ScooterMAN
Background
ScooterMAN offers a unique anti-drink-driving solution for people who've enjoyed a few drinks. need to go out and socialise. Where it differs from the traditional taxi or private hire service is that ScooterMAN despatch their chauffeurs to customers on a collapsible motorbike which is then bagged up neatly, put in the boot of the car and ScooterMan staff, who are comprehensively insured, will then drive the customer home in his/her own vehicle.
The advantage is that the customer has only to pay for a one-way journey and they do not take the risk of having to leave their car overnight. The service also gives the customer the ability to kept themselves and their vehicle home safely after a spur-of-the moment night out.
ScooterMAN was formed seven years ago in London, but it is now expanding into other parts of the UK, including Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Reading and Cheltenham. Ethically they provide a greener chauffeuring solution as "dead" runs are excluded. ScooterMAN is an official partner of the government’s Dept of Transport THINK! campaign to reduce the number of drink driving incidents.
The business need
ScooterMAN needed to locate customers quickly and calculate mileage to give customers a consistent quote at the point of enquiry. To meet this need, ScooterMAN uses Geocoding from Postcode Anywhere.
We would have incurred huge costs in making competitor services 'fit for purpose' whereas Postcode Anywhere's solution really does integrate seamlessly. Postcode Anywhere have been extremely helpful and we've received big customer service.
Why Postcode Anywhere?
- Web-based service means no waiting for CD-ROM downloads i.e. rapid data capture
- Software integrates seamlessly with legacy systems
- Installation takes a fraction of the time compared with CD-ROM solution
- Excellent and responsive help desk and technical support
Benefits
- By using the postcode they are able to locate customers quickly*
- They are able to locate customers by using a partial address*
- Often their customers have satellite navigation systems so if a customer does not know their location postcode they are able to give ScooterMAN geographical co-ordinates (latitudes and longitudes)*
- The route calculator enables them to provide customers with consistent quotes as well as determine their own operational costs
- Reduces telephone call times for both parties which enables ScooterMAN to respond to more calls and improves customer service*
- Automatic updates means that new housing and infrastructure developments are mapped (not always the case with a annually up-dated CD-ROMs which can hinder the process of locating the customer)
*One has to bear in mind that intoxication can often induce a nebulous response from the customer and extracting location information is not always straightforward.
The bottom line
ScooterMAN's managing director and co-founder Robert Williamson commented: "The biggest problem we had when using CD-ROM street finder technology was that new updates were not compatible with our existing systems which meant that we would have incurred huge costs in making these 'fit for purpose' whereas Postcode Anywhere's solution really does integrate seamlessly.
"The guys at Postcode Anywhere have been extremely helpful and as a small customer we feel we've received big customer service in terms of their time investment. As ScooterMAN is expanding rapidly we're conscious of other commercial benefits that postcode technology can unleash particularly for our marketing operations. We're keen to explore other applications such as lifestyle profiling for example."