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Twitter is being used for all sorts of interesting purposes these days, from collaborative book writing to street food vendors fighting for mind (and stomach) share.
Now it can be used to hail a taxi.
You send a direct tweet to greentomatocars, and they tweet you back with a confirmation. While it may sound gimmicky, in a world where many people use their mobile phone for everything but phone calls and practically live on Twitter, it’s a wise move. Businesses that make a point to go where their customers are most comfortable interacting stand to benefit greatly.
Green Tomato Cars doesn’t just use its Twitter account just for bookings; the company is active on the site, sharing articles of interest, company news, and tweeting green-minded people traveling in London. Doing so, it strikes a smart balance of promoting its services and adding value to the conversation.
Green Tomato Cars is a London-based company that prides itself on being a sustainable company, from its Prius cars (with plug-in “Super Prius” being tested soon) to offsetting two times the emissions the cars and its office operations produce. In a world where it’s now commonplace for companies to offset their emissions, going far beyond that–to create a positive rather then neutralized impact–is both good for the environment and for Green Tomato as a word-of-mouth building marketing hook. It’s something I’ve not heard of any other company doing.
To compete with the conventional taxi services in London, Green Tomato Cars doesn’t add any premiums to fares. Plus, its drivers are required to have the same level of licensing and vetting–needed to navigate the city’s complex roads–as those who pilot the city’s Black Cabs. And on top of that, Green Tomato drivers actually have awareness and interest in the environmental aspects of the service, and are versed in quality customer service.
All things considered, driving in a Green Tomato seems an obvious choice.
Readers: Have you used Green Tomato? How was your experience? What other ways are you seeing businesses effectively and interestingly using Twitter and other social media tools for their business?
Paul Smith is a sustainable business innovator, the founder of GreenSmith Consulting, and has an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He creates interest in, conversations around, and business for green (and greening) companies, via social media.
