If I showed you a way to make a dollar, would you give me back a quarter?

I originally posted this on the "previous" SOWPUB, but it's so appropriate for this thread, since it's a true story!


In light of the recent thread about businesses in small towns, I feel this story of one in a larger city may shed some light on the marketing and promotional gap that?s so common with most businesses.


Part 1

The extraordinary details of this are perfect to overly emphasize a common mindset of small business owners.

In addition to promoting a variety of products and services, I?ve owned restaurants and an appliance business. I?ve learned what works, what doesn?t and why and know what customers respond to and why.

It was October 2003 when I stopped into a gas station for gas. While there, I noticed that their service repair area, that had been closed, had some people there.
Since one of my trucks needed some repair work, I inquired about if they were open now for auto repair.

I was met by ?Pete? and ?John? ? two friendly guys who showed all the enthusiasm and excitement of new business owners with high expectations. They had over 30 years combined experience and had just recently left a large auto dealership, where they had been mechanics.

They wanted to go into business for themselves, since they were well qualified in auto repair. They were given a great opportunity by the station owner to work for themselves with little financial investment, if they would agree to pay a percentage of their business take.

They had just opened for business that day. I asked them what types of vehicles they worked on and was told ?almost anything?.

I told them about a problem with my truck and they said: ?Bring it in? and I did.

They diagnosed the problem that required some engine work and gave me a written estimate. I told them to go ahead. I got a call the next day and was told that since they were replacing the timing gear and belt, that if I wanted to buy a new water pump and bring it to them, they would install that instead of the old one that had been removed in the repair process. The idea was to have a new water pump installed without any additional labor charge, since the old one would be replaced as part of the job anyway. I bought a new water pump at an auto parts store and brought it to them.



The next day I got a call to come and pick up my truck, since it was fixed. They did a great job and when I was presented with the bill, I was surprised to see that the final cost was over $50 LESS than what I had been quoted!!! Apparently, something quoted was not necessary. Needless to say, I was amazed! Auto mechanics who knew what they were doing, suggested a future moneysaving idea and charged me less than what was quoted.

Could this really be true? Yes, it was! I have several vehicles and to have honest, competent mechanics, conveniently located for service was very exiting to me. I could see several possibilities for their business promotion and had a little meeting with them.

I explained that they were in a unique situation and that I knew about business promotion and told them about some of my ideas. They were wide-eyed and excited with the possibilities. I really wanted them to stay around for my own repair work and I wanted to see them thrive. I even suggested that they build their business and have something that could be sold in a few years for quite a lot of money.

They had so many things going for them, but only I could see what they were.

The first thing in their favor was that they were located on one of the busiest corners in the city ? maybe even the busiest. It is a big, light controlled intersection where stopped traffic sits for minutes waiting for the light change cycle. The service station is very visible and very popular since it offers the lowest gas prices in town. Even though the gas station is highly visible from the street, the repair shop is not.