    
crabbycabbie
New member
Username: crabbycabbie
Post Number: 24
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Tuesday, October 25, 2005 - 11:11 pm: | |
As you might guess my schtick was story telling..I had a million of them for every occasion but that wasn't my only secret to getting good tips while driving a cab
When I first checked in and was assigned a cab I set the radio to the station for whatever sporting event that happened to be going on that day...another button would change the channel to a country station...another button went to rock and so on...whoever I got if they were riding with me for any length of time was asked if they wanted something in particular and with a press of a single button they got it(they of course assumed that I myself was a fan of the same thing they liked since I had the radio set to the station right from the start..it created a connection between us)
One of the jobs we had to do was deliver newspapers to people who for whatever reason did not get theirs that day so early on in my shift I read the paper from front to back and therefore was well read and could talk about anything that was newsworthy they wanted to talk about
I didn't push people to listen to my stories...I usually asked them a question or two and if they seemed interested I'd launch into a short story and if they liked that then a longer one but sometimes it was they who wanted to talk and tell ME stories(those stories often got recycled by me to tell to the next person)
My last strategy was to give out cards with the company name and phone number on them to people who tipped well... I'd write my name and cab number on the back so they could ask for ME next time(during slow times I'd write my name on a hundred of these cards so for good tippers I had the card all ready to hand them as they left the cab)
The idea behind all these tricks was to create a connection between myself and the fare...the last thing I wanted was for them to think of me as a bus driver...I wanted them to like me and want to specifically ride with ME next time so I created an identity they would appreciate and would WANT to reward for making their ride pleasant
BTW This IS something that will surprise you...in my real life I can and have gone MONTHS without saying a single word out loud...I'm not shy or introverted I just would rather not talk but I can be articulate and even some say charming if I need to be |