Pedicab drivers are in it for the money. Have no doubt about that. While we may like all of the benefits that go along with our occupation, we would not do the work if it we were not paid.
Getting a fare is more than about being in the right place at the right time. If you find a location that has potential customers passing by, you then have to present a more attractive option than what they are considering or currently doing. The other options are generally walking or taking a taxi.
In my experience the most common concerns that potential customers have when deciding whether or not to ride a pedicab include, but are not limited to the following:
- Do I like the look of this pedicab driver?
- Do I like the look of this vehicle?
- Will I have a good time?
- Will I be safe?
- Can I get to my destination quickly?
- Do I have enough cash?
- Will I be embarrassed to ride a pedicab?
- Is my destination too close / too far / too steep?
- Will I pay a fair price for the service(s) offered?
- Will my fellow passenger(s) enjoy the ride?
Each of these are complex decisions that a potential customers must make when determining if they will take a ride from you. Maximizing your income will have a great deal to do with helping your customer feel confident that each of these and any other concern they may have will be alleviated.
1. Do I like the look if this pedicab driver?
Sometimes I think female pedicab drivers have a distinct advantage in alleviating this concern. This may just be my male prejudices at work, but women tend to be well groomed, and less stinky. They also tend to be cuter. But I imagine that female customers may tend to enjoy male drivers for the similar reasons. None the less, appearing tidy, not stinking to high heaven, having situationally appropriate and non-intimidating attire, presenting yourself as having a positive mood that will improve your customers situation all go a long way toward helping your customer feel good about you as a service provider.
2. Do I like the look of this vehicle?
David Lettermen is infamously quoted as saying:
“Don’t get in those things. Those things are dangerous. For people around the country, these are like folks who bought old bicycles, and just hammered a milk crate on to them, and are driving people up and down the streets.“
First impressions are a lasting. I tend to think that a pedicab should be clean and tidy, it’s upholstery in good repair, have bright working lights, it’s visible mechanical systems should leave no doubts, and present a unified impression of safe functionality. Further, I think that advertising should be appropriate to the service that you are rendering and not dissuade your potential customers. (For example: Brain Injury specialists might not be a good choice of advertisers, and strip clubs might lend a impression of seediness.)
3. Will I have a good time?
Few people enjoy getting a service from a provider who is not enjoying giving the service. Other mood spoilers may include the areas that you are traveling through (smelly alleys, scary and or slow traffic or passing scary or slow people.) Will this be comfortable? The driver’s gracefulness traffic, knowing the best routes to travel, keeping up enjoyable conversation, and providing essential information go along way to helping your customer have a good time.
I think that when people have negative “good-time-experiences” they will be less likely to use a pedicab again. However I have given a ride to a Harley rider and his wife who received minor injuries from a pedicab accident, and have given rides to people who feel like they were ripped off previously, so exceptions do exist.
4. Will I be Safe?
The primary safety systems of a pedicab are it’s brakes, steering, drive train, lighting, seating. Even more important than these are the driver’s good common sense and awareness of his or her surroundings and the risks involved in the actions about to be undertaken. The driver’s confidence that he or she can safely deliver passengers to their intended destination will show.
It is important that all of the pedicabs safety systems be working optimally. Again even more important, the “drivers safety systems” must be operating.
Impaired vision, hearing, or judgment obviously make your passengers less safe. Less obvious, but a major consideration that all pedicab drivers should pay close attention to is their level of exhaustion and alertness. When I have low blood sugar levels, or am dehydrated, I do not make as sound decisions than if I feel sharp, well fed and have had plenty of liquids.
The most dangerous time for this is during a peak time of business, often when bars are closing. In this situation you may have been working long and hard and have expended all of your “fuel”, your passengers are likely to be drunk and may distract you, and many of the drivers you are sharing the roads with will be drunk. Maintaining your alertness, and keeping your wits about you while negotiating traffic is essential for your safety and the safety of your passengers. If you have allowed yourself to become obviously overtired, your potential customers are more likely to steer clear.
5. Can I get to my destination quickly?
Thankfully, most folks are not in that much of a hurry. If I get the impression that they are in a hurry I will ask. Passengers often want to make a mad dash to another bar before it closes, catch up to some friends, or close a tab they forgot about at a previous bar. Knowing your way around and how to bypass traffic is essential knowledge. Being generally fit (as most pedicabbers are) is also important.
6. Do I have enough cash?
“I don’t have any cash” is one of the most common concerns I hear.
The most common refrain to this objection is to offer to take customer to an ATM machine. I think that a better approach is to suggest that their friend pay for the ride and the person with no cash pay for the drinks at their next destination. This saves you some time and gets you ready for a new ride faster.
Of course a customer may ask to be taken by an ATM machine. I never object to this, as the ATMs usually only give out $20’s, and I often get one of them.
The largest tip that I have ever received was in the form of a check. I was dubious as to whether it would bounce, but I took it to their bank and cashed it the following Monday. Chaa-Ching.
7. Will I be embarrassed to ride a pedicab?
I tend to hear about this concern from younger folks. Girls sometimes will ask if they are too heavy. I generally tell them about the time I carried 4 UT football players. Guys sometimes will comment about how “gay” it is to be setting next to their friends and getting pulled around by a man. Usually I just, ask them how well they know each other and suggest they will know each other even better by the time the ride is over. (It’s a male bonding experience.)
Some passengers don’t want to be dropped off directly in front of their destination. I usually try to get my passengers as close as possible to where they specified wanting to go, and end my ride by asking “How is this for you?” Of course if they do not want to show up sitting in each others laps, I will stop where they specify.
8. Is my destination too close / too far / too steep?
In my mind, no destination is too close. Quick money adds up.
Determining if a ride is too far is about weighing your opportunity costs. “If I take this ride for X dollars, how many rides am I likely to not be able to take.” To know what your break even is, it helps to keep track of your average hourly income per clock hour. Thus if between 1 am and 2 am you average $50, and your passengers are offering you $25 at 1AM for what will amount to 1 hour of your time, the ride is not worth taking.
However if it is 3 AM, and they offer you the same $25 for an hour of time and your average income between 3AM and 4AM is 10$, the fare is a good one at that time.
Is the destination too steep? The answer to this question will come down to how durable your machine’s driver train is, how heavy your passengers are, how strong you feel at that moment, how long it will take to recover before you can take another fare, how long you generally have between fares at that time of night, if your passengers are willing to have you drop them off at the point that you can’t or do not want to go further, and how much you expect to make by taking them to the destination. I generally say that I will take them as far as I can go. Generally I get an above average tip for taking folks up steep hills.
9. Will I pay a fair price for the service that is offered?
This is actually one of the simplest concerns to overcome.
Answering this questions for yourself is a bit harder and comes down to how “hungry” you are at that moment. We all have to pay rent, and feed ourselves and maybe our family. But not taking a fare means forgoing any income at that moment.
Opportunity cost is your driving consideration. If you know that you make on average $30 an hour during a given clock hour (12AM to 1AM for example), it will not be worth taking a fare that will absolutely pay you less that that amount. Fortunately there are few absolutes when it comes to driving a pedicab. I have often taken people to far off destinations where I did not think I would have a return trip, only to end up picking up back to back rides for several destinations.
If a customer asks how much a ride is, I know they want the service, but are price sensitive. So I ask how many are in their party and where they are going. This will tell me how much time it will take, and how much effort I will expend. If the ride is moderately long (about 1 mile) I generally quote the standard Austin price of 5$ per person. If the ride is significantly shorter than 1 mile and I perceive my passengers to be price sensitive, I will say they can tip me what ever they think is fair.
If I quote a price that the customer objects to, I will generally come back and say: “How about this, I’ll take you to your destination and you can pay me whatever you think is fair.” Most often I will get what I quoted them originally if not more.
10. Will my fellow passenger(s) enjoy the ride?
This has got to be the hardest objection to overcome, as it requires complex communication and negotiation skills.
In general people going out together are friends and consider themselves equals. In this situation consensus (unanimous agreement) is usually required in order to change the agreed upon mode of transportation, or activity. (walking or taxi) One person in the group may have a single objection that you will never hear about that will prevent them from getting in your pedicab. In this case there is no harm in asking: “Hey guys / ladies / folks, can I help you change your mind?
One or more person(s) in the group may not have any cash, may worry about being overcharged, safety, being uncomfortable, or having a bad time. When asking directly what is making them say “No”, they may not to expend the time, effort, or break their mood in order to respond. None the less, overcoming this objection is the holy grail of profitability.
If one person is wanting a ride, you have a natural ally in overcoming the objections of others in the group. They are more likely to know what the objection is, and how to approach the person objecting in a persuasive manner. The person wanting a ride may have a special concerns that overrides the normally politically correct consensus decision making process. Their feet may hurt. They may be celebrating their birthday or anniversary and be willing to pull out this as a trump card to coerce they friends to indulge their desire to ride in your pedicab. Your ally may have $100 in their pocket and just want to give it to you.
The person wanting to take the ride may be willing to spend more money than the other(s). Encouraging your passengers to agree upon who will pay and how much they will pay ahead of time may help overcome this objection.
I believe the key to getting a group into your pedicab where some may object is to help steer the group in deciding to go with you. The following steps may help you get a favorable outcome.
- Initiate conversation. (“So who wants to ride in my pedicab?” You already know the answer to this question.)
- Ask the objecting person to identify themselves. (“Does anybody not want a ride?“)
- Ask what their objection is. (“I know he/she wants a ride, so why don’t you?“)
- Address their concern (cost, safety, time, fair price, distance, no cash, “gayness”, too heavy, too steep, too short, too far, previous bad pedicab experience, etc.)
- Develop new consensus. (“If I get you guys/girls/folks to “X”(their destination) while making sure that “X” (fear/concern/objection) is avoided will that work for you?” -or- “If I get you to Club DeVille with out maiming or killing you folks will that be OK?”
- Deliver the service that you agreed to and collect you fare.
Being a successful and profitable pedicab driver is a job not easily mastered. Being fit, approachable, personable, knowing your area, it’s destinations and attractions, knowing when and where traffic will be backed up and how to get around it all go a long way toward increasing your income. However, these skills are not all there is to it. Getting passengers into your cab is requisite to earning any money at all.
Understanding your customer’s concerns, addressing and overcoming their objections, developing allies, persuading, bypassing or overriding gatekeepers (money spenders) and knowing your product (you, your pedicab, and your city) are salesmanship skills will put extra passengers in your cab and money in your bank, and just might allow you to take a couple months off in the winter.