If you sell charter services for group transportation, there is no doubt that you have seen the changes over the last ten years in how consumers want to shop and buy your services. 

We have seen more and more buyers move their searches online; we have seen their online behavior change as websites have moved from places to gather information to tools used to complete the buying process. In addition, you have watched as fewer people want to talk to sales teams and would prefer to buy entirely online. 

You have witnessed these same trends across the web, including tour and travel sites and consumer shopping alike. Now, we are seeing these trends take hold in the motorcoach and livery markets as well. 

Buyers want to shop for, get a quote, and book their group travel online, on a Sunday evening, in their pajamas, sitting in bed. Your ability to be the first to give these types of shoppers a quote puts you in the driver’s seat.

These buyers fall into a few groups, all of which being first to give them a quote matters- here’s how.  

1: The “I want to be done” crowd. 

Shop for almost anything online, and you can go from looking to shopping to buying to done with minimal interruption or need to wait on anyone. This goes for everything from toothpaste to performance cars and vacation rentals to currency exchange. 

We are now conditioned that what we want online is simple. Give me a website where I can do some research, some reviews of others who have bought the same thing, and the ability to buy that thing if I want. From amazon.com to travelocity.com, VRBO.com, carvana.com even apple.com, we want what we want, and we want to buy it in a “frictionless environment”

This conditioning has led more and more buyers to want to go from start to finish quickly. People have shorter attention spans and shorter time to give the buying process. Because of this, they are moving farther and farther away from the traditional “get a quote” model that motorcoach companies have relied on for so many years. 

Not only do they want to be done- but they are willing to pay more to get there. While still part of the process, price becomes significantly less important to these buyers. 

Many charter operators think there is a huge difference between their price and the lowball operators in their markets. The result is they price their trips lower. These prices can be 20-40% lower than they wish they were.

So we are talking about a $200-$400 difference in a day rate.

These buyers will pay that extra money just to be done with the process. No comparative shopping, no “can you do this trip for less” just point and click and done. 

Giving these buyers an instant quote WILL result in more business at higher rates. 

2: The competitive shopper crowd.

Even when you give someone a quote faster than any of your competitors, yes, even instant quotes, there are those who will still shop around. But having been first, you are in the driver’s seat with this crowd as well. 

Imagine this. You gave this buyer an instant quote. With just a few clicks, they input their information, saw a visual confirmation of that trip, chose the equipment they wanted, chose the add-ons they wanted to add, clicked next, and got an instant quote. 

This sets the standard for their experience and, in most markets, sets you apart from the competition. Now every quote that they find beyond yours is going to be compared to yours. Higher, lower, even those about the same are going to be compared to the simple, seamless, smooth experience they had on your site. 

This buyer may call back and ask if you can do the move at a rate that they got from a competitor, but that puts you in the driver’s seat. Kyle DeVivo talks about this very thing in this video. 

Being first with this buyer type makes it easier for you to control the sales process and sell your value over price even if you are not the least expensive option in the market. 

3: The service matters crowd.

Every single website in the motorcoach and livery group transportation space talks about service on some level, and there is a reason. There are buyers for whom service is the most essential thing… you don’t have to think too far to figure out who. Take, for example, brides. 

The price, while it does matter, isn’t the most important. They want to know you are going to do what they need and make their big day better. They aren’t alone… many buyers want service to be important, especially those that had booked before with providers where the online claims of service weren’t realized on their charter. 

Nothing speaks louder when it comes to service than, well… service. Giving buyers the ability to shop online and request a booking, followed by meaningful follow-up emails that show you care about them and their move, and you have already, at that point, demonstrated that you offer better service than your competitors.

These buyers will pay more for better service, not just based on some text on a web page, but in real-world experience as your online tools set you apart from the rest. 

4: The “I don’t want to talk to anyone crowd.” 

Millennials started it in mass, but now other generations are joining the revolution- “we want to buy from you, but we really don’t want to talk to you.” They will use your website, they will chat on a chat bot, but they don’t want to email and certainly don’t want to talk on the phone… period. 

It’s not that they don’t like it; it’s that they won’t do it. When you give these buyers the chance to shop and buy like this, they will. If you don’t, or you provide them with a quote form that they have to fill out only to be met with a “one of our helpful sales representatives will be back with you shortly” followed in a day or so with an email, they will be non-responsive and simply won’t do business in most cases. 

Telling these buyers that they can get an instant quote from you, delivering one, and doing it all without having to talk to anyone will get them to book with you. No comparison needed; if you are the only one offering this, they will shop and book without looking further. 

5: Just poking around crowd.

There are buyers who are just trying to figure out if they want a bus. They want to see what it would cost, play with their dates, times, and equipment, and see how that affects the price. They are still talking to their friends or the soccer team or church group and need more data. 

They are often the quotes that salespeople hate the most. They take a long time, and the feeling is that they may never book but are just shopping around for more information. Putting those people into an online environment where they can shop to their heart’s content without taking one minute from your sales team is only one reason why delivering these buyers instant quotes matters. 

The other? Capturing their information for marketing purposes. 

One of the biggest side effects of the online revolution in the group travel space that SalesDriver is realizing is that you can grow your marketing list. These buyers, even if they are just tire kickers, are valuable to your company. They are shopping for transportation for a group. They may not book this time, but the very fact that they have gotten this far in the process of looking makes them a high-value target for your company in the future. 

Giving these buyers an instant quote process frees up sales teams and grows your marketing list. A win all the way around! 

Conclusion

With fewer operators, fewer drivers, and no relief in sight as group travel demand ramps back up, the time to streamline how you give quotes to customers is now. Add the ability to raise prices on demand and increase bottom line profits and all signs point to this being the moment to launch yourself into the new, more effective, digital frontier.