Tips for Negotiating with Limo Companies and Vendors

Business Travel Made Easy with Negotiation Tips

Anyone who travels for business on a regular basis knows the ups and downs that a hectic travel schedule brings. Not only do you have to contend with missed or delayed flights, confusing airports, bad food and unsatisfactory hotels, you also have to deal with unreliable transportation at every turn. From the moment you get off the plane to the moment you get back on again, there is a number of things waiting at every turn to derail your highly time-sensitive schedule and make your business trip into something similar to a nightmare. And being forced to rely cabs, public transit and rental cars to get around can be the straw that broke the business traveling camel’s back. Don’t be that camel.

If you’re looking for advice on how to better travel for business, consider our one piece of advice: learn to negotiate for things. It may seem like a no-brainer, but many businesspeople find that they’ve never actually tried to negotiate for anything during their travels and, as a result, they end up with a travel situation that is less than desirable. If you aren’t sure how you should be negotiating, whether it’s with limo companies, hotels or other vendors, we’ve got a few handy tips to help you out.

Negotiating with Limo Companies

If you travel often, you know how much of a hassle it can be to find reliable transportation when and where you need it. If you usually rent a car when you travel, you’re familiar with the waiting in line to get the keys after you flight lands and the struggle to navigate and park in a foreign city. If you’re used to taking cabs for your business trip transportation, you know the precarious likelihood that you won’t be able to find a cab when you most need it. Neither option affords traveling businesspeople the opportunity to work during their commutes, something that can be invaluable in staying above water during an especially hectic business trip.

Chauffeured car service is the optimal way to travel on a business trips, but costs can skyrocket if you don’t find a car service company you trust and settle on a contractual agreement. Negotiation comes into play when you’ve solidified the number of times you’ll need the car service every week or month. Get the best price for the most reliable service by offering your preferred price upfront, and be polite. Negotiations always go over better with a smile and an agreeable tone of voice. Limousine companies are generally more than willing to offer discounts for customers who use their services devotedly, and signing a semi-long term contract for their services will afford you the room to negotiate for the price you or your company wants.

Negotiating with Hoteliers

Finding a good hotel room is one of the most important parts of a successful business trip. Your hotel room is the place where you’ll go to relax, unwind, get extra work done and, most importantly, sleep. If you don’t have a suitable place to get the sleep you need, you can count on your work productivity during your business trip going down the drain.

Negotiating for a better hotel room starts with knowing what level of luxury you would like your hotel room to have. Newer hotels are generally more flexible with offering better rates or upgrades because they’re still trying to draw in customers and establish a name for themselves.

Also, doing a little bit of research on the hotels who have low occupancies for any given night is an easy to spot the easily negotiable room rates or upgrades. Because these hotels want to fill their rooms, they’ll do so for a discounted price rather than leave it empty.

Perhaps the first step on a list of ways to successfully negotiating with limousine companies and other vendors is to prepare to be polite. Rudeness is the least effective way to score upgrades or discounts. 

 

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