Only the second day of December and the Editor is asking
for my copy, which considering that the only time you're
likely to find spare to read Call Sign will probably be
well into what was once the start of the Kipper Season, I
cannot understand the panic, but then who am I - the
Editor's Bob Cratchit - to argue and that I too have my
needs over the coming weekends with among other things,
the task I hate most - the dreaded Christmas shopping!
Still, as you read this, my moans together with the chaos,
over indulgence and stress of Christmas, would have been
confined to history and my thoughts will be on what 2005
holds in store - including of course so far as DaC is
concerned, the forthcoming AGM.
I'm often asked how those who write articles in the
trade press on a regular basis manage to think of what to
say, particularly when it is restricted to one subject, in
this case the cab trade. Personally its not always easy
and as someone who has produced a regular article for the
past 16 odd years, I have great admiration for all of
those who regularly write in the trade press, even those
who occasional attack members of our Society. In fact a
typical example of how difficult it can be keeping the
subject matter confined to the cab trade, was evident in
one popular trade paper very recently when a well-known
and somewhat vociferous scribe devoted his entire article
to a dispute he was having with a company fitting his new
kitchen. On reflection, perhaps the connection with our
trade was the knowledge that he was keeping his verbal
tuned for when he next had the need to have a go at our
Chairman!
Speaking for myself and my thoughts on writing; when I
first joined the Board and became deeply involved in a
project that was completely new to our Society - namely
marketing for new business, the consequences that followed
after distributing thousands of flyers laboriously
addressed by hand, making follow-up meetings, giving
presentations, guaranteeing promises, which resulted in
generating hundreds of new clients, I was suddenly faced
with a realisation of what it means to sell a service
industry against that of a tangible product such as
garments, which was my previous business. And particularly
so when that service industry is made up of a fragmented
group of individual self employed cab drivers, very few of
whom owed a loyalty to anyone but themselves and their
dearest.
The promises I had made became meaningless. I found myself
spending as much, if not more time, placating clients for
a whole number of problems and begging them not to close
the account as I was opening new ones.
The coverage in the mornings, particularly in West London
to the City was atrocious. Cabs were out there, but most
hanging up for flyers. I was in my office every day from
06:30 to 21:00hrs on the phone or at a clients taking an
ear bashing for reneging on the promises I had given and a
whole variety of problems with drivers, some of which
would make your hair curl. My difficulty then and still
today to a certain degree, was how to communicate to a
whole fleet of individual drivers as though they were one,
how was I able to get over a message that would attract
their attention?
Nobody likes being criticised, particularly cab drivers
and it rankles even more when those criticisms contained
an element of truth. Call Sign was the only platform open
to me and I had a choice on how I chose to relay my
concerns and the need for our members to take those
concerns on-board. I was advised at the time that if I
wanted to stay on the Board, I should say nothing that
would upset the members, keep a low profile and write
about only those things the members wanted to hear. I was
not prepared to do that and for that matter, neither was I
prepared to pay lip service to the rest of the Board
either.
So I went in somewhat impetuously, pulled no punches and
wrote exactly what I considered was needed for the Society
to progress and in particular to get out of the
infuriating shadow of a bitter competitor - ComCab.
I still have the copy of the Call Signs that followed my
first article and the Soap Box forum section was on fire
literally screaming for my blood. In fact, re-looking at
one issue, my only ally during all the furore came in an
indirect manner of speaking, in the form of a little ode,
below a picture of a very, very young looking David "Kupkake"
Kupler entitled "To All Short Sighted Drivers".
Its a bit late David, 18years in fact, to express my
gratitude, but belated
thanks anyway! But I had achieved my aim, I had our
member's attention - at a price of
course and that price was being labelled the Board member
that everybody loved to hate. I became the original Aunt
Sally…
But I would like to think that since those early days,
some of what I've written has been taken on board,
reluctantly or otherwise, and has played a part in
influencing the attitude of many of our members to the
benefit of our Society as a whole, and part reason as to
why that change in attitude has attributed to Dial-a-Cab
reaching the heights it has today.
My objective through my writing has
always been to make you all aware of what's wanted in the
market place. To have you understand the demands of the
clients, their grievances and the services that we are
capable of supplying, including the manner in which you the
members operate, conduct and present yourselves. But
basically, my objective has
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been to communicate. Communication is of major
importance to every organisation,
from the biggest conglomerates to the corner sweetshop. And
the more organised and efficient the communication, the more
successful that business will be.
Sadly through no fault of our own and by the very make-up
of our company, operating within a workforce of isolated
individuals such as ours, communication
between Board level and driver and vice versa is
difficult to say the least, the consequences of which
creates suspicion, lack of understanding and in particular
appreciation. How many of our members for example really
know exactly what Board members do during their working day?
Their experience of technology, of management, sales,
computer proficiency, marketing, employment, working
practices, call centre telephony, systems, procedures and a
whole gamut of every day business issues, many of which are
ascertained through taking courses and having a Board policy
which is forward thinking and exceptionally transparent.
Very few, and the reason being our communication network and
to a certain degree, politics and to an even lesser degree,
modesty restricting that knowledge from becoming widely
known.
In this year's Annual Report, I have based some of my
graphics on communication, technology and how far we have
come in such a relatively short period. Yet in my opinion,
not far enough so far as our Society is concerned. We can
communicate via our MDTs, Call Sign and of course by mail,
but invariably that is only in one direction - from the
management outwards. But there is little input,
participation or interest shown by the members, which is
somewhat surprising when the argument from many against
de-mutualisation is because they want to remain in
control; control of what? Time and time again in my
articles, I ask for a response on a particular subject and
it is incredible to think that out of a membership of over
2200 drivers, I receive not one reply. So again, where is
this control?
Yet whenever I write something contentious that many think
I should not make public, it generates a response, which
proves the manner in which I write does at least get some
attention. It also proves that if our members really put
their minds to it, it is possible to get a feedback of
some description, albeit a small one. But it's a pity it
is not constant.
On the question of our Annual Report, it may interest some
to know that our biggest competitor has for the past two
years, chosen not to use a graphic design company to
produce their glossy audited report, preferring instead to
submit their figures on plain foolscap. In some respects
this is not a surprise, when one considers the cost design
companies charge, which two years ago I was told was
approx £48k for 500 copies. That equates to £96 per
copy! The cost for our annual report, because we produce
it in-house has not risen over the past 5 years above
£10k for 2,500 = £4 a copy.
The reason that we have for many years produced all our
design work in-house, be it an annual report, advertising
material, marketing, web design etc is that: a) We are
capable of doing so and b) experience has proven that
using those from within our own trade has a better
understanding of how to market our industry. A policy
perhaps that might now only be synonymous with Dial-a-Cab,
at least for the immediate future being as how we have
become the only driver run taxi circuit in the capital.
As we enter 2005, it is a time for new year resolutions
and serious reflections on what Dial-a-Cab can do to
sustain our success and to make new in-roads setting
standards that will mark us out yet further still as the
circuit that others need to follow.
One immediate thought that comes to mind is an issue that
is always prominent when
tendering for new business, namely the Environment. Fuel
emissions are always discussed with questions being
continually asked of the amount of vehicles we operate
that are gas driven. Equally so our policy on smoking in
cabs. As you know there has been a considerable amount of
publicity of late on the topic, with taxis being included
in Mayor Livingston push to make a number of public places
in London smoke free.
As highlighted in last months Call Sign, the consensus
amongst our members appears to show a number are not
particularly bothered either way. On a marketing
prospective, it is a big issue and one that we could
really capitalise on if approached sensibly.
Nearly all businesses today, large and small, have a
smoking policy as we do at Brunswick House with a
specially designated canteen being the only place in which
to smoke and even that area is being continually reviewed.
When I first came on the Board, every Board member with
the exception of myself smoked and especially at Board
meetings. There was no air conditioning or ventilation of
any description, and with Board meetings lasting up to 10
hours and in some instances over two days, the foul air
was as thick as the smog I remembered in London as a
child.
I persistently pushed for a ban on smoking at those
meeting. But like so many other things that I disagreed
about the way the Society was run, my single vote was
useless, in fact I could never even get a proposer to get
my argument discussed. To make matters worse, I am extremely
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sensitive to nicotine smoke, even out in the
open such as in a taxi. If I get into a cab where a
previous occupant or driver has smoked, then I develop a
coughing fit and lose my voice - not exactly the ideal
situation to be in just prior to giving a presentation to
a client.
Of the recent Board, only our Chairman Brian Rice and Tom Whitbread smoked then, making the prospect of getting a
ban on smoking easier should a proposition be put to a
debate. But it wasn't necessary, because the moment the
subject was mooted, they both agreed immediately and not
just to stop in the building, but to stop permanently.
The Boardroom was redecorated into a state of the art
Board-cum-presentation room, with fitted air con and
flowers giving an environment that was both healthy and
inspiring in which to work. And referring back again to
communication, it's interesting to note that such is our
management policy and the transparent manner in which we
now operate, that Board meetings rarely last longer than 2
or 3 hours.
Smoking is not a necessity; it is a habit and an unhealthy
one at that. For years I have campaigned for a show of
unity in the manner it which our members act and present
themselves. The results of that are evident by how often
I, other Board members and many of our clients comment
about getting picked up by so many smartly dressed
drivers. Just think of the impact we could make in the
market place if that image was enhanced by advertising
ourselves as a fleet in total support of a smoke free
environment? Please give it some thought.
I shouldn't really mock the issue concerning Pedicabs,
because anything that is a threat to our industry should
be apposed. I just wish Bob Oddy could adopt a different
approach when in front of the media. Even the Prime
Minister smiles when he is making a case for selling us
down the river! It doesn't always pay to be continually
whinging like Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson, eventually
nobody takes you seriously on anything. The first time I
gave an idea to the demise of Pedicabs involved the
services of two well known larger than life characters in
every sense of the word, namely Geoffrey Riesel, Chairman
of RTL and our very own Russell Pollock MBE. I would
suggest squeezing them both into a Pedicab and instructing
the driver to get post haste to Highgate Village. There
would be so many ruptures and cardiac arrests, they would
be wiped out in no time! No offence Geoffrey and Russell -
only joking!
However, this is no joke. In an age where violence,
assault, fraud and scams are becoming a frightening part
of our daily lives, we are being conditioned reluctantly
to be constantly aware of how to protect our families and
ourselves. Credit Card fraud is becoming rife over the
Internet and simple common sense is all that is needed,
but the areas that concern us most are protecting
ourselves whilst out shopping.
One of the most recent scams I have become aware of
happened to a friend of my sister and is one that I feel a
genuine need to pass on, particularly to those of you
whose wives and daughters drive a car. I say wives and
daughters only because the majority of women appear to
have a habit when parking, to drive into a space rather
than reversing and also the fact that they leave their
handbags on the front seat. The scam operates when the
person driving is about to reverse back out of a space and
suddenly realise their rear view is blocked by something
stuck on the back window. The immediate reaction is to get
out of the car to remove the offending obstruction,
leaving bag and possessions momentarily unattended and the
key in the ignition - giving the perpetrators the option
of stealing the car and or the possessions. It's
absolutely disgraceful that women should be targeted like
this, so please be warned.
Finally, having started this piece by mentioning the
Editor, I would like to close in the same vein. I
mentioned earlier the difficulties sometime in producing
an article. However compared with producing a whole
magazine such as Call Sign, the difference is too
embarrassing to make even the slightest comparison. The
quality of Call Sign since Alan Fisher took over as Editor
has been truly amazing, but as with most success stories,
the longer this high quality is sustained, the more it is
taken for granted. However we all have our limits and
there are times when we can be excused occasionally if
circumstances are such as to overcome the most determined
resolve to maintain that success, as I thought the case
would be at the beginning of November when I heard of
Alan's wife Linda's sudden illness, an illness that kept
Alan off work to stay with his wife for well over 6 weeks.
To have produced the December issue of any quality would
have been a feat, but to do so of a quality to which he is
rightly synonymous is absolutely amazing. Well done Alan,
you should be justly proud of an unique natural ability
that is worthy of placing under the nose of Prince Charles
when he criticises those of a particular background
aspiring to heights above what he believes as to be their
station.
My sincere wishes to you all for a very Happy New Year…
Allen Togwell
DaC Marketing
allent@dialacab.co.uk
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