We were lucky to catch up with Case Resor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Case, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Almost all transportation companies use a tactic called drip pricing. This is when they give you what seems to be a great quote, let’s say $500. But then they add a ton of fees including cancellation insurance, fuel surcharge, a booking fee and automatic gratuity. By the time everything is accounted for, your quote has practically doubled to $900. Here at Double Black, we can’t stand drip pricing and instead use straightforward pricing with no fees or add-ons.

We also do not include an automatic gratuity. We believe tips should be based off of the quality of service provided and up to our client’s discretion. Unfortunately, that means our drivers will occasionally get stiffed on the tip. But we also have clients who tip well above 20% because they are extremely satisfied.

We also pay our drivers approximately 50% above industry standard, that way they are making a livable wage even without their added tips. Another crucial way we prioritize our drivers is by having them employed as W-2s rather than 1099 contractors. This provides them with more job security, allowing them to focus all of their attention on the client experience.

Case, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We are a luxury transportation company with locations in Charleston, SC and Jackson Hole, WY. Our fleet is made up of party buses and executive SUVs. We separate ourselves from our competitors with straightforward and flexible pricing options and exceptional vehicles backed by unparalleled service. We are particularly skilled at curating custom itineraries for travelers new to the area. We’ve also helped plan large events, coordinating live music acts, corporate buy-outs and much more.

While we love clients who book our vehicles by the hour, we also specialize in round-trip rates. This is essential in both of our locations because our clients are often looking for rides only at the beginning and end of the reservation. Our efficient scheduling models allow us to offer such clients reasonable round-trip rates where they only pay for the vehicle when they’re using it. Rather than having to pay for all of the downtime in between rides.

All of our vehicles are top-of-the-line and are custom built with our customers in mind. Our party buses are outfitted with wraparound seating, surround-sound speakers, LED mood lighting, TVs, and built-in bars. All of our SUVs are Lincoln Navigators, the best executive car on the market!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

As we constantly grow and expand into new locations across the nation, maintaining high morale and trust with our employees continues to be ever more important. Managing employees from another state makes everything more complicated and that is why it is essential for us to align our interests. This the best way to ensure our client’s experience and one of the reasons we do not include an automatic gratuity. All of our drivers know that the better their service is the higher their tips average will be. This encourages them to clean our vehicles more thoroughly, to arrive earlier, to be kinder, and to ensure our clients have the best time possible.

We also constantly check in with our drivers and see how their shifts are going. We ask for their feedback just as much as we give it, believing that a two-way method of communication serves all of the stakeholders better, including our clients.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We believe our reputation is built off of satisfied customers, travelers and locals alike. It is them who write our wonderful reviews (we have a perfect 5.0 on Google in both locations). They are also the ones who fuel our word-of-mouth marketing efforts. We are able to satisfy all of our clients by aligning their interests with ours. As weird as it sounds, a lot of service providers see themselves at opposite ends of the client in a zero-sum game, trying to squeeze as much profit out of them as possible. We instead try our best to save our clients money by only having them pay for our vehicles while they’re using them. This allows us to maximize our number of clients in a day, charging all of them less money but still making enough to cover our costs and profit margins.

Contact Info:

• Website: charleston.doubleblacktransportation.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doubleblacktransportation/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/case-resor-15170619b/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/double-black-transportation-wilson-2