Brazil Operation Builds Affiliate Trust At Home And Abroad

SAO PAULO, Brazil — It seems like almost every luxury ground transportation company is trying to “go global.” With this endeavor comes a need for quality control. Establishing strong relationships is necessary to ensure your clients will be taken care of wherever they decide to travel, and that you will do the same for your affiliate partners.

Flavia Coppa, hotels and international service manager for Shift Corporate Mobility, says the company has a special department to take care of their affiliates in Brazil, including visits, so they can provide service anywhere in the country with the same high standards as they do in Sao Paulo.

Flavia Coppa, hotels and international service manager for Shift Corporate Mobility

“With international affiliates, we don’t have the chance to meet them in person very often outside the shows. Therefore, we use tools like the LCT and NLA websites for referrals and keep in touch with them by e-mail, phone, or Skype to forge strong bonds,” she says. Of the company’s affiliate work, 20% is farm-in and 50% is farm-out.

Coppa’s advice for being a good affiliate includes always being on time, honest, and realizing it’s a two-sided relationship built on trust. “We all need to ask and provide as much information as we can to get to know each other better to ensure we deliver the best possible service,” she says. Feedback is also important to make sure you are on the right path.

LCT CONNECT PROFILE HERE

Making sure they fulfill their end of the affiliate bargain, the company has an office open 24/7 to provide service to clients and other businesses. Shift is a logistics company, and offers service for any kind of event ranging from airport transfers for a honeymoon couple to shuttle buses for medical conventions. This includes providing someone for a meet-and-greet, onsite coordinators, and tour guides if needed.

“We have 70 vehicles, and take pristine care of them,” she says. “We are always improving our service with training and performance evaluations.”

One change Coppa has observed in the practice of affiliating is chauffeured transportation companies making more demands, but that’s a good thing. “We want to offer high service standards for our own and our affiliate’s clients. We are always working to improve, and it’s clear businesses around the world are doing the same,” she says. She’s noticed more companies are offering 24 hour operations, purchasing new vehicles, and providing helpful information on sites like LCT Connect.

“LCT Connect not only helps us find potential affiliates by not wasting time requesting basic information by email, but also allows us to promote ourselves, showing detailed information and pictures,” she says. “It’s a great tool for networking. The Internet is full of information, but we need to work with reliable sources.”