I don’t want to “be like Uber”!

If I see another corporate presentation talking about innovation that has an Uber logo,probably on the first 3 slides, I’m going to run!

How often have you read an article, heard a conference speaker or discussed in a business seminar the concept of “Be like Uber” or “can your company be the next Uber”?

Business coaches often talk about the Uber effect – “how can your company become the next multi-million dollar startup business?  "How do you transform a traditional industry like Uber transformed public transport such that the ordinary citizen can hail a cab with a few simple taps on their smartphone anywhere in the world."

There is no doubt that Uber is a game changer in not just the taxi industry, but in every other industry that relies on having a vehicle reliably transporting goods, services or people from point A to point B without long term contractual obligations.

Uber has been a revelation to service industries.  Think of the various product innovations they have launched:

• Uber Black, X, Cab, Chopper, taxi

• Uber ice-cream

• Uber vaccinations

• Uber charity

• Uber ……

Wise leaders see Uber, not as a threat, but as an asset to their traditional business functions.  But in countless presentations and business coaching I here ‘experts’ telling us to become the next Uber of our industry and how we need to be more like Uber.

I disagree. 

Consider this. Do you think Uber Execs are sitting around a table at a strategy session going “how do we become more like Uber” or “we need to do what we are doing because everyone wants to be like us? … probably not.  Instead, they’re probably discussing what consumers need to improve their lives and then understanding how they can deliver these to their customers.  So how do they do this?

Fast Company recently released an article by James Monsees (CEO of Ploom) in which they highlight 3 key approaches to innovate your business:

1. BUILD LOYALTY BY DESIGNING AN INTENTIONAL CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
2. EXTEND A SIMPLIFIED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ONLINE
3. DRIVE INNOVATION BY USING CONSTANT FEEDBACK AS A BACKDOOR BUSINESS MODEL

The article discussed that a winning strategy is not to try to replicate what a business like Uber is doing but rather to understand your customer needs and design your services around that.

When you try to BE LIKE UBER

You fit your traditional business to the market.  This leads to a mere extension of what you are currently doing and chances are that some other company thinking differently will take over your market share.

When you THINK LIKE UBER

You put your customer in the centre and design offerings around their needs and wants

In a recent Design Thinking workshop, I challenged a room of conference-goers to think of best practices in Inventory Optimisation to improve customer service for a Chocolate manufacturer.  Those that put their company as the focal point, listed the traditional Inventory Management Best Practices to improve improve stock availability.  2 groups put their customers in the centre of their challenge and came up with the following unique alternatives:

1. Install chocolate on tap in stores so that consumers can create their own flavours whenever they want

2. Develop a mobile application that helps the consumer list the type of chocolate they like and it will direct them to the closest store that has stock. 

In summary, change your thinking, change your approach,

think about why your customer needs change

not what your company can or cannot do today. 

By putting your customer first, you then start a process of designing a product or service around their needs which in turn leads to greater consumer satisfaction and more profits.  Then you can truly “be like Uber”

Umesh Sita