Posted on: July 18th, 2013
In the book The Simple Life by Thom S & Art Rainer, the authors talk about removing congestion from your life. Some synonyms of ‘congestion’ are to block, choke, clog, jam or obstruct; pretty heavy stuff, not only for your life but also for your business. In Jason Fried and David Hannson’s book Rework, they…
Read More
Posted on: May 22nd, 2013
Emotional Factors in Marketing & Branding Humans are emotional beings, so it’s not surprising that using emotions in your marketing strategy and branding can yield powerful results. Wikipedia defines emotional branding as the focus of “building brands by way of connecting a brand proposition and purpose to people’s emotional need states and aspirations.” In parts…
Read More
Posted on: April 12th, 2013
In a day and age that revolves so heavily around technology and online communities, Social Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and social customer service has never been more important for small businesses. To paraphrase the Wikipedia definition, “Social CRM is a philosophy and business strategy designed to engage the customer in conversation in an effort to…
Read More
Posted on: April 12th, 2013
Time marches on…nothing could be truer. Despite all the breakthroughs in medical technology and age defying creams, we all get older. That goes for the cars we drive also. Cars today look better, have more features, get better gas mileage and, overall, are built better. That means they are on the road longer and are…
Read More
Posted on: January 30th, 2013
In part one of this series, we looked at the pros and cons of the “High-Volume, Low-Margin” business model. I also made the statement that there are only two models and that standing in the middle of the road long enough will get you run over. That would be a third model and we will…
Read More
Posted on: January 30th, 2013
Customer Service: Eliminating the Negative Emotions & Evoking the Positive It has been widely assumed that the service provider is solely responsible for managing emotions in an exchange. For instance, a flight attendant should smile, a bill collector should sound intimidating, and a massage therapist should talk in a soft, relaxing tone. All of these…
Read More
Posted on: November 26th, 2012
I was asked the other day, ‘which is better, fewer cars but more profit on those cars, or more cars but less profit per car?’ Really what this person was asking is-should I be Wal-Mart or Gucci? Try as we may to prove that there is a third model in the universe, if you stand…
Read More
Posted on: November 7th, 2012
Our five senses (Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste & Touch) can evoke emotions that can set the mood long before we get the chance to even interact with the customer. In parts 2 & 3 of this series we will talk about emotions & senses and their connection to customer service and marketing, but for now…
Read More
Posted on: August 24th, 2012
Regardless of what kind of winter we have coming, your customers will wait in longer lines than at almost any point throughout the summer. We know it’s coming so our answer, for the most part, has been to process faster and wash cars faster to reduce (not eliminate) the wait time. But regardless of what…
Read More
Posted on: June 14th, 2012
Having recently attended the Car Care World Expo in Las Vegas, I couldn’t help but notice all the buzz around Unlimited Wash Clubs- What are the pros and cons? How do you price it? Is it profitable? Some of the best features of an unlimited wash club include: Guaranteed monthly income Increase in loyalty &…
Read More