“It turns out young people love cars and would rather own one than rely on ride-sharing services from the likes of Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc.” This is how a recent article titled “Ride-Sharing Millennials Found to Crave Car Ownership After All” by Bloomberg writer David Welch begins. Fancy that. It seems as if one day Millennials dislike something, and the next it’s their new favorite. But I’m not here to gripe about the way the media covers my generation…I’ll leave that to a future blog post.
What I do want to discuss is a specific word found in that opening sentence: “Rely.” Contrary to popular belief, Millennials have places to go and people to see. We have responsibilities just like every other thirty or fortysomething, and often we can’t afford to walk into a meeting late and use the, “Sorry, my Uber driver took a wrong exit” excuse.
I, like many other of my Millennial cohorts, own a car. I am not a fan of relying on other people except when I have no other choice (that “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself” attitude is my mom talking), or if I’m simply not in the mood to drive to an event where traffic will undoubtedly be horrific. There’s a quote in the article that addresses this: “[Millennials] tend to use [TNCs] for specific reasons like going out for the evening or attending events where parking and traffic are problems.”
But the most important part of that quote comes next: “For younger drivers, Uber is replacing cabs, not cars.” There you have it folks. The TNCs aren’t coming after your precious clients; they are coming for taxi customers. So it’s time to stop the blame game and start brainstorming and strategizing how to nab the kind of Millennials you want — twentysomethings out to have a classy, safe time.
Another article, “Actually, We Were All Wrong — Millennials Love Cars,” written by Business Insider’s Matthew DeBord peaked my interest because he calls out two particular types of potential clients: “…for younger folks living in big cities, owning a vehicle can be onerous. But when Millennials pair up and start to form families, car ownership becomes more imperative.”
So let’s break it down.
- Young Professionals In The Big City
If you live in Los Angeles like me, you know if you want to go to a concert, Dodger game, or even just meet up with friends for a night of partying downtown, you are going to run into traffic. It doesn’t matter if it’s 4 a.m. on a Tuesday in the pouring rain — it’s inevitable. There’s no bigger buzzkill than getting off of work and jumping on the 110 only to sit amongst countless other vehicles in what seems to be a never ending gridlock. I just wanted to drink and go bowling!
You can leverage countless selling points here. Does anyone really want to be stuck in a complete stranger’s car for an hour and a half? Worse yet, what if that driver doesn’t know when to stop talking? If people do want to talk, it’s going to be with their friends. You know what’s lame? Showing up to the venue separately and then trying to find a place to group up. Our time is limited; we want to get in as much gossip and laughter as possible. With a Sprinter or minibus, all of that is possible and more. And best of all? You don’t have to deprive a designated driver of their chance to get drunk and regret it in the morning.
- Young Couples With Children
Ah, the almighty date night. The one time a month when couples can finally get some time away from their little monsters…I mean children. To my understanding, it’s rare for people who have kids to just get a chance to relax. No one should have to drive and run the risk of ruining the night by road rage or an accident. If a professional chauffeur has a couple’s back, they can snuggle in the back seat and will arrive at their destination in one piece. Better yet, if someone is trying to plan an anniversary surprise, what’s more impressive: A Honda Civic or a new Lincoln Continental?
LEXI TUCKER is LCT assistant editor and coordinator of the LCT Fast 40, a group of operators under 40 who collaborate and learn from each other about all aspects of chauffeured transportation. She can be reached at lexi@lctmag.com.
Keywords
building your clientele client markets customer service How To Lexi Tucker Lyft Millennial Matters Millennials Sales & Marketing TNCs Uber youth marketing
Follow @lctmag on Twitter
via Limo News http://ift.tt/2krboDZ
No comments:
Post a Comment