Out of the Crisis.Org

[Louis Altazan]

No business does everything wrong, just as no business does everything right. Many businesses experience cyclical ups and downs, with long slow-periods. These businesses often have a very high percentage of repeat clientele. Effectively they have found those people who are good at accessing their system and that agree with their practices. Repeat clients are great, but a business must add new clients continuously in order to prosper. To stop the cycle, the business must evolve with the market, innovate new and useful products and change so that their systems appear desirable to a wider base of clients.

Taken one at a time, a business must first realize the business which they are in. For instance, carburetor companies must have felt they were in the carburetor business. Unfortunate! Had they been in the business of supplying a regulated amount of fuel to engines, they may have fared better. Auto repair shops are not only in the auto repair business. I believe we are in the business of servicing personal transportation needs. This may involve repair, it may also involve offering a line of pre-owned vehicles. Nothing new about that concept, unless we add a true-certification of the vehicle that really means something and a three-year true warranty to back it up. Our clients [should] already know and trust us, why not supply their vehicle needs a bit further? How about expert advice on automotive matters? Assistance in purchasing new vehicles?

Innovation is the second platform and one the auto repair trade has largely done a very poor job addressing. The services offered in one shop all but mirror the services available in every other. Much is said about specialization. Perhaps we should specialize in client needs and listening to clients, in order to learn how we might best address those needs. A business might ask itself, do we offer anything that cannot [easily] be obtained elsewhere? Is it something people truly want and are willing to pay for? Are those people present in the area of my business and how will they know about what I offer?

Finally, most shops are good at satisfying a very small base of clients. These are the clients that largely agree with and think much like the shop owner. Those that do not are normally run off or at least put-off by the shop. How many times do we hear a shop refer to people as “bottom feeders,” “scum bags,” “D customers” or worse? In effect the shop is merely expressing their ignorance. To serve clients, we must understand clients, from the clients perspective. If a client does not buy a wallet flush, it is not because they are ignorant, cheap or do not care about the vehicle. It is because the shop has failed to demonstrate why acting is more in their best interest than not acting at this time [or place.]

Why has all this come to be? Because the trade is maturing. No longer is it adequate to bumble and stumble along as managers. As more true-managers come on-line, it will become harder and harder for those without skills to compete. By management, I do not mean a trick here and there, picked up over the years. Weekend seminars will never be adequate to learn management. What is needed is mastering a philosophy, all encompassing and compatible. Every component working together toward a common aim. I believe that philosophy is Deming. I know of no other that addresses every part of business, with a cohesive program. The only remaining question might be, when?

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