What's missing in this blog is any mention of dealer name or brand of automobile.
I've worked as a shuttle driver for three years - here come the brands - a year and a half each with Volkswagen and Toyota dealerships.
They hired me as a part time shuttle driver and that seems to be all they have imagination for. After several attempts at scheduling a meeting it is plain that they are not interested.
I see that there is more potential here. There are plenty of poor reviews online from customers venting about their bad experience at a given dealership. And, while those cannot be removed they can be buried with good reports and stories if there is a pipeline for that activity.
Not every driver encourages others to talk. Not every shuttle driver is a writer. Not every shuttle driver has been self-employed and has an understanding of business and customer service.
So, I am now looking for an opportunity to blend my unique offerings with a team that already understands.
I may be looking at the dealer level. I may be looking at the brand level.
I'm looking.
David White
david@dlwhite.net
414-282-7185
Monday, September 23, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Customer Service, Story Telling and Profits
Customer Service, Story Telling and Profits
________
Who are the better customers?
Sales or service?
Not necessarily either. Repeat customers are the best. And, of the repeat customers - who accounts for the greater value - the LOF’s, (lube, oil, filter),
or the people that buy the high dollar work?
Higher dollar service work requires more time. Longer labor time frequently requires a ride in the customer service shuttle.
Customers come because they trust us. Generally they have built relationships they can count on. And people talk. That’s what people do. We can leverage that talk. When we add the dealer name and brand that goodness accrues to the owner and team.
One week I had two customers in the shuttle that had brought us 20 year old cars they loved. The 274k mile car is in amazing shape. The 225k mile car was showing some wear. It’s been driven to Argentina and back. That’s part of the charm.
In a recent ten-day stretch I drove four librarians; three retired and one still at Marquette. In one day; two microbiologists. Another day I drove two women both recovering from breast cancer.
How does that happen? I encourage them to talk about most people’s favorite subject: themselves.
There are stories we can help tell and in the telling we are rewarded with a little extra humanity - which of course leads to greater trust, more customers and greater profit.
Readers of these stories will hopefully get the idea that our customers are important and respected engines of our success.
Customers are savvy enough to know that if our company face does not include them their value may be greater somewhere else.
Customer shuttle riders ...
... include everybody from accountants to zookeepers and most everything in between. Cops, firemen, teachers, IT professionals. Airline pilots, female tanker pilots, former county executives, guitar players, upholsterers, asphalt pavers, engineers; civil and otherwise. Law clerks, paralegals, and actual practicing attorneys. CFO’s, CEO’s, mortgage foreclosers, priests, pastors, Ph.D Economists, Doctors of Pharmacy, Dentistry, Anthropology, Computational Chemisty and Micro Biology. Tai chi instructors, speech pathologists, physical therapists, chiropractors and nurses of all kinds.
_______
... from here and there
I have enlarged my world and have been honored to meet people from about 30 countries and counting; the Bahamas, Bolivia, Canada, China, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Ghana, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Panama, Phillipines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, South Korea, South Vietnam, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, all over these United States, including a couple people from my tiny home town.
Bangladesh was 31. We add 32 and 33 - Albania and Zambia - both in the same day - which happens to be my 18th month anniversary. 9/19/13
________
The traditional and social media that brings readers, ratings, and happy chatter - all of which positively affect the bottom line and CSI’s - seems like a unique investment for visionary management.
Customer service is almost all we have to give.
Let’s do that better.
David L. White
ShuttleDave - shuttledave.blogspot.com
414-282-7185 • david@dlwhite.net
________
Who are the better customers?
Sales or service?
Not necessarily either. Repeat customers are the best. And, of the repeat customers - who accounts for the greater value - the LOF’s, (lube, oil, filter),
or the people that buy the high dollar work?
Higher dollar service work requires more time. Longer labor time frequently requires a ride in the customer service shuttle.
Customers come because they trust us. Generally they have built relationships they can count on. And people talk. That’s what people do. We can leverage that talk. When we add the dealer name and brand that goodness accrues to the owner and team.
One week I had two customers in the shuttle that had brought us 20 year old cars they loved. The 274k mile car is in amazing shape. The 225k mile car was showing some wear. It’s been driven to Argentina and back. That’s part of the charm.
In a recent ten-day stretch I drove four librarians; three retired and one still at Marquette. In one day; two microbiologists. Another day I drove two women both recovering from breast cancer.
How does that happen? I encourage them to talk about most people’s favorite subject: themselves.
There are stories we can help tell and in the telling we are rewarded with a little extra humanity - which of course leads to greater trust, more customers and greater profit.
Readers of these stories will hopefully get the idea that our customers are important and respected engines of our success.
Customers are savvy enough to know that if our company face does not include them their value may be greater somewhere else.
Customer shuttle riders ...
... include everybody from accountants to zookeepers and most everything in between. Cops, firemen, teachers, IT professionals. Airline pilots, female tanker pilots, former county executives, guitar players, upholsterers, asphalt pavers, engineers; civil and otherwise. Law clerks, paralegals, and actual practicing attorneys. CFO’s, CEO’s, mortgage foreclosers, priests, pastors, Ph.D Economists, Doctors of Pharmacy, Dentistry, Anthropology, Computational Chemisty and Micro Biology. Tai chi instructors, speech pathologists, physical therapists, chiropractors and nurses of all kinds.
_______
... from here and there
I have enlarged my world and have been honored to meet people from about 30 countries and counting; the Bahamas, Bolivia, Canada, China, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Ghana, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Panama, Phillipines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, South Korea, South Vietnam, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, all over these United States, including a couple people from my tiny home town.
Bangladesh was 31. We add 32 and 33 - Albania and Zambia - both in the same day - which happens to be my 18th month anniversary. 9/19/13
________
The traditional and social media that brings readers, ratings, and happy chatter - all of which positively affect the bottom line and CSI’s - seems like a unique investment for visionary management.
Customer service is almost all we have to give.
Let’s do that better.
David L. White
ShuttleDave - shuttledave.blogspot.com
414-282-7185 • david@dlwhite.net
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Hoan Bridge to Somewhere
Finally - FINALLY - today I met a civil engineer that specializes in foundation design. The company he works for contracts with the DOT. And I imagine the Feds get in on it, too.
Yes, they do use a version of AutoCAD for some presentation functions but they also use a much more complex project management application as well. I think he said something that sounds almost like Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX. It was a little difficult to tell. I could do a better job understanding his English - with a little practice.
He’s a young fellow from Bangladesh and has been in Milwaukee for five years after a couple years at Univ. of New Mexico. He attended prep college at home on a scholarship.
“Welcome aboard,” I said, “First of all, you’re the first person I’ve ever met from Bangladesh, and secondly, I’ve been waiting to ask you some questions.” (I am counting customer countries of origin. This person represents my 31st country.)
And, so he told me a bit about the care and concern he puts into designing interstate highway foundations. Lives are at stake, maintenance is critical and politics over funding is the tough part of the game.
His company is now working on the Hoan Bridge project. I almost invited myself into his office to take a look at the modeling software.
I want to see how to add another inch of gravel for 10 miles or how much more concrete does it take to add a lane. How many tons of steel are involved? What if we did add a bike lane? I hope I wasn’t drooling.
==
http://greenfield.patch.com/groups/david-whites-blog/p/hoan-bridge-to-somewhere
Yes, they do use a version of AutoCAD for some presentation functions but they also use a much more complex project management application as well. I think he said something that sounds almost like Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX. It was a little difficult to tell. I could do a better job understanding his English - with a little practice.
He’s a young fellow from Bangladesh and has been in Milwaukee for five years after a couple years at Univ. of New Mexico. He attended prep college at home on a scholarship.
“Welcome aboard,” I said, “First of all, you’re the first person I’ve ever met from Bangladesh, and secondly, I’ve been waiting to ask you some questions.” (I am counting customer countries of origin. This person represents my 31st country.)
And, so he told me a bit about the care and concern he puts into designing interstate highway foundations. Lives are at stake, maintenance is critical and politics over funding is the tough part of the game.
His company is now working on the Hoan Bridge project. I almost invited myself into his office to take a look at the modeling software.
I want to see how to add another inch of gravel for 10 miles or how much more concrete does it take to add a lane. How many tons of steel are involved? What if we did add a bike lane? I hope I wasn’t drooling.
==
http://greenfield.patch.com/groups/david-whites-blog/p/hoan-bridge-to-somewhere
Friday, August 23, 2013
Microbial Hog Feed
Another shuttle customer story.
David is a micro-biologist at a local company and he told me that a third of their business is in bacterial supplements for hog feed. Otherwise they service brownfield reclamation and petroleum spill cleanups.
I asked him if he wakes up at night sometimes thinking he has a way to feed bugs off the Fukishima disaster. There's a lot of work to be had there.
"I wish." he said.
Later that week I met CB from Patrick Cudahy again and asked him about the pending sale of their parent company Smithfield to a Chinese company. China consumes the most meat protein of any country in the world and Smithfield raises the most hogs.
CB said that the rising Chinese middle class has discovered pizza and they need to know how to make pepperoni. I don't think he was exactly joking. As far as he has been told Chinese farmers generally have twenty or a hundred hogs.
What they are really after is the total process - farm to fork. They want to get into the CAFO business - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.
After a little study I see that China has very little arable land and a large amount of it has been rendered unusable. They have done an amazing job with what they have but it's time to branch out in order to feed their people.
What I did not get to ask him is how the Chinese government feels about GMO's and pesticide use. That was about the same time the EPA increased the allowable limit of glyphosate by 3000% - yes, three thousand percent more pesticide can now be used on some of our food crops because we have to have a way to kill off the super-bugs created by lesser amounts of chemicals.
Currently Smithfield is shipping about 15% of production to China. CB hopes that our government puts a cap on exports prior to the sale or we could see the price of bacon go through the roof.
A week later David, the micro-biologist is back for another trip through service and I mention this hog feed story to him. He listens and does not have much to say.
I do not exactly wish that his car will require service again soon, but I do wonder what study he's done in the interim.
There has been a young woman riding in to work with him these last two times. She's headed to Peru for an archeological dig.
"Cool," I said, "Bring me some bones."
I'll be happy to hear a bit about that story.
David is a micro-biologist at a local company and he told me that a third of their business is in bacterial supplements for hog feed. Otherwise they service brownfield reclamation and petroleum spill cleanups.
I asked him if he wakes up at night sometimes thinking he has a way to feed bugs off the Fukishima disaster. There's a lot of work to be had there.
"I wish." he said.
Later that week I met CB from Patrick Cudahy again and asked him about the pending sale of their parent company Smithfield to a Chinese company. China consumes the most meat protein of any country in the world and Smithfield raises the most hogs.
CB said that the rising Chinese middle class has discovered pizza and they need to know how to make pepperoni. I don't think he was exactly joking. As far as he has been told Chinese farmers generally have twenty or a hundred hogs.
What they are really after is the total process - farm to fork. They want to get into the CAFO business - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.
After a little study I see that China has very little arable land and a large amount of it has been rendered unusable. They have done an amazing job with what they have but it's time to branch out in order to feed their people.
What I did not get to ask him is how the Chinese government feels about GMO's and pesticide use. That was about the same time the EPA increased the allowable limit of glyphosate by 3000% - yes, three thousand percent more pesticide can now be used on some of our food crops because we have to have a way to kill off the super-bugs created by lesser amounts of chemicals.
Currently Smithfield is shipping about 15% of production to China. CB hopes that our government puts a cap on exports prior to the sale or we could see the price of bacon go through the roof.
A week later David, the micro-biologist is back for another trip through service and I mention this hog feed story to him. He listens and does not have much to say.
I do not exactly wish that his car will require service again soon, but I do wonder what study he's done in the interim.
There has been a young woman riding in to work with him these last two times. She's headed to Peru for an archeological dig.
"Cool," I said, "Bring me some bones."
I'll be happy to hear a bit about that story.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
People talk ... right?
This blog was originally launched - as a set of examples - to tell some of the stories I hear and encourage in the auto-dealer customer service shuttle.
I was hoping that my employer would find these stories valuable to his dealership and brand if I added his name and a few other pertinent factoids regarding the service relationships we have developed over time. I need to add greater value to my package.
I have not added his dealer name or brand of automobile on purpose. We haven't had the talk yet. He's seen the posts or so I was told. Frankly I don't think he can imagine any benefit to him and his culture or profit. So ... no meeting. Period. Too bad for me.
I would like to work in customer service communications and social media as a CST; Chief StoryTeller. I hear stories about our service department that need to be heard. Not all of them are good necessarily but there needs to be channels to route the stories. That's my story.
And, as with every business, there are scathing comments on the internet. These cannot be erased but they can indeed be buried with all the good that happens every day in every way.
I don't know much about cars. I do know people. Many of them think I am a great conversationalist - only because they get to be heard. That in itself is a rare opportunity these days and great service as well.
Anyway, this is sort of a 'goodbye' on this blog space. I have opportunities for greater readership on Patch.com.
So ..
http://greenfield.patch.com/blogs/david-whites-blog
and, from time to time, I post items here:
http://goodworkcards.wordpress.com/category/shuttlebug
By the way, if you dear reader, think you need a story-teller,
you can find me at GoodWorkCards.com
I was hoping that my employer would find these stories valuable to his dealership and brand if I added his name and a few other pertinent factoids regarding the service relationships we have developed over time. I need to add greater value to my package.
I have not added his dealer name or brand of automobile on purpose. We haven't had the talk yet. He's seen the posts or so I was told. Frankly I don't think he can imagine any benefit to him and his culture or profit. So ... no meeting. Period. Too bad for me.
I would like to work in customer service communications and social media as a CST; Chief StoryTeller. I hear stories about our service department that need to be heard. Not all of them are good necessarily but there needs to be channels to route the stories. That's my story.
And, as with every business, there are scathing comments on the internet. These cannot be erased but they can indeed be buried with all the good that happens every day in every way.
I don't know much about cars. I do know people. Many of them think I am a great conversationalist - only because they get to be heard. That in itself is a rare opportunity these days and great service as well.
Anyway, this is sort of a 'goodbye' on this blog space. I have opportunities for greater readership on Patch.com.
So ..
http://greenfield.patch.com/blogs/david-whites-blog
and, from time to time, I post items here:
http://goodworkcards.wordpress.com/category/shuttlebug
By the way, if you dear reader, think you need a story-teller,
you can find me at GoodWorkCards.com
Best. Compliment. Ever.
There were three of us to start. Me, Bob and a young gal we dropped off first. Bob was in the back and wanted to ride up front after she got out. He and I hit it off pretty well. I thought. Chit chat. You know.
He was stationed on the RAF base at Oxford, England the year I was born. He was one of the last USAF guys to do that. We (the US of A) built an airbase right across the street soon after he left.
He said he was glad I was driving. His kids are starting to worry about him. He admitted to getting lost two blocks from home anymore.
We joked. We laughed. Ha ha. And then he said, “I bet you’ve never heard this before.”
“You’ll have to tell it to me first,” I said.
“If BS was music - you’d be a brass band.” he said, laughing heartily. He spelled it out. B... S...
“Thanks,” I said.
Best. Compliment. Ever.
“Nope,” I said, “never heard that one before. Actually I think someone said that of you and you liked it so much you’ve held on to it all these years. I bet you’ve been saving it for me.”
Except I do think there’s a bit of a negative connotation regarding BS-ers. I really don’t think I do that. I’m, um, genuinely enthusiastic.
I dropped Joe off at United today. He works in some capacity for the Brewers as their MLB affiliate. He’s off to Houston for an annual MLB vendor meet-and-greet.
I also met Wendy today on a lovely ride to Franksville. She operates a glue machine at a local factory. Business is good. Turns out she knows a guy I know. Tom. We talked about Tom, her truck, her dogs, the 'up north' place - with acreage. It was a lovely ride in the country this morning.
The highlight of this day was picking Roz up at City Hall. She got in and started talking like I had called a meeting to be briefed on the Milwaukee Water Works situation. She told me almost everything and I could have kept driving just to hear more. As we pulled in to the dealer she started filling me in on fluoride and we did not get to finish.
“Well,” she said, “if you or anyone you know has any questions about Milwaukee Water, have them call. We like to answer questions."
I might call just to finish up on the fluoride question!
Then she handed me her card, the current quarterly newsletter and this cute red foam fire hydrant. Yep, she is in the marketing department for Milwaukee Water Works and writing a history of the subject as well.
Maybe Old Bob and I could recruit her for our new brass band.
....
I do like driving the auto dealer customer shuttle. Every single day I get to drive on a street I've never been on before and I meet some fascinating people from here and almost everywhere else.
And it occurs to me that these, the people that leave their cars for service, are the most valuable customers that a dealer has.
....
I have not posted on this blog-space in a while, but have moved over to Greenfield Patch.
http://greenfield.patch.com/blogs/david-whites-blog
and ...
http://goodworkcards.wordpress.com/category/shuttlebug
Friday, October 12, 2012
Friday Shuttle Roundup
I recently met a retired science teacher from Cudahy and Caledonia. He used to set a few desks on fire the first couple days of school in order to get the attention of his MPS students.
Mostly now he’s into moths and butterflies. He raises them, if that’s how one says it. He’s got butterflies from Kenya, China and another country that starts with a C or K (Canada? Kenosha?). And, although he’s been to the Mexican wintering ground a couple times, he raises nothing as mundane as Monarchs either.
It’s hard not to talk about climate change and pesticides when you’re dealing in butterflies. He seemed to be a well rounded fellow.
He was on his way in to see the cardiologist that afternoon. He’d had a big cardio blow out two months ago and was recuperating nicely. Healthcare was on our agenda also. It’s a nice ride to Caledonia. We spent a few minutes and let the conversation flow on its own.
Last Friday I met my first bank president - and told him so. It’s fun to make people feel special. In his little neck of the woods the economy has been turning around - slowly - the last six months. Always glad to hear it from a guy in the saddle rather than a talking head.
He’d just taken on a local manufacturer that had gotten a contract to sell locally-made stuff to China. There’s probably a whole story in there somewhere.
We also talked about the trouble that we, the people, are having this political season when politicians toss out phrases like ‘small business’ without first defining the measurement. He thought that the way government defines small business is anything less that 500 employees or 250 million dollars in sales. With that definition he said that his particular small and local bank could not really handle a small business that big.
Yesterday, another first, a customer (let’s call her Mary - for reasons of national security) had just come from the ICU where her best friend’s mother, Joan, lay sedated on a ventilator. Mary grew up in the neighborhood with her friend and the mother. Old Joan is almost a second mom to Mary.
Mary was dressed in green fatigues and we were headed for the east side of the airport - the 128th Refueling Wing. She said I should just drop her at the gate. She’d walk in. She was carrying a heavy bag. I told her the story of having been saluted through that particular gate already and knew the drill.
“Well, alright then, you can drive me to my building.”
Besides being a mom Mary is a pilot. She’s been flying refueling tankers for the last twelve years. Why did we have to wait until the end of the ride to find that out?
And, I got saluted a second time. Yes, I know the young guard post guy was looking at her, Ma’am, but I leaned in and grinned. (Not really).
Also, yesterday I had a chance to talk shop with a couple professional drivers. One is a 36 year veteran taxicab driver. I don’t think I want his job. The other is a 4 year part time suburban pizza driver. Also, a little too crazy. Too much randomness in both of those gigs. I have hostages in my shuttle. They have to be nice. We have their car.
I have felt very lucky this last week. I got to watch the fall leaves fall from that great front window in my little bus.
Mostly now he’s into moths and butterflies. He raises them, if that’s how one says it. He’s got butterflies from Kenya, China and another country that starts with a C or K (Canada? Kenosha?). And, although he’s been to the Mexican wintering ground a couple times, he raises nothing as mundane as Monarchs either.
It’s hard not to talk about climate change and pesticides when you’re dealing in butterflies. He seemed to be a well rounded fellow.
He was on his way in to see the cardiologist that afternoon. He’d had a big cardio blow out two months ago and was recuperating nicely. Healthcare was on our agenda also. It’s a nice ride to Caledonia. We spent a few minutes and let the conversation flow on its own.
Last Friday I met my first bank president - and told him so. It’s fun to make people feel special. In his little neck of the woods the economy has been turning around - slowly - the last six months. Always glad to hear it from a guy in the saddle rather than a talking head.
He’d just taken on a local manufacturer that had gotten a contract to sell locally-made stuff to China. There’s probably a whole story in there somewhere.
We also talked about the trouble that we, the people, are having this political season when politicians toss out phrases like ‘small business’ without first defining the measurement. He thought that the way government defines small business is anything less that 500 employees or 250 million dollars in sales. With that definition he said that his particular small and local bank could not really handle a small business that big.
Yesterday, another first, a customer (let’s call her Mary - for reasons of national security) had just come from the ICU where her best friend’s mother, Joan, lay sedated on a ventilator. Mary grew up in the neighborhood with her friend and the mother. Old Joan is almost a second mom to Mary.
Mary was dressed in green fatigues and we were headed for the east side of the airport - the 128th Refueling Wing. She said I should just drop her at the gate. She’d walk in. She was carrying a heavy bag. I told her the story of having been saluted through that particular gate already and knew the drill.
“Well, alright then, you can drive me to my building.”
Besides being a mom Mary is a pilot. She’s been flying refueling tankers for the last twelve years. Why did we have to wait until the end of the ride to find that out?
And, I got saluted a second time. Yes, I know the young guard post guy was looking at her, Ma’am, but I leaned in and grinned. (Not really).
Also, yesterday I had a chance to talk shop with a couple professional drivers. One is a 36 year veteran taxicab driver. I don’t think I want his job. The other is a 4 year part time suburban pizza driver. Also, a little too crazy. Too much randomness in both of those gigs. I have hostages in my shuttle. They have to be nice. We have their car.
I have felt very lucky this last week. I got to watch the fall leaves fall from that great front window in my little bus.
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