INNOVATION AWARD – iMA – Silver – Belle Vue

It is sometimes said that the passenger transport industry is all about vehicles. It’s not. It’s about people. People (coach drivers) carry millions of passengers and all those interactions are more successful if communicated successfully, and iMA helps you do that. iMA identifies which of four ‘dialects’ an individual uses to communicate, with each dialect looking at, and filtering the world, through different eyes and ears. Having identified how a person wants to receive information, iMA teaches you to modify and adapt the message in a way that is most likely to be understood. When this happens communication, trust, understanding, co-operation and sales go up, while stress and tension go down. When a coach driver communicates more effectively with passengers, coach excursions become harmonious and an optimum way to travel.

The judges praised Belle Vue for always being willing to try something new. In what is possibly the first application of iMA by a coach operator, the company is reaping the benefits of the technique, including matching coach drivers to the private hire customer. The judges thought it is good to see the company investing in its staff and is a reminder than the coach industry is all about people.