CCSI

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs accounted for about 232,000 jobs nationally in 2008. About 26 percent of taxi drivers and chauffeurs are self-employed. Jobs are located throughout the country but are concentrated in large cities. Even with a large amount of cabbies available, sometimes it can still be difficult to secure a cab ride in large metro areas, a problem that is being addressed thanks to a St. George company.

At the time, Egor Shulman and his team were providing software development for the taxi industry. One day, his partner went skiing in Park City. Hungry after a long day of skiing, the man and his son stopped to get a hamburger before heading home. He was so impressed with the level of service and kindness extended to him in Utah, the idea to start a brand new business hit him like a ton of bricks. Because of his experience in the taxi business, he knew the need to treat customers well. So, he thought, why not combine the software team with great customer service? This idea eventually became CCSI.

CCSI is a full-service call center that caters to taxi companies nationwide. Among some of its services, CCSI takes customer calls, dispatches and also provides office functions. This is how it works: when a customer calls for a taxi in any of the seven cities where the service is offered, a CCSI agent in St. George enters the information into the computer. The CCSI software locates the closest cab which accesses the CCSI system through a GPS-equipped Blackberry and sends a message to the driver who can then read and respond to the request. It is an almost seamless, foolproof process.

This team takes their business seriously. Here are some examples of great business practices. They produce and mail a quality report to their customers to troubleshoot any issues. The owners are also willing to pay for the kind of behavior they want to see in their employees and give bonuses based on the best work behaviors. Management set up a bonus to encourage employees to arrive at work on time. The percentage of on-time arrivals has increased from around 20 percent to the current 85 to 90 percent.

CCSI recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Taxi company owners are happy that they can leave their office at a reasonable time and not get calls through the night and enjoy the higher quality of service being provided. They feel like they have their lives back. CCSI is currently in negotiations to expand its facility to accommodate its growing business.

For Zions Bank, I'm Chris Redgrave, speaking on business.