Cha-ching? Is that corny or what?
Well, I don't think so! Even though
each service call does not set off
your cash register with a proverbial
"ring," you are creating your own
"cha-ching" as you complete a First
Time Completion.
If you have never heard the "term"
before, hear it now, loud and clear.
Your number one goal as a servicing
dealer is to complete the service
call on the first trip. Numero Uno!
Top priority! Every time you leave
a customer's home, and have to go
back to complete the call, you lose
money. Absolutely, lose money. No
questions, don't try and "re-figure"
it out, you lose money.
When I took over service in 2003,
my first time completion rate was
an embarrassing and heart-breaking
23%. That's right, 77% of the time
we left the home without repairing
the customer's product. Just think
how destructive that is. Just the
fact that the customer is not happy
that they took off work, or waited
for your technician for half a day,
and their washer still is not repaired.
My gosh, they have to wear dirty
clothes for another "How many days?"
Or hand-wash their dishes? Or actually
make popcorn with oil and butter
on a real burner? And that's just
the customer not being satisfied.
What about you? You now have more
labor, more drive time, more gas,
and all these extra costs will be
in place of doing another service
call that you could have charged
your full rate.
First Time Completions. Remember
the term. Your number one measuring
stick to profitability. Cha-ching
is correctly spoken. Two helpful
procedurers that have raised my
FTC to 74.7% are pre-diagnosing
and stocking the right parts.
Pre-diagnosing: Someone in your
department must "look at" each call
and decide which ones absolutely
require a part. If you don't have
it in stock, you should postpone
the service call until you do. The
simplest of examples, "My oven made
sparks and the oven won't heat."
Why would you even think of going
out to the home without a heating
element for the oven? Bake or broil?
Your excellent call takers will
ask if it's the bottom element or
the top that made the sparks?
I receive more "thank you" comments
from customers when we call them
back and say, "Our technician pre-diagnosed
your service call and you will most
likely need a bake element for your
oven. We'd like to order one, so
we can repair your oven in one visit
and save you a wasted service call.
May we call you when the part is
in?"
"Oh thank you so much, your service
department is so thorough. I just
love you people. You just kept me
from staying home and wasting my
time." Or something like that.
Pre-diagnosing is crucial and must
be done.
I would like to add that if you
can get your whole department to
"buy in" to the pre-diagnosing your
service calls to raise your FTCs,
you will see a wonderful transformation
begin. Everyone that touches your
service orders will participate.
I have call takers that will say,
"Don, this one needs a part, I told
the customer we'd call them when
it comes in." Service techs will
also catch the ones that slip by
and get scheduled. They'll tell
me there is no sense going out on
this call, it needs a part. Even
if it's same day, it's better for
your customer, and your business.
Stocking the right parts: Simply
said and needing no further explanation,
I am giving to you the Top 250 Parts
Used lists for GE, Whirlpool, Maycor,
and Frigidaire products. In addition,
I have included an overall Top 250
Parts list, combining all four lists.
Pick and choose, cross out the parts
that you know you don't want in
stock, and it's a great starting
point in having the correct parts
in stock. Available for you to download:
Top 250 Parts (62 KB PDF).
Now what I am about to say is
going to hurt. But it needs said.
Get rid of the parts you know you
will never use. I know it hurts,
and I procrastinated until I finally
said, "Just do it!" Get rid of the
parts you have in your inventory
that are old, and you will not sell.
And yes, I am talking about the
ones with so much dust you can't
read the part number. I'm sorry,
it hurts to throw out a perfectly
good part, but what the heck are
you going to do with it? Use the
dryer motor to turn a rotisserie?
I threw out 22 washer boxes of parts,
totalling $50,000 worth of parts.
Now before I did this I called every
used appliance dealer, service company,
and anyone else I could think of,
and asked if they wanted to look
at a box of perfectly new appliance
parts and make me an offer. I did
sell a few, but boy did it hurt.
I would be happy to hear your
feedback and ideas that can be shared.
Feel free to drop me a note at
dfranksr@lhbrubakerappliances.com.
Don Frank Sr.
