By Charlie Polston, Trainer, BG Products, Inc.
I’m retiring at the end of the year, so this will be my last Dealer article.
I’ve only had one job with one company since June 1982 when I graduated from Oklahoma State University. Having worked in dealerships as a fixed ops consultant with BG Products for the last four decades has been an honor and a joy. It’s an understatement to say in a dynamic environment like dealership fixed ops, there’s never been a dull moment; so I can honestly say I have never been bored!
While it’s true that our industry has undergone massive changes—I used to make good money selling carburetor dip and power steering fluid—there are so many things that HAVEN’T changed:
These things were true 42 years ago and they’ll be true 42 years from now!
Please allow me a moment to express my gratitude to those who made the last four decades possible.
I close out my last article with a true story that happened on a service drive in Oklahoma a few months ago. It is the perfect example of why I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to the automotive industry:
One of the fixed ops trainers on my team, Chris, was working with Michael, a service advisor at a Hyundai dealership in Oklahoma. Around 1:00 pm, a customer came in for her afternoon appointment. Shirley is in her mid to late 70s. She had white hair; a big smile, and she carried a Bible and a study book for her Sunday School class. She seemed genuinely happy to see Michael and to spend some time in the customer waiting area, prepping for Sunday’s lesson while she waited for her oil change.
Due to her difficulty walking around the vehicle, Michael immediately escorted to Shirley to the waiting room like she was a VIP guest in his service department. He verified her reason for the visit, an oil change service. He wrote up the repair order, took photos of the outside of the car, collected the odometer reading and looked at the tire wear. Almost 10 years old and 67,000 miles, the car looked clean on the outside and seemed to be in excellent condition.
Chris asked Michael about the service history of the car. Faithful to her oil changes, Shirley never misses a visit.
What they didn’t see in nearly 10 years of records were any real maintenance services of components outside of the consistent oil changes. No fuel or fluid services whatsoever.
Chris could tell Michael and Shirley had a great relationship. So he asked Michael to go talk to Shirley and better understand her plans for her vehicle.
First, Chris asked Michael to verify with Shirley if this is a vehicle she intends to keep as long as possible. Then to identify whether she had anybody in her family or a close friend that could advise her on the long-term maintenance of her vehicle. Next, Chris suggested that Michael give her an itemized list of the maintainable options available to her, in terms of vehicle safety and cost. Lastly, Chris had Michael recommend that she do one major service per month until she is caught up.
Michael made the list, pricing each service one at a time, and arranged them in terms of priority. As he sat with her in the waiting room and explained the details of maintenance, Shirley listened intently and answered his every question.
“Yes,” she replied, she planned to keep her car for as long as possible. In fact, it would be the last car she would ever own.
Chris said “Is there anyone you need to talk to about this? A son or a daughter, someone at your church? Anyone we need to bring into the conversation?”
With tears in her eyes she answered “No Michael – all I have is you! Thank you so much for telling me how to keep my car on the road.”
Then she gave him a bear hug and said “Let’s start with the brake fluid service today.”
Let Shirley’s words sink into the fiber of your DNA: “…all I have is you!” Wow! She’s saying, if I lose my car, I lose my independence. “All I have is you” to prevent that from happening. If I lose my car I can’t live my life. “All I have is you” to protect me. I live on a fixed income and a huge repair will drain my small savings account. “All I have is you” to help me hold on to what little funds I have.
My friends, this is why we do what we do, isn’t it? The root word for service is SERVE. We must serve our customers and serve our community.
Your passion must be to keep cars safe, trouble free, and fun to drive. It’s your noble mission and your higher purpose! Because all they have is you!
It has been my great pleasure to write an article for every edition of Dealer for over 10 years. Thank you for being a faithful reader, I hope some of my words inspired you.
And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make His face shine upon you and give you peace.
Farewell!
Charlie Polston is an automotive customer retention and profitability consultant with BG Products, Inc. Charlie has been with BG’s Fixed Operations Division for 42 years. He has trained over 7,500 dealers, managers, and technicians – and has been a frequent workshop leader at NADA’s annual convention.