Let me begin by admitting that I barely remember what I was taught in Driver’s Ed. I remember being perplexed and annoyed that my high school curriculum didn’t offer it even though TV and the full service, on-campus garage for all those aspiring mechanics led me to believe they should. So I had to enroll in a private two week long class that was taught at my local mall. I didn’t keep my notes but I’m sure all bases, including what to do should you encounter a problem on the road, were covered in some chapter or video.
But the fact remains that I have never learned how to change a tire. I've seen boyfriends and boy friends do the grunt work on several occasions, and based on these demonstrations I was confident that I could do it myself if need be, but the occasion never arose.
And then it did. A few weeks ago I was in a pickle, but I was fortunate enough to find able-bodied men before the clock struck 8. To make a long and somewhat tedious story short, I found two sets of guys who effectively saved my day. One pair I found at my local gas station which has a car wash and an ATM but no garage. They put my donut on in 19 minutes (the younger of the two wanted to time himself; it was super cute) and refused any compensation. The other pair at the tire store was kind enough to repair my valve stem for the low, low price of whatever I had in my pocket.
I was told that it was the best-case scenario, so why was I so fussed when I was only 30 minutes late and didn’t have to do any hard, sweaty work?
Why did I hesitate to call AAA in the first place? Because I had plans and I didn’t want to wait hours for them to alleviate a minor situation.
If it was so minor why didn’t I try to change my own tire? Because, right then and there, I realized that I couldn’t.
All the demos in the world did not prepare me for the day I found myself alone with a rapidly deflating tire and I don’t think I’m alone here. I’d be willing to bet money that a sizeable percentage of the American population is as ignorant as I am and, like me, probably won’t realize it until it’s too late.
So how do we rectify the situation? Where would one acquire the working knowledge so as not to be at the mercy of a trained technician or a perfect stranger?
I know the internet is a great resource for information, but it is my opinion that that alone doesn’t cut it. Diagrams and instructions, chapters and videos, are no substitute for hands-on experience. You cannot learn to swim without jumping in a pool nor can you master karate outside of a dojo. These are things that take practice – not just theory – to be good at.
In lieu of a standardized, universally available, regularly taught lesson I think there is an opportunity for the automotive industry, with the help of the internet, to fill this void. I’ll explain:
Let’s say you’re in the market for a new car. Something like 80% of consumers begin their shopping experience by searching on the internet. Once they narrow it down, most of them end up on a dealership website. Being that it is such a competitive market with high saturation in many areas, a lot of dealerships are getting creative; they use all kinds of promotions and incentives to get a prospect to submit their information (a “lead”) in the hopes of winning that person’s patronage.
This is what eDealerTools has made a job of with eAutoSavings; the proverbial dangling carrot. And the beauty of eAutoSavings is that it is customizable. Hundreds of dealers have used incentives from a dollar amount off of the MSRP to a free iPod to a free tote bag – whatever works. One area that I feel has not been properly tapped, however, is Service.
And this is where my flat tire comes in. I’m sure there are caveats and a certain amount of bureaucracy that I’ve neglected in my brainstorm, but hear me out: What if a dealership, aiming to get my business and the business of my innumerable peers, were to offer something like a Free Roadside Maintenance class with the purchase of a new or used vehicle?
I think this approach is pretty smart because it avoids the dreaded compliancy issues seen with Honda and Acura dealerships as well as giving no-haggle dealerships like Saturn more leeway with their offers. What’s more is that kind of offer is beneficial to all involved; I learn how to fend for myself and the dealership gets a returning customer. One who is likely to tell all her friends and family about her fantastic sales experience, refer that dealership business, and is also likely to buy another car from them in five years. The experience transcends the transaction to become a relationship.
Deepak Chopra once said "Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging."
This was proven true to me by the kind young man at the gas station who would not take my money. When pressed he said "No, please, just come back and pump lots of gas!" And I have been. The men at the tire store also made a loyal customer of me by helping me despite the fact that they were technically closed and could have been repremanded for providing a service "off the books."
My point is that money alone, in the form of sales, rebates or incentives, is not all that speaks to people. The fact is that anything can become valuable. It's just a matter of how you make it so. Chopra's sentiment is precisely what so many businesses strive to achieve, and that is what eAutoSavings helps facilitate, but the onus of maintaining customer relations is on the dealership. It’s one thing to meet expectations, but it’s another to exceed them, and if you taught me how to change a tire properly I would be impressed.
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