I Don’t Have The Money!

I Don’t Have The Money!

By Eric Twiggs

"Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman - not the attitude of the prospect" - W. Clement Stone

My client Mac, a former police officer, recently told me the following story from his days on the force:  One night while out on the beat, he pulled over a young man named Rick for driving without his lights on.   Mac checked his record and discovered that Rick had over $3,500 in outstanding warrants. 

 “I don't have the money!” replied the scared suspect.    Mac arrested him and took him to the precinct.   The next day, Rick was scheduled for his day in court.   He met with his attorney and told her "This is a waste of my time because I don't have the money!"  10:00am that morning he appears before the Judge.  Before his attorney could address the Bench, Rick spoke out and said the following:  " Your Honor, I don't know what we need to do here, but I don't have the money to pay these warrants." 

The Judge responded:" The penalty for the unpaid warrants is six months in prison."    Before the judge could slam the gavel, Rick asked if he could make a phone call.  After a three minute conversation, he hung up and responded:  I just spoke to my wife and the $3,500 will be wired to the court by 12 noon!  How did Rick suddenly come up with the money and what does this have to do with you?   

Rick had the money all along, but spending it at the court was not a priority until he had the conversation with the Judge.    If your customers are always saying that they don't have the money, it's because you haven't communicated with them in a way that leaves them feeling like it's a priority.  Like the suspect in my story, they are really saying: “I have the money, but I don't want to spend it with YOU."

The threat of going to prison helped Rick to feel the value.   Below are two steps that you can take to help your customers feel the value of your service: 

1.      Use Pictures

You’ve probably heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.”   It may sound like another cliché, but it’s really a proven fact.

According to study done by communications expert Carmine Gallo, the average person is able to recall 10% of the information that they receive via oral communication within 72 hours.  Gallo found that when the same information is presented using pictures, the recall rate jumps to 65%.   In other words, consumers will remember more of what they see than what you say! 

Today’s technology makes it easy to show people a picture of their vehicle components.    Tablets and smart phones can be used to demonstrate exactly why you suggested the service.  Selling automotive service is like selling the invisible.  Using pictures will increase the levels of trust by making the transaction visible. 

2.      Hire For Personality

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was asked during an interview about how he was able to get his people to smile when greeting customers.  His response is the key to improving your business:  “The easiest way to ensure that your employees smile when they greet a customer is to only hire employees who smile all the time.”  Schultz teaches us that hiring for personality and attitude, instead of just industry experience, is the way to go. 

You and Howard Schultz have something in common, in that your services can be purchased from your competition at a lower price.   Studies show that people prefer do business with people that they like.   The secret to growing your business is growing your relationships, so hiring friendly employees, is like planting the right seed in the right soil.   You will experience growth! 

So there you have it.  Using pictures and hiring for personality will keep you from being handcuffed by low cash flow.    When the buyer feels the value, they will find the money!

It All Comes Down to the Presentation

It All Comes Down to the Presentation

By George Zeeks

You may or may not know that I recently had an incident that required the assistance of a health service professional, a doctor. Although debatable, it has been said that I am opinionated, stubborn and not very trusting. This applies to all facets of my life, including dealing with the health care industry. I usually refuse to go to the doctor unless blood or bone exposure is involved, or until my wife makes me. This latest event is a precautionary tale for all of us from two different points of view. One, be too stubborn and you can end up dead. Two, everything comes down to the presentation if you want people to do something that they may not want to do.

Let’s start at the beginning. Sunday night. My chest is a little tight and uncomfortable — must be indigestion. Good night.

Monday morning. Tightness in my chest begins around 11:30 a.m. Tightness evolves into pain.

Left arm hurts and is numb at the same time, strange. Pain is in my neck going up into my jaw.

I know what this could be; it has all the classic symptoms. Then again, it’s been stressful lately so that must be it. Denial is running at the head of the pack right now. I casually mention to a co-worker what is going on, since they asked.

Apparently, my normal “happy with the world” look has changed slightly. I refuse 911; I will just drive down there myself. Mike Haley, who is very large, threatens me with more pain if I don’t allow him to drive. We take my car so I can have a cigarette or two, on the way.

Once we arrive at the emergency room, mention chest pain, and lickety-split, I’m in the back getting worked on. I highly recommend this technique if you don’t feel like waiting! EKG comes back OK, no problems with your humble narrator. Blood gets taken. Then more blood and even more blood. I begin to feel like I’m the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Vegas Vampire convention. Blood test comes back with very vague, dubious results. It could be, might be the beginning of a possible something. We need to wait and test again. I’m on Google, ’cause I’m no dummy, and I start checking what the readings should be IF something is REALLY going on.

Readings come back a second time and they are within the questionably OK range that the Google gods have provided me. Not so sure at this point and I’m feeling much better. Probably because of the lowering of my blood pressure due to blood loss from all the tests. Maybe they had something right back in the Middle Ages with those leeches.

Now, to the point of this long-winded story: the doctor comes in to give me the news. Remember,

I’m feeling OK now and even slightly stupid since nothing is really wrong. The doctor then says and

I quote, “We would LIKE to keep you overnight for SOME observation.” The first thing that goes through my mind is that they have empty spaces and they need to bump up the number of beds filled for the night. This guy is trying to sell me an overnight stay and there is no pool or bar. I can’t smoke in my room, like every other hotel in Maryland, and the room-service food is not very good. Even by my lowbrow, blue-collar, add hot sauce to it and it’ll be OK, taste buds.

At this point I did what any of you out there would do (?), I replied “No thanks.” Keep in mind that everyone is always selling something. In this case, the doctor is selling health care and I’m a reluctant buyer. The pitch was weak. I wasn’t sure of the need or the urgency of his care, so I declined.

I’m not sure if he had ever heard the word “no” before. He was better looking than I am and there is no doubt that he makes more money than I did at his age, so maybe that has something to do with it. I just don’t know. The point is that he was shocked and didn’t know what to say. I guess he never had to overcome an objection to his sales pitch before. He just mumbled a weak “Well you’ll have to sign some papers that you’re leaving against medical advice.” “Show me the paper and I’ll be on my way,” I said. Before you can say “Gotta light?” I’m out the door engaging in one of my many self-destructive behaviors and on my merry way. I say all of the above to say this: you have to make sure you have your presentation down. It’s gotta make sense and your customer has to understand the importance of what you are saying. If you have ever heard “I know I need brakes, but do I need them right now?” Then you need to work on your skills, just like my young doctor. The time to practice is not on your patients/customers. You have to put the time in before the moment of truth comes.

By the way, my wife is a nurse and she is so mad at me she can’t speak. My daughter is a nurse and she proceeds to berate me on the phone and in social media. I haven’t been told “You’re so stupid!” this many times since high school. The final straw comes five hours later when, you guessed it, I’m wide awake in my bed. My wife has her best “I told you so” face on and I’m in some really serious pain now. The elephant is on my chest like he’s waiting, patiently, for the bus to come. The thought going through my mind is that the doctor should have told me that I really, really, really needed his heath care. Does that sound familiar?

Anyone ever say that I didn’t know I REALLY needed those brakes? Everyone goes through denial. Sometimes it’s a little and sometimes it’s a lot. It is our job to make sure our customers get the best care we can provide. In the end, it’s not the customer’s fault when they don’t get the repairs they need.

That belongs on our shoulders.

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Your biggest fear should be….Nothing

Your biggest fear should be….Nothing

                  by George Zeeks

The three biggest fears are Spiders, Snakes, and the fear of heights.  The next one is listed as

 Agoraphobia:

• The fear of situations in which escape is difficult.
• This may include crowded areas, open spaces, or situations that are likely to trigger a panic attack

Interesting, “The fear of situations in which escape is difficult”.  It’s meant to mean a physical escape, but what if we twisted this to include an emotional escape.  A huge section of the population does not like confrontation and actively tries to avoid it.   How does that apply to the shop owner? For some of you it’s an everyday thing.  If you own a business, a lot of you are stuck within the walls of your shop and if the possibility for confrontation is within those same walls how can you escape? Let’s throw some situations against the wall and see how many stick.  How about the tech’s are making more money than you are but you’re afraid to change the compensation plan.  Then we could mention that your staff is not doing what you want them to but you’re hesitant to say something because they might leave you.  These are just two “situations” that you find yourself in and the fear of having a shop without a crew is too much to bear, so you do nothing.  Now of course the life that you have is not the life that you want but you feel trapped.  Read on and let’s see if we can expose those fears for what they really are, imaginary.

What do you do if you’re afraid of snakes?  You avoid places where you might see a snake.  If you’re afraid of heights, you probably will not stand on the ledge of a ten story building.  The key is avoidance.  You avoid the situations that could possibly trigger your fears.  Many of the shop owners that I work with deal with these exact problems mainly by avoiding them and rationalizing some reason that allows them to justify the decision.  The problem is that by using the faulty logic to make yourself feel better, you can’t improve your shop, the profitability or your culture. 

The first step to stop making excuses for what is going on.  I know it’s hard cause I’ve been in the same position that you may find yourself in.  Everyone deserves to be able to make a decent living, so when I say you need to change the compensation that change has to be fair to all parties.  The problem comes when the staff is overpaid and making more money than the shop can afford for the amount of work being done.  We see it all the time and the two most likely outcomes are the shop going under or fixing the pay plan.  Look at it this way, if the only reason your staff is working for you is the paycheck then you already have issues.  Ask yourself what you are doing to help make them better at their job?  Do you offer training?  Do you have a plan to develop each employee so they feel that working for you is good for their future?  Do you praise them when they do a good job?  When people leave to go work somewhere else, money is rarely the only reason or even the biggest part of the reason.  If your answer to the above questions was no then you need to work on those items as well as a new pay plan.

What if your staff is not doing the things that you want?  Well, are the items reasonable?  Have you discussed them with the staff and asked for their feedback?  Have you set a clear standard of what you expect and then help people accountable to it?  One of the worst things is to come up with rules, put them in place and then ignore them.  Just hoping that something good will happen doesn’t get the job done.  Once you know what you want, have you discussed it with the crew, gotten their feedback and suggestions, then you put it into place and hold everyone accountable.  That includes you by the way.  Living with a situation that is making you miserable is just no way to live.  Feeling like you’re a hostage to your own shop is crazy. 

Here’s a big part of the problem.  You probably can’t fix this yourself.  Your Coach can help you with a fair compensation plan.  Together you can do the math to have achievable standards for the production of the crew.  You can both sit down and walk through how this transition is going to take place.  This includes preparing for a member of the staff leaving.  It’s not the end of the world and if things have been bad long enough, it’s most likely going to happen.  You’re not in this alone but you have to recognize what is real and what is an excuse.  If at the end of this you find yourself wondering if you should be doing something different, then you probably should.  Talk to your Coach or you can talk to me.  Either way, we are here to help you reach for your dreams.

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