December/January 2018

W ould Arthur by any other name smell as, er, sweet? You'd probably rather not find out, but I’m going to tell you anyway... I've always been my own man, and very conscious of the value of having a good name. Apart from the obvious, I'm talking about reputation. When you are running your own business and it's your name above the door it's very important that you keep your promises, and satisfy your customers. If you don't it devalues the business. Once your name is tarnished by bad service, or even baseless rumours, it takes a long time to build back up again. Fortunately, I've been lucky with my customers, and equally lucky with my staff and thus far I've not had any major issues with something going wrong that caused reputational damage to my little garage. We've had the odd problem job, but in the end we always get to the bottom of the conundrum to the satisfaction of the customer. I've built up something of a following, and most people in these parts know my garage, and also know it's a good little workshop that won't steer you wrong. Local Of course, it's a local garage for local people, but sometimes I think about trying to be part of a larger grouping, and it's in these situations I have considered signing up to one of the garage schemes – you know where you get signage, and support, and belonging and more customers sometimes too. I think they are a really good idea, and I know other garages that do really well out of them. I've talked to quite a few of these schemes about joining. The benefits of being part of it certainly are encouraging, and I know we 'd have no problem meeting any requirements (they told me so). Now, as I said I'm an independent type, which is appropriate considering the business I run. I'm also awkward, and I like the fact that people come here because of the name of the garage. I don't know if I like the idea of customers coming because of scheme branding we've taken on- That's not very local is it if they like my business because it's got the same badge above the door as someone in Hull, Hove or Hamburg? "Arthur, you really do worry about some strange things don't you" said the last rep. I think I'll give him a call as I'd like to move forward. You know me, I love to move forward don't I? But seriously, getting involved means I'll be part of a wider network. I'm part of a wider network anyway this industry – and I'll be able to access customers from all over the country. That means i’ll be sharing my years of experience with those lucky new customers... All the better! You know, maybe I should start my own scheme... WHAT'S IN A NAME? 66 AFTERMARKET DEC/JAN 2018 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net