My January epistle (written in November) was motivated, at least in part, by agreeing to spend what then appeared to be an inordinate amount of money to fix something that wasn’t really broken. As you might suspect, the initial inordinate financial outlay turned out to be little more than a launching pad for what was finally expended.
Program budgets like this don’t give the Feds a second thought; it’s not their money. But it sure has given me more than a few gasps and groans, watching my personal trade deficit parallel the country’s.
What, you might ask, does all this have to do with the truck business, the parts business and perhaps your business? Is there a lesson or two buried under all my construction debris and invoices that might apply to serving the truck parts and service customer? I think perhaps there are. Let’s try these on for size.
Commitment: On November 20th, my contractor told us that he would be done by the end of February. Yup, we’ve all heard stories about contractor completion promises and when they finally actually finished the job. Did we believe this guy? Not a chance; we nailed down a rental through April.
What happened? On February 28th, I wrote the final check. Sure, we have a punch list of odds and ends to be completed. But do you think I will tell friends looking for a contractor recommendation that this guy gets it done on time?
You bet-and your business works the same way. Whether it’s a brake job that takes a couple of hours or an 18-speed transmission that takes a week to find, committing and delivering go hand in hand.
Flexibility: No job goes exactly as planned; something always comes up that changes who does what and when. Our guy was able to go with the flow-and still the timetable didn’t slip. Are we measured by our customers in the same fashion? You bet!
