our exacting standards. They need to have strong relationships with the aircraft OEMs, where the connectivity system is often first specified, as well as aircraft management companies who manage airframes on behalf of busy owners. Obviously, and importantly, they must show a legacy of successful connectivity installations. Our exclusive list of dealer partners is rich in knowledge, spans the world and reflects our notion of quality over quantity. We work closely with OEM-authorized MROs, global MRO networks, and individual companies that have demonstrated their suitability for being appointed to the network.
Once selected we are committed to supporting our dealers and helping them maximize the opportunity. We provide training on all aspects of our services to ensure a full understanding of the benefits so these can be conveyed to customers. Regularly scheduled conference calls and site visits from our team keep our dealer network informed of new developments, including product and service updates. We value our dealer network as a crucial source of market feedback, too. We established an SD Dealer Advisory Board to provide a rich resource that helps us continually evolve our product offering. Through this feedback we can enhance, improve and refine our offering. Knowing what the dealers, MROs and customers want keeps us refining what we do and generating products that are needed.
Much of our success has been achieved through our commitment to creating and continuously forging relationships with our network – it’s a matter of continually improving that relationship so that they can provide their customers with comprehensive information. We meet with them anywhere from three to five times a year, whether that’s onsite at their location, at tradeshows or at our own customer appreciation events like CwC. Our dealers receive much more than just guidance. Our support team is actively involved in every Plane Simple terminal installation and activation.
In turn, the dealer is authorized to quote, sell, engineer, support and deliver our terminals and routers. You may be surprised to learn that there are no commissions, rewards or kickbacks. Many operators package their connectivity upgrades with other services provided by the MRO such as scheduled inspections or as part of an airframe upgrade or refurbishment. For our dealer partners, being able to offer our products makes them attractive to the customer.
This is why we work within a framework where everyone benefits: the MRO manages the sourcing, equipping and airframe upgrade, SD gains access to more clients which brings more feedback for better products and most importantly, we can deliver customized products and services that are purpose-built for specific mission connectivity needs, that are supported by a human customer service team and that are future-proofed for the dynamic connectivity landscape. It’s a win, win, win, for all concerned.
Now that’s a true deal.
BlueSky Business Aviation News | 27th February 2024 | Issue #754
