What Are You Afraid Of?
By
Eric Twiggs
“I am an old
man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” Mark Twain
When I was growing up, I was afraid of dogs. There was
one in my neighborhood that scared me the most. My friends and I called
it "Cujo" based on the popular Stephen King movie.
It was a German
Sheppard with a loud and intimidating bark. I would walk past the yard
every day on my way to school, and Cujo would start running in my
direction.
This was troubling
because there was no fence between us. This game of chase took place
every day, until one day I got fed up. I decided to grab a big stick and
when the dog came at me, I would use my weapon to defend myself.
The next morning, I walked past the yard and the beast ran
towards me. I grabbed my stick and was ready for a fight. When my
four legged opponent got close, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before.
It had no
teeth! I had been running from something that posed no real
threat. This is why F.E.A.R is described as False
Evidence Appearing Real.
What are you afraid of? Below are three of the most
common “Cujos” that chase shop owners, along with the "stick"
you will need to confront them with:
Raising Prices
Grab for the stick called VALUE, and use it to
confront your fear of losing customers. Many of my clients confronted
their fear of raising their labor rate only to discover they gained on the
bottom line without losing any customers.
Value is defined by dictionary.com as the equivalent worth or return in money. When customers question the price, they are
really asking if the service is worth
what you’re charging.
When your customer picks up their car, remind them of the
warranty, quality of the parts, and experience of the technicians. If
they feel the value, they will pay the price.
Hiring a Key Employee
Reach for the stick known as the hiring process, and
use it to overcome your fear of ending up with the wrong employee.
A critical aspect of the hiring process is doing the
reference checks. I always check with a
minimum of two former supervisors and ask them if they would rehire the
candidate. Most employers won’t bad mouth a former employee
because they risk being sued.
They will say good
things about someone who did a great job for them, so anything less than an enthusiastic
referral, should be considered a red flag.
Confronting an Under-performer
Use the stick known
as the one on one process to overcome the fear of him
quitting. I coach a shop owner who was afraid to hold his service manager
accountable. He was scared, thinking the manager would quit,
leaving him to work the counter.
In spite of his doubts,
he conducted a weekly one on one meeting with him every Tuesday morning
at 7am. These meetings have resulted in the shop's average repair order
increasing and the owners stress level decreasing. The
manager is more engaged than ever, and the owner’s fears never became a
reality.
Conclusion
When Cujo was chasing me, I prepared myself by grabbing a
stick. If you communicate value, implement
the hiring process, and conduct the weekly one on one’s, you’ll discover that the
beast you’ve been running from has no teeth.
It’s just False Evidence Appearing Real.
PS. Email me at etwiggs@autotraining.net if you
would like some additional information on how to conduct an effective one on
one meeting.