Ken Lucci: 0:27

Okay, we're back my name is Ken Lucci from Driving Transactions, and this is James Blaine from PAX, one of the owners at PAX Training. And we're going to talk specifically about what makes up a luxury service experience. Um, if you, if you're a customer, A hung up on the word luxury. What makes up the ultimate quality service experience? So, James, this is absolutely what you guys are experts at. What Pax tries to train every operator on. In your mind, what is the luxury service experience as it relates to chauffeur transportation?

James Blain: 1:05

So this is something that I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about, right? This is something that, you know, I think about when I'm working, when I'm training, when, you know, no matter what I'm doing, I think about this a lot because this is something that shouldn't have evolved over time. It's something that from when the industry began to now, right? We should have always have have thought of it this way, but even in the eight years that I've been in the industry, I have seen this change and evolve. You know, when I really think of,

Ken Lucci: 1:37

or devolve?

James Blain: 1:38

well, yeah, and that's the, that's the thing is it's a little bit of both because, you know, when I first got into the industry, I, you know, I didn't grow up drawing little chauffeur hats on my notebooks, right? Like, if you would have told me you're going to be training in the chauffeur services industry, I'd be like, yeah,

Ken Lucci: 1:55

I would worry about somebody who did, to be

James Blain: 1:57

Yeah, this, this is not where I saw my life going. And so.

Ken Lucci: 2:01

Wait a minute. Cop, fireman, airline, pilot, chauffeur. I'm

James Blain: 2:05

Yeah, yeah, like, like if you just said you're going to be doing something with cars, like, I'd be like, Oh yeah, racing cars, not chauffeured services. But no, it's funny because when I got into this industry, I kind of had this misnomer of. You know, it was all stretch limousines, right? Like, Oh, you mean guys going to stretch limo? And there was a point where that was a really strong part. And, you know, in markets like Las Vegas, right? They send stretches for practically everything, right? I've literally had to take trade show gear to a conference center because they thought it made sense to send us, you know, they're doing us a favor by sending us a stretch instead of sending us an SUV.

Ken Lucci: 2:42

And in New York, it was the, uh, Cadillac Series 75, which was the Right. Back in the day. 80s and 90s. Gordon Gekko, The Days of Greed.

James Blain: 2:52

100%. But what is interesting to me, right? And, and I kind of made this point just now, right? I've had to go somewhere in the wrong vehicle. Luxury transportation is about really being the absolute top. Now, if you think of, you

Ken Lucci: 3:10

Highest quality.

James Blain: 3:11

highest quality. We'll think about it. You know, if we think of Elon Musk flies into your town and his private jet, because he's going to open the new Tesla factory, right? Like there's only two things that are going to be waiting there to pick him up. It's either going to be a private car or it's going to be a Tesla. Chauffeur driving a Tesla, right? Nobody has the expectation that he's going to call the Uber on the way down and Uber is going to send him like, that's not the expectation. The expectation is if you are at the absolute top, if you're calling the best of the best, if it's as good as it gets, you're riding in chauffeur car service. And the big thing that people have to understand about that is a lot of that is the feel of it. Right? People don't think about things in terms of feeling, but one of our favorite quotes here at PAX is that people are going to forget what you said. They're going to forget what you did. They're never going to forget how you made them feel.

Ken Lucci: 4:08

you made them feel. And that's what people don't understand. Experiential is all about emotion and feeling. And it's above and beyond the base expectation of getting from point A to point B on time.

James Blain: 4:22

Oh yeah, and here's the thing, right? I've said this a million times, I'll say it a million more until everyone hears it. If you are worried about getting people from point A to point B, you have not actually moved into luxury transportation.

Ken Lucci: 4:37

that's only like a third of the equation, right?

James Blain: 4:40

No, it's, it's the most transparent part, right? And, and, and, and I would argue that it's really not even the equation, right? That's more like the actual little symbols that you use to express the equation, right?

Ken Lucci: 4:52

That's the base expectation, is

James Blain: 4:54

it's the base expectation

Ken Lucci: 4:56

time. They don't, they're not going to reward you for being 15 minutes early. They're expecting it. That's like the base. Oh, great. You got the meal on the table. That's what I expected.

James Blain: 5:06

yeah, if, if I go into the highest, right? And I'm a Kansas boy, I live out here in Kansas City. If I go into the highest end steakhouse, I In Kansas city, I expect that they're going to come out and put a steak on the table. If they don't come out and put a steak on the table, I mean, guess what? If I go to McDonald's, they're gonna put a hamburger in front of me. If I go to the high end steakhouse, they're gonna, that is just the, that's the fundamentals of like actually what you do. But here's the thing. When you do it right, it's completely and totally invisible. I don't, it's seamless.

Ken Lucci: 5:40

it's seamless. it's perfectly choreographed.

James Blain: 5:43

If you come and you ask somebody that just had, let's say you talk to someone, right? They just, you know, we interview them the second they get out of a vehicle at the airport, you know, Hey, surprise, you're on candid camera. We'd like to interview you, right? If you say, what was the best part about this trip? And the guy says he was on time.

Ken Lucci: 6:00

You got me here.

James Blain: 6:01

That's not that nobody's going to say if he says he was on time, it's because every provider of transportation they've ever used sucks.

Ken Lucci: 6:10

Right. Think about that. Think about what you're up against. Success is showing up and being there on time because your competition didn't didn't do it.

James Blain: 6:19

Right. But,

Ken Lucci: 6:20

That's a base expectation.

James Blain: 6:22

but here's what, if you, if you go to the highest end companies in the country and you talk to their passengers about why they're there, they're going to talk about things like they anticipated my need, right? They know that I've, I've ridden for, I've ridden with them a bunch and they know I get in the car 10 minutes early. So instead of being there 15 minutes early for me, they show up 25 minutes early. Cause they, cause they know I do that.

Ken Lucci: 6:48

Individual preferences. they, know. Yep. Yep.

James Blain: 6:52

and here's the thing, right? You, you look at those same people, why? Because when I get into the back of that car, it feels like that car was just prepared for me. I'm the only thing in the world that matters. I'm the most important thing to that person, Right.

Ken Lucci: 7:07

And then it gets wrecked because there's a half drunk spring water bottle in

James Blain: 7:10

Yeah, look, my, my first show that I went to, I don't remember how I got to the airport. I'd love to tell you. I remember the person that took me to the airport. I don't. That was probably my first time riding with chauffeured services, and that one wasn't memorable. What I remember from my very first experience in this industry, right? I went to a show two weeks after being into the industry, right? I got into the industry. Bruce and I put everything together. We got everything ready for the show. We went out to the show, right? I was coming from another industry, transitioning in, helping kind of get the tech or anything there. When we came back from that show, man, I gave it 120%. I was dead to the world. And I got back to Kansas City, right? And this is, you know, I will never forget. It was a long door Lincoln town car. And probably to this day, one of the best chauffeurs I've ever had. When he picked me up, he immediately noticed that I was tired, right? He's not trying to have a conversation. He's not trying to entertain me, right? Hey, sir, may I help you with your bags, right? I'm in control. Not, hey, let me take that for you. Now, hey, I'll get those for you. You know, sir, may I take your bags, right? I'm 100 percent in control. We go out to the vehicle. I get into the back of the vehicle, right? Spotless.

Ken Lucci: 8:25

Yep.

James Blain: 8:25

Spotless vehicle. Everything was perfect, right? We get to the back of the vehicle. He's got classical music on. I will never forget, right? I'm, I'm a chatty person. I don't know when to shut up. Everybody. And yeah, anybody that knows me that knows a podcast makes sense. Cause I can start talking now and we could be done a year from now. Right? Like I could do forever. Just keep going. But But in this night, right? I'm coming back from a week long show. I'm just toasted. I'm done. And I'll never forget. He had classical music on in the vehicle. He looks in the rear view mirror. I kind of look up over at him. I think he's gonna try and strike up a conversation. I don't have the energy for it. And he just kind of looks up, make sure I'm good. Right? And then he turns the music down just a hair because he can just see it on me. And at that point, I melted into, it's a 45 minute trip, from the airport back to my house. I melted into the backseat of that car. He was driving as smooth as silk, right? I melted into the backseat of the car. I fell asleep.

Ken Lucci: 9:25

Well, think about

James Blain: 9:25

for me was, that's when I got it

Ken Lucci: 9:28

But what did he do?

James Blain: 9:29

is what it is.

Ken Lucci: 9:30

He anticipated He matched and mirrored his customer.

James Blain: 9:34

He read the room.

Ken Lucci: 9:35

He read the

James Blain: 9:36

read the passenger.

Ken Lucci: 9:38

matched and mirrored so he didn't try to prod discussion out of you. He basically said this is a tired businessman for all he knows. You could be the CEO of a public company or a road warrior like we are right now. And what did he do? He ensured that the environment was appealing and everything was in matching and harmonious with what this is. These are not small things. Now at the same, right. These are, these are the attention to detail, the luxury service experience, totally about detail. But think about what he did. He personalized the experience for you. He anticipated, he anticipated your needs. And he matched, matched and mirrored what we used to call in sales. He matched and mirrored your persona. You might have been on your phone and talking about sports scores. He might want to join into that discussion. You know, Mr. Blaine, would you like to listen to sports radio? Same thing, match and mirror.

James Blain: 10:39

And, and

Ken Lucci: 10:40

Great example.

James Blain: 10:41

and, and I'd love to tell you, right? And, and I, at this point I'm relatively new to the industry. Were there water bottles in the car? Were there mints in the car? Did he offer me one? Did he do this? I'm sure he did all that right, but I don't remember. And I do this for a living,

Ken Lucci: 10:56

but it was the overall feeling that he created in that

James Blain: 10:59

yes, and I got home and I got out of that car. And I'll tell you what, if I wouldn't have been going to my house, if I'd have been going to just another round of meetings, another anything, that would have been the shot in the arm I needed because I knew that he was in control of the situation and taking care of it, but he was only doing that by letting me You know, drive the situation, not literally, but I, I 100 percent was by what I was doing by my actions dictating what was happening. I've seen this go the other way, right? I won't say what company it was with, but I was in Florida, um, probably a month ago with someone that had recently, you know, come out to Florida with me. They're in a completely different city. We're in different cities. I never get talked to this person and we're in the same vehicle and we're talking and chatting and I'm trying to take advantage of the fact that I have 45 minutes or 30 minutes or whatever it was from that hotel to that airport

Ken Lucci: 11:58

The chauffeur. Oh, you were with

James Blain: 12:02

so I, I'm traveling with someone in the back of this vehicle, right? we're having, we're trying to get caught up. I'm trying to get all the conversations. I'm trying to really get the time in on the way there. And I had a chauffeur that just absolutely had to be involved in the conversation.

Ken Lucci: 12:16

Interrupted.

James Blain: 12:17

Interrupting. Hey, you know, blah, blah, blah. So you're going to Kansas City, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I know. I know where I'm going. Thank you, right? You know, and, and my thing is, I'm not someone that wants to be right. I'm a Midwesterner, right? And don't get me wrong. You know, I spent some time in LA as a kid, but I'm a Midwesterner. I don't want to interrupt and have to be like, listen, dude, I'm trying to have a conversation and you're ruining it. Right. For me, that's just not how I grew up. That's just not how I am. So I've got this person that's basically stealing my time.

Ken Lucci: 12:48

and he mistakenly thinks his job is to be personable and likable. And sometimes the likeability is total silence And listen, total

James Blain: 13:00

got a friend, right? He, I don't need a friend in the car.

Ken Lucci: 13:03

total professionalism Total professionalism. is silence. And being attentive.

James Blain: 13:09

And, and that's the, I will tell you, this is not an isolated incident, right? So, so for those of you listening, this is probably the number one complaint. Like if you, if you, if you go back and you say, I'm going to say one thing to my, I'm only ever going to tell my chauffeurs one thing, right? I'm only going to tell them one thing. This is the thing you tell them. Right? This is the thing you tell him that, you know, your job is not to, if I wanted to have, if I would have asked him, Hey, you know, what do you think? Great. I've invited you in.

Ken Lucci: 13:40

That's the matching and mirroring. That's the matching and

James Blain: 13:43

100%.

Ken Lucci: 13:44

And the other piece of what you just said, which is critical, is the chauffeur, professional chauffeur, needs to understand that sometimes he melts into the backdrop, but he's always watching what's going on. And he needs to understand you're trying to do business in the back of that, car. And that justifies the cost of that car.

James Blain: 14:01

And, and not only that, what he doesn't know, right? You know, maybe I'm a businessman and we're flying out. And him and I'm talking to someone what he might not know is maybe that's a prospect. And that's the deal that's going to make or break my company. And I might lose my company if I can't get that deal closed. And he thinks he's being helpful

Ken Lucci: 14:21

he's broken your train of thought.

James Blain: 14:23

us. And he's literally just put me out of business, right? So, and, and it's things like that you don't think about. And again, back to that. example I brought up, what luxury and service sounds like is I am, they are there to serve and they are there to be ready and provide whatever I might need and anticipate my needs. So like I said, when I go to baggage claim, it's not, Hey, is that your bag? Let me grab it, right? You can say that in the nicest. Oh, sir. It looks like that's your bag. I'm going to go ahead and grab that bag for you. Right. I don't care how you say it. That is a completely different experience than saying, Oh, sir. Do you have any bags? I'd love to help with your bags. May I help you with your bags? May I help you? May I putting them in control, letting them dictate whether or not they want that is a completely different experience.

Ken Lucci: 15:15

Well, and, and, and, and I, I tested this and when we, when I owned my own company, we used to say, listen, you know, the typical person, the typical guy or gal, you know, they may, because of the way they were brought up, say, no, no, no, I'm putting you out by doing that. We always used to tell the chauffeurs to say, but Mr. Lucci, that's my job. Please. I would love to, you know, please allow me to carry your luggage. So the luxury service experience is personalization, a hyper attention to detail. Talk to me about what you said a little bit ago, which is exclusivity and status.

James Blain: 15:52

and we, we've talked about this on other episodes and, and it's going to come up and, and it's important, right? One of the things that we don't think about is that a lot of what chauffeurs do and any type of professional driver does is their lending status. So I, I've given an example before of, you know, I'm, I'm, Getting off the plane. I'm going over to the chauffeur to go get my baggage. What not? If that chauffeur is dressed sharp, if they look like they need to be there, if they've got their sign ready, if they, you know, obviously

Ken Lucci: 16:22

tablet, their Tablet.

James Blain: 16:24

Tablet. However, they're doing that. They, they look the part that makes me important. Right? But that, that goes beyond that in terms of, you know, you look at the motor coach industry. If a team is, if you have a, you know, all right, I'm from Kansas City. Hopefully I don't get any hate mail for this. Right? But we suffered for a long time. We are killing it right now. We're proud of it. You know, if the chiefs get onto a filthy bus with a bus driver that looks like a trucker,

Ken Lucci: 16:50

Yep.

James Blain: 16:51

what? That person is stealing their status. The Super Bowl champs are getting on a bus that looks like poo, it looks like it hasn't been washed, and the guy looks like he could care less.

Ken Lucci: 17:02

And he has a bus driver. I'm going to just say it. He's the Ralph Cramden bus driver transit bus mentality. And what you hitting upon here is the competitive advantage that the diversified fleet operators have, right? It's the guys that are in the chauffeured space that are reaching up into motor coach. You know, let's hope it we do it with with, you know, the good financial metrics, but you have the ability to uplift that service experience, which is heretofore been just literally the bus driver saying you guys all sit back there and you're all sitting down. I mean, that's what they consider to be service. So you're hitting hitting upon something of creating that luxury experience where there was not one before.

James Blain: 17:43

And, and this, this permeates into everything, right? So, you know, I've, I've got some good friends that have got a mixed fleet, right? And they do a little bit of everything, right? They figured out their lane. They figured out transportation, incredible operators, absolutely phenomenal people, right? And one of the things that they've talked about before is doing crew transportation. Well, I've seen a lot of companies. That when they do that crew transportation, they're like, all right, great. I can throw a guy and he can jump in a van and he can go driving. But it's a, if you're going out and you're providing that experience there of that person is going to make sure that vehicle is clean and well kept right after that crew gets out, they're jumping in the back seat, they're checking everything. This is what made those operators successful is that they understood those types of principles. It wasn't, we're going to go in and we're just going to do it like everybody else

Ken Lucci: 18:35

And we're going to lowball it and we're going to do it in the cheapest van.

James Blain: 18:38

at

Ken Lucci: 18:38

think, think about what

James Blain: 18:39

from our world.

Ken Lucci: 18:40

They came from our world and those are also the highest caliber travelers that expect, you know, good service. And those guys, God love them. They're the ultimate road warriors, the men and women that are, but they're in hospitality as well. And they have a higher expectation of quality. So the luxury service experience to me If you are going to provide it, you need to provide it in all service levels that you offer. Even if you say, well, this is just a shuttle, you know, a shuttle service, you know, it's a poor reflection. If your brand is on the side of that hotel shuttle. It better not have the lights. I was down in Florida and I saw one. The bumper is torn, you know, it's pulled back. The lights on the side are hanging off. The interior is terrible. And it's got this guy's brand on it. And he's like, well, that's just a hotel show. Dude, your brand is on it. So luxury service, always high quality, regardless of vehicle.

James Blain: 19:40

Yep.

Ken Lucci: 19:41

Always exceptional service, regardless of whether it's a contract or not. Or a one off reservation.

James Blain: 19:48

and again, to the operators that are listening to this, to the people in the industry that are listening to this, right? I'm, I'm telling you, this is one of the places where we're falling down. Right?

Ken Lucci: 19:57

Oh yeah, especially after the pandemic. Especially after the pandemic.

James Blain: 20:01

100%. And look, there are operators out there that are struggling just to not have accidents and incidents and service failures and everything there, right? You've got to have your fundamentals in order. But one of the things we talk about a lot, you know, through PAX and that we really talk about is, you know, The pyramid of success and the pyramid of success breaks out a little bit like this. You've got your first level, right? That's your first impression. There's only three things you got to get right there. You got to hit your spot time. You got to have a vehicle that looks the part and the chauffeur has to look the part. That's it. That's your first impression.

Ken Lucci: 20:33

You just wait like they say in life, 80 percent is getting there,

James Blain: 20:36

That's 80 percent is getting there. right.

Ken Lucci: 20:38

but with us, it's getting there on time and looking good.

James Blain: 20:41

absolutely right. Cause if you get there on time and you look homeless, you're Doesn't matter that you were there on time, right? And then the next part, right? The next level up is the drive, right? And the drives even less there to focus on. You got to be prepared. You got to know where you're going. We're in an industry where for the most part, we know where they're going to be taking them or pulling from. Now I get that we do ASAPs and I get that there's as directeds and everything else. But for the most part, most of the time we know where they're going. And the other thing is what happens all the time when people get in the vehicle? Hey, what's good to eat around here? Hey, I've never been here before. Hey, you know, I, I,

Ken Lucci: 21:20

the way,

James Blain: 21:21

Arrowhead stadium, right? I heard the chiefs play there,

Ken Lucci: 21:23

right? which, brings me up to, to the worst, worst line or the worst, words to use. I don't know.

James Blain: 21:30

yeah, absolutely. Right. So, so you've, you've got to have preparation and knowing your city, knowing your area, and then you've got to be able to deliver on driving safely. I've had the misfortune of being driven by Mr. Magoo, right? For those of those listeners out there that are older and don't know who Mr. Magoo is, uh, he's basically blind and still driving, right? I've been unfortunate enough to have that person drive me. And if I can't, if I can't sit comfortably in the back,

Ken Lucci: 21:59

you're like on pins and needles.

James Blain: 22:01

you're on pins And needles. And here's the problem. Whereas we, you know, if you're sitting in the driver's seat, I don't care what kind of vehicle it is, where does the passenger typically sit? Taxi, Uber, us, everybody? Diagonally behind

Ken Lucci: 22:13

He always should be diagonally behind you.

James Blain: 22:17

And here's the thing. They can see the check engine light the, and, and I've also been unfortunate enough to get in a vehicle that looked like a Christmas tree on the dashboard, the check engine light, the tire pressure light, the oil pressure. I mean this thing look, I was wondering if we were going to make

Ken Lucci: 22:31

And the high, and the high mileage.

James Blain: 22:34

And, and here's the thing. I'm not going to, you know, I'm not going to get in and say, wow, I've never seen that many dashboard lights. Can you tell me what each one means? No, I'm going to think to myself, Oh God, I'm not going to get to that important meeting. And instead of focusing on being ready for the meeting, or, you know, God forbid you're, you know, if you're going to your wedding, which should be the most important day of your life, and you're worried, you're going to be stranded on the side of the road. I don't know about you guys. I'd like to be thinking about my wife. I was lucky when I got driven to my wedding. It was in a Mercedes, it was flawless, they killed it, and all I got to think about was my wife the whole way there. Think of

Ken Lucci: 23:11

about this though. Think about what you're just saying. You get in the car, it's dirty. You get in the car, there are idiot lights on the dashboard. You get in the car, and the driver keeps talking. You get in the car, and the guy drives terribly. You get in the car, And, you see all the, he's got coffee mugs and everything else. What do I just do? You got the luxury service experience so close to Uber black that guess what? I'm going to tell my assistant there really wasn't anything great about that. Next time, just book me with the cheaper guy.

James Blain: 23:40

And here's the worst part, Ken, here's the worst part, like the part that kills me. We're not even at the top of the pyramid yet. If you blow it at any of these levels, if any of these pieces fall out, if you don't get any of these pieces right, Right. The top of the pyramid is really easy. Top of the pyramid is customer service. Why is it at the top? Because if you blew it anywhere else, you

Ken Lucci: 24:04

can fix it there. but you could fix it there.

James Blain: 24:07

to a certain extent, I think you can fix it but I think it's worth mentioning that if any of those other pieces are, are out, it falls apart, right? There's only, you can, you can be the nicest person in the world to me. If I miss my flight, I don't freaking

Ken Lucci: 24:24

It's like, uh, the top of the customer service is like the coconut icing. But the cake was stale because you didn't get me there on time. You blew everything else. You know, he's nice guy, but Jesus, he couldn't get there on

James Blain: 24:36

and and if, if I came to you and you missed your flight and I said, how'd you feel about the customer service on that?

Ken Lucci: 24:41

You don't care

James Blain: 24:42

Screw it. I missed the flight. Like I,

Ken Lucci: 24:45

else. Yeah. It's a

James Blain: 24:46

and so, and so that's, that's one of the things that we talk about a lot is that. You have to get everything in place to get to a luxury experience. You don't, you know, if you only make it to that second level of the pyramid where you were on time, the vehicle looked good, the chauffeur looked good. Right. And you had the preparation, the safety, right. That you're, you're still not a luxury transportation

Ken Lucci: 25:10

what's the next level?

James Blain: 25:12

until you get to that customer service. Right. And here, and when we talk about that top of the pyramid customer service, we talk about that level as the experience. We've talked a lot about how does it feel how when you know going right back to where we started this episode, right? I mentioned that when I was in that car for the first time. I don't remember I don't remember my first trip with a chauffeur. I hate that it kills me I don't remember what that was like But the one that I remember the one that lives with me the one that embodies what I think this industry should be is that second trip where I is Emotionally was gripped by the fact that it was the right experience. And this guy barely said a word, right? I don't know if there were mints. If there were mints, I didn't eat them. I don't know about the water bottle, right? But, but it's, it's about anticipating that need. If I'm getting off, if, you know, if I'm coming into Arizona, And it's a hundred degrees and I get in the car and the water bottles hot and I'm burning alive. I don't care how nice you are. But if I get there and that person says, you know, Hey, I've, I've parked this in the shade. I want, you know, it's a little warmer here. This is what the weather is going to be like this week. We've got a high. I've got, you know, I have some cold water bottles. Would you like a nice chilled water bottle? Right? Those types of and, and, and again, this isn't rocket scientists. I talked to companies all the time, right? And I hate to, I hate to say I've heard this story and I know that four or five people are gonna be like, Oh God, he's talking about us. And guess what? I don't have anyone in mind because it's sad enough. I've heard this multiple times, but I have heard several times of companies sending out a shuttle or a sprinter or a bus or some kind of vehicle in a hot weather climate. California, Arizona, Florida, right? Lower states where that chauffeur or that person went out, didn't know how to operate the air conditioner in the back, the passengers got into the back. They about melted and the whole experience was ruined. And the only reason I know this is because we get that phone call of, Hey, I got, I got to find a way to train these guys on that because, you know, we just got some plates or I lost it. It shouldn't get to that point. Because you're in, you know, it's hot, you know, you have air conditioning in the back of that vehicle, or, you know, you have an auxiliary heating unit. If you're up in Canada, you're way up out in Alaska, right? These are all things that you know, to anticipate. But a lot of this is, it's really easy. It's really easy to get caught up in the fact that Man, sometimes it's hard to get enough people on staff, let alone get all of these people going the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. I, I, I understand that I've been in the industry. I've seen it. That's hard, but you've got to be able to transcend and move into that luxury transportation provider because you're not a logistics provider, right? That's

Ken Lucci: 28:13

Well, if, if that's what you want to do, no, if that's what you want to do. Then buy a, then go out and buy a last mile, uh, freight train, uh, a freight company because, because, you know, what we've been talking about here, the luxury service experience has certain elements that you have to make muscle memory.

James Blain: 28:34

100%.

Ken Lucci: 28:35

The first to me you hit upon is the attention to detail of the, of the chauffeur. They're going to assume the vehicle's on time, it's clean. It better be. And they're going to, they're going to assume that you can get them from point A to point B and you know your way, but it's the anticipation of the individual driving. It's the experience, the attention to detail. It is about them making you feel exclusive and don't, don't think it's not. Okay. It's about the status. It's about treating them special. It's about making them look good. If they're the person that books the ride on a corporate side. You're making them look good in front of their boss. You're treating them both, they're, they're special. It, high quality is absolutely at the top of every luxury service experience. Exceptional customer service, you know, defined by the transaction. Um, you know, you talked a lot about that experience with the driver, you're tired of shit. And, you know, It's all it was. In that case, it was all about comfort and relaxation in florida. It was all about. You're going to do business in that car. Think about it's two different things. The chauffeur on the second part missed it. The chauffeur, the chauffeur thought he was the show.

James Blain: 29:50

Yeah. He's not there to entertain me, Right. I got an iPhone.

Ken Lucci: 29:54

the show. Silence was the show. But, and, yeah, you're right. And those are two unique things, but it's the same, think about it, it's the same, transaction, but those were two unique experiences and he didn't pick up on

James Blain: 30:06

but it but it's the same core, right? Because if you think about it, the first guy made me feel great because he read right. He read me

Ken Lucci: 30:15

Read the room.

James Blain: 30:16

what he was supposed to. And then the second guy made me feel right. What do I remember? Frustration, right? That I left with a feeling of frustration. And here's the thing, right? I mean, a lot of this is being able to read the passenger, but the other thing is sometimes you evoke feelings by what you don't do, right? I would love to lie to you and tell you I've never gotten a car and grabbed a water bottle and not heard it. Talk to me, right? I, that's one of my big things is talking water bottles.

Ken Lucci: 30:47

What do you mean by that?

James Blain: 30:49

when you open a water bottle, it says, hello, right? It went click, click, click, right? If it doesn't click and tell you, hello, I don't know about you, but I go, right. I'm like

Ken Lucci: 30:58

Wait a minute. Is this like the if it doesn't fit you have to quit? Never

James Blain: 31:01

Well, well, similar,

Ken Lucci: 31:03

talking about you want to make sure

James Blain: 31:05

because, well, and, and, and it's probably more like that than you think can, because if you get in the back of a vehicle and you grab the water bottle and you go to open it and take a drink and it doesn't click, you're immediately going to be disgusted and looking at it and going, well, what's wrong with this water bottle? Let me make it worse. I've had that experience where that I looked at the, and you can tell.

Ken Lucci: 31:24

yes, you can.

James Blain: 31:25

Very few people are going to be able to tell you what a water bottle weighs. Like, what's the weight of a water bottle? I don't know. But if I pick up a water bottle, I can tell when it feels light. Why? Because we live in an age where everybody's picked up enough water bottles, you can tell it's light. Now, God help you, if the water bottle feels light, I go to open it, it doesn't click, I look at it, and it's half gone. Well, now I'm thinking, Oh God, that right. I'm just completely disgusted. And now instead of leaving, feeling relaxed or leaving, feeling in it, I just got out of your car or now the rest of my ride is a feeling of

Ken Lucci: 31:59

I want you to think about that. That's the fingerprint on the glass when you're at a fine steakhouse. That's the fingerprint on the glass

James Blain: 32:08

hundred percent. And I would argue it's worse than that,

Ken Lucci: 32:11

it is. It is

James Blain: 32:12

That's the, that's the, and if you're, I, it disgusts me to admit this, but I've had the hair in the food moment of drinking from a water bottle and then realizing it and about spitting it all over the car.

Ken Lucci: 32:25

Yep. You know, and people are going to say, well, you, you guys are hypersensitive because you're in the industry. Don't ever underestimate that you are being judged and, and, and you're being judged, you're being judged based on the luxury experience that they have. When, how they greeted at a hotel, how they greeted at a restaurant and every other chauffeur experience. So. Those are the guys, the people that use Chauffeur all the time, or the people that travel all the time, like that airline crew, okay, they know what good service is and they know what bad service is.

James Blain: 32:59

100 percent

Ken Lucci: 33:00

So, uh, you know, there's a statistic that got me when I was, we were researching a little bit, the luxury service experience. First of all, there's tons of books on this. My favorite one is the Rich Carlton, you know, the gold standard. Uh, you know, the one I was trained on, the one Bruce was trained on. But the statistic that shocked me recently was 65 percent of corporate, corporate travelers think that service has has dramatically, drastically declined. Customer service is drastically declined since after the pandemic. And, and they are also absolutely tired of people saying, well, because of the pandemic, We have a shortage of employees. That shit doesn't happen. The,

James Blain: 33:40

It's been four years.

Ken Lucci: 33:42

it's been forget over

James Blain: 33:43

Get over

Ken Lucci: 33:43

Okay. The second thing I'll tell you that it was interesting to me to look at this is 80 percent of people, 80 percent of luxury service experience buyers or quality experience buyers, people who buy based on quality. 80 percent of them will pay more money for a demonstrated better service experience.

James Blain: 34:03

And it's not just us, right? I go into my, I'll give you an example. My kids love Chipotle. I don't know why. Chipotle quesadillas. Right? I got a six year old. I got a seven year old. They just love that stuff. Right? Here's the thing. When we go into Chipotle. It's all new people. They have no idea what they're doing. Half the time. I have no expectation. There's no consistency, right? I'm I'm one of those people in the older I get. And by the way, if you don't know this about your passengers, the older they get, the more they're going to appreciate consistency. The older you get, the less resistive you are to change. If I go and I'll give you a great example. One of my favorite restaurants here in Kansas City was a steakhouse, high end steakhouse, and we used to go there every time. Right? Valentine's Day. Anything like that. Super, super nice place. Loved it. The consistency went out the window. One day I went in there, and normally I would order their lobster bisque. And they would bring it out in a bowl, it would have the lobster piled up the middle, they would pour the bisque in front of it. You know exactly what you're getting, you know what's there. Beautifully presented.

Ken Lucci: 35:06

about how they presented that too,

James Blain: 35:08

And, and here's what's sad, is they, when they blew it, was restaurant week.

Ken Lucci: 35:14

Yeah.

James Blain: 35:15

all times to blow it restaurant week. So restaurant week comes around. I tell my wife say hey It's an excuse and it's a discount, right? They should be blowing you out of the water because they know They're getting tons of people that are coming in that have probably never been in before That know there's a discounted rate and their aunt and they they brought me the bisque and I said, well what where's the where's the press? Oh, well, it's it's kind of busy. So we don't do it and I said, okay So if I come in when you're busy, I need to expect that your service level won't be where it needs

Ken Lucci: 35:44

It's true. Yeah,

James Blain: 35:45

And the person, the person looked at me like I was on drugs. Like that makes no sense. We're busy. You should understand I'm busy. And so because I'm busy, your service isn't as good.

Ken Lucci: 35:55

You know what? And that's really where I say, Okay, guess what? I'm gonna go to Outback. Because I know Outback's got their system Right. They've got their systems down. You know, people say to me, What's the benefit of a franchise model? What's the benefit of going to a chain? And you're going to get the clean and comfortable room. You're going to get the consistent experience that you expect. Now, you know, there's a variety of, of ways you look at a bot of luxury, excuse me, quality food. Some people think Chili's is quality. I argue it's not right. And I go argue those aren't our client. Our client is the guy that goes to the steakhouse. He is the guy that stays at the Marriott. It is the customer that does fly business class. So I, I, you know, I think we've hit upon something. First of all, he's absolutely critical. The luck, understanding what the quality service experience is, but what bothers me the most when I look at businesses that are not profitable is I can see they're striving for volume. Now think about what you just said about that restaurant. They're more concerned. Well, we're, we're, we're busy. Oh, and I hear this all the time. Oh my God, we've done, you know, our volume is way up. Our revenue is way up. Well, guess what? Your gross margins are through the floor. I would rather, I would rather have you serve five clients extraordinarily well with a 20 percent delta on your revenue because you're paying people more and they're doing a first class job, right? Then you do 20 more reservations. And we've proven that the I'm seeing bad behavior though, where people are popping more back into talking to me about how their, their top line revenue is growing. And I'm like, congratulations, your costs are going through the roof and your profitability is through the floor. And it all does lead back to the quality of service that, you know, that the person at that restaurant, you went there because it's got a great reputation and their excuse was, sorry, we're busy.

James Blain: 37:52

And, and let me bring that back,

Ken Lucci: 37:54

By the way, can I ask you a question?

James Blain: 37:56

yeah, go ahead.

Ken Lucci: 37:57

Did that person report to the manager that you were not happy? See, this is the thing, right? Where, where are the supervisors and managers?

James Blain: 38:06

but let me, but let me bring this back, right? Let me bring this back to us because it's really easy for people to go, Oh, well, yeah, that's a restaurant. We're not a restaurant. They bring this

Ken Lucci: 38:17

Oh, the statistics are worse. The financial statistics are worse in our business.

James Blain: 38:21

the thing. If you have someone that, and this happens all the time, I deal with it, I hear it, I train on it. If you have someone that you are short staffed, and you've got that poor guy out there in the vehicle, or that poor gal out there in the vehicle, that you're asking to work extra hours, that you are pushing the limits, that you're having them do more, the passenger doesn't care. I don't care.

Ken Lucci: 38:45

And they don't, they shouldn't see it, by the way, either.

James Blain: 38:47

you're a hundred, can't be more right. I don't care how many trips that person did

Ken Lucci: 38:54

Never let them see you sweat.

James Blain: 38:56

and here's the thing. And if you are truly a luxury transportation provider, I shouldn't be able to tell,

Ken Lucci: 39:04

Shouldn't be able to detect that.

James Blain: 39:06

The problem that that restaurant had was they were trying to find a shortcut because they said, Hey, we'll make our money on volume. We don't need to do it. The problem is all of those people didn't come back. So if you have trips that you're doing where you're at capacity and you bomb it. Guys, this wasn't like two or three bad times. I just, I was frustrated. I didn't feel like I was heard and I literally have not been back since this was years ago and this was something where I had been going to them for years and I never, I didn't even sweat it. I didn't think about it. It didn't bother

Ken Lucci: 39:44

You just, want somebody else.

James Blain: 39:46

it was just, hey, and, and here's what that conversation sounded like with my wife. You know, I was really disappointed. There are so many great restaurants in Kansas city. Let's try something new. And we never went, guys, you are not in a vacuum. It is, there is no barrier to entry in this industry. You don't have to go out and get approved and do this and do that. If I want to be an operator tomorrow, GM will sell me the exact same Escalade they'll sell you or anybody else. Right. If you go to any of the large vehicle manufacturers, they don't care. This isn't right. It's not like buying a Ferrari. We're all, we want you to own pretty, they don't care. They're going to let you step into it. And if you don't live up to the expectation, if you're not actually where you need to be in terms of what you're doing. There's plenty of other options and these accounts are Look, I didn't say hey, I need to see the manager. I didn't demand to do this I didn't demand to do that people are I i'm not going to make a scene in front of my wife I wasn't going to make a scene in front of the person I was with in florida in the back seat of the car I'm, just never going to use them

Ken Lucci: 40:54

well, and the sad part is their process should have been such where the waiter should have said to his supervisor, listen, I just want to let you know that I'm getting signs that this guy was not, he's not happy. Can you just make us swing over? That's what, that's what the Ritz Carlton teaches us. Radar up. Antenna up, radar on, right? So it doesn't cost anything more to train that person to observe positive and negative cues.

James Blain: 41:24

But but i'm going to talk to the owners and the managers right now if you're an owner if you're a manager I am 100 talking to you You have to be willing to not attack them when they come to you with that. If someone comes to you and they say, Hey, I drove Mr. Jones today. Look, he was not happy. He had this, that, and the other. Right? You have to not follow that up with, So how'd you screw it up? Why is this your fault? What did you write? If you and the other thing is I deal with so many organizations where the only feedback that those chauffeurs get is when they get hammered,

Ken Lucci: 42:03

It's only the negative feedback. right?

James Blain: 42:05

Look, I'm going to give a big shout out right now to Mike Rose and my limo. I was out there earlier this year and out of all the teams I've ever seen, theirs is probably one of the things that really endeared them to me. And let me know that they were a true world class operator was when we went when I flew in and I did show for meetings for them. I did a presentation. We went through the whole pyramid of success and one of the things that they did in that meeting was they went through the positive reviews and it didn't matter if you were, you know, one of the people that's been there since that company started, right? And they've got a very rich history, right? That's not a company that was just they've got a rich history,

Ken Lucci: 42:46

30 year old company.

James Blain: 42:47

Oh, yeah, yeah. More than that, right? It goes back through the

Ken Lucci: 42:51

Yeah. And Mike just came in as the majority owner now.

James Blain: 42:53

Exactly. Yeah. And so, so Mike is one of the leaders over there. You've got Jay over there. Who's another great leader over there. Sean, right. And then Angel, they've got an incredible team. I can't say enough about all of them, but one of the things they did is whether you are a brand new person, right. They had someone in the room and one of those meetings that had literally just joined the team. And they'd already had a good review. So they made it a point to share that review with them. Hey, you did well here because guess what? It's not always going to be good. It's not always going to be bad, but you have to celebrate their successes. And then when you see something that falls short or they share something that falls short, right? It's even more important when they share it because if you nail them for sharing, they'll never share it again, but you've got to be able to say, hey, We're going to put a process in place. If we know we can get ahead of something, we need to do that. And this goes through every level of the organization. If you have a dispatcher and that dispatcher isn't actively watching the trip board, they're not going to see when a passenger is not on board. And they, they shouldn't be waiting for that call to say, Hey, I got them on board. The flight was delay, blah, blah. They should be actively keeping

Ken Lucci: 44:00

It should be proactive versus reactive.

James Blain: 44:02

hundred percent. If you've

Ken Lucci: 44:04

when a Hmm.

James Blain: 44:05

if you, If you've got, a process in place on sales, right. If you know that. You've got a hotel that's sending you work every month and two months in a row, they don't send you work if you don't call them, you can kiss it goodbye because one of the biggest frustrations as a consumer, as a passenger, as a customer is they didn't even notice.

Ken Lucci: 44:29

Oh, listen. 64 percent of people leave companies because they think that you don't care. And, and, and the thing that bothers me is it's not the negative experience, it's, it's the no follow through or the no care attitude, the no fix it. You know, I always, I always laugh when this word comes out of my mouth is you gotta make it a teaching experience, right? Because that was something that a certain president used to say at nauseam. But at the end of the day, what I hate hearing is, oh yeah, this is the third time that's happened. Well, what the hell did you do? I mean, what, you know, why didn't you try to put a process in place to fix it? You know, that mentality is, oh, well, it happened. It happened two or three times before. You have to try to, you know, okay, tell me what happened. Where did it fall apart? How can we make sure it never happens again? And the other piece is don't try to be the omnipotent leader, right? Seek the feedback of everybody that is doing the job. You know, I work with a customer the other day wanted me to speak about the economics of the trends of the industry. And I sat in on a chauffeur meeting and one of the chauffeurs is like, look, guys, yes, that happened to me. This is what you have to do. This is what we have to do. This is how we have to change it. So, um,

James Blain: 45:42

And it's not a team sport, right? I tell people that every time I do a driver meeting, chauffeur meeting, right, depending on the company type, because and we work in more than just chauffeured services, right? We do work with motor coach, and we work with all kinds of different companies. And the one thing that I always tell people in these meetings is you guys are on your own, right? This is not a this is not like football, right? The quarterback's gonna yell over the play and we're gonna be good. This is Hey, yeah. You guys, when you have a meeting, when you guys come together, you have to be able to share. You have to be able to pass that, right? If you are a chauffeur manager, if you're a trainer, if you're someone in that role and something comes up the chain, you're like, I've never heard of that. I need to get that out. You need to share that and push that through. And one of the biggest things that I hear that people get wrong is that look, okay. No coach in his right mind that has ever won. I don't care if it's a cup. I don't care if it's a series. I don't care if it's the Super Bowl. When have you ever had a coach that comes out and goes, my guys played a great game. I'm so proud of them. We're never practicing again. We know everything we need to know. Screw it. We're just going to take the whole off season. We're going to go on vacation. That didn't happen. If you want a top. Performing team. If you want to be a true luxury transportation provider, you have to understand that it's not, here's the vehicle, here's the keys, please. And thank you. Go get them. You have to constantly be doing it. It doesn't matter what role you're in over time. They're going to get bad habits. Guess what? Even though safety and safe driving should be visible. If we're not making that important, if we're not talking about leaving space, we're not doing things. What happens to all of us? Your brain goes on autopilot.

Ken Lucci: 47:20

All right. So I'm going to tell a quick story. Then we're going to bring it home by wrapping up. So I used to drive. Um, used to drive for the Yankees and, um, I was even up to the day I sold the company, I would drive for some of the people that some of the key players and I used to drive Mr. Derek Jeter in and one day I drove him to, um, spring training because his vehicle was being fixed there to pick him up at a dealership. So I brought him in, we used to park in the player lot and I would walk him down the, the tunnel and I would say, you know, sir, is there anything else I can get you? And, uh, he said, no. I'll be out front at three o'clock if that's okay. Um, and I'll meet you exactly, you know, at the end of the tunnel. And he said, I'm going down to to the batting cage and he would come in three hours before practice was due three hours before the mandatory time of arrival. And he would sit in the batting cage and he would the electronic batting cage and he would Practice, and practice, and practice, and practice, and swing, and swing, and swing. On the way home one day, you know, he said, jokingly, How was your day today? I said, How was your day today? And we actually talked about it. I said, Why do you come in so early? He said, Because in order to stay on top, it absolutely requires more work than getting there. Think about that. Alright, so let's bring it home. The Luxury Service Experience. Anticipation, personalization, attention to detail, making me feel exclusive, making me feel dealing with my status, elevating my status, absolute highest quality, exceptional customer service, um, matching and mirroring, making sure, right? And in general, experience is about emotion and feeling.

James Blain: 49:15

yeah, and there's, and there's one point I want to, you know, kind of wrap us up on and kind of leave us on. And this is really, really important, right? There's, there's two sides to this, your passenger, your client, your customer, their side of this is how do they feel when it's said and done? How did you make them feel? Right? Guess what? If someone's going to a funeral, they might be having the worst day of their life, lost a brother, mother, father, sister. If, if they didn't have to think about everything, if they didn't have to worry about it, if it was just, if transportation became completely invisible, You might have been the only thing in their day that didn't add to that frustration. You might have let them feel a little bit of relaxation or a little less tension, right? How do you make them feel? If they're going to a business meeting, do they get out feeling better than they get in? Right? Are they energized? Are they refreshed? On the passenger side, how do you make that passenger feel? Now, on our side, delivering it. This goes for your team. It goes double for you as an owner. We could talk about this owner, manager, operator. We could talk about this at Nodz. We could probably do 20 episodes on this, but it's continual improvement. No operator, no owner in their right mind is not going to work on developing themselves, developing the business, developing what they do and constantly raising the bar. Right? Guess what? That goes for the people out there that represent you. If you're still driving trips, you should be raising the bar yourself. Because if you're growing, if you're getting to the point where you're going to be a larger operator or if you're an operator where you're already there, you're not going to drive. You're not going to be out there interacting with each of those pastors. So you have to constantly be pushing that bar up through training, through developing those people. It's not enough to do it once. Because anything done once and never touched again immediately bins in to degrade, begins to fade. You want to constantly be building up and raising that bar. And so I think to wrap this up, like I said, how are you making them feel? And how are you constantly raising the bar to be that pinnacle of luxury?

Ken Lucci: 51:23

And you know, you hit upon something at the end, which we could spend a day on, is always continuous improvement, continuous learning. You know, Tommy Mazza, for the people that don't know the name Tommy Mazza, Tommy Mazza was the best consultant in this industry for the longest time. He was the, very high up in the NLA. He was the trainer for the, uh, led most of the conferences. And Tommy said to me, you know, you're really not a big thinker if all you're trying to do is match your closest competition. You're not striving for excellence. He said, he would say, try to be the best in class in not only your industry around the world, but look at the other hospitality level and customer service, luxury customer service, quality customer service experiences, and look at how they do it. And he would bring up the Starbucks processes and in the barista, right? He would bring up Ritz Carlton concierge level service. And the hoteliers out there that, that it's not just a clean, comfortable room. It's the pinnacle of service. And then he would bring up the five, the state, the five star white tablecloth businesses. So my encouragement to people is learn from the best across the board, learn from the best in every kind of business. And if, if all you do is exist in your own echo chamber of your own company, you can't get there. You, you, you, you, it has to become. It's a constant striving for perfection and it's a, it's, it literally is a constant learning. So,

James Blain: 52:51

and you have to find the mentors and the people that will get you there. You know, I was, I was unlucky in that by the time I got into the industry, unfortunately, the industry had already lost Tom Maza to, and he had passed away, but I'm, I'm lucky enough in that my, my business partner, Bruce, he'll be joining us on, on one of the episodes. He, was able to learn from him and have him as a mentor. And one of the things that ultimately led to the existence of PAX to my being here, right to, to what we do as a company is that, you know, when the industry lost Tom Maza, there was a gap, right? This is an influential figure that is helping drive that bar, raise that bar as an industry. And so, I personally have, I've always kind of felt this gap and that I wasn't lucky enough to get to meet him, but I have had the advantage of, I've gotten to get to know Tom Mazza

Ken Lucci: 53:44

through Bruce. Yeah,

James Blain: 53:46

not only through Bruce, right through all the people that he touched in the industry, because if you raise the tide, all the boats come up, right? There's so many people that try to act like you operate in this

Ken Lucci: 53:58

And think about it. Think about it. Back then there was no Uber. There was no, uh, you know, 110, 000 Uber black drivers, all these one car IOs. So if anything, the bar needs to be absolutely set at the top today.

James Blain: 54:13

Absolutely.

Ken Lucci: 54:15

Cool.

James Blain: 54:16

Yeah, thank you everybody for joining us on this episode. We appreciate you tuning in. Hopefully we've given you something you can take back of value and use.

Ken Lucci: 54:24

And we will at some point be getting our email up and, you know, suggestions on topics.

James Blain: 54:29

we don't want to operate in a vacuum either, right? So if you're listening to this and you're thinking, Oh my God, how did they not talk about this? How did they not touch on that? Or I wish they'd talk on this. I wish we'd talk on that. Or I'd love to come on and talk on this. I mean, we, we are really wanting to be able to provide something of value to everybody listening right

Ken Lucci: 54:46

That's the only way we're going to keep going.

James Blain: 54:48

Yep. So if you've got those man, shoot us an email, give us a call, whatever you got to do. Um, you know, get me at LinkedIn, right? James Blaine is super easy. James Blaine at PAX training, right? Whatever you want to do in terms of emailing, reaching out to me, to Ken, to both, we are a hundred percent here to try and give you guys the tools and the value that you guys need to be able to absolutely blow everything out of the water. So thank you again for joining us on this episode.

55:16

Thank you for listening to the ground transportation podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe to the show on apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about PAX training and to contact James, go to PAX training.com. And for more information about driving transactions and to contact Ken, Go to driving transactions.com. We'll see you next time on the ground transportation podcast.