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The History of Long Island MacArthur Airport’s Florida Service

Introduction:

While Islip’s Long Island MacArthur Airport struggled for identity and purpose during the first three decades of its scheduled service existence, with turboprop commuter flights to northeast destinations and pure-jet, trunk-carrier BAC-111-200s, DC-9-30s, and 727-100s to Albany, Washington-National, and Chicago-O’Hare with the likes of Allegheny/USAir and American, what was needed was a market that would produce consistent demand, putting the regional air field on the map. That market, not filled until the early-1980s, was Florida and it has remained its lifeblood ever since.

First to provide the vital Long Island-Florida link was Northeastern International Airways.

1980’s:

Long aware of the need to connect Long Island’s only commercial airport with both sunshine state retired parents and its beaches with winter tourists, Stephen L. Quinto, born in the Bronx in 1935, but raised on Long Island itself, combined deregulation with bottom basement aircraft leases and took the bold step of injecting Islip with its first nonstop Florida air service, specifically to Ft. Lauderdale, enabling residents to avoid the drive to and congestion of the major New York airports, particularly JFK and La Guardia.

The inaugural equipment, taking from as a single 185-passenger, all-coach configured DC-8-50 previously operated by Evergreen International Airways, departed on February 11, 1982, bound for Ft. Lauderdale. What may have become a luxury decades later, the low, unrestricted fares assessed to fly in it included baggage check-in and in-flight beverages and snacks. While it operated four times per week and once to Orlando, a second aircraft of the same type facilitated increased frequencies and destinations.

Passenger numbers, which affected airport revenues through concession fees, hovered at the 150,000-mark since Northeastern’s almost 11-month debut and pointed to promise for both the carrier and the airport.

Aircraft numbers also translated into additional destinations. In this case, two 128-passneger, former Pan Am 727-100s eventually facilitated seven daily departures to Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, Miami, Orlando, and St. Petersburg, and the tri-jets were soon joined by a trio of long-range DC-8-62s.

Officials from the Town of Islip, which owned and operated Long Island MacArthur, were, to put it mildly, pleased, since 6,597 air carrier movements and 546,996 passengers were recorded in 1983 due in significant part to Northeastern and Quinto’s vision.

The following year, its February 9, 1984 system timetable bore witness to its success, with three departures to Ft. Lauderdale at 0840, 1600, and 1945; one to Orlando at 0950; two to St. Petersburg at 1000 and 1945; and one to West Palm Beach at 1515.

But success could sometimes be equated with smart, and Quinto’s Northeastern became too enthusiastic in breaking from its traditional narrow body Florida niche by leasing four 314-passenger widebody Airbus A300B2s and routing them, often in competition with incumbent carriers, transcontinentally from Miami to Los Angeles with intermediate stops in New Orleans, among other routes. Larger capacity 727-200s had also been acquired.

Indeed, by the summer of 1984, it operated 16 DC-8s, 727s, and A300s to 17 US cities on 66 daily sectors, recording the highest load factors, of 71.5 percent, of any US airline, enabling it to grow into the 18th largest domestic carrier as measured by revenue passenger miles.

However, passenger numbers at inadequate fares yielded losses and the inability to meet payments, prompting aircraft returns, service discontinuations, and employee layoffs, and forcing its January 3, 1985 bankruptcy filing with $28 million in assets and $48 million in liabilities.

Returning to its roots with a single no-frills Islip-Ft. Lauderdale segment, it progressively re-expanded to Orlando, St. Petersburg, and West Palm Beach. Fares as low as $49.00, however, could not sustain its financial lift, resulting in a four-month service suspension, during which Quinto made several last-ditch efforts to secure aircraft, including the lease of ten Braniff International 727-200s, those of United, and a single MD-82 from Alisarda. Some subservices were operated by All Star Airlines and Emerald Air with DC-9s.

Although it could not return to its former glory and permanently ceased operations in 1986, the 10,750 air carrier movements and 810,751 passengers recorded two years earlier, its last full-year of operations, indicated that the Long Island-Florida market was the airport’s missing link, toward which Northeastern had served as its catalyst, and its legacy would be reflected by every airline that subsequently filled it. And there were many that did.

First to fill the void was Eastern Airlines. Operating the largest aircraft from the MacArthur field, it routed a daily, 199-passenger 757-200 between Boston and Ft. Lauderdale in 1985, which touched down there on both its south- and northbound sectors. Fares were $99.00. While its operation was brief, the next decade awaited with several carriers lining up to serve the route.

1990’s:

Although its own reign would be equally brief, Braniff, the third rendition to carry the Thomas Braniff name, commenced its own Islip-Ft. Lauderdale and -Orlando service in July of 1991 with $69.00 introductory fares. They rose to $119.00 for Monday to Wednesday travel.

Its daily 727-100, operating as Flight 111, departed MacArthur at 0800 and landed in Ft. Lauderdale at 1045. A 30-minute turn-around saw it take off at 1115, now as Flight 112, and touch down again on Long Island soil at 1350. Suffering from the same inadequate cash flow malady as its two previous versions, however, it ceased service in June of the following year.

A temporary, although ultimately permanent, replacement appeared in the guise of Carnival Airlines on July 31.

Created as a single-class, low-fare deregulation carrier, it transported passengers from the northeast to the sunspots of Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean.

Initially experimenting with the market during the winter of 1991 to 1992, it only operated for a two-week period, but did not attract sufficient traffic to support its 737-400s. Yet Braniff’s exit, which left it without competition, screamed of the need for a replacement, since it, along with Northeastern and Eastern, had established a low-fare market. Like all three, it began with a single daily Ft. Lauderdale rotation.

Established by Carnival Cruise Lines’ founder and CEO, Ted Arison, to funnel people to its principle Miami and Ft. Lauderdale cruise embarkation points, it purchased Pacific Interstate Airlines for this purpose, which itself had been created in 1984 to operate charter flights from its Las Vegas base to Los Angeles. Yet its brief history was directionless, with both frequent name and strategy changes.

A year after it planted its West Coast roots, it adopted the Pacific Inter Air designation and in 1987 rebranded itself Bahamas Express, at least shifting toward Carnival’s eventual eastern seaboard territory, with flights from several cities to Freeport. Although Carnival’s 1988 acquisition saw it adopt the title of “Fun Air,” this name never graced an airplane. Instead, its cruise ship passengers were initially transported on Majestic Air 727-100s.

Originally based in Dania Beach, Florida, it subsequently relocated to Ft. Lauderdale, amassing a narrow and widebody fleet of five 737-200s, eight 737-400s, six 727-200s, and six A300B4-200s, employing some 1,300 personnel, and serving Islip, Newark, and New York-JFK in the northeast; Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, and West Palm Beach in Florida; Nassau in the Bahamas; Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and Aguadilla, Ponce, and San Juan in the Caribbean.

Its simplified frequent flyer program advised, “Earn a free ticket after only ten round trips on Carnival Air Lines.”

In 1992 it carried just over a million passengers, a 43.9-percent increase, and earned $88.5 million in revenues, a 67.8-percent increase.

Its winter 1993-1994 flight schedule, which became effective on December 16, included two daily MacArthur departures to Ft. Lauderdale-Flight KW 31 at 1245 and Flight KW 35 at 2035; one to Tampa, Flight KW 41 at 1110; and one to West Palm Beach, Flight KW 33 at 1835.

Yet its life would only span a decade. Mid-1990 fuel prices and Carnival Cruise Lines’ overambitious purchase of its Fantasy and Destiny classes of ships during the same period left little additional revenue to keep the carrier in the air, and it appeared an attractive takeover by the reincarnated Pan American Airways, which ultimately purchased it. The torch of Carnival Air Lines’ Long Island MacArthur Airport Florida service was subsequently passed to Pan Am when it fell under its umbrella.

The second carrier to sport its name, whose brand was acquired by an investment group, once again arose from the ashes to the sky in September of 1996, when a single Airbus A300, dubbed “Clipper Fair Wind,” inaugurated service on what was intended as a low-cost, US domestic and Caribbean route network.

Led by Martin Shugrue, Pan Am’s last Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Pan Am Corporation, its holding company, purchased Carnival the following September. Yet its rapid expansion, placing costs ahead of profits, only caused it, like so many other phoenix-rising airlines, to declare bankruptcy–in this case in February of 1998.

Although the interval was brief, 737-400s wearing the once-proud Pan American World Airways’ blue cheat line and vertical tail adorned globe did alight on Long Island.

Nevertheless, Carnival/Pan Am had considerably developed the Florida market with five daily departures to Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale.

Two other carriers had competed with it-AirTran in 1994 and USAir to Orlando in 1995.

As the Boeing 717’s launch customer, AirTran Airways itself traced its origins to predecessor ValuJet, which itself was founded by former Southern Airways and Eastern Airlines personnel to fill the void in Atlanta after the latter’s demise, inaugurating service on October 26, 1993 with two former Delta DC-9-30s between Atlanta and Tampa. Its MD-95 launch order would have made it the youngest airline to claim the title. It had posted a $67 million net profit on $367 million in revenues.

AirTran Airways, a low-fare carrier founded by AirTran Corporation shortly before this time, served 24 eastern and midwestern destinations with 11 737-200s from an Orlando hub.

Merging with ValuJet on November 17, 1997, it retained its name, but adopted ValuJet’s Atlanta hub, operating 227 daily departures to 45 cities with 31 DC-9-30s and the 11 737-200s by the following summer.

Next to enter the Florida fray was Delta Express, a low-fare, limited-service division of Delta Air Lines that was created to operate single-class, 119-passenger 737-200s on leisure routes. Because of its main carrier association, it attracted very high load factors.

Commencing service in 1998, it flew to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.

Another Florida service provider was Spirit Airlines, which appeared on the MacArthur ramp with its MD-80s and MD-87s in November of 1998.

Of significant size, stature, and longevity, however, was Southwest Airlines, which became instrumental in sparking Islip growth.

Selected, after a two-year search for a third northeast city to serve after Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island, MacArthur joined a list of six potential secondary airports, including Newburgh’s Stewart International, White Plains’ Westchester Country, Connecticut’s Harford and New Haven, Trenton Mercy County, and New Jersey’s Teterboro, the latter of which never fielded commercial operations. Because of the 1.6 million living within the vicinity of Islip, local business health, and its “underserved, overpriced air service,” which, according to then-Southwest Chief Executive Officer, Herb Kelleher, was “ripe for competition,” Long Island MacArthur most filled its requirements.

Lacking sufficient space for the intended operation, however, it was subsequently subjected to a $13 million renovation, which entailed a 62,000-square-foot terminal expansion and an extension of the existing short-term parking lot.

Service inauguration, initially employing two Southwest-dedicated gates, occurred on March 14, 1999 with 12 daily 737-700 departures, including eight to Baltimore, two to Chicago-Midway, one to Nashville, and one to Tampa, all of which provided through or connecting service to 29 other carrier-served destinations. Islip was the 53rd city in its 27th state. Florida, admittedly, was little more than a footnote at this stage, but that would change. And the other two Long Island-sunshine state linking airlines continued to expand during the last two months of the decade.

On November 20, 1999, for example, Spirit Airlines inaugurated nonstop Orlando service, marking its seventh daily one to five Florida cities, while Delta Express followed suit with its own inaugural to Tampa 11 days later on December 1, equally resulting in seven daily MacArthur departures when combined with its four existing ones to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.

Three airlines thus offered 15 daily flights to five Florida destinations: seven Delta Express 737-200s to Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa; one Southwest 737-700 to Tampa, and seven Spirit MD-80s to Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach.

2000’s:

The next decade was categorized by airline exit and entry and schedule and frequency adjustments, but Florida-bound passenger counts continued to climb.

In January of 2000, for instance, Spirit Airlines and Delta Express respectively carried 41,804 and 29,865 passengers, 91- and 44-percent increases over the year-earlier period.

By February, with Southwest’s addition of a second Tampa frequency and the inauguration of an Orlando route, daily Florida departures rose to 17.

By mid-year-specifically August 6-Southwest introduced seven additional flights from Islip, including a third daily one to Nashville and new service to Providence, Jacksonville, and Ft. Lauderdale, resulting in a daily quintet reach with its existing single rotation to Orlando and dual rotations to Tampa.

In the first six months of the year, it carried 447,000 passengers. The comparable Spirit and Delta Express totals, which only entailed Florida routes, were 240,286 and 210,000.

But the pull of a larger New York airport-in this case, La Guardia-changed MacArthur’s triplet of sunshine state serving airlines. Spirit, which already dispatched five daily aircraft to three destinations from the Manhattan-proximity field, entirely relocated there on September 4 in order to take advantage of 20 newly acquired slots, demonstrating deregulation’s underlying freedom of allowing carriers to freely enter and exit a market and exemplifying, at least in this case, that the secondary Long Island facility was used when capacity at a primary New York one was unavailable.

Slot availability became the third reason why a Florida carrier discontinued service there. Aggressive expansion beyond its inceptional, low-fare, competition-devoid niche with widebody aircraft, as had occurred with Northeastern, proved the first, while a merger with a debt-ridden airline, coupled with deviations from its northeast-Florida traffic flow, as had occurred with Carnival, was the second.

Because of Spirit’s autumn exodus, Long Island MacArthur recorded a 6.9-percent passenger decrease in the fourth quarter of 2000.

As 2001 dawned, the promise of Spirit replacement service to cater to unrelenting demand hung in the air and it was delivered on August 5. While a third Southwest departure to Chicago-Midway was introduced, a reduction, from three to two, in Nashville frequencies enabled it to link Long Island with West Palm Beach for the first time in September, resulting in six daily departures to the five Florida cities of Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale, and 23 overall.

Delta Express was the next carrier to exit stage-left. A second Delta Air Lines subsidiary, Song, intended to more effectively compete with low-cost carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest with larger, 199-seat 757-200s, was deemed inappropriate for the Long Island market and was created to replace smaller Delta Express with its 25-strong, 119-passenger 737-200 fleet. As those aircraft were retired, both destinations and frequencies decreased.

In 2001, for instance, it carried 290,000 passengers from Islip, down from its 539,500-peak, but this figure was reduced to a fourth the following year with 77,500. In July of 2003, the Delta division entirely disappeared.

Southwest once again stepped up to the plate. On September 4, 2002, it offered one additional flight to both Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.

Exercising incumbent clout, it had thus replaced Northeastern, Eastern, Braniff, Carnival, Pan Am, Spirit, and Delta Express to Ft. Lauderdale; Northeastern, Eastern, Braniff, Carnival, Pan Am, AirTran, Spirit, Delta Express, and USAir to Orlando; and Northeastern (St. Petersburg), Carnival, Pan Am, Spirit, and Delta Express to Tampa.

Its triumph, illustrating its strong financial position, was the result of its ability to gain market share released by weaker carriers during challenging economic times, fostering its own growth at the expense of another’s retrenchment.

Southwest’s Florida penetration continued. By March of 2002, it operated eight daily flights, including one to Jacksonville, two to Orlando, two to Tampa, one to West Palm Beach, and two to Ft. Lauderdale. Three and a half years later, with an October 5, 2005 Ft. Myers addition, its daily dispatch had almost doubled: five to Orlando, one to Ft. Myers, three to Tampa, three to West Palm Beach, and three to Ft. Lauderdale for a total of 15..

After another three-year interval, a once-familiar tenet reappeared on the MacArthur tarmac. Citing ease of access and lack of congestion, and incentivized by a 50-percent landing fee reduction during its first year of operation, Spirit Airlines, this time operating next-generation Airbus A319s, re-introduced two daily round trips to Ft. Lauderdale on May 1, 2008 with $7.00 introductory fares. Connections could be made to 23 Caribbean and Latin American destinations through its south Florida hub.

Teresa Rizzuto, who assumed now-retired Al Werner’s Commission for Aviation and Transportation at MacArthur positon, commented at the time, “Mid-sized airports are the fastest growing sector in commercial aviation. And in that group, we’ve had some of the fastest growth. New York City’s airports are maxed out.”

Offering competitive Ft. Lauderdale service with Southwest, Spirit’s two daily flights were projected to generate some $300,000 in annual airport revenues derived from parking fees, car rentals, and other concessions.

Marking Islip’s first regularly scheduled Airbus Industrie operation, the twin-engine A319 touched down on Runway 06 at 0954, taxiing through a dual fire truck created water arch to the gate before redeparting at 1030 as Flight 833 with a high load factor. The three-hour sector saw it touch down in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida’s Venice with its Intracoastal Waterways, at 1330. The second frequency, Flight 837, departed at 1925 and arrived at 2225.

Both were part of Spirit’s more than 200 systemwide flights to 43 destinations. But the weak flicker of Long Island light they provided was doused fever than three months later when escalating fuel prices and declining economic conditions forced their discontinuation on July 31, leaving a fading promise of return, for a third time, when more advantageous circumstances merited them. They never did.

2010’s:

The fourth decade of Long Island MacArthur Airport’s Florida service brought equally unrealized promises, but ultimate hope.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, an ultra-low fare airline serving vacation markets from secondary airports, foresaw the need to connect Long Island with Florida’s west coast-in this case, with another secondary airport, Punta Gorda, which was an alternative to Ft. Myers. Islip was its 99th city that served one of 14 leisure destinations.

Designated Flight 999, the December 20, 2013 inaugural service, occurring on the threshold of the traditional winter period, was operated with a 166-passenger MD-80 and departed at 1920 local time. Fares for the twice weekly round trips were $69.00 one way or $99.00 return.

Although they were discontinued on May 14 of the following year with the intention of being reinstated during the winter 2014-2015 period, they never were.

Elite Airways was the next carrier to taxi up to a MacArthur gate with the intention of serving another secondary Florida city-in this case, Melbourne.

Founded in 2016 and certified as a Part 121 air carrier, it located its headquarters in Portland, Maine, but its maintenance, crew training, sales, and marketing departments took root in its intended destination. Offering, as reflected by its name, a quality travel experience, it operated an all-regional jet fleet, consisting of a single 50-passenger CRJ-100, five 50-passenger CRJ-200s, and five 70-passenger CRJ-700s, offering charter services and transporting college and professional sports teams, executives, and VIPs for the first half-dozen years of its existence before undertaking scheduled flights.

These, in the northeast-to-Florida corridor, included Portland and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as well as Melbourne, an identity echoed in its slogan of “Melbourne’s hometown airline.”

Like that of Allegiant Air, it was twice weekly-in this case, on Friday and Sunday-and seasonal, with $149.00 introductory fares, when its inaugural CRJ-700 departed Long Island soil on June 17, 2016.

Seasonal, as had already been demonstrated, could by synonymous with suspicious-of its return. Elite did and did not. The expected January 5 to February 16, 2017 suspension did precede a reappearance, but the second, between April and July of that year, did not.

Instead, it would be 16 months, or not until September 6, 2018, that it once again transported passengers, this time on two weekly, Thursday and Sunday, CRJ-200s to Melbourne, whose rotations entailed an 0800 departure and a 1045 arrival as Flight 7Q 21 and a northbound return at 1600 and alight at 1845 as Flight 7Q 24.

Although it offered Long Island originators one-stop service to Bimini, Bahamas, its low load factors prompted its permanent departure.

Hope came in the form of Denver-based Frontier Airlines in May of 2017 when it announced $39.00 introductory, unbundled fares on its intended Islip-Orlando sector. Part of its latest strategy of doubling its size over the next five years, Islip was one of 21 new destinations it added to the 61 it already served. Contrasted to New York’s La Guardia Airport, from which it already operated, Long Island MacArthur was devoid of road and passenger terminal congestion and had more than adequate airport facilities, inclusive of check-in counters, gates, and ramp space.

Its inaugural flight, operated by an Airbus A320 that landed at 0936 on August 16, 2017 and was greeted with a water curtain, became the outbound F9 1779, which was off the blocks at 1045. The return, F9 1778, was scheduled to land at 2155.

Frontier’s dual-phase Islip expansion entailed inaugural services to Ft. Myers, Miami, New Orleans, Tampa, and West Palm Beach two months later, on October 5, and Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis on April 9, 2018, all operated with 150-passenger A319s, 186-passenger A320s, and 230-passenger A321s.

Because of the ultra-low fare nature of its operations, which required high load factors not always achievable at MacArthur, it immediately planned season frequency adjustments, destination substitutions, and altogether eliminations, leaving airport officials and passengers alike to wonder if Frontier would become just another fly-by-night carrier. But this was not necessarily the case.

Toward the Next Decade:

After 22 months of service from Islip, Frontier Airlines carried its one millionth passenger from it in June of 2019, making it the fastest growing of the three current carriers (Southwest and American Eagle included) and the airport itself the fastest growing domestic hub as defined by the Department of Transportation.

In terms of Frontier, it transported 536,000 round trip passengers in 2018 or 33 percent of MacArthur’s 1.6 million total. In terms of the airport itself, its available airline seats, filled or otherwise, escalated from 1.70 million in 2017 to 2.17 million in 2018, itself a 27.6-percent increase, its three tenant airlines having provided more annual capacity than that of any year since 2010.

Although seating marginally increased after American Eagle substituted 50-passenger ERJ-145s for its previous 37-passenger DHC-8-100 turboprops and Southwest replaced some 737-700 departures with larger 737-800 ones, most of these encouraging figures resulted from Frontier’s high-density configured A320 family flights to Florida.

An additional 38 weekly round trips to Ft. Myers, Tampa, and West Palm Beach, scheduled for the winter 2019-2020 season, offered a hopeful indication that Frontier was there to stay.

In December of 2019, or one month before the turn of the next decade, 12 daily departures were offered to five sunshine state destinations by two airlines: one to Ft. Lauderdale, three to Orlando, one to Tampa, and two to West Palm Beach by Southwest; and one each to Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach by Frontier.

Like a deregulation-created storm of airline entry and exit, frequency and schedule changes, route additions and discontinuations, competition, and fare wars, Long Island MacArthur Airport has weathered four decades of uncertainty and instability. But because of unrelenting demand, nonstop Florida service was always offered by one airline or another, and, in most cases, by several at once.

Passengers express demand through load factors. Carriers respond with flights, destinations, frequencies, and capacity. In terms of Florida, communication never seems to have been lost here.

Take Your Customer Service Dept From ‘Cost Saving & Cost Reduction’ To High Profit & Business Growth

The more communication I have with people involved in telephone service and sales, such as Contact/Call Centers and Customer Service Departments, the more amazed I become at the reluctance to create more sales and profit opportunities through better interaction with current customers, reactivation of lost accounts and new business acquisition.

Companies are forever seeking ways to cut costs and reduce staff – particularly so in Call/Contact Centers (turning so many into ‘Call ‘n’ Wait’ disaster zones) – they often fail to see what rewards they can achieve by using the following formula:

1 humble telephone + 1 skilled operator + 1 established sales system = HUGE PROFITS!

Here are twelve ideas that can dramatically improve your bottom line RESULTS build greater customer RELATIONSHIPS and earn you (a company of any size and industry) more REVENUE.

1. Build the loyalty of your current customers

A ‘no brainer’ right? Why is that so many customers cannot get through to you, when it suits them?

Why are you constantly offering free incentives and reduced prices to gain new business?

CRM is meant to be the new service elixir. Well it is worth nothing if you don’t listen to your customers.

Here’s an example – in the last six months or so, a metropolitan daily newspaper has offered ten-week subscriptions for $39.90 (I pay more and have subscribed for 20 years), contests (win wine if you subscribe, see a rock group in concert!) and give-aways to induce new subscribers. Me, I get some sort of special club membership with the odd discount or special offer. But hey, so do the new subscribers! Who’s ahead?

2. Gain referrals from current customers

The cost of losing customers is almost incalculable. Add to that the people they tell about their bad experiences and the people they never refer to you.

Instead, offer your current customers a total strategy of satisfaction and benefits. Then, encourage them to tell others.

Don’t reward these referred customers (but do give them total satisfaction and benefits). Do reward your current customer for their referral. Develop a system that will encourage customers to tell friends, family, their customers and associates about you and then say ‘thank you’ or offer them something of value for their efforts.

3. Add VALUE to every sale

Here is a really simple equation: If you give value – you get more sales.

That’s it. If your people are trained to offer advice and information, educate customers, offer them creativity and innovation then your customers will buy more products and services, more often.

Even if your prices are slightly higher. This was the IBM way, back in the 60’s and 70’s with some great lessons to be learned. IBM charged the steepest prices in the industry but their service and support was legendary. The phrase ‘no one ever got fired for buying IBM’ originated way back then.

4. Turn an enquiry into a prospect

Then, turn that prospect into a customer. Then turn that customer into an advocate, one of your company’s ‘raving fans’.

All you need are trained people, a system and a monitoring and measuring plan. Simple? Yes it is, and like all things mentioned in this article, I will bet that some of your people excel at this and a number of them perform basic courtesies with callers – and that’s it.

5. Create an upsell program

One becomes two. Two becomes four. Four becomes … greater than the GDP of Argentina.

It is so simple, easy and effective and so few organisations employ this strategy. Many of your people don’t do this because they think the additional cost will put the customer off. It doesn’t. Not if the customer actually sees the benefit of greater quantity or improved quality.

6. Cross-sell at every opportunity

What can your people add on the original purchase? Extended warranty, on-site service, insurance, a savings if they purchase an additional item(s), a special offer or other options?

If everyone in your organisation upsold and cross-sold at every given opportunity, your sales would soar. I have witnessed increases of between 15-45% in companies where a simple upsell/cross-sell strategy was installed.

7. Negotiate on price

Don’t just offer a discount or ‘best price to you’. Let me reiterate, if you give value – you get more sales. Negotiate price. Train your people that by dropping price, they are giving away margin. So, if you offer a discount negotiate an upsell and/or cross sell. Package or bundle your offer to make it attractive and a genuine customer benefit.

8. Follow up

Every time your people give a quote, send a proposal or brochure out via fax, mail or e.mail, they should record a follow up timeframe.

Between one hour and three days. Everyone who requests information should be followed up by telephone. This leads to a higher close or conversion rate (I have witnessed 20-50%) or, if they have purchased elsewhere – your follow up call may be the commencement of a relationship … or not. But you won’t know if you don’t follow up.

This rule should also be applied to complaint management. Most companies have no follow through with people who have complained.

9. Adopt a ‘keep in touch’ program

What can you do for your customers that will allow you to contact them on a planned, regular basis?

Special offers, new product or service introductions or …? The best forms of ‘keep in touch’ are e.mail combined with a regular phone call.

But be warned – you should have a purpose for every call you make or email you send. Don’t just bombard your customers (and prospects) with garbage.

10. Develop a systematic approach to lost customer reactivation

The longer you fail to make or maintain contact, the likelier you are to lose customers forever.

If you check the most recent contact vs previous contact frequency, you can detect a lost or about to be lost customer. Do something to regain their business.

This is the most costly part of your operation – the lost customer, the lost referral.

Do you have a lost customer reactivation plan?

11. Gain new customers

Why are there so few high quality telemarketing divisions in companies? Certainly, the ‘T’ word is considered dirty and grubby in some quarters and indeed it can be. However, where you have trained professionals, comprehensively developed objectives and strategies why wouldn’t a well run telemarketing campaigns gain new business and new relationships for your organisation?

Quality telemarketing will generate leads, open up new business channels/market segments, build business with small, marginal and distance customers, give you real value (as a follow up) from exhibitions and seminars.

This is one of the most under utilised resources for business acquisition (and reactivation).

12. Develop and work your system

Success will come in all of the previously mentioned guidelines, tips and hints if you adopt a systematic approach. That is:

a) A sales and service oriented contact management system, based on a quality CRM package.

b) Well trained people who consistently add value to and gain value from every call they take or make.

c) Monitoring, Measuring and Reviewing each of the above and seeking continuous improvement both in contact management and people skills.

It is simple and what’s more, it works. Use the power of the humble telephone (and quality people) wisely, and you will gain great RESULTS: Relationships and Revenue.

Choose the Best Web Hosting Service For Your Small Business

Are you thinking of taking your business to the next level by creating a website? If you are looking for a good and affordable hosting company to maintain your small business website, then here we have brought together a few tips to help before you start out!

In recent times a business; whether small or big without an online platform is very rare to find as the customers always look for their needs on the internet. Potential customers always search for the best products and their providers on the internet. Hence, if your small business doesn’t show up, then that won’t be a good sign for them. So websites always play a vital role.

Web hosting companies provide a server to store your website and maintain them. They always help the customers to view the website and get access to all the pages easily. Choosing the best web hosting company is the important part. Especially for small businesses, a website helps them to attract and engage with customers.

There are three types of hostings; shared, dedicated and cloud. Shared hosting shares the server with more than one website. These types offer less disk space and bandwidth. The dedicated hosting type provides a single server for the website which offers more disk space and bandwidth when compared to a shared type.

The third type is cloud hosting which is a combination of shared and dedicated hosting. They provide a network of servers for a single website rather than a single server. It usually gives the website the same disk space and bandwidth as the dedicated hosting. For a small business or recently started website it is advisable to opt for a shared hosting type. They are cheaper compared to the other two types and saves you from overpayments.

Cloud hosting is also a good option as they use the internet and there won’t be any need for additional software. They are affordable as the charging is based on the usage of the site. This type is more reliable than other networks, less expensive, more productive and more beneficial.

Selecting the best hosting company and type, according to your business and its growth is the main factor. Small businesses initially don’t expect to have a customer traffic. So it is good to think of a company offering affordable hosting methods. Choosing the wrong web hosting company can lead to losing potential customers, profit loss, security malware, etc. So customer support is another factor while deciding on the company you choose.

If your website offers the best e-commerce tools with a well-designed interface, then it can impress the customers and make them stick to your website for their needs. There are free and paid services as well. Paid companies always offer the best services, while free ones often impose ads for their monetary gains.

Basic E-Commerce Website Development Service

E-commerce also known as electronic commerce, refers to online business ventures that cater to the targeted audience globally. And for the success of the e-commerce business, highly functional, user friendly and attractive website is extremely essential. For developing such business websites, you ought to seek the service of professional e-commerce web developers. There are numerous e-commerce website development and designing companies rendering avant-garde service at most economic price.

The popularity of online trade reaching its peak and the tendency of the consumers to buy things online has made e-business website development service an important thing than it was ever before. Today, there are hardly any material things which are not available or cannot be purchased online. Eyeing on specific niche, the e-commerce business owners provide an array of options for their online audience, re-defining the face of the trade and commerce. Thus, a complete web solution is necessary whereby the consumers can easily choose, buy and refer to their choicest articles as well as make transactions online

E-commerce website development plan demands strategic planning taking into account the exact requirements of the business house. The evaluation of the exact requirements needs to be made and a functional design plan needs to be created. Database configuration and the hosting requirements are integral parts to e- commerce web development service. SEO friendly web design is vital so as to enhance the website’s visibility. Other essential development services include online shopping cart integration and payment gateway integration which will help in proper management of the e-trading website.

SEO friendly web design and development of an e-trading website can be implemented using a mySQL database and the most preferred programming language is PHP. Since PHP is a general script language and is compatible with a number of open source development such as Joomla, WordPress Magneto and many more, PHP is the most favorable options for developing an e-commerce website. PHP can be easily embedded into HTML codes; it can be easily integrated with dynamic visual applications like Flash and Ajax. All these accounts for choosing PHP as the most favored language for e-commerce website development

The fundamental thing in e-commerce website development includes the development of the shopping cart which needs to be very stable and strong. A secured payment gateway also needs to be integrated with shopping cart which will easily process credit cards on website. Some of the most common payment gateways that are used in these websites are Pay Pal, Moneybookers, CC Avenue and likes. The gateway services can be developed through scripting languages such as PHP, Perl, ASP.NET and Cold Fusion. There is a special section that guarantees security for the customers through secure socket layers (SSL) technology. The web solutions of e-business websites also include the development of admin or the back office modules of the e-commerce sites that helps manage the products, sales and account.

An e-commerce site is to be developed in such ways that it guarantees trouble free experience to online consumers. The SEO friendly web design helps these business websites to attract better traffic whereas the user friendly website provides the customers a hassle free online shopping experience. Easy access to the products that are categorized perfectly with detailed information, easy navigation and secured as well as convenient ways of payment – all these factors when considered during the e-commerce website development make an e-commerce site one of a kind and also guarantee the success of by increasing the number of customers.

Massive Productivity Savers: Online Fax Service and Other Fantastic Ideas

If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, then here’s a quick riddle for you: What does an online fax service, a notepad, and a mind map have in common?

Simple: they’re all key techniques that can save you a great deal of productivity and effort in running your small business!

In today’s stagnant economy, it’s more important than ever for businesses of all sizes to get as much value for as little money as possible. That’s why productivity – both in terms of your own and your employees – has become such a hot-button issue as of late. More business owners are determined to find the small fixes that can have a massive impact on the company’s bottom line.

With regards to an online fax service, mind mapping and a simple notepad, they might not seem like much at first; but if you put each of these items together, you’ll discover a veritable symphony of time-saving, energy-preserving, productivity-boosting tools that will transform every hour into an oasis of creativity and brainstorming.

Are you ready to learn about these massive productivity savers? Then sit back, relax and enjoy learning about how a fax by Internet system and other resources can help turn your business – and your employees – into a profit-boosting machine:

An Internet Fax Service: If you’ve never heard of an Internet fax service before, then you’ll love what you’re about to read: it’s a great way to save a bundle of time that would be otherwise spent sending faxes to your clients, employees and prospects. Think of it this way: an online fax service is to faxing as emailing is to sending letters. The overall outcome is the same (the receiving party gets their information), but the process of sending that information is infinitely sped up.

Using an Internet fax service is essentially the same as email with fax. Rather than wasting time waiting at the fax machine for confirmation that your documents went through, you simply upload the fax onto your computer via a scanner, send the documents via a special online fax service, and the receiving party will receive it from their own fax machine. This means that you’ll cut down on those wasted minutes at the fax machine which could be better spent on something more important…

… Like brainstorming that next great business idea or working with your employees on increasing your company’s bottom line.

A Notepad: I know this seems like an antiquated tool to use, especially in today’s high-tech world. But there’s just something about jotting down your thoughts and ideas on a pad of paper – and if you use the following technique, you can turn that notepad into an oasis of fantastic business ideas:

· As soon as you get into work, pull out your notepad and a pencil. Don’t bother checking your phone or your email – these are only time-wasters that will eat up valuable minutes that could be spent furthering the success of your business.

· Start writing down everything about your business without stopping. Think of this as your diary for your business – and just like a diary entry, you shouldn’t hold anything back.

· Write for at least twenty minutes. If you want to organize the writing in an easy-to-read, manageable entry, then write in bullet points. Once you’ve finished the twenty minutes of writing, review your list and select the top five tasks, ideas or thoughts that will have the biggest impact on your business success. For example, an idea for increasing customer retention rates will have a bigger impact on your business than an idea for organizing your office files.

These five tasks, ideas or thoughts should take up priority during your day; everything else should be delegated or only take up ten minutes of your time. This way, your time won’t be wasted on activities that have little to do with the success of your company.

Mind Mapping: If you’ve ever seen a bubble diagram, then you already have a pretty good idea of what a mind map is. A mind map is a type of bubble diagram that can help visual learners focus on the tasks that will be the most productive in terms of furthering your business goals.

To make a mind map, write down a major goal you have (one from the top five listed above would work nicely here). Now draw a line from the center bubble and write down specific steps that can help you accomplish those goals. Keep this diagram by your computer to remind yourself of the goals you should be focusing on, not tasks that are productivity-wasters.

Thanks to an online fax service, a notepad and mind mapping, you can preserve your business productivity without taking a chunk out of your company budget!

Role of Customer Service – Why It’s Important to Your Business

Plan to get the financial Data:

Blockchain technology usually attends the financial sector, but they could transform the number of industries and range from the Internet of Things (IoT) which support to healthcare and from the supply chain to arts and entertainment.

Blockchain expert explains the technologies has broad reach comes from its employment to secure and efficient way. To ensure data integrity, transparency, immutability and fairness, across different types of transactions.

Existing business functions Ideas:

We are the proprietor and managing director of cryptoappfactory.com, and also Blockchain. We can improve an existing business system using pursuing the idea to create a competitive advantage through more efficient accounting processes and solving potential customers’ challenges.

We are ready to prove the second point where P2P energy-trading platform, eliminates the middleman from renewable energy sales. And another Blockchain startup provides a platform that seamlessly shares data along supply chains. Investors seem to like the startups’ solutions to everyday problems, awarding more than million to Origin Trail and over million to Power Ledger.

Capital fundraising:

Ideas to create a new service model and products to launch on your business, we support the capital work concept for better choose blockchain services and support for business.

We use Cryptocurrency to get the alternate solution to the traditional funding project. The Cryptocurrency has startups using work capital amount on the direct investment tag using token generation events. The fellows have some policies to maintain and support the project as per legal services.

Attain New Customer Services:

Blockchain technology has cryptocurrencies model that they could transmit the data into an extended field on market. The Cryptocurrency have private and public investment to verify the transaction on recognizing companies to attract the Bitcoin and other online currency also. It helps to support and translate into sales.

According to blockchain tool, we have large media data to highlighted and transmitted on the forum through small family business. The PIVX has storage devices to get a new client and customer in to get the Bitcoin easier and faster on payment modes.

Cyber Security Empower:

We use half of the Bitcoin to share on private data breaches and half of the data to share on public data breaches. In each company they have some qualify experienced support for learning the business into the next level of approaches. Blockchain technology can be used to reduce your risk of a data breach.

Blockchain has enhanced cybersecurity efforts which we have infrastructure, transparency, event tracking, cryptography and other security data sharing information systems.

Ensure Bitcoin Privacy:

Privacy policies have several complementary tasks on cybersecurity systems. It is an important consideration to follow the particular consumers to purchase the Bitcoin to safeguard your information through online.

Bitcoin privacy is very important because even implementing your regulation of your Bitcoin the data protection has many features which we have more strength privacy laws. Blockchain can solve the element by creating and protecting the consumer data attention to build transparency and trust between consumer and brands. We offer a sample of data to share on live idea market using the big platform. The blockchain developers have big user ability to share and store the information on different entities.

Global Challenges using Cryptocurrency:

At last, we have entrepreneurs who like to capitalize on the employing blockchain technology to build the other places to devastate by natural disasters.

We have stated with Forbes who can share the capitalist done on the market using Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and blockchain. We residents have a panel to interact and reconnect to get the power grid, and also we sell Bitcoin wallet for either local private or public ventures.

This blockchain is the easiest way to help the Cryptocurrency platform in the easiest way of response. We offer Bitcoin and other currencies in the market which is empowering your business in an easy manner.

How to Procure the Most Suitable GPS Service Provider

In the current age of competitive business, companies and entrepreneurs are facing several cost and efficiency related challenges. It is becoming more and more difficult to sustain the competitive advantage or retain your customers due to the emergence of new and innovative entrants in the marketplace.

Contrary to common belief, big businesses are also affected by these phenomenon as much as small and medium sized businesses. This makes it necessary for an entrepreneur to constantly come up with new ideas in order to ensure customer retention as well as growth for his business.

For people in the commercial fleet and transportation business, GPS tracking devices can prove to a value-added advantage that will give them an edge over competitors.

When you try to find a GPS tracker, you will come to know that there are certain factors that should be kept in mind before pinning one down for dealing. Below, you can find a few useful tips that will help you locate the best option for locating the best service provider in this regard.

Ascertaining your Return on Investment

As a general rule, no one wants to invest in something that will not provide him with higher returns on his investment. This makes it imperative for you to ascertain, beyond reasonable doubt, that the GPS tracking system will be good for your company – both operationally and financially.

Do some background research on the GPS tracking devices and service provider

There are several service providers in the market who specialize in GPS tracking. You cannot just go out and simply pick one of them. You should first make a list of all your requirements and then find out whether the provider is dispensing all those services. You should also make sure that the service provider has the capability to fulfill your future needs with the growth of your business. The service provider should have the ability of initially deploying the system at your premises.

Assess the service provider’s capabilities

Technology is the key. In order to get ahead of your competitors, you must procure and employ advanced technological solutions. Ask your GPS tracker service provider about the technological infrastructure that they will be able to provide. There are certain aspects of technology in this regard: security of the system and data, and user-friendly operation.

Final Evaluation

Any driver can encounter any problem anywhere. In such a case, he will call the provider’s customer service. You should check whether the customer service staff is friendly and supportive. You should make a final cost-benefit analysis to finally reach a conclusion whether you can, in the long run, afford the GPS tracking devices. If so, then you should go for it!