Renting a limousine for a night out or special occasion is an experience you’ll surely want to remember. Of course, during your time in your limo, there’s one person who has the ability to make the experience all the more memorable, for good or for bad: your driver. It should go without saying that anyone who has been employed by a limo company to tote passengers around town needs to have the proper licenses, experience, and credentials. However, the right pile of paperwork isn’t always enough to ensure that the driver in question is doing to do his job well.
Chris Welsher, owner of Murcielago Limos, has been faced with the responsibility of finding new drivers to work for his company on many occasions. According to Welsher, there are actually two separate sets of criteria that potential drivers should meet. The first, obviously, is the ability to handle a limousine and follow the road without allowing whatever is going on in the back seat to cause too much of a distraction. The second and more difficult standard to meet is the ability to provide good customer service and a pleasant riding experience for passengers. While he sees his fair share of drivers come in with the right amount of driving expertise, he can’t help but note that the right limo driver personality can be rather hard to come by. Of course, he might be setting his standards rather high, but he does so in order to ensure that his customers come away from their limousine experiences feeling satisfied on all fronts.
So what kind of people skills does a driver need to get hired by Welsher? For starters, a good limo driver should have the ability to determine when to interact with customers, and also when to not interact with customers. There are certain situations during which a chatty driver is the last thing the customer in question is likely to want. One such example is an airport run; clients who use his services to reach the airport want to be able to ride in style, and in silence. These people tend to be on the wealthier side and expect a driver who is courteous, prompt, and unobtrusive. On the other hand, some situations actually require a driver with a warm, gregarious personality. The average group of people that hires a party bus for a fun night out on the town is likely to want a driver who will not only be friendly, but who will actively add to the party-like atmosphere.
Another factor that separates the good limo drivers from the average is the extent to which they are willing to be both reliable and accommodating. A driver who is doing his job properly will adhere to any reasonable passenger request, from pulling over for a passenger smoking break to making a late night fast food run. A good driver will also make sure to never leave his customers waiting in between stops. If a driver is asked to be at a certain street corner at a certain time to shuttle his passengers to their next destination, then he should make it his business to arrive early, even if it means waiting around for awhile. Many customers who hire limousines do so in order to feel a bit like royalty for the night, and nothing destroys that mood more easily than a couple of teeth-chattering minutes on a cold street corner, waiting for a tardy driver.
Of course, as a limousine company owner, Welsher does his best to determine if the courteous, amicable would-be driver who comes for an interview will act the same way around clients after multiple tiring hours on the road. While going with his gut is a usually a success, he will also check up on his drivers while they are out on jobs to ensure that they are upholding their end of the customer service bargain. And of course, no driver is sent out on a job without a fair amount of customer training, the purpose of which is to instill Welsher’s motto: A good limo driver should focus on safe driving and customer service, but never sacrifice one for the other. After all, his customers deserve nothing less.
