Complaining as Sport

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Counterman has been serving auto parts jobbers, retailers and distributors since 1983.
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Complaining as Sport

Complaining has become a national pastime - less about the automotive aftermarket and more about the OE side of the world.

Counterman Staff
By Counterman Staff
Published:

The Christmas season has just ended, and for that I am thankful. While I do like Christmas, there are parts of it I downright disdain.

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Complaining, for one thing, seems to have become a sport during Christmas. There’s too much to do. Uncle Harry is a pain in the butt. The lines at the stores are too long. I ate too much. It’s too cold. (By the way, I fully see the irony in complaining about complaining.)

Just like people are used to seeing Christmas decorations come up the day after Halloween, most are pretty complacent when it comes to Christmas complaining. It’s just the thing to do.

Complaining about our industry has become a sport of sorts too. People love to do it. I challenge you to bring up auto repair to anyone. Watch their eyes roll and the horror stories spew out of their mouths. Even the media gets in on the fun. When news gets slow, that’s when a TV news department decides to unhook a vacuum hose and watch the technician overcharge. What great publicity for the aftermarket.

Thankfully, we’re not the worst when it comes to getting complaints. According to an annual survey conducted by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators (NACAA) and the Consumer Federation of America, automotive repair continued to hold the fourth-place rank in their consumer complaint survey. Home improvement, household goods and automotive sales took the top three spots in the survey.

We can take solace in the fact that we’re getting better, (or that the others are getting worse.) Automotive repair has held the fourth-place spot since 1999 when it fell from second place.

The survey said that most consumers complain about repairs that are not done correctly or are not done at all. The survey is based on 41 NACAA member responses to questions about their 2001 complaint records.

The Better Business Bureau paints an even rosier picture. Their most recent “Top 15” Ranking of Complaints puts auto repair in the seventh slot, behind such industries as (in order):

6. Credit Card Offers;

5. Computer Retailers;

4. Telephone Companies;

3. Home Furnishings;

2. Mail-Order Catalog Shopping;

1. Automobile Dealers (new and used).

It’s amusing to me that automobile dealers rank first in receiving formal complaints in both the NACAA survey and the Better Business Bureau data. These are the same dealers that want a greater share of the service and repair market, yet they can’t even satisfy the needs of new car buyers.

Changing the way consumers view our industry is something that should start at each store and shop. The payoff is not only that you’ll have less complaints, but that you’ll be helping to change consumers’ often tainted view of the industry.

On an unrelated note, check out a new monthly Counterman exclusive on page 10: Over the Counter, a new cartoon created by fellow parts pro Ron Cole. We hope you enjoy it.

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Auto Industry

Customer Service: How It’s Done

Customer service should be your number one priority, and it all starts with the greeting.

Eric Garbe
By Eric Garbe
Eric Garbe is a graduate of Columbus State Community College with a degree in Automotive Maintenance Technology. He has extensive independent and dealership field experience as a technician and shop owner and is an ASE Certified Master Technician and former Adjunct Automotive Professor. He has been professionally writing automotive technical articles and documents for many years and in his free time enjoys restoring old cars and creating custom interiors and upholstery.
Published:

This is always an important topic to discuss, because I consider excellent customer service one of the most important tools you can have to earn trust, respect and repeat business from the customers that come through your door. Whether that customer is do-it-yourselfer from across town or the professional repair shop across the street, your business depends on a solid relationship.It’s a subject that I am passionate about, and it’s one that many people are losing touch with. Whether you are communicating to someone in person, on the phone or using some type of social media, good customer service and bad can both exist. You can’t afford the latter, so this is the first in a series of topics which can and should be shared from the front of the shop to the back. No matter which role you hold, you represent the shop and yourself. Customer service should be your number one priority.First on the list is the greeting. From the second a customer walks in the door, they need to know you appreciate them coming in and how important they are to your business. First impressions are everything and here’s the correct way to do it each and every time: look them directly in the eye, smile and say hello!Of course, you can say “Good morning” or “Welcome to Joe’s Autocare,” but it should be a formal greeting and the most important thing is that you have smiled, looked them in the eye and recognized that they have walked through the door.You should always retain a formal greeting until you are on a first-name basis with a customer. Only once you have established that level of relationship is it OK to use the less formal greeting of “Hi,” followed by the person’s name.This greeting does more than just indicate respect and appreciation for someone walking through the door. Most likely there are customers both new and old who are in earshot of your conversation. For newer customers, this continues to build rapport and reinforce their positive view of your shop; they see that you demonstrate respect and treat everyone in the same manner. For repeat customers, even ones that have been coming for years, the greeting is important because the way you treat them is the reason they continue to come.And when a long-time customer comes in and you greet them with “Hi [First Name],” this indicates your appreciation for them and that you’re glad to see them as a person, more than just a customer. New customers that witness this will see that your repeat customers are comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis, another indication of the trust they have in you.

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