As the economy changes, so must
our businesses change to be
profitable. We all do strategic
scheduling. The C.O.D. call
is the highest priority, followed
by the higher paying warranty
calls, and finally the lower
paying warranty calls. The change
that I have noticed and have
had to adapt to is that the
C.O.D. calls are only about
15% to 20% of my business.
The rest are warranty
calls.
I don’t know how this
applies to other parts of the
state.
I would be interested
to know how this affects you.
The current price of regular
unleaded gasoline in Fresno
is $ 4.53 a gallon.
I’m sure it will rise
and some parts of the state
are already higher.
If you are doing mostly
warranty work and third party
administration, the price of
fuel has greatly cut into your
bottom line.
Who is absorbing the
increased cost of fuel?
We are my friends!
It’s being passed on
to us the Servicers. The Manufacture
and third party administrators
have always had the upper hand.
What can we do about
this?
We have to work together
as an association. There is
clout in our numbers.
We need to send a letter to
the manufactures and third party
administrators on association
letterhead, stating that we
would like compensation for
fuel due to the increasing price
of fuel. One manufacture in
the past voluntarily did that
and added two dollars a warranty
call for fuel. We as Servicers
have absorbed this cost and
have a lower profit margin.
It’s time for a change.
I have written another article
in the past regarding mileage.
In my opinion mileage equates
to vehicle maintenance.
When servicing remote
areas and out of the service
area calls, I ask for a trip
charge.
I have sent the RSM for
my areas a list of my trip charges.
Trip charges for higher end
products and some third party
administrators are not a problem.
There are some that won’t pay
my trip charge and that is ok.
Let them give the call to another
company that just charges mileage.
Remember that quality service
comes at a premium and that
your company provides quality
service work.
