Two decades ago, Frank Pistone never envisioned himself as president of a well-established and consistently growing business that today tops $2 million in annual sales.
After all, he says, his company evolved by accident, literally. And he didn’t even have a business plan when he started his ground transportation service 18 years ago.
“My brother had wrecked my family car, and since I’ve always been a ‘big-car’ guy, I decided to buy a used 1978 formal limousine from a local limo company,” Pistone says. “After I bought the car, the seller asked me to sign a contract agreeing not to go into the limousine business, even though I had no intention to do that — I was already working 80 hours a week for my dad’s snack-food supply business.”
Since the contract hadn’t previously been mentioned, Pistone refused to sign on principle and instead, asked for a refund. The seller acquiesced, and Pistone drove away in the classy car.
“When I brought it home to show my wife, she went ballistic — ‘You bought what? Are you crazy?'” he recalls, laughing.
But Pistone’s wife, Joyce, quickly adapted to riding in style, and there was always a preferred parking space reserved for them at dining venues and nightclubs. Soon, the couple started finding business cards slipped under the windshield wiper, soliciting chauffeuring services. Encouraged by his wife, Pistone refurbished the limo, acquired the proper permitting and licensing, and the couple cruised right into a cushy new business — A Touch Of Class Limousine Service Inc.
“At first, we ran the business from home and my wife did everything from hiring to washing cars,” says Pistone, noting that Joyce Pistone is vice president, treasurer and the driving force of the company. “We had no clue what we were doing, but we were so much in demand that we kept leasing and buying more vehicles.”
The eight-car fleet quickly outgrew their driveway and street parking spaces, so in 1986, Pistone leased a 5,000-square-foot space at 5893 Center Road in Valley City on Route 303 near Brunswick. After moving into the luxury limo bus market in 1991, he acquired another 5,000 square feet at the same location. This year, he purchased the entire seven-acre lot from the former landlord.
Pistone dedicates most of the space to his showroom, administrative offices and transport facility, and leases out the remaining buildings on the property.
Today, A Touch of Class boasts a colossal fleet of late model vehicles to meet all transportation needs, from ultra-stretch Cadillacs and Lincoln Town Cars to luxury VIP coaches. There are seven sedans, four six-passenger stretch limousines, five 10-passenger super-stretch limos, two six-passenger executive limo vans, two 14-passenger vans, one 24-passenger shuttle bus, four 20-passenger VIP luxury coaches, two 30-passenger mini-tour buses and a 57-passenger tour bus.
The company employs almost 75 people, including reservationists, corporate sales representatives, accounting and management personnel, dispatchers, auto detailers, auto technicians and full- and part-time licensed and uniformed chauffeurs who cover a ribbon of asphalt that stretches five counties wide. The company’s client roster includes organizations such as FirstEnergy Corp, The Akron Symphony, Babcock & Wilcox, the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns.
Since Pistone didn’t initially map his trek to success with a business plan, one wonders how he arrived at the pinnacle of prosperity. He says he kept his eyes on the road (and on the rear-view mirror) to determine where the bulk of his business originated, and strategically steered expansion efforts in that direction.
Seeing that 60 percent of his company’s services were requested by the corporate sector — from business and convention transport to golf outings and office parties, Pistone began focusing on more corporate services, such as long-distance meetings, facility tours and employee sales incentives. He made all the right connections so he could offer convenience packages such as catering for day trips, and invested in limos for conference seating, equipping them with everything from cellular phones to fax capabilities.
To enhance his company’s image, Pistone joined the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, the Cleveland Convention Visitors Bureau, the Ohio Limousine Owners Association and the National Limousine Association. Those alliances served to impress both corporate clients and private individuals, says Pistone, noting that the other 40 percent of his sales are in the leisure market: weddings, proms, retirements, sightseeing and shopping tours, casino gambling trips and other special events.
Pistone also eagle-eyed trends to add value at every opportunity. For example, he affiliated his company with a national ground transportation network so he could provide corporate customers with limousine service anywhere in the nation.
A recent trend Pistone has capitalized on is the corporate customer’s preference for low-profile vehicles.
“Because of the trend of downsizing, layoffs and pay cuts, corporations don’t want to have limousines parked in front of their establishments. So we were one of the first companies to purchase executive limo vans, because they’re inconspicuous, not pretentious, and yet there’s a lot of luxury inside,” he says.
Pistone says he’s also kept apprised of trends in his industry by attending annual limousine conventions, and networking with ground transport companies in cosmopolitan cities to learn how things are done.
“There have been huge shifts in the transportation industry, and I’ve really focused on the destination management trend,” he says, explaining that he’s developed a personal forte in coordinating transportation for conventions and special events.
“We’re a very detail-oriented company and we worked our way up the ladder by doing local corporate conventions that involved about 20 buses. Then we got involved with the NBA and they chose us to do the limousine, sedan and van work,” he says. “Since then, we’ve done things like the NBA All-Star Game, the Major League Baseball Playoffs and World Series, where we’ve transported the players and commissioners for those events, coordinating more than a hundred passenger buses and shuttling people to a couple of dozen hotels and other locations.”
As for a road map for his own results, “When we took on serious overhead with the building and staffing, we started developing a solid business plan,” Pistone says, explaining that a heavy focus has been placed on staff training, reservations technology, driver communications equipment and satellite communications capability.
In terms of financing, Pistone says he initially funded his company’s growth by acquiring vehicles through a friend who started a leasing company.
“But in 1986, when the government repealed the investment tax credit, it was no longer advantageous to him. So I started going the traditional financing route,” he says.
Pistone explains that since he’s committed to providing the newest fleet in Northeast Ohio, the average age of his vehicles is two years. So, when he sells the older vehicles, does he require the buyers to sign noncompete agreements?
“Absolutely not!” he laughs.
How to reach: A Touch Of Class Limousine Service Inc., (330) 225-5382 or www.atoclimo.com
