Careers Hub | Uber: The new place for business development?

Uber is continuously on the rise with it now being offered in 530 cities across the globe and services over a million riders per day. Whether you’re a regular or casual user, it’s a great mode of transportation from point A to point B, not to mention the lollies are always a plus. Typically I rate my Uber driver’s number of stars based on their lolly selection, but that’s just me.

So I’m curious, are you the type who sits quietly, reads on your phone, listens to music, and enjoys some down time during the ride? Or, are you the type who enjoys a good chat and likes to get to know your driver? Personally, I’m more into the first option, but I know plenty of people who enjoy a solid Uber conversation. Heck, I even know a couple who met on Uber.

Recently, I was in an Uber with my partner (who’s more the “let’s get to know my Uber driver” type) and he got chatting with our driver. As the conversation went on, I realised we were the recipients of his elevator pitch. He was giving us a rundown of his start up business and ended the conversation by handing us his business card and recommended we follow his Facebook page. At first I was quite shocked, but then I realised how incredibly genius that is. Essentially, he’s having 10+ conversations a day with people who are in the right location, and who have enough disposable income to use Uber. Plus, the driver has the ability to sense the rider’s interest due to the one on one setting. If they’re interested, he can lightly promote his product or service in a non-pushy way.

After sharing this story with some friends recently, they mentioned they had a similar experience. At the end of the ride, the driver mentioned he makes hand-made jewellery; he then casually whips out his display to see if they were interested in purchasing anything. It caught them off guard, but because they had built a relationship with the driver, they were more open to the idea of seeing his side business as opposed to if he had just gone up to them on the street out of the blue.

In other experiences, I’ve had Uber drivers who are very senior business consultants who run their own business, and simply choose to be an Uber driver to get out of the house/office to interact with people from a social perspective.

Whether you’re a driver or a rider, you never know when your next elevator pitch may make an unexpected appearance. Always have those business cards ready!