Simply Irresistible

If you walk in to a supermarket and browse the aisles, you see a bewildering choice. The chances are though if you repeatedly buy a product which needs to be reliable you stick with what you know. It’s like the old saying, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

In some ways corporate chauffeur services are the same. You find a reliable supplier and you stay with them. Usually, the only reason to change is if you experience disappointment or if an external force dictates you work differently.

Last week I wrote about our core competencies at DrivenByQ. Let’s face it though, a customer does not really care how advanced our cloud system is; or how well it is engineered. If a supplier ticks their box labelled ‘reliable’, they stay with them.

A customer is only going to change if something is wrong OR if a new supplier appears so tantalisingly irresistible they cannot refrain. Like one that looks so good; smells so great; feels so nice and tastes so amazing, its rivals simply get left on the shelf!

Raw Speed

So here we are, six and a half years after the creation of DrivenByQ and personally, I think we have become fairly well established in Wrexham. The plan is to go further though and continue developing. So the next stage is to expand and venture in to neighbouring areas, fostering a network of drivers while approaching new customers. Why though would anybody want to hire our services?

Last week I said it was time to go back to basics; to get beneath the skin of the business and determine our competitive advantage; to really understand what makes us better than anyone else? In the process, I have identified three critical components in the DNA of DrivenByQ. These are: our experience; the level of service we deliver and the efficiency we achieve through technology.

Our management team have engaged in everything related to the private hire industry from driving to pricing to licencing. Basically, we've been there, done it and got the tee-shirt. Our service is good too. From the surveys we have completed, everybody says we treat our customers like VIPs - not just the passengers but individuals who make bookings as well. As the MD I believe this is critical.

Now, here is the thing, I think that experience and service can be found in other companies similar to our own. What cannot be found though is the technology at the heart of the operation. While some in the industry still use pen and paper to manage their business, DrivenByQ have embraced the mobile era and developed a cloud system that delivers efficiencies our rivals cannot comprehend as even being possible. So now I am asking, why would anybody not want to hire our service?

Performance Tuning

Following on from last week, my focus is turning towards plotting a course for growth. Surprisingly, I’m not planning for the medium or long term but more for the short term. I’m considering how we can accelerate the process of introducing new corporate customers but without the personal introductions which proved so valuable in the past.

Traditional marketing methods don’t seem to work the same for a chauffeur company as they do for other businesses. Our web site needs updating for sure and we have been receiving quotes for it. There are other things I would like to spend on too but at the moment there are two big topics which need consideration within any plan. One is the European economy and the other is the mighty Katla volcano.

First things first though, we’ve already taken the most important step, freeing up my time to facilitate objectivity! It is starting to make a difference too. It feels similar to offloading heavy baggage from a loaded vehicle. It improves the responsiveness, increases efficiency and achieves better overall performance - characteristics which are essential for competitiveness.

Before we make any further adjustments, I think it is time to go back to basics. It is time to re-examine not only how we secured our current customers but more importantly why they choose to stay with us. What we need is to investigate our key strengths and thoroughly understand why our offer is better than any competitor. All we have to do then is package that information in to a clear message which potential customers find easy to understand.

Route Planning

If you were to go back and read some of my blogs this year, a lot of my time was spent fire fighting. In other words, I was dealing with day-to-day issues that popped up in business. I sometimes think of it as being on board a ship and running around fixing small problems.

In the last few blogs I’ve written about changes we’ve made and that I now have more time and freedom. It has taken time to delegate tasks (like invoicing, payments, driver rotas and customer enquiries) but right now, I absolutely love the fact I’ve got the time to walk up on deck, stand on the bow and take a look around.

So what do I see? Well, looking back there is a finely tuned machine. Our ship (DrivenByQ) is fitted with robust but futuristic technology, our team is incredibly efficient and there are distinguished regular customers on board (in some of the World’s biggest brands). We can justifiably be proud of our achievements so far.

Now if I look out across the sea and think about where we are going, we are ready to venture in to new waters, with new drivers already itching to join (the crew), more customers (or passengers) aware that we are coming and we have enough fuel (cash in bank) to take us on a journey. So the only thing left to do is plot the next stage of our expedition.

Changing Gear

In the last two weeks, we've made some big changes at DrivenByQ. They have been long overdue. My last blog mentioned we’ve been operating with reduced man power for most of this year and it has affected growth. Now that we are back to full strength, we can finally implement some postponed strategic decisions.

A few months ago I wrote another blog about my time with a business coach. The most important issue to come out of this was that my time should be diverted to the tasks where I contribute maximum value to DrivenByQ - such as pursuing new customers, working on promotion and reviewing the business objectively.

My time needed rescheduling but first we had to discuss this as a team and make decisions together. I'm sure any successful manager will talk about the importance of 'buy-in' from their team when introducing changes. Surprisingly we reached a conclusion pretty quick with little debate.

So what have we done? Well, so far we have introduced another full-time driver. My hours on the road have been halved (and condensed), I have greater financial compensation, the marketing budget is in use and a certain spark of enthusiasm has been re-ignited. I wonder which one will have the greatest effect?