I know you are probably wondering why we are making this third post for today. Weren’t two posts good enough? Well, note quite. I think we have mentioned many important things so far in regards to our industry, customer service and the way operators should be working their luxury limousines. What we haven’t talked about as a whole though, is the qualities that make a luxury transportation company better than another. What are the key components to make my limousine services better than all of my competitor’s? Is it just pure luck or can I do something on my end to ensure a greater customer experience and business relationship?
These are all very common questions. I believe that we are all very interested in improving our selves and the way our businesses operate. No one wants to stay in one place forever and do the same thing over and over again. We all want to evolve and that is a very beautiful thing. Whenever I talk about these topics with my colleagues and at big limousine events, my mind always goes back to the greatest operator I have met so far, based in South Carolina. Limo services Columbia is by far the company I look up to and admire. So, there are certain things we all can do both as employers and employees to make our business more profitable and more efficient in the long run:
- Try And Be The Best In Your Market
This is probably the most important quality of a limousine company. It isn’t good enough to offer competitive pricing or good customer service. You need to make sure what you are offering is of great quality. Everyone offers about the same price to rent a limousine. However we all know there are some luxury vehicles that shouldn’t be allowed on the roads and others that with modification could serve high caliber Washington politicians. Make sure your fleet has a great variety of limousines and offers diversity for the customer. Even though customers may only like 1 vehicle, if you give them a menu to select from, they feel more comfortable and happy about their choice (’cause they think they actually make a personal pick and are not pushed towards one direction.)
- Be As Friendly As Possible
This is perhaps the most civilized and socially based job you will work in your career. You can be working in customer service for a phone company, but in no way does that compare to taking people to airports, corporate meetings, weddings and all of that. You need to be friendly, compassionate and at the same time be very smart. Many times the passengers will stress about their luggage (especially people that are taken from an airport to their home.) Being able to keep the stress away for a short period of time, takes skill and especially people skills. I know you can be confident for yourself and own actions, however keep in mind that in most cases you need to deal with your employees. What that means is you need to train them to be polite and friendly. Some people come with that skill and ability from nature, while others need to be taught to be nice. You need to determine the weaknesses of your whole team and try to fix the problems.
- Always Stay Up To Date With Latest Trends And New Technology
The world is changing. Our industry has not escaped that constant evolution we are going through. If you think about it, it’s a beautiful picture. But if you don’t stay on top of new things coming along, you may end up being the person holding the bag. There are many online apps that focus on making bookings much easier for everyone: both the limousine company and the customer. If your customers have been used to these new helpful tools and you are outdated, they probably won’t want to deal with you. Because if you as a company aren’t changing and becoming better than yesterday, for what possible reason would they believe that you will upgrade your vehicles when the time comes? If you don’t care about improving your services and providing positive change, how can they trust you to service your luxury vehicles yearly? Also, besides people using new technology to book limousines, it will make your life much easier. These new computer programs are a part of our lives for a reason: because they make our lives easier. So try and be flexible if you want your business to thrive.
- Do Not Over Promise But Rather Over Deliver
This is an easy one. If you wanted to make promises you can’t keep, you should of become a politician. When your customers are extremely excited about taking a vacation or going out on a luxury night, the last thing you want them to be is disappointed. I know that most of the times, your intentions will be good. But many times, things happen that we don’t expect. Things that we can’t personally handle or control. If you promise to deliver something and you don’t, the customer isn’t going to really care about your excuses. They will leave a negative review for your company, and go on with their lives. But you still need to open up your shop the next day. You still need to serve more people. So that’s why my advice always is that you under promise and over delivery. This way, even if something doesn’t go as planned, you never promised it. On the other hand, if something great takes place and you haven’t promised it from the beginning, the client will believe that you are treating them extra and are grateful for their business. So they are more likely to treat you well as well.
Maintain Good Relationships With All Your Workers
Elsewhere on this platform, we have talked about the importance of having a very good working relationship with everyone in your company: from the secretary booking the limousine gigs, to the limo driver. If you maintain a good chemistry with all these people, they are going to be more successful and good at what they do. You need to get into their shoes here and there. How would you like to be treated as an employee? Yes, you are paying them their salaries and all of that is great. But they are also humans that need to feel accepted and efficient in their jobs. Give them that satisfaction. If you do that, they won’t be waiting for the weekends but rather work hard for all seven days of a week.
Hopefully there was some good advice here. Our goal isn’t to appear to you all as the big fancy Gurus. We are simply sharing our experiences and ideas. So in this article, hopefully you got a picture of a successful limousine company.