Friday Filosophy #2015-22

This week, in Friday Filosophy #2015-22, let’s go back to an earlier era. Some of us might want to return to yesteryear – the times of Ronald Reagan.

 

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.

Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

There are no limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination and wonder.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I am here to help.

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-21

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.

Jonathon Swift.

 

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mohandas Gandhi

 

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

Robert Byrne.

 

Think about it.

The time is now.

Training Tidbit v2015-3

As you can see, we haven’t yet written many of these this year, as this is Training Tidbit v2015-3.

The first of the spring webinar series is just about completed. We have conducted 58 webinars, with another 8 before July 1, 2015. 64 in total. I am extremely pleased with the attendance. We are averaging over ten for each webinar.

I am also pleased at the response from Industry associations and software providers who are starting to promote our webinar products. This will be a long process as we work towards bringing high quality, low cost training to the Industry.

The participants are also indicating on which subjects they want to receive more training and we have so far determined another 11 webinar subjects we will create before the start of 2016.

We are also in the process of responding to the participants. We offer two webinars a day for four consecutive days this year. People would like more flexibility. They like the content and the delivery but would like to be able to control the schedule more. We are in the process of putting all of the webinars up on the internet. That way you purchase a time slot the webinar and then you can schedule when you want to take it. This will be in place prior to the start of 2016.

There are still miles to go before we rest.

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-20

We have reached our Friday Filosophy #2015-20 and are focusing upon our rights and pursuit of our goals this week:

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and the freedom in all just pursuits.

In matters of style, swim with the current; matters of principle, stand like a rock.

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.

The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.

A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.

Some thoughts from Thomas Jefferson to provoke thought..

The time is now.

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Parts & Service Marketing – Market Segmentation

Parts & Service Marketing – Market Segmentation

Marketing is the process of identifying and satisfying customer needs. That process becomes impossible with the thousands and thousands of customers that you have in your assigned area of responsibility (AOR). As a result of that truth, it becomes important to be able to find out what the customer needs and wants, and then to be able to find common elements of their business that will allow you to group them with other customers of common needs and wants.

That is the aim of market segmentation. Market segmentation is the process by which marketeers divide potential customers into smaller groups that are looking for similar benefits from a product or service. The goal is to isolate a group that prefers these features and benefits, and to develop a sustainable differential advantage that satisfies their needs. All of the methods and processes that are required to perform this are covered in the webinar.

We cover the industrial focus, the individual demographics, and the psychographics. We also have to assess the dealer strengths and weaknesses, as well as reviewing the same strengths and weaknesses in the competition. All of this and much more is covered in this comprehensive webinar.

The time is now.

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Product Support Selling – Preparation

Product Support Selling – Preparation

Everyone everywhere sells. That is a truth that is little understood. We sell ideas at work and we sell manners at home. There are many things that we sell over the course of our lives. Sales personnel sell for a living, and the skills that they have as individuals are enhanced when they know the proper tools and methods involved in being a professional salesman.

All of the various steps in selling are discussed in this webinar which is the first of two parts. This part deals with the set-up of the selling process: the research, the objectives, and the questions that need to be asked. There is a lot of work that goes into being a professional salesman and it starts with research. This is not dramatic or exciting work, but it is necessary. What the research needs to cover is discussed in detail. With each and every customer there needs to be objectives. These goals and objectives will take on many forms: from calls to parts business, to service business, to profitability. Finally, in selling everyone knows about the “talking” aspect of selling but more important is the “listening” part of it. In order to get the customer talking, the professional salesman must know what type of question to ask and how to ask it.

Selling is much more a science than an art and this first part covers the first three elements necessary in becoming a professional salesman.

The time is now.

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Parts & Service Marketing – Basic Marketing

Parts & Service Marketing – Basic Marketing

Our Parts & Service Marketing series of webinars begins this Thursday, May 14, 2015, with the introductory course: Basic Marketing.

Marketing is a broadly misunderstood sector of business. It is much more than mailings, promotions, and tradeshows. It is all of the aspects involved in influencing the customer to purchase your products or services.

Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through the use of market analysis and segmentation. This webinar exposes all aspects of marketing: Relationship Marketing, Business Marketing, Social Marketing and Internal Marketing. In Relationship Marketing, we focus on suppliers and customers, and the goal is to build loyalty. The Business Marketing is all aspects of the traditional marketing functions: advertising, promotion and communications. Social Marketing looks at everything that impacts society. For instance, the impact on the environment from the use of clean engine technology. Internal Marketing, is the broad communications to all employees of everything that we are doing in the business.

This webinar covers all the basics of marketing: from the four P’s to the more current addition of SIVA. We cover it all. Without creating the environment where your product or service is understood, you make the job of selling much more difficult. This webinar aims to provide you with the tools to use to make selling more successful.

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Parts Management – Delivery Systems

Parts Management – Delivery Systems

In the parts business we communicate with the marketplace in a variety of methods. With the telephone, with people walking into your store, some customers will send orders by mail, or via a fax, and some use the internet. But the variations of the work don’t stop there: we also have to contend with a variety of “delivery” systems as well. These are not transportation systems. This is a customer service delivery system.

We process sales orders for our customers and we all know that not all customers are created equal. Some customers spend a lot of money with you and deserve to get special treatment. Well, we also have some processes that are cost intensive but also some that are very efficient. These are the customer service delivery systems.

From the customer who does not know the part numbers that they need, to the customer that can order parts from an electronic catalogue on the internet, there are wide ranges of differences. Each of the delivery systems has a different cost component, and that can lead us to provide differentiated services dependent on the delivery system that is chosen by the customer. We explore all aspects of the delivery systems we offer to the market in this important webinar.

 

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Service Management – Maintenance Programs

Service Management – Maintenance Programs

Everyone knows about the repair and rebuild business. That is where the excitement is for technical people. In the product support business, we have two major goals: reduce the owning and operating costs for the machine owner, and protect the residual value of the machine. The first step to understanding how to reduce owning and operating costs is to understand the importance of the maintenance service recommended by the OEM. Most customers view maintenance as the necessary evil of changing fluids and filters. There is much more to it than that. How to develop a maintenance program to reduce those operating costs is the theme in this webinar.

There is a fundamental conflict that has to be dealt with in the labor management group. Maintenance is boring, anyone can do it. In fact the OEM dealer has less than 6.5% of the maintenance market. Nearly 90% of the maintenance is done by a customer mechanic. Yet survey data indicates that nearly 90% of the customers would give the maintenance business to the dealership if their price was less than what the customer currently pays.

This webinar will discuss the methods and processes to follow in order to be able to meet that price and performance need.

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Parts Management – Basic Finance

Parts Management – Basic Finance

Before we can be of any value to anyone else we have to be of value to ourselves. That is an old adage, but it still rings true. Ignorance is not knowing what to do. How can we know what to do if we don’t understand basic finance?

Here we will expose and explain all aspects of the operating statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow forecast. These are the three major documents in the world of finance. We will define and describe all of the terms that accountants use. There will be no mystery to basic finance when we are finished. We will explain cost of sales and what it consists of, as well as all of the various expense elements. Personnel Expenses, Operating Expenses, and Fixed Expenses are discussed so that everyone will be able to understand and accept how and why money is spent and how we make it.

The fundamentals of basic finance have been a mystery for too many people for far too long. This webinar gets past that so that the employees in a parts business will understand the effect of each of their decisions.