Far back in the mists of time, catching a taxi for work meant always having cash and remembering to ask for a receipt. Today, the process is much more streamlined, with new disruptive companies offering cars at the swipe of a screen, but the increased choice does not necessarily equate to a better, or safer, service. To ensure you have the right solution for your company, you need to ask the right questions – here are nine of them to get you on your way.
1. Have they actually got enough cars?
Before you drill down into the details, perhaps the simplest and most obvious question is: can the taxi provider provide taxis? You need to make sure it has an extensive fleet so you can arrive when you need to, as well as a variety of cars for any occasion, including smart-looking vehicles if you have an image to protect. Using a company with a large fleet is also important from a safety perspective, especially for women travellers, to ensure you’re not left stranded late at night or early in the morning.
2. Are they a good fit for you?
The most important thing to find out from your potential travel provider is whether you feel like you’re in safe hands. Take a look at their Service Level Agreement (SLA) to determine what you can expect from them, interrogate their Duty of Care commitments and find out if they can match your particular priorities. As an end-to-end solution, Gett helps you introduce the right travel policies and track them effectively within its platform.
3. Will they reduce your stress levels?
The whole point of having an ongoing relationship with a travel provider – aside from getting you and your team from A to B – is to make things simpler for you. They should cut down the sometimes complicated, often stressful process of booking and paying for travel. Go through the process with them step by step to ensure it’s as straightforward and automatic as it should be.
4. Will they expose you to unforeseen costs?
Obviously cost-effective is not the same as cheap, so while it pays to shop around on price, it’s also a good idea to weigh up the quality, too. Having said that, you should be getting value for money, so ask for their corporate rates and beware of ‘surge’ charges – check if they’re fixed in the contract and how often they’re applied. For example, to make pricing transparent and predictable, Gett Business Solutions shows you the entire cost of a journey upfront if it’s longer than three miles. You can then pay monthly or charge initially through your employees’ payment cards – whatever works best for you.
5. Will they use data effectively and ethically?
Data is fast becoming a business’s most valuable asset and you should be given an overview of all the necessary information whenever you want it. Sit down and work out what you would need to know and when, then keep this list handy during initial conversations with providers. Data-driven recommendations and quarterly business reviews, such as those offered by Gett Business Solutions, help you to see what you could be doing better. Of equal importance is the way they store and share that data – does it comply with legal restrictions in your own country or countries you’re working in? Is it encrypted? Is it – crucially – ethical? Your employees should be comfortable with the way their data is used.
6. What are their drivers like?
There are many tangible benefits to having a happy, fulfilled workforce. Unlike many other disruptor cab firms, we at Gett Business Solutions offer our drivers an hourly guarantee. And using cabs that are already on the road means we can offer career drivers who know the A to Z like their ABCs. Added perk: our black-cab drivers can use the bus lanes, which means less time stuck in traffic and fewer delays for you.
7. Do they pass the search-engine test?
Here’s a tip your PR department will thank you for: give your travel provider a good Google before you sign up, so that you’re aware of any potential risks or scandals.
8. Are they taking care of our planet?
Despite an international agreement to cut carbon emissions by 2050, it currently looks as if most of the world’s biggest firms are going to miss their targets. If you’re committed to sustainability, your travel provider should be too, and ideally they should provide a report of CO2 emissions. Carbon-neutral travel is more than just offsetting, so, for example, alongside our EcoAct offset scheme, Gett Business Solutions offers electronic and hybrid taxis, and uses cars that are already on the road, meaning lower wasted mileage.
9. Can I talk to a real person, please?
If you’ve ever exchanged passive-aggressive messages with an online customer service bot, you’ll probably be familiar with the question above. Ensure your provider has real people on hand to contact whenever you need to, such as the 24/7 UK-based phone service and in-app real-time messaging offered by Gett Business Solutions. After all, when you need quick problem-solving with a side helping of empathy, only a human being will do.
Luckily, Gett has built the service that ticks every box. If you would like to talk to our people and see what else you should consider when deciding on a travel provider, get in touch.
Image credits: iStock
