November 11th, 2010
REGULATORY SOUP: Our business is governed by the PUC, CHP, LAX, Labor Board, IRS, a host of airports, and city and county government agencies. It seems as if you have to be a rocket scientist just to keep up compliance with every agency that rules us
TOO MANY RULES: I was reminded of this recently as I stopped to pump gas in my car. A beat up old bus pulled up to the pump next to me and began filling up. The bus looked as if it could have been a mid 90s limo bus. The bus had a company name painted on its side. However, it did not have TCP numbers or California DOT numbers or any other type of numbering to indicate it was registered to provide passenger transportation.
I casually asked the driver about the bus and he told me it is used to transport workers from the city out to the oil fields. I asked him if he was the regular driver and he said he was just part of the work crew and they took turns. I asked him if the bus required a special license to drive and he replied,
Posted in Laws & Regulations | No Comments »
November 11th, 2010
SHHHHH, PRIVACY COUNTS: In the world of corporate transportation, celebrity passengers, and uber-rich clientele, confidential matters should remain just that.
I recently read a newspaper article that featured an operator that detailed a lot about the company and its clientele. Maybe too much detail. As providers of luxury transportation service to the rich and famous, we are privy to highly-confidential and sensitive information. This can include cell phone numbers, lodging locations, itinerary details, and other personal information. Our clients trust us to keep this information private and share it with as few people as possible, even within our own operations. It is a code of ethics the industry abides by.
Some operators fail to realize the power or reach of local media. Comments to the media often can be reported out of context or even misquoted. This recently happened to an operator who was deceived by a reporter visiting her office to reserve a vehicle for personal reasons. Not mentioning he worked as a reporter for the local newspaper, the man engaged her in social chit-chat about celebrity clients and then included the
Posted in Customer Service | No Comments »
November 11th, 2010
DONE DEALS? Price conscious shoppers using multiple online limo finder services can cost you big money to get the sale as you pay for the same lead to multiple brokers.
Over the years I have joined many programs such as Limos.com, Decidio, LimoPros, LimoFinder, and other search systems in my quest to dominate my area. I have lost track of how many brokers we belong to. Recently I really began scrutinizing all the various charges on my credit card related to broker lead generation services. The amount I am paying for lead generation is approaching what I used to spend monthly on yellow page ads. And I thought the Internet would reduce my advertising costs.
That began an exhaustive process of going back to the beginning of 2010 and reviewing every lead sent that was charged to my credit card. We began comparing the leads with the names and dates of our reservations to see how many leads actually became orders and which companies sent us the best leads that panned out the most often.
That is when we began to unravel something very disturbing. It seems that Internet price shoppers are basically asking every single available broker on the Internet for a rate. Each time they get a quote, we get charged. In one case, we had delivered quotes to the same individual on five different systems. While ultimately we did get the sale, I found that I had paid a total of $18 between all five companies to get this airport transfer. The entire transfer rate, all-inclusive, is $63.25. This pushes my actual revenue on this job down to $45.25. To add insult to injury, the order actually came in on the weekend and I pay my night and weekend dispatchers 10% of each sale they make as contractors working from their homes. That was another $5.40. That pushes my gross revenue down to $39.85 for the job. You don
Posted in Technology | No Comments »
November 11th, 2010
ARE YOU DE-LIMOUSINED?
There is a growing trend in the limousine industry to remove the word limousine from company names. Bob
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
