Alexa Suter interviewed Sandra Phillips (CEO and Founder), Ashley Cho (Business Analyst and Project Manager) and Colienne Regout (Business Analyst) who created movmi’s, first-ever, Playbook. Alexa interviewed the team to understand what movmi’s Playbook is and how it can be useful for aspiring carshare and bikeshare operators, in addition to the current ones.
I hear you and your team have worked really hard the past 6 months to update something called the Playbook. Can you tell me what the Playbook is and why did it get created?
SP: Most definitely. In the past years and through our daily work, we realized that the daily operation of a shared mobility service was facing similar issues no matter where in the world, the size of the initiative or the type of vehicles or members. In particular, the Playbook was inspired by recognizing a need for young, aspiring startups or organizations serving less affluent communities: they came to us because they wanted to know how to kickstart their operations but couldn’t afford our consulting services. They were eager and full of energy to get started and just needed a framework to catalyze the project. When we identified this need, we researched to see if there was a solution already out on the market but could not find any. Thus, we decided to create movmi’s Playbook which can be described as a “Do-It-Yourself-How-To-Guide” on starting your carsharing, bikesharing or scooter share operation.
So the Playbook is only for startups who can’t afford your premium consulting services?
AC: I wouldn’t say that. The Playbook is also useful for standardizing processes, especially for Member Services (including call center) and guiding the Fleet team. movmi equips clients with our Playbook so that when the project is complete, the client has a knowledge resource that they can take with them and refer to. It’s a great resource for ramping up new members faster and getting your team members on the same page because movmi’s Playbook provides consistent high quality information.
That makes sense, but why do you want to share so much?
SP: One of movmi’s core values is to create sustainable mobility options that support liveable cities (as discussed in my TED speech). It’s exciting to see that there are a lot of initiatives in this space these days and we want to support them in some shape or form. But sometimes we are constrained by time and can’t take all the clients we want, and with the Playbook our advice can be passed on more efficiently.
That’s a great company vision to have. What would you say is the primary benefit for the client?
AC: To put it bluntly, the playbook saves you time. We estimate that using it will save you 400 hours of time instead of starting from scratch and figuring it out all by yourself. We included the same world class processes and procedures that bigger, well-established carsharing organizations use. Depending on the package, our team will walk you through the most important chapters in an 8 hour workshop. Having said that, there is still a lot of work that the client will need to do because each organization normally needs to customize the processes for their “flavour” of carsharing. But you will at least have a great resource to hit the ground running.
How is the Playbook distributed? Is it a physical copy that you mail out or is there an online version?
CR: The Playbook is an online intranet manual that has various types of content such as videos, flowcharts, whitepapers, infographics and more. You can navigate easily through the movmi’s Playbook in your role, the situation or the tool you need.
There are 3 main chapters in movmi’s Playbook, right? What does the first one, the General Business Management, contain? Is that about how to launch or set up the HR and financial department?
CR: HR and financial components are more linked to the individual setup and are different from company to company, so no, they are not part of this chapter. movmi’s Playbook is a day-to-day operational manual, so the General Business Management chapter will help your General Manager to identify the critical partnerships, which metrics to focus on, and what to do if a crisis happens.
Could you elaborate more on the crisis management section?. Isn’t something you have to wing it with common sense?
SP: [laugh] You can’t imagine the kind of situations carsharing companies face! There are many stories that would be worthy of an action movie.
On a more serious note, it’s imperative that your Manager and your team know what to do when something serious happens. No one wants a crisis to happen but it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. We’ve highlighted situations you should be prepared for and the framework you should use to approach it.
Do you have an anecdote to illustrate what you are saying?
SP: The first one who comes to my mind is that members find all kind of unexpected items left by the previous user. For example, I remember that day: the fleet team found a gun in the trunk and, instead of following established procedures, they moved it into the service car… not the best idea, to say the least.
If you have to pick the most valuable section of movmi’s Playbook, what will be?
CR: All the sections under Team Management are practical and important. But if I have to pick one, it will be the Member Services because of its expansive amount of flowcharts. Furthermore, a call center will generally ask you to provide this information and the more you provide, the better the service is that your members receive when they call in. Each task is inspired by the objectives of the team and has performance indicators in order to improve the service quality.
Final question, how much does the Playbook cost?
AC: We offer the Playbook with 3 different pricing packages as described on our Playbook webpage. Our sample pack is designed to give people a taste of the Playbook so that they can see if it’s a good fit. Our functional pack is centered around the Member Services and Fleet team operations and also includes 3 hours of hands-on training from movmi. Then of course the final package is the entire Playbook and 8 hours of training with movmi.
Thank you, I think that with all these explanations, our readers will have a good picture of movmi’s Playbook.
SP: Yes, we certainly think so. But if not: we’re happy to setup a quick call and give a short demo of the product. For those who want to get in touch with us, you can reach us here.
