Greetings,
A Comment Card from a disappointed longtime client prompted this month’s Tidbits. Hank H. has been with us for decades and is an all-around wonderful human being. He gave us a wonderful compliment on a Comment Card last month, but a new Card from him this month said…
“There was a time when my face was known by your staff. They don’t know me now, and they don’t seem to care that they don’t. Guys whose names aren’t on the door maybe don’t understand the value of a relationship with the customer.”
First off, I think our Advisors DO care and want to show our longtime clients the warmth they deserve and the respect they’ve earned, but it just takes time for them to put names to faces. But secondly, I know exactly what Hank’s talking about! Every business these days says you’re important, says they care, but then most shuffle you off to a virtual assistant for a nickel-and-dime grift. Their actions don’t match the rhetoric, and people can smell BS. Here, we’ve tried to build an old-school business that really does appreciate and cater to the people we serve. If we’re successful then clients notice and feel good coming in for service. But there’s a downside to these personal relationships and I’ve felt it myself in too many businesses already, and more as I grow older. You’ve dealt with the same person for years, know their kids and maybe their grandkids, then suddenly *POOF* there’s a new person in the chair and the warm relationship you’ve had for so long is gone. It hurts.
“The Ship of Theseus” is an ancient paradox that goes like this… King Theseus had a ship. He replaced timbers as they rotted, ropes as they frayed, and everything else you’d do as a good captain. When the ship pulled back into port after several years at sea the question arose… if all the individual parts have been replaced, is it really the same ship anymore? Hmmm.
Today’s Tom Dwyer Automotive is nothing like what I started in my garage in 1981. Back then it was just me, and you’d better believe I knew every single person who came in! Today, many (most?) of our current clients have never met me and others wonder if there’s really a Tom Dwyer at all. Could this be the same ship that left port so many years ago?
I think it is. One “resolution” of the Ship of Theseus is that the identity of a thing doesn’t depend on the material it’s made of. Theseus’ ship stayed his, and stayed a ship, because he always thought of himself as the owner and always used it as a ship. I had no idea how Tom Dwyer Automotive would change but I always knew it was mine and always knew what I wanted it to do… provide the quality service I saw missing elsewhere, at a fair price, and above all with respect to the people who make it possible. That identity was shared with others as they became part of the team, then passed down to each new hire and shared with each new client. Today’s Tom Dwyer Automotive is different in almost every conceivable way from its roots. But the philosophy that makes it what it is, the idea that integrity and respect matter in every relationship, that hasn’t changed at all. In that sense we sail the same ship today as when we started.
There are few things in life as valuable as the feeling that you belong and are welcomed, so losing it can be deeply painful. I’m amazed that feeling can come from an auto shop, even though that’s what we try every day to make. After all, “Welcome to the family!” is a common goodbye to clients who just completed their first service with us. But a relationship takes more than a cheery greeting, it takes time. Hank, I hear you, and we’ll definitely bring your comment up in our Advisors’ meeting and try to do better. I hope you’ll see a difference on your next visit. Maybe, with work, we can bring you closer to this comment from Rocky C., another longtimer who said this on his SureCritic review:“I’ve been using Tom Dwyer for over 20 years, and the staff has changed a bit, but never has the quality of their service. Kudos to them all!”
Make a great day,
