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WEEHAWKEN, N.J. — Operators Bob and Neil Collins provide consistent and high-quality service by establishing clear policies and expectations. Their company, Autoluxe Transportation Services, operates in the New York metro area and specializes in airport transfers, financial road shows and media tours.

Fulfilling high expectations for such high-end clients requires attention to detail and procedure. Autoluxe has grown from a fleet of two Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles when it started in 2003 to 17 vehicles today. The Collins brothers prove that any fleet size operation can benefit from guidelines that are documented and communicated throughout the organization. They agreed to share their company guide for general ride and transfer work with LCT Magazine, which is published here as a useful primer for training chauffeurs.

GENERAL RIDE AND TRANSFER WORK (Copyright/ AUTOLUXÉ Transportation Services, Inc. /RC)

First things
In today’s market, you have 10 seconds from the moment the client encounters you to sell yourself. How you present yourself — your demeanor, your attire, your vehicle — can make all the difference: a simple transfer can become an hourly charter, or the client calls in with repeat business and requests your services the next time, or that client refers our services and its chauffeurs to trusted colleagues and friends.

Wear it well
A dark business suit (black, navy blue, charcoal gray); a crisp, clean white shirt and business tie; black socks, black belt, and black dress shoes, shined. Avoid using heavy colognes; try using unscented deodorant.

Good timing
Make sure that you give yourself a reasonable amount of time to get to the pick-up location. Include extra time in the event you’re heading to the carwash before a scheduled pick-up. For commercial aviation, office, residential and hotel pick-ups, plan to be on location 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure. For general aviation pick-ups (e.g. Teterboro, HPN, etc.), be on location at the designated FBO 30 minutes prior to scheduled flight arrival and remember to sign-in at the front desk. The office will set up flight stats to your mobile phone for all commercial flights so that you are aware of flight delays and early arrivals. For general aviation, our office will either track the flight (if the tail # is not blocked) or provide you with updates from the designated FBO.

Shines, smells and amenities
Please make sure that your vehicle SHINES and that the vehicle interior, if inspected, would pass a white glove inspection. (If you’ve been out all day and your vehicle needs a REFRESH, take it through a car wash before proceeding to your next job. It’s better to be safe than sorry. More accounts these days are lost because of a dirty vehicle.) Provide your client(s) with cool bottles of mineral water and a copy of the daily newspaper (New York Times, Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times). Make sure that the interior cabin is scent-free, which means there are no citrusy cardboard trees dangling from the rearview mirror. (Whenever you have the conditions where heat, citrusy smells and the client’s perfume/cologne mix together in a defined closed space, the result can be quite TOXIC.)