Same as it ever was...

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard ‘I just wish it used to be the way it was’ it doesn’t matter if its friends or family or as I’m going to focus on business, it’s a commonly stated quote normally accompanied with a frustrated sigh.

The reason I’m raising it today is because I’m pulling my luxurious hair out at what used to be one of the best customer experiences bar none. Uber defined what a seamless UX was about, you picked up your phone and clicked the app, some of you not even bothering to do that if you’re Siri aficionado, simply say where you wanted to go and boom that was it, a taxi would arrive at your doing using GPS, normally within a fraction of the time of a normal taxi.

It literally defined convenience & it set the benchmark not just in the world of taxis but across a multitude of industries, forget being judged by your competitor on the high street you’re judged by everyone on it & indeed off it in the digital world.

In our industry innovative PropTech providers have ‘Uberised’ (c) 😂 their services because that’s what the public wants & expects. Starberry this year's silver winner at EA Masters has given its clients the ability to track your valuer as they’re on the way to your market appraisal.

Unfortunately it seems nothing lasts forever, have you used Uber recently? It's a humiliating experience 😂, its pretty much the same right up until you see the taxi says it’s estimated to be ‘3 minutes' then the rejection ride begins. The Uber app bounces you from potential taxi to taxi where in your head the driver like some modern-day vehicular Caesar puts his thumb up or down.

The normal chain of events is that it bounces interminably for minutes until from 3 to 5 to 7 to 12 and then all over the show until it helpfully then says it can’t find anyone would you like to start again? On more than a few occasions I’ve had to drive rather than get caught in the taxi version of the Sarlacc pit where ‘you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years.’

Peter Knight has forever Banged the drum about the circles of expectation that you are being judged on. What passed for exemplary service one year is simply seen as ‘meh’ the next. Yes it's unfair, but evolution is, either engage or fade away, unlike the Dodo at least you have a choice.

So dear reader you can either see me as a modern-day PropTech Uncle Albert forever lamenting how much better things were in the day of Fish4Homes & Solex or pay heed to my two tips:
1. Spend as much time thinking about simplifying your service as you do trying to enhance it with new features
2. Don’t fall into the trap of believing you’re Apple and can just do the great reveal at an event and expect to have nailed the iPhone. At every point that is practical engage with your client base and check you’re on track. Minimise that MVP stage by dodging mistakes.

That's it!