About the expert
Brandi Nicholson is a customer service specialist on Textron Aviation’s parts sales team. She began her career at Cessna ten years ago, and today she is the lead liaison between U.S. customers and parts teams that ensure quick, efficient delivery of Textron Aviation’s 19 million in-stock parts.
What is the most common question customers ask you about parts service?
“It’s pretty cut and dry. They want to know price and availability, and I work with planners, buyers, expeditors and maintenance teams to find the quickest, most efficient way to fulfill the orders. It’s more than a matter of clicking a box on an order form. For me and my team, it’s about building relationships so that when a customer calls for a part that’s rarely ordered, we know who to contact to find it the quickest.”
What should your customers know about parts service that few do?
“I think some customers may think when they use the 800 number they’re dialing in to a call center, that we only have the information our computers give us. We’re more than that. We’re a group of up to 30 at a time working in the same room and sharing information with each other and with our callers. Everyone who answers the phone is a customer service specialist, a professional problem solver. We find the answer. If we don’t have the part sitting in our warehouse, we know how to find one quickly. We’ve been doing this for years, so we know a lot about the logistics of getting parts to our customers. That experience allows us to anticipate points in the process that can slow delivery, and then avoid those issues for our customers.”
What are the hallmarks of an industry-leading parts service experience?
“Customers should expect their customer service specialist to understand their needs beyond just finding and sending a part. Great parts professionals know what having a specific part means to the customer and they meet those expectations with professionalism.”