Spirit Airlines aims to improve customer relationship management. It collects customer data to segment customers into high and low value. High value customers who fly frequently should receive rewards to strengthen the relationship. Spirit will also address sources of customer dissatisfaction like wait times and extra charges. Implementing technologies like eCRM, RFID, and Salesforce can enhance customer experience and help Spirit retain high value customers.

1. Final Project
CRM Strategic Plan
By
Pitcha Sakmangkorn
IMC 461: Principles of CRM
Professor Mickey Brazeal
Dec 3, 2015

2. Initially established in 1964 as Clipper Trucking Company, Spirit is known as
low-cost airlines for anyone wishes to travel in the United State of America. The Airline
is related to many types of services, ranging from pre- and post-service, service at the
airport and on board. In another word, service is a big part of business. Spirit has wide
range of customers ranging from kids to adults, and low-income to high-income
customers. All customers have different values.
According to its website, Spirit currently operates more than 250 daily flights to
over 50 destinations within the U.S., Latin America, Caribbean and Canada. Unlike
small purchases like shampoo in which customers need to finish it before they buy a
new one, Spirit has high number of re-purchases because once passengers finish one
flight, the business is done one time. Passengers can consider taking another flight
immediately right after one flight ends. Thus, Spirit’s product has a big number of re-
purchases every day.
Though the one-time flight is over, the relationship can still remain for future
repurchases in different occasions. If the company makes mistake at any contact points,
there is the chance of losing a customer forever. So the company needs to be really
careful.
As mentioned, each person has different needs, values, and preferences by taking
Spirit Airlines. Someone has long flight, while someone has short flight. In this case, a
choice of seats plays the role. The ones who have long flight might need a seat by the
alley, in the case they might need to use washroom and do not want to find trouble
passing through adjacent passengers if they have window seats. People also have

3. different taste for food such as some people can be vegetarians and some people can be
Muslims who do not eat pork, and different desired flying time, such as morning,
afternoon, or evening.
Spirit is always about real-time actions, such as a customer is almost at the time
of flying and facing an incident that makes s/he cannot catch the flight. That person will
need immediate contact with Spirit’s agent, meaning s/he tends to call center. Thus, call
center and personal selling are comprised a major part in the business. Call center needs
to be ready to assist customers whenever they need it.
Spirit has big differences in customer value. Some people can be frequent
visitors, while some can be one-time visitors. Because those people have different
incentives to fly, we can categorize them for sources of differences between customers
using ‘flying frequency’ or ‘mileage points’. With those data, Spirit can know a list of
people who use the Airline quite often like every month due to their business purposes,
a list of people who do the average, or even a list of people who travel with Spirit in
very low frequency. Those who fly with Spirit once a month are high-value customers
(HVC); they are worth keeping and investing in. Those who fly with Spirit once every
two years are low-value customer (LVC); they are not worth investing in, meaning Spirit
might not desperately want to keep them in the business.
By knowing what the company’s sources of differences between customer values
are, Spirit can figure out how to keep HVC for long term and how to create customer
retention.

4. “Satisfaction and loyalty” play a big role here. The key idea is to maintain good
attitude for customer towards the brand by making them feel they satisfy with the
Airline in every contact point. To do that, marketers need to create value for the brand.
With the value, it creates repurchases. There are levels of delivery of values. Values are
in core product, support services and systems, as well as technical performance but
CRM adds value in a part of ‘customer interaction’. We can add perceived value to this
part with only a little cost or even at no cost. Spirit can make a quality customer
interaction by providing better treatment, reliability, friendliness, helpfulness, and
courtesy and avoiding rudeness, lack of caring, and mistreatment in every contact point.
Call center agents should talk to the customers politely and willing to help no matter
how bad the situation is. They should show sympathy and empathy to customer’s
complaints and try to get the problem solved since the fist call. At the check in counters
or kiosks at the airports, the representatives should act nicely with smiles on their faces
at all times. Airhostesses or flight attendants on board should treat and speak to the
customers nicely and politely.
Check-in area at the airport

5. With data that the airline has, they can know whether which customer prefers
which seat or which kind of food they prefer. Since at the check in counter, if a
representative has this information in hand, s/he can offer the seat or the food that the
customer would like without customer has to ask in the first place. By doing that the
customer can sense that the airline really cares him/her. Also, it can save time and cost
for both customers and the Airline.
Spirit can study ‘a timing’ when a specific customer flies, such as a loyal
customer named Jane, age 28, always flies from Chicago to Dallas every Thanksgiving
to visit her family. In October, if Jane still does not purchase the ticket yet, Spirit can
personalized the email reminding her about the trip, plus offering a special price or deal.
Spirit always charges a fee for checked bag, this can be one of the special offers. A
message can be ‘Remember how amazing your trip last year was? Make it happen again
with FREE checked bag for this Thanksgiving just because you are our favorite
customer.’ This is how to reward loyalty with just a little cost ($30 per one-way trip).
All things mentioned above related to Knowledge Management. Spirit has
database in hand, it is their job to make the most from that data. With Knowledge
Management, Spirit can change customer experience. The example is when the
passenger has problems and call Spirit. Contact person has the right information in
fingertip, so passenger does not have to wait. His or her problem will be solved right
away. In the past, passengers need to choose the seats every time they are flying. With
Knowledge Management, Spirit can implement this strategy on their website, for
example when a customer is about to pick the seat, there will be history information
show up and ask if the customer still wants the same seat (if it is still available).

6. So what kinds of information exactly that will help Spirit improve the business?
Datamining is the strategy that Spirit should apply.
• The basic information such as each passenger’s history flights; the
preferred seats, preferred food, the destinations they usually fly to, the
time they usually fly to one specific place.
• Information about people that a passenger flies with. Does passenger
usually fly with a group, a lover, or alone? If it is a group, what is the
relationship between them? If it is a couple flying, what time of the year
they usually fly? What is the reason they are flying? Are there any special
occasions that make they fly; Anniversary, etc.?
• Unpattern information, for example, a case when a passenger flies to one
place and flies to another place right after that. A passengers that flies to
farther airport first and then s/he might use the car to reach the
destination, etc? Are there any connections for that?
To maintain loyal customers economically, every Airline does frequent flyer
miles, so does Spirit. The Airline has what is called “FREE Spirit”. Apart from the
program, Spirit can do more, for instance, instead of giving free or discount flight, a
customer is able to get free hotels, car rentals or even a tour guide (if the customer is
exploring the city) for that trip.

7. ‘Free Spirit’, mileage program that Spirit is using
To improve customer satisfaction, is also about involvement. The higher the
involvement, the higher the satisfaction occurs. To generate involvement, Spirit airline
should respond customers’ complaints and feedbacks as soon as they can. With that they
should have representatives be ready to answer questions on phone all the time. Also, to
make customers feel that they have someone help them 24/7, Spirit should create

8. interactive chatting channel, ‘live chat’ that exists on the website. Since today is the era
of social media, representatives should present on social media channels; Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram for customers to reach out whenever they need help. Spirit can
ask customers to do quick surveys after finish phone calls and use the takeaways to
improve the business. If customers feel that they get to involve with company, they
would have emotional attachment to the company.
While we can do several things to improve satisfaction, dissatisfaction can also
occur in every contact point. Spirit should be aware of key sources of customer
dissatisfaction and find a way to stay away from them. Otherwise these dissatisfactions
can be reasons for defections. The Airline can be compared to other competitors and
finally customers can turn down the Airline. Sources of customer dissatisfactions can be
as follows.
• Staff interaction- Because service is a big part of the company, Spirit
must bare in mind whether the staff competent, helpful, polite, and
friendly. If customer finds any unpleasant experience with any staff, s/he
can have bad attitude that leads them to leave Spirit. This includes
interaction via phone call, email, interaction at airport counters and
kiosks, and on board.
• Wait times- Does Spirit have slow service until customer needs to waste
their time waiting for something? Again, Spirit should aware of this
slowness in every contact point. Another point to be consider is, does the
system for website, mobile app, etc. run slowly?

9. • Insufficient destinations- Spirit does not fly to some cities in the States
and that can make customers shift to other Airlines that fly to the
destinations they want.
• Extra charge- Spirit charges for checked bags, food, and when
passengers check in at the airport, unlike other Airlines that usually
include all that with the fee. This might make customers think that even
with the cheap ticket price, the Airline is not doing any complimentaries
for customers.
• Lack of updates- Flight delays can happen. Spirit should send text for
any updates, no matter how small or big the issue is. If there is no update,
a customer can blame on the Airline if there is any mistakes happen to
them.
• Lack of responsibility- If there is mistake that happens because of Spirit,
the Airline should take responsibility.
Food and beverage that Spirit is offering

10. As mentioned earlier, HVC is a group of people that is worth investing in.
Customers who are categorized as HVC tend to have some connection and strong
relationship that bond them with Spirit. These people should receive rewards according to
loyalty in order to strengthen relationship and make them stay with Spirit forever. When they
find any flaws with Spirit, they tend to forgive and stay with the brand no matter what. Even
they are approached by other competitors, they would never go away. We would recommend
Spirit to reward them as follows (this depends on what level of HVC they are in as well).
• Upgrading their seats from economy to first class
• Offering free special food that does not exist on the menu
• Putting the wine on the seat before the customer comes in
• Offering free fly with expiration date
• Offering free packages for hotel or car rental
• Restructure and improve use of customer loyalty reward programs. Apply double
rewards during the off-booking season, and promote online and mobile redemption
Spirit Airlines’ first class seats

11. Campaign automation not only helps draw leads and acquire new customers, it
also helps to retain HVC. Sales team can access the campaign automation tool directly
from the campaign screen and that contains all information you need. It helps sales team
manage plans more easily and more efficiently. The software allows sales teams to share
information so they will all have access to see information they need whenever and
wherever they want. You can design and set up specific message for specific target
group. In another word, you can use it to facilitate micro segment. For example, sales
team can define rules and condition for customers who respond to a survey; it could be
thank you message, a message to remind passengers about upcoming trips, etc. Also, if
passengers have questions about the trip, with confirmation numbers, they can get
answers from any agents because the agents share the same information of every
customer.
Spirit can expand the market by using current customers as a starting point. There
are opportunities to grow the customers, both with very cheap cost to high cost.
• The cheap one is to offer the discount for a company that the passengers are
flying with. If the escort gets to fly with Spirit and impressed, Spirit tends to
be in his/her consideration set next time s/he flies. This opportunity is cheap
and also the best one, since the chance of a couple or a group fly together is
usually higher than a person who flies alone. This is similar to the promotion
‘buy one get another one 50% off’.
• Spirit can also personalize the email recommending the facility according to
their flight, for example recommending hotels and car rental companies that
partner with Spirit.

12. • The more expensive and riskier one can be organizing last-minute auctions to
help fill vacant seats.
• For leads who give emails or mobile numbers to Spirit, Spirit can apply
mobile solutions to personalize messages, marketing efforts, brand
recognition and online booking and servicing options.
• Spirit can apply a Web-to-mobile friendly browser, apps or crossbreed
solutions, along with SEO-enriched online and mobile content to increase
ranking and attract prospects.
Employing Partner Relationship Management is always a good idea for value
added because it will give you special stuff in a reasonable price from supply chain. This
will differentiate Spirit from competitors and also provide customers better experience.
Also, it can get rid of problems that may occur between supply chain/distributor and the
company, for example, the delay in transporting plane parts.
• Partner with Wi-Fi company for a low-cost Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi is currently quite
necessary for everyone, especially business people. Having low-cost Wifi on
board will differentiate Spirit from other competitors.
• Partner with satellite TV company to get channels – How about not only
having choices of movies but also having a list of TV shows or series from
NBC while travelling?
• Partner with massage chair or massage kit company – Spirit can enhance
customer experience by having special massage chair/kit for first class seats.
This can apply with HVC for customer retention.
• Partner with popular food stores - For example Shake Shack or Garette
Popcorn. Imaging how special the Airline is going to be having trendy food

13. on board and none of competitors have it. The kids might be interested in
these products and ask their parents to buy some.
• Book/newspaper – Many passengers love to read. What if they forget their
favorite books at home? Spirit can provide today’s best-seller books as
options for passengers to purchase and read for entertainment. Choices of
newspapers are also a good idea for adult who reads newspaper every day.
Also for Spirit, it is good to have a good relationship with upstream
distribution/supply chain, who makes parts for the Airlines. Delays in repair services
can cause substantial scheduling problems for the Airline, consequently there is loss
in profit, inferior service. Finally, it urges customers for antipathy. If Spirit can
maintain a strong supply chain management to get rid of these faults, the company
can save the cost and finally customers are happier.
Talking about implementation, we mentioned ‘live chat’ earlier. That can be a
part of eCRM. eCRM would make Spirit manage their business easier. It is related to
E-ticket purchasing and online check-in. All contact profiles and history can be kept in
the system and ready for Spirit’s staff to pull up whenever they want them.
Using RFID technology is also a good idea. RFID allows passengers to tag their
own baggage and scan their own boarding passes prior to getting onto the flight. These
self-service machines can save fliers travel time and allow Spirit’s staff to focus on
assisting less frequent fliers. Using RFID in airports can save time for both passengers
and airport personnels and increase customer satisfaction. This tag also allows Spirit to
evaluate who is HVC and LVC since fliers who use the machine tend to be frequent

14. fliers. Voice recognition also can be adopted. In future, fliers may speak to the machine
their names and with some identification at the kiosks and then their flight itineraries
will show up. Fliers no longer need confirmation number or printed document for
printing their boarding pass. These implementations are easy to do and will definitely
enhance Spirit’s CRM.
SalesForce can help Spirit’s sales teams communicate and collaborate more
easily. This is an opportunity to acquire target customers and especially HVC.
SalesForce will allow Spirit’s sales team to have an easy way to share account
information. If there is any problems occur, sales account executives can ask their
colleagues questions and get answers in real-time. Spirit can apply Sales Cloud for
integrated account, contact, and activity details. Field sales teams can access SalesForce
on their mobile devices, so they can update accounts more quickly and more easily.
With SalesForce, sales teams have a more complete picture when reaching to prospects
or supplementing service to existing accounts. The business is facilitated until it moves
ahead.
With all these business assistances, you can grow the number of HVC. When you
have too many HVC, you can lose someone. With CRM, Spirit can learn from the
system who is going to abandon the company, so that Spirit can find a way to get them
back or prevent it not to happen. ‘Winback’ is a way to bring back consumers’ trust
towards the brand. You have to find the reason why they leave you. Is it about the price,
offer, or a service? Spirit should collect a list, research the reason, and group customers
by each reason. Personalization and customization can get involved in this part. Spirit
should send personalized message/email offering compensate offers as their
responsibility if they do any mistakes. The message should be sincere in order to create

15. positive attitude from customers. The important thing is to keep brand promise and
nurture customer experience. If customers feel that Spirit really cares them, the chance
of coming back is high.
Personalization and customization also can apply with regular case not just for
leaving customers. As mentioned earlier, Spirit can personalize message based on
customers’ preference and travel history from the database/datamining. Personalization
is easier when someone is Spirit’s customer already since Spirit will know the
preference until the company is able to tailor the message for one specific customer.
Spirit can use mobile solutions, mobile friendly browser, apps or hybrid solutions to
personalize servicing communications. Personalization message is ranging from e-alerts,
messages, promos, tips and the most current flight information. This results in customer
retention. For example, Spirit notices that this customer gets window seat every time, so
the company makes sure this customer gets window seat every time if it is possible.
Again, this is related to learning relationship, the company should create learning
relationship to study customer after they stay with you for a while. Then the company
should evaluate who is HVC and LVC, learn what HVC wants, personalize for things
they want, and keep your promise. This is just simple tactic Spirit should apply.
Spirit Airlines is a fragile company since the principle is ‘Home of The Bare
Fare’; the Airine includes no free baggage or drinks, less leg room in non-reclining
seats, no Wi-Fi or video. There are many gaps that encourage customers to dislike the
Airline. According to CEO Ben Baldanza, "Our fares are 40 percent lower than the
competition and we do things differently in order to offer that. And if a passenger
doesn’t like Spirit, they can pay $50 more and go elsewhere”.

16. ‘Home of The Bare Fare’ campaign
Spirit needs to find a way to tone down this incompatible. How to do that? Some
brand marketing is related to CRM. Those two should walk in the same direction in
order to create utmost benefit. We recommend Spirit to revise some of brand marketing
strategies. Spirit should add more positive advertising message in order to enhance their
personality from selfish and arrogant Airline to Airline who understands customers, for
example, using a new headline like ‘Home of Bare Fare and Compassion Airlines’.
Getting to the insight that you can save up your money and spend those with more
necessary thing, for example having TV commercial about how a passenger can use
saved money to buy his/her parents a luxury dining for their 30th anniversary.
According to the review from airlinequality.com, people complained about the
seats that are too small and not comfortable, the delays that happen often, and Spirit
charges for every little thing such as $10 for an agent to print out boarding pass that took
only 30 seconds, the poor website that usually down and always kick people off. There
is also a staff that promised to send passenger a receipt but turned out he did not do as he
said. There is also a passenger who said Spirit agent booked a flight with wrong date for
her, instead of showing courtesy and speak politely, an agent charged her for extra fee.
Spirit should take these complaints and figure out how they can solve the problems.

17. It is understandable that Spirit is the low-cost Airline and the company might
cannot cover other extra costs. However, they should take responsibility in a polite way
if the faults happen from them. That is the case they can at least do.

18. References
https://www.spirit.com
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/spirit-airlines-launches-new-ad-
strategy-157526
http://www.amadeus.com/nablog/2013/08/how-airlines-can-attract-more-
customers/airlines
http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/spirit-airlines/
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/spirit-airlines-hug-haters-free-miles/story?id=24503317
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2399244/what-spirit-airlines-and-arby-s-can-
teach-marketers-about-brand-personality