Taxi Dealers to Uber Dealers
Jan 16, 2026
How the Customer’s Experience became Important again
So here I am again, yammering on and on about AI in the Kitchen and Bath Industry… and do my ears deceive me? Are there a few Who’s down in Whoville that are starting to sing about change in our Industry. Could it really be the sign we have been hoping for?? More on that shortly. But first a word from our Sponsor, “Discovery” …. Look it up!
I’ll be honest, I needed a few days to gather my thoughts before sharing this blog. Over the holidays, I stumbled on a bit of “news” that said the age 63 is now the new 93! In other words, it will seem like I’m aging three decades overnight, when that day shows up in less than 30 winks... And that got me thinking about how our industry sometimes feels like it’s stuck in a “Twilight Zone” time warp. And thingssss moveeeee everrrr sooooo slowlyyyyy.
I like to compare the Kitchen & Bath Business to the Taxi Industry back in the day. Remember when getting a cab meant calling a dispatcher or waving one down on the street? Everything was about getting from point A to point B at a reasonable rate, and no one really thought about the customer experience beyond that. Then Uber showed up, and the taxi industry’s first reaction was to build walls and resist change instead of thinking, “How can we improve?” They tried everything except “adoption” and here are the results – 2010 Taxis have 100% Market share. About 10 years later… it’s down to about 2-3%...... a moment of silence please….
And here we are in the K&B world, with AI knocking on the door. Yet when I talk to dealers and manufacturers, no one ever asks how AI can make the customer’s experience better. (Seriously… not one) They worry about their own internal hassles, the learning curves, the perceived burdens—basically all the reasons not to change.
But here’s the thing, mediocrity in the customer’s experience isn’t a technology problem. It’s a leadership mindset problem. If we approach AI like we’re dragging a dead weight into a meeting room, we’ve already set the tone. Instead, what if we thought like “Uber dealers” and saw this as a chance to transform how we serve customers?
Most dealers today are stuck at a two or three out of ten in terms of customer experience. They don’t have pre-appointment packages, welcome signs, follow-up cards, customer journeys, or meaningful metrics to guide improvement. But we’re supposed to be an experience-based business. The business is built around the customer’s needs, not just our own convenience.
And here’s a little personal synchronicity: just yesterday when I was at the airport, I saw a book sitting on a table and recognized the S.C’s 7 Habits right away. (Great book btw) There was another book that I didn’t recognize so I moved closer to read the title. I’d never seen it before and it was called, “Fast and Slow Thinking”. (Mental note to check it out) This morning, I popped on Eddie Panero (motivational) and the very first thing he said was a quote from that book! And this was prerecorded, not some pop up ad.
It was a reminder that sometimes the universe nudges us to see things from a new perspective and embrace a bit of positivity which is what I needed after a complete tech breakdown during a big presentation. Ugh…. But we learned from it and will apply those lessons to future ones.
So let’s lead with that mindset! Let’s not be the taxi companies of the past. Let’s be the ones who embrace change and put the customer’s experience first. Who knows how much market share you can take…
Let’s kick the shit out of 2026! thad
