Cirrus Aircraft’s recent reorganization that elevated two company veterans to the post of president is a move to reshape its customer focus and position the company for many new developments in the future, said co-founder and CEO Dale Klapmeier. Todd Simmons was named president, customer experience, and Pat Waddick president, innovation and operations. 

At the company’s annual AirVenture kick-off event in Oshkosh, Wis., on July 19, Klapmeier noted that the company is “changing how we interact” with its customers, establishing a new structure to strengthen ties with the customer base. He added this is important as they plan new products for the future. “We’re just getting warmed up,” he said. 

Simmons, who is moving to Knoxville, Tenn., where a new Cirrus Customer Experience Center is being built, said the company’s investment in customer activities is “on par” with that of its investment in aircraft. Cirrus was promoting its “Cirrus Life” slogan, which Simmons said means the company plans to take a greater involvement with its customer base and make it more of a lifetime commitment.  He added that Cirrus—and aircraft companies in general—don’t do as good a job with maintaining ties and following up on their customers as other companies do. 

One example of this effort was a team trip planned to Alaska with its customers. Such trips are usually coordinated outside the company, he said. But a Cirrus team accompanied its customers to help facilitate their efforts on such a trip.

Simmons also further detailed plans for the new Knoxville center, which he stressed would solely focus on the customer. “We’re not moving production. We’re not moving subassemblies.” 

The facility, to open next year, will be a delivery center, but also house a showroom and training, among other activities. Cirrus is installing a level-D full-motion simulator at the new facility and paying attention to details such as building an aviation-themed playground for its customers with families.

Simmons noted that as it developed the center, the company did not reach for aviation benchmarks but instead considered successes of other companies such as Starbucks, Apple, Audi and Disney to broaden its approach.