Auto Repair Shop Owners, What are You Chasing?

What are You Chasing? by Rick White, President 180BIZ

Today I’ll talk about sales.  Remember, whatever you chase runs away.  I’ll say that again. Whatever you chase runs away. How many of you have ever had a puppy get by you and run outside? Each time you go after that puppy, it runs away. And you know, the other day we got two new kittens and we had to get them to the vet. I actually had to have Brenda help me because one of the kittens was being a little cantankerous.  Every time I got close it would take off. So, we literally had to corner the poor little guy, get him into the carrier so that I could get them to the vet.

This is what happens when you chase something, it runs away. And I've got to tell you that when you're chasing money, it runs away too. When you're in sales, when you're chasing money, it runs away from you. Please hear me say that.  It's not your goal to make money here. Because if that's your focus, you're focused on yourself, not your client. If you're focused on money, you're desperate. People can smell desperate. And I've been guilty of this too. In the past, when I was slow, I had the hardest time making a sale. I struggled to close that sale. And when we were really, really busy, people were buying like nuts.

I'm telling you right now, it's because they smell your desperation. They smell your focus, your perception of self-interest. So, I'm going to ask you to stop chasing money. Recognize that money is a by-product. Profit is a by-product. Bob Burg says it really well. Profit is the thunder to value’s lightning. You must give amazing value. Another thing I heard about profit is that profit is the applause of your clients for a job well done. But when you're focused on yourself and what you get, you're no longer in a relationship. You're not talking to your client. You're not putting their needs and goals ahead of what you need and people can smell it.

So, what I'm going to ask you to do is stop. Stop and focus. Focus on your client, their feelings, and their needs. A lot of times we have people come to us telling us what they want. It's our job to figure out what they need. Does that make sense? I have shop owners coming to me all the time. They say that they need more cars, more cars, more cars, they need more cars. That's what they want. It's not always what they need. So, it's your job to listen, connect, and communicate. So I'm going to ask you to stop chasing the money. If you're chasing money, it's because your pipeline's not full enough. You must be able to connect with more people. If you have a pad of paper in front of you, I'm going to ask you to write this down.

Every opportunity that comes to you in life is going to come through another person. How are you putting yourself in front of new people? How are you putting yourself in front of people that you're working with now, but showing them the additional value that you provide? That's the really big part of this. It's understanding your value benefit. I need you to do me a favor. If this is resonating with you, if you know someone that's struggling with sales right now, would you please give them the gift of this video? I'm going to tell you that the harder we chase, the more that we squeeze on something, the quicker it slips through our fingers. Slow down and recognize that money is not the goal. Money is the byproduct. Write that down, please. Money is not the goal. Money is the byproduct.

Now, do we use that to measure how we're doing? Yes, but by measuring it, I think what we've done over time is made that our focus and that is where we're breaking down. Our businesses are breaking down. We've got to focus on our clients. We've got to focus on helping and serving them to the best of our ability with our profit model already built into everything. And I'm going to tell you right now, what's going to happen. When you do that, then you focus on them. The money will come. Success will come. These are not things you pursue. You know, it's funny that you have the right to the pursuit of happiness and the declaration of independence. You don't pursue happiness. Happiness is inside. Happiness is an outlook. It’s the same thing here, focus on your clients, focus on serving and helping them go the extra mile. There are very few people on the road of the extra mile. Go that extra mile. It doesn't mean spend a fortune. It doesn't mean give stuff away. It means care, connect, and communicate. That's it. Care, connect and communicate.

Take care, God bless, and go make some money.