ACTION NAPA AUTO Parts - (Page 25)

Selling the right things rect in all cases. There are industry experts who maintain there are two basic types of people who enter our shop offices. There are "customers" who have a relationship with us and depend on us to repair their cars. In general, their values are mostly in harmony with our values. Sales to these people are mutually beneficial. The other type of people we call "consumers." A consumer is a person with a broken car, but a broken car doesn't make them a customer. We've all been there and it's well worth remembering the times we "did someone a favor" and performed a repair that was outside our comfort level. Despite the fact that we may have issued a disclaimer that it might not work, they begged us and said they'd be happy. They lied. They weren't and they blamed us. So sales is not all about getting money, it's about helping people remove the obstacles that stand in the way of their objectives. In the case of mobile air conditioners, this is easy. They don't want to be hot. They are opposed to perspiration when they travel and that's a worthy objective that we can help them achieve. Selling is also about sticking to your own values while giving the customer options that will still accomplish their objectives. There may be times when a piece of duct tape will keep the seat cover together, rather than replacing an expensive leather seat. If you're both comfortable with that kind of repair, then it's a good sale. Selling is also knowing when to tell people that you're just not the shop they're looking for when it's a job you have no business touching. The CR-V had less than 70,000 miles The worst thing about Honda owners is that they steadfastly refuse to believe that parts wear out or fail. They always want to know why, as if it were some offering they failed to make to Mt. Fuji that caused a particular mechanical malfunction. In this case, the owner had gone to the Internet forums for information. He found others with similar experiences. He called the dealer to see if there was any assistance and to get their opinions and estimates. In short, this man had really researched this whole thing. Selling him was a process of educating him on why we do what we do and how it would give him cold air and prevent a reoccurrence of this ugly situation. I compared purchasing repairs to buying a new shirt. A cheap shirt may look nice on the rack, but the threads can start coming out on the first wearing. It can shrink 2 sizes in the first washing or wrinkle so bad that you wouldn't be seen digging in the garden while wearing it. That shirt was no bargain, unless it was 2 dollars and you bought it as a throw away for one event, like a mud run. A good shirt that doesn't wrinkle and lasts a long time is a better value. That's what I sold to this particular customer. I explained that we really needed to remove the compressor and see what was in the oil before we decided on a repair. That was the only move that made sense. The judge's findings He agreed to pay for compressor removal, and the oil was full of little tiny metal shards. We have visual aids ready for those who need them. We cut open a condenser and an evaporator to let people see the tiny passages inside that aid in heat transfer. This is new engineering to make things smaller and lighter yet more efficient. The idea that all the sparklies can be flushed out is not logical once you see the design. I had to sell him on the fact that we've done a number of these repairs on these cars and there's no way to cut a single corner on this job. We replace everything, using premium parts and the right oil. Our price is $3500. We've never had a single come-back and they all cool like new. He bought the job. Epilogue This was a number of years ago, and our customer came back recently for some maintenance. He said that he'd since read in the forums of people who'd had second, third or even fourth compressor failures on their CR-V. He had the smug satisfaction of knowing that he'd had repairs done the right way. He told us in no uncertain terms that we were his shop because he really likes the value that we represent and the confidence we inspire in him. And, he added, the A/C is still performing flawlessly. ❆ Becky Witt is owner/proprietor of George Witt Service, Inc. a modern 10-bay shop in Lincoln, NE specializing in repair and service on Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus vehicles. Opened in 1995, the business grew to one of the largest independent shops in the city in less than five years, completely without advertising. Shop owners and managers have traveled from other states to see the operation and learn how to run a successful automotive service business. Witt has since developed training classes in Service Marketing and Service Advisor Skills and is now an Approved Instructor for the Automotive Management Institute. Many thanks to MACS members, Spanial's Service Center in Hatﬁeld, PA for allowing us to take photos for this feature article. Spring 2015 * ACTION/NAPA 25

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