“There has been a lot of negative, unfair energy about the taxi industry, compared to others. There has been a lot of heat and attention,” he said. He points to stories about sexual misconduct from lawyers and doctors, and how they don’t get front- page treatment like cab drivers have been. “When someone in our industry is put under a negative spotlight, our entire industry gets labeled. It’s unfair to the majority of drivers who are hard-working people,” he said. “They are passionate, dedicated people of all cultures, and from across the world. They have chosen Halifax to try and provide lives for them- selves and their families in this industry.” At the end of the day, Ghosn also realizes that Yellow Cab is a company name he takes personal responsibility for protecting. “I must also take my own precautions and make sure my drivers meet standards I set. This goes above and beyond the city,” he said. “We have implemented fleet-wide GPS tracking in all our vehicles, and I can always open my laptop and zoom in on the fleet. I can see the history of a car, how fast it goes, where they are, who is driving the vehicle, and how long they’ve been logged on. I can properly report and research anything that needs to be looked at.” Ghosn says brand loyalty isn’t an issue, but bringing in new customers is a primary focus. “Many have been using us for 10-plus years, and there’s outstanding loyalty to Yellow Cab. But we are pushing to retain those who use us for the first time. We have a strong base, and are growing it at a very fast rate,” he said. “We changed how we operate, we restructured dispatch and their mentality, redid training on how to answer the phone, made response times as low as possible, and began holding drivers more accountable for complaints. That allowed us to grow our base dramatically.”
cab service the last three years, and Ghosn sees it as validation. “People saw and concurred that we have great service. We love the positive feedback. People have taken notice of the changes,” he said. “We want to keep growing. We know people don’t want to flag any cab down on the street these days. With us, they have to know they will get the service and standards they expect. Our brand really can be a blessing.”
“I’m a taxi consumer turned owner, and I can see both sides of the coin. I was surprised that their brand was so recognizable and had so much potential.”
Yellow Cab has won the consumer award for best
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MARCH 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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