http://www.thatvideomagazine.com/new...nny-ten-racing


taken from another forum but worth posting here also !

 

It's the same in every private business. Everyone wants cheap and also wants the best parts. Entitlement at it's finest.

 

I watched that video to the end and while what Mr Ten is saying is very true, his spouting off about "due diligence" is a lot like pointing a finger rather than "looking within" as he states. Many shop owners are incapable of relating to a customer on any level other than the bottom line. They lack the ability to get out of the customer what their expectations are, both performance-wise and monetarily. As a result, the project has no specific direction or end goal other than the obvious. (As in "I want a 10 second street car")
Case in point: I had taken over managing a small chassis shop for a fellow that had been in business building race cars and street cars for 20+ years. He was modestly successful with a repeat clientele and a good flow of new customers. Then things started to go wrong. Projects over budget, expectations not met and the worst were client vehicles languishing in the shop for months (or years in one case).
The only difference between the early success and the latter failures?
The business manager left.
He was the guy who dealt with the customer, built a plan and most importantly, a budget. The shop owner/chief fabricator had none of the skill sets needed to establish a good owner/client relationship. Consequently, the business suffered. In a modest way, I helped improve this situation by bringing back some of what was needed however it was rarely an easy task. There's a lot of money changing hands on some projects and people can become very intense in those situations, especially at the end when there's been no dialogue and the customer experiences "sticker shock" when the final bill is presented. The other end of that scale are the smaller jobs which could be laid out quite clearly and ultimately be nice little money makers with a happy customer to go along with it but get screwed up because no one wants to talk about it. (Sure I can build a stainless exhaust for your ride. Pick it up in a couple of weeks. See ya then.).
So while I appreciate what Vinny is talking about, it's the shop who has to hit the customer between the eyes at the start. That way there are no surprises at the end. An educated customer goes a long ways too.

 

Touche', skinny!
My thoughts exactly when I saw that a few days ago.

 

There's a ton to be said for this, good customer service wins or loses the war in a lotta cases. Setting expectations (in writing) protects both the owner and the customer alike for instance. Building it as an itemized bid, setting time lines, updating the customer and stuff like that may be "time consumers" but at the same time though it makes the end product more likely to be what the customer wants and more likely to generate recommendations and repeat business. (There are some people that will just never be pleased as he said, I know of one guy who got "ripped off" by a shop and after working on his computers I would swear he changed his mind 10 times and the shop owner got the short end of the stick.) As you mentioned having someone technically apt to work with customers and suppliers while some one else does the work is super smart, it can keep fires from becoming fires. It also comes down to people can be technical geniuses but not the best in social situations so having a "face" to rep them can pay huge dividends.

There's also the fact that things get rolled down hill at times and somehow the customer seems to take the short end of the stick. Even if you buy someone else's products you're still doing your own R&D as he said. Things change. This means vendors, people, products etc. It's just like anything else it can burn you as easily as not. As an example a local shop here is known for installing T400s in Supras. Well, they got a 4L80E from the same vendor, installed it in the Supra and it promptly ate the thrust bearing in the engine. Ultimately the customer got screwed out of $15K because they couldn't get the vendor to take accountability for it. The shop changed ownership and last I heard the new owner was going to eat the $15K and go after the vendor for it. Finding someone that's willing to eat 15 Gs isn't an easy task at all, be it the vendor the customer or the shop installing the stuff. It's really the vendor's fault but the shop takes the rep hit or eats the cost.

Lastly there's this expectation that we can make 1000hp, run 9s or whatever for little to no money and do it reliably. The addage "fast/cheap/reliable pick two" still applies even with all the great technology we have. If anything it's worse than ever because there was a time when people who had a "single digit car" meant it was a race car. Now everyone thinks you can street drive some absurdly powered car on the street, get it for $5K and it will be no compromises versus back in the day if you had some crazy car it was probably no frills instead.

Also IMO the aftermarket is to blame. The thing I really dislike about the whole "LS" movement or even the "Get a 350" sentiment is that it feeds into the "buy these parts, throw em together and you'll make huge power magically" thing. There's a reason cliches such as "built not bought" have come into popularity. It's a hell of a lot harder to do than TV and the rags would have people think it is. Mistakes are also far more valuable at times than success is as well, and we are taught that success is valuable not failure.

 

"At the end of the day"

 

I swear he said that probably 25 times.

 

All I'm gonna say is one thing. My Money is paying for all of the B.S. or FACTs that the "Mechanic" is promising will be done. "At the end of the day", your sign out front, or the salesman that ran out the front door to greet me is STATING EXACTLY the service that I expect for my car and the service that MY money is paying for. SO....MY "DUE DILIGENCE" is expecting the service that most of these places ADVERTISE they will deliver. AND, usually promote that I will be a "Satisfied" customer.

SORRY ALL, this dude hit a serious nerve! I will do my "due diligence" which is usually based on the CLAIMS OF DELIVERED SERVICE these shops ADVERTISE. Based on my experience I have found that the internet is *around* 50/50, give or take on the negative---on good and bad. Maybe more bad than good to be honest. Pissed people vocalize more than the folks whom were delivered the ADVERTISED service anyway. One last thing, paying the amount of money I pay these days I expect my mechanic to be a "plumber", "electrician", & a "HVAC" specialist. Thats why I pay $75.00 + an hour to a f-ing shop for the work that a "shade tree" mechanic like myself cannot do.

THIS MAY SOUND SERIOUSLY *******, that's not my intent here! I'm just saying, "most" shops say the things I want to hear and I EXPECT THEM TO DELIVER based on those statements. Thats why I pay those exuberant hourly charges!

Again, sorry if I sound "ignorant"...this just hit a nerve is all. Thank you to those that could bare to read the entire rant! That is all...

 

+1


If you do deliver on your promises, the customer will not bitch,.... plain and simple. The whole reason someone is willing to pay a "professional" is because they are not a "Pro" and so they pay for (and expect) professional results. It's not the customers fault that a mechanic can't get the software needed to complete the job, broke a head bolt, or the aftermarket parts don't fit quite right. It's up to the 'professional' to account for these things IN ADVANCE of accepting the work. Blame the customer - FAIL !!

How in the world is it the customers fault that this "professional" couldn't deliver on the terms set in advance of accepting the job ?? He gave a price and a time table for completion - if he can't complete the job on time or budget - that's HIS fault.

** My 10 second track car smokes on the street **

If you - as a professional - didn't make the driving characteristics on the street vs the track perfectly clear BEFORE turning a single wrench then you - as a professional - failed.

Someone sure needs to perform some "due diligence" and "looking within",... then quit pointing a finger and deliver what was promised before he accepted a single dollar bill. (at the price that was agreed on, and in the time frame agreed on. ) If that professional doesn't deliver then a persons got every right to publicly call them out on it.

Yup; EVERYONE wants cheaper, better, stronger. When someone - as a professional - writes up the invoice & accept a job,... you better deliver and not bitch about what your customers are expecting ( since they are NOT professionals & completely expecting what you promised. )