You drove straight past; we were left under the tiny eave of the building, waving our arms, screaming out after you in the rain. We tried calling but there was no connection. Or you simply didn’t answer.
And like our relationship with so many brands – we remain invisible to you.
Did we feel unrecognised? Yes. Undervalued – most definitely. You looked straight through us to your next ride. You missed us.
And yet we ditched the traditional taxis because you promised so much more. There were the early days in our romance when you looked after us with icy water on +30 degree days and ensured we had minty fresh breath before a meeting. Then when we started getting serious; you showered us with puppies, delivered us ice cream when we were sad and took us to places we’ve never been.
But then something happened. Well, a few things happened.
You called it a ‘safe-riding’ fee but changed it after you were found lacking the due diligence. Your rigorous background checks on your drivers failed to learn of their serious criminal offences, and that was okay that we ride alone at night with them? A few assaults later and still nothing… how could you have missed the opportunity here?
Instead, more bad news.
Your female ex-employee Susan J Fowler penned a blog after leaving your company to expose what you refused to see or fix. Your male-lensed, competitive internal culture perpetuated further harassment and stagnation of your female talent. And your HR department sat on their hands because your ‘high performing’ male stars were a protected species. Your female talent left and you blindly missed it again.
But Seejane did not miss it. Nor Shebah, Stretch and SheTaxis.
They used their female-lens and saw a huge gap in the market.
Need we convince you how cashed up women are these days? Betty is no longer in the kitchen waiting for Don to walk through the door. She is making 85% of the consumer spending decisions. Betty is out starting a business with Joan and Peggy now and she’s got a lot of cross-towning to do. And guess what? She likes to feel safe and seen and visible.
But still you kept your eye on the male-lens.
You are not alone Uber, I see it all the time. I worked in these cultures and know how blind they are to their own biases. And I know at what cost to their bottom line and business opportunity.
Companies that hinder women internally are going to struggle getting women to buy their product externally. It’s a massive liability. Gender-blindness is costing businesses revenue when they could actually be making so much easy-jam.
Ask yourself where your business sits on the evolution of gender awareness? Wouldn’t you like to find out how much a gender lens is worth to your bottom line growth? There’s no time to waste – if you aren’t doing it – there are competitors out there waiting to seize your opportunity to pick up the customers you drove straight past.
Don’t leave women at the curb. Bring them along for the journey.
It’s time to get smart about your KGIs – Key Gender Indicators. Get them assessed before you miss your next big opportunity.
If you want to talk about making more money more from the massive female economy, contact me or subscribe to my newsletter.
Bec Brideson