Have you ever wondered why auto repair shops do a free 32-point vehicle inspection? We have worked with several of these shops over the years and there are several reasons that they do this. I want to share with you my favorite stories from one of them, and how that shaped how we do business today as a company.
I was working with a small auto repair shop in Bloomington, MN about 3 years ago. One day while going over their finances and their business model something interesting happened. I needed to understand how their business made and spent money and how that related to their operations to better understand how we can help them make or save more money. The owner began by telling me that he always started with a 32 point free vehicle inspection even if the customer came in for a simple oil change. Knowing that this cost significant labor, and even though I knew the answer, I asked “why go through all that trouble when the customer hasn’t identified any other issues”? His answer was simple. “Safety, peace of mind and customer service” he gleamed with a smile. About an hour later a women came in for an oil change with her two small children in tow. She was in a hurry and on her way to Omaha, NE to see her family (about a 5-hour drive away) and knew she was overdue for her oil to be changed. The mechanics began on her car right away. One doing her oil change as fast as possible so they could honor her time, and the other doing the vehicle inspection. After about 10 minutes they came in and got the owner. One of the mechanics had found a major issue. The vehicle has an underlying problem that undoubtedly would have resulted in one of the wheels falling off while driving on her trip to Nebraska! The employee had located a simple axle fracture while driving the vehicle on a test drive after the oil change (step 32 in the free vehicle inspection). He noticed it didn’t feel quite right during the drive and looked further and discovered what would have ultimately lead to a piece of the axle coming loose and taking the tire with it, more than likely at highway speed, putting the car’s passengers and even other drivers at risk of death or serious injury!
You may be wondering what this has to do with business and why I would blog about it. From that day on, I knew that we needed to do the same type of checkup inspections for businesses. You see, your business can have major issues in it and you may not even be aware. This is true because, like the lady in the very real story above, when you take your company in for service (or more than likely a vendor services you), you may not be complaining of things that ail you, and yet they still exist under the surface. We see businesses every single day that fail and regularly hear “I don’t know what happened?! We were even in a growth spurt!” The problem is that under the busy underbelly of running a business, something was broken or at least unhealthy. In America today much is written about the fact that nearly 90% of businesses fail, but little is written to point out that of the 90% that do fail, more than two thirds of them actually fail while experience business growth. You may wonder how this can happen?! But the answer is as simple as the shop owners answer above. “Customer service, safety and peace of mind” can be translated here as well! If you haven’t had someone inspect or check all the key areas of your business such as operations, finances, sales, marketing, legal, pricing, HR and more, how can you ever have peace of mind that your business is ok? How will you ever find out if you have an issue that can kill your business as fast as a tire coming off the car at a high rate of speed or as fast a stroke can kill a human being? For the same reason your car needs a 32-point vehicle inspection and you need a yearly physical from your doctor, your business needs to have a business health check done by professional who can spot the early signs of disaster. At Devoted Enterprises, my team and I offer this service for our clients because like a doctor wants your body to be healthy or the mechanic wants your vehicle to stay on the road, we want your business to stay in business and make money. Small business today in America drives America, and the economy! The time is now to find out how healthy your business is! Please contact us directly to learn how to ensure your business is healthy and ready to make more money!
