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Dec 09, 2014

What Gokhan, The Best NYC Uber Driver, Taught Me About Marketing

Austin Walker
Credera Team

Austin Walker and Credera Team

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Gokhan is the best Uber driver in New York City, but I only know this because of what he told me. And what he told me, actually taught me something about marketing too.

 My wife and I recently went to New York City and while we like to travel, this would be our first time using Uber. 

Gokhan picked us up at LaGuardia, helped us with our luggage and whisked us down to lower Manhattan. His car was spotless, clean and conversation came easy. As we pulled up to our destination, he quickly jumped out and helped us with our luggage. I thanked him for our ride and turned to go inside. 

But it wasn’t until we were walking away that I really came to appreciate what a great driver Gokhan was. 

Before we got inside the building, he called out, “Please wait just a moment while I check the back seat to see if you’ve left anything behind.” He proceeded to lean deep into the car to check both seats and finding nothing, he thanked us and we parted ways.

This struck me as an incredibly kind gesture. The value of which only increased as the days passed, because for the rest of our trip, I watched every Uber driver as we got out of the car and not a single one checked the back seat after we got out like Gokhan did. 

The thing is though, the only reason I knew about Gokhan’s kind gesture was because he told me about it – literally. 

Had he not called out, I wouldn’t have know about the extra effort he put in. But because he did, I realized how he goes above and beyond transporting and caring for his passengers. In my mind, he became the standard to compare other drivers to. The standard to which every other driver, even though we rated them all 4 or 5 stars, fell short. No one was as good as Gokhan.

 That’s when I realized what Gokhan did was just marketing. 

MARKETING IS JUST TELLING THE TRUTH IN A WAY THAT’S MEANINGFUL OR INTERESTING TO A RELEVANT AUDIENCE.

He could have silently checked the back seat and let us go on our way, but because he knew he was adding value and called my attention to it (he marketed it), it was a huge value add to me and cemented his reputation in my mind as the best Uber driver.

Our other drivers may very well have checked the back seat when I wasn’t looking, but if so, none of them told me about it. Even though they may have put in the same effort and care that Gokhan did, because Gokhan marketed to me what he was doing, he’s still the top driver in my book, and probably will be for a long time.

Are you or your company one of these other drivers? Are you doing great work, but the truth about your work isn’t being told in an meaningful or interesting way to a relevant audience? If so, you’re only falling behind your competitor, who’s doing the exact same things as you, but just talking about it correctly.

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