Lo.T. Conference— Oxford
Page 44
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Selling Passenger Transport
LAST Friday saw the start of the annual weekend conference of the Institute of Transport which was held at New College, Oxford, when the selling of passenger transport was discussed. Three papers were presented on this topic, "Inland Transport" being dealt with by Mr. J. Hancock, M.Inst.T., commercial officer, British Railways (Eastern Region); "Air," by Dr. J. L. Grumbridge, Minst.T., general manager (Commercial), British European Airways; and "Shipping." by Mr. C. M. Squarey, T.D.. Assoc. Inst.T., general manager, Ocean Travel Development.
Large manufacturers turning out chocolates or refrigerators could produce, test and experiment with their products behind 'closed doors, but transport operators were denied this opportunity. This salient point relative to salesmanship was made by Mr. Hancock.
Experiments Displayed In the case of transport the whole productive process took place before the customer, he said. Whilst the manufacturer could quickly conceal and eradicate faults without the public knowing about them, the transport operator, by force of circumstances, was compelled to display all his experimental processes, and consequently both his weaknesses and his strength.
Therefore, in contrast with the manufacturer, a very much larger proportion of the staff of a transport operator must be regarded as potential salesmen. Whilst this hard fact was becoming more and more appreciated, it presented an enormous problem to be overcome.
Regarding experiments, Mr. Hancock insisted that it was important that transport operators who still had the freedom to conduct experiments as to the provision of services should be able to withdraw them if they did not prove successful. This was normal business practice and the operators should also be able to offer cheap fares in one place but not in another. Many customers, he said, tried to use analogies to compel the introduction of cheap fares in parts of the country where the only result would be loss of revenue. The public would have to get used to the fact that cheap fares universally were just "not on."
Selling Transport In the selling of inland passenger transport there were three important groups of competitors, Mr. Hancock claimed. These were the private car, other forms of entertainment and air transport. Regarding the private car, in the mind of the owner it was an attractive asset which provided freedom, mobility and convenience. Moreover, Mr. Hancock admitted, it was usually cheaper for two or more people to go by car than by public transport. Use of a car, however, was not without its problems.
n10 Road congestion caused serious delays with the result that overall average speeds of more than 35 m.p.h. were difficult to achieve. Overhead and maintenance costs could be high, and Mr. Hancock doubted whether many car users knew the full cost of their motoring.
Public transport also has to compete with various forms of entertainment and spending. Because of the possessive instinct and higher standard of living now generally enjoyed,' ownership of a wide range of consumer goods has become virtually essential for many people.
Division of Expenditure In a recent division of how the public spent their money, personal expenditure on transport amounted to only 8d. out of every £1, whilst private motoring was nearly double that amount at Is. 2d.
Air transport as a competitor of inland transport had the overwhelming advantage of speed. and costs were becoming lower, particularly where it was possible to carry large numbers of people.
Relative to inland transport, the article to be sold could be dealt with in four broad groups, namely regular services, excursions, tours and miscellaneous. British Railways' ordinary services earn approximately 97 per cent. of the passenger revenue, Mr. Hancock revealed, whilst a typical northern bus company earned 90 per cent. of its revenue from stage carrier services. These figures placed in proportion the relative importance of the four grolips and it was apparent that the important article to be sold was a good regular service.
In rural areas the private car was a formidable competitor which even the road operator could not quite match, let alone the railway.
Road operators could be most successful where they Could provide a reasonably frequent service, and the search for economic buses, particularly one-man operated. continues.
Promoting Transport Sales promotion of inland transport could be placed in two main groups. The first was related to planning, pricing and development and the second to salesmanship and publicity. The whole question of service and timetables was of prime importance, Mr. Hancock insisted. They must be of a high standard despite the cost, and it should be appreciated that timetables are an important medium of advertisement. A frequent interval service tended to sell itself more easily. From the main timetable there were produced many subsidiary arrangements, including timesheets posted up at bus stops and railway stations or special handbills giving details of new services.
Because of the desirability of using stock that would otherwise be standing idle, the practice of operating cheap excursions has become well-established in the transport industry. As a iesult there exists an apparently complicated pattern of fares, but the principle was quite simple. This situation would become more marked over the next tew years, Mr. Hancock forecast, and people who travelled at peak times would have to pay for the privilege. Conversely those who travel at off-peak and even awkward times would benefit by low tares.
Despite the existence of several courses for training in good commerelal praet.ce, Mr. Hancock considered that there was need for greater stress on the sates aspect of transport operation at all levels.
Without deprecating other media such as posters and handbills, all operators regarded the Press as giving the best results in connection with the publicizing of excursions. Provincial newspaper advertisements were of leading importance because of their high potential reader value. Posters on the other hand were relatively cheap but more limited in their ettectiveness. It had been tne experience of Eastern Region of British Railways that the value of handbills had been rather limited and as a result they were tending to confine them to factual lists or groups of excursions in localities. Modern colour films were a valuable asset to sales representatives and added prestige value.
TV Disappointing
As regards television advertising, however, Mr. Hancock disclosed that one experiment that the British Transport Commission had made in thi; field had proved disappointing. Unless this medium was employed with considerable-repetition it failed to make the required impact, and was too costly to contemplate for a programme of tours and exeurs ons which might in any event earn only a few hundred pounds.
In a summary analysis of the conference, Mr. D. L. Munby, reader in the Economics and Organization of Transport, University of Oxford, .:ommented that less basic information was available on transport than almost any other industry. Such information should be . collected centrally by the Government through censuses and sample surveys, and the transport industry should demand that this be done.
Rising standards of living had led to more journeys by groups formerly unused to travel. New forms of travel had been evolved such as the packaged holiday, particularly in association with air and road transport.
Too often, however, the et stomer got the impression that the transpc.rt operator was more concerned with do.ng a good job professionally rather than caring for the passenger. These two objectives were not incompatible but the passenger should be given the impression that he came first.