Can't give it away !!!!!!

[London Chauffeurs]

Can anyone tell me where i am going wrong? I run a chauffeur car hire company in and around London. I have some of the cheapest rates and most amazing special offers in the UK and still find it hard to secure business or contracts. We are well recognised and only have the most professional chauffeurs and luxury cars available. See my website and tell me what is wrong please.

 

[Gavin-Design-Right]

I was actually looking chauffeur car hire for myself and Girlfriend. We are from Scotland now. I looked at the cars not the rates but that may just be me.

Obviously as a designer I will just tell you to give me a shout if you think its the adverting that you need to work on. I can help you with some bespoke Ideas. Best of luck to you, What is your web address mate ?

 

[mrsapedia]

See my website and tell me what is wrong please.

There may not be anything wrong with your prices or website. Maybe people just don't want to be chauffeur driven. Or maybe they do but because of our recent financial 'difficulties' the luxuries like chauffeurs are first to go?

Do you get many visitors to your site? If you do, could you get feedback from them?

 

[Kev Jaques]

What's your bounce rate?
I bet you your bounce rate would drop significantly if you used a white background with black text rather than black background with white/grey text. Would still also be elegant and fitting for your luxury service.

No main calls to action, benefits not really expressed enough in the sales/landing area.

Lots more but the above is free

 

[London Chauffeurs]

Thanks for your replies so far. I can't put my URL on here at the moment, but click on my name and it will take you to the website.
Our prices work out considerably cheaper than using London black cabs and we only use luxury models of BMW, Mercedes, Bentley and Range Rover!
Bounce rate on the website is only 30%.
We do have a secure client base and regular contracts, but are trying to increase overall turnover and market gain, seems to be proving difficult.
I can understand the current economic climate, but when you're more competitive than London cabs it doesn't seem to make any sense! :|

 

[Chauffeur Centre]

Your prices are far too high in this current climate!

£35 per hour for an Ford Mondeo?
The local minicabs can do this for £15 per hour???

Private hire cars is an luxury item, and we have been hit very hard. Try lowering your prices.

We have Mercedes S class/Viano drivers, accepting jobs alot lower than your rates

Just my 2p

Simon

PS sending you a PM

 

[Chauffeur Centre]

Just noticed you have no address and you are using mobile numbers.

Add landline number, remove the mobiles, add an address (even its just a virtual office)

Also how are you advertising?

 

[London Chauffeurs]

Hi Simon,

The £35 charge for the New Mondeo, Saab, Vectra is specifically for use as a Close protection escort vehicle complete with Fully trained and licensed SIA Bodyguard/Security Driver to transport the Close protection teams in as part of convoy and not general hire.

I do understand the current econimicclimate but if you look at my airport prices and also the S Class rate, special offers etc you will see what i mean.

thanks

 

[London Chauffeurs]

We have an office at Berkeley House in Mayfair, One in Thurrock Essex and another in Southend-on-Sea, but we don't believe that is the problem. The address is on all our other stationary and advertising and is going on to the website aswell very soon. We have a 0800 freephone number and 2 direct mobile numbers as we are 24/7.

 

[mrsapedia]

Just from the website angle, have you analysed what your traffic is doing? How many visitors are getting to your rates page? Do you have a way of tracking conversions that arise from your site as opposed to other forms of advertising? If you find that few people are getting as far as your prices then you know it's something else putting them off.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Can anyone tell me where i am going wrong? I run a chauffeur car hire company in and around London. I have some of the cheapest rates and most amazing special offers in the UK and still find it hard to secure business or contracts. We are well recognised and only have the most professional chauffeurs and luxury cars available. See my website and tell me what is wrong please.

For starters when it comes to a service like this they aren't looking for the cheapest price, it's a mixture of quality aspects as well as price. If your prices are too low it will actually have a negative effect on sales.

You have to sell your service just like any other business though no matter how great your service is. You and your sales copy alone must grab the attention of the reader, influence them, make them trust you and make them want to buy what you're offering. I've had a look at your website and the sales copy is very poor, it's all about you and not about what you can give them.

Get that sorted, then start driving targeted visitors to your site.

 

[Chauffeur Centre]

I think you need to understand that 99% of people dont need close protection. I have Close protection drivers that are happy to do general work to pay there bills in this climate.

Your prices maybe competitive (£80 to heathrow?), but just to give you an idea on how bad things are in our trade, I have new S class drivers going to Heathrow for less than £50.

 

[Eleanor]

Try not to get disheartened, it's exactly the same for me at the moment (only in my line of work) and what I did was ask my client base why they aren't buying and what reasons they gave me were really just money. Not the quality of my goods or service they just are that strapped for cash they can't even afford the special offers. There seems to be very little disposable income for luxuries right now, whether its a corset or a chauffeur driven limo...

the best thing I can say is keep putting yourself out there, things will turn around again.

 

[London Chauffeurs]

We are currently getting approximately 280 visits to the site a week, Average time on site is 4 minutes they include index, rates, fleet and services, bounce rate is fairly low and geographically visits are mainly organic 65%, with approx 25% PPC and the rest referrals.

Bookings for future work is steady but I am trying to increase my On-Demand Chauffeur Mercedes Hire but not sure how to promote it.

 

[Chauffeur Centre]

Try not to get disheartened, it's exactly the same for me at the moment (only in my line of work) and what I did was ask my client base why they aren't buying and what reasons they gave me were really just money. Not the quality of my goods or service they just are that strapped for cash they can't even afford the special offers. There seems to be very little disposable income for luxuries right now, whether its a corset or a chauffeur driven limo...

the best thing I can say is keep putting yourself out there, things will turn around again.

Thats is exactly the same feed back im getting from my customers. My prices are about 20% less than last year after some research, but now we are much more busier than before...

Hope this helps

 

[lockie]

I cant immediately see any reasons why i should use your services when i look at your home page.
As for being cheaper than black cabs thats not true,you have a minimum of 3 hours hire on the hourly rate.Black cabs dont have a minimum.

You need to sell the service rather than just give a run down of what you do.Its boring to be honest.
Why not sell it as affordable luxury or similar ? Make it something i want,make it appealing to me.
Make me want to call you for more information,the site does none of that as it is.

Do you get more conversions once the customer is on the phone ? If so make them phone you,tell them to phone you.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

We are currently getting approximately 280 visits to the site a week, Average time on site is 4 minutes they include index, rates, fleet and services, bounce rate is fairly low and geographically visits are mainly organic 65%, with approx 25% PPC and the rest referrals.

Bookings for future work is steady but I am trying to increase my On-Demand Chauffeur Mercedes Hire but not sure how to promote it.

How many of those visitors turn into sales? Whether 280 visitors a day is good or not depends on their demographic. If they're all people who are actively looking for your service then it's great, if that isn't the case then it's poor.

 

[London Chauffeurs]

Thanks for all your comments, I know it doesnt help but it is a comfort to know that it's not just me thats finding it frustrating. I will take on board all of your comments and try to integrate them into my site.

Thanks again SimpleSimon, it's good to have feedback from somebody in the same sector (Competitor or not ). It would be good if we keep in touch.

 

[mrsapedia]

We are currently getting approximately 280 visits to the site a week, Average time on site is 4 minutes they include index, rates, fleet and services, bounce rate is fairly low and geographically visits are mainly organic 65%, with approx 25% PPC and the rest referrals.

Those numbers are interesting but don't really help without a context - apart from giving us an indication that you could do with a huge increase in traffic (but who couldn't ). Site level stats aren't very useful, it's the page level stats that inform. I wouldn't lump your organic stats with your PPC either as you need to know how well each one performs.

I would look at what proportion of visitors reach your price page. If it's really low, it's not your prices that are deterring would-be customers. It's your design/copy etc.

I would also look at what proportion of people arriving on your prices page convert.

 

[Chauffeur Centre]

Thanks for all your comments, I know it doesnt help but it is a comfort to know that it's not just me thats finding it frustrating. I will take on board all of your comments and try to integrate them into my site.

Thanks again SimpleSimon, it's good to have feedback from somebody in the same sector (Competitor or not ). It would be good if we keep in touch.

Love to keep in touch! Im friends with some of my competitors, it keeps us informed of how others are doing, and can help each other when there is a need for extra cars.

Simon

 

[SLF]

Are you saying you website does not pull in business? Or are you struggling to pull in business via all of your marketing methods?

The reason I ask is that you say you're not getting in much business so can we look at your website - which leads me to think you are only using the website for marketing. Do you market in any other way? If so, what?

The site won't pull in much traffic as it stands - it needs sorting out.

 

[London Chauffeurs]

Thanks guys. It seems that I will have to go back to my site and try to create more of a "You appeal". I appreciate all of your comments even it it has crushed my spirit about website which took me ages to create !!!! just kidding. Although your brutal honesty is refreshing.

 

[Simon Johnson]

Ive bookmarked the website i use ichauffeur.co.uk which ive used quite a few times with good results, its quite expensive though. Think last time i spent 150 for a one way trip into Central London from our offices in Essex.

 

[Phirefly]

What's your bounce rate?
I bet you your bounce rate would drop significantly if you used a white background with black text rather than black background with white/grey text.

Why's that?

 

[London Chauffeurs]

Ive bookmarked the website i use ichauffeur.co.uk which ive used quite a few times with good results, its quite expensive though. Think last time i spent 150 for a one way trip into Central London from our offices in Essex.

Ichauffeur have one of most comprehensive websites I have seen but at the end of the day it is service and price that are really important. Bookmark my site and next time you need a chauffeured car give me a call.

 

[SLF]

Why's that?

Because when people land they wont click off straight away if its a white background compares to a black one

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

What's your bounce rate?
I bet you your bounce rate would drop significantly if you used a white background with black text rather than black background with white/grey text. Would still also be elegant and fitting for your luxury service.

No main calls to action, benefits not really expressed enough in the sales/landing area.

Lots more but the above is free

Kev it doesn't really effect it that much. It has been proven that white text on a black background improves response rates compared to vise-versa but that change wouldn't affect the bounce rate 'significantly'.

 

[Phirefly]

Because when people land they wont click off straight away if its a white background compares to a black one

At the risk of sounding like a 6 year old, why? Is that proven?

*edit* sorry, just read your post, Scott.

I think the black background is wholly appropriate in London Chauffers' case...

 

[scubadiver007]

I like your website as it is but my first impressions of the site (and the rates) suggests to me that this would appeal to CEO's, senior lawyers, banker types who are out to impress.

It looks very "corporate" orientated to me. Does that make sense?

 

[SLF]

There is nothing wrong having a predominantly black site, but the text is very hard to read. Its also a kind of dull looking black.

I also think it looks very corporate and looks highly expensive and I never would have guessed you were one of the cheapest by the images it shows. Like above, very corporate and high class, looks out of most people's league. I think the design overall is causing the bounce rate.

 

[JackMaurer]

I think the main problem is your not advertising yourself correctly, I have a fairly new professional driver on our books who wasn't getting the business, but now has at least 10 a week (which is better then zero)

If you want us to have a look at your advertising and advise on how you could improve, do get in contact. I have some great idea's for professional drivers I'm waiting to sink my teeth into

 

[Cornish Steve]

Reading this thread, I'm struck by a complete lack of strategy.

- What is your target market? I've read that you're cheap - so is it small business? I've read that you offer security - so is it those requiring added safety? I've read airports - so is it the international traveller? You can't serve all these markets well, so which is it?

- How can you best reach your target market? Do they use the Internet to find chauffeur service or do they pick up the phone and call the company they've always used? Does a secretary keep a phone number in her drawer? How can you get in front of them? How can your name be on their list? How can you convince them to try your service? How can you keep existing users loyal? How can you win referrals?

- What makes you different from your competition? Are you cheaper (difficult for a service of this type)? Are you safer? Do you guarantee promptness? Will you wait for someone arriving at the airport? Will you take more than one person? Can you accommodate large loads? Are you on call 24 hours a day? Do you take credit cards? Do you bill customers once a month instead? Do you charge by the minute instead of by the hour? Do you charge a fixed rate based on mileage? There must be something that people think of when they choose your service (and it can't be all these things).

Your website is just a tool, which may or may not be appropriate for your target market. Rather than worry for now about improving your site, think again about your strategy. Everything in business flows from strategy.