The writer Robert Frost pontificated in his poem “The Road Not Taken” about two roads diverging in a yellow wood and which one to travel. He alludes to the stress of choice between the two roads. He hints at the opportunity cost inherent in choice and the limitations in knowing the effects on the future. His poem is set in the morning, indicating that every day provides the opportunity to decide which path to take. In life and business, we can choose to see failure or choose to see opportunity. What matters is what we recognize as an opportunity. There has been nothing easy, lighthearted or simple about COVID-19. What matters is what has been learned, what has been retained and what will be applied going forward. COVID has provided several opportunities — opportunities that must outlive COVID.
COVID cleaning must outlive COVID. It took a global pandemic for insurers to acknowledge vehicle cleaning and sanitation as a necessary step in collision repair. Proper handling of customer vehicles both before and after repairs is key. COVID highlighted the true expense of employees missing work due to illness, both directly and indirectly. Before COVID, the impact of employee absences due to illness were masked by a plethora of work volume and quick recovery times. Protecting the people that do the work is paramount. Properly treating a customer’s car before repairs protects employees from undue infections and lost wages. It promotes a cleaner and healthier work environment that benefits all stakeholders. Properly cleaning the customer’s car before delivery extends the same benefits and provides good community stewardship. COVID pushed the industry to new levels of protection for consumers and employees. Why would we ever go backwards?
The second item that must outlive COVID is cost control. Analyzing and actively managing overhead expenses are crucial to remaining viable in all markets, whether bull or bust. COVID has provided the opportunity to learn many lessons. The first lesson is that lots of sales cover lots of sins. Before COVID, subscriptions, licenses, and overtime seemed acceptable to help generate sales. But once sales volumes adjusted during the pandemic, the necessities versus the niceties began to emerge. Breakeven and cashflow began to dominate the path to success. Trimming fat, adjusting processes, and foregoing conveniences became the differentiating factors between viability and history. Decision-making muscles were formed and speed to break became the name of the game. Those that outlive the pandemic and maintain financial discipline will prosper. Resisting the temptation to return to what was known and comfortable when sales rebound will be the hardest struggle for most.
The third lesson from COVID that must carry forward is estimate accuracy. Every operation, line, nut, bolt, clip, and retainer matter. The true cost of doing business was clarified by COVID during cost cutting and break-even analysis in the down market. This reinforced the necessity to be fairly compensated for all operations performed. Auditing work, while documenting the repair from vehicle check-in through delivery and recovering for all operations performed is key to viability. The “cost of doing business” has forever been redefined. Training staff on not-included operations is important. Auditing multiple times during the repair is just as important. The saying “there are no free lunches” applies here.
The final lesson COVID provided was about trust and empathy. COVID transformed our interactions with consumers and employees. It catapulted how we communicate, relate, interact, and respond to consumer desires with the speed of a volcano erupting into the sky. Self-service, digital authorizations, online estimates, and touchless service were quick evolutions responding to consumer needs. What COVID taught while these solutions were developed and deployed was the opportunity to relearn how to relate to consumers. Consumers were stressed beyond belief. Consumers were now being serviced in a more distant fashion, with less shoulder-to-shoulder selling. Trust and empathy emerged as the currency to produce transactions between consumers and shops during an immensely stressful circumstance. The impact of stress was equal on employees as well. Within the workplace, even interactions with and between employees became more distant due to social distancing requirements. Tasks like production meetings, lunch breaks, and blueprinting had to be adapted to the situation at hand. This created distance. The lessons learned in trust and empathy also proved effective in employee relations. Trust and empathy became the bridge to close the distance with employees in the workplace. Serving employees on an emotional level helps meet their needs, reduces stress, increases trust, and drives performance. The skills developed and grown during the pandemic serve as gateways to truly understanding and delivering upon what consumers and employees want and need from shops in the future. Those that choose to master trust and empathy are on the path to continued success.
Robert Frost’s poem concludes saying “two roads diverge in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” COVID has provided plenty of circumstances. It is up to each person to choose how to respond. Were there issues or opportunities? Was there growth or defeat? Regret or success? Two roads diverge in a yellow wood, which one did you take? I guarantee that it has made all the difference.