After a long flight, you step outside the airport and into a
luxury vehicle that will take you to your hotel. Once inside, guests are
greeted with beautiful leather upholstery, adjustable climate control, custom
flooring, video screens, a USB plug-in just in case you need to charge your
phone, and so much more. The biggest surprise – it was a luxury hotel shuttle
van.
The reaction to those types of amenities is pretty
universal: “Wow!” And that is extremely important, because as Will Rodgers once
said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” So, if the
first impression of the hotel’s shuttle van is, “Wow,” the customer has a
positive feeling that the hotel can continue to build upon with its excellent
customer service throughout the guest’s stay.
An Investment in Your Brand
Sure, a luxury
van upfit is an investment, but the return on that investment is worth
every penny and more. That’s because every dollar spent improves and enhances
your brand image. Remember that “first impression” quote of Will Rodgers? It’s
true, and many different business categories are following that lead and investing
in their brand.
A good example is hotels, which are setting the standard for
delivering a “wow factor” to their customers. Many boutique hotels now have
shuttle drivers that hand customers their room key in the van, allowing them to
bypass the entire front desk check-in process and head straight to their rooms.
The “wow” portion of this is that being handed their room key in the shuttle
was unexpected.
It’s the same with luxury shuttles. When a guest steps into
one of the luxury vans, the “wow factor” is that the experience was
unexpected. After all, who has elegant leather seats in a hotel shuttle van? The
ones that do are building a top-tier brand with their guests. It’s hard to put
a price tag on that.
And it’s not only the upfit appointments in the shuttle that
capture the customer’s attention. Most shuttles provide bottled water to their
guests. But some hotels, like Harrah’s, offer an assortment of chips and
crackers to their shuttle passengers, something that is unexpected.
Having a luxury shuttle van in your fleet is just the beginning
of building a quality brand. It has to be followed up with the best customer
service possible, from the front desk to the shuttle driver to housekeeping and
the entire hospitality staff. Having management and staff committed to providing
the best possible customer experience is the key to protecting your luxury
shuttle van’s investment.
If you’re looking for a shuttle that will provide your customers
with a “wow factor,” a luxury shuttle van will do it. It’s ideal for hotels, shuttle
services, executive transportation firms, and other businesses that want to give
their clientele an end-to-end luxury experience.
