Don't Stand Still

[CAR_AutoReports]

How I went from an average credit card transaction of $360 in November of 2013 to $805 in October of 2019...

Everyone wants change to be easy.

Everyone wants to kill it in their craft.

How many of you are ready to put in the work? Take an inside look at the lessons we learned while transforming our business over the last 7 years. We're going to discover how we evaluated Joman in 2013 and how we designed CAR to streamline service, period.

I sat in several classes at AAPEX where I felt like everyone was talking about the things we spent the last 7 years building, so now I'm going to tell you how we did it and why our platform is the integral internal process that can replicate this machine anywhere on the planet where service is performed.

If Amazon were a store, how could it possibly look or operate.

1. Walk in, what level would you like to go on? Tech?
2. Oh you just need an 'iPhone cable 6ft'?
3. Got you, here's the one we recommend, along with a few others on the shelf. Want to see which is best rated? Lowest price? Manufacturer? How fast can you get it?
4. Let me see this one; check some reviews, some comments...
5. Ok, here's the one I need and it'll be at my house tomorrow? Awesome, thanks!
6. Oh what's that, you need 2... your cord in your car looks the same?
7. No worries! Still want it tomorrow? See you then!

Now, with that frame of reference... look at your own business.

What you must remember is that even though you are not Amazon, customers have been conditioned to have a frictionless approach to transactions. That's why your largest competitor is yourself and your ability to adapt to this evolved phase of business consistency... that you are also a part of.

When a customer walks in your door, what do they see?

1. Must Have | HARD: Smile, let everything go that may be happening in life and get ready to deal with someone else's problem.
2. Must Have: Counter/Desk clean and organized?
3. Must Have: Computer ready to go? Unless you use CAR, then you can just take out your phone or the tablet we provide to every employee.
4. Almost Must Have: A clean waiting room with available chairs? If not available for good reasons, that's a plus here. Like, there are other customers filling their space.
5. Almost Must Have: Do you look like a disaster? *PS I did for years, still do sometimes. We all have off days.*
6. Nice To Have:Water bottles handy? Maybe a coffee machine, if you have the space.
7. The Hardest Goal: How clean is your shop?

The internet doesn't need a smile or a clean office/shop, the internet is a place where business is done based on price or features and sometimes... both. You're in the business of service, competing against everyone from the other local guy to the large marketing firms with endless budgets. And it's evolving, faster than you've ever imagined.

If you're standing still, you're going to lose out on a great opportunity to evolve as a business and as a person, and possibly make the most money ever by providing good and honest service.

Phase 1 is to get you to think about your position in the market place. Compare yourself to the impossible, because doing so will open your mind to potential solutions to frictions that exist in your business today, by just thinking about them.

When Jeff Bezos evolved Amazon, he wasn't trying to provide the lowest price on products. He was and is trying to fulfill what his customers want, cheaper pricing on goods and near instant delivery. He's delivered on both. Your customers expectations are different, and if your service level is built on trust, price becomes much less of a barrier.

Tune in next week, where we continue this series of... How to evolve my auto repair business. I had a really great title for this series, but it was stolen and trademarked.

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