Three Reasons to Invest in Your Website
Learning Without Scars is proud to introduce our new contributer, Joanne Costin. Joanne Costin is an award-winning business journalist, content writer and content marketing strategist with more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry. She is a frequent contributor to the ConExpo-Con/Agg 365 newsletter as well as Inside Unmanned Systems magazine and president of Content for Biz, a content marketing agency. Her inaugural blog post, “Three Reasons to Invest in Your Website,” is a must read for all businesses.
Everyone by now understands the power of the internet and your website.
Your website provides 24/7 customer service
You know, more than anyone, that customers often need answers during hours when your business is closed. While you, your sales and service staff are home with their families, it’s your website that is delivering customer service.
Starting with the basics, update your locations and hours on your website as well as your google listings as needed, including special holiday hours. In addition, be sure multiple points of contact are provided.
As an industry journalist I visit hundreds of websites each week. It amazes me to see how many websites fail to list the most basic information, like phone numbers. Instead, they often rely on a contact form that in many cases goes to a spam folder, or someone who chooses not to respond.
It’s been my experience that, perhaps, one in 10 companies ever replies to contact form inquiries. Even worse, what message does it send to customers when they are not provided the means to leave a message because the voice mailbox is full?
This has happened more times than you can imagine. Are you sure it’s not happening to your customers?
As labor remains in short supply, a website focused on customer service can remove some of the burden on your staff while expediting the resolution of customer problems. Younger customers, for example, tend to prefer contact via chat or text.
A live chat solution might provide answers to questions quickly while directing customers to the right person. Live chat platforms are necessary in this digital age. In fact, 61% of B2B organizations are currently using live chat, so don’t overlook this important component.
Self-service options on your website provide another way to help customers with simple tasks like online ordering, billing or service inquiries. Also, do you provide a frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) area that could provide quick answers to customer questions? What about offering frequent blog posts to answer common questions, like those about preventative equipment maintenance.
In 2023, how customers view your customer service may largely be determined by your website. Salespeople are getting less time with customers, your website is getting more Gartner research has identified how B2B buyers’ increasingly rely on digital channels throughout the purchase process (these might include supplier websites, third-party websites and social media). B2B buyers spend just 17% of their total purchase journey with sales reps. In addition, with the average deal involving multiple suppliers, a sales rep is afforded about 5% of a typical customer’s total purchase time.
In a 2021 study from McKinsey & Company, sponsored by AED, researchers found that despite anticipating a substantial increase in fully digital sales, only 14% of respondents listed digital sales among their biggest opportunities in the future of selling.
Your website is your most important sales tool. Be sure your site is easy-to-navigate on all devices, providing the information that buyers need to simplify their purchasing decisions.
According to research from G2, 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to make a purchase after reading a trusted review. Consider that buyers constantly seek third-party endorsements. Product and service reviews and customer stories give life to your products and brands and enhance credibility.
Website copy should focus on customer outcomes and solving customer problems, rather than focusing on the dealership itself.
Your website can help you find new customers
A website optimized for search engines can help your dealership find new customers for products within your local area or outside it. Many equipment buyers start their journey with an online search. Keyword research can help you identify the search terms buyers are using, and with the help of blogs, videos and other content optimized for those keywords, your dealership can see an increase of visitors from across the web or across town. Ranking in organic search results can yield long-lasting benefits.
How much is your website worth?
Your very first website was probably no more than an electronic brochure. Today, your website has an opportunity to be as valuable as any physical location of your business. Websites can boost online sales. They find and engage customers. They help resolve customer issues and get customer questions answered faster and more efficiently.
It’s time to capitalize on your website with investments in both content and functionality with the goal of improving the digital experience of your customers and boosting your company’s sales and profits.
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How Has the Internet Changed the Role of Education?
How Has the Internet Changed the Role of Education?
In this week’s post on Lifelong Learning, our Founder, Ron Slee, takes a deep dive into the worldwide web with, “How Has the Internet Changed the Role of Education?”
The Internet is transforming education by changing the way students learn and the way teachers teach. This is true in both public and private education.
Overall, the Internet has greatly improved the education experience for students and teachers alike providing them with new tools and resources to enhance their learning and teaching experiences.
Learning Without Scars is a company that aims to improve the education system, by making learning a positive and enjoyable experience for students at schools or in the workforce. The company uses a variety of methods to achieve this goal. Reading material with audio tracks and quizzes; a series of segmented video classes using power point slides with text and audio tracks and strategically inserted film clips that are closed captioned.
Today there are a variety of companies providing Internet based learning. Kahn Academy for students from Preschool through High School through to EdX and Coursera for business applications. There is a lot available out there.
Our goal is to provide employees and students access to tools that can measure their skills and knowledge: the Job Function Skills Assessments. With these Comprehensive Assessments the individual has an opportunity to objectively measure their skills and knowledge and how it applies to their jobs. This is the first such assessment in our industry. This is viewed by the Workforce Development side to Technical and Vocational Schools to evaluate the needs of the employees working at businesses in their area that also are a potential employer for the students of the school.
We are experiencing difficulties, particularly with the group of technicians in dealers. Turnover rates are extremely high. A recent article in the New York Times by Christina Caron poses the question, “When is it time to quit your job?” The author covers the usual issues such as burnout. Burnout, according to Dennis Stolle, the senior director of applied psychology at the American Psychological Association is three symptoms; emotional exhaustion, negativity, and the feeling that no matter how hard you try you cannot be effective at your job.
There is another area of interest. Technicians have seen an amazing amount of change in the equipment that they perform repairs and maintenance. The job has become a serious challenge for advances in computers and telematics, allowing us to track the condition of equipment when it is working in the field using sensors everywhere. Many of the older technicians are struggling to keep up with these changes. In many cases a technician’s job defined who they were as people.
On the other hand, younger technicians, say under thirty-five years of age, are looking for different things in the workplace than the older generations. Laura Putnam, author of the book “Workplace Wellness That Works” addresses how the workplace functions. The younger workers want to have more control over how they work. They resist the old command and control style of leadership common in previous times. The employees are looking to organizations that support various aspects of wellness including physical, emotional, social as well as financial.
These younger technicians are leaving their jobs within six months at alarming rates. This is when the market is struggling to find qualified technicians to hire. Imagine spending all that time and money hiring someone and they choose to leave before they have been with you for six months. Billy Greenlee, Service Operations Manager/Rental Manager commented “I think retaining them becomes the next huge hurdle if you can get technicians on a good path. I’ve watched for years as my entry level techs start to mature it is all but impossible as a manager to bring their wages up, once they cross that threshold of being a “good” technician. It’s hard for a service manager to increase their salary to keep up with their market value when you start entry level techs at those lower hourly rates. I’ve been fortunate in my current position to not get pushback when I’ve gone to our ownership and request a 15-20% pay increase to bring my team up to their true market value as a technician. It’s paid dividends as most of my techs are at, or we’re just at, that transition point of being entry level to a seasoned tech. My other tool was moving to a rotating 4-10 schedule. But between those two things I have been able to keep my shop stable the last few years and get that return on investment on all of that education and training expense.”
Isaac Rollor recently posted a blog talking about technicians. He started as follows “Recently out of curiosity I used Indeed.com and searched “Heavy Equipment Mechanic.” For location I specified “USA.” Immediately there were 30,000 opportunities that populated my screen. Pretty amazing. Many of these job postings were urgently hiring. I saw many job openings for technicians at heavy equipment dealers. Isn’t it amazing that the focus of education for the past forty years has been on getting a University Degree? You will earn more money over your lifetime if you have a degree. Of course, they were making reference to high school graduation as the comparison. NOT technicians.
Bill Pyles took it further when we addressed the “On-Boarding” of new technicians.
I feel it’s important to note that entry-level tech does not mean you’ve hired a technician to whom you can pay minimum wage for the next few years. The first two items a dealer needs are a developmental pay plan (earn while you learn) and a career-building training plan, from entry-level to Top Gun. Be sure part of the hiring process is a copy of your training and wage scale. Spend quality time with the new tech in explaining the “earn while you learn” approach. Remember, training never ends.
Similarly, it helps to assign a “mentor” to these new employees. This is true whether you are hiring straight from a vocational or technical school or hiring a working technician. A mentor can be a great help in ensuring the new employees feel part of a team. An important member of the team.
I thought it would be worthwhile in Lifelong Learning to point out that it is not solely the responsibility of the employee to improve themselves through learning programs, but also how the business accepts new employees and how they are treated. One thing is certain: Technician turnover rates today are unacceptable. It is in every company’s best interest to address this issue soon.
The time is now.
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Friday Filosophy v.01.27.2023
Friday Filosophy v.01.27.2023
In Friday Filosophy v.01.27.2023, Ron Slee shares quotes and food for thought from the French artist Gauguin.
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinct from Impressionism. Toward the end of his life, he spent ten years in French Polynesia. The paintings from this time depict people or landscapes from that region. His work was influential on the French avant-garde and many modern artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, and he is well known for his relationship with Vincent and Theo van Gogh. Gauguin’s art became popular after his death, partially from the efforts of dealer Ambroise Vollard, who organized exhibitions of his work late in his career and assisted in organizing two important posthumous exhibitions in Paris.[1][2]Gauguin was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. His expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way for Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential practitioner of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms.
Gauguin’s idyllic childhood ended abruptly when his family mentors fell from political power during Peruvian civil conflicts in 1854. Aline returned to France with her children, leaving Paul with his paternal grandfather, Guillaume Gauguin, in Orléans. Deprived by the Peruvian Tristan Moscoso clan of a generous annuity arranged by her granduncle, Aline settled in Paris to work as a dressmaker.
In 1871, Gauguin returned to Paris where he secured a job as a stockbroker. A close family friend, Gustave Arosa, got him a job at the Paris Bourse; Gauguin was 23. He became a successful Parisian businessman and remained one for the next 11 years. In 1879 he was earning 30,000 francs a year (about $145,000 in 2019 US dollars) as a stockbroker, and as much again in his dealings in the art market.[23][24] But in 1882 the Paris stock market crashed and the art market contracted. Gauguin’s earnings deteriorated sharply and he eventually decided to pursue painting full-time.
In 1873, he married a Danish woman, Mette-Sophie Gad (1850–1920). Over the next ten years, they had five children: Émile (1874–1955); Aline (1877–1897); Clovis (1879–1900); Jean René (1881–1961); and Paul Rollon (1883–1961). By 1884, Gauguin had moved with his family to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he pursued a business career as a tarpaulin salesman. It was not a success: He could not speak Danish, and the Danes did not want French tarpaulins. Mette became the chief breadwinner, giving French lessons to trainee diplomats.[27]
His middle-class family and marriage fell apart after 11 years when Gauguin was driven to paint full-time. He returned to Paris in 1885, after his wife and her family asked him to leave because he had renounced the values they shared. Gauguin’s last physical contact with them was in 1891, and Mette eventually broke with him decisively in 1894.
In October 1883, he wrote to Pissarro saying that he had decided to make his living from painting at all costs and asked for his help, which Pissarro at first readily provided. The following January, Gauguin moved with his family to Rouen, where they could live more cheaply and where he thought he had discerned opportunities when visiting Pissarro there the previous summer. However, the venture proved unsuccessful, and by the end of the year Mette and the children moved to Copenhagen, Gauguin following shortly after in November 1884, bringing with him his art collection, which subsequently remained in Copenhagen. Life in Copenhagen proved equally difficult, and their marriage grew strained. At Mette’s urging, supported by her family, Gauguin returned to Paris the following year.
The Time is Now
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It’s not okay to choose a career in heavy equipment
It’s not okay to choose a career in heavy equipment
Guest writer Isaac Rollor certainly gets our attention this week with his blog post, “It’s not okay to choose a career in heavy equipment.”
Recently out of curiosity I used Indeed.com and searched “Heavy Equipment Mechanic.” For location I specified “USA.” Immediately there were 30,000 opportunities that populated my screen. Pretty amazing. Many of these job postings were urgently hiring. I saw many job openings for technicians at heavy equipment dealers. I recognized these dealer brands and knew that they were great employers who valued their people. This is truly an exciting time to start a career in this industry, there are many open positions providing great pay, great benefits and great opportunities to see things like mine sites, and construction sites that most college age employees would really enjoy. I would have no problem encouraging my children to start a career in heavy equipment and have the same experiences that I have had in this industry. It’s a rewarding career and it’s especially fun when you develop a connection with the machines though repairing or operating equipment.
As I sat in my own little bubble thinking about how great this career choice would be for a college aged employee, I realized that I may be seeing things differently than most. When I see a job posting for a mechanic at a dealership, I have fond memories of repairing and operating machines. I remember feeling accomplished when a broken piece of equipment was brought back to life and placed back in production. These experiences make it “okay” for me to promote this career as a valid option for anyone. I suddenly realized that for most college aged workers it is “not okay” to choose this career path. Its “not okay” to work outside, its “not okay” to work in a dangerous mine etc. It is “okay” to pursue 100 other, indoor, office based job titles. Why? Because there is a great deal of social evidence that this is a viable career choice. Parents, relatives, and friends all work downtown in an office, they share stories about their work. They make it “okay” to work in an office.
As a technical college graduate, I remember attending an OEM event where I had the opportunity to operate the machines and speak with other professionals who worked in the industry. I was hooked because not only did I make a connection with the product by operating it I also saw social proof that many other people had made this career choice. At that moment it was “okay” for me to choose this career path over all other alternatives. I walked away from that recruiting event with a group photo, several personal cell phone numbers of professionals I could call with questions and a memory that would forever anchor me to the brand. The event was successful and I became an employee along with several others who attended that day.
If you observe carefully, you will see that certain industries are making it “okay” for college age workers to choose their industry as a primary career path.
How will you make it “okay” for great talent to join your team?
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Is Your Entry-Level Tech Training Plan Firing on All Cylinders?
Is Your Entry-Level Tech Training Plan Firing on All Cylinders?
Guest writer Bill Pyles writes this week on the topic of on-boarding and making sure your techs are ready for what they are asked to do in, “Is Your Entry-Level Tech Training Plan Firing on All Cylinders?”
I’ve written blogs in the past addressing and promoting the value of entry-level technicians and mechanics; this blog adds to the prior discussions regarding entry-level techs. Entry level is usually younger men and women just starting their career in heavy equipment (or utility equipment) or older individuals starting over with a new career. Yes, the world is populated with thousands of experienced heavy equipment mechanics; but how are good mechanics and technicians developed? When does a young man or woman evolve into the “top gun” when it comes to equipment maintenance and repair? It happens from careful planning and attention to detail.
After retiring from the dealer world after nearly 50 years, I joined Mechanics and Techs LLC, a recruiting company for dealers, private contractors, and others. I’ve noticed a new position popping up at dealers, Talent Acquisition, or a similar title. Hopefully, these new positions will not only find new talent but also recognize there is much, much more in hiring and retaining talent. Successful companies will see the benefits quickly!
A few things must happen to take an entry-level tech from “desire” to “success”. The first basic item required is an individual who has a mechanical aptitude and the desire to continuously learn. There are several good mechanical aptitude tests available on the web. Another good place to start is a technical school, either public or private. Many out there are more than capable of teaching basic technician skills. Many offer a certificate program while others offer a two-year associate’s program. Some technical schools partner with a dealership to have the student physically work at the dealership during his/her education. This last option is great in having the ability to see the student in a real dealer shop environment with real-time input/advice from dealer supervisory personnel. The quality of the technical school training is equally as important as the student’s grades and attendance. Unfortunately, a student with poor attendance and poor grades will never be your next top gun tech. Never.
Finally, graduation day has come, and your dealership has made a commitment in taking on entry-level technicians. I feel it’s important to note, entry-level tech does not mean you’ve hired a technician whom you can pay minimum wage for the next few years. The first two items a dealer needs are a developmental pay plan (earn while you learn) and a career-building training plan, entry-level to Top Gun. Be sure part of the hiring process is a copy of your training and wage scale. Spend quality time with the new tech in explaining the “earn while you learn” approach. Remember, training never ends. I enjoy telling anyone on the product support team as soon as you think you’ve learned or experienced it all, something changes, and your back in training! Also, be sure to have the new tech uniforms ordered and hanging in the locker room. New uniforms can be a great sense of pride for the new tech and immediately identify him or her as a valued member of your team! Preferably, provide your company uniforms to the new tech while they are still in school. Very professional looking for all.
Bring your new techs in during the slow season (if you have one). Give them a fair chance to get acclimated to the shop environment and the other techs. Unfortunately, I’ve seen new techs thrown into the shop mix only to make mistakes and fail. Then the supervisor, who did little to help coach or mentor the new tech is screaming for his/her termination, NOW. All the technical training has now been wasted and the new tech has a termination to add to his resume as well as a broken ego. Bring the new tech on board when it’s slow. You’ll be able to properly onboard the new hire, have a coach/mentor work with him/her, and provide the environment that will contribute to their success.
Most of the OEMs I’ve worked with in the past have excellent training material available to the dealer and tech regarding their products. The training plans I feel had the most value was those that started with the basics (fundamentals of service), broken bolt extraction, general electrical, root cause failure analysis, etc. There is much to be learned before diving into the rebuilding of an engine or transmission. Unfortunately, the basics are too often overlooked, and we attempt to make an entry-level tech into a qualified field tech in too short of time. Needless to say, this results in incorrect repairs, frustrated customers, and a terminated tech. A structured training plan, with occasional updating for new products, will be your new tech’s roadmap for success. Allow your tech to participate in other training modules, such as oil sampling, systems training such as the undercarriage, ground engaging tools, cooling packages, and others.
Here is my opinion of a good training path. First, I strongly suggest using the OEM’s training path, including sending new and experienced techs for instructor-led training. Round this training out with the basics of electrical, hydraulics, drivetrain, and engines. Like any good educational program, the basics are the foundation, the building blocks of understanding the material being learned. I know this very well, firsthand. While in grade school, I did not catch on to the then, “new math” but always passed the current math subject and went to the next math training level. Without a basic understanding of the material, I had nothing to build upon (no solid foundation) and had to depend on others to help me catch up. That brings me to a third item needed, good mentors/coaches.
Designate a couple of top-notch mentors/coaches in your shop. Introduce your new entry-level tech to the shop coach/mentor (this could be your shop supervisor or leadman). A good mentor/coach not only needs to have outstanding knowledge of the equipment, but he must also have the mechanical aptitude to explain the repair. Think of this as being like your lead man or shop supervisor explaining a repair option to a customer. Most customers have some working knowledge of their equipment, some have very little working knowledge of how the equipment functions, but your challenge is to explain what failed (failure analysis) and what needs to be repaired/rebuilt (training path). A well-trained tech should know this as well.
Be sure to add your new entry-level tech to your incentive program and start measuring their performance. He or she is now part of your team, and every effort must be made to make the new tech feel like a contributing member of the team. If your incentive plan is based on performance (many are) be sure to choose the work orders carefully for the new tech. Assigning basic work orders, such as steam cleaning, moving the machine into a bay, removing and installing buckets for rental units, etc. can build the confidence of a new tech who is “learning the ropes”. The opposite of this example is putting the new tech on the job to pull the flux capacitor from the first machine to hit the market. Why not, after all, it’s a warranty and you can invoice the manufacturer. And the manufacturer will pay a fair amount of labor, but not the 56 hours the new tech put into the work order.
Create your road map for new and experienced tech success with a solid wage and training plan. It will pay dividends!
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When Does Learning Stop?
When Does Learning Stop?
Tonight, our Curriculum Designer, Caroline Slee-Poulos asks the question many of you may be asking: When Does Learning Stop?
I’m not trying to be obnoxious when I say this: learning stops once you are dead.
As long as we are alive, we are learning and progressing. Even if the process of learning is not what you might think of as “overt” – i.e. in a classroom, from books, in front of a teacher – you are still learning as you go.
That learning can be lighthearted, or formal. If you think you are not learning, I would ask you if you have ever helped a child or grandchild work on a level of a video game. If you have, I can guarantee you that you were learning in that moment!
Humor aside, there is a vast wealth of research about the benefits of lifelong learning. Outside of the obvious professional benefits, learning is good for your health.
The Harvard Business Review has reported on this. As an English teacher I, of course, love the fact that they note that reading lowers blood pressure. They also cite neurologists who observe that learning (cognitive activity) can delay symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. Learning does not change the disease, nor cure it, but a delay in symptoms offers a better quality of life to those with the diagnosis.
For many of us, we think of the formal education we have received in our earlier years as the model of learning. As you can see from my video game example above, learning goes beyond that classroom.
Picking up a new instrument, or spending time to learn new music are both ways of learning. Picking up a new hobby or craft are ways of learning. Developing a new habit – whether that may be a daily writing practice or reading practice – is another form of learning. Turning off the map program on your cellular phone and exploring an area with a map (or nothing but your sense of direction!) is still another way of learning.
What I am trying to demonstrate here is that our classes, which have moved away from the traditional in-person classroom, are part of a larger picture for your life. Yes, by continuing your education you are increasing your marketability and expertise in your field.
You are also improving your health and quality of life.
Isn’t it time for you to experience all of these benefits?
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Friday Filosophy v.01.20.2023
Friday Filosophy v.01.20.2023
Friday Filosophy v.01.20.2023 offers quotes and words of wisdom from Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that “Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau.”
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in 1841. His father, Léonard Renoir, was a tailor of modest means, so, in 1844, Renoir’s family moved to Paris in search of more favorable prospects. The location of their home, in rue d’Argenteuil in central Paris, placed Renoir in proximity to the Louvre. Although the young Renoir had a natural proclivity for drawing, he exhibited a greater talent for singing. His talent was encouraged by his teacher, Charles Gounod, who was the choirmaster at the Church of St Roch at the time. However, due to the family’s financial circumstances, Renoir had to discontinue his music lessons and leave school at the age of thirteen to pursue an apprenticeship at a porcelain factory.
In 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris. There he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet. At times, during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paint. During the Paris Commune in 1871, while Renoir painted on the banks of the Seine River, some Communards thought he was a spy and were about to throw him into the river, when a leader of the Commune, Raoul Rigault, recognized Renoir as the man who had protected him on an earlier occasion. In 1874, a ten-year friendship with Jules Le Cœur and his family ended, and Renoir lost not only the valuable support gained by the association but also a generous welcome to stay on their property near Fontainebleau and its scenic forest. This loss of a favorite painting location resulted in a distinct change of subjects.
Hoping to secure a livelihood by attracting portrait commissions, Renoir displayed mostly portraits at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. He contributed a more diverse range of paintings the next year when the group presented its third exhibition; they included Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette and The Swing. Renoir did not exhibit in the fourth or fifth Impressionist exhibitions, and instead resumed submitting his works to the Salon. By the end of the 1870s, particularly after the success of his painting Mme Charpentier and her Children (1878) at the Salon of 1879, Renoir was a successful and fashionable painter.
In 1883, Renoir spent the summer in Guernsey, one of the islands in the English Channel with a varied landscape of beaches, cliffs, and bays, where he created fifteen paintings in little over a month. Most of these feature Moulin Huet, a bay in Saint Martin’s, Guernsey. These paintings were the subject of a set of commemorative postage stamps issued by the Bailiwick of Guernsey in 1983.
Around 1892, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis. In 1907, he moved to the warmer climate of “Les Collettes”, a farm at the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, close to the Mediterranean coast. Renoir died at Cagnes-sur-Mer on 3 December 1919.
The Time is Now.
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Three Reasons to Invest in Your Website
Three Reasons to Invest in Your Website
Learning Without Scars is proud to introduce our new contributer, Joanne Costin. Joanne Costin is an award-winning business journalist, content writer and content marketing strategist with more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry. She is a frequent contributor to the ConExpo-Con/Agg 365 newsletter as well as Inside Unmanned Systems magazine and president of Content for Biz, a content marketing agency. Her inaugural blog post, “Three Reasons to Invest in Your Website,” is a must read for all businesses.
Everyone by now understands the power of the internet and your website.
Your website provides 24/7 customer service
You know, more than anyone, that customers often need answers during hours when your business is closed. While you, your sales and service staff are home with their families, it’s your website that is delivering customer service.
Starting with the basics, update your locations and hours on your website as well as your google listings as needed, including special holiday hours. In addition, be sure multiple points of contact are provided.
As an industry journalist I visit hundreds of websites each week. It amazes me to see how many websites fail to list the most basic information, like phone numbers. Instead, they often rely on a contact form that in many cases goes to a spam folder, or someone who chooses not to respond.
It’s been my experience that, perhaps, one in 10 companies ever replies to contact form inquiries. Even worse, what message does it send to customers when they are not provided the means to leave a message because the voice mailbox is full?
This has happened more times than you can imagine. Are you sure it’s not happening to your customers?
As labor remains in short supply, a website focused on customer service can remove some of the burden on your staff while expediting the resolution of customer problems. Younger customers, for example, tend to prefer contact via chat or text.
A live chat solution might provide answers to questions quickly while directing customers to the right person. Live chat platforms are necessary in this digital age. In fact, 61% of B2B organizations are currently using live chat, so don’t overlook this important component.
Self-service options on your website provide another way to help customers with simple tasks like online ordering, billing or service inquiries. Also, do you provide a frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) area that could provide quick answers to customer questions? What about offering frequent blog posts to answer common questions, like those about preventative equipment maintenance.
In 2023, how customers view your customer service may largely be determined by your website. Salespeople are getting less time with customers, your website is getting more Gartner research has identified how B2B buyers’ increasingly rely on digital channels throughout the purchase process (these might include supplier websites, third-party websites and social media). B2B buyers spend just 17% of their total purchase journey with sales reps. In addition, with the average deal involving multiple suppliers, a sales rep is afforded about 5% of a typical customer’s total purchase time.
In a 2021 study from McKinsey & Company, sponsored by AED, researchers found that despite anticipating a substantial increase in fully digital sales, only 14% of respondents listed digital sales among their biggest opportunities in the future of selling.
Your website is your most important sales tool. Be sure your site is easy-to-navigate on all devices, providing the information that buyers need to simplify their purchasing decisions.
According to research from G2, 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to make a purchase after reading a trusted review. Consider that buyers constantly seek third-party endorsements. Product and service reviews and customer stories give life to your products and brands and enhance credibility.
Website copy should focus on customer outcomes and solving customer problems, rather than focusing on the dealership itself.
Your website can help you find new customers
A website optimized for search engines can help your dealership find new customers for products within your local area or outside it. Many equipment buyers start their journey with an online search. Keyword research can help you identify the search terms buyers are using, and with the help of blogs, videos and other content optimized for those keywords, your dealership can see an increase of visitors from across the web or across town. Ranking in organic search results can yield long-lasting benefits.
How much is your website worth?
Your very first website was probably no more than an electronic brochure. Today, your website has an opportunity to be as valuable as any physical location of your business. Websites can boost online sales. They find and engage customers. They help resolve customer issues and get customer questions answered faster and more efficiently.
It’s time to capitalize on your website with investments in both content and functionality with the goal of improving the digital experience of your customers and boosting your company’s sales and profits.
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Does Your Dealership Measure Customer Retention?
Does Your Dealership Measure Customer Retention?
Our new guest writer, Tom Montgomery, asks a critical question in his inaugural blog post for Learning Without Scars: Does Your Dealership Measure Customer Retention?
If you had to define Tom Montgomery in a nutshell, you would say he is a powerful strategist. Tom is a business savvy professional with in-depth experience. He is consistently able to deliver excellent results in high growth, competitive markets. Tom is a strongly analytical person with a no-quit attitude. He is a dedicated team builder and creates an environment of support and encouragement for his team members. Tom is an articulate communicator who is skilled at building relationships. He has served as a mentor to many and teaches customer loyalty skills while driving sustained revenue growth. Tom comes to us with a skill for transforming low-performing teams into high-caliber workforces. He has had a more than 40-year career in the heavy equipment industry.
During the time that I was working for one of the leading Komatsu dealerships in North America I discovered a method on how to improve profitability by understanding how often our customers bought goods and services from us. This was one of the simplest and easiest methods to create new opportunities for the dealership however very few dealerships take the time or effort to find out how. This method was a review of how successful we were in keeping our customer base loyal to the dealership.
It was all about Customer Retention!
Measuring customer retention may be one of the most important steps you can take to protect your dealership. It gives you a firm grasp on the “percentage” of your customer base who buys from you year-after-year. Learning how to measure and understand retention will allow you to take steps to improve the sales and profitability of your business. When I discovered how to track this important measurement, I was able to work magic in terms of sales and profits.
What Is a Reasonable Target for Customer Retention?
Remember, we are trying to find what percentage of your customer base who buy from your dealership on a repeat basis (historically comparing one year to the next year).
It is best to use a five-year history if you are able to do so. A reasonable goal would be keeping 80% of your customers in Parts and Service departments and 95% in the Sales department.
First Let’s Look at the Benefits to Your Dealership.
You don’t need to be a math wizard or a specialist in database management to accomplish this.
You will see how DO-ABLE this is as you read further. When I have studied dealer’s customer retention, I have found that most dealers lose at least 50% of their customer base in a five-year period. In order to survive you must find a way to replace that income or perish. One way to replace that income is to find new customers to replace those who have left your business.
However, adding new customers to your customer base is the most challenging and expensive way to survive.
There is a better way!
It is much more valuable and less costly to find ways to sell to existing customers rather than to add new customers as the sole method of making your business grow. Consider this; you have probably spent a considerable amount of time, energy and money building a relationship of “trust” with you current customers. You must “leverage” this relationship of trust to benefit both your customers and your business. It has been estimated that it costs 5 to 14 times the amount to add a new customer as it does to sell to an existing customer. Most dealers DO NOT have the resources to sustain that type of activity.
What Are the Reasons Customers Leave a Dealership?
This information comes from my study of dozens of dealerships:
Here are a few important questions to consider.
After a customer purchase from your business how soon should you contact them with a telephone call, post-card, email, letter to say, “Thank You?” Do you have a standard practice in your business to “follow-up” on a recent purchase? Retaining a customer is nothing more than finding ways to meet and exceed the customer’s expectations. And… It is much easier to do that than to continuously find new customers.
What Is the Financial Impact for Your Dealership?
By figuring out the percentage of customers that buy from you, year-after-year, you will be able to specifically measure the “financial” impact to your dealership. Here is a remarkable fact:
For every 5% improvement in retention, you can expect a 25% to 80% improvement (or more) in the profitability of your business. Since a majority of dealers never measure customer retention you will be creating a significant advantage over your competition. It is like having a roadmap to improved profitability. Once you know where you stand you will be able to make significant changes to improve it.
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The Structure and Development of Our Learning On Demand Classes
The Structure and Development of our Learning On Demand Classes
For this week’s installment on Lifelong Learning, our Founder, Ron Slee, is taking you on a walkthrough of the process that goes into the structure and development of our Learning On Demand classes.
Over our time in providing classroom teaching at Universities, High Schools, Business related Management Training, Webinars and most recently internet-based learning paths we have changed and adapted to the reality of the research provided to educators worldwide.
Research continues and learning results continue to improve for most. But it is indeed a challenge to both keep up and continue to be on the leading edge of internet based adult learning and the requirement of schools worldwide. One of our major advances in the past two years has been to develop segmented learning. We use slides with audio tracks and film clips in our learning videos. The students can go back and forth as often as they like. These segments happen in the range of ten to fifteen minutes of learning. At the end of each segment, we insert a “quiz” to evaluate both the student’s ability to understand our content as well as our presentation methods.
Not surprisingly we have seen a significant change on how the student results have changed. The first time a student takes one of our classes the first segment the successful results might be about 50%. The send segment the success rate goes to 75% and from that point on the success stays above 90%. This is proof positive, in my mind, that the student pays more attention when they know there will be a “check” of their understanding of the material. It truly works and our results prove it rather conclusively.
Similarly, we added reading materials before the video learning segments. These reading assignments have an audio track with them so that we are ADA compliant but that also gives us a time check. We provide ninety to one hundred and ten minutes of audio with each subject specific class. Then we have three multiple choice quizzes for each reading assignment. This puts the reading portion in the range of two hours or more for each class. Again, research has shown that “scanning” reading material in a learning environment helps in the retention and understanding of the material involved. We are noticing the same thing when we have students taking more than one subject specific class as the scores are noticeably higher.
Recently, in the past two months we have added Homework to our classes. We provide more than five hundred pages of reference books for the student to read. With each of our reference books we again have what is called a “Check for Understanding.” Contrary to most education institutions we verify that the student has in fact done the homework. That is the purpose of our Check for Understanding. The homework with the reference books amounts to thirteen hours of time. This is in line with the Department of Education need statement that for each face-to-face hour of learning there needs to be two hours of homework. Each of our subject specific classes now consist of six and a half hours of face-to-face learning and thirteen hours of homework.
That allows us to comply with the academic requirements of most states. Two of our learning on demand classes offered in vocational and technical schools, junior colleges as well as public and private universities offer one academic credit to students. This is what we offer through our Centers of Excellence across Noth America. For adult education, in the workforce development business of schools, we still have the shorter class options. However, we also offer a path for the students should they wish to follow the academic credit path.
I have to admit that it is a lot of work to stay current with educational changes. Research continues to push educators to get better at delivering learning to students. That is our goal and purpose at Learning Without Scars.
The Time is Now.
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Friday Filosophy v.01.13.2023
Friday Filosophy v.01.13.2023
For Friday Filosophy v.01.13.2023, our Founder, Ron Slee shares quotes and words of wisdom from the French painter Oscar-Claude Monet.
Oscar-Claude Monet (14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his long career, he was the most consistent and prolific practitioner of impressionism’s philosophy of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein air (outdoor) landscape painting. The term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his painting Impression, soleil levant, exhibited in 1874 (the “exhibition of rejects”) initiated by Monet and his associates as an alternative to the Salon.
Monet was raised in Le Havre, Normandy, and became interested in the outdoors and drawing from an early age. Although his mother, Louise-Justine Aubrée Monet, supported his ambitions to be a painter, his father, Claude-Adolphe, disapproved and wanted him to pursue a career in business. He was very close to his mother, but she died in January 1857 when he was sixteen years old, and he was sent to live with his childless, widowed but wealthy aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre. He went on to study at the Académie Suisse, and under the academic history painter Charles Gleyre, where he was a classmate of Auguste Renoir. His early works include landscapes, seascapes, and portraits, but attracted little attention. A key early influence was Eugène Boudin who introduced him to the concept of plein air painting. From 1883, Monet lived in Giverny, also in northern France, where he purchased a house and property and began a vast landscaping project, including a water-lily pond.
Monet’s ambition to document the French countryside led to a method of painting the same scene many times so as to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons. Among the best-known examples are his series of haystacks (1890–91), paintings of the Rouen Cathedral (1894), and the paintings of water lilies in his garden in Giverny that occupied him continuously for the last 20 years of his life.
Frequently exhibited and successful during his lifetime, Monet’s fame and popularity soared in the second half of the 20th century when he became one of the world’s most famous painters and a source of inspiration for burgeoning groups of artists.
The Time is Now.
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