Jaynie L. Smith’s new book Creating Competitive Advantage features Banyan Air Service, a business aviation service based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, as a prime example of how a business can identify and exploit its competitive advantages.

According to Smith’s book, identifying your competitive advantages — what separates your business from the rest of the herd — and trumpeting them to the marketplace, is the surest way to close deals, retain clients, and stay ahead of the competition. If a firm can’t convincingly answer the question “why should I do business with you and not your competition,” Smith said, it must be losing customers and market share.

Jaynie Smith is in good company in focusing on competitive advantage analysis as the key to business success. Asked what is the most important characteristic he looks for when deciding whether to invest in a company, financial wizard Warren Buffet replied, “sustainable competitive advantage.” Jack Welch, the retired CEO of General Electric, goes so far as to say, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.”

Banyan is a 24-hour full service, fixed base operation with more than a million square feet of hangar and office space within an 85-acre aviation complex. Banyan provides a variety of services, including aircraft fueling, hangar services, ground support, heavy maintenance, interior modifications, turbine engine service, structural repairs, avionics service and installations, instrument and component sales, and aircraft parts sales and distribution. Banyan also offers aircraft sales and management services and has a large pilot shop. Founded 27 years ago by CEO Don Campion, Banyan now has 155 employees and annual sales of more than $40 million.

Banyan’s Advantages

Smith’s book cites a list of competitive advantages developed by Banyan as a prominent example of how to identify and use competitive advantage. Smith’s book cites a list of Banyan’s competitive advantages. They are:

Ï Voted a top 10 FBO nationwide for the last seven years.
Ï Home to 450 aircraft based within the Banyan complex.
Ï 24 hour red-carpet service to more turbine aircraft than any other FBO in the Southeast (14,386 turbine aircraft in 2003).
Ï Hangar space available up to GV size aircraft.
Ï 30 “Safety First” certified line technicians, seven customer-service representatives, and a large fleet of ground equipment to safely serve you.
Ï Our avionics division is ranked among the Top 10 in the United States and has installed 60 avionics packages in turbine aircraft over the last 12 months.
Ï Our technicians meet our promised delivery date 99 percent of the time.
Ï Our service managers meet or beat the repair quotes 97 percent of the time.
Ï Our service center is the only independent repair station with FAA/JAA, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil authorizations and approvals.
Ï Our maintenance service center was voted in the Top 15 best maintenance facilities in the United States.
Ï 70 percent of our customers are referred by other customers.

The top 15 and top 10 rankings cited by Banyan are based on pilot surveys conducted by another industry publication.

Smith is impressed by Banyan’s list of competitive advantages because they are specific, quantitative, and focus on characteristics that are important to Banyan’s customers. For instance, meeting the promised delivery date saves customers costs from delay, such as inability to use the plane and having to pay for a hotel for the crew until the plane is ready.

How Banyan Developed its List

Don Campion began developing Banyan’s list of competitive advantages with Jaynie Smith in 1998. Smith was a facilitator for The Executive Committee (TEC), a nation-wide group of CEOs of mid-market businesses who get together regularly to share business problems and solutions. Campion asked Smith to help come up with a sales pitch for a trade show. Smith suggested that Campion devise a list of competitive advantages. “As CEO of Banyan,” she challenged him, “do you really know what your competitive advantages are? Can you convey your message to a prospective customer in 60 seconds?”

Initially, Campion suggested some rather general statements, like “We are reliable” and “We have great service” and “We are a 24-hour facility.” Smith convinced Campion that such statements didn’t meet the “so what?” test. In the eyes of customers, they wouldn’t separate Banyan from its competitors. She encouraged him to formulate competitive advantages that were specific, quantifiable, and impressive to customers. She urged Campion to develop materials that explain “why us” rather than just tell “about us.”

Over the years, Smith focused more and more on competitive advantage as the centerpiece of business strategy and began writing Creating Competitive Advantage. In 2002, she spoke to Campion’s Executive Committee group and had another session with Campion, encouraging him to further hone Banyan’s list of competitive advantages. In response, Banyan composed something close to the current list, which it displayed on the first page of its website, www.banyanair.com.

Banyan has institutionalized its competitive advantage list and made it the core of its business strategy. At least annually, Banyan’s managers and employees meet to challenge each other to improve the list.

In formulating the competitive advantages list, Banyan follows Smith’s advice to “keep one eye on its customers and the other eye on its competitors.” As Campion sees it, customers buy results, not products. “Customers don’t buy a drill at a hardware store; they buy holes. They don’t buy chlorine for the pool; they buy a clean, disinfected, pool,” Campion said. “Likewise, when they buy aircraft maintenance, they are buying a safe flight with all systems working.”

Banyan routinely surveys its customers about their satisfaction with its services. Many customers observed that Banyan’s ramp and lobby were cramped and outdated compared to the facilities of some other FBOs. Although Banyan had the major share of the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport FBO business, it had a smaller ramp farther away from the runway than any of its five FXE competitors.

Banyan has responded by building a new, $4 million FBO terminal, which opened on November 10, 2006. The Key West style terminal will be three times larger than the existing facility. The 2,800 square foot customer lobby has large windows framing the view of incoming aircraft. The lobby has dramatic interior views as well, including an 800 gallon salt water aquarium, palm trees, and a cascading waterfall. Pilots will be able to use three private pilot’s lounges, a bunk room, two conference rooms with business communications capabilities, private mailboxes, an ATM, and crew shower facilities.

Once a firm develops its list of competitive advantages, Smith advises it to “communicate, communicate, and communicate” them to customers and prospective customers. That is what Banyan has done through its web-site and its communications with its customers. Campion urges employees to raise the competitive advantages in conversations with customers and prospective customers.

Banyan’s Growth

As Banyan has refined its competitive advantage analysis, the firm has grown. Eight years ago, when Campion started identifying Banyan’s competitive advantages, total sales were $19 million. Four years ago, when Campion and Smith were refining and institutionalizing Banyan’s competitive advantage analysis, the firm had total sales of $26 million. By 2005, total sales had grown to $40 million. Campion cites exploiting its competitive advantage analysis as a vital reason for Banyan’s success. Campion believes that with Banyan’s existing capabilities and its new terminal, Banyan will continue to grow.

Campion also credits The Executive Committee for helping Banyan develop its successful business strategy. Campion regards his fellow Executive Committee CEOs as valued advisors and surrogate board members. The Executive Committee also makes seasoned consultants like Smith available as speakers and facilitators.

According to Smith, The Executive Committee’s 10,000 member companies, 99 percent of which are privately owned, have grown much faster than Fortune 500 companies. She reports that members of The Executive Committee, which generate more than $255 billion a year in annual revenue, grew 2.5 times faster after their CEOs join The Executive Committee than they did before they joined.

Smith’s Creating Competitive Advantage is a lively read, loaded with stories and examples from her career consulting with CEOs. The 219 page book is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, with a suggested retail price of $19.95. Smith’s website is www.smartadvantage.com.

Banyan’s Puzzle Masters Rebuild Damaged Cessna

When it comes to missing pieces of a puzzle, you can count on Banyan to be expert puzzle masters. Banyan’s team of structural, maintenance, and avionics technicians are credited with rebuilding a Cessna 206 that encountered major nose and tail damage. The fuselage and other aircraft pieces arrived at Banyan on a flatbed truck. Over the following months, Banyan’s structural technicians, Anthony Bessellieu, Lewis Hankins, and Alberto Jinete, rebuilt the damaged and missing sections of the Cessna. Once that was completed, maintenance technician, Curtis Florio, had the task of reassembling the aircraft. “The plane was in so many pieces and had such extensive structural damage when it arrived at Banyan, that this was a challenging project, much like putting a puzzle together,” stated Florio. The Banyan team was delighted when the first test flight revealed only minor avionics squawks. “This Cessna came in by truck and is now back where it belongs, in the air,” stated Dave Valenta, Banyan’s director of maintenance and avionics install.