Metro Magazine, February 2020

32 METRO MAGAZINE COM FEBRUARY MARCH 2020 MOTORCOACH AWARDS Don Mears Photography thing else the company sets sales goals for each salesperson or travel consultant That sales team follows a specific process which includes inputting all quote requests into the companys reservation system for logging and marketing later The consultants then follow up with quotes at a predetermined time based on the circumstances of the client and quotes are either booked or the reasons for not booking are recorded for analysis later As mentioned throughout the sales process the consultants are trained to provide key selling points during each interaction with the client ONLINE CROWDSOURCED BOOKING The company recently adapted its sales process to accommodate the larger number of customers who prefer to book their travel online When we first identified that this trend was growing about 50 percent of our quote requests were online That number has grown to 65 percent in a very short amount of time explains Story Ten years ago when we got that quote wed follow up with a phone call Now clients dont want that which is why they are going online To that end the company had to learn how to create a conversation with potential customers via email and social media talking about the company and its offerings James River has also introduced crowdsourced online reservations for special event transportation like concerts rallies in Washington D C special tours and large event shuttles The service which is advertised on various social media platforms is a relatively small part of James Rivers overall sales but the company expects the model to continue growing which will give them access to new revenue streams and client types DRIVING SCHOOL APP PROCESS Back in the mid 1990s James River started its own CDL training school with Story estimating that about 80 of its current driver workforce has been trained from scratch in house For the last four years the operation has exclusively advertised through Facebook for driver positions which enables them to target interested users with paid posts that utilize proprietary keywords We used to spend thousands of dollars to advertise our open driving positions says Story Now it costs us only about 200 or 300 per training class so its really been a gamechanger for us To get even more applicants through the door James River recently changed the way it handles the application and onboarding process for drivers Once an applicant clicks on the Facebook ad they are taken to an employment landing page on the companys website The web page was specially designed to maintain the viewers interest and keep its selling points engaging From there interested applicants can complete an online quick app in less than five minutes and submit it to James Rivers HR department During the initial screening the operation will conduct a 30 minute telephone interview followed by a 60 minute in person interview In the old days which is like five years ago applicants would go to our website download our six page application print it fill it out scan it and either email it back or get in the car and drive it down to us Story explains To that end the company decided to simplify its application process once it was determined that new hires were primarily selected due to successful interviews Once the applicant accepts the offer James River will then move ahead with the tedious stuff like background checks They also remain in contact with and will sometimes pay the applicant while they wait for the next training class We keep the communication with them going throughout the process because we found if we dont we may lose them says Story Sometimes the next training class isnt for another two to four weeks If thats the case we offer them the chance to get paid while doing some training online We also offer them the opportunity to come in and get help filling out all the regulatory paperwork they have to do and pay them to do so all right here Story adds that the process not only makes it easier for the applicants it also allows the company to see where the stumbling blocks are and exactly where and when the applicant is getting tripped up during the process so it can address those issues in the future SOFT SKILLS TRAINING In addition to its sales and hiring practices James River also has a nationally recognized training program Approximately 12 years ago the operation brought on a full time corporate trainer who is responsible for training new hires through the James River way from day one Stephen Story bottom far left and his team at James River collaborate to find solutions to issues and create best practices templates that are communicated to every employee