Yes! It’s not once but experienced numerous times by now. How do you feel if your taxi driver is cancelling/avoiding the trip, but you need to catch your flight? I am referring to taxi ridesharing services. The drivers are very choosy on drop location, payment mode, etc., If your drop location is close by then they delay reaching the spot to avoid the trip. The delay might frustrate you and that makes you to look for an alternative. While the industry is deeply bragging about digital transformation, I faced enough drivers who demands for cash payment than digital money (may not be the case in every part of the world though). I am told by the driver if they accept digital payments, the company (rideshare operator) takes longer settlement cycle to the drivers.

To the businesses, it’s very important to find out the black sheep in the team? Think about it, identifying innovative product idea to, all the boardroom/war room discussions to, all the herculean efforts to prove the market that the idea is a ‘business’ (not all interesting ideas may become a ‘business’). While technically the idea is convincing it’s very important to ensure at ground level implementation right. Unfortunately, most of the times the feedback never reaches bottom up. One of the real reasons why the feedback never reaches to the top is, the top level never cares nor not knowing the ways to get the feedback. Collecting the feedback is an art and most of the templated approaches fail. Customer never cares filling surveys, or the feedback collection is outsourced. The third party mandated to collect the feedback treats that as a ‘job’. They can always get you the feedback but to get the reflection you must be lucky ;). To the business owner, the success of the product/business could be his life on the line but for many it’s a day job. If you care be about the business, then be on the line. Once your product reaches the market then the buyer/user decides what you should do until otherwise you can educate the customers and change the consumers behavior in short cycles. A flawless execution warrants everyone to stay tuned on your vision, idea and beliefs. An impressive idea can be miserably failed if it’s not executed right and that’s compels to look at the last mile.

In the quoted example, the driver forces to cancel the trip by the user and convince to pay by cash and not avail the service through the app/product. The business may never get to know the reality who is really failing your product. Interestingly that’s none other than your own team member. Mostly, the businesses are failed not due to the customers rather by the executors. Watch out who is failing it (huh! Don’t punish him and that can’t be a solution. Don’t change him and give that ‘same day job’ to someone else. See why your first user that’s the team member is not convinced on your vision and get him on board and that’s your last mile and the rest will be history) 🙂