In another post nearby I talk about the internet as a mode of contact with the customers. I get a lot of push back on this from distributors and dealers. They say that they will lose control of the customer. I couldn’t disagree more.
In the equipment world let’s suppose we have a market capture rate close to 30%, which for many of you is very generous. The fact that you are worried about losing control of your customer now after having lost 70% of them is rather odd isn’t it? But let’s explore the mystical world of the internet.
With the XML protocol you can now track the cursor as it moves around the screen. So here we have a customer browsing in the evening, when you are closed, looking at your website. They are looking for a part for one of their machines. They go to your parts menu and find that there is access to electronic catalogues. They enter the model and serial number of the machine for which they want or need parts. That takes them to the table of contents. They select a section of the machine, for instance the engine, and a schematic of the engine appears on the screen asking what they are looking for in the engine. They can take the cursor to a section of the engine and enlarge the schematic so that they can see the specific part numbers. They can then select a part number and have it go into a shopping cart. Once they are finished they can go to their shipping cart and obtain price and availability information. They can place an order or they can leave the process.
The next morning with good analytics you will know who looked, what they looked at, for how long they looked, did they check prices, did they check availability and did they place an order or not. If there was no order placed then you call then and offer to help or ask what they wanted. This is much more and much better quality customer contact. Don’t you think? The time is now.
Work Order Process Webinar – Monday September 24th
The core function within every Service Department is the work order process. Yet little attention seems to have been given to this most important function. During this webinar we will take you through the complete process from the “Service Request” up to and including the Invoicing of the finished job. The process is not complicated but there are a lot of details which if mishandled will not satisfy either the customer or the dealership.
The only group within an equipment dealership that allows a business to differentiate itself from the competition in the market is the Service Department. Yet the typical dealership leaves the service Department and the dealer business system to establish the methods to be used. This webinar addresses the complete process from labor posting to outside purchases; from ordering parts to returning them; from introducing the structure of the job to the scheduling of work. We will address them all.
The individual elements will be covered in complete detail in further webinars but the basic structure to employ will be detailed in this session. You will be able to return to your work and review how your structure relates to these “Best Practices” and begin the transformation of the department from a place where repairs and maintenance are performed to a productive, high quality, and safe service shop. This is the type of work order process that attracts talented people to work within it and retains customers who use it.
Service Inspection Webinar – Monday September 24th
Customers, for the dealership service department, have grown used to performing service maintenance and minor repairs either themselves, or with the help of independent mechanics. This has led them to the conclusion that repairs are easily done and that they can diagnose problems with their equipment without much help from anybody.
While it is true that some of the customers employees and independent mechanics can perform very technical work it still remains the dealership that has access to all the technical expertise that is provided by the manufacturers of the equipment.
The parallel that will be presented in this program is that of the doctor. The technician performing the inspection is a qualified analyst, trained to know what to look for and what the symptoms mean. The inspections that we are talking about here are diagnostic inspections to be performed prior to conducting any repairs, quality control inspections to be done after work has been completed, and machine appraisals which would be required of machines being traded in or been purchased used.
This program, on inspections, will provide you with an outline, a process, to follow in developing the inspection programs, listed above, for your dealership that will allow you to improve all repair processes as well as have a more consistent condition report on used equipment.
Friday Filosophy #30
Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out?
Anon
Everyone I meet is in some way my superior.
William Shakespeare
You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.
Yogi Berra
The time is now.
Thoughts of the Day
‘My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world.
I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it.’
— Barrack Obama
‘Life’s tough…..it’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”
— John Wayne
Marketing Missiles v1.8
In another post nearby I talk about the internet as a mode of contact with the customers. I get a lot of push back on this from distributors and dealers. They say that they will lose control of the customer. I couldn’t disagree more.
In the equipment world let’s suppose we have a market capture rate close to 30%, which for many of you is very generous. The fact that you are worried about losing control of your customer now after having lost 70% of them is rather odd isn’t it? But let’s explore the mystical world of the internet.
With the XML protocol you can now track the cursor as it moves around the screen. So here we have a customer browsing in the evening, when you are closed, looking at your website. They are looking for a part for one of their machines. They go to your parts menu and find that there is access to electronic catalogues. They enter the model and serial number of the machine for which they want or need parts. That takes them to the table of contents. They select a section of the machine, for instance the engine, and a schematic of the engine appears on the screen asking what they are looking for in the engine. They can take the cursor to a section of the engine and enlarge the schematic so that they can see the specific part numbers. They can then select a part number and have it go into a shopping cart. Once they are finished they can go to their shipping cart and obtain price and availability information. They can place an order or they can leave the process.
The next morning with good analytics you will know who looked, what they looked at, for how long they looked, did they check prices, did they check availability and did they place an order or not. If there was no order placed then you call then and offer to help or ask what they wanted. This is much more and much better quality customer contact. Don’t you think? The time is now.
Management Musing v1.8
Have you noticed how the increase in productivity has caused many of us to have fewer man hours of support per dollar sold? This is a phenomenon of business that has really grown in the past thirty years. The US GDP is seriously dependent on personal spending which has grown as a result of productivity increases providing higher incomes, until, that is 2008 and the financial meltdown. We need to get back there don’t we?
The trouble in the customer service world which most businesses in the capital goods world are seeing is that their markets are fragmenting. The various modes of customer contact used to be mail order, phone order, fax order or walk in order business. To that we now have the internet or self-service business. But this is a very different business model. Many of you are still waiting for this to happen, you are in denial. Don’t wait too long as time is now your enemy not your friend.
Sometimes you can wait comfortably and let others pave the way and you can avoid the costly mistakes of being “first in the dirt.” But time has come.
You all need to provide a portal for your customers to find you on line and be able to “shop” your site for your wares. They need to be able to easily find you, find what they want, price it and even order it. Your competitors are doing it. Are you? The time is now.
CAS Filosophy v1.1
Another great quote is from Eleanor Roosevelt: a woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is, until she gets into hot water
The time is now.
Friday Filosophy #29
Whatever women must do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.
Charlotte Whitton
The phrase “working mother” is redundant.
Jane Sellman
I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb … and I’m also not blonde.
Dolly Parton
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.
Maryon Pearson
The time is now.
Education #10
The latest iteration of the nonsense is the labor strife in Chicago. Imagine the highest teacher wages in the country at $75,000/year, about $20,000 higher than the average in the country, with a high school graduation rate of 50%. No wonder there is a desire for teacher performance in the new agreement.
This morning on CNBC the discussion was on the toolbox provided by the teaching profession (sic) to the graduating students for their entry to the work force. What about the empty tool box of the students who don’t graduate? Who will speak for them, the failures of the education system?
Isn’t it time for the parents and the teachers to take control of the education system and eliminate the overheads of the school boards and the teacher unions. I suspect the results would be much better. The time is now.
Friday Filosophy #28
There are four stages to the life of a man.
The time is now.