Taxi Drivers Need More Than Charm School
When I took Uber for the first time recently I was curious about how the service works (aside from the many things I've read about it online) so I struck up a conversation with the driver about the system, frequency of calls, etc.
My driver, Luke, was generally happy with the situation. The technology works well, and the pay is decent. For a guy who actually lives in San Francisco (expensive!) and owns a car there, that's saying something.
I was pretty happy with the situation, too. The technology worked well, Luke was polite and friendly, his car was immaculate, and I paid less than half what a taxi costs.
It was no surprise to me when Luke said, "We're putting taxis out of business." As I've just outlined I certainly see why, and I've heard the same from other frequent travelers who've tried Uber.
Taxi drivers aren't going down without a fight, though. In many cities and states they're fighting Uber legally, challenging the right of its drivers to operate without the sometimes costly and capriciously awarded permits required of private car services. I'm not looking to delve into that aspect of the situation right now. Instead, I was amused by a discussion elsenet about one way taxi drivers in Seattle are fighting back against Uber: by attending charm school!
An ABC News article from a few weeks ago entitled, "What Seattle Cab Drivers Learn in 'Charm School' to Compete With Uber" [link] provided a basis for our discussion.
The article describes their 'charm school' as being a bunch of high-minded marketing and customer service stuff. I hope the cabbies get something useful from the time and money they're investing in it, though I think what they need to fix about their way of doing business is much more basic than developing plans for personal branding and business development. As one of my friends quipped, the lesson could be as simple as:
1. Don't try to cheat your customers.
2. Accept credit cards without complaints.
3. Don't drive like you're trying to kill me.
My driver, Luke, was generally happy with the situation. The technology works well, and the pay is decent. For a guy who actually lives in San Francisco (expensive!) and owns a car there, that's saying something.
I was pretty happy with the situation, too. The technology worked well, Luke was polite and friendly, his car was immaculate, and I paid less than half what a taxi costs.
It was no surprise to me when Luke said, "We're putting taxis out of business." As I've just outlined I certainly see why, and I've heard the same from other frequent travelers who've tried Uber.
Taxi drivers aren't going down without a fight, though. In many cities and states they're fighting Uber legally, challenging the right of its drivers to operate without the sometimes costly and capriciously awarded permits required of private car services. I'm not looking to delve into that aspect of the situation right now. Instead, I was amused by a discussion elsenet about one way taxi drivers in Seattle are fighting back against Uber: by attending charm school!
An ABC News article from a few weeks ago entitled, "What Seattle Cab Drivers Learn in 'Charm School' to Compete With Uber" [link] provided a basis for our discussion.
The article describes their 'charm school' as being a bunch of high-minded marketing and customer service stuff. I hope the cabbies get something useful from the time and money they're investing in it, though I think what they need to fix about their way of doing business is much more basic than developing plans for personal branding and business development. As one of my friends quipped, the lesson could be as simple as:
1. Don't try to cheat your customers.
2. Accept credit cards without complaints.
3. Don't drive like you're trying to kill me.