DISRUPTIVE DRIVING

I just wholly love this move by Avis. As the USA Today article points out:

...car-rental giant Avis announces Monday a new service that enables customers to book a chauffeur when renting.

A chauffeur can be hired with 24-hour notice in 10 big cities, including New York and Los Angeles. The cost in addition to rental charges: $30 per hour with a three-hour minimum....

...Avis' Caron says the service is primarily targeted to midlevel and high-level executives, but the service should also appeal to business travelers who fly into small airports without rental-car facilities.

After their flights land, travelers do not have to pick up their rental vehicles. They can request chauffeurs pick them up outside an airport terminal or come inside to handle their bags. They can also decide to dismiss a chauffeur at any time and drive themselves.

How incredible! We all know that businesses are moving into more inter-personal, one-on-one dynamics with their customers. And this is a great marketing hook for Avis, a platform that it can leverage against its competition as being the first at taking care of their customers way beyond the loyalty programs.

So, what other industry or service provider can take a page from this example? Personal shopper at Macy's, anyone?