ARE YOU DE-LIMOUSINED?
There is a growing trend in the limousine industry to remove the word limousine from company names. Bob’s Limousine Service is now Bob’s Global Transportation Services. It’s the “de-limousining” of the limousine industry.
Companies are doing this consistently. The rationale is this: With this economic environment, executives don’t want the word limousine showing up on their expense reports. Limousine is the new dirty word among corporate executives who are still able to travel. (There are a few others like the dreaded corporate jet, luxury, five star, junket, spa, incentive travel, and national sales meeting to name a few — I get chills just writing them).
They won’t get chastised for the cab fare but they will get scrutinized over the limousine service, even if the cab is more expensive in some areas. Perception is reality, folks!
The truth is the bulk of the corporate executives don’t ride in limousines anyway. They take town cars or SUVs. Have you been to Las Vegas lately? I have and I waited to queue in the cab line at the airport for 25 minutes. The cab certainly wasn’t more convenient, and the cost was a mere $10 less than sedan service. Those 25 minutes of my time was worth much more than the $10. My cab driver said his air conditioning wasn’t working and he didn’t speak much English. Welcome to the new reality.
I took a look at Bernie Mattoff’s AMEX bill that was floating around on the Internet and saw a few limousine services on it. I wonder if the word limousine was a tell- tale sign for the feds.
I hope that some pencil pusher will wake up one day after scrutinizing expense reports and say, “Hey maybe limousine service wasn’t so bad after all.” I think not. Have you changed you company’s name as a result of this stigma? Tell me your thoughts.
— Linda Moore, LCT East Coast Editor
Print | posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 1:52 PM