Who are they? 

The customers of BikeRunner are in all ages, but most are middle-aged and living in, or close to, Amsterdam. Common between them is that they are usually very dependent on their bike – they use it everyday back and forth to work, to pick up kids and shopping. This is why they usually care more about “will it be done by 15?” than what you actually do with the bike to make it work. 

They do usually not know much about bikes (then they could fix it themselves,-). It can sometimes be hard for them to for example find the size on the tire for you, and they might send you a picture of the tire pressure instead. They don’t know about for example different tire brands, and they are usually not that interested. The most complicated they might ask of you is “I have heard you can get puncture proof tires? Can I get one of those?”.  Most bike mechanics compete on quality – and sometimes a trip to a bike mechanic can cost just as much as the customer has paid for the whole bike. BikeRunners customers are usually not interested in paying double to get the best of the best  – they basically just “want the bike to work”. 

This is what they DO care about:

That you are on time

• If the customer has written a deadline in the order, do not accept the order if you are not sure you can do it within the deadline. Instead, use the function “Offer time” in the Runner app and propose a new time that will be sent to the customer that they can accept/decline. 
• If you have not written an exact time when you accept the order, the customer will expect you to send an sms with a more specific time when you will be there. If they do not get any, they usually contact BikeRunner and ask us when you will come – and this is unnecessary communication. 
• Never make an appointment that you are not sure you can keep. If you are not sure – it is much better that you write for example “I will be there between 14 and 16”, than that you write “around 14”.
• If you are late to the appointment – always let the customer know as soon as you know you will be late. Punctuality is really important. Some customers might cancel the order at XX.05, just because you are late and have not let them know – just because they feel personally offended by it. And that is obviously a shame, since a short SMS would have solved that problem.
• Please also remember that most customers are quite digital and usually prefers that you send an SMS, or WhatsApp message,  instead of talking on the phone (some are exceptions). A lot of customers will not pick up the phone if it is calling from an unknown number. So if the customer doesn’t answer when you call, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are not available – then just send an sms instead. 

That the bike works afterwards

Most BikeRunner customers basically just want “the bike to work”. Nothing more, and nothing less. This means that you as a Runner have to be able to balance the quality and price of what you offer, in terms of for example what tire you choose. If a customer needs a new tire for a back wheel of an electrical cargo bike, you have to make sure that it is resistant enough for that type of heavy bike (meaning it will have to be a “Gold tube/tire package, not “Silver” or “Bronze” ). But you also have to accept that if they have a cheap  bike, that they do not want to pay more for better quality “just for the sake of it”. There are manuals/specfications for all our products, if you click on the product name in the order in the Runner app. 

But the customer also trusts you – and money is usually not the issue (they just don’t want to pay for anything they are not sure they need or care about). So if you make a good argument on why it is vital (not “nice to have”) that their bike gets X or Y, they usually accept your offer.

Another aspect of this, is that you should never accept an order where you are not sure that you can actually fix it. That never leads to anything good for anyone, especially not yourself. Be humble about the skills you have, and stick to tasks/bikes that you are sure you know how to handle. There are a lot of electrical complex bikes, and you should not change tires on a back wheel of those, if you are not sure what you are doing. Things that can go wrong on such a wheel (with for example magnetic sensors that has to be aligned for the motor to work), is not something you can anticipate of intuitively figure out on the scene, if you don’t have knowledge about it. 

If you have accepted an order and go there, and then realize that you are unsure – it is much better that you leave, than try anyways. The customer is always more dissatisfied when you have tried, and something broke – than if you left because you were unsure – which they usually respect, understand, and are thankful for. 

Great customer service

Customers loves good service. And good service doesn’t just mean fixing the bike properly – it also means good communication. Examples of great communication can be:

• You explain properly why something extra is needed beforehand, and agree on the price, and always get acceptance before you do it. 
• You answer quickly when the customer is writing or calling you (if you do not reply they usually start calling and writing BikeRunner instead). 
• When talking or writing with the customer, you are kind and say/write things like “Have a good day”, “Please contact me if you have any questions or problems”, “Thank you for the order” or “Happy to help” etc. 
• You might give the customer a little update afterwards (can be done in the message box on the invoice in the Runner app for example) – where you maybe give tips on the bike. The customers love that!

Besides great communication, the customer also really love when our Runners do something “little extra” on the bike – it could be to quickly check the adjustment of gears, giving the other tire a bit of extra air, or a bit of oil somewhere. So if you have the time – this will definitely give you an extra star! 

Remember that the main reason for customers choosing BikeRunner is convenience. It is not price or quality. Convenience – meaning that it works, it’s easy and digital, it’s fast and requires little effort from the customer. Our job is to help them on this difficult day where their bike isn’t working, and therefore also to avoid at any cost to create extra issues, by for example showing up late or promising things we cannot keep 🙂