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Today I dropped my car off at the shop that I’ve been using for several years. I’ve spent many thousands of dollars there, and had every intention of spending tens of thousands more over the remainder of my lifetime. But today was different. Today they probably lost me forever.
Chuck Was Worth His Weight In Gold
The problem is that the manager whom I always liked and trusted (Chuck) and who pretty much ran the entire show up front now seems to have been replaced or has moved on. He’s gone. Poof. Adios. Where he’s gone to I have no idea but his replacement is, well…he’s not Chuck. I had complete trust in Chuck, not only because he knew everything there was to know about cars, and not only because he demonstrated respect and kindness, but also because he never tried to gouge me. Dude was a straight-shooter.
Steve Is A Value Suck
His replacement, Steve, immediately made less than a stellar impression. Actually, I should say that he wasn’t awful. He just wasn’t Chuck. He wasn’t especially friendly or helpful. He didn’t really give a crap who I was or what my history was with the shop. And he was a little shifty with the pricing of the work that needed to be done (it started much higher than I expected and then oddly began to slide down the scale as I expressed surprise and asked more questions). Something in my gut just doesn’t trust him. In short, it was similar to past experiences I’ve had with other shops. Which is to say that my favorite car doc is now just….nothing special. There’s no reason for me to keep driving across town to get there.
Sadly, this lifetime customer is a lifetime customer no more.
Your Competitive Advantage Could Amount To Just One Or Two Key People
Why Chuck is gone I don’t know. Perhaps he just moved away or wanted to do his own thing. Or maybe they just didn’t want to pay him what he was worth. If that’s the case, then what a terrible decision. It’s a decision that will shift my allegiance (and dollars) to someone else going forward, and I can only imagine that many other longtime customers feel the same way.
The cumulative losses over time could likely be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for this business. It boggles the mind. Save a penny on payroll…lose thousands from the top line.
How much is YOUR superstar employee really worth? Probably more than you think.
My name is Jeff and I created this blog in 2007 to help and inspire contractors and home service providers. It’s come a long way since then.