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Thoughts on the AGM
Firstly may I take this opportunity to
thank those of you who voted for me at this year’s AGM. I’d also
like to say how pleasing it is that so many of you recognise the
importance of continuity and experience to the future success of
our Society by returning the board in-situ.
As AGM’s go, it was a pleasant surprise to see the high
numbers present, a bit reminiscent of how they once were. I’d
heard it suggested that malicious rumours doing the rounds
swelled the numbers with some expecting to see a public
flogging, which seemed a bit cynical. But they would have left
disappointed, but not I hope unimpressed by the professional and
courteous manner in which those present conducted themselves -
particularly towards the speakers no matter how long they spoke,
which was nice to see.
Needless to say there were some contentious issues plus
vote-catching promises from the various prospective candidates
standing for the Board, which I felt were a bit similar to what
we hear from the Conservative leader Michael Howard when he
talks about wonderful tax cuts and the billions he would put
into the social services etc but doesn’t say where the money
will be coming from. For example, one candidate proposed
introducing increased run-ins and a £10 minimum fare, which
pleased the audience and would have pleased me also had he
explained how he proposed to justify this cost, particularly
when neither of our two main competitors have any minimum
whatsoever?
I was tempted to ask how he would explain to a client whose office
for example is in Holborn and who is querying a minimum invoice
of £14.29 for a cab to the Law Courts, when they could hire one
of the hundreds of cabs passing their door for less than £5? It
may well be that he could argue that case brilliantly and it’s
also possible that included in his sales pitch to the client is
a commitment on the part of you the drivers and had that been
the case, he would have got my support.
On the subject of selling our services, following my last article
in Call Sign I had several drivers email me, complaining about
our association with PH and felt that if an established company
such as ours, who in their opinion is well capable of fulfilling
a clients complete needs, was marketed properly, PH wouldn’t be
needed. And by "marketing properly" they believed that would be
achieved if I - and I assume they were referring to our whole
Sales team who don’t have a bill - divided our time between
working in the office and driving a cab. I obtained my badge 38
years ago and in that time have experienced the side of our
industry that would give many of today’s cabmen nightmares.
Equally so has the Chairman and the rest of the Board, whose
years in the trade collectively amount to 197. So I think we
know as much as necessary about cab driving to market our
business...
Making comments on incorporating driving a cab with Board members
duties - as we heard at the AGM - is like saying Mayor
Livingstone should spend half his day driving a bus. But what is
even more disconcerting is that those who advocate doing it
either have very little knowledge of how time-consuming working
in management is, or worse - the time they intend working on
your behalf would play second fiddle to their primary role of
driving a cab.
Not wishing to make public details of my personal life, but one of
the most common causes of arguments in my household is the
unpaid time I spend on my PC at weekends and evenings while on
company business. I’m not complaining, because it’s the nature
of the job and particularly more so now with modern technology
making the work we do in the office so easily accessible off
site.
Combining the two roles reminds me of when I first started DaC’s
Sales department and the attempt I made to supplement my
earnings by driving a cab in the evenings. I’d left the office
and reached Finsbury Square when I noticed two cabs from our
competitors parked outside an office block. An idea struck me! I
rushed back to the office to collect a small tape recorder and
then returned to where I saw the two rival cabs. I parked
nearby, walked into the building and back out again. I
approached the first cab and asked the driver what company he
was waiting for and being smartly dressed, he immediately
assumed I was the passenger and told me the name. "Wrong cab," I
said, walked away and made a note on my tape recorder. I then
spent the next three hours driving round the City looking for
our competitor’s cabs parked outside of buildings and repeated
the process. The following day I targeted those companies. It
was a great ploy, I didn’t earn a penny in those next two months
and was shattered, but it worked! The new accounts I opened went
through the roof. Not that I got any credit of course! In fact
one driver who regularly took great pleasure in giving me a hard
time at AGMs, addressed the members and actually ridiculed me
for the 1200 accounts I had opened in one year. Incidentally,
this driver is no longer on the circuit. His alias was Bob the
Dog and if you are reading this Bob, I hope the memory brings a
smile to your face! Bob Heath now does fantastic work for the
Dial-a-Dream charity.
I mention the above only to emphasise the fact that to be a Board
member of DaC requires several very important characteristics;
enthusiasm, dedication and self-motivation. Anyone who has been
a Board member would agree that it is a thankless task, shackled
by rule books, politics and trying to please 2200 drivers all
with varying opinions, demands, expectations and work patterns
and nearly all of whom expect a Board member to be available as
and when it suits them 24/7. Very similar, I would imagine, to
being in the nursing profession or the police etc. So it really
is nonsense for some of those standing for the Board to make
ridiculous promises and commitments without knowing first hand
if they can be achieved.
Client’s Needs and the WOW
Factor! |
And the statement about "filling
a
client’s total needs?" If only that was true. In my reply I made
a
suggestion that they took over the role of salesman for a day
(hypothetically) and give me a written résumé on how they
would answer a prospective client who,
dissatisfied with their present supplier was complaining about
run-in charges, and then when there is more than the agreed
amount on the meter when the cab arrives, disagrees with
additional waiting time being charged on top of a meter already
charging waiting time, wants fixed rates matrix 24 hours a day,
disagrees with gratuity being compulsory particularly when a cab
is late and especially - and one of the reasons he is looking to
change suppliers – when he says the drivers are discourteous and
unhelpful. He criticises the situation that no matter how many
days ahead he books the cab, the company he is using cannot
guarantee a booking! The last two issues are: the taxi
expenditure is in excess of a million pounds a year and he
wishes to know what discount on fares can he expect from us?
Finally, would we be prepared to supply an executive car for
their senior managers and bill it on the same invoice as the
taxi usage?
Making a sales pitch against the above looks easy enough, although
it isn’t (hence the reason no doubt, I’ve yet to receive a reply
from the aspiring salesman), but we do succeed and I’m proud of
our success rate over the years on new accounts won. The reason
we succeed is because of the unique package we offer, which
includes our achievements in producing advanced technology over
that of our competitors in the licensed industry, particularly
regarding e-commerce which has kept us ahead of the field
especially in client retention and claiming new ones. For
example, the ability to book on-line via the Internet (we are
the only circuit offering this facility), billing facilities and
management stats via the Internet (again we are the only circuit
offering this facility), plus internal administration technology
and the technology - both software and hardware - sitting in
your cabs.
Unfortunately, satisfying a client’s needs is never ending and
invariably is always cost orientated. For example, in which
other business does a customer who spends several million pounds
on a product not guarantee a considerable reduction on cost?
This is a common question that we regularly have aimed at us -
especially from facilities managers who have previously worked
in the USA, Europe or other parts of the UK where discount on
usage is the norm. A considerable amount of our business is with
corporate banks whose cost consciousness we read about daily,
with bank closures, stopping of cheques, charges for using cash
machines etc. Cutting costs is endemic not just with banks, but
every industry and it’s perfectly natural for them to look at
the cost of using taxis.
Selling our business is no different to selling any other in the
service industry. There is always going to be a failure rate
when demand outweighs supply, but to be at the top and staying
there - as we have been over the past 6 years – comes from being
sincere, honest and receptive to what’s being demanded in the
market place and endeavouring to supply it, even when it goes in
the face of principles such as controlling the use of private
hire.
But of course it doesn’t mean there is not room for improvement,
nor that our charges could increase. Because as the person who
introduced the £8 minimum, I’ve been convinced for years that a
greater return is there for you the drivers, be it the minimum
fare, increased/ graduated gratuity, bonus points etc etc.
But only providing you, the drivers, are prepared to give
something in return. And by ‘You’ I mean ‘you’ in total, not
just the odd you…
Like it or not, the cab trade is changing. It no longer has a
monopoly in London and neither does Dial-a-Cab have the monopoly
in the radio taxi industry that many of our older members
remember from the pre-Shireland Road era. Nobody owes you a
living. The difference between you and a non-radio driver is
that you have joined Dial-a-Cab to increase your earning power.
Had you invested in a small business instead, be it a garage or
corner shop with local competition, your level of success would
be strongly influenced by your attitude towards your customers,
your appearance, your prices, hours of operation, keeping your
ears open to what your customers want, special offers and
advertising. Yet how many of you apply these principles to
driving a cab?
I am aware that the subs you pay are meant to pay for several of
these issues, which they do, but unfortunately when any ideas,
advertising or marketing involves the participation of our
members, it immediately becomes a no-no - which is frustrating
because it is the one untapped area that could really make a big
impact.
Over the past 10 years or so, enormous amounts of money has been
spent by large companies in all industries to improve their
business, using outside consultants and driven by the latest in
buzz words, any of which are associated with motivation and in
some cases the speakers are successful ex-sports people.
There have been literally hundreds of examples of buzz words
such as Mission Critical, Core Competency, Cutting Edge,
Early Adapters and Impactfulness etc. Exactly what
the success rate is I don’t know, however the latest doing the
rounds is proving to be very successful and could well apply to
us and that’s the WOW factor.
The WOW factor isn’t something that’s advertised, the concept is
based purely on word of mouth. For example, a guy buys a car and
the following day, completely by surprise, a van arrives at the
guy’s house and delivers a free set of tools for the man and a
huge bunch of flowers for the wife…WOW! Or a family visit
Disneyland and the wife breaks a sandal so they hunt around
looking for a shop that sells sandals. She buys a pair and when
she hands over the $20, the
assistant say’s: "There’s no charge as you broke them whilst at
Disneyland!" …WOW!
Nearer home, I had my own personal experience just this week |
when I booked one of our taxis.
When I arrived outside Brunswick House, the smartly dressed driver was
giving the cab windows a quick polish, he greeted me with a
smile and a good morning Mr T. He opened the passenger door and
when I got into the back of his nice, clean smelling cab, I
noticed several different copies of that day’s newspapers folded
neatly across the top of the tip-up seats and I immediately
thought…WOW! It was noticeable, impressive and left a lasting
impression and the maddening thing is it cost so little.
Throughout my journey, I kept thinking how great it would be if
every driver on our entire fleet had a like-minded attitude. Our
clients would be so impressed and because of it, many of our
other everyday irritants - and I might add costs -would be
overlooked or become acceptable. Plus of course and most
importantly of all, it would put our competitors to shame.
The simple key points of the WOW factor: It is generally planned, is
something the customer values, is not promoted or advertised, it
carries an element of surprise/spontaneity, is memorable,
prompts word-of-mouth advertising and lastly, it doesn’t have to
be expensive…
So please think about it Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s your
business, your Society, it’s yours to promote, yours to
advertise, it’s in your hands whether we keep, lose or gain new
business and just as important, it’s in your hands as to how you
can gain a greater financial return for the service you give.
Tsunami and the End of Year
Report
In last month’s Call Sign, there was an article by the Editor,
plus you would have received a letter from the Chairman
concerning an unfortunate graphic in this year’s Annual Report.
I am aware that it was a tragic coincidence, but as each news
bulletin announces the extent of the Tsunami disaster, the more
guilty I feel. The strangeness of the situation is that it is
not even something you can learn from. Graphic design can cover
numerous messages in addition to the one intended. The irony for
me is it’s the second time I have experienced this situation.
Several years ago I convinced the-then Board that DaC should
advertise on TV, which they agreed. To reduce the costs, I
personally got involved by writing the script, producing
graphics, assisting with the directing and being part of the
cast - my few minutes of fame! After taking months to complete,
we were given a release date of 28 slots. On the day
before the first release, an unbelievable event took place
whereby a licensed taxi driver was convicted of sexually
assaulting a female passenger, the first and as far as I know,
only occasion it has ever happened. The TV producers and I
thought little of it and the ad went ahead. The following day, I
was absolutely slaughtered in the press, with allegations that
DaC was trying to capitalise on the assault of a female using a
non-radio taxi - a crazy allegation considering how far ahead of
the incident the ad was made, as was the case with the graphic I
produced in the Annual Report. Nevertheless it has happened and
I do sincerely apologise to those who may have taken offence…
The LTDA and Pedicabs
Lastly, included in my last Call Sign article (January) was a
response to the publicity at the time concerning Pedicabs and a
reference to the manner in which Bob Oddy was arguing the
abolition of these irritants. I also made what was meant to be
an amusing suggestion on how I would achieve the same aim!
Unfortunately, somebody at the LTDA took umbrage at my intended
humour because a few days after the article was published, I
received an unsigned copy of a video they had produced to
support their argument. I watched the video at home and when it
finished, I felt genuinely embarrassed at my flippancy towards
the issue and felt compelled to firstly publicly apologise to
Bob Oddy for any offence taken by my comments and secondly to
congratulate the LTDA on the quality of which the hard hitting
and factual video was produced.
In all my years of having a Bill and with the exception of a few
weeks trial run using the Finz, working nights has never
appealed to me, so I have little experience in that area and it
saddens me to admit from the evidence shown on that video that
working nights, particularly in the West End, would appeal to me
less than it did before.
It’s all the more distressing to think that even after having been
approached by the LTDA with evidence supported by the video, how
the council authorities, TfL, PCO and police can continue to
condone Pedicabs and turn a blind eye to the disgraceful manner
in which they operate. It is somewhat reminiscent of when
minicabs first came onto the scene and the uncontrollable mess
that developed. Yet all these years later, even with licensing,
they are still failing atrociously in controlling PH - the
result of which is that more women experience assaults by
minicab drivers than at any time in the past.
Everybody but the experts, so it seems, could see that when
licensing private hire, for every so-called legitimately
licensed minicab, there would be five times as many operating
illegally and so far as the public is concerned - who knows the
difference? As I write, there is a programme on TV about the
high number of rapes in minicabs and the reporters are talking
to young women leaving clubs late at night, many falling over
drunk, who say (those that are still coherent) that they don’t
give a dam what vehicle they get into so long as it will take
them home. Sadly it’s a no-win situation. Banning private hire
(gypsies) as in many European cities is the logical solution,
unfortunately they don’t have the same volume of people
requiring late night transport as we do in London and if PH were
eradicated, would there be enough licensed Taxis offering an
adequate service?
Allen Togwell
DaC Marketing
allent@dialacab.co.uk
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