Springtime is for gift certificates, too

Many of these events will contact your flight school business to request a donation or booth space. You can see these as great opportunities to play a role in the growth of your flight school business. Even if these springtime events don’t contact you, you should reach out to them for advertising and promotion to spread the word to the public about your flight school. Doing so is low-cost advertising and effectively gets your business name out in front of the public.

Often, it is just a matter of donating a gift certificate for an introductory flight. Your school gets listed in event advertising or you receive relatively inexpensive booth space. Talk to event organizers about trading gift certificates for booth or display space or at least negotiate a reduced price. This marketing strategy indicates your commitment to be involved in community events as a highly respected member of the local business community.

Gift certificates are amazing business tools. It’s not expensive to print a nice looking free “Introductory Flight” offer. Statistically, half of all gift certificates are never brought back to the flight school. Those that are returned, however, indicate a genuine interest in learning to fly. About half the people who do the free demo flight will participate in additional flights as a paying student pilot inspired to see the world from above. You are establishing a list of people who desire that flight experience—a group of self-selected individuals with a desire to add a new dimension to their life experience.

Each person who does come to redeem a gift certificate has some level of interest. If they don’t start flight training immediately, they remain potential future business. They are the type of people who perhaps can’t afford the investment in flight training at that moment or maybe are involved in too many work or scholastic demands. Individuals have returned a year or two after an initial “Introductory Flight” and commented that they were given a good experience and now have the time and money to learn to fly.

A good experience generates word-of-mouth advertising that is the most cost-effective form of advertising for any business. You can utilize loyal customers for testimonials and because of their loyalty to your business, some of these people will be willing to help staff your booth events. Remember, you want to create loyal customers, not just satisfied customers. Loyal customers go above and beyond providing customer service. It is building a customer/business family-like relationship.

Remember, it all started with attracting new students with a gift certificate for a flight training experience. Attracting new students is what keeps your business alive. It also gives you the satisfaction of helping someone achieve their dream with a new dimension in their life. A long time ago, motivational speaker Zig Ziglar advised his audience “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” That is how you and your business grow.

To summarize, take advantage of springtime events: gift certificates are a cost-effective marketing tool. Don’t be afraid to offer event promotion to local event organizers, some of whom may come back in a year or two. Your business is promoting a local event that will in turn promote your event. Remember that you want to develop loyal customers and not just satisfied customers; treat your customers like family. Help others achieve their dreams; and reward comes from helping others.