The success equation of the taxi business is incomplete without drivers.
But, the drivers are not employees of the taxi businesses who work in a traditional 9.00 A.M. to 5.00 P.M. schedule. Instead, they work as independent business owners who need to be enticed to make them drive more, pick-up more passengers, drop them off quickly, and again take the next drive.
It’s all possible when the taxi business invests in enriching driver experience and maintain a good relationship with them.
Happy Drivers = Good Business (Great Performance + High Profits + Enormous Growth)
It’s a sign the relationship needs to be built with drivers at first. Alas! A few taxi companies realize the need of engaging and enhancing the driver’s experience, which has backfired them in terms of drivers not staying online for long hours, troubling to meet the increasing demand, and profits going southwards.
This is why the leading players such as Uber and Lyft that were struggling to manage the drivers amidst the rise of the freelance-based economy, they have brought gala changes to the taxi driver app solution after conducting a lot of research, and interviews.
Keep the drivers motivated to stay online and take up more rides
Stimulate the competitive juices
Rewarding the drivers for every ride they take with badges or medals and then pushing them to take another ride to earn more badges is a psychological trick that shares a resemblance with Candy crush gameplay where the goal is always beyond the player’s capability, but they are motivated to play through small rewards.
The taxi company like Uber has adapted ludic loop to entice the drivers to keep moving with a promise of getting more medals or badges just after they earn a badge without paying real money.
Moreover, showcasing the metrics like- time spent online, trips taken, money earned, and overall rating of the current week, as opposed to the previous weeks, encourage the drivers to drive more and break the previous records.
Prompt them with cheery messages
The income targeting is a phenomenon that nearly every worker set for a day, a week, or a month. It works wonder in nudging the drivers to drive longer and harder which you have certainly experienced while filling the long online forms where the message- “Almost there” motivates you to go ahead.
For instance, when the driver tries to log off, the message with a headline- “Make it to $100“ when hitting the driver’s app screen, then it’s difficult for the driver to overlook the message and sign off. After reading the message text-
You are just $10 away from making $100 in a day.
Are you sure you want to go offline?
Go offline – Keep driving
that’s illustrating them to drive more for making a sum of money or hitting the earning goals, the driver definitely gives up the idea of signing off for the day and begin a new ride.
Send such hyper-personalized messages to the right drivers that tempts them and brings them back in the driving mood.
Set the earning goals
Most of the people set earning goals to fulfill the dreams of their life. When the taxi company helps the drivers to inch closer to the dream, they are actually nurturing the relationship with the drivers and make them take up more rides.
Some of the online taxi booking software allows the drivers to set up the income goals in the app itself to buy the things they dream of. This information helps the taxi businesses to personalize the messages that are sent just before the driver try to sign off.
Also, when the drivers set the earning targets, they are self-empowered to not work just during busiest times, instead, they will work longer in a day to accomplish the goals set by them.
Incentivize the drivers
Earning rewards for driving extra miles certainly delight the drivers and inspire them to meet the milestone set by the taxi company. These perks are quite helpful during the holiday season or special events to keep the optimum number of taxis on the road. The promotional offers can be ongoing, seasonal, or one-time deal.
For instance, Uber has launched an ongoing deal for high performing drivers where the drivers maintaining high rating and low cancellation rates get the opportunity to take increased pay at home and free college tuition.
The drivers earn some points on every ride and more they drive, the points will increase and one of the four levels will get unlocked, which in turn, surge their rewards (Discount on vehicle maintenance, cash backs on fuel purchases, and free 24/7 roadside assistance).
Create efficiency in driver’s routes
In addition to route optimization, when the driver is sent a ride request that’s in a way of their commute, it gears up the driver to not sign off and appeal him to take the next ride. Thereby the drivers can take up more rides and earn more in less time.
Lyft brings the concept of carpooling to the life with the launch of driver destination feature where the drivers accept the ride request based on the passenger’s current location. The advanced algorithms match the drivers with the passengers who enter in the close proximity of the driver’s current ride.
It has powered the drivers to pick up the rides on their commute to make them offer the service for increased hours.
The initiative for the casual drivers who don’t login more than 30 hours a week has helped in getting more drivers on board during the busiest hours. In this way, the supply during peak hours can be managed.
Uber used a similar forward dispatch algorithm to keep the driver constantly busy because sitting idle makes the drivers go sign off.
The new feature dispatches a ride request to the driver before the latest one ends. Conclusively, the feature helps the drivers not sit idle in the hope of getting a new ride and causes them to stay on the road for a longer time during peak hours.
