Seven Business Facts You Need to Know
There are, fortunately, seven facts that you can learn and use continually. These facts could help you avoid the mistakes that trip up so many others and go on to achieve your ultimate success.
6 Steps to Getting Your Big BUT Back in Line
Most people allow their environment to direct their actions. If you work for a boss who is not interested in your new ideas, you stop creating new ideas. If your coworker avoids teamwork, you retreat to your cubicle. If your spouse fails to uphold his/her end of the bargain, you stop trying.
Fearful Leadership: Do You Suffer from It?
It’s a tough time to be a leader. What with the economy being so unforgiving, making smart business decisions is crucial. That’s true in terms of not only strategy (whether to change your service mix or move into a new marketplace) but also relationships (whether to fire the high-volume performer who drives you nuts or address the conflict head-on). All actions have consequences. So does lack of action. And with the margin for error so slim, you want to make sure you’re thinking as coolly and clearly as possible.
Choices
Business, as life itself, always seems to come down to the choices we make. I’ve found that we are usually presented with two options at a time, rarely more. It’s a matter of picking the best road to go down in almost any instance.
Last Impressions
The last impression your customer has of you is as important as, if not more important than, the first impression. Many times we get busy and take short cuts we know we shouldn’t. Car delivery is an easy one to neglect. You talk with any sales manager and he will tell you that the last step of any sale is the reassurance step. In this step, you reassure the customer that he has made the right decision about buying from you and ask for referrals. Car delivery is the reassurance step in the sale of a transmission repair. Proper car-delivery procedure accomplishes several things, but reassurance is the most important.
Try Answering Your Phone for a Change
I learned that there are opportunities at my fingertips to improve efficiencies, to increase sales and to provide better service. I learned that what I thought was happening on a minute-by-minute basis was actually pretty different from what is actually happening. Some things are worse, some are better, but most are different.
I Hate Email
Here is a list of 10 best practices for handling email that I have developed and do my best to follow.
Be Prepared!
“Be Prepared” – the Boy Scout motto. I grew up with it. It was great for teaching us how to think ahead, to hopefully be ready for anything that comes along. What came along in the fall of 2012 no one could fully prepare for: a hurricane followed days later by a Nor’easter that turned into a snow event that shattered the record snowfall for that date by about 4 inches.
The significance of all this is that for the first time in the northeastern United States there wasn’t enough preparation to be done that could have avoided so much of the devastation. Instead of hundreds or thousands being without the essential utilities like power and water the way we are used to seeing after a bad thunderstorm, this time it impacted millions and will continue to for quite some time.
Productivity and Profitability
Time management and planning are critical to getting the one or two extra jobs a week. Is the manager making good decisions? Is he working on jobs that will not be picked up this week when money jobs are sitting on the bench? Are parts being ordered as soon as the sale is made so that waiting on parts is not slowing production? Every production mistake delays cash collection.
Attitudes and Altitudes
Have you ever considered that maybe your attitude as the shop owner is the root cause of the bad attitude your customers have when they come in, like this customer? Let me explain what I am talking about. After the customer calmed down and left, the manager showed me a folder with restraining orders the owner had filed against previous unruly customers. I had never seen that before. That was a new one on me. I went to the owner and asked the owner what he was going to do about this customer and he said did not know. He just knew he was not going to give him his money back.
A New DIY Era Is Upon Us
The face of our industry has changed so dramatically over the past several years, owing to the technology and the economy, that it’s hardly recognizable. Electrical and hydraulic systems continue to become more complex but customers can’t see it, nor do they care. All they want is what they’ve always wanted: someone to fix the problem. It doesn’t matter to them where the car was made or whether it’s an electrical or an internal transmission problem; they just want it fixed as inexpensively and as quickly as possible. Trying to explain in detail what it is and how you will fix it leaves them with that “deer in the headlights” look. You have to always be aware that this is your line of work, not theirs. They hopefully know theirs; they expect you to know yours so they don’t have to concern themselves with it.
Building a Positive Attitude, Building Your Bank Account
Attitude is NOT everything. It is your ability to stay committed to a positive attitude through everything that makes the difference between winning and losing.
