If you’ve been lucky enough to meet Company Director Clare Welsh, you already know the kind of enthusiasm and heart that leads Wellman Cars.
A family-run business in every sense of the phrase, this award-winning fleet has earned its place as a leader in the local private hire/taxi industry in Scotland. How? Well, for one thing, they prioritize implementing the right technology to meet their customers’ needs.
That’s where Flip comes into the story.
Wellman Cars’ introduction to Flip came about when they moved their dispatch system over to Cab9. And, as Clare had already known almost all individuals on the Fip CX transportation team for years, she was “thrilled to know that Cab9 worked with Flip.”
She had watched the Flip product journey from “better to greatness.” And, once Wellman joined forces with Flip, it was all systems go.
Getting Started
When it comes to implementation, Flip prides itself on speed, exactness, and a personal touch. For Clare, having real industry friends on the Flip team—like Kelly McFall, Richard Dale, and Will van der Linde—was a huge bonus.
“When we introduced Flip, obviously Kelly came on board. She was on our go-live day, and it was really nice to have a friendly face. Because, when you’re moving from something you know really, really well to something you really don’t know, it’s nice to have someone here that had been at our very first go-live 7 years earlier. So, she knew all the sort of problems that I would probably find. She was a really steady person to keep everything calm.”
And, when asked what issues Wellman ran into during onboarding, Clare has this to say.
“I don’t even remember anything about it, because it was just so seamless… Our go live was more like a party, to be honest. It was just like – everyone was in high spirits. Everyone was just getting on with what they needed to do. There were no issues whatsoever. So, I would definitely recommend it, a million percent.”
Driving Results
Now, those are lovely words, to be sure! But—aside from a smooth onboarding process —what exactly has Flip done to secure Wellman’s loyalty?
First off, there’s the fact that Flip’s AI is a particularly good listener – regardless of dialect. As Clare points out, “The automated system that Flip has built – it seems to really understand really fast-speaking Scottish slang people – which is wonderful!”
Then, there’s this. “Really from the very first week, we’ve seen a huge increase in our automation,” says Clare. “The first weekend we went live, I was working. And I noticed right away there weren’t the calls coming back, like ‘Where’s my taxi?’ ‘How long’s it gonna’ be?’ Because, obviously Flip deals with a lot of the callback. And it takes away a lot of the need for us to intervene.”
All fantastic feedback. So, what—in Clare’s opinion—has made the biggest difference?
“I think really, for me, it’s the dealing with customers before they come through,” she says. “So, it will give them an option that – your taxi’s on the way; or it’s here; or we’re still trying to get it. Or it will call them back when we’re busy, saying we’re still trying to get your driver. All that is huge!”
And, with weekends being particularly nuts in this industry, Clare has been pleasantly surprised with just how much support Flip has been able to offer – to both staff and customers.
“Certainly, at the weekend, our staffing has halved – purely because, before, we would have 50% of our staff who would just be dealing with chasing things up, back on the phone. With the automation through Flip—when you have a job running late, you can actually see that they’ve called 6 times. But that Flip has dealt with them every time. So, they’ve been satisfied with what Flip has told them.”
That’s a big, big deal for Wellman. Why? “Because, normally at the weekend, it gets quite numbing – when you’re dealing with the same, ‘Yeah, we’re still trying to get a car’ or ‘Yes, the driver’s at the corner,’” says Clare. “But now, the whole automation’s dealing with that for us.”
And, she has this insight to add. “It’s not just the automation rate; it’s the depth of what it does other than just answering the phone.”
Looking Ahead
For Wellman’s future goals, Flip’s focus on regular innovation is a key player.
“There’s constant changes to it,” observes Clare. “It’s not like you have the system, you’re paying for it, and that’s set. The amount of changes they’ve made since we moved over, to enhance it, has been unreal.”
Next on Wellman’s wishlist? Clare is excited to get Flip managing bookings from supermarkets, as well as handling their free phones. But—and here’s the ultimate compliment—she’s happy to lean on the Flip team for guidance.
“I’m very, very happy with what I have,” she says. “And I do know, going forward, if there’s anything to make it better, they will come up with it. So, I just leave that with the experts. I’m really, really thrilled with it.”
Considering Flipping Your Fleet?
Clare has some thoughts for you…
“It’s just a no brainer. It does everything you want your office staff to do, and more. It just frees up your office staff to be able to deal with other things,” she says. “And, it’s even such a weight off the shoulders of the staff that work the weekends – because they’re not having to deal with these customers; it’s doing it all for you. My staff actually enjoy working the busy shifts now – because they know that Flip is that member of staff that just goes and does kind-of all the dirty work… deals with all the moans and groans and whatever.”
Clare also has this nugget to share. “I didn’t expect it to be this good; I really just thought we were getting it for the IVR. And then, over the course of the weeks and months now that we’ve been live… It’s crazy, when you look at the automation, it’s sitting at 93%. And then you look at how much Flip is outdoing the phone percentage. And, it’s not just that – it’s the whole package it’s delivering. I just wish I’d bought it years ago.”
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