Posts Tagged ‘Limousines’

Lasting Impressions, advice from the limousine and chauffeured transportation industry.

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Planning an event and you need a few limos or fully fledged chauffeured transportation services.

How do you ensure perfect service from your limousine or chauffeured transportation providers?

If you are an event planner your life is so very hectic when it comes to the planning and implementation of a major event for your client or company. The devil is in the details and oh my, there are so many details. There are rooms to secure, flight details to coordinate, convention and banquet halls to book, limousine or chauffeured transportation to schedule, catering, events, lectures, videos, photographers, sound systems, the list just never seems to end.

Bringing all of this together can be a sheer act of will. With so many facets of the event to be planned down to the minutest detail, you cannot afford to have anything go awry. It must be pulled off flawlessly. You are the one in control, all systems are “Go” and the event depends solely on your ability to coordinate a thousand details and do so without a hitch.

So planning the transportation of the few dozen, hundreds and in some cases thousands of event goers is just one of the many details that you must attend to. However, a word of caution, other than the trip to and from the event by aircraft, the transportation you put in place is the first and most importantly…the last impression your clients and event participants are going to have of the whole event. Therefore, pulling it off flawlessly is mission critical.

Planning transportation services for an event can be a daunting task. In most cases your event participants are going to show up on several different flights over the course of several hours or even days and pulling such a task off takes meticulous planning and a well coordinated effort in order to get all of your people where they need to go. Such a task not only takes great planning, it also takes working with the very best chauffeured transportation services available.

What makes a good chauffeured transportation service? How are you going to be able to discern which company is going to guarantee that your transportation needs are done with the precision of a Swiss watch? In this blog I am going to give you several tips that may help you find the perfect transportation service that will ensure that the “first and last impression” is the very best possible.

These are the steps that can you can take to ensure perfection:

1. Take the time to investigate several companies and ask for references of services they have provided for events that were similar in size and scope of your project.

2. Speak directly with the event coordinator that worked with that company and ask hard questions that will address any concerns you may have about your event.

3. Ask the Chauffeured service provider about their policies toward VIP’s and their overall system of executing such an event.

4. Find out how they handle emergencies, and what systems they have in place if something goes amiss.

5. Find out the size of their fleet and ask how many vehicles they are going to keep on “Stand By” if a vehicle breaks down or a driver is late.

6. Ask what system they use in order to turn your manifest in to an actionable pick-up and drop-off plan.

7. Have them tell you about the technologies they have in place to ensure on time service. Do the have GPS, cell phones or radio dispatch, a chauffeur training plan, an emergency back-up plan? These are all valid questions that will just further ensure success.

8. From a liability standpoint, make sure they have all of the proper licensing, insurances and bonding that is required by the state authority where your event is taking place.

9. If possible make sure that the company you choose has a good reputation with the venue of the event.

10. Ask who you are going to be working with throughout the entire process and make sure that they are going to be on duty at the times your event transportation needs take place.

11. Ensure that you have multiple communication paths established in order to ensure that a system to talk with the transportation coordinator you are working with can happen no matter where you are.

These are a few simple steps that you can take in order to make absolutely certain that you are working with the right company and that you have the right plan in place. If you follow these simple steps and take the time to investigate the limousine or chauffeured transportation service you are opting to work with, you will make a great “first and last impression” of your event is and guarantee it turns out perfect. Good Luck!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Are there benefits to using the new online limousine booking websites?

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

As I travel around the country going to various industry shows and events I am asked if our new technology will really help limousine operators. It seems self serving to say yes just out of hand, so I have decided to list the benefits and you can decide on your very own. Let me assure you that I believe in our technology and its future impact on the limousine industry.

Here are some questions and scenarios and how our website helps limousine services:

What makes your company different from the big brokers?

CheapLimoRates.com does not price control, nor do we hold payment, nor do we ask you to lower your rates so that we can place our markup on your services. The benefits of this are obvious. The biggest difference however, is that you control the booking from beginning to end. The client is yours to take care of and cull a relationship.

Why do you say you are the first discount based comparison shopping website for the limousine industry?

CheapLimoRates.com’s technology was built with the goal of assisting limousine and sedan service providers the opportunity to market their unused/unscheduled vehicle inventory in real time. Our whole system is built to give the advantage to those providers who market their vehicles at the best rate. The better your rates the higher you are on the search results. This competitive model has worked in all of the OTA’s and we are bringing that same model to limousines.

How do I know it will work for me and my company?

CheapLimoRates.com is constantly building relationships with the travel industry in order to bring a greater number of consumers to our website and therefore to our Limousine Service Partners, and though we are a new enterprise, within the next year we see explosive growth forthcoming from these relationships. Registering your services with us cost you nothing and therefore, once you start receiving bookings, it will be the best advertising dollars you ever spent.

I have seen other booking engines out there lately.

CheapLimoRates.com believes that in the near future we will have many competitors. However, our advantage is the lack of price controls and the fact that we ensure that our partners pay nothing for services. Another major difference between CheapLimoRates.com and any other booking engine is the fact that we don’t make money unless you do.

Here is a scenario I would like you to consider.

Whether your vehicle is on the road at a discount or sitting in the garage earning nothing makes a huge difference in how much money you get to keep in your pockets at the end of the day. The vehicle cost the same whether your lease it for less or you do not. Our technology gives our Limousine Service Partners the ability to let the public know that they have vehicles at special rates that are ready to get out on the road.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Limousine Services…Did you know?

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

It is kind of funny when you think about it. I tell people I meet in my day to day activities that I work for an internet based Limousine Company and the first thing they ask me is; “Do you get to ride around in a limousine?” When you describe limousine companies to most laymen they have no idea what is actually in the average company’s fleet.

When most people think of limousines or limousine companies, they think of those big, beautiful, gleaming stretch limousines that the rich and famous ride around in. They rarely think of SUV’s, vans or the steadfast luxury sedan. As most limousine service operators will tell you, most of their fleet of vehicles are sedans. Sedans are what fuel the chauffeured transportation industry. The average company has about 80% of their fleet committed to sedans and SUV’s. Very few companies commit their capital to a fleet of stretch limousines only.

Most business conducted by a chauffeured transportation company involve airport transfers. Most of these transfers are conducted through the use of luxury sedans or SUV’s. Many people who I come in contact with are not even aware that the black sedans they see out and about on the road are actually transporting VIP’s, celebs and busy business executives to and from their various activities.

The executive sedan is certainly not as ostentatious as the stretch limousine and certainly not nearly as over the top as the exotics like the stretch Hummers and Escalade’s out there on the road lately. However, the luxury executive sedan, these low profile, sedate vehicles are the mainstay of this industry. They offer the rider comfort, elegance and convenience along with the confidence that comes from utilizing a professional driver.

During my research on a recent blog “The Beast” I had discovered that over 95% of all presidential limousines ever put in service were produced from the Cadillac chassis and yet industry wide, 90% of most fleets are Lincoln Towncars. The Lincoln Towncar is roomy, powerful and has the elegant look that most customers are looking for. It also helps that the differences between a 2000 model Towncar and a 2009 model Towncar are negligible, therefore increasing the lifespan of this mainstay of the industry.

So the next time you think of a limousine or a limousine company, remember that the true work horse of this industry is the luxury sedan. Whether they are commuting a busy executive on the road or a famous celebrity to a show, these marvelous machines dominate the chauffeured transportation industry and will for many decades to come.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »