It’s 3 p.m. and you’ve just stepped off a boat that has traveled the length of The River Gambia (West Africa). Solid day trip on a rare off-day from training with the national team. Summer 1997. Great to be heading home for the day – Where’s the cabbies? Oh right there – Come on Nick, let’s go. Time to get home to our host compound before dinner is served.

Suddenly, there are 20 cab drivers surrounding the cab, attacking our cab driver, the windows, reaching for the keys within the ignition…shouting, screaming, rocking the cab….cab driver kicking the clutch, gas, clutch, gas.

Finally…relative safety as we speed away. Still screaming.

Simple. Driver was ashamed of himself. Embarrassed that he guided us to his car…which happened to be last in line…the closest to Nick & I as we approached from the rear. Cardinal offense – Right thing to do is take Nick & I to front of line and “refer” us to cabbie who is next up.

But, Scott, that was 20 years ago. It’s 2017 – Who hails a cab? Point taken. Calling a car from an iPhone is a marvelous thing.

1. Let’s stay here for a minute. While in Denver last week, I took 14 Uber & Lyft rides in 4 days. Truly an incredible city. Not one stiff, non-engaging driver. Each driver seemed to genuinely care about my opinion of their city. What I thought. What peeked my interest.How they could assist with my stay. Oh, you like fish tacos? Here’s the top 3 spots. What type of golf do you prefer? Links, American traditional?

“Yes, everything is new, we’re very transient, and we have nearly 300,000 people moving in monthly. But, you know what we don’t like? Littering. Ruins the experience for everyone.”

Honestly, it was surreal – But that’s how it unfolded. Trusted ambassadors of their city.

But let me ask you something? Would Nick and I of benefited from an ambassador? An honest guide? Without question. Crazy afternoon on the north shore of The River Gambia if Uber was around in the ’90s. Maybe, maybe not. Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda.

Someone who woulda mentioned the easy way into the taxi port was down this way, not that way.

Someone who coulda told us there’d be someone that may be out to snag the first people on the scene instead of subscribing to the process.

Shoulda been a better pathway to ensure clean transfer from boat to car for tourists.

Point is we’ve all had experiences traveling that could’ve been more fun, productive, memorable if we were guided more effectively by a driver, doorman, front desk staff, so on and so forth.

I think back on this day often when I think of delivering on promises for new clients. In my business though, unfortunately, I’m left scratching my head at times when I hear from prospective clients that either continue to get no advice or little insight into available, proven end-to-end integrated solutions.

-Stay fully insured even when your Medical Loss Ratio is in the low 60s for the 4th year in a row?

-Buy into an “integrated” HRA retained risk angle to reduce cost when liquidity position doesn’t stand a chance against future utilization?

-Same Top 10 Drug Spend has been the Top 10 Drug Spend by drug and dollar for years yet no discernible game plan in place to combat these costs?

-On and on.

So, pro to pro, if you’re seeking a new guide, a trusted guide to head down a new path, let’s give enough time to connect this Summer.