I never thought I’d say this, but Lyft got me. They’ve officially converted me to a brand loyalist.
As crazy as it may seem, somehow I prefer to ride in a vehicle that has a pink mustache over Uber or Sidecar.
The best part about it is that I don’t even think Lyft meant to do it.
It’s not because they have better cars, better prices, better drivers or a better app. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I believe that Uber has better cars on average, sidecar has a better pricing structure, but where Lyft got me, was with their new service Lyft Line.
I was hesitant to try Lyft Line until two weeks ago when a friend told me that I should try it out. I thought it was kind of awkward to get in a car with strangers and sometimes go out of your way just to save a few dollars on a trip.
The first few times that I used the service, I didn’t get matched with anyone, and since it was a fixed price, my ride ended up being only $3–4 when it would typically cost me double that to get where I was going.
After the first few times of using it, I finally got matched with someone. Upon getting matched I panicked, cancelled my ride, and then tried to request my ride again to see if I could get a Lyft Line by myself.
Every other service was in the middle of high surge pricing so I decided to sack up and give Lyft Line a try.
It was a Monday night, I was tired from a long day of work, and I just wanted to get home.
The driver picked me up, we went around the block from my office and picked up the girl I was matched with.
She got in the front seat, we both exchanged ‘hellos’ before sitting in awkward silence. Quickly grabbing for my phone to make things less awkward, the driver turned back and said, “You know, you’re the only people who haven’t talked to each other out of any of my Lyft Lines.”
We both turned to each other and exchanged the casual:
Where are you from? What do you do? Etc.
I ended up finding out that she worked in a similar role as I did, she also just recently moved to the city, and we ended up having a lot in common.
Upon leaving the ride, I felt like I had already made a new friend and there was potentially a business relationship that could come from the ride as well.
Later I found out that we were not the only people who hadn’t talked in our drivers’ car while using Lyft Line. The driver had said that as a way to get us talking, and I’m glad that she did.
We ended up connecting after the ride and had a meeting to discuss how our companies could potentially help each other.
Tonight, I took another Lyft Line and the same thing happened. I met someone that works at an interesting company that could potentially provide a strong business relationship in the future.
I realized tonight, that the last 10 or so times I’ve pulled out my phone to request a ride, I’ve immediately gone to Lyft Line.
It’s kind of addicting.
As a marketer and extrovert who is looking to come up with creative new ways to grow our business, this is invaluable. Think speed dating combined with ride-sharing.
I believe that Lyft originally thought of Lyft Line as a way to bring costs down for consumers and to maximize value for drivers.
Now, I believe that the biggest value out of Lyft Line is the networking aspect. You never know whom you’re going to get in a car with; it could be a great business connection, a new friend, or who knows, I’m sure someday there will be stories of people meeting their future spouses using this service.
Lyft finally got a feature that differentiated itself from its competition, and that’s what converted me to a brand loyalist.
The reason that I use Lyft Line over competing services (Uber Pool and Sidecar’s version) is because it combines a great fixed pricing structure with the networking aspect. It seems to be gaining traction quickly so that you get matched with other users more often and I like knowing how much I’m going to pay before I go.
I’d love to hear your Lyft line experience in the comments below.