Customer development: Building your transportation offer
Identifying your assets
Identifying the assets of a passenger transport company is not only a matter of vehicles, it is also a matter of looking at the skills of each individual who composes it.
As far as the drivers are concerned, we can distinguish the :
– Spoken languages
– Specific skills
o Special permits for motorcycles or bus type vehicles
o Security agent
o First aid certificate
o Aptitude with people with reduced mobility or dependent peoplemobility or dependent people
o Knowledge of the history or geography of the region
o Welcoming personalities…
These are all qualities that will help your VTC or TPRP company stand out from its competitors.
Identify your assets of your catchment area
Knowing your catchment area is already knowing the needs of your customers.
Some obvious facts are obvious: it will not come to the mind of a VTC from Bordeaux not to propose excursions in the vineyards, nor to a Parisian transporter not to propose airport transfers…
To start your business on the right track, the market study remains the best tool to highlight the assets and needs of your region. If necessary, get help to carry it out, depending on your means, with a specialized consulting firm, your contact at the Chamber of Commerce or the junior company of a business school.
Build a service offer
Now you have the cards in hand to build your service offer.
Offering only an “à la carte transportation service” does not serve to win new customers, on the contrary it can do you a disservice. It is better to allow customers to directly identify the services you offer, for example by grouping them into “service families”.
Some examples of services in the transport of people:
– Airport transfers
– Train station transfers
– Provision of a vehicle with a driver
– Tourist excursions
– Regular transport (tours/shuttle)
– Convoying…
Specifying your services allows the future customer to answer his first question “Can this company meet my needs? “. They will associate your company with the transport services it offers and you will allow them to project themselves in the accomplishment of their needs, even before asking you for a price offer.
Be flexible: know how to adapt your offer
Above all, keep an eye on economic movements: the opening of a hotel nearby, the launch of a call for tenders by a town hall for transport on demand or regular transport, the opening of a retirement home, etc. The need for passenger transport is growing rapidly, and each change in your catchment area can open up new opportunities.
In the same way, your customers can make your offer evolve. The head of a passenger transport company must be attentive to the feedback from his customers and be able to identify future opportunities. He will then have to adapt his offer to take into account his new outlets, even if it means relying on colleagues to meet the demand before adapting the structure of his company, if necessary.
Do not lose sight of the development objective you have set and before reorienting your offer, ask yourself the question “is this offer consistent with the guideline I have set for my company? “Is it in line with the image I want to give of my company? “. If the answer is yes, go for it!
