HEADS UP… the Whistle is Blowing

Every time the whistle blew, it was terrifying.

We were playing soccer at Gallaudet University. As one of the few colleges specializing in educating hearing impaired students, Gallaudet had the pick of the nation’s deaf athletes. They were big, strong, fast and…. THEY COULDN’T HEAR THE WHISTLE.

When it sounded, we all froze and raised our hands. The problem was that for many of them, recognition that play had stopped came sporadically. There were some terrific collisions. I haven’t always been a chubby sissy, back then I was a skinny sissy, and got clobbered a lot.

Sometimes I raised my hand when there was no whistle... just to see what would happen.

It’s tough to survive in an environment where the competition’s comprehension of the rules is different. We often think of our competitors as being bus lines, Amtrak and the airlines. True enough, but there are a couple of other serious players we should consider.

One is the car. Americans love their freedom, and driving a car offers control over scheduling, route and who you travel with.

Another is cost. Customers look at the price of a charter coach and wince. A seat on a line carrier can appear expensive.

There is also the enduring perception that traveling by bus is déclassé (a French word thrown in to impress you).

None of the things listed above is a surprise, or new. In order to compete, we need to do a better job of telling our story. We have a number of organizations working at it, but two things seem important to say.

First, we haven’t got the money to do it the way airlines and auto manufacturers do. We can’t afford to mount a large enough campaign to effect major changes. Assess every one of the 30,000 coaches in the US $100, and you’d have about enough for a single Super Bowl TV ad.

Second, if we are going to sell ourselves, we’re going to have to do it at the grass roots level… win hearts and minds close to home. Frontal attack won’t work, It is going to have to be a guerrilla effort.

We have a lot to sell. Passengers are safer on the worst bus, than in the best car. If Americans knew what it really cost to drive a car, or could divide that charter price by the number of seats, we’d look great. That same math indicates coaches lower consumption of foreign oil, pump less CO2 into the air, and reduce traffic congestion. Heck, you knew that.

One of the first steps might be to make sure everyone involved in a coach company knows the story. Every employee ought to be proud of what they do, and brag on it.

Invite local media to do stories on what is right about buses, let them broadcast our story. Often they are starved for ideas… give them one.

It seems silly to spend $500,000 on a coach, and not drop another $5,000 on good graphics to make it a mobile advertisement for your company and the industry.

Your buses are far nicer than the public imagines. Why not take them places, where folks can see them? Travel shows, sales calls to potential customers etc. Manufacturers invest in Demonstrator coaches for a reason. No travel shows in your area? Have an open house and show off your coaches. Trust me, if you feed them, they will come.

Track down groups that aren’t riding buses and schmooz them. Taverns can sponsor trips to sports events, Senior Centers might set up day trips to events or attractions.

It‘s an article of faith that the “baby boomers” will ride buses. Not if we don’t sell them. This is a huge potential market with money to spend, and they haven’t given us much thought.

The traditional model of waiting by the phone (or sitting on your website) isn’t enough. There needs to be someone in charge of the sales effort. If you’re small, it might be a part time job for a gregarious driver.

Most of your operators like people, or they’d be driving trucks. Put those skills to work by sending them on sales calls during the off-season. Some may have photographic or public speaking skills, ask them to do presentations at service clubs or schools.

Motorcoach drivers have been to fascinating places and met interesting people. Don’t waste those stories by only telling them at the bus garage… make arrangements for them to speak to groups. They’ll love it, and the industry will benefit.

Surely you can think of other ways to tell our story (because I KNOW you’re smarter than me). The national efforts are worthy, but the battle will be won locally. You and your employees are the ones who control your fate.

If the Gallaudet game taught me anything, it was that standing still was a good way to get run over.