- 2 days ago
Inc. Arabia's Editor-in-Chief Aby Sam Thomas speaks to Blacklane's General Manager, Adib Samara, about how to build a premium experience for the Saudi audience.
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00:00Hi, my name is A.B. Sam Thomas and I'm the Editor-in-Chief of Ink Arabia.
00:09We are here in Riyadh, one of the most dynamic cities of the world.
00:13And we are here to get up close and personal with a company whose values mirror the ambition of their city.
00:19It's bold, it's future-focused, and it has a deep commitment to quality.
00:24The company I'm talking about is Blacklane, a global chauffeur service operating in more than 500 cities around the world, including Riyadh.
00:35And one of its core values is to go the extra mile.
00:39But what does that actually mean?
00:41That's what you're here to find out with Adeeb Samara, General Manager for KSA at Blacklane.
00:46Let's go.
00:54How are you?
00:59Very good.
01:00It's been a long time.
01:01I know, lovely to see you.
01:02But great to see you again.
01:04So Adeeb, we have known each other for a long time.
01:06Yes.
01:07But for those who are watching us, who haven't heard of you, who haven't heard of Blacklane,
01:11maybe a little bit of an introduction to yourself and of course to the company as well.
01:15So, Adeeb Samara, I'm the General Manager for Blacklane.
01:19Blacklane is the leading premium chauffeur service globally in over 500 cities.
01:26We've been in Saudi Arabia for less than a year now.
01:31I've spent a large part of my career within the GCC focused in the travel and mobility sectors,
01:40really at the intersection between innovation partnerships and obviously service excellence.
01:48What drew me to Blacklane was their bold human-centric vision.
01:53Their vision to redefine chauffeur services through a consistent quality, sustainable and elevated service standard.
02:04Been at Saudi Arabia now for six months on the ground in Riyadh building the business.
02:11We are now operational in Riyadh, Jeddah, Tammam, Mecca and Medina.
02:16You're born and raised here.
02:18Yes.
02:19Take us through the transformation that has happened in Saudi Arabia and the role Blacklane is playing in that transformation.
02:25I was raised in Saudi Arabia in the 80s and 90s.
02:31We will never guess it.
02:35Difficult to say that.
02:37I've been here a long time ago and coming back and seeing such a massive transformation across the kingdom.
02:47The energy level in the city is buzzing.
02:52There is an excitement for all the change that's taking place.
02:55And I think for me, it's such a big opportunity as the general manager for Blacklane.
03:02We get a chance within this transformation to set the standard or set the benchmark for what premium mobility can be.
03:15And I think this is a great milestone, not just for Blacklane within the region, but for our global growth story.
03:24When you talk about, again, Blacklane, like you said, it operates in like 500 plus cities around the world.
03:30What makes Riyadh stand out and what is different about the Riyadh experience, if there is any?
03:36You know, every market has its nuances.
03:39Saudi Arabia is within this transformation.
03:44There's a big focus by its population on quality.
03:48There's a high standard for or a high expectation for what quality is, right?
03:55We've opened our doors in the region to the biggest brands in the world and we have access to everything.
04:04And so for us, it means elevating the experience, consistently thinking about how we always go the extra mile.
04:14What may be a premium experience today may not be so tomorrow, right?
04:22The speed of change is happening so quickly.
04:26So it keeps us on our toes.
04:28It means we need to keep running.
04:30It means we always need to think how to innovate and we need to localize, right?
04:35Blacklane is a global brand, but we are in a place where there are cultural nuances that connect with the local population.
04:46Whether that is, you know, offering hydration packs in the car because of the weather, something as simple as that, that you may not find in another market.
04:58And then there are small things, you know, how to welcome guests, a certain level of privacy, a certain level of safety.
05:06And so we really try to focus on not just the vehicle itself, but the journey.
05:15And we put a lot of focus on building the experience for the local customer.
05:21You've been talking about the experience so much.
05:23I think we need to check it out for ourselves.
05:25So yeah, let's go and take a ride.
05:27Let's do this.
05:29Let's go and take a look.
05:30Let's go and take a look.
05:31It's a beautiful way, to take a look.
05:32Let's go and take a look.
05:33Let's go and take a look.
05:34So we are now on the road in Riyadh, Adip.
05:47and you know we are in a city and in a country where growth is you know the
05:52potential for growth is so huge but at the same time competition is extremely
05:57high so from your perspective like how how do you make sure that what you
06:02provide is right and caters to the customers because so it's so easy to get
06:07it wrong also at the same time yeah that's true I think for us at Black Lane
06:11delivering excellence isn't just ambitious it's our standard right and
06:17guided by our values internally of care of drive of excellence we aim to elevate
06:24every part of the customer experience and I'm in Saudi Arabia in general where
06:28they're redefining global standards I mean every day benchmarks and innovation
06:34in hospitality and service in everything we need to keep on our toes and we
06:41need to constantly innovate and we need to anticipate future needs of our guests
06:49so yeah we focus on ensuring that our chauffeurs have the best training that
06:57our team is focused on a mindset of delivering excellence and that we're
07:03really at every touch point looking at how to evolve and and enhance the the
07:10customer journey speaking about this customer journey can you talk about
07:15what makes the black plane experience so different from everything else in the
07:19market perhaps you know starting all the way from the app to you know like you
07:22said the journey itself I think what we've learned over the years is that our
07:28guests aren't just looking for transportation right they're not looking
07:32from getting just to get from point A to point B they're looking for their time back
07:38they're looking at personalized experiences and they're looking at really being
07:45taken care of I think that's the the right word they want to feel safe and I and I
07:50think we put an extra effort on ensuring that okay yes you can have a
07:55beautiful car right but it's the experience it's and and that really goes down to the
08:02chauffeurs and how they manage the guests how they greet the guests understanding you know
08:09if a guest wants to socialize if a guest is comfortable if a guest wants their privacy you
08:15know you see how they turn the mirror so that you don't make eye contact with the guests and that
08:20gives the guests a little sense of privacy yeah so I think it's all about these little touch
08:24points that allow us to go the extra mile speaking about Saudi Arabia again I know we've been
08:31talking about the journey right now and you know all these different innovations you're bringing
08:36to the market where do you think the long-term plan is like where do you see blackling going
08:40in say three to five years time like we said right Saudi Arabia is constantly evolving and so for us it
08:47means we will need to be constantly evolving and in order to do that I think we need to focus on the
08:54foundations and so that really means establishing a high benchmark for what premium mobility is and
09:01focus focusing on the service today and where we can evolve from it's about building the right
09:08team and and and the right infrastructure to to evolve as the country evolves so developing local
09:17talents and building their skill sets launching a fleet of Saudi chauffeurs at both men and women
09:25looking at electrifying our fleet right and moving towards EV vehicles we've partnered with the likes of
09:35Lucid we work currently with Mercedes-Benz to showcase various type electric vehicles on our feet and so I
09:44really think it's focusing on these three points and constantly pushing the boundaries of how we view
09:54a premium service so that we can constantly evolve and meet and anticipate future needs of our guests so
10:02what you've just said is like I would say the personification of going the extra mile and and it is
10:09something that many companies around us many businesses around us always take on at their start of their
10:16journeys but it's always hard to sustain and that is one of the reasons that impresses me about black
10:21lane is that it is one of your core values right it is something you will never be able to stray away
10:26from but for those companies out there for those business leaders out there I should say what advice would you
10:32give them in terms of keeping always the stress on going this extra mile be consistent right never let
10:42success lead to complacency and you know business leaders should hold themselves to a high standard but
10:51also challenge themselves to constantly evolve you know innovation is a mindset not a moment right going the extra
11:01mile is not about a milestone that you reach in the journey and then you forget about it right I was
11:08you know I always think about this saying if you want to go the extra mile you need to keep walking and
11:15so as business leaders we need to keep walking we need to keep moving we can't get complacent we can't get
11:22static we need to constantly evolve and that's really the message I would give other business leaders you
11:29know stay hungry stay humble and yeah you know keep keep moving so let's keep going the extra mile
11:38there you go yeah I think that's the great line to end this conversation on Adi thank you so much for
11:45doing this with Incaravia and always a pleasure thank you so much thank you thank you
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