Limo driver

Those who think the days of good old-fashioned service are gone has obviously never caught a ride with Stuart Downes. The limo driver has successfully put his career into top gear by providing his clients with nothing less than excellent customer service.

“It is all about the personalised service you give clients,” the chauffeur of eight years says. Downes started out driving taxis then moved into luxury hire cars. He says many of his clients came over with him from his days as a taxi driver and Downes attributes this to quality of service.

He believes that he provides his clients with the level of customer care that was once the ethos of Sydney cabbies of yesteryear.

“Some of them [the clients] you will drive and not say anything, others you can have a chat with and others you can have a joke with,” Downes says.
“It just depends on the client and the situation that you are in as to how you can react to them.”

The majority of Downes’ work is with corporate clients, taking them to and from the airport but he specialises in functions such as the Melbourne Cup.

Downes is a sole operator, so when he has a number of bookings he uses other drivers to share the work load. But he is very prudent about the other operators he uses because it’s all about providing a meticulous service — and his good name. “There is a nucleus of about six or seven drivers that look after the client the same way as I look after them,” he says.

He has even given the odd celebrity a ride home; Star Wars star Ewan McGregor being one of his favourites. Downes says that anyone who pays him is a celebrity. “If I get paid, I am happy,” he laughs.
Downes says a good driver needs to be able to interact with their clients as well as have road safety skills and respect for other drivers.

For Downes, the most critical part of his job is making sure that he always turns up on time. “Clients don’t really care what sort of car turns up for them as long as the car turns up and is on time. Even if they keep you waiting, you have got to be there on time.

“I am always at a job 10 to 15 minutes before the booking time and they might not come out until 10 or 15 minutes after that but that’s all part of the game, and you work that into your day. You don’t keep clients if you are late.”

Downes does about eight to 10 pick-ups a day, can start at 5am and sometimes finishes at midnight. He says these days he prefers not to work nights, but if it is a special client he will take the booking.

“You have got to be realistic about it, there’s no point in chasing a dollar all of the time. You have to look after your car and you have to look after your client,” he says.

How to be … a chauffeur
You need to have a NSW driver’s licence for at least 12 months before applying for a chauffeur/hire car licence in NSW and the ACT. Contact the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council (03)93204242 or visit http://www.tdtaustralia.com/