Call Sign January 2009 - Page 32-33 - ALLEN TOGWELL’S MARKETING PLACE

ALLEN TOGWELL’S MARKETING PLACE
Firstly may I take this opportunity of wishing all of our members and their families a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. A future Dial-a-Cab? Many years ago, the idiomatic phrase the school of hard knocks or the university of life was often expressed by many who progressed through life the hard way and considered the experience be recognised as being equal to those who had been to university. And as such had the background, confidence and ability to achieve goals that earlier in their lives would have seemed beyond their reach. In recent years, there seems to be less and less of those with this background making themselves heard - or at least not on DaC. As we enter into yet another year of Dial-a-Cab’s history, it beggars the question; where lays the future of this Society if what the Chairman said in last year’s Annual Report about changing the management structure, does eventually materialise? It’s an accepted fact that the age group of the cab trade is primarily of middle age and above, so where amongst this large contingent from the school of hard knocks are those with the desire to play a part in taking this Society forward into the next decade? Dial-a-Cab has come a long way from the days when the only experience needed to serve on the Board was being an ex-dispatcher. Today, the size of our fleet, the size of our customer base, our staff, our Ł50 million plus turnover and above all, our technology, requires skilled management and a CEO with expertise well beyond the capabilities of your average day-to-day cab driver. And as the Society grows - as it surely will - the quality and demands from that level of management will become even greater. In the future, we could well see many of the jobs that are carried out by Board members as at present, in addition to their custodian duties being transferred and managed by inter-department personnel, leaving a new style Board to concentrate solely on setting policy, strategic planning, financial issues, procedures etc at monthly Board meetings and special meetings when necessary, and to receive a stipend commensurate for that role. I personally have met several taxi co-operatives, particularly in Scandinavia, over the years that operate this way and very successfully. There then comes the question; who would have the required CV to fill the role of the new style Board including, I might add, the willingness to accept the liability? Personally, I feel the most suitable candidates would be those that have been round the block so to speak, those with common sense gleaned from the school of hard knocks, are knowledgeable of the taxi trade and have an affinity with this Society and a passion to see it succeed. A measure of someone coming through the school of hard knocks could be compared to my own, which began in the early 1950s when setting out for the first time to earn a crust for my labours. Work was plentiful and in the days before job experience came into being, the only way to get an insight into whether the profession suited you, was to spend time giving it a try and if it wasn’t, you simply moved on to something different. I cannot remember exactly how many jobs I tried before eventually deciding on the fashion industry, but it was an awful lot. A few that stick in my mind for varying reasons were as an upholsterer of antiques, which was a worthwhile craft in its day and probably still is, but the downside apart from the Ł2.5s (Ł2.25) a week wages, was spending half the day with a mouthful of tacks and using deadly 12inch needles that more than once caused me an injury! Then came a stint at being a coalman during the foggiest and probably coldest January on record, breaking ice before shovelling coal into sacks at 4am, loading the lorry, then making deliveries until 8pm. It was a backbreaking occupation and I was as dirty arriving for work each day as I was leaving the job the night before! But the wages of Ł8 pw plus perks compensated for the discomfort. I then tried the print, which was a bit cleaner, instead of coal dust I was covered in ink. A little older and after a dozen or so other nondescript jobs, I encountered my first experience at being rejected, which I partly expected because at that time only those from grammar school or of	wealthy parents ever got a place, and that was failing to get entry into St Martins School of Art. A few more jobs followed when I had the sudden urge to immigrate to New Zealand. I went to New Zealand House and spoke to an immigration officer who treated me as if I was a complete fool and with a sneer, told me that without any academic qualifications I had no chance. A short while after that, I had my third taste of rejection made worse by the fact I was given such high hopes of being successful. A professor of medicine I knew had encouraged me to apply for a job as a medical theatre artist that had become vacant at the hospital where she worked. The job involved sitting on a perch directly above the operating table, which gave a birds eye view of a patient being operated on. But I didn’t even make it to the first interview stage. With rejection becoming a bit too frequent, I began to wonder if I would develop an inferiority complex but it didn’t happen, maybe because I’ve always believed in the saying nothing ventured, nothing gained. However, what it did was to prompt me into doing something about what I had failed to gain at school, so I enrolled at the Working Men’s College, then Goldsmiths College and later the Goethe Institute. And as a flexible job to accommodate this late spate of learning, I tried door-to-door selling. The first job I tried was selling carpet cleaners. It involved a crash course, then a demonstration in front of a panel of sales managers. It was bit like the X Factor, but instead of singing it was selling! On being accepted, I together with a dozen other guys, were transported in the back of a van onto the back streets of Suburbia to put those new found sales skills into practice. Thinking back to that period and especially the camel overcoat I used to wear with 12-inch shoulder pads, I must have looked like a latter-day Del Boy Trotter. How I made a success at selling those ridiculous cleaners is beyond me. But I did and after a while I decided to go up a notch to selling encyclopaedias. This involved another crash course learning the art of selling a huge volume of books to people who not only had no use for them, but even worse, couldn’t afford them. I had to change my appearance and looked a bit like an undertaker, but it had the desired effect in getting that all important signature on a contract before legging it on to the next unsuspecting victim. Morally the work was draining, but the experience - as crude as it was - was helpful in later years when I changed from gent’s tailoring, to having my own business manufacturing ladies fashions and I was pressurising the big stores and high street outlets up and down the country to buy my goods. There were times when I just could not afford to take no for an answer. If a buyer wouldn’t see me or give me an order, I would pester them every day and sometimes twice a day until they did. You need a thick skin to be a sales person, an undying belief in the product you are selling even if it’s rubbish, the ability to sell yourself and above all confidence - the last of these being a common attribute often seen amongst those who have come through the school of hard knocks. Which was just as well, because I needed all the confidence I could muster when I started selling and marketing Dial-a-Cab’s services for the very first time. A non-tangible product, which was another first and a product with a price tag - namely the meter - set in stone. The latter being one of the major reasons why sales people whose earnings are based on results are either not attracted to the taxi industry, or if they are, they don’t last. How do you sell a product with a cost that is non-negotiable? Many years ago, one of our members made a proposition at an AGM that no client should be exempt from paying a particular surcharge. I argued it would take away our ability to negotiate. My argument failed and the proposition was carried. At the following AGM, the member in question having suffered the loss of work from a number of lost clients because of his proposition,	asked that it should be rescinded and the members in their wisdom agreed. It was a painful lesson learnt and a stark reminder of the delicate nature of our business where Board members, once elected, can be controlled by a section of the membership who think they can run the business themselves from the front of a cab. I mean no disrespect, but very few of our below middle age members have a true understanding of what it is like running a unique business like Dial-a-Cab. And it is unique in every sense. For example, how many companies are there with a work force of several thousand of which the management has absolutely no control? How many firms of our size has a Chairman/CEO and a Board of management responsible for a Ł50million business without a contract, yet are personally liable and could lose everything they own if the company was to go belly up? How many firms our size have a management structure where the entire Board, including the Chairman, could be in office on the Sunday of the AGM and out of office in their entirety the very next day with no changeover period to finish what’s on their desk or to assist those taking their place? Can you imagine how much unfinished work could be on the Chairman’s desk alone and in his diary and in his head, which if it wasn’t acted upon or handled as only he knew how, the damage it could do to this Society? It’s a frightening thought and there is absolutely nothing to prevent it happening… Could you sell our services? Finally, not wishing to be so negative at the start of a New Year, I’ll end on a lighter note. I’ve mentioned a little about the task of selling a product like ours. As a little bit of fun and role-playing. Below are 8 non-technical questions out of the 50 odd questions that we often get when tendering for new business. It would be interesting to get your ideas on how you would sell our services. Who knows, we could learn something of benefit. After driving a client mad ringing them week after week, you have finally have an appointment to convince them to give you their taxi transport business. Client: Hello Mr DaC sales person, I have received and read your sales literature and would like to start by asking you a few questions. No 1): If I give you a minimum of 7 days notice, can I be guaranteed a cab will arrive on the day and time required, and I emphasise the word ‘guarantee’ and the legal implications if the guarantee is not met. And if not, why not? No 2): In your literature you state your cabs can arrive with up to Ł4.20 on the meter. Please explain why the meter should be engaged before the vehicle arrives at the pick-up address. Or more specifically, before the passenger gets into the vehicle? No 3): There are hundreds of empty cabs passing our door daily. Please explain why we should book a taxi with your company and take a chance that the cab might not arrive on time or if it does, could have up to Ł4.20 on the meter, in preference to hailing a cab off the street? No 4): You state you will charge a minimum of Ł8.80. Please explain the reason for this minimum charge. No 5): You insist a 10% gratuity is applicable on all fares and is non negotiable. Please explain the reason for this gratuity. Will the gratuity be waived if I am not satisfied with your service, for example if the cab arrives late or the driver refuses to give assistance or the driver and or the vehicle arrives in an unacceptable condition? No 6): You state I will be subject to additional waiting time charges. Please explain why additional waiting time is applied on top of a meter, which is already charging waiting time? No 7): Our annual taxi expenditure runs into millions of pounds, a contract of that value involving any other product would warrant a discount. If I award you the contract, what % discounts are you prepared to offer on the meter fare? No 8): Please state as briefly as you can why you feel your company is better than your competitors? If you’d like to give me your answers, I’d be interested in seeing them. Please send them to allent@dialacab.co.uk And as I said at the beginning, a very Happy New Year to you all.. Allen Togwell DaC Marketing
	Bedfont Green: Team of the Month!
	Dial-a-Cab driver and Bedfont Green goalkeeper, Lee Pearce (J71) has told Call Sign that the players were thrilled at being awarded the Combined Counties Premier Division’s Team of the Month award for November. "We deserve it," said Lee, "not just because we got to the top of the league, but more because of the football we played. It was one-touch stuff that you usually see in much higher leagues than ours. We were undoubtedly the team to beat." This is the first time the club has won the Team of the Month award and although getting a few draws in December where they should have won and slipping to second place just behind Epsom and Ewell, Lee told us that he expects to win the award again. "This is a great team," he said, "one worthy also of promotion…"

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