COVER STORY
www.outdoorpowerequipment.com OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT NOVEMBER 2015 17
and ready for delivery. You never want your customers calling you to see if the equip-
ment has been serviced. Again, I favor texting and emailing over the phone if possible,
because it gets the point across without having to wait on hold or get involved in long
conversations that keep you from doing other things. Your goal is to make this part of
the process very flexible for both the customers (and you), so that they will want to do
the service program again next year.
Your goal with this type of service program, as I mentioned earlier, is to create
customer loyalty. You are glad that they bought the equipment from you, but you
want the future service and parts business too. You have to set the expectation that
servicing their equipment yearly is the best way to keep it functioning in the proper
way and extend the life of the equipment. This type of program should be mentioned
when customers first purchase the equipment, so that when you contact them for the
"annual service," they are ready to join in because the stage was set early in the process.
If you aren't doing this, then you are missing a huge opportunity to not just create a
great cash flow opportunity, but also establish future ongoing relationships with your
customers. You would rather "service" than "repair" because during the service, you
have the opportunity to address things beyond the original scope of work and let your
customers know what problems that need to be addressed beyond the service work.
That is a win-win situation in my book for both the dealership and the customer.
You need to strive to make this process as smooth as possible by making sure that the
whole dealership realizes it is a priority. The service department may be the focus at
this point, but every employee needs to be ready to assist to make this program run
smoothly. Done well, this can be an opportunity to shine, and that is what you as a
dealership are always looking to do.
Jeff Sheets is the founder and owner of OPE Consulting
Services. Whether a business is thriving or struggling to
survive, Sheets' rich experience in both the corporate and
not-for-profit sectors allows him to partner with business
owners to customize unique strategies for their needs. For
the past nine years, he has worked extensively with hundreds
of outdoor power equipment dealers to create best practices
in business structure, personnel management and financial
profitability. For more information, he may be contacted at
opeconsultingservices@gmail.com or (816) 260-5430. You can also follow him on
Twitter @opeconsult and connect with him on LinkedIn.
OPE
