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So Long, Hailo – a Brand Says Goodbye the Right Way
It’s been less than two years since the taxicab app service Hailo arrived in Chicago, yet already it’s hitting the road. According to various news reports and an email sent out by the company earlier this week, all of Hailo’s North American operations will come to an end on October 26.
I’m sorry to see Hailo go, and not just for these reasons:
- This guy was involved in bringing the company to Chicago.
- Competition against the likes of Uber and Lyft is a good thing for consumers.
- Local governments create far too many hurdles for entrepreneurs and startups.
As an entrepreneur and startup founder myself, I hate to see any brand fail. However, in the face of that failure, what can we learn from Hailo? A lot, as it turns out. Because even at a company’s end, customer experience still matters and Hailo’s exit strategy is demonstrating a good understanding of that important principle.
Instead of simply going dark in the middle of the night, Hailo proactively communicated through both media channels and direct messages to its network of current and past customers that it was ceasing operations this month.
Those communications addressed why the company is leaving the marketplace and what the departure means for Hailo customers. Common questions about timing, credits and service areas were all answered, along with some not-so-common ones – such as the fate of stored credit card information and the issue of data security, critical details that often are forgotten by today’s app consumers, only to be remembered when a data breach occurs.
So, while Hailo may not have become a business success in Chicago, the company is still providing a valuable customer experience lesson by showing us how a brand should go about delivering a proper goodbye.
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Brian Walker is the Founder and CEO of AE Marketing Group. Maximizing customer experience, design and cocreation we help brands breakthrough clutter and connect with consumers everywhere.
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