Auto Care Association Announces Details For 2018 Trade Mission To Costa Rica

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Auto Care Association Announces Details For 2018 Trade Mission To Costa Rica

The Costa Rica trade mission is a business development opportunity designed to assist U.S. companies in the automotive industry with gaining first-hand market information and meeting with potential clients and partners, which are pre-screened to match participants’ specific business objectives.

Counterman Staff
By Counterman Staff
Published:

The Auto Care Association has announced a new trade mission to Costa Rica on May 21 – 22, 2018, as part of the Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) award the association received from the U.S. Department of Commerce to support export promotion projects in Latin America.

The Costa Rica trade mission is a business development opportunity designed to assist U.S. companies in the automotive industry with gaining first-hand market information and meeting with potential clients and partners, which are pre-screened to match participants’ specific business objectives.

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Trade mission packages include personalized business-to-business matchmaking meetings, hotel accommodations, local transportation, meals, interpreters and market overview briefings. The trade mission is open to all companies in the industry, with qualifying companies eligible to receive a $2,000 offset of the trade mission package cost.

The United States is Costa Rica’s main trading partner, accounting for about 47 percent of Costa Rica’s total imports. Under the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), 100 percent of U.S. consumer and industrial goods exports to the region are no longer subject to tariffs. Costa Rica’s economic and political stability have made it historically the leader in the region for international business and tourism.

Previous trade missions to Latin American countries, organized by the Auto Care Association in collaboration with the U.S. Commercial Service, include Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua.

To learn more and apply to attend the Auto Care Association’s Costa Rica trade mission in 2018, click here. For more information about this event, please contact Carolina Arregoces at [email protected] or 240-333-1037.

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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.
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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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