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May Be Worth A Try?

 
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Louis Altazan



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 774
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:04 pm    Post subject: May Be Worth A Try? Reply with quote

I had lunch with a fellow shop owner a few weeks ago. He said he was in a bit of a slump, that seemed to hit him every year around September. He then asked if I had any advice. Thinking back I remembered something that used to work pretty well for me, years ago. I would go through the files and pick out the large jobs we had done about a year before. Then I would call the clients. “Hi this is Louis from AGCO.” “We did a pretty major repair on your vehicle about a year ago and our warranty is almost over.” “If you don’t mind, I would like you to bring it by, and let us make sure everything is still okay.” “If not we can cover any problems while you’re still under warranty.”

The line would normally go dead [shock] for a moment. Next would come, everything’s been great, but you know, my other car needs . . . Sometimes they would bring them in and often buy other things. Occasionally we would find problems with our work and have the opportunity to solve them, while we had lots of time to do so. I had forgotten how effective this had been for us.

At very least, I think it left a positive impression with the client and provided some vehicles in our shop.

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Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA
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Tom Ham



Joined: 04 Sep 2007
Posts: 47
Location: Grand Rapids, MI, USA

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:48 pm    Post subject: Re: May Be Worth A Try? Reply with quote

louis wrote:
I had lunch with a fellow shop owner a few weeks ago. He said he was in a bit of a slump, that seemed to hit him every year around September. He then asked if I had any advice. Thinking back I remembered something that used to work pretty well for me, years ago. I would go through the files and pick out the large jobs we had done about a year before. Then I would call the clients. “Hi this is Louis from AGCO.” “We did a pretty major repair on your vehicle about a year ago and our warranty is almost over.” “If you don’t mind, I would like you to bring it by, and let us make sure everything is still okay.” “If not we can cover any problems while you’re still under warranty.”

The line would normally go dead [shock] for a moment. Next would come, everything’s been great, but you know, my other car needs . . . Sometimes they would bring them in and often buy other things. Occasionally we would find problems with our work and have the opportunity to solve them, while we had lots of time to do so. I had forgotten how effective this had been for us.

At very least, I think it left a positive impression with the client and provided some vehicles in our shop.


You know me, Louis. I'm not into a lot of verbage or complexity...just a simple guy who likes simple and effective ideas...especially if they are cheap or better yet...free!

This one is fantastic! Thanks! Wink

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Tom Ham
AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com - Hams Management Systems
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Louis Altazan



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 774
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:08 pm    Post subject: Re: May Be Worth A Try? Reply with quote

Hi Tom,

Tom Ham wrote:
You know me, Louis. I'm not into a lot of verbage or complexity...just a simple guy who likes simple and effective ideas...especially if they are cheap or better yet...free!

This one is fantastic! Thanks! Wink


You may favor simple ideas, but I also know you to be quite skilled at applying them and getting great results. I really hope you will share some of your ideas here. Thanks Tom.

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Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA
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