In challenging times, what can your dispatch do for you?
It has been a turbulent few years in business for many; the coronavirus pandemic and global restrictions imposed by governments have meant that most sectors have suffered. As you know, the taxi and private hire industry has been particularly impacted by lack of movement and closely related industries such as tourism and aviation being severely curtailed.
Fortunately, as Covid-19 becomes less of a threat, companies that have survived are bouncing back. Here at Sherlock, we are seeing many of our customers’ demand returning to near pre-pandemic levels; certainly, in the UK, businesses are facing a new problem of driver shortages which is definitely preferable to the state of the market this time last year!
As we come out the other side of a difficult two years, I would like to share some of the exciting updates that we have been providing to our customers at Sherlock.
Product updates & releases
You may already know that at Sherlock, we provide product upgrades and new feature updates at absolutely no additional charge to our customers – this means if we’re updating the customer app, we’re not going to ask you for a lump sum to cover the upgrade or leave you on an older version of the app without technical support. There is no catch to this; the cost of updates has simply already been factored into what you pay each month.
During this difficult time we have released four product upgrade releases to our customers, each of which has included hundreds of product improvements and new features, big and small, and based on real feedback from our customers. Here’s a small selection.
- New integrations including Stripe, Twilio, Gett and Booking.com
- Our brand-new Retention & Rewards Programme which gives customers more flexibility over marketing campaigns, how to use promotions to achieve tangible goals, how to reward loyal customers and crucially, the tools to measure the effectiveness of campaigns to ensure budget is being spent wisely. For example, give bonus points based on various criteria such as mileage driven, app downloads and usage, pick-up locations or times of day
- Customer experience improvements such as car animations on the passenger app/web portal and offering different available vehicles automatically in-app during periods of high demand to reduce wait times
- A better driver experience through downloadable statements directly from their app
- New marketing campaign features which make it easier to send mass promotional texts to your database
- Workflow improvements that make managing your business’ money easier – for example, specifying payment options based on pick-up location (no cash jobs from the airport)
- Account Management Portal improvements including financial accounts information being made available on the account management portal. Our customers are encouraging their own customers to sign up for free to create, amend and manage bookings online, review budgets and spend by cost centres and access complete account history without needing to phone to speak to an Account Manager
- The option to send payment links via text or email to customers booking over the phone
Our approach being product and client focused has allowed us to continue onboarding new clients across the globe throughout these challenging times – there really is no other dispatch out there that can truly cater to the different needs of different markets across the world like Sherlock can.
For a no obligation demo, get in touch on 020 3214 5110 or email demo@sherlocktaxi.com
