In the air travel industry, the adage “you’re only as good as your last review” holds a significant amount of truth. Customer sentiment, once relegated to the purview of customer service, has now become a critical factor in revenue management strategies. As airlines strive to protect revenue and gain market share, the integration of customer sentiment analysis into decision-making processes is no longer optional—it’s essential.
Identifying Revenue Risks from Customer Frustration
An angry customer is not a loyal customer. Negative reviews can lead to decreased customer retention as dissatisfied passengers start exploring alternatives. Worse, social media can amplify their dissatisfaction, leading to a viral “pile on” effect that damages your brand’s reputation. By monitoring reviews in real-time, airlines can identify emerging issues before they spiral out of control. Addressing these concerns swiftly not only helps retain customers but also protects the airline from potential revenue loss.
Capitalizing on Competitor Weaknesses
Understanding the sentiment of your competitors’ customers can be a revenue goldmine. If a rival airline is struggling with negative reviews, this presents an opportunity to attract their disgruntled passengers. Coordinating targeted marketing campaigns that emphasize your airline’s strengths or current promotions can result in an uptick in bookings. This is where the collaboration between marketing and revenue management becomes crucial – aligning these teams ensures that campaigns are both timely and effective.
Routing Operational Issues to the Frontline
Operational issues such as delayed flights, lost luggage, or poor in-flight service are often the root causes of negative reviews. By actively monitoring customer feedback, airlines can identify these issues as they arise and route them directly to the frontline teams responsible for resolving them. Proactive operational adjustments based on real-time feedback not only improve customer satisfaction but also minimize the likelihood of revenue-impacting reviews.
How Airlines Should Respond to Customer Sentiment
To truly leverage customer sentiment data, airlines need to adopt a proactive and coordinated approach that involves multiple departments:
Daily Monitoring of Brand and Route Sentiment
Sentiment can fluctuate rapidly, especially in response to operational disruptions, pricing changes, or even external factors like weather or global events. It is vital that revenue management teams monitor sentiment daily, across all routes and customer touchpoints. Utilizing data intelligence platforms like FareTrack can provide real-time insights into both your own and your competitors’ reviews.
Empower Marketing with Positive Sentiment
When customers express positive sentiment, it’s a golden opportunity for your marketing team. Positive reviews can be leveraged in promotional materials, social media campaigns, and loyalty programs to attract new customers and retain existing ones. By feeding this data directly to marketing, you enable them to craft campaigns that resonate with potential customers’ current perceptions.
Adjust Inventory and Pricing Based on Sentiment
Sentiment data should directly inform your inventory and pricing strategies. For instance, if customer sentiment around a specific route is declining, you might consider releasing last-minute low-cost seats to boost load factors. Conversely, if sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, you could restrict lower fare classes to capitalize on high demand. By aligning pricing strategies with customer sentiment, you can optimize revenue more effectively.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration: A Key to Success
For sentiment analysis to truly benefit an airline, there must be a seamless collaboration between revenue management, marketing, and operations:
- Revenue Management: Responsible for integrating sentiment data into pricing and inventory decisions.
- Marketing: Uses sentiment insights to craft and time campaigns that can either capitalize on positive sentiment or mitigate negative perceptions.
- Operations: Ensures that the root causes of negative sentiment (e.g., delays, cancellations) are addressed promptly, preventing further damage to the brand.
When these teams work together, the airline not only mitigates risks but also creates opportunities for growth and increased market share.
Conclusion
Every customer has a voice and every review can influence purchasing decisions, airlines cannot afford to ignore customer sentiment. By incorporating sentiment analysis into revenue management strategies and fostering collaboration between departments, airlines can protect their revenue, enhance their reputation, and outmanoeuvre competitors. The tools and data are readily available; it’s up to airlines to use them to their fullest potential.
