What Would You Like?

Whats on YOUR wish list? We would love to know.

Here at W.L. May Company, we have always made it our goal to have what you need on hand and ready to go before you need it. We uses many techniques to anticipate future needs such as factory recommendations, inventory monitoring and tracking, and in some ways the most important: client feedback.

Client feedback has been responsible for introducing us to several products through the years. In fact, some of our most popular accessory items were introduced to us by our clients either telling us about a product or asking for our help in locating a product.

W.L. May Company has made a commitment to helping to further the success of our clients. The most outwardly visible way of doing this is by participating in trade groups, such as United Servicer's Association. Another way to help further your success is by our concentrating on stock availability and accuracy of all details of our business from the initial research assistance, to making sure warranty credits are applied quickly to your account. It takes some time and effort. Much of it happens out of the sight of our clients, but we hope you notice the results.

On the subject of furthering our clients success, we know that it takes more than just parts for a service business to stay successful and grow. It takes good equipment, a good appearance, and more and more it takes computer expertise. Our position in the supply chain means that we are approached regularly with solution suggestions for all of those issues.

So we pose the question: "What would you like?" Are there aspects of your business that you are struggling with and would like some assistance or direction? Uniforms, trucks, software, tools? Let your parts expert know what you are struggling with and we will do our best to help address those needs.

Thanks to all of our clients for your help and support. We look forward to hearing your suggestions. Have a great servicing day out there!

Is Christmas Creep Good or Bad for the Repair Business?

Here we are in the middle of November. Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is almost 2 weeks away. When I turn on the radio, or browse the internet I am seeing more and more ads for "holiday" sales. Every year it seems that the adverstising starts a little earlier. Journalists have dubbed this phenomenon "Christmas Creep".

To be clear, I love the holiday season and always enjoy making merry with friends and family in December. The decorations and music always make me happy-I am no Grinch! However, when I was younger, the annual holiday advertising onslaught began on Thanksgiving or the day after, and it just wasn't done to advertise for Christmas and the other holidays before them. Obviously, times have changed.

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are traditionally some of the busiest times of the year in an appliance service company. Lately I have been pondering if this Christmas Creep is impacting the work flow of the appliance repair industry. It seems likely that moving the holidays to the front of consumers minds should increase foot traffic into the stores of those repair companies that are associated with an appliance dealership. That can't be a bad thing.

What does not seem so obvious to me is how the phenomenon might change the service world. As we see more holiday advertising, it seems that less promotion is being dedicated to Thanksgiving. Will that decline in Thanksgiving promotion cause a decline in the number of service calls in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving? I don't know. I have observed that with less reminders the last minute rush seems to be gaining momentum during the last few years. Is that the result of Christmas Creep? Or is technology and the increased speed of modern life the cause? Or could there be some other cause?

Regardless of the causes, there does seem to be more of a last minute aspect to the Thanksgiving than ever before. This leaves servicers with the challenge of anticipating those last minute needs, and making sure that they are ready to provide their customers with those late requests. If you are servicer reading this, now is the time to make sure you are ready with appropriate stock on hand. If you are a consumer reading this, do yourself and your servicer a favor. Call your repair company earlier rather than later. This will be one less thing to deal with just before your big feast.

Have you seen any changes that seem to be caused by Christmas Creep? Do you think that holiday adverstising should wait until after Thanksgiving? Or maybe, do you appreciate the reminders so you can start your gift shopping earlier? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

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Friday Facts: Five Essential Stock Items for November

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We at W.L. May hope that you had a nice Halloween last night with plenty of tricks and treats and we also hope that you are enjoying the fall colors in your local area. With Halloween behind us, a glance at the calendar reminds us that we are heading into  the holiday season with Thanksgiving just a few short weeks away. When the pages of the calendar turns to November, the calls begin to come in for ranges. Unlike most of the year, when more recent appliances are the usual service call request, during Thanksgiving time people have a tendency to evoke nostalgia and go with what has always worked to create a memorable holiday. Often, this means an old range. Many of the more universal range parts are those found on electric ranges and that is what we will be concentrating on here. However, if you are in an area with more gas appliances you'll want to make sure you have an adequate supply of igniters on hand.

How can you be prepared, as a servicer, for those electric range calls? As we have previously stressed on this blog, you want to minimize return trips so a stock of "universal" parts for ranges can do wonders for your efficiency during the holiday season. So what should you have ready to go? Here are a few suggestions:

• Bake and Broil elements. This is probably the most common request we get during Thanksgiving season every year. Sure, we stock a lot of elements, but you'll want to have some on hand yourself. We recommend reviewing your service history and at least make sure you have the most common ones on hand. If you have a brand that is particularly well represented in your area, you might want to include a few less common elements from that brand as well. If you need some suggestions, ask your W.L. May parts expert. We would be happy to help.
• Surface Elements. Many ranges uses the same standard surface elements. Having these in your truck can mean the difference between completing a call and going back later. Whether you decide to use OEM surface units or a generic version, make sure you have some on hand.
• Burner Receptacles. Don't forget that sometimes replacing a surface element also means replacing the receptacle. Again, many use the same receptacles. Don't let yourself be caught short.
• Universal Thermostat and Surface Switches. We recommend using the OEM specified thermostats and switchs whenever possible. However on some old ranges they thermostat may be out of production. If that is the case a universal thermostat may save the day. We also stock a few universal switches that could come in handy on these older machines.
• Drip Pans and Cleaners. The holidays are a time for entertaining and many people see this as an opportunity to spruce up and do some extra cleaning in the kitchen. If you are prepared with cleaning solutions and replacement drip pans, you may be surprised to find customers eager for those items. Beware of you own bias here. You might not be inclined to replace stained drip pans on your own range, however many customers appreciate the opportunity to replace their own drip pans. If you have them on hand, you can spare your customer from trying to find pans that fit (and probably don't) at their local big box store and , by the way, you will be increasing your own bottom line as well. Win-win!

The holidays also have a tendency so increase calls for dishwashers, icemakers, and trash compactors. Consider how you can prepare yourself with pieces for those items as well. We look forward to helping you solve some of the mysterious old appliance parts problems as you work your way to a delicious turkey dinner (or Tofurkey if you are so inclined). Just give us a call and we would be glad to help. So what do you find to be an essential stock item at this time of year? Please, let us know in the comments.

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