To better understand your product, better understand your customer and ultimately better understand and manage your business, you might as well roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Especially when you’re the boss. On the side of Uber in California, this is exactly what Dara Khosrowshahi sought to do, who told the Wall Street Journal that he had lived the experience of driver and delivery man in September last year.
For him, an increasingly worrying question had to be answered: a question of hiring, or rather the difficulty of hiring. At the VTC and meal delivery company, drivers and deliverers have been particularly rare for a few months and Uber now wants to seek to treat those who work to serve its turnover, already well on their own under their status. independent in the past.
Dara Khosrowshah became “Dara K” for a few hours, and he started working for the Uber application with a Tesla Model Y. If he was delighted to have obtained essentially 5 stars at each of his trips, he made several particularly interesting observations, both on the faults of the application and the problems of conduct of the passengers: the customers of the service. The surprised and annoyed CEO of Uber concluded three observations.
1/ The anxiety of having to maintain a high grade
Apps and all digital services have totally transformed the job grading system. From now on, everything is monitored, and public. On Uber, both customers and drivers are rated. Dara Khosrowshah’s first observation was to feel anxiety every day as he relied on his concentration and perfect discretion and empathy to hope to obtain the maximum 5 stars counted in Uber ratings. Among his tips: offer charging cables and a special Spotify playlist.
2/ Customers without filters
Getting on and off an Uber ride is an experience that has become the new norm for many city dwellers. So much a habit that many customers no longer pay attention to privacy issues, explained Dara Khosrowshah. It’s simple: they feel alone on board. This is how he said during his interview that he had been able to follow a conversation about personal problems or confidential information about their company.
3/ On Uber Eats, the lure of profit
In addition to transport by VTC, the boss of Uber also wanted to experience the job of delivery driver on Uber Eats. From his observations, he pointed to a new and somewhat dishonest trend: that of “tip-baiting”. This consisted of the contribution of a significant tip by the customer at the time of the order, to then revise the amount downwards once the order was received. Dara Khosrowshah complained about this practice allowing customers to receive their order more quickly.
