September 2010: Tips from Tom Mazza
Raise Your Rates Today
My parking garage in downtown Philly just went up 15 bucks last month. My diner just changed owners and my oatmeal and granola went up $1. US Airways Philly to Miami just went up $50 in off peak times. My cleaning lady went up $10. I am not sure why, it seemed very reasonable but frankly my limited grasp of Spanish made me believe it had something to do with earthquakes.
Raise your base rates 5 percent today and never look back.
The point is EVERYTHING goes up. And please don't tell me that because chauffeured car service is so competitive we dare not raise our rates. There is another parking garage down the block. There is another diner on 4th street. I could fly Southwest Airlines to South Florida and I could find another cleaning lady. (Maybe one I could communicate with) The point is raising prices is a fact of life in this world and if we don't do it, we leave money on the table, period.
And don't make a big deal about a price increase, just do it! Only exception is if you are under contract for services then you have to wait until the contract comes up. No dramatic letters, please just do it! (Due to increases in blah blah we regretfully inform you that there will be an increase effective....save it!)
Yes, you may get a few calls and if the client is important enough, hold the line on prices for that client. You will still make out far ahead!
Raise your rates, thank me at tom@tommazza.com
Make Your Team Document When They Say NO!
When Dispatch (or Reservations or your overnight person) says "No" to a potential ride, make them document their decision.
We know that when Gus the Dispatcher is ending his shift at 3 pm and a last minute ride comes in at 2:50 pm that would require Gus to rearrange 3 trips, he may just say "No" and call it a day. It is a royal pain in the butt to rearrange trips at the 11th hour BUT that extra trip adds up and it is important to the bottom line.
Date of Trip:
Time of contact:
Time service requested:
Vehicle requested:
Estimated value of trip:
Reason for Denial of service:
Make them fill out that form and copy the owner and managers. It may help you staff more appropriately and it may lead to more opportunity. EXPLAIN why you are doing this to your team and then stay on top of it. And remember, a GREAT dispatcher never says "No" he offers an alternative. "WE cannot do a 3 pm pickup at EWR but if your boss can wait 20 minutes, we can absolutely accommodate him."
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M & A Activity Moves Front and Center at TMC
When looking back at August 2010, about half of the working hours in the month were spent on M & A deals by myself (Tom Mazza) and assistant Josh Blackler.
Multiple companies have signed on for the "Preferred Buyer Agreement" and multiple large deals are moving to the finish line.
The PBA is where a seller signs up with TMC and pays a small upfront fee. Rather then hang a "For Sale" sign on the business TMC uses the "deepest Rolodex in the business" to target the most logical buyer and offer them the right of first refusal on a potential deal. The PBA works and has resulted in multiple deals in 2010.
For more information contact Tom at tom@tommazza.com.
New Group Meets in Philly
The Limousine Emerging Companies Group met in Philadelphia at The Hotel Palomar on August 24th and 25th. The Group consisted of Allaire Limo of New Jersey (Mike Renehan), Avanti of Houston (Erich Rendl), Chariots for Hire of the DC area (Courtney West), JED Limousine of St. Louis (John Magner), Limousine and Livery of New Orleans (Aaron Dirks) MCO Orlando (Nour Elotmani) US Limo of CT (Shawn Abaspor) Execucar of Phoenix Jeff Conly could not attend.
The group shared financial benchmarks as well as best practices in 2 intense days of work. One of the highlights was a discussion on "How to retain your lowest paid team members". Hotel Palomar manager Sean Flanigan and local restaurant owner John Foy participated in a spirited session.
The LECG will meet in New Orleans January 3-5.
Another Lesson for YOUR Business from Coach John Wooden
(Taken from a letter to Rick Reilly, ESPN.com, author)
Twenty years ago, I got to meet Wooden at an event for suits. One of the Master-Of-The-Universe types asked Wooden about his greatest accomplishment. Wooden didn't miss a beat, "I was an Academic All-American at Purdue."
This CEO puffed himself up and retorted, "But what about all those championships at UCLA?" Wooden quipped, "I didn't make a single bounce pass or layup -- the boys did all that."
The CEO was now disoriented and looked lost. "I don't understand, Coach. You were their leader."
Wooden studied this guy for a minute and quietly asked, "Tell me, sir. Do you have many employees at your company?"
The guy was now back on top. "More than 60,000 and we did about $12 billion in revenue last year!"
Wooden's eyes twinkled as he asked, "Tell me, how much could you do all by yourself?"
The CEO fell quiet. Wooden had a point to all the outsized egos in the room -- you can only win with a team. It was a priceless moment with a timeless man.
How many trips can you do by yourself?
You did NOT do 50 trips today, YOUR team did, do not forget it!.
A Few Words on the Passing of Stephen Spencer, Founder of London Town Cars in NYC
Stephen Spencer passed away last month. He was the founder and president of London Town Cars of New York City. He was 85 years old and by all accounts lived a wonderful life. I use the term "Wonderful Life" because he was a dead ringer for Jimmy Stewart.
Mr. Spencer was one of the kindest, warmest, most generous people that I have met in 20 years in this industry.
He built a great business through hard work and unmatched integrity. In the toughest market in our business, he competed the right way. Warm regards to his family.
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