How to hear from drivers before they quit.

Why you hear about problems too late

Most DSPs find out what a driver thinks on the day the driver quits. By then the problem has already cost you that driver. Four gaps cause it:

• You hear about a problem only when the driver quits.
• Nobody asks, because asking takes time.
• Drivers will not be honest with their name on it.
• Amazon's own driver survey lands a bad score on you.

What good looks like

• Every driver gets a short survey in the app after every route.
• A weekly pulse goes to every driver on the same evening each week.
• Flagged answers are read first, every week.
• Every low rating on a named survey gets a phone call.
• Drivers who have not answered get one reminder, never more.
• An event is logged only when an answer shows a real issue.

The procedure

Six steps: two surveys that send themselves, three weekly reviews and one as needed. Surveys reach drivers in Ultimate DA, and nothing a driver answers ever changes their record or score.

1. 1

   Send a short survey when every route closes

   Every route

   Where Surveys · Survey MakerWho Owner or Manager

   Create one survey from the End of route template, keep it to a few quick questions and set it to send when a route ends. From then on, each driver who ran a route gets it in Ultimate DA when the route closes on Return to Station.

   Done when: The survey reads Active, with When a route closes on RTS as its trigger.

2. 2

   Send a weekly pulse survey on the same day

   Weekly

   Where Surveys · Survey MakerWho Owner or Manager

   Create a second survey from the Weekly pulse template, set to send every week. It goes to every active driver with the app at the same time each week, Fridays at 18:00 station time, so the day never drifts. Make it anonymous if you want honest answers.

   Done when: The weekly survey reads Active with Fridays 18:00, station time, and the weekly completion tile starts counting.

3. 3

   Read the flagged answers first

   Weekly

   Where Surveys · ResponsesWho Manager or Dispatcher

   Once a week, open Responses, pick each survey and the range, and start with the flagged answers: low ratings, problem answers and long written answers. Work down the question cards, deal with each flagged answer and mark it handled.

   Done when: Every flagged answer in the range carries a Handled badge.

4. 4

   Call the driver behind every low rating on a named survey

   Weekly

   Where Surveys · ResponsesWho Manager or Dispatcher

   On a named survey, every answer shows the driver and their route. For each rating of 2 or lower, call that driver from the dialer, listen, agree what happens next and write it in the call note. Then mark the answer handled.

   Done when: Every low rating on a named survey has a call on the driver's timeline and a Handled badge.

5. 5

   Remind drivers who have not answered, once

   Weekly

   Where Surveys · ResponsesWho Manager or Dispatcher

   On a named survey, the Not answered card lists drivers who could have answered and have not. Click Remind once for each. Each driver gets one reminder per survey, ever, and the automatic reminder counts as that one.

   Done when: Each driver on the list shows Reminded.

6. 6

   Log an event only when an answer shows a real issue

   As needed

   Where Surveys · ResponsesWho Manager

   An answer never becomes an event by itself, and an opinion should never become one. When a named answer shows something that breaks one of your standards, log the event yourself on the driver's record, write down the facts, then mark the answer handled.

   Done when: The event is on the driver's record with the facts, and the answer is marked Handled.

The three numbers to watch

Common mistakes

• Asking only when a driver resigns.
• Long surveys with every question required.
• Putting names on every survey.
• Reading answers at random.
• Chasing drivers again and again.
• Logging events for opinions.