Ibom Air: Setting the pace in customer service

INVESTOPEDIA defines customer service as the practice of providing existing and potential customers with support to enhance their satisfaction with the company and its products or services.

It also refers to the direct one-on-one interaction between a consumer making a purchase and a representative of the company that is selling it. What makes customer service outstanding is the ability of a company to understand that customer is King, and endeavor to put customers’ needs above theirs.

Salesforce defines customer service as “the support you offer your customers — both before and after they buy and use your products or services — that helps them have an easy, enjoyable experience with your brand customer service means delivering proactive and immediate support to customers anytime on the channel of their choice — phone, email, text, chat, and more”.

The importance of excellent customer service cannot be underestimated. It helps to achieve one major goal, which is customer retention; in other words, customers who are satisfied with the product one sells, or service one offers are more like to keep doing business with one’s company. Flowing from this, it also helps to greatly reduce the cost to be expended on acquiring new customers.

Furthermore, with good customer service, one’s business will get free referrals from existing customers to prospective customers, at no cost to you. Prospective customers seem to trust personal referrals better than general adverts coming from one’s company.

Founder and Former CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos once said “There are many ways to center your business. You can be competitor focused, you can be product focused, you can be technology focused, you can be business model focused, and there are more. But in my view, obsessive customer focus is by far the most protective of Day 1 vitality”. He re-echoed these words at another occasion, when he said” The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be Earth’s most customer centric company”.

Little wonder that Amazon is one of the most financially successful companies in the world. This writer is of the opinion that the number one secret of Amazon’s success is its understanding of the fact that the customer is truly the king. Amazon comes up with creative ways of making customers have a wonderful shopping experience with them. From quick delivery of products, giving discounts on products, to providing a wide range of products, as well as providing superb customer care, Amazon does all it can to keep ensuring that it retains its customers and get new customers.

Amazon understands that by offering customers a positive shopping experience, such customers will in turn share their experience with their family and friends, who in turn will bring new customers to Amazon. Speaking on the importance of referrals by existing customers to new customers, Jeff Bezos “It used to be that if you made a customer happy, they would tell 5 friends. Now, with the megaphone of the internet, whether online customer reviews or social media, they can tell 5,000 friends”.

Of a truth, customer service is one of the pillars of a successful business, and a differentiator that distinguishes one’s business from those of competitors who offer similar products or services. Every year, a week is set out to celebrate customer service through the Customer Service Week. Customer Service Week is an international recognition of the critical role customer service plays in the success of companies, but more importantly, it celebrates the people who serve and support customers daily. It held this year between October 3-7,2022. This article takes a look at Ibom Air, and its excellent customer service which is worthy of emulation and commendation.

The airline commenced operations on Friday, June 7, 2019 with an inaugural flight from Uyo to Lagos. Three years down the line, with over one and a half million passengers flown and about 22,000 flights later, Ibom Air has come to be known for its brand promise of schedule reliability, on-time departures and excellent service.

Ibom Air currently has a fleet of seven aircrafts comprising 5 CRJ 900 Bombardier series and two brand new Airbuses A300-220 series, and currently covers 7 destinations (Uyo, Lagos, Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Yenagoa and Enugu). The airline has an unmatched record of schedule reliability and on-time departure. For instance, in January 2021, of the 694 total flights operated, 650 of them departed on time, leading to a 94 percent on time performance. In February 2021, of the 632 total flights operated, 594 of them departed on time, leading to another 94 percent on time performance. In March 2021, of the 708 total flights operated, 678 of them departed on time, leading to a 96% on time performance. The Airline’s highest on time performance of 99 percent was recorded in July 2019, when of the 302 total flights operated, 299 of them departed on time.

However, there are few instances in flights are either delayed or cancelled. Of interest is the manner in which the Customer Service of Ibom Air reaches out to its customers and delivers top notch customer service. One of the happy customers of the airline company who doubles an aviation analyst and Chief Executive Officer of Afritraveller, is Mr. Chidozie Uzoezie.

After his first flight with the airline, he said: “Most of my expectations were met and even exceeded, especially with respect to punctuality, crew and the actual flight… Speaking in relative terms, the flight was everything I had expected; it surpassed the average domestic flight in Nigeria. And I’ll definitely fly with Ibom Air again”.

Further rating other aspects of the flight, Mr. Uzoezie rated Check in at 85 percent, Boarding at 80 percent, Punctuality at 90 percent, Aircraft at 90 percent, Crew at 90 percent, In-flight service at 80 percent, Flight at 95 percent, and Seat comfort at 95 percent.

This writer has also had positive experiences with the top-notch customer service of the airline. At one time, when his flight was delayed, an email, then SMS was sent to him. This was followed up by a call informing him of the delay.

This prevented a situation where this writer would have spent numerous hours waiting for the re-scheduled flight. At another time, this writer, alongside his wife and daughter were given free flight tickets by the airline.