Not just more customers, but better customers. Isn’t that like wishing for world peace, something desirable to have but with no realistic way of getting it? And what is a better customer anyway? Let’s define a better customer as one where you are trusted by them to be their vehicle maintenance manager. They believe in your competence, honesty, and integrity. They have your shop number on speed dial, and no amount of $19.00 oil change coupons will get them to take their vehicle anywhere else for service. They are your customer because you have earned their trust and loyalty.
Here is a true story: A family buys a Hyundai Santa Fe because they are impressed with the long factory warranty. A couple of years later the mom prepares to take her youngest daughter on a tour of prospective colleges, so she makes plans to get her car serviced before the big trip. She had always gone back to the Hyundai dealer because she wanted to “keep up the warranty.” But, this time, the dealer tells her the first appointment she can get for the simple oil change service is six weeks out. The 600-mile college trip is the following week, so she reluctantly takes her car to an independent shop near her office. To her surprise, the service advisor she met explained that what kept the warranty intact was keeping to the service schedule, not the shop where the service would be done. He further explained that their shop would keep detailed records. Should there be any warranty question down the road, they would be there to verify that the services were done as per the Hyundai schedule. The shop then drove her to her office in a clean minivan and offered to pick her up when the service was done. She was amazed when she got a call an hour later from the service advisor that their technician had noticed a large crack in the serpentine belt and explained what a failure of it would mean. Naturally, she authorized replacement without any hesitation.
The remainder of this story is that the family in question also owns a BMW, a Kia Sorento, a Kia Rio, and a GMC Canyon truck. All these vehicles are now being serviced exclusively by the independent shop that did all the basic things right to develop a relationship with a customer based on respect, courtesy, and competence.
As for the shop in question, they helped educate and inform someone who had never set foot in their door before, who was not knowledgeable about how manufacturer warranties really work, and who appreciated being talked to in a way that helped them understand what could happen if that belt had broken on the long trip.
This shop found a better customer because they took the time and effort to be a better shop.
