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Inattention is the root cause of lost customers and profits |
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Thursday, 05 April 2007 |
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Page 1 of 2 Recently a local shop hired a very experienced estimator. Not only had she worked in many shops, but she had also worked as an independent appraiser and an appraiser for a major insurance company. One of her tasks was to check on the shop’s relationship with DRP directors and a local dealership, She was startled to discover relationships with a couple of the DRPs had soured a bit and the relationship with the dealership was all but lost.
What was the reason for the decline in these vital relationships? It was simply that key people were no longer getting the attention these relationships called for.
The overwhelmed shop manager
Devoting attention to everything that requires it can be all but impossible for the owner or manager of a busy shop, especially if the shop isn’t big enough to have a sub-manager for parts, one for production, one for customer service, etc. In a shop like this, often the owner is attempting to be certain estimators are writing accurate estimates — and getting the keys and the job every time. At the same time he may be making certain parts are being ordered correctly and for the right price. Plus he is answering phone calls and handling questions from workers in the shop, plus dealing with appraisers from various insurance companies. And while all of this is going on, he is also trying to attend to a wiring or other facility problem, a city inspector, an error in the latest bank statement, and a new advertisement that is being considered. It’s not surprising that more than a few things slip through the cracks. Worse yet, potential profits get left on the table.
Limited attention
Very early on, psychologists studied human attention to test its limits. It was determined at that time that the most a person could keep track of at one time was eight things. Many people could only focus on much less. Many students fail classes in school because they can’t keep their attention on the teacher or the subject matter. Marital relationships often fail because one of the spouses is so involved in business or other aspects of life that he or she fails to give adequate attention to the spouse or the children. All human relationships call for an enormous amount of attention.
Many aspects of life fall apart because of inadequate attention. Plants die without water or fertilizer. A stock in a shop owner’s portfolio dropped because the owner failed to keep track of the value and didn’t sell in time to gain a profit or prevent a loss. A physical condition that might have been treated and cured early on becomes life threatening because no attention was paid to the early warning signs. The list can go on and on.
Balancing demands
With so many dimensions of life and business to keep track of, a shop owner needs a highly efficient staff and systems to monitor and control it all. Estimating, scheduling, parts ordering, work assignments, cycle time management, insurance and customer notification, supplements, and more must be systematized sufficiently to free the attention of the owner or manager. Otherwise, he or she will never get around to putting attention on those external sources of business.
I talked with the owner of a shop that does nearly $12 million a year in business. He said his biggest problem was preventing theft and fraud. When the job of managing assets, equipment, parts, and financial transactions must be delegated, the ultimate responsibility to attend to them still falls on the owner or general manager. If the limits of his attention are exceeded, the leaks in the company structure that may occur could sink the entire ship.
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