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I price shopped this week


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I am putting this in Non-Automotive Discussion, but my price shopping experience relates to how customers feel and may relate to sometimes in purchasing vehicle maint. and repairs.

 

The Back Story:

 

I have been on vacation since June 8th in southeast Europe. I am leaving in two days to go back to the United States. I am here with my wife who is a huge animal lover. To make a long story short their a huge stray dog problem in Europe. Dozens of stray dogs in every village, town, and city you go into. The town we are staying in has a population of around 80,000 and is pretty densley populated. We seen one particular dog the first few days we were here. My wife commented on how ill he looked at that time. Fast forward two weeks later and we seen the same dog again, this time almost dead. He couldn't pick himself up off the sidewalk, was very low on energy and strength and appeared to be dehydrated. I picked him up and walked home with him. We fed and watered him, and took him to a vet to get medication and later shots when he was healthy enough. I couldn't find an appropriate home for him so I decided I am taking him home to the United States with me. I figured I would just bring him on our airplane, but found out later he was too big to fit into the largest cage that is acceptable on the airplane. So I had to go to plan B, fly him on a seperate cargo plane.

 

I started contacting cargo brokers in the area. As a private individual you cannot just book cargo yourself, it must go through a cargo company. The first company I found was located in Turkey. They were going to fly my dog out of Skopje Macedonia (2.5hrs driving from where I am), send him to Istanbul, and then to Washington D.C. That is the most common route for cargo in this area back to the U.S. The cargo agent assured me that the dog would be fed and watered on layovers. I waited a week for a quote from this company and when I got the quote I almost fell out of my chair, 4300 Euros which is nearly $4800 with exchange fees.

 

I called around to another company who could not complete the transaction because my dog would have to go into Bulgaria which is a EU member. The EU has some rabies blood test that needs done after vaccination but their is no lab in Macedonia to complete this test at the moment. So I called a Cargo company from the Skopje Macedonian airport. Once again the booked route was from Skopje, to Istanbul, to Washington D.C. The price estimated was 1100 euros. After a few days of talking options and the broker looking into customs requirements the price went to 1580 Euros. I selected this broker and went this route. I didn't get a chance to get into contact with anymore brokers due to time constraints (over a week being wasted by the broker in Turkey).

 

During this mission to get my dog back to the USA I felt like a customer calling around to auto repair shops trying to price a service. I also rediscovered as to why a customer may feel on the defense whenever talking to a company for a service. I found one price nearly 3 times the amount compared to the competitor. There was also a 40% increase in price from my estimated price to the actual price. I don't know the actual reasons for the price increase, if it was increased due to customs and airline fees, or if it was the broker sensing I was determined to get my dog to the USA and he wanted to profit off of my determination. I also remember why I got into this business, I was an avid DIYer and came from a family of DIYers that rarely sourced out work. I generally DIY projects, and with this one "project" I felt "weak" because I had to rely on somebody else to complete this task for me.

 

Lots of rambling, I don't know what of this pertains to a customer psychology when choosing a service, I thought I would just share my story.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         3 comments
      Got your attention? Good. The truth is, there is no such thing as the perfect technician pay plan. There are countless ways to create any pay plan. I’ve heard all the claims and opinions, and to be honest, it’s getting a little frustrating. Claims that an hourly paid pay plan cannot motivate. That flat rate is the only way to truly get the most production from your technicians. And then there’s the hybrid performance-based pay plan that many claim is the best.
      At a recent industry event, a shop owner from the Midwest boasted about his flat-rate techs and insisted that this pay plan should be adopted by all shops across the country. When I informed him that in states like New York, you cannot pay flat-rate, he was shocked. “Then how do you motivate your techs” he asked me.
      I remember the day in 1986 when I hired the best technician who ever worked for me in my 41 years as an automotive shop owner. We’ll call him Hal. When Hal reviewed my pay plan for him, and the incentive bonus document, he stared at it for a minute, looked up, and said, “Joe, this looks good, but here’s what I want.” He then wrote on top of the document the weekly salary he wanted. It was a BIG number. He went on to say, “Joe, I need to take home a certain amount of money. I have a home, a wife, two kids, and my Harly Davidson. I will work hard and produce for you. I don’t need an incentive bonus to do my work.” And he did, for the next 30 years, until the day he retired.
      Everyone is entitled to their opinion. So, here’s mine. Money is a motivator, but not the only motivator, and not the best motivator either. We have all heard this scenario, “She quit ABC Auto Center, to get a job at XYZ Auto Repair, and she’s making less money now at XYZ!” We all know that people don’t leave companies, they leave the people they work for or work with.
      With all this said, I do believe that an incentive-based pay plan can work. However, I also believe that a technician must be paid a very good base wage that is commensurate with their ability, experience, and certifications. I also believe that in addition to money, there needs to be a great benefits package. But the icing on the cake in any pay plan is the culture, mission, and vision of the company, which takes strong leadership. And let’s not forget that motivation also comes from praise, recognition, respect, and when technicians know that their work matters.
      Rather than looking for that elusive perfect pay plan, sit down with your technician. Find out what motivates them. What their goals are. Why do they get out of bed in the morning? When you tie their goals with your goals, you will have one powerful pay plan.
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