MAHWAH, N.J. — Flyte Tyme Worldwide Transportation CEO Tim Rose understands better than anyone that the limousine industry is not just a transportation business — it’s a personal service business where success depends on every team member working toward perfecting every ride.
In fact, his company’s motto, “Global in Size-Personal in Service,” are words the company — now in its 37th year — lives by every day and every trip. It is backed up even more by the company’s mission statement pledge to clients:
“The people behind our service make the difference at Flyte Tyme. Our team takes great pride and a genuine interest in going the extra mile for our clients.”
Growth Surges
Flyte Tyme was founded in 1979 as a local limousine company with four limousines serving northern New Jersey. Rose joined in 1997 as a part owner, serving as president and chief operating officer. In 2009, he took over sole ownership of the company. Today, Flyte Tyme has surged to become one of the world’s largest chauffeured transportation companies (ranked No. 4 in LCT’s 2015 Top 50 Largest Fleets with 446 vehicles) and has established officers nationwide coupled with an international network of 700 affiliate partners.
Rose has diversified and expanded the company’s portfolio to include full-scale private transportation services, corporate travel management, meetings and event transportation, and a recent division to provide full turn-key management of transportation services for corporations.
FASTFACTS: Flyte Tyme Worldwide
- Location: Mahwah, NJ
- Satellite offices: Princeton, N.J., Stamford, Conn., Philadelphia, Penn., Van Nuys, Calif., Bronx, N.Y., San Francisco
- Owner: Tim Rose, CEO
- Founded: 1979
- Fleet vehicles: 446
- Annual revenues: $69 million
- Employees: 650
- Key managers: Michael Rose, VP and GM; Ray Gallagher, VP of sales/marketing; Maria Amorosso, VP of business development; Doreen Rose, VP of finance; Paul Murray, CIO.
- Client ratio: 95% corporate; 5% retail.
- Group business: 7% of total.
- Client sample: Banks, pharmaceutical and accounting firms.
- Awards: 2013 LCT OOY Award
- Website: http://ift.tt/1RGLJ8s
To put the company’s growth in perspective, when Rose joined Flyte Tyme, its annual revenue was $3.5 million. Today, the company is billing $69 million and Rose has set his sights to double business in the next five years.
In fact, Rose has laid the foundation for future growth by moving into a new state-of-the-art 52,000-square-foot facility in 2014 that houses 105 employees (650 total employees nationwide) with plenty of room to handle anticipated growth to meet its aggressive expansion goals.
Workflow Moves
Rose and his executive team went to great lengths to plan a modern work space that was professional, efficient, comfortable, eco-friendly, and most importantly, fostered a collaborative team environment.
For example, the facility was built in an open design format that connects all departments throughout the first floor, where managers are visible and roam the floor for more face-to-face encounters and a hands-on style, instead of being hunkered down in offices shooting off emails.
“The goal was to make the facility a better work environment that fosters a collaborative spirit, with managers walking around rather than hiding in offices,” Rose says.“In our former facility, departments were segregated, and this new facility I think creates a better work ethic and productivity. We have an open floor plan that groups our meetings and events and customer service teams, call center agents and dispatchers, fleet management services, and billing and accounting. Every department and team is accessible on the floor.”
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Fielding A Talented Team
Although Rose and his team focus on business growth, the company grounds its core strength in finding top talent committed to service. “Our secret to success is hiring and cultivating great people and our goal every day is to acquire more talent and to elevate our talent internally,” Rose says. He also drives home the point that Flyte’s Tyme’s company culture is all about every staff member serving clients and ensuring that service begins and ends with his chauffeurs exceeding expectations. He calls his chauffeurs “ambassadors.”
Notes Rose: “What separates us from the rest is the fantastic people who work behind the scenes who daily enable our chauffeurs to go out and take care of our clients. They are the face of the company and how they interact and take care of clients is why I call them our ambassadors, our most important piece of the business.”
A family affair, Rose’s wife, Doreen, is vice president of finance, and brother Michael is vice president and general manager. But Rose is quick to point out that his executive team “family” includes Ray Gallagher, vice president of sales and marketing; Maria Amorosso, vice president of business development; and Paul Murray, chief information officer.
Multi-Strategy
A key factor contributing to the company’s growth is its strategy to diversify while staying true its clients, Michael Rose says. The company strives to ensure great customer relations and serves as a “partner” to provide additional services to clients as they grow, he adds.
“We try to grow and adapt as clients’ needs change and we look for ways to sole-source multiple layers of service to them. This is something we address at our weekly managers meeting, and when we take on a new client, we send out our implementation team to meet with them to make sure our sales team didn’t miss some opportunity or additional service we can offer to enhance the relationship.”
Michael, who started in the industry in 1990 and left in 1996 to work for the New Jersey State Police as a communications dispatcher, joined the company in 2005. “Tim called and said he wanted to talk to me and I’ve been here ever since.”
Regarding operations, especially as the company has expanded offices nationwide, one of the biggest challenges is to make sure the company keeps abreast of the many local, regional and state rules and regulations, Michael says. “We really have to educate ourselves because there are so many intricacies in each market — you name it, tax surcharges, airport looping fees, PUC charges that we need to make sure we not only meet, but exceed all rules and regulations. That’s what separates us from the others.”
The “team approach” to driving business is a major factor that has spurred company growth over the years, says Ray Gallagher, Flyte Tyme’s vice president of sales and marketing, also a longtime industry veteran who has been with the company since 2008. “When we meet with clients to present a proposal, we bring in customer service, finance, sales, events people and more to make sure they know the team and someone can always respond if they have questions.”
Flyte Tyme does not take a cookie-cutter approach, he adds. As to business, “we all work together and view each client’s unique needs and then customize a transportation solution that is creative, reliable repeatable and sustainable.”
Adds Tim Rose, “It’s not about me as the CEO that has driven our growth, but it’s our employees who have grown up in our culture that provide exceptional personal service every trip.”
Keywords
customer service facilities Flyte Tyme New Jersey operators operator profiles Tim Rose Top 50 Largest Fleets
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