Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, services, and supports the world's most technologically advanced business-jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced some 1,800 aircraft for customers around the world since 1958 and employs more than 9,700 people at seven major locations.
Pursuing Exceptional Service Excellence
The Gulfstream brand is essentially synonymous with the best of the best in business-jet aircraft products and services. However, maintaining consistently high standards of excellence across seven locations and multiple product and service lines presents a massive challenge. Gulfstream customers know they are dealing with the best, so they expect an exceptional experience during every interaction.
"We became aware of some customer service issues that had developed when planes were in for service. Some customers felt like they weren't being kept adequately informed about the status or nature of their aircraft's service program. We became concerned that our brand identity could suffer if we didn't find and fix the problem."
Scott McDonald, Director of East Coast Sales, GulfstreamGulfstream immediately started searching for a training partner who would collaborate with them to create the right solution.
Baker Communications — Working Together to Create the Best Strategy
Gulfstream reached out to Baker Communications. Greg Byrnes, Vice President of Sales and New Business Development at Gulfstream, met with the Baker team at the corporate office in Houston, where they extensively reviewed options for creating an Exceptional Customer Service training program. The meeting was very productive. "After the meeting, Greg called me and said 'I think we found our new training partner,'" recalled McDonald. Gulfstream ultimately booked training events at multiple sites, beginning with their Savannah flagship facility.
A Fully Customized Approach
The Baker team quickly realized that a standard off-the-shelf training class was not the answer for Gulfstream. Instead, they began by extensively researching the Gulfstream culture and service process, so they could customize a solution that would preserve and enhance the Gulfstream brand going forward.
Senior instructor Jer Dunlap visited the Savannah site and shadowed Gulfstream members on the floor for several days to understand the challenges they were facing. After completing his site evaluation, he met with Gulfstream leaders for two days to present data and recommendations from his research. The group brainstormed together to finalize a comprehensive strategy.
Dunlap's recommendations focused on two distinct performance gaps. First, the need for greater teamwork between all working groups — breaking down organizational silos, bringing sales, customer service representatives, technicians, and finance together to focus on improving cooperation and communication. The goal: help everyone understand all the perspectives and challenges each team faced, so they could work together as one team with a single goal — deliver the best possible customer experience during all phases of interaction.
The second major gap focused on developing skills to communicate effectively with customers and provide assurance that their concerns had been heard and their needs would be met.
Baker-Branded Excellence
The customized program gave Gulfstream a structured, brand-consistent approach to customer service training that could be delivered across all seven locations. By starting with deep research and building content around the real challenges Gulfstream teams faced, Baker Communications helped turn a service concern into a brand-strengthening initiative.
