桑迪來襲,Uber陷入輿論風(fēng)暴
????面對(duì)一片聲討,Uber發(fā)表了長(zhǎng)篇累牘的博文,用來闡釋市場(chǎng)機(jī)制。這種觀念本身不賴,但在此情此景下,其實(shí)錯(cuò)得離譜。它的邏輯也許是正確的,但卻丟掉了人文關(guān)懷。普通人聽到的只是颶風(fēng)過后Uber向紐約市民漫天要價(jià)。我發(fā)現(xiàn),以前在我和谷歌就有爭(zhēng)議的話題進(jìn)行溝通時(shí),谷歌也常犯這種錯(cuò)誤。谷歌的態(tài)度是:數(shù)據(jù)和邏輯表明我們沒錯(cuò),所以我們就再多為你提供些數(shù)據(jù)和邏輯,或是描述我們的思路。我們是用事實(shí)來面對(duì)情感的??墒?,在情感面前,數(shù)據(jù)是無法與之溝通的。不管說得多大聲,多緩慢,有些人就是不愿意領(lǐng)會(huì)。實(shí)際上,這么做只會(huì)惹得他們火冒三丈。 ????目前對(duì)Uber大加撻伐的人主要是來自(a)陽光明媚的西海岸以及(b)認(rèn)為一些無良的首席執(zhí)行官/投資人正在幕后操縱,乘人之危盤剝紐約人。作為了解Uber團(tuán)隊(duì)的人,我可以肯定地說,他們是一群不錯(cuò)的人,工作環(huán)境艱苦,正在努力使叫車服務(wù)更準(zhǔn)確便捷。對(duì)這樣一家初創(chuàng)企業(yè)來說,不管他們獲得了多少正面報(bào)道或良好機(jī)遇,他們?nèi)允且患艺诔砷L(zhǎng)、不斷改良業(yè)務(wù)模式的小公司。 ????假如總結(jié)過去這一周里的話,Uber的團(tuán)隊(duì)會(huì)寫這么一本“災(zāi)害應(yīng)急措施大全”手冊(cè)。我敢說這本手冊(cè)會(huì)包含如下內(nèi)容: ?????分公司總經(jīng)理可與總部同步宣布“緊急情況”:在此期間,Uber不會(huì)再收乘客的錢,通過回饋那些平時(shí)絕大多數(shù)時(shí)候支持公司的乘客,能有效增加司機(jī)人數(shù)。 ?????應(yīng)用可在“峰時(shí)價(jià)格”信息之后顯示附加信息:設(shè)想一下,如果在“峰時(shí)價(jià)格,費(fèi)用翻番”后出現(xiàn)這樣一條信息,情況就會(huì)明朗得多——受桑迪影響的人們請(qǐng)注意:在此非常時(shí)期,我們需要額外收費(fèi)以滿足需求,這樣才能召集更多Uber司機(jī)上路。Uber不會(huì)收取任何費(fèi)用。所有收費(fèi)都將付給司機(jī)。我們希望能確保您安全、干爽并快速地抵達(dá)目的地。 ?????公關(guān)至上,經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)理論留待日后再談:要有一套常用問題和更佳解答,這樣才能讓Uber呈現(xiàn)有人情味的一面——?jiǎng)e光談自己的員工,也要說說司機(jī)和乘客的故事?,F(xiàn)在說這話時(shí)要加倍小心,別再怪罪司機(jī)(比如什么“別光看著我們,是這些司機(jī)想多賺點(diǎn)”)。 ????我看到有些有意思的微博稱,要讓受颶風(fēng)侵襲以外的Uber群體為峰時(shí)價(jià)格提供補(bǔ)助。不過我不太相信這些人真的會(huì)掏錢。但這些話題都離題甚遠(yuǎn)——Uber無論生死,靠的都是算法??梢阅肬ber過去這一周的表現(xiàn)和公寓交換平臺(tái)Airbnb公司比比看,對(duì)于受災(zāi)地區(qū)成千上萬的訂單,后者幾乎是第一時(shí)間免掉了所有預(yù)訂費(fèi)。一年前,Airbnb也碰上了重大危機(jī)。當(dāng)時(shí)有個(gè)房東回自己公寓才發(fā)現(xiàn),家里已被租客洗劫一空,還遭到大肆破壞。當(dāng)時(shí)Airbnb的第一反應(yīng)也是基于事實(shí)進(jìn)行回應(yīng)(也就是碰到這種情況的客戶是極少數(shù))。不過其團(tuán)隊(duì)很快就意識(shí)到,公司表現(xiàn)出“任何客戶都會(huì)碰到這種情況,所以就能安之若素”的態(tài)度十分不妥。他們隨后迅速行動(dòng)起來,提供了更好的溝通信息、客戶支持和其他保障條件。 ????而Uber剛好才遇上自己的“公寓被搗毀危機(jī)”。我也可能會(huì)猜錯(cuò),不過我想他們下次碰到這種情況會(huì)做得更好。 ????漢特?沃爾克是谷歌公司的產(chǎn)品管理總監(jiān)。 ????譯者:清遠(yuǎn) |
????In response to the criticism, Uber published lengthy posts explaining the dynamics of marketplaces. Right idea, but oh so wrong. While the logic was true, the humanity was missing. The average person just heard that Uber was charging New Yorkers more post-hurricane. I used to see Google make this mistake frequently in our communications on controversial topics. Data and logic told us we were correct and we'd just keep showing you more of it, or describing our thought process. We greeted emotion with facts. In the face of emotion, data can be a foreign language. It doesn't matter how loudly and slowly you say it, some people don't understand. In fact, all you're doing is pissing them off. ????The people who are piling on Uber are largely doing it from (a) sunny West Coast and (b) imagining that some unethical CEO/Investors are pulling strings to exploit NYC. Knowing members of the Uber team I'm comfortable asserting that you basically have good folks, working under incredible circumstances, trying to make the right call for a startup that, no matter how much good press and fortune they've had, is still a small business growing and evolving its model. ????Assume that coming out of this past week, the Uber team will write a "what to do in disasters" playbook. Here's what I bet it includes: ?????Local GMs can work with HQ to declare "emergency:" During this time, Uber won't collect money on a passenger fare, effectively helping to increase supply of drivers by giving back to the passenger community which supports the company during the 99.9% of the year which is normal. ?????App can show messages next to surge pricing info: Imagine how much clearer it would be if next to the "Surge Pricing in Effect 2x" it said "To those impacted by Sandy: We need to charge more to meet demand during this challenging time in order to get more Uber drivers on the road. Uber will not take any fees. All proceeds go to the drivers. We hope you are able to stay safe, dry and get to your destination quickly." ?????Public Communications Which Leave the Economic Theory for Later: It will have a set of FAQs and better responses which help to put a human face on Uber - not just employees but driver and passenger stories. Now it needs to be careful to do this without blaming the drivers (i.e., "don't look at us, these drivers want more money." ????I saw some other interesting tweets about allowing the Uber community outside of impacted areas to subsidize surge pricing. And I wondered if sponsors would subsidize. But both of these are kinda red herrings - Uber is going to live and die by the algorithm. Contrast Uber's week with Airbnb, which immediately waived booking fees on tens of thousands of listings in impacted areas. Airbnb had its crisis moment a year ago when someone returned to a trashed apartment. Airbnb's initial response was fact-based (this happens to very few people). Its team soon realized that it wasn't okay to appear they were comfortable that this happens to ANY of their customers and put better messaging, customer support and other assurances in place. ????Uber just had its trashed apartment moment. I could be wrong, but my guess is they'll do better next time. ????Hunter Walk is a director of product management at Google. |