The virtual service industry in general is like an aeroplane, carrying a variety of different passengers, let’s call them clients. In order for the plane to fill its seats, it offers various different classes to its passengers and the passengers pay in accordance with what they can afford, or what they are simply willing to pay for the journey (or in our case, the service).
The industry also has a variety of different options for the client to choose from, varying in price depending on what VA you hire (or airline you travel with, or class of seat you want to purchase). The likes of us who want to travel freely and often, and don’t have a great deal of money to spend will tend to stick to the budget airlines, low cost flights etc… This is of course fine, all they literally want to do is get from A to B, and they don’t care much for the service on the flight in between, as long as they get a seat and have their basic needs catered for – and of course turn up alive at the other end. Nothing wrong with that.
On the other hand, there are passengers who do have the money to spend that little bit extra and get a 1st class seat on the plane. They care about the overall experience, and what happens from A to B, they want to pay for the additional perks they get along the way that make their experience more pleasant, a comfier chair, or a bed, better air con, champagne, a 5 course dinner, very attentive service, closer toilets… Whatever – overall they want more features and benefits than the people travelling in economy.
How do your clients travel?
Personally, I like my clients to travel first class, in fact, I invest a lot into providing the attention to details, and I don’t want to offer anything less. My business (or hypothetically speaking ‘airline’) caters for the people who are not paying economy class. The reason I do this is because when I was striving to bring the cost of my service down, I was unable to do that without the overall level of it coming down as well – from 1st class to economy seats, and then that would have just left me feeling crappy, and unhappy with myself. Who wants that, right? When I think about being less of a professional in my field and compromising on my ‘baby’ – that is of course my business – I just don’t want to do it, and would really rather the client went off to purchase an economy ticket elsewhere.
What airline are you operating and what passengers are you catering for? The fact is we most certainly need both types of airline and we need both types of ticket, economy and 1st class, they are essential for everybody in the world to be able to travel, and I feel everyone should be able to travel.
The point is there will always be people booking economy class, flying cheap, and there will always be those opting for 1st class – and sometimes, they’ll do both, depending on the situation. Whatever you do – economy or 1st class, do what feels right for you. Both RyanAir and Emirates do a good deal of business, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about – as long as you do business the way you want to.
