Actively seeking new work / leads - best way for a taxi company ?

waveydave

Not sure if my thread title really conveys what i want to ask but couldnt think of anything apt.

background - sole trader running a small private hire firm (small as in myself and one other driver drving my vehicles and then suitable trade friends helping out when needed) mainly doing airport transfers for holday makers.

I want to increase business in the corporate area. We allready have a few contracts with local companies but these have all been gained more by chance rather than approaching the companies and offering our services ( ie we took the PA of one local company to the airport on holiday and when her boss wanted business travel she called us and it grew from there).

Im not really sure how to go about targeting new companies and making first contact - should i send a letter ? if so, to who and what and how much info should i pass on. Should i cold call or phone ?

Also, when contacting companies should i make out the business is bigger than it is (knowing i have trustworthy drivers to fall back on if needed) or should i go for the honest approach and say we are a young company etc.

any advice welcome

Dave

Savvy_Sue

I know there's at least one other taxi person around, so hopefully you'll get some ideas from them, but presuming you don't have a massive advertising budget, I'd say you need to build on all the existing contacts you've got - eg making sure that all your holidaymaker business is aware that you do corporate work as well (and do it very professionally). Networking - looking for posts by Horace on this subject would be worthwhile. Getting your business card 'out there' as much as possible. Website - without spending huge amounts on it, make sure that it WORKS! If it has a link for making enquiries / getting quotes, make it clear what the maximum response time will be and NEVER exceed that: I've sometimes asked for quotes online and frankly I don't want to wait 2 days for the answer.

One thing that is worth considering is whether or not the companies you're targeting actually need a taxi service, mind you. And ways in which you can persuade them they need one if they don't see it yet, IYSWIM. For example, a colleague offered to pick someone up at the station today - would it be more cost effective / efficient to pay for a taxi? How would you persuade me it was?

waveydave

cheers for the reply.

What about the matter of making your business sound bigger than it is ?

Allthough i only have 2 cars (well car and a minibus) I do have back up i can call on so should i makeout when contacting people that i can cover any amount of work ?

Savvy_Sue

It might be unwise to make out that you can cover ANY amount of work ... but certainly it's probably worth NOT advertising the fact that you are JUST a single car plus minibus.

Horace

I would be careful about making out that you are bigger than you are because you could become unstuck especially if a company wants several taxis to go to various places around the country - you are going to look a bit silly if you only have one car and one minibus.

Get yourself a domain name and website - a wordpress site is good because it is easy to update yourself, you would need to find a host and maybe get someone to help you set up the site if you do not have the skills yourself - you can learn from them how to update the site etc.

I wouldnt necessarily think about the big corporate firms initially as they are more likely to want fleets of taxis - look at the smaller businesses. Join a few networking groups look for low cost ones in your area because trust me, you can spend a fortune on business networking events. Join the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) - they run their own monthly business networking events that are free. They are good places to meet and chat with business owners (the FSB is also worth their fee because you are automatically insured if the tax man decides to investigate you). Other business networking events that are low cost are: Business Biscotti (the cost of a cup of coffee), Ladies that Latte (no reason why a man can't go - am assuming that you are man here). Use google to find low cost business networking events in your area. BNI is also good but it is expensive and you have to commit to attending every single week - it is referral based so you need to give referrals as well as receive them. Look at local Business Clubs too as these are also ideal places to meet businesses who are likely to want a taxi service.

Look at offering something a bit different too - I know someone who runs a taxi service in his village (he is one man on his own) but he also runs a tour service and will take people (mainly American tourists) on tours around the UK. I know that he drives something quite large like a Serena which has several seats in the back.