Smiley Sharing: Driver Round Up #1

Here at Smiley Sharing we share the lighter side of (Uber) rideshare and life in and around and beyond St. Louis through a daily journal of ride-a-long adventures of our mascot Smiley and his driver Michael. In our daily ride-a-longs, tips for riders and drivers are scattered throughout the post. Here at the Driver Round up, we gather all the tips, tricks, and answers, as applied to an Uber Driver in St. Louis, in one post a week. May this help those of you out there who are new, or even veterans to Uber St. Louis save and make more money.

Smiley Sharing Driver Round Up: 5 Star Tips

Smiley Rideshare Driver: Tips for Mental Health and Wellness

(On a sidenote for those drivers out there and for anybody in general, Michael has really learned a lot about balance, which includes balancing your work time and your off time). Sure, Michael could chase pings until three or four o’clock in the morning ,and he could make good money, but he would be too exhausted to take care of his other duties, such as his schoolwork and his time with his son and other family members. In the beginning, Michael used to set a monetary target before he came off the clock, but he found that he was burning himself out. Michael has since discovered it works out best if you set a target of time and so whether that be in chunks of four hours, eight hours, or twelve hours at the max. Time really is the only thing that we all equally have.

Read the full Article Here: Smiley Ridesharing: The Lighter Side of Ridesharing, St. Louis and Life

Smiley Driver Mental Health and Wellness: Balance

In our last blog we spoke about the need for balance. Balance really has to deal with those who you are responsible to, such as your family, your children, and your partner. In life, ridesharing or any other work can start to take over the time you’ve meant to give to other parts of your life, such as your family or hobbies.

A lot of things in this life are not fair, but there is one thing that is fair: we all get the same amount hours in the day. The question is this: How are you going to balance the precious resource?

Read the full post here: Smiley Ridesharing: Uber, Mental Health, Balance and Bears?

Smiley Driver  Mental Health and Wellness: Self-Care

Self-care is vital to providing the best service possible. Doing your best to make a good first impression, working hard, and taking great care of your family are all important, but if you don’t make time to take care of yourself as well, you won’t have the time, energy, and attitude necessary to accomplish all you want to do each day. Sometimes you just need to take a little time for yourself!

Read the full post here: Smiley Sharing: St. Louis Uber Car Wash, Night of the Blue Iguana

Smiley Rideshare Driver: Passengers Strategy

Smiley Driver: How to Rate

In addition to delivering five-star service, Michael also delivers five-star ratings to every one of his passengers as often as possible (which is usually every trip!). Michael understands that his riders are the way he’s getting through grad school and enable him to pay his bills, so unless they damage the van, threaten him, or cause harm to him, Michael gives all of his riders five stars, and he asks if he’s been a five-star driver that day (and the answer is pretty much always “yes,” which makes all of us happy!).

Read the full post here: Smiley Ridesharing: Uber, Mental Health, Balance and Bears?

Smiley Rideshare Driver: Asking the Passengers to Cancel

With 10 minutes left to go in our Terrific Tuesday, Michael and I had a ping that took us all the way out to the middle of an intersection of two major highways. Michael wanting to give five star service and didn’t believe that he be picking someone up outside out of the middle of the highway, so he called the passenger got the proper address and realized that it was over 13 miles away from where we had been sent. To ensure that the rider got timely service, Michael asked so had to ask the passenger to cancel out and reenter their request so that they could get picked up by a closer driver. Sometimes allowing somebody else to get the trip serves everyone in a five star way.

For Uber Drivers: Asking the passenger to cancel saves your cancellation rate.

Read the full Article Here: Smiley Ridesharing: The Lighter Side of Ridesharing, St. Louis and Life

Smiley Driver: 5 Star Impressions

The takeaway for tonight is this: people know and can feel when the people who they have chosen to give their business to are either looking out just for themselves, or are genuinely interested in doing the best job possible. Though the cab driver may have made a little money tonight, that rider is going to remember how he was treated by that company. As Michael understands, it takes a long time to build a great reputation, but only an instant to lose it. In the end, what will it profit you if the people on whom you rely for income stop choosing your service because you lack integrity?

Read the full post here: Smiley Ridesharing: Uber, Mental Health, Balance and Bears?

Smiley Driver: St. Louis Uber Vehicle 5 Star Service at the Car Wash

A clean ride is crucial to making a great first impression, and since we’re making first impressions all the time when we Uber, having a reliable car wash facility available is very important. Michael enjoys the service of the Blue Iguana. (Read More – Smiley Ridesharing: Blue Iguana Car Wash, St. Louis)The Blue Iguana has two locations near our home base; one is on Page Avenue, and the other is on St. Charles Rock Road. For anywhere between $3- $15, one can get their car cleaned and use the vacuums at their leisure.

 

It really does make a difference, because while there are idioms about not judging a book by cover, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. As a rideshare driver, Michael makes nothing but first impressions—very rarely does he get the pleasure of picking up someone with whom he has already had established a relationship.

Read the full post here: Smiley Sharing: St. Louis Uber Car Wash, Night of the Blue Iguana

 Smiley Drivers: 5 Star Safety

Just a reminder for your drivers out there, especially in St. Louis area: if there is a light coating of rain or moisture on the roads, give yourself a little extra room between you and the car in front of you. That light coating produces a slick surface; it takes a really good hard rain to wash off any of the oil or residual residues that often accumulate on the roadways. I’ve seen a lot of accidents riding around with Michael, and a lot of them could been avoided if we just practice little bit of defensive driving. Stay sharp and look out for each other!

Smiley Driver: Save More Money, Make MORE Money!

It is always a privilege and a pleasure when I see Michael pick up a passenger that not only a passenger but also a driver. We had a nice long trip and a nice long talk with the passenger, who is a new St. Louis Uber rideshare driver. We gave him an opportunity to make himself an extra hundred dollars by using Michael’s Uber referral code.

If you have signed up as a rideshare driver recently and you didn’t use a referral code, go over to Smiley Supporting,or click on the appropriate (Uber / Lyft / Juno) link, and you will get your sign-up bonus (check to verify that the code is still valid).

Smiley Rider and Driver: Mentoring and the 5 Star Experience

Not only do you have 🙂 sharing the lighter side of ridesharing in life—we would like to give you some hints and tips at work to make you a better 5 star driver and have a 5 star Passenger rideshare experience. It will also give you a connection with Michael who has been rideshare driving for a while. He’s a firm believer that all boats rise with the tide—he’ll share with you like everything he has learned in order to help you to be successful as a rideshare driver.

Read the Full Post Here: Smiley Ridesharing: St. Louis, Uber and L.U.C.K (part one)

Smiley Sharing Tip Prime: remember keep 🙂 sharing.

Read What Smiley Shares with Drivers: Smiley Ridesharing: Rider Round Up #1

 

 Take Me With You!

I hope you know that with me you’re never riding alone and that I may bring a smile to your face. 🙂

Ready to Drive?  Ready to Rideshare? Want to Support Smiley Sharing? Consider: Smiley Supporting