One of my constant concerns is our perception versus the competition's perception in our community and amongst our potential new customers. I am often befuddled because most of my new customers are those who have been 'around the horn' looking for items that are either hard to find, or require a skill level my competitors have not yet acquired.
Before I continue, let me pose this query: If your business has been around for decades, you have the most intelligent staff, a resource base for getting special order items that is unparalleled, and a reputation at the pinnacle of professionalism, yet, many of your 'new' loyal customers come by happen-stance, or in other words, they show up in such a haphazard fashion that you begin to question, why even advertise?
To add more salt to this wound, nine out of 10 times, your prices are better than the competition! Evidence of this little nugget of confusion is apparent in how many times you price an in-stock item to a potential customer, only to have your competition call to verify the price you gave in order for them to price match.
What? Did my people have horrible body odor, bad breath, too many or not enough tattoos? For the record, we all practice good hygiene, and our body art is quite tasteful, well balanced and demographically correct.
Recently, I read an article about how having "stupid" employees can actually boost productivity and overall profit. When I read the title of the article, I thought to myself, "if that's the case, this S.O.B. must be the most prolific journalist in modern media history, because anyone that would write an article like this is a idiot."
Anticipating a detailed, confounded, anti-populist argument to support such a nonsensical title, I settled into what I expected to be a humorous read. As it turns out, not the first thing was humorous. It was a very serious and detailed article delving into psychological reasoning that scientifically proves that having a bunch of “smart or otherwise intelligent” employees leads to arguments and disagreements of minor details of running the business, responsibilities of employees, lack of recognition vs. standards of self worth, and in general, bickering. In layman’s terms, it’s a perfect description of too many chiefs, not enough Indians.
The flip side details that the 'dull' knives inability to filet a fish will not stop the fish fry from happening. In other words, their lack of an outlandish skill-set yields equal benefits without paying the high cost for a set of ultra sharp Chicago Cutlery knives, thus more profit as a by-product.
The article went on to explain that with lesser talented employees, there is more of a team spirit and work ethic due largely in part to the fact that it takes two or three of them to figure things out making the decision one of consensus! This really made me think about some things, and looking back throughout the years of being in business, something as simple as stocking the shelves becomes a real issue for 'ace' countermen, and usually befalls the newbies and the lesser skilled.
Sure, the answering of phones by well trained and possibly genius, Type A personality countermen is a good business plan, but it does not preclude the fact that the shelves will need stocking from time to time, floors need mopped, windows cleaned, and the trash taken out. Equally important and readily evident, true, but a bone of contention with the 'big dogs' it seems.
Armed with this possible revealing knowledge, my mind turned back to the first question at the beginning of this article. Why, given all our accomplishments as a parts store and service center, do we have a harder time attracting and keeping new customers? My conclusion has shattered what I now consider a mythical approach of running a traditional parts store, and explains why some people seek our help as a last resort, rather than making us their first call.
Smart customers or skilled technicians actually prefer to deal with lesser skilled countermen that our competition employs because they think it will be easier, less combative, and in spite of their own intelligence, simply economically advantageous. Essentially, they out-smart themselves by picking the path of the least resistance, and in the end spend more time and money.
IQ challenged clientele and technicians prefer intelligent parts people, diagnostic help and installation tips because they don't have much time or money to spend. The real winner in this battle-of-wits turns out to be the worst of us all. Inept customers get better service, slightly less inept employees and the staff produce more profit. I'll venture a guess to say they are also the happiest of us too. Too dumb to realize a problem exists, yet smart enough to avoid problems that cannot be fixed, only avoided.
So, getting the people that need the most help should be much easier for a well run parts store or service center by default – well, almost. I forgot about 'ignorant' people. Nobody wants them because they actually think they are smart but are too dense to understand the nuances of good and better. That leaves us with the 'smarty-pants' price shopper, online buyer, blog-site visitor, and cousin of a guy that owns a garage. How do we get these guys to be loyal?
Currently, if a guy comes into my shop and asks us to change his oxygen sensors, we will ask why he thinks he needs them replaced. Often, the customer will go on to explain that our competition scanned his car for free, and that's the "code". This type of stuff usually ensues in a 'pseudo' argument about why he needs to pay me for a proper diagnosis. As we all know, this usually leads to a different diagnosis, and further 'arguing'. Sometimes, we actually get to fix the real problem, or sell a part that corrects the issue. Sometimes we don't get any sale. Trying to be smart, accurate, and inform the potential customer can lead to havoc. The cure to avoid this situation quite possibly might be to play 'dumb', do what the customer asks us to do (which sometimes has a slim chance of addressing the cause), and give the customer the opportunity to really fix the car or sell him the part they truly require when what they ask for has no effect. This way, my smart customers get what they ask for, and still get the car fixed, plus, we get to bill for everything. Not only what they want, but also for what is required, minus the sword play.
Being 'too smart for your own good' seems to result in our missing out on money-making opportunities. Therefore, being 'right' or 'smarter' than everyone else does not lend itself credence to achieving financial greatness. It just makes you right.
Our new approach will be one of adaptability. Henceforth, to be smart enough to realize that at times, in order to make money, we need to be dumb. My wife assures me that my 'idiot savant' single-minded traits should make being 'dumb' look easy. For the record, I consider all clients of mine brilliant regardless of their ability to pound sand into a rat-hole.
Subscribe to Aftermarket Business World and receive articles like this every month….absolutely free. Click here.
