Business insights from Uber attacks

The attack on Uber drivers worldwide was discussed in our entrepreneurship program last week.  We were talking about business strategy and somehow it was thrown in the conversation and it ended up being a pretty lively debate.  It’s been all over news, social media and some people had even interacted with people on either side of the equation i.e. the taxi drivers that are anti-uber and the uber drivers themselves. So these are the key points that came out of the class. My disclaimer in this article is that no one in the class is in the taxi business to really understand the nitty gritty and our information is honestly from the noise that has been around. However we decided to use this as opportunity to draw out business lessons that can applied.

It is always about the consumer. Instead of seeking to understand the consumer and why their preferences have changed people are instead attacking the Uber drivers. This is the victim mentality that sometimes pops up in business. It asserts that somebody else is doing something to make things go wrong for you. We want to stay in the comfort zone, do things the same way, and attack others who come and do it different.  Our class concluded that the gap to improve customer experience with taxi’s had been there for a long time but it was not explored.  People use Uber because they don’t have to wait too long, the cars are clean, the driver is polite and it is priced well. That’s where the competition is and it’s not only about the money. Service counts for a lot. I made a point of talking to a taxi driver before publishing this article and when I asked him about Uber all he did was complain.  Words like undercutting were thrown out a lot.  Never once did I hear any efforts he was going to make to improve service to the customer. So in the noise that has been around recently you do not hear traditional taxi’s promoting how they will improve their service and attempt to make it more affordable to the consumer. Actually doing that is a lot harder then issuing threats to halt traffic and smashing windows. We just hear talk of how Ubers have taken what was not rightfully theirs. The entitlement mentality. There’s a definition of madness, which is to do the same thing and expect a different result.  I think in the business world and especially with the disruption that technology is bringing in many areas another definition would be to keep doing the same thing but also expect your consumer to do the same. So the lesson here is that continuous feedback from your customer is vital.  If you are not responsive to his or her needs, someone else will be.

But not all taxi drivers have been scared off by the competition.  That’s another lesson.  Relationships are everything in business. Those who invested and took time to nurture solid relationships may not have been affected all the way. I know someone who has not batted an eyelid.  He uncovered a gap a long time ago.  He has built a clientele around domestic errands.  He picks kids from school, takes children to and from birthday parties, collects groceries if need be, pays bills, transports people to hospital etc. His car, which is always sparking clean, always has water, juice and light snacks for kids.  That’s service. Because of these relationships he also does a lot of airport transfers. Uber cannot pick up children from school or be sent to pay a bill. If a person is trustworthy enough to pick my child from school he will probably be top of mind with a lot of other things and may even get away with charging a bit extra. There are possibly so many other situations where Uber will not work and there are some people who still prefer to use someone with whom they have built a relationship.  But whilst the upset drivers concentrate on slashing tyres they will not see these opportunities. Our class concluded that in business you do have to understand where your unique gap is and the reason why someone would be loyal to you. Also there is a target market that if given enough attention may respond to your service differently.

We also felt that there is some free marketing going on.  More people in our class were now more aware of Uber because of the noise.  I spoke to an Uber driver who obviously does not want to be named with current events.  He actually told me he is getting more work. This reminds me of the attempted ban on movies. When the Wolf of Wall street was banned in Kenya a couple of years ago it simply served to drive up street DVD sales of the movie. Some people had never even thought of watching it until it was banned. I think this has served to make more people curious about Uber.  I have no facts to this at the moment but as a consumer I would think that if the traditional taxis have spent that much time and effort on Uber, it means that there is something there worth exploring. Lesson here is don’t spend time and effort talking about your competition. You are giving them free publicity. Vice versa if your competition is talking about you, it could be a good thing.

Waceke runs programs on Entrepreneurship.  Find her at waceken@centonomy.com| twitter @cekenduati| facebook.com/cekenduati