My client is a software company and my work for them takes me to limousine companies, in this instance to East Elmhurst, New York in the shadow of LaGuardia Airport. Clearly a mom and pop kind of shop where my interactions have been with the young son with a penchant for technology much stronger than my own sons interest in video games. Today I am making a courtesy call, to introduce myself to the young man whom I have been speaking with and his father and mother who own the company. We have long since installed software remotely though have never met. My hope is to meet, build our relationship, solve any problems and advance our business opportunities. This story has nothing to do with that.
This story is about dad. Dad is a Haitian émigré who came to this country with his Honduran wife and began work in the greater New York City area as a chauffeur. He isn’t alone; I have met hundreds of immigrants from around the world working as chauffeurs in New York City. Dad has 20 years in the business. He has learned the value of quality service and taking care of his customers. So much so that Dad developed a reputation in his limousine company as the guy who gets requested all the time by their customers. They wanted Dad to be their driver because they knew Dad would take care of them. Dad would get them where they were going on time and dad would make sure the luggage was where it should be. Dad would make sure they had television available if appropriate or whatever it took to help the customer know how important they were. He didn’t just make them feel important; he made them know how important they were to him.
Then the company changed the policy. They wouldn’t accept requests for a particular driver. Customers became disenfranchised with the company and few other drivers displayed the exemplary service of Dad, aka Dave. When a customer would run into Dave, they would ask and Dave would have to explain he had no control over the situation. It happened more than once. Dave was frustrated and clearly his “former” customers were unhappy as well. One day Dave carried a former regular and they exchanged phone numbers. Later when the customer didn’t see a driver on time and couldn’t get a response from the dispatch office, he called Dave to see what was up. Though it was a two hour drive, Dave ended up driving out to pick the guy up and take him where he needed to go.
You see, he had called the office, discovered the only person working there had closed up shop early leaving the customer stranded and gone home. Didn’t believe anyone would call or need him. The driver never showed up for the customer and by the time he had called Dave originally had lost all trust and confidence in the company Dave worked for. In the two hour drive to pick up his former regular, Dave stewed in his frustration over the mistreatment of both customers and staff at the company. He told the customer he was thinking of starting his own company. Without hesitation the customer said to call him in the morning and he would help get Dave all the passengers from his company which happened to be a very large user of limousine services.
Dave quit the company, started a company in his basement, installed his son and his sons friends as technology support (wise choice, they are very smart kids) and began providing rides to his former regulars and everyone else he could find. He provided home grown quality service and his company has grown. He has been assured that even though the current economy is down and the major corporation he is providing service for isn’t using much right now that in a couple months, things would pick up dramatically and Dave is well poised to build up a great and strong business.
Dave related this story to me and he said every word with pride. Then he told me he would be a good customer of mine. He would have lots of drivers who would use lots of our software. I think he was trying share with me he had every intent of growing and thanking me for believing in him as a very small business today. He didn’t have to. I could see it in what he has already built. I could see it in his son and I could see it in his eyes. He is a man with a dream that pulls him to work even during the hard times and a drive to succeed.
At the end of the day this is still America, the best country on earth for any man, woman or child with a dream and a drive to get it accomplished. I don’t care what the news media says and I don’t care what the scared people tell me is possible or not. I care about people who wake up in the morning and get the job done. Go Dave go!
Respectfully submitted
Michael D. Goodman
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