Friday, October 31, 2008

Valet Parking: Selecting A Merchant

By Ryan Tole

Did you get the job of choosing a valet parking company for your upcoming event? Well, you're probably wondering where you should start, right? Sure, you know about the phone book and the internet, but let's face it, those aren't really all that much help in deciding which valet parking company to go with. In the Yellow Pages, about all you'll find will be a phone number and and address (if that). Sometimes the company will have a bigger display ad, but a picture of a guy driving a car isn't a real big help. Same goes for websites - although you'll stumble on one every now and then that has a lot of content, most will be pretty lacking when it comes to how you should select a provider. The best way to find the best one is to talk to them directly.

By talking to them directly, yourself, you don't have to rely on their advertising. You can cut right to the chase and ask them anything you want to ask them. Write down a bunch of questions before you start calling. If you don't know what questions to ask, keep reading! It's very important that you have the list of questions written out ahead of time to make sure you cover each one. And it's probably easier if you set aside a block of a few hours to call all the companies, instead of calling one today, another one tomorrow, etc. It will make it a lot easier to compare companies, and you won't have to remember where you left your notes.

How old is your company?

How many events have you provided parking for?

Would you explain your bonding and insurance policies to me?

Do you have several kinds of insurance?

How much is the coverage on each policy?

What are your hiring standards as far as driving records?

How about criminal background checks?

Do you have any satisfied customers I can talk with about your level of service?

How much do you charge?

Those are the main things to go over with the valet parking companies. Of course, you may have other questions you think of, and feel free to add them to the list. Make sure you cover all the bases. Better safe than sorry.

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