Hi, How's things??

I often get comment from passengers about how happy and full of beans I seem to be regardless of the time of night. In the early hours of the morning when they are feeling lethargic and thinking of bed I invariably greet them with a warm, friendly "Hi, How's things??" before they've even made eye contact with me as they're getting in". The funny thing is it started as a safety related thing and has now just become a habit.

What has a bright cherry greeting at 3 in the morning got to do with safety you ask??. Well I was speaking to a few driver mates a while back and we agreed that an effective way of dealing with difficult passengers before anything could actually happen was to come across as their mate. I mean if someone calls a cab with the intent on robbing the driver or roughing him up a bit and when the cab gets there they're greeted with a hearty "Hi, how's things??" then as they're shutting the door and clicking the seatbelt into place I'm asking "How was your night??" at this point nothings been said about the taxi fare or where they want to go. Only once we've had this little exchange do I ask "Where would you like to go??".

Think about it. By the time someone has said hello and given me a brief comment on their night out I have had time to get a feel on how the fare is going to pan out and if I need to be on my guard or not. I've also established a rapport with them and often with the good passengers, we have a enjoyable cab ride chatting like old friends.

Like I said it started as a safety issue trying to catch the difficult ones off guard and now has just become a habit. One I find makes driving a cab more enjoyable as instead of driving people home in silence I am often left wishing the trip had been longer as the conversation was so good. People remember too and when I get repeat business I'm often amazed when people ask me how's the kids or did I manage to sort so and so. It's makes the shift go quicker too.