Limousine Finder: New Limo Anywhere President Outlines Changes Ahead

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

New Limo Anywhere President Outlines Changes Ahead

<p>New Limo Anywhere President Sean Arena joined the company from Sabre Travel Network. (photo: Limo Anywhere)</p>

DALLAS — Two months into his new post, Limo Anywhere President Sean Arena has been leading the company toward a more responsive and accessible suite of technology products based on new marketplace realities.

With 4,700 operators on its platform garnering a 40% share of the industry software market, Limo Anywhere wields a strong influence on the industry’s technology evolution.

Arena joined Limo Anywhere on July 31 after working as executive director for new business ventures and technology partnerships at Sabre Travel Network, where he served in various roles over 18 years. He brings experience in leadership, product marketing, business development, user experience, and corporate strategy. Former Limo Anywhere President Mark Gentry moved on to new opportunities outside of the company, and remains as temporary consultant when needed. He helped Arena with the transition until Sept. 1.

“The challenges we’re facing are similar to challenges I faced in prior roles at my last company,” Arena said. “There is intense regulatory pressure, complex logistical challenges, a need for more expansive automation, emerging disruptive models, and the need to continuously differentiate. All of these factors resonate with our customers and players within our industry.”

Dallas-based Limo Anywhere also has gained a unique market position since it was acquired earlier this year by the Marcou Transportation Group of Waltham, Mass. The transportation conglomerate also bought the Dav El / BostonCoach Chauffeured Transportation Network, the second largest luxury fleet provider in the U.S., and GroundLink, a tech-enabled luxury car service serving corporate clients. [Article here].

Arena outlined Limo Anywhere improvements on three broad fronts for 2018, all positioned to provide more real-time, simplified experiences for operator-clients and their customer-end-users:

Streamline the user experience by improving the efficiency of tools and services to increase client satisfaction. A self-service portal, for example, would retrieve invoices, upgrade services, and update their information. Further, the company plans to rollout a new interface that will improve usability for all users of the Limo Anywhere ERP platform. “It is critical for our client base, from new customers to long-time users, to be delighted by a workflow that best fits their [company] persona,” Arena said.
Helping operator clients scale their business through the Limo Anywhere platform and overall technology eco-system, allowing for new search and reporting capabilities and accessing data. Added customer relationship management (CRM) functions would provide real-time insights and help operations better reach out to and communicate with their customers. “We will keep looking for how we can help our clients build their business through our network. They are always looking for ways to grow their business, and we want to provide them with the tools and services to grow their business in and outside of their immediate markets.”
Expanding Limo Anywhere’s footprint through new partnerships and channel opportunities, and add new APIs and integration points to increase value to the portfolio. These would provide third parties access to its developer platform so they could augment its products with related services.

More specifically, Arena previewed some upgrades and changes to Limo Anywhere services and product lines:

Before the end of the year, launch L.A. Mobile, a mobile app version of the LA platform for users to make or manage reservations, handle dispatch activities, stay on top of the status of rides, and complete reservations for clients who have credit cards on file, or in cases when a card is presented to the driver. “We recognize the fact that many operator-owners and managers are on road, and there’s a viable use case for tools they need anywhere,” Arena said.
Release a new passenger mobile app solution for the operators to extend to their customers. Operators can customize the app with their own look and feel and logo.
Direct integration between the Limo Anywhere platform and the Square payment gateway, which enables credit card processing and payments both on and offline.
Develop a more customizable booking widget for customers’ web sites to extend “an adaptable search form that can conform stylistically to whatever interface a company uses,” Arena said. This would simplify the booking process for customers.
Empower operators to more effectively manage their pricing and give them access to tools for reporting and analytics.
Complete opportunities for Dav El / BostonCoach and Groundlink affiliates to leverage the wider Limo Anywhere platform and tools.

In sum, LA’s complete technology suite aims to serve and connect dispatching, reservations, customer booking, management alerts, payment integration, and in-car driver alerts while leveraging its network to build a broader affiliate base, Arena said. “We are intending to be as holistic and end-to-end as possible for our limo customers.”