My no. 1 already fail,my navigation in kuala lumpur town      is bad, i always tell rider i'm new(just started) and always refer to waze.

Hi guys, have been lurking around the forums and benefitted much from all sifus that has been contributing.
Would like to share to everyone what works for me. Have posted this on some FB groups and help helped some.
The recent increase rating requirement for incentive players has effected some. Some of my driver frens have convert to fare driver some also have hang their keys.
I would like add some tips on how to increase your rating and even getting more tips.
Been driving part time since last year August. Myself achieve 1st tier platinum driver twice.My ratings are usually 4.97-5.00 for the past 6  mths. 1k plus passenger rated. Hope this helps to increase your ratings.

1. Navigation Skills- I always hear customers complain this the most. sometimes waze does not always show u the fastest way as they are too compliant towards traffic rules. Start by knowing how to go to popular shopping centre location or landmarks, location of different entrances of some shopping centres, name of different highways like penchala link, duke highway or nkve. If you are using waze , off the gps Voice and leave the sound for alerts only. it can be irritating with voice talking when u make every turn.

2. Driving style- always drive safe by anticipating whats ahead 100m ahead. so dont always do sudden breaking and sudden acceleration. Dont tailgate, give way to passerby and keep your cool at all times. Obey traffic rules.

3. Good phone holder that does not shakes and block your vision.keep your hands free during driving ,i dont even answer calls or reply sms when customer is in the car.

4. Keep your car in clean and immaculate condition. ITs true people judge you by the first impression. Your car is your first impression. I usually wash/ clay and polish and apply sealant once a month myself. the rest of the time il send it to cheap car wash once a week and il ask them to apply my Sealant that i bring along. It helps by repelling water away and keeping the car much clean and doesnt cost much. might defer if your car is black or other hard to maintain colours.

5.Avoid fragrance thats too strong.Sorry grab but I personally feel ambipur is too strong and pungent. I use nanoblock and some pandan leaves that helps keep air clean and neutral.only cost me rm  40 and can last more than 2 years. Please dont smoke in car!! a non smoker can surely smell it no matter how u cover it.

6. Calling your customers beforehand,especially those that takes more than 5 min to reach. my call goes like this-  Good morning Linda, im your grabcar driver Kelvin, Il be reaching approximately 7 minutes and im driving a silver colour toyota vios. thanks. If customer no answer i wont call again but il just message using the grab app with the same answer.

7. When pick up,Greet them with their name with a big smile to break the ice I prefer to greet in their language. Its pretty hard  at first to know what nationalities are they but after a few mths driving can eyeball them already, lolz i learn to greet and say thank you in bengali language,tagalog and visayan language, Myammar language, arabic, Tamil, Bahasa indonesia, thai, korean , japanese and for the nigerians etc.

8. Before start trip il ask them is it ok if use toll and amount of time saved, Il also ask is the air con temp is ok.

9. Dont talk too much i usually know whether they want to talk in the first 30 seconds by their response.i realise those siting infront are usually more opened to a conversation.

10. In regards to conversation try to at least pretend you care about what they have to say, be agreeable make them feel smart, people love to talk. Let them and agree no matter how stupid it may be. (Just keep your opinions to yourself).  At least pretend to care. They love to think you think what they have to say is interesting. Talk UBER,grab ask them about their line of work, talk sports.
Avoid talking Religion/Politics or about your own life’s problems or opinions. If they happen to disagree with your opinion IT WILL cause friction, and result in a lower rating for you.

11. Customer like to ask me are you part time or full time. My answer is "im not part time driver or full time driver, Im lifetime driver. that usually makes passenger and me break the ice easier.[COLOR=purple]

12. Buy some mints, mineral water and prepare a spare powerbank with multiple adapters. I personally dont think this is important, as i have seen a high rated driver who dont have this. but i feel being different than others gives you the edge.  and it doesnt cost much. SEamaster 250 ML only cost RM15 for 48 bottles.

13. Get some rating and tip signs done with your service provided and put on your car.

14  Even though grab pay sucks for some people, never complain to customers about it. I know it sucks at times but you should never talk about it to a customer.  Always say how great you think grab is even if you do not. UNTIL YOU FIND SOMETHING BETTER SUCK IT UP[COLOR=red]!!!  People hate hearing others’ problems. They want you to listen to theirs![COLOR=purple]

15  Have non-offensive music playing, never too loud, just good background.  As much as I would love to turn up some 2pac and metallica it’s  just not good to have on.  Light rock, 80′s music, Jazz etc.  as much as we would all love to bump 2pac or Heavy metal this is not the place to do it.  It’s not good background music. Keep it on easy listening stations, like light and easy and mix fm. keep the volume minimal unless requested by customer.

16. If they are dropping off in the condo, ask them would they like to drop off inside.

17. Help with bags during pick up and drop off.

18. Dress appropriately Short pants and slippers is a absolute NO.NO. I usually wear long sleeves during week days as im working and Polo T and jeans during weekends.

19. Never ever demand for a 5 star or tips its makes you looks really desperate. Put some signs instead.

20. If you have a good stereo offer them your aux cable/bluetooth and let them play their own music. especially when u notice them listening to music with their cheap earphones lolz. Ma prens, banglas and foreign students likes this the most.

21. Be humble and Say sorry if you made a wrong turn or went through a bumpy road..

22. Ask whether you need to adjust the front passenger seat so that rider have enough leg room at the back and front.


23. Right mental state helps. If you think you are just a cheap ride hailing driver, You are right.If you think you are a awesome and part of somethin great, you are also right. If you think the particular race of passenger is really troublesome to be fetch, you are also right. AT the end of the day, its your mental state that will influence your behavior towards certain passenger. Imho driving long hours is already tiring enough, having a negative state of mind does not help much.

24. Get a good Dual dashcam  This can be use for fake complains by problematic customers.It can also be use as a deterrent for troublemakers when they see you have a dashcam installed. I am using Transcend drivepro 520.

25. Provide Wifi hotspot f you have a spare handphone.

Last but not least i would like to leave with a quote. "No one can make you serve customer well. Thats because great service is a choice."

Thank you for reading this long post and sorry for the half baked english. Hope my post does not offend anyone. Just trying to help. Good luck!!
this is my how my car interior looks like. i prefer to leave it simple, clean and as less clutter as possible.
some links that might help.
https://www.facebook.com/dopesignages/
https://www.lelong.com.my/car-cup-holder-my...7-01-Sale-I.htm
http://www.mountekmalaysia.com/

Those looking to join GRAB as a driver or just want some advice feel free to PM me.