Uber is a business that is a well-oiled machine…
They have removed all the constraints that impede delivery of service to a customer. If I were you, I’d invest.
You see, Uber is the epitome of Throughput®.
Uber operates with the 4 basic throughput® rules:
- Fewest moving parts
- Customer drives the train
- Delivery of real value (measured)
- Moving at the speed of need©
How does it do that? The UBER Company has operationalized its value creation at every step in the service chain. And it’s all in the simplicity of its SERVICE STRUCTURE©.
“There was something unusually soothing about not having to figure out the tip. Though I’d been taking taxis for years, I never really saw the computing of the tip at the end of the ride so annoying. Not until I no longer had to bother with it. What an unexpected relief. How silly, right? But, not really. The interruption of my ride to compute a tip for my driver was just that … an interruption … and I feel happier without it. One happiness factor, among many:
- They show up in front of me when I need them.
- In a clean comfy car.
- They take me to my destination along the smoothest and most direct route.
- And I arrive.
- And that’s it. Nothing more
The delivery of a service. Helping me out. At the speed of my need. Wonderful. I ? Uber.”
We can learn much by examining this perfect little business model. Here’s how it works:
Only three moving parts, the three Uber Levers:
Lever #1: The customer pulls the tripwire of the Uber technology. The customer calls a car.
Lever #2: the technology comes alive. This machine is an unlikely hero, actually, because it’s only software, but it sits at the center of it all and, like the kindly Gipetto, orchestrates the show once the customer calls it to life. Technology is the backbone of the UBER service model.
Technology, the independent, unemotional software that locates the user, finds the closest driver, makes the user feel safe, holds everyone accountable and charges the credit card. It is the busiest of the three parts, but it’s independent and not accustomed to emotion or breakdowns. Lever #2: the independent robot which makes it all happen.
Lever #3: The driver. A black car arrives, with a driver and directions. And, with the proper incentive to find the most direct route to your destination.
We have a person with a need. Driving the show.
Supported by technology as the matchmaker and a black car and driver to do the deed.
And it all runs by accountability.
You see, you can’t take an Uber car unless you are a good customer, rated by the driver. And your driver can’t get the work unless he/she gets good feedback. It’s an accountability machine that closes the “service” loop. The machine only knows how good it is because each part must give feedback to the other. The driver rates the customer. The customer rates the driver and Uber tracks everyone’s best behavior. Just exactly how every company should operate.
Dis-intermediate EVERYTHING that gets in the way of delivering value to a customer … at the speed of need.
How many levers do you have?
How well are they oiled?
