Have you caught a taxi lately? By standing on a street corner and flagging one down, I mean. If so, it’s quite likely that, like me, you’ve been subjected to a taxi driver tirade about Uber. If you’re not familiar with Uber’s special brand of taxi service, it works like this:
- Download the app
- Register as a user
- Book a taxi
Of course it’s a little more complicated than that, but Uber have made it easy for people to book a taxi, and to track where it is, and to cancel the booking – in other words, they’ve put the power back in the hands of the consumer. So when my taxi driver was railing against Uber and everything it represents – ‘It’s going to kill the taxi industry’ he told me – what he was actually saying was: I’m more important than you. What Uber says is: You, the customer, are the centre of everything we do. We have designed not just our app but our entire company around you. My feeling is that, fundamentally, that is why they have been so successful, so quickly; it’s certainly why I am loyal to Uber in a way that I would never be to Taxis Combined or Apple Taxis or whoever. And it occurred to me that what they’ve really revolutionised is the way taxi companies communicate with their customers.
- I know when the taxi is coming.
- I know who my driver will be – they send a name and photo.
- I know exactly where the taxi is, and how long it will take to get to me.
- They send me a text message telling me when my driver is arriving – invaluable when you’re a woman leaving the office late at night, for example, reluctant to hover on a darkened street corner for any length of time.
- I have the power to cancel the booking and tell the company so quickly and easily – what a contrast to the ‘old days’ when you had to get back in the phone queue, quote a reference number, and still never know when or if the taxi would ever arrive.
And Uber closes the loop. They send me a receipt and give me to option to feedback on my trip immediately, with a view to improving the overall service. Can you imagine if all businesses communicated with their customers like that?
