Service Creates Loyalty Is there a such thing as loyalty these days? Are the customers simply shopping for price? Does our level of service influence the chances that a customer will order another part from us? I believe it does! It takes years to build a reputation with a customer, yet it can be lost in a matter of a few interactions, if not sooner. We all know this statement is true, yet we don’t train our people to think this way. Let me explain how two interactions with a new car dealership service department caused us trade our car in for a car from a different manufacturer. In 2018, we bought a new Volvo XC60 for my wife to drive. We loved the car. It performed well, it had lots of cool technology. We actually decided that it was a better car than the 2017 Mercedes GLC300 that we traded in to buy it. After zero issues for the first 10,000 miles, it was time for a free oil change. My wife attempted to schedule the oil change only to learn that there were no technicians on du...

Frequency, Reach, & Yield How have you worked to increase your gross sales in the past? Have you sent out mailers? Hired an outside sales rep? Made cold calls? Shared your data through a third-party? I stumbled across a simple idea a few years ago that changed the way I focus on increasing gross sales. Before I get ahead of myself, let me backup and explain another truth I live by: You can’t improve what you don’t measure. By measuring anything, you focus on it and start working to influence it. An example of this would be weighing yourself every morning when you get out of bed. By making a simple, mental note of your weight, you modify what you eat and how much you exercise on that one day. If you weigh on a daily basis, you will probably be working to lose weight or, at least, maintain your existing weight. By measuring it and knowing where you stand, you empower yourself to make minor adjustments on a daily basis that allow you to eventually reach your goal. My goal is 175 l...