Promising not to quote Sun Tzu or Clausewitz or (in particular deference to my Southern clients) William Tecumseh Sherman, I would suggest to all of you that in the world of automotive repair, transmission repair, tire service and now maintenance, we are engaged in a desperate war. Though in many ways we are better armed, it is a war that we have been losing in recent years.
Whole segments of our industry are assailed by a long-term enemy who has very deep pockets and in recent years an increasingly aggressive strategy that is impacting our ability to generate sales and profits. This particular entity is hitting us from coast to coast, growing increasingly desperate and facing major setbacks in sales. The enemy I am speaking of is the new car dealer. Too many of the casualties in this war are small independent repair shops and tire stores. Too many of the casualties are shops just like yours.
The dealers are hurting, and with literally thousands of them closing, what they are missing on the sales side, I can guarantee you they will be trying to make up in their service departments. It is up to you to counter their attempts at growing their service business by working to retain your customer base. Two important aspects in this will be great customer service and bringing quality to all that you would do. We need to talk value as opposed to price.
If you are at all aware of what is going on in your market, you know that new car dealers are working aggressively to attract your customers, and in too many cases they are enjoying great success. An important aspect in all of this has been tire sales and other services they are now performing. Armed with prices on the tire side that are often much lower than what we are able to provide, the dealers are overcoming old perceptions of inconvenience by offering additional “express” services that allow them to compete with us very favorably, and in too many cases we are losing market share and customers to this effort. If you were ever unsure about it, I hope that going forward you will see all that the dealer is doing and know and recognize him or her as your enemy.
With the sale of a new car, the dealer very typically enjoys an advantage over the independent and franchise shop for up to two years. Historically, with perceptions of price and convenience, we of the automotive aftermarket have enjoyed great success in converting the vast majority of these dealer customers to our side of the fence.
For many years we were able to retain these customers at least until they purchased a new car. It didn’t happen by accident; we worked very hard to develop relationships and service these customers with quality and responsiveness to their needs. The dealerships assisted these efforts by doing little to address this mass exodus and overcome all the good reasons we have given our customers to forget about the dealer and visit us instead.
Folks, if you haven’t noticed it, the rules have changed and the dealers are working very hard to hold on to these customers, and in too many cases we have allowed them to do this unimpeded.
We must take on the factory issues directly and highlight our ability to handle all routine factory maintenance services. Even in the midst of the aggressive efforts by the dealers to attract our customers, we are nearly always able to provide a great deal more convenience to our customers, and this is a strength you need to play to. Do not exaggerate or make promises beyond our ability to deliver but do everything humanly possible to turn your bays quickly and efficiently and complete repairs when promised.
Dealers suffer significant customer impact due to convenience and repairs not being completed when promised. In these key areas it is important that we strive for something better and exceed our customer’s expectations. Price, warranty and our ability to be flexible in meeting our customer’s needs are additional areas where we enjoy huge advantages over the dealer, though only if we highlight them and make sure our customers are seeing the value we build into our repairs and services.
There is little doubt that we are far better than the dealer at developing and nurturing the relationships we have with our customers, but they have a perceived advantage as being “factory” approved and at least on the surface, a perceived advantage in the quality technicians. We could accurately argue this latter point, but in this fight for customers we need to realize that perception is often reality and in every possible way we need to counter this by presenting our highly trained and experienced staff and live and breathe the quality that they represent.
Training certificates, certifications and any award that our techs might have received over the years must be prominently displayed and referred to and highlighted. Our ability to handle factory maintenance services and our reminding our customers of needed factory services will assist us in putting many of these perceptions to bed, and our overt care and concern will allow us to maintain and grow these relationships and allow us to compete favorably with the dealers. The one thing we cannot afford to do is ignore the dealer and the impact they are having on our market and on our customers. It is far too late when customers have migrated to the dealer due to our inattention and lack of concern.
If you would take your customers for granted I can assure you that there are plenty of shops out there that would be happy to unburden you. If you are tired of dealing with all of their complaining and impossible expectations, I wouldn’t worry, I’m sure they will find their way to your competition, and in due time you will not have any customers to worry about. They will all be gone. And you needn’t worry about what this does to our industry or perceptions of us; you likely never worried about that anyway. If on the other hand you love your customers and care about your business, I would take this as a call to arms and make sure that they see and feel your care and concern.
Shots have been fired, casualties have been taken and the enemy is at the gates. Ulysses S. Grant was able to defeat a very able adversary, not by finesse, but by dogged unrelenting determined stubborn and unwavering pressure. He would not go away. It is up to you but he, who would hesitate here, might well be lost.
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