Nothing negative about saying no

MANY MOONS AGO I WAS AN absolute monster when it came to covering work. A beast who would eat you, him/her and even my own grandmother to obtain another fare.

In context, this was way back at a time when I still clung onto a few strands of wispy hair, France beat Brazil in the ‘where’s Ronaldo’ World Cup final, fuel was 80p a litre and Mercedes Benz had not long since launched the first V-class, a boxy little number which was tighter on luggage space than Ryanair.

Kevin Willis

Everyday problems from the operator’s point of view...

This servitude was born from a desire to make my monthly car payments and survive another week in an industry I had, then, very little clue about. Believing client loyalty stemmed from always accommodating them, even with those latest of late calls. We ran ourselves ragged trying to please all and sundry.

However, all that changed once I learned the value of saying “no”. Where are my manners? I mean “No thank you”.

All of us, even today, have a fear of emails not pinging in to request a quote or ‘save the date’ promise. After all, being busy defines us. Only good drivers are busy and only the best drivers are so busy they manage to keep the wheels of others turning. We get brainwashed into believing that we are the arteries carrying the blood of our clients who, without us, would wither and die.

In truth, if I had a penny for every time I heard a driver say “my clients couldn’t live without me” I would be enjoying all the benefits that £1.48p brings me, in jiggle-jiggle hard cash!

You may want to sit down for this one. If you won the lottery this weekend and never had to sit in the front seat of a car ever again, your clients would move on with little to no disruption to their day/week/month. Honestly, how many clients called you during the Covid pandemic for no other reason than to ask “how are you all?” I’ll almost guarantee you heard nothing until the borders reopened and they tentatively enquired “Are you still in business?”

With the benefit of experience, for it took me years to realise this, I can honestly say that learning to say no has been one of the best business decisions I have ever made. Saying no to those who call once every two years needing an urgent job covered is easy.

Saying no to last-minute airport transfers is also a doddle. Actually, we now say no to most airport transfers as they take half a day to complete on a good day and few are willing to pay us for that. No longer are we fooled by the carrot-danglers who intimate (without actually saying it) how we will get a lot more work if we get them out of trouble now.

Obviously I am generalising. We have, as I am sure you do, some amazing clients who I treasure and protect as though they were my own offspring. With my new, Zammo inspired “just say no” outlook, we manage to not only retain the clientele who appreciate our service but also lay to rest those who had us on a list headed “Transport”.

Saying no more often has resulted in us doing less work. But less turnover doesn’t necessarily result in any drastic drop in profits. Prices have, at long last, risen to the point we do not need to be working 24/7. My car does fewer miles which cuts down on wear and tear costs and improves the residual value. Fuel costs are less so my environmental impact is reduced (yawn).

Finding more free time has me walking my dog, Ted, more often, so I am fitter. More importantly I have stopped cancelling weekends away with my family or restaurant bookings with my wife who also benefits by not being still awake at midnight talking to LA travel agents so much.

Okay, you got me, I am closing in on sixty years old so could be accused that all this stems from an older, less motivated me, whose entrepreneurship is jaded. All valid points, but the fact is that it just took me this long (and a pandemic) to appreciate my worth and for me to get my priorities straight.

Whenever quoting for work we all calculate the cost of a particular job based on several factors; duration, fuel consumed, congestion charge, parking etc. This enables us to formulate a figure that reflects a profit, plus VAT.

How many of you add in the cost of your knowledge, your expertise, your banter (or lack of it) when calculating the true value of your service? Take that first figure then increase it by at least 20%. True, you will lose some punters but, trust me, these people are collateral damage.

Be strong, because should you end up with 4 x jobs instead of 6 x jobs all at the new rate, then you are now doing less driving but earning the same amount of money. And, to answer the question of any lack of ambition, I use my extra time to visit loyal customers and/or look for new opportunities. New clients who, incidentally, all start at the new, improved rate.

My old gran used to say, before I ate her for lunch, “don’t work hard, work smart”. So if someone isn’t prepared to pay you what you are worth or willing to make you one of their first calls, just say no and take the dog for a walk.