I've never really felt all that comfortable about ""sharing"" my innermost feelings in public places like Twitter or Facebook. Maybe, it's a generational thing.\r
I'm not sure whether or not that kind of sharing qualifies as a ""guy thing,"" or not. It certainly doesn't qualify as a ""Mitch thing..."" But, every once in a while something happens that just leaves you scratching your head and this is definitely one of those moments.\r
We have a reputation for being ""Good, but expensive..."" I can live with that. But, frankly, I don't really agree. I believe we are ""Good, and present superlative value..."" But, that's just me.\r
You see expensive conjures up images of unrealistically high prices that may or may not bring with them the kind of value we strive to associate with everything we do. I guess that's why the hair on the back of my neck - one of the few remaining places I have hair! - stands at attention when someone stands at the counter and says, ""I've heard you guys are good, but expensive...""\r
It happened again just a few minutes ago when one of our newest clients shared something that more than validates my general beliefs about the kind of value we can represent and the lack of awareness most members of the motoring public have of automotive service in general and automotive service when it comes to their particular vehicles in particular.\r
During the casual conversation that almost always accompanies vehicle drop-off - at least, at our place - our client mentioned that he had just come from dropping off his wife's vehicle: a Toyota Sequoia, at the local dealer. Naturally, we took the opportunity to point a finger out into the shop and at the three Toyotas up in the air and let him know that ""we work on Toyotas too.""\r
He said it was in for a Recall item and that while in, he was having the vehicle serviced: a kind of a ""two-fer."" The cost? About $118 for the oil change...\r
Wow!\r
Frank requested a copy of the finished invoice when the vehicle was returned to the client. After all, it would be good to know what was getting done for that $118! Especially, since we were just about to do a service on the husband's Mini Cooper which included a complimentary 30-point Courtesy Check and synthetic oil for less than the oil change on his Toyota...\r
Value? \r
All that came to mind at that particular moment was that if the client has to ask or you have to explain you haven't done a very good job of communicating how and why you really are the dealership alternative!
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