By Harrell Kerkhoff

Busline Magazine Editor

Having learned the transportation trade from the driver’s seat up, Fred Sadeghi uses just two words to describe the secret to his company’s success — customer service. And he is not afraid to use the standard cliché about customer service to make his point.

“The customer is always right. That is what I tell anybody who will listen. Customer service and innovation are key parts to today’s transportation marketplace. We work hard to keep abreast on customer needs as well as new technologies that continually improve the customer experience,” Sadeghi said. “This focus has been an important part of my business philosophy since the first day of our company, and will continue to be so as long as I am in this business.

“I have only had one sales person in 24 years. We grow through customer referrals. These are people who are very happy with our services.”

Sadeghi is founder, president and CEO of Transtyle, a Scottsdale, AZ, company he started in 1992 that provides a variety of services including tour, charter, shuttle and corporate transportation. Transtyle’s stable of vehicles include SUVs, sedans, limousines, vans, minibuses and 25 Setra motorcoaches, with 10 more Setras ordered and expected to be in service in the near future.

The company’s vehicles can be found not only crisscrossing the Phoenix, AZ, metropolitan region, but throughout the U.S. Southwest and beyond. Clients include corporate executives and everyday tourists — many of the latter group arriving from international origins looking to visit famous Southwestern sites such as the Grand Canyon and Death Valley.

“Transtyle offers everything from sedan to 56-passenger motorcoach services. This includes in-town hourly rates all the way to out-of-state trips to such popular destinations as Las Vegas and San Francisco,” Sadeghi said. “We always have focused on being a ‘one-stop-shop’ for people’s transportation needs. A person doesn’t have to call one company for a van, another for a limo, a third for a minibus and yet another for a motorcoach. All of these services are available at Transtyle. This presents different options for our customers. They appreciate this type of offering.”

Sadeghi is quick to point out that each transportation segment at Transtyle is essential for the company’s overall success.

“Every customer, and each type of business, that comes to us is important,” he said. “We don’t focus on one type of transportation service over another.”

One reason for this diversity of service is the variety of transportation opportunities available to Transtyle — not only in Arizona, but the entire Southwestern portion of the United States. For the company’s motorcoach side of operations, many clients are international customers wanting to see famous U.S. sites that they have heard about all of their lives. It’s a perfect setup for Transtyle, a motorcoach provider offering modern, spacious and luxurious vehicles featuring plenty of large windows for viewing the unique and beautiful Southwestern landscape.

“Not everybody can afford a helicopter ride to view famous sites, such as the Grand Canyon, and they certainly won’t see much behind an airplane window. That is why traveling by motorcoach is so special in the Southwest,” Sadeghi said. “Not only do we take people to such incredible places as the Grand Canyon and Death Valley — where they can get out and enjoy nature — but our customers also see incredible scenery along with way from the comfort of their motorcoach seat.”

International customers of Transtyle come from such destinations as France, Germany, Italy and China. Many times, Sadeghi said, travelers from specific countries have unique preferences for the Southwestern sites they most want to visit.

“I have noticed over the years that a lot of people from France like to see Death Valley, which is a great destination. There is also demand from many foreign travelers to visit Utah and Colorado,” he said. “These, and other states in the Southwest, are full of wonderful national parks that are very well known throughout the world. International customers want to visit them, and we work hard to provide a great service that meets these needs.”

Transtyle picks up many of these travelers from various major airports in the Southwest, such as those located in Phoenix and Los Angeles, to start the touring experience.

“A lot of our customers who fly into LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) want to visit the San Francisco area, including the Sonoma wine country region,” Sadeghi said. “Each tour destination offers a different type of experience.”

He noted that Arizona itself offers many places to see and do, although it’s a more seasonal type of work for motorcoach travel compared to destinations located in such Western states as California, Utah and Colorado.

“It’s no secret that the Phoenix area, as well as many other Arizona locations, get very hot in the summer. Therefore, there is more demand from customers to visit our state during the winter,” Sadeghi said. “It provides a nice balance since we are busy taking customers to other locations in the Southwest during the summer.”