The
saying "the devil is in the detail" refers to a catch or mysterious
element hidden in the details, meaning that something might seem simple at a
first look but will take more time and effort to complete than expected. (Wikipedia)
What makes your customers
choose your shop to do business with? Do you have the best technicians? Are you
in a convenient location for them? Are you the “brand” dealership? Are your
prices the best in town? Are you just easy to deal with? All those questions,
and as many more as you can think of; there’s not just one right answer and one
answer is not necessarily better than the other. The fact is, the answer really is
buried in the details.
As we go about our
lives of being “consumers”, we are subjected to hundreds of details every day
that form and mold our buying habits. Was a particular employee in a business
you visited really kind and patient with you? Were they friendly and courteous
beyond your normal expectation? Was the business well stocked and had
everything you needed. Did they tell you there was a sale on the item you
brought to the register when you weren’t even aware it was on sale? Did they
promise to be there at 9:00AM and actually were? Did they call you by name? Did
they thank you for your business?
To complicate matters a
little, what makes a customer happy one time may not seem to matter 3 months
from now. You can’t always chalk it up to “they’re having a bad day”. I’m going
to let you in on a really big secret. They’re human, just like you. Consider
this. You have no idea what frame of mind they’re in when they walk into your
shop. You don’t know if some wise guy just cut them off 2 blocks from your
location or if they’re dealing with a health issue OR if they got up feeling
great, stopped at their favorite coffee shop and are enjoying their perfect cup
of morning coffee.
And they have no idea
what you are dealing with either. Was an important part for a big job left off
your morning delivery? Did the last customer give you grief and blame you for
their radio not working when their car was in for struts? The point is, neither
of you can ever know for 100% sure what’s going to be on the other side of
“Good morning!”. The only way to approach that customer striding towards you is
to clear your mind of what was on it 2 seconds ago and commit to doing
everything you can to make that person’s encounter with you as pleasant and
reassuring as you can.
Before you go off all
sure, sure, easy to say, but not very practical or possible, let me remind you
of the title of this blog. Go ahead. Check. ….. Correct! It’s in the details.
Everything you say or do might be the turning point of each and every
encounter. And that could be positive or negative. That’s why you have to be
totally focused on the customer in front of you. Besides the verbal
communication going on, what is their body language saying? Is there a smile on
their face? Do they seem pre-occupied and in a rush? I know you thought you
were a Technician or a Service Writer but I doubt anyone ever told you that
there was a degree in psychology you all got somewhere along the way. (Congratulations!)
The best way I can
explain this to you is to ask you to go back in your mind and think of a few of
those instances when you yourself became a dedicated customer of “xyz” company
or store. Somebody did something for you that clicked in your mind as having
been above and beyond the call of duty and you instantly committed your
loyalty. Although we have all had those moments it seems they are easy to
forget as time passes and your loyalty slips into habit. I’m not saying that
“habit” is a bad state. It works to the benefit of both the customer and the
business. The customer is always expecting a good experience and the shop is
honored with their business.
There is a slippery
slope to this process and it is truly buried in the details. You and your customer
can go along for years and everything seems to be going just fine. Then one day
you detect a slight change in attitude from your longtime customer or maybe
they miss a service appointment or maybe you just don’t see them again. Did
they move or did they take their business elsewhere? You may never know. Part
of the problem is there are generally only two ways a customer deals with a
“perceived” slight, insult, shoddy job or service. They either tell you about
it or they take their business elsewhere. Your longtime customer may say
something to you the first time or maybe even twice. After that, it reverts
back to the basic human instinct of “fight or flight”. If you serve me a bad
meal, I’ll pay my bill, leave and never come back. If you serve my wife a bad
meal, she will tell you about it instantly. You want my wife for a customer. At
least she will give you a chance to correct the error. Not me. And the bad news
for you is that there are more of “me” out there than her. Sorry.
You never know what
outside influence is working on your customer. Who did they become friendly
with? What story of excellent service did they hear from a friend? Where did
they stop out of necessity or convenience one day to have the same service you
usually provide them and find these people, who didn’t even know them, did “X”
that really impressed them? You have zero control over what happens outside the
walls of your shop. None!
But the one thing you
can absolutely control is what goes on in your shop. I don’t care if you are
the technician, owner, manager or service writer. You all depend on each other
to keep the customers happy. Their happiness keeps your paycheck coming. How you
contribute to the effort depends on what your job is. You may never even speak
to or see the customer. The customer may never be aware of what you personally
did. They may never know that you made sure all the clamps were tightened or
the excess dirt and grime were wiped away. All that matters is that your
combined group effort made the customer happy and kept them coming back. You
see, the devil IS in the
detail!
© Bill Rosenberg
