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BostonCoach Keynote Speech
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And a pleasant good morning to you, too. I am very happy to have this opportunity of addressing a leader in the kindred chauffeur-service industry. With BostonCoach's advertised standards of pleasant and highly reliable drivers, impeccably dressed, their vehicles impeccably clean, I see a company that has expanded from 3 to 20,000 vehicles, from 1 city to 300 in 32 countries, and all in the short span of 22 years—all of which leaves me wondering, "What could I possibly tell you?" Do I have anything to offer your profession, one that has been around perhaps for as long as my own?
The past is always a handy reference for better understanding the present; so whether chauffeurs came before butlers or vice versa is a question that might set both precedent and precedence. If we look at the written record, the book of Genesis in the Bible provides the earliest reference to a butler—Pharaoh obviously thought that his butler did it, whatever it was, because he had him thrown into prison; now fortunately for the poor man, Pharaoh decided he wanted his old cup- bearer back and so freed him. Yet, we can only assume that Pharaoh also had the odd chauffeur on call to drive his various chariots.
Another window into the past is the derivation of the words describing our professions. The word "butler," for instance, comes from Latin "Buticula," meaning "bottle." "Chauffeur" comes from equally relevant, if somewhat roundabout roots (pun intended).
According to the excellent Encyclopedia Britannica of 1911, "chauffer" is an old French word that does not mean "driver" but "to heat," as in "to make hotter," and referring to a man in charge of a forge or furnace. With the advance of technology during the industrial revolution, the word was then carried over to identify the stoker on a locomotive or steamship.
The English subsequently saw fit to borrow the word a century ago to identify the professional driver of a motor vehicle. And with good reason: I harken back to the days when my family owned and drove some rather ancient internal- combustion-engine jalopies that were in fact among the first serious contenders to the then market leaders: steam-driven cars. In 1906, for instance, the Stanley Rocket set the world land-speed record on Daytona Beach at the sand-in-your-eyes rate of 128 mph—a record, incidentally, that has yet to be broken for a steam driven vehicle: and quite remarkable, given that the fastest our 1910 six-cylinder Hotchkiss could go was a mere 30 mph; while our 1914 Olds could only manage a bone-rattling 45 mph.
These steamers used boilers, which in fact were the first methods for moving vehicles other than by horse—way back in 1771, in fact, when a French engineer designed a three-wheeler to haul cannon. It was agonizingly slow but even so, the driver managed to crash it into a brick wall, qualifying him for not one but two firsts: the first recorded self-propelled vehicular journey, and the first recorded self-propelled vehicular crash.
hauffeurs in these Stanley Steamers and Rockets did not have to stoke them because the boilers were heated using oil. But the chauffeurs certainly must have been hot, because the boilers were right under the driver's seat. Maybe this system gave additional meaning to the expression "being in the hot seat"... although this expression is generally acknowledged to come from the "electric chair," a not-so-pleasant scientific advance that was making its appearance at around the same time.
A secondary meaning for "chauffeurs" at the time of the French Revolution referred to ruffians who forced their victims to pay ransom by holding their feet to fires.
I am sure that extracting a tip from a client may sometimes seem to require the same sort of extreme measures, but perhaps there the relevance of this particular word usage ends.
For our part, as mentioned earlier, the word "butler" comes from a Latin word for "bottle." Roman methods of wine storage, as you can imagine, were not so effective...meaning their wine tended toward the vinegar: it would be many hundreds of years before wine approached the smooth quaff we expect when we open a fine bottle today. Presumably, after enough of what we would consider very cheap vino, the poor Romans could not distinguish between the bottle itself and the person carrying it. Thus was born the butler in name.
All of which is to say that, born out of the bottle as is the butler, or the fire as is the chauffeur, there is considerable ancestry and wisdom to both our professions; and certainly much commonality in their servicing of others.
Butlers actually trace their immediate ancestry to the not-so-gentle folk who cared for and served the beer and wine to English barons and lords in their castles a millennium ago. Their duties expanded ultimately to running households of several hundred staff with the equivalent of multi-million dollar budgets. As their employers refined their manners and expectations, so did the butler learn to meet those expectations.
And in a way, the butlers had their feet held to the fire centuries ago, forcing them to develop superior levels of service for the simple reason that they were in such close and continuous contact with their employers. As the saying goes, guests, like fish, stink after three days. I suggest that it takes a very special level of service not to stink after three weeks, three months, three years, and even thirty or sixty years. In the memorable film about butler service, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, Remains of the Day, the under-butler admits to having served at table every day for 55 years...all of which is to say that the image of a doddering servant loyal to the end does have some basis in fact.
So, back to the question of how to remain rosey-smelling when even family guests stink after three days: Over centuries, not renown for the efficacy of their deodorant, how did the butlers manage to prevent not only themselves but also their staff from acquiring a certain malodorous-ness?...if that word is a bit long, substitute the word "stink!" What is the secret behind the superior service developed by butlers?
And in this context, there may be something the butler can offer of value to the chauffeur. For the theme, as I understand it, of this year's annual affiliate meeting is shifting from a passive, somewhat reactive customer-service focus, to a more proactive and dynamic management of the customer experience. In other words, taking the client from being a commodity, a transaction, a ride, to creating a memorable experience and a loyal customer who swears by his limo service.
If I may quote the Senior vice president of Events at BostonCoach. "Think about more than vehicles...handle complete transportation management and delivery, including additional services, such as airport greeters and baggage handlers."
I would go beyond the idea of additional services, even.... to the manner in which those services are delivered: the attitude of the chauffeur, his or her reading of guest emotions and proper management of these emotions; his or her communication skills. For if I were to summarize a key skill the butler seeks to hone, it is the provision of "discreet & invisible service"—a concept that is so at odds with much of the hospitality environment, particularly here in the United States.
I see BostonCoach as the Bentley Arnage of limousine services. Courteous, safe, and reliable transport are a given, the base line. Good enough never is in a company that has the resources & goals to excel. Anticipating and taking responsibility for all possible client needs while they are in BostonCoach's orbit is the goal: Exquisite client experiences discreetly delivered that meet or exceed the client's expectations. You are raising the bar, setting the new standard, and I salute you.
As there is probably a limit to the number of new services one can introduce, let us discuss these first—and I do mean "discuss," because I want this to be a two-way process. Feel free to throw up your hand if you have something you'd like to say or ask. We'll have a Question & Answer period at the end, but if you cannot hold it until then, let me know. Anyway, attitudes, communication skills, an understanding of the less tangible and finer points of living, these are large subjects that will take longer to deal with, so we'll cover them later as time remains.
I would like this to be a practical hour we spend together, rather than one in which I sound-off with fancy words and ideas and you are sounded on; I walk out of here feeling I have delivered myself of my principles; and you walk out of here knowing you have been spoken to, but not quite sure about what. So let's see if we can have you walk out of here with some concrete steps you can take on a fairly immediate basis, to help achieve the goal for this convention.
Creating extra services to provide clients is really driven by the need to anticipate the needs of those clients, preempting headaches and upsets, and on the positive side, steering the experience in the direction of added pleasures.
The trick, obviously, is to know what guests need, rather than what you think they need. Take the case of 19th Century missionaries who sought to bring the "benefits of clothing" to natives in various parts of the world. The fact that these natives died off in droves thereafter seems to have escaped these missionaries, so certain were they of the righteousness of their efforts: "At least the natives died with their britches on," apparently.
It is an unfortunate fact that by clothing these natives, who had lived perfectly healthily for centuries without a single stitch on, the missionaries had denied the natives the one thing that had given them good health: high levels of Vitamin D3 converted by their bodies when exposed to the sun.
Now, these missionaries are an example of providing what one thinks is wanted. Many companies fail today because they make the same mistake.
Fortunately, many more service industries invest time and funds in collecting survey information and in sponsoring focus groups and so forth, to find out what their clients want. If one considers one's clients as a composite, average individual, then this is a good approach. It at least will not bomb in the way the missionaries clothing program did.
Companies following this approach end-up providing what one might consider to be three- possibly even four-star service.
For five-star service, one really has to push beyond this "average client" concept to knowing and understanding each specific client in front of one. Top-tier hotels have been the first to take a leaf out of the Butler's Book by creating profiles of their guests.
Why is this so important? Because it becomes easy to "wow" the client or guest when one magically presents them with their favorite items and services, and by corollary, avoids those they dislike.
It all comes under the butler standard of anticipating the needs of the person one is servicing. In another movie, Gosford Park, Helen Mirren plays the Head Housekeeper in a large English country estate during the early 1930s. At the end of the movie, she offers some wonderful lines:
"What gift do you imagine the perfect servant has? It is the gift of anticipation. I know when they are tired and the bed is made. I know when they are hungry before they know it themselves, and the food is ready."
One cannot anticipate effectively without three conditions being in place. The first is the ability to observe the obvious so you can read the individual's current state.
The second is knowledge of the individual so you can predict what his future needs will be, given his current condition and his preferences.
The third, now we are on the subject, is creativity in providing those anticipated services.
What, then, would we see being offered by BostonCoach?
For a start, the favorite snacks or foods and drinks of each client.
The preferred music channels, CDs or TV channels available and selected.
And any other preferences relating to the time they will spend in your care.
You also have to take a step back and look at life from the perspective of each client: to acquire the knack of seeing life from another's point of view, which can and needs to be done at a glance.
When a person such as your client is in your town, not his own, when he is being picked up from the airport, what gets up his or her nose? And what ideally would he or she prefer to experience.
Certainly, not breaking his stride as he walks out of the airport, but being ushered into a limo with the door opening as they walk up to it...again, without breaking stride—now that would go down a treat.
BostonCoach would arrange for someone else to collect any baggage and take it to the hotel. That's the standard butlers adhere to, because they look at life from the perspective of a busy or not-so-busy employer who does not want to be bothered with mundane matters such as baggage. That's what their staff is paid to handle.
If we sweat the details, we find actions by some limo companies are really not quite up to the required standard. Does one really have to hold up a smart or not-so-smart sign with a client's name on it? Factually, doing so is a breach of security for some clients. Why does the driver not know what the client looks like and merely approach him and say, "Good morning, Mr. Gottbucks, I hope the flight was pleasant. This way if you please, the limousine is waiting." And as they walk the short distance to the vehicle, adds "If I could have your baggage tags, I'd be happy to have my assistant take your luggage to the Dorchester and deposited in your suite, sir."
The question to answer, perhaps, is what headaches would you like to lose as a traveler? What pleasant things would you prefer to experience when traveling? The answers to those questions are what you'd score points by addressing. Waiting for luggage and being transported in a generic limo with bottles of water stacked on or under ice, is merely providing good service.
So, the first thing I recommend you do is create a database of your clients. Not just contact information, but their preferred foods, drinks, restaurants, even the names of family and business associates, birthdays of the client, their successes as reported in the media, and so on.
How do you acquire this information? I would start with publicly available information on the Internet; then your own records as they exist on clients. And simply by emailing or picking up the phone and contacting the secretary, personal assistant, or even the butler of that client and asking him or her for the relevant preferences that they would be willing to share. At a minimum, I would ask for snack and drink preferences. As the secretaries are probably the ones making the reservations, add these questions to the ones you ask when taking reservations, whether in person or through the Web.
The chauffeurs need also to cast a beady eye over the client's consumption habits or bend a sharp ear at the client's comments while in their presence, and note these for the database. All done discreetly, of course, with what we call "unobtrusive observation."
Blackberries with specific software will allow chauffeurs to download as well as upload, in real-time, client information to and from your central database. And I would recommend that your databases be relational, in other words, capable of being shared internationally.
As for developing the ability to observe the obvious and to be there in the moment, there are drills that can accomplish these skills. I would recommend you entertain the idea of having your employees do them, because they also provide smooth communication skills, as well as reducing accidents. Accidents don't just happen, they are brought about largely because people are not in the moment, but distracted by stress in the immediate environment or indirectly, such as by non-optimum situations at home. One can develop the ability to be in the moment no matter how much stress and distraction is going on in the world around one. It is certainly how I train butlers to achieve the unflappable calm that is required of them when everything is going to hell in a bucket around them.
Other details that could be addressed in the client's limo experience are
- having to wait for the limo to be brought around or
- having to walk further than necessary to reach it;
- having a chauffeur with a motor mouth
- or an attitude;
- or who does not understand that, after safety, a smooth ride is the Number Two priority when driving others. Arriving on time at the correct destination is no doubt senior to that, but with proper planning they should rarely conflict.
On the positive side, in addition to having the client's favorite alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks & snacks & foods available, here are a few ideas that may or may not be within the budget. A butler rarely thinks about money, however, when it comes to creating the proper standards for his employer and guests.
- How about cold or hot cloths to wipe away the grime of travel?
- How about sprays to freshen the face?
- How about eye drops and throat sprays to counteract the dry climate on board modern jets?
- How about a negative-ion generator to freshen the air of the limo, and help counteract the heavy exhaust of city air?
- How about umbrella escort from car door to destination door and back when it is raining?
- I imagine the client is always given the chauffeur's cell phone number for coordination purposes...am I correct?
- How about an overcoat or overshoes and gloves for use in colder climates when the weather suddenly changes for the worse? ....It's the gift of anticipation that is so valuable, remember: In this case, the guest may be unaware of the weather change in his destination area and so not have packed adequate clothing.
- How about information on your city being available for clients to peruse?
- How about useful take-away items sporting the BostonCoach logo?
- Better still, how about a fairly substantial amenity...a free gift...such as a BostonCoach limo complete with logo, that can be anything from desktop décor to functional cigar lighter or telephone or whatever...such as a toy for his or her young boy.
- How about the chauffeur being equipped with every possible office-type accessory?
- How about a humidor and cigar accoutrements for guests known to partake? The ionizer would help erase the smell;
- ...and there would, of course, be smoker and non-smoker limos.
- How about arranging a hampered picnic for longer trips or trips to romantic country destinations, served by the chauffeur who is trained in proper table service?
- Along similar lines, how about china, silver, and linen napkins for clients to eat a meal of their favorite food on-the-go between appointments?
- How about a chauffeur who can take photographs that do not chop people off at the knees; who loads them onto a CD and hands it to the client at the conclusion of the trip?
- How about a limo that has a small bouquet of flowers for female clients and/or for decoration in the limo?
- How about a fruit basket?
- How about pocket translators for chauffeurs who do not speak the language of the client?
- How about neck pillows for longer trips, and throw rugs?
- How about a uniform that includes logo'd white gloves as a signature of BostonCoach?
- How about _________ you fill in the blank!
Coming back to the matter of money and the bottom line, however, the top-tier client is always focused on the experience being up to expectations, not whether he is paying more for it.
Butlers always manage their employer's finances well, but when it comes to spending the boss' money on the boss, or his guests, expense is not a consideration. Take Paul Allen, one of the richest men in the world. He makes $500 million a year but he spends 700 million.
Is he worried?
No. Not like us mortals would be if we were spending 40% more than we were making every year.
Fortunately for Mr. Allen, he has enough money in the bank to last him another 120 years at his current pace of consumption (or so his accountant claims).
So in taking the high ground, in dealing with the heavy hitters, BostonCoach gives its left arm to its clients but charges them an arm and a leg. As I am sure you will agree, one's concept of acceptable-cost shifts when dealing with such clients. What is of value to them when it comes to their personal lives, is not the cost-to-return ratio, but the experience that leaves a smile on their face. When you can afford anything, every minute without a smile on one's face is an unnecessary wasted moment, particularly when all moments can be crafted to create smiles.
Coming up with new services and products all boils down to putting yourself in the client's shoes; or better still, putting them in their own shoes and you seeing what life looks like to them, exactly per the drill we did earlier.
And then taking joy in bringing a smile to their face when they see the exact item or service they have been wanting, perhaps without realizing it, and not expecting to have it until they arrived in their hotel room or back home with their butler.
Along this line, let's review briefly some of BostonCoach's current service offerings to see how we could perhaps move them to the next level.
BostonCoach offers a wireless service relating to client booking. This is very useful. A butler might suggest that you take this one step further by also offering wireless connectivity while on the road. Clients do not always have cell phones or Internet connectivity when in a foreign country or out of their normal zone.
Your Road Show Services for the busy executive with multiple appointments is another fruitful area that could be pushed further in any of the ways mentioned earlier. I wonder also, given the compact nature of these client's schedules, whether there is not some behind-the-scenes technology that alerts chauffeurs already on the road, of traffic snarl-ups along their routes, so they can smoothly select alternative ones?
Door-to-Door City Services with power ports for phones and laptops can likewise be augmented by any of the features mentioned just now.
So I ask, what is unsatisfactory about long or franticly full trips in a vehicle?
What could lighten that journey or make it more productive, and which BostonCoach could realistically make available?
What would you personally want to do or have when traveling long distance that would shorten the distance and minimize the ennui?...(that's French for "boredom").
I recommend you spend time with these questions, because therein lies your itinerary for the next level of service.
Now for the soft skills—what gets up the nose of clients when being driven?
Anyone have any anecdotes along this line?
Let me venture a few guesses based on my own experience:
- Abrupt and unsmooth driving
- Attitude...as the shirt of one butler trainee announced, "I don't need your attitude...I have my own."
- Constant talking, not noticing whether or not I want to;
- Tip hankering
What features do clients such as myself like in chauffeurs?
- Smooth driving
- Discretion
- Reading and respecting my wishes, making me the one on the stage, the one receiving the service, not the chauffeur.
- Perhaps foremost is an unflappable confidence, because arriving safely at the destination on time without any unnecessary detours, unpleasantness, or scares, is the main service required of the chauffeur.
Such confidence comes about when a chauffeur knows his vehicle and city streets, and has demonstrated to himself that he can do the job well. This confidence is facilitated and enhanced by an ability to be calmly in the moment, as discussed earlier, because this on its own exudes confidence and calms the client. The attitude, comportment, and good sense of the chauffeur all say to the client: "You can relax, you are in good hands." The client has enough of his own business to focus on without being distracted by the chauffeur's end of their brief partnership on the road of life.
In essence, it is principally the soft skills that define a trip as pleasant or unpleasant. I referred earlier to the butler mindset and attitude, as well as certain drills to increase the communication skills of the individual.
I hope that some of the butler's world will find its way into yours, and that after BostonCoach formulates the template for its new top-flight and signature chauffeur service at this conference, your clients will find encouraging nuances of Jeeves the butler in action, smoothing their way.
As you sit here considering your options and perhaps feeling uncertain about what may lie around the corner, I'd like to leave you with some words of encouragement about the most difficult stage of any journey: the decision to undertake it.
From William Murray's book The Scottish Himalayan Expedition:
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.... Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!"
Thank you.
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