Chicago Cabbie boosts business with social media savvy

Businesses everywhere are using social media as a way of gaining and retaining customers, but driving a taxi is one occupation you might not expect to jump on the bandwagon.

For Chicago cab driver Rashid Temuri, it couldn't be a more natural evolution of his business. Tweeting under the username @ChicagoCabbie, Temuri is building up his business by staying in touch with his customers and communicating with them the same way many of us are staying in touch with friends.

The way most cab drivers work is they'll let their dispatching company know when they're on-call, so the company can contact them for service when a call comes in to the dispatcher. Temuri operates a little differently, announcing on his Twitter when he's available for pick-ups, and occasionally special promotions for his followers.

"Honestly, I never looked at it as marketing nor I had that in mind when I started @ChicagoCabbie account," Temuri told Ars Technica in a recent story. "I started Twitter thinking I'll talk to people about taxi industry of Chicago. I feel there is a gap between taxi drivers and customers and there are lots of misunderstandings. They both are in such a defensive mode. They both feel like they have to protect themselves from the other and it's just so wrong. I joined Twitter to eliminate the gap between a taxi customer and a taxi driver."

Temuri's social media savvy isn't limited to Twitter, either. His followers can track him down using Google Latitudes and Follow My Friends, so they can check and see if Temuri is nearby and available to pick them up. And since Temuri is catering to a tech-savvy crowd, he also offers free Wi-Fi to iPhone and iPad customers in his cab via the Clear iSpot, with Wi-Fi support for other devices including laptops on the way.

While Temuri still works the same number of hours in a day that any other cab driver does, his ridership has changed slightly since he started tweeting. In the Ars Technica story, Temuri says that about 90 to 95 per cent of his riders are repeat business, and he's seen a 15 to 20 per cent increase in revenue since he started in January 2011. Take into account that those riders are ones who are more likely to share their positive taxi experience with others through social media, as one blogger points out after her ride with Temuri, and this cabbie seems to have a real recipe for success.

What seems to make Temuri really stand out from other drivers, though, is his customer service, with the social media merely being one part of the bigger picture. Temuri remembers who people are, readily accepts credit cards, and uses social media as a way to build friendships and a sense of community.

"My personal service gives me advantage, though," said Temuri in the Ars Technica story. "When you call me, you know who I am and who will be showing up at your door."

(Screengrab from @ChicagoCabbie's Twitter page)