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• See your garage through your customers eyes 

  High-quality service is defined by the customer’s experience while in your care and custody. Operational excellence ensures that the customer’s cars will be ready when promised and fixed right the first time.
      
  It’s about understanding what your customer is trying to tell you when they are communicating their frustrations with the vehicle as it is about the proper diagnosis and professional quality work.
  
  Moments of truth
  Selling service is perhaps the most difficult of all sales to make. Buying a product – something you can hold in your hand or wear - constitutes the purchase of something you can touch or feel. Purchasing a service is something else entirely. When a vehicle owner buys a service, that person is really purchasing a promise – a promise that will be fulfilled in the future. That requires trust and a great deal of faith.
      
  Your ability to perform is based upon a lot of things, not least of which is technical competency. However, you can’t demonstrate that technical competency until you are given the opportunity to do so. The vehicle owner can’t see technical competency. They can’t touch or feel it and you can’t hang it out in front of your garage like a sign.
      
  Service starts when a customer sees and responds to an advertisement, hears about your business from a friend or relative, calls, finds you on the internet or just walks in.
      
  For this reason, MOTs, or “moments of truth” have to be created – moments when a customer has the opportunity to come into contact with any member of your team where they will form an opinion about your business. These opinions will occur before, during, and after the work on their vehicle has been completed. They will ultimately define your personal and business success.
      
  I cannot stress enough the consistent execution of your processes and procedures is the catalyst for your business to be recognised as one of the best. Do a great job the first time, and something less the great the next, and you are unlikely to see that customer again! The more people you have working for you, and the more services and products you have, the greater the challenge it is to achieve this consistency.  
  
  Productivity
  All of this consistent high-quality service is only sustainable in your garage if your productivity and workshop efficiency levels allow you to make a profit. Productivity is a by-product of your technicians and reception staff having the ability to execute processes and procedures flawlessly. It will take more than one training course, the odd staff meeting or for that matter the odd investment in tools and equipment to reach the elusive dream.
      
  Survival, in a complicated and changing world, is about assumptions. Assumptions allow us to function when we find ourselves beyond the limits of our understanding and experience. When we talk about standards, we’re just defining these assumptions in a more scientific language.     
      
  Success in the garage business can be all about assumptions as well. We surround ourselves with a wall of assumptions to help us to make sense of the chaos we confront every day. To large degree, our success is based upon just how accurate many of these assumptions are. One of the ways we do that is to provide service based upon what we believe is best for the vehicle, assuming that what is best for the vehicle is best for the consumer when that might not necessarily be the case.  
      
  In the end, these assumptions are about what we believe the customer wants, needs, and expects from us, not necessarily what the customer’s actual desires and expectations are.
  
  Compelling value proposition
  A perfect example of this, is the constant battle between ready when promised and fixed right first time. My experience of running garages has taught me that these two topics jockey for position as the number one customer concern when vehicle owners are seeking a garage service or repair rather than the myth that price is first and only consideration.
      
  Understanding these topics, or you could say behaviours helps you learn about the relationship that exists between the provider of garage services and the recipient of those services. It is all about questioning our assumptions then re-creating a service environment that is responsive and respectful when it comes to those things are most important to our customers. It’s about who we are and who we will need to become just as much as it is about customer expectations, retention, loyalty, and satisfaction.
    
  In the end, it is about creating a compelling value proposition – something your target customer will not be able to resist – and then delivering your services in a total quality service environment. It’s all about managing the whole scope of your relationship with the vehicle owner, recognising that perception is reality and only perception matters to your customers.
  
  Confront your assumptions
  Take this as an opportunity to look at your relationship with your customers in a new and different way. Confront your assumptions about customers, business in general, and our industry and consider how different things could be if we change the way we look at them. Remember, if you change the way you see things – if you change your standards and assumptions about your customers, your business and our industry – you may just change everything. In an industry like ours where confidence, self-image, and profits have been notoriously low, that might not be such a bad thing.
      
  If you have that elusive dream of becoming a great business, a local garage that’s respected in the community, respected by its customers and staff then accept now that you have to change the way you currently operate. You need to think about the business in a way you have never thought about it before. You have to see it in the future, not in the present. That’s exactly what I did before I started Brunswick Garage. I knew then that I could not be an all-makes service operator and have the ability to provide the level of service that is required.
  
  Walk a mile in their shoes
  I encourage you to step outside your business, remove yourself as the owner and place those customer shoes on. Walk a mile in their shoes, so to speak. Take a stroll from outside your premises, look at your sign, your brand image, is it clean bright and inviting. Pass through your reception, is it welcoming to your customer, is it clean bright and warm. Are your customers able to wait while their vehicle is being repaired in a clean, bright warm area, having refreshments?
      
  Go through the workshop. Is it dull, dirty, things everywhere, are the technicians tool boxes clean and in order? Would you be happy to walk a customer of yours through to show them their vehicle or would you be too embarrassed?    
      
  You will be far more successful with their help and ideas of all your team than you could ever be without them. This new way of thinking will make your team feel valued and more important than ever before.
  
  Final thought
  If you don’t know where you are going, any road will do! Just remember, if you always do what you always did – you will always get what you always got.
  
  www.thegarageinspector.com
  
  

• See your garage through your customers eyes 

  High-quality service is defined by the customer’s experience while in your care and custody. Operational excellence ensures that the customer’s cars will be ready when promised and fixed right the first time.
      
  It’s about understanding what your customer is trying to tell you when they are communicating their frustrations with the vehicle as it is about the proper diagnosis and professional quality work.
  
  Moments of truth
  Selling service is perhaps the most difficult of all sales to make. Buying a product – something you can hold in your hand or wear - constitutes the purchase of something you can touch or feel. Purchasing a service is something else entirely. When a vehicle owner buys a service, that person is really purchasing a promise – a promise that will be fulfilled in the future. That requires trust and a great deal of faith.
      
  Your ability to perform is based upon a lot of things, not least of which is technical competency. However, you can’t demonstrate that technical competency until you are given the opportunity to do so. The vehicle owner can’t see technical competency. They can’t touch or feel it and you can’t hang it out in front of your garage like a sign.
      Service starts when a customer sees and responds to an advertisement, hears about your business from a friend or relative, calls, finds you on the internet or just walks in.
      
  For this reason, MOTs, or “moments of truth” have to be created – moments when a customer has the opportunity to come into contact with any member of your team where they will form an opinion about your business. These opinions will occur before, during, and after the work on their vehicle has been completed. They will ultimately define your personal and business success.
      
  I cannot stress enough the consistent execution of your processes and procedures is the catalyst for your business to be recognised as one of the best. Do a great job the first time, and something less the great the next, and you are unlikely to see that customer again! The more people you have working for you, and the more services and products you have, the greater the challenge it is to achieve this consistency.  
  
  Productivity
  All of this consistent high-quality service is only sustainable in your garage if your productivity and workshop efficiency levels allow you to make a profit. Productivity is a by-product of your technicians and reception staff having the ability to execute processes and procedures flawlessly. It will take more than one training course, the odd staff meeting or for that matter the odd investment in tools and equipment to reach the elusive dream.
      
  Survival in a complicated and changing world is about assumptions. Assumptions allow us to function when we find ourselves beyond the limits of our understanding and experience. When we talk about standards, we’re just defining these assumptions in a more scientific language.     
      
  Success in the garage business can be all about assumptions as well. We surround ourselves with a wall of assumptions to help us to make sense of the chaos we confront every day. To large degree, our success is based upon just how accurate many of these assumptions are. One of the ways we do that is to provide service based upon what we believe is best for the vehicle, assuming that what is best for the vehicle is best for the consumer when that might not necessarily be the case.  
      
  In the end, these assumptions are about what we believe the customer wants, needs, and expects from us, not necessarily what the customer’s actual desires and expectations are.
  
  Compelling value proposition
  A perfect example of this, is the constant battle between ready when promised and fixed right first time. My experience of running garages has taught me that these two topics jockey for position as the number one customer concern when vehicle owners are seeking a garage service or repair rather than the myth that price is first and only consideration.
      
  Understanding these topics, or you could say behaviours helps you learn about the relationship that exists between the provider of garage services and the recipient of those services. It is all about questioning our assumptions then re-creating a service environment that is responsive and respectful when it comes to those things are most important to our customers. It’s about who we are and who we will need to become just as much as it is about customer expectations, retention, loyalty, and satisfaction.
      
  In the end, it is about creating a compelling value proposition – something your target customer will not be able to resist – and then delivering your services in a total quality service environment. It’s all about managing the whole scope of your relationship with the vehicle owner, recognising that perception is reality and only perception matters to your customers.
  
  Confront your assumptions
  Take this as an opportunity to look at your relationship with your customers in a new and different way. Confront your assumptions about customers, business in general, and our industry and consider how different things could be if we change the way we look at them. Remember, if you change the way you see things – if you change your standards and assumptions about your customers, your business and our industry -  you may just change everything. In an industry like ours where confidence, self-image, and profits have been notoriously low, that might not be such a bad thing.
      
  If you have that elusive dream of becoming a great business, a local garage that’s respected in the community, respected by its customers and staff then accept now that you have to change the way you currently operate. You need to think about the business in a way you have never thought about it before. You have to see it in the future, not in the present. That’s exactly what I did before I started Brunswick Garage. I knew then that I could not be an all makes service operator and have the ability to provide the level of service that is required.
  
  Walk a mile in their shoes
  I encourage you to step outside your business, remove yourself as the owner and place those customer shoes on. Walk a mile in their shoes, so to speak. Take a stroll from outside your premises, look at your sign, your brand image, is it clean bright and inviting. Pass through your reception, is it welcoming to your customer, is it clean bright and warm. Are your customers able to wait while their vehicle is being repaired in a clean, bright warm area, having refreshments?
      
  Go through the workshop. Is it dull, dirty, things everywhere, are the technicians tool boxes clean and in order? Would you be happy to walk a customer of yours through to show them their vehicle or would you be too embarrassed?    
      
  You will be far more successful with their help and ideas of all your team than you could ever be without them. This new way of thinking will make your team feel valued and more important than ever before.
  
  Final thought
  If you don’t know where you are going, any road will do! Just remember, if you always do what you always did – you will always get what you always got.
  
  www.thegarageinspector.com
  
  

• No MOT exemption this time – Make sure your customers know that warns TechMan 

  TechMan is urging garages to make sure they customers know there’s no MOT exemption this time, and that they must make sure that they seek an MOT for their car if it is due.

• Are you experienced?  

  In this article I am going to go over a recent job I had which initially looked to be much more complicated than it turned out to be. Fortunately, not jumping in with both feet, starting the diagnosis from the beginning regardless of what had been done before and planning my attack meant I got a first-time fix.
      
  Second opinion
  The car in question was a 2017 Ford Kuga. The customer’s complaint was that the speedometer didn’t work and the mileage and trip counters were blank (see Fig.1). The vehicle also had an ABS and traction control warning light illuminated and a hill descent fault. The customer then explained that they had received a letter through the post stating that their vehicle had a recall from Ford for a PCM update for oil dilution problems. As a result, the vehicle was booked into the local Ford dealer for this to be done. While the vehicle was there, the customer decided that the dealership could take a look at the aforementioned faults. The update was carried out along with a BCM update which was recommended for the faults. The customer was then phoned and told it was ready to be collected. However, upon pulling away from the dealership, the car had the exact same problems as it did when it arrived. The customer then returned to the dealership, and was told it was more than likely a faulty module causing the issues and would cost in excess of £1,000 to fix. It was at this point the customer decided to get a second opinion. The vehicle was then booked in with me to take a look and see if we could get to the bottom of the problem.
  
  Confirming the complaint
  As always, I started by confirming the complaint, and the faults matched what the customer had said (see Fig.2). I then connected a scan tool to do a global fault code read to see what faults were stored and take it from there. Once the scan had completed and saved, I was surprised to find I didn’t actually have many faults stored and the main code that kept popping up was C0031; Left front wheel speed sensor. I also had faults in other modules saying to either check the ABS system for faults, or invalid data had been received by the module, as is now commonplace on modern vehicles. Multiple modules use wheel speed data, not just the ABS system itself, so this is why they log faults for other modules. I didn’t have any modules failing to communicate so this indicated that it was more than unlikely a module was at fault. However, I still had the dashboard issue present which was a permanent fault and it could not be discounted.
  
  Intrigue
  What did intrigue me however was why the mileage and trip displays were just reading “----" and not numbers? What could cause this and why was it happening? Could it be a faulty instrument panel or perhaps a body control module issue? As in most cases now, it stores the main data for the vehicle including total mileage covered. I didn’t have any real fault codes to use as clues so I decided to focus on the ABS fault first, fix it, then go from there. It can be really easy with faults like this to go down a rabbit hole trying to find an issue that is not there. Experience has taught me to fix what you know is wrong first then reassess and then attack the faults which remain. We knew the ABS system had a fault so we fix it first then see what the dashboard displays.
      
  My next step was to access live data and do some checks dynamically before I went any further. Displaying all four-wheel speeds showed a problem straight away. With the vehicle sitting stationary in the workshop, the left front wheel speed read 255km/h, which you wouldn’t expect. Meanwhile, the other three read 0, which you would expect as the vehicle wasn’t moving. Experience has taught me that on most Ford vehicles, not all though, 255km/h indicates a circuit problem, whether it be a sensor issue or wiring. I knew I had to do some tests to establish the cause of the fault.
  
  Detached
  I then removed the left front wheel to test the wiring and ABS sensor and a visual inspection found the cause of the ABS fault (see Fig.3). For some reason the wiring loom for the sensor had detached from the securing clip, which can also be seen in the picture, and had allowed the wiring to rub against the tyre and wear through to the point that it was now completely broken and became open circuit. I then cut back the insulation and repaired the wiring and checked live data before completing the repair. It is important to confirm the repair first before you fully assemble the vehicle only to find an issue still exists. Been there, done that and got the t-shirt. I now had all four sensors reading 0 km/h. Spinning the left front wheel while on the ramp showed the sensor to respond and read a wheel speed, so the wiring was then insulated correctly.
      
  Knowing the ABS fault was repaired, the vehicle was then reassembled, but this time the wiring loom was secured away from the wheel and tyre. I then cleared all the fault codes in the vehicle and rechecked the customer’s complaint. I found that the car now had no faults stored in any module and the mileage and trip readings displayed correctly. A road test confirmed we also had a working speedometer and a final global fault code scan on return to the workshop showed no fault codes, so the vehicle was fixed.
      
  What can be learned from this job? As I said earlier, it would have been very easy indeed to start chasing the mileage/trip display fault. This could possibly condemn the dashboard. Alternatively, I could have ended up removing it and sending it off for testing, only to then be told it had no faults and then be left wondering where to go next. Fix what you know is wrong first, then reassess the situation; Diagnostic work is much easier when you apply methodical thinking and work to a test plan specific to the vehicle and its faults, like I have mentioned in many articles before.
  
  
  
  
  

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