Just like any service profession, the life of a chauffeur is a mixed bag.  On one hand, it affords tremendous flexibility and freedom.   On the other, the clients can be difficult and obnoxious.

I always felt the positives outweighed the negatives.  For me, it was all about adventure and randomly rolling around Los Angeles without supervision.  As a senior chauffeur with a major affiliate, I got to do some wild stuff.  Every day was different and I accumulated a lifetime of stories.  Of course, not all of the stories are happy ones, but that’s true of any profession.

Although I always enjoyed the job, the turnover rate for chauffeurs was tremendous.  Most guys could drive, but they couldn’t handle the people.  This included clients, dispatchers, managers, and owners.  This in turn created conflict and burnout.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  With a few adjustments, most chauffeurs can do well.  So without further ado, here are my insights into how to survive and flourish as a new chauffeur.

It’s a popularity contest – Working for a limousine company is like being in high school, but only worse.  Not only is your popularity tied to your social status, but so is your paycheck.  To succeed, you must be likable.

To get good runs, the dispatchers must like you.  To get requests, the clients must like you.  To move up in the company, the managers must like you.  Success should be ideally based on job performance, but rarely is.  Everything hinges on popularity.

Everyone judges you by your appearance – Unlike most professions, managers rarely see their chauffeurs at work.  As a result, appearance becomes a critical measure of job performance.  In addition, clients judge a chauffeur on appearance first.  Always buy the most expensive suit, shoes, tie, and shirt you can afford.

The same is true of your vehicle.  Always clean your car before you go into base.

Don’t get into an accident – If you shut-up, show up on time, and don’t wreck the car, you’ll work forever.  When starting out, don’t worry about requests or impressing clients.  It takes time to handle the insanity behind the divider.  Driving safely and showing up on time should be your only priorities.

Just say yes – Dispatchers love new drivers because they can dump the lousy runs on them.  Starting out at a new company is rarely fun because the runs are so bad.  This is the simple reality of the profession.  With time, the runs will get better, but you have to keep a positive attitude and keep saying yes.

Requests are everything – It’s an inaccurate measure of a good chauffeur, but requests determine the pecking order.  Successful chauffeurs sell themselves.  The easiest way to get requests is to give the client a business card at the end of every run and ask them to request you.  It’s a bit brash, but the great chauffeurs do it.

Don’t brag to other chauffeurs – limo runs are a zero-sum game.  For every good run you’re assigned, someone else is getting screwed.  Low-key is the name of the game.  Limo driving may be a solo gig, but a limousine company is a group of guys trying to make a living.

Please yourself, not the clients– If you base your happiness on the client’s happiness, you’ll make yourself miserable.  As a chauffeur I learned the hard way that trying to make unhappy people happy is futile.  Some people are just inconsolable.

If you deal with the rich and famous, the majority of your clients will be miserable.  Just do the job perfectly and if the client is unhappy, that’s their problem.

Don’t complain-In all my years in the industry, I’ve yet to see any chauffeur’s complaint resolved.

Ground transportation has a lot of built-in negatives.  Anytime you deal with the public in a service capacity, you’re going to have problems.  Why make waves by complaining about stuff that can’t be fixed?   Real complaints in the limousine business are called lawsuits.  These are the only kind of complaints that get resolved.

In conclusion, driving is a relatively independent profession, but a lot of politics are involved.  If you know how to work the system, you can do well.  It’s all about people and popularity.  The more requests you get, the better you’ll do.  Once you have the requests, start to acquire accounts.  When you have accounts, the sky is the limit.