The Power of Connection

In this episode of “Masters of MAX,” host Tom Butta welcomes Zach Greenberger, the Chief Business Officer and Head of Partner Experience at Lyft. Zach sharesprovides insights into how Lyft’s customer experience strategies build connection, trust and loyalty. 

Short on time? Here are five key takeaways from the conversation.

1. Drive Profitable Growth With a People-First Customer Experience Strategy

Zach credits Lyft’s customer obsession as the framework for driving profitable growth. He believes a customer experience strategy centered around putting your customer’s needs first enables you to build meaningful, personalized experiences that encourage repeat business and customer advocacy.

2. Build Trust & Optimize Customer Experiences with Zero-Party Data Collection

Trust is the foundation of building strong customer relationships. Zach shares the example of Lyft’s Women+ Connect, a mobile app feature that allows female riders to match with female drivers to address safety and comfort concerns. Listening and asking for direct feedback through zero-party data collection will enable brands to deepen their emotional connections with customers and create new experiences that foster sustained loyalty. 

3. Focus on Fostering Customer Connections

Lyft positions itself as a facilitator of real-world experiences, combating the “loneliness epidemic” by encouraging people to get out and explore. Brands should consider how their products or services can connect people with real-world experiences and foster deeper emotional connections, rather than simply catering to at-home consumption. For Lyft, this means driving foot traffic, not just deliveries.

4. Tap into First-Party Data  from Ads to Curate Personalized Experiences 

In the age of third-party data deprecation, brands must rely on first-party data collection to understand purchase history, click-through rates and customer intent. For Lyft, advertising has been a contextually relevant method of gathering first-party data to better understand where customers are going and how to create opportunities for riders, partners and advertisers. The result? More brand favorability and higher purchase intent. 

5. Eliminate Friction and Deliver Engaging Experiences with  Live Activities 

Mobile app customers offer significant value. Zach advises brands to make app navigation effortless and to keep the customer experience simple by eliminating unnecessary taps and clicks. Lyft leverages Live Activities to build trust with customers and share real-time updates with riders to meet them exactly where they are. While it’s easy to assume that this could limit app engagement, Airship customers have largely found that Live Activities actually increases sessions.