May 2019

BIG ISSUE JULY 2017 AFTERMARKET 4 THE CUSTOMER AND YOU: A QUESTION OF SOVEREIGNTY 8 AFTERMARKET MAY 2019 S overeignty has become something of a hot- button issue over the last few years. Brexit has made this more of a thing than anyone at Aftermarket remembers from when we were younger. Back in our day, the only sovereigns we ever thought about were the kind some people had set in rings, but we digress. We are talking about sovereignty, and tyranny. Don’t worry, we are not doing another long Brexit piece, we are just making a point about customer relations. The issue of to what degree one is ‘in charge’ used to be a rather abstract concept that, for most people was not something really talked about. Since the referendum campaigns kicked off three years ago, it has become something to get animated over. People have engaged in passionate debates over the benefits of shared sovereignty versus geopolitical unity. This is all about the national, international and global. What about at the local level, and when we say local we mean really local, like within your four walls. When it comes to who is in charge at the interpersonal level, people get a bit quieter. The same goes for discussing the relationship between a business and its customers. Sometimes, it is just easier to shout at a stranger in the street about self-determination than it is to engage in a meaningful discussion with a customer over a transaction and come out on top. Don’t believe me? Then how do you account for garages risking their reputations, and the lives of their customers, by agreeing to fit parts that said customer sourced goodness knows where? Many of you are probably already members of the Say NO To Customer Supplied Parts (UK) group on Facebook. It is a good place to see what your fellow garages are having to put up with, have a rueful chuckle over what some so- called-customers are trying to pull, and maybe get some ideas on how to say “no.” Most garages will have done this at some point, and as we said when we looked at the issue last year, there are some circumstances when it will be acceptable – probably classic cars where the customer sometimes has a better line on some parts than you might do, in that situation it’s ok. Is the customer always right? Or is it the role of a business to take charge of the transaction on their behalf www.aftermarketonline.net