Car and stuffs
Dad bought a truck. He got it because his old truck was more than a decade old, and it was a manual which Mom can't drive. So he got a new automatic truck with the one thing I wanted him to have... A club cab. The old truck had a camper top and I don't want him moving that thing on and off on his own much longer. Not that he can't, I just have visions of him slipping and being stuck under it and really badly injured. Besides. Camper tops on trucks are ugly and stupid. they totally ruin the point of a truck. It's the bed... That you can put crap into that you can't get into a car. To do anything decent with that truck, the camper top had to come off.
Anyhow. This whole thing somehow got us on the subject of mechanics selling people things that they don't need. Because the car dealership had no problem if you take it to your garage to have them check it out. And some people do that and are told that it needs all this stuff that it doesn't. This practice really does not make sense to me. I think a mechanic who is doing well is one who knows about customer retention... Example. Dad goes to the same garage for all his car service. On all his cars. Because the guy won't try to sell him what he wants and this and that and a kitchen sink. While they're in doing what dad wants, if they see something that will need attention soonish, they make a note of it and tell him that in the next so many miles it's going to need attention. If they tried to sell it to him when he didn't need it he wouldn't come back.
But since the don't try to gouge him... they change his oil, do all the service on the cars, oh, and they get my business too because I've learned that my father is picky and if he likes a garage then they are generally good people and will do good for me. And... when they know I'm his daughter they don't automatically assume that I know nothing about my car. They do what I want, they tell me if something will need attention in a while.
Why try to get as much money out of someone at one time when you offer an ongoing service like car care? All you really need to do is do a good job and prove that you're a good place to come back to and Poof! New long term customer.
In other news... I learned today the reason the automatic litter box doesn't always scoop on its own. Zoey sits on the lid of the poo container... Preventing the rake from putting things in it. She just likes to watch it work.
Anyhow. This whole thing somehow got us on the subject of mechanics selling people things that they don't need. Because the car dealership had no problem if you take it to your garage to have them check it out. And some people do that and are told that it needs all this stuff that it doesn't. This practice really does not make sense to me. I think a mechanic who is doing well is one who knows about customer retention... Example. Dad goes to the same garage for all his car service. On all his cars. Because the guy won't try to sell him what he wants and this and that and a kitchen sink. While they're in doing what dad wants, if they see something that will need attention soonish, they make a note of it and tell him that in the next so many miles it's going to need attention. If they tried to sell it to him when he didn't need it he wouldn't come back.
But since the don't try to gouge him... they change his oil, do all the service on the cars, oh, and they get my business too because I've learned that my father is picky and if he likes a garage then they are generally good people and will do good for me. And... when they know I'm his daughter they don't automatically assume that I know nothing about my car. They do what I want, they tell me if something will need attention in a while.
Why try to get as much money out of someone at one time when you offer an ongoing service like car care? All you really need to do is do a good job and prove that you're a good place to come back to and Poof! New long term customer.
In other news... I learned today the reason the automatic litter box doesn't always scoop on its own. Zoey sits on the lid of the poo container... Preventing the rake from putting things in it. She just likes to watch it work.