Not Your Typical “Thanks Larry” Thread.(Very Long

[creggur]

I just wanted to extend a big THANK YOU to Larry. Three months ago I started SCUBA diving, at that time I also found ST. After lurking on SB and hearing all of the positive comments about their business practices I thought, “I really need to check out what these guys are doing.” After spending literally hours researching gear on their website, reading about Larry in various articles from business chronicles, and studying the way they do business, I made some changes.

The company I work for came under new ownership in April. Fortunately the new owner is way more customer service oriented than the previous one. He told me when he bought the place that he wanted the customers taken care of, period. Our previous owner would always try to cut corners and “save” his way into a profit. Not the smartest way to do business when you’re dealing with German luxury car owners who have pretty high expectations to begin with, and are very enthusiastic and particular about their cars.

I manage the parts department, which means I manage the sale of parts and accessories to cars in our shop, retail sales to walk in customers, wholesale sales to independent repair shops and body shops in our area, and internet sales online. I immediately told my guys what we were going to do. We made some changes to the website, updated our return and exchange policies, started giving away gift certificates to customers in our monthly newsletter, and started running monthly specials, and closeouts to move some old inventory. I know this all sounds like common sense stuff to take care of customers, but I was never allowed the freedom to do business the way I really wanted to before. The result has been phenomenal!!! Our internet sales have literally doubled each month for the last three months. We have also hit new highs in our wholesale efforts each month for the last three months. I’ve finally been able to instill in my guys that they are professional consultants for our customers, not just order takers, and they need to do what’s right to take care of the people who put money in our pockets.. The moral around here is better than it’s ever been. Everybody in a car dealership is paid some sort of commission for sales, so the increase in income has been part of that. Not just that; the guys are actually having fun taking care of the customers instead of always giving them “bad news” about not being able to do what we always knew was the right thing, but weren’t allowed to do.

To wrap up here, I’ve got the new owner sold on a webcam in our accessory area in the new facility we are moving into next year, we’re revamping the FAQ area of our website to be more like the “Ask Joe and Larry” section, which is way more fun to read than a bland FAQ, and we are starting to get some really good feedback from our online customers. Some are even asking for us to start a new Audi forum for them to hang out in. So if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Larry, Joe, and all the guys at ST should be flattered!!! We passed our previous record for monthly sales 3 days ago which put everybody in the department to the next tier for bonus, and commission. So once again thanks, the new ownership, inspiration from ST’s business practices, and a renewed sense of fun around here have conspired to be the “Perfect Storm” for our business in a good way!!! Keep up the good work guys!!!

[thor]

Now if you could only figure out why my A4's sunroof opens up automatically in the middle of the winter...... Maybe I'll ask Joe and Larry what to do.

[creggur]

I don't want to break any rules by conducting business here, but you've got a bad potentiometer. PM me and I'll get you taken care of..