Three Types of Repair Companies

(Flickr user 401K 2012/CC)

How is your business doing? Are you happy with your current level of success? Would you like to to be more profitable?

We want you to succeed. In fact, your success is vital to our own. From this side of the counter we often see businesses in one of three stages: growing, holding on, or falling behind. We also see a lot of the same factors helping determine where a company might fall in that spectrum. Lets looks a little closer.

Growing. Even during the height of the economic downturn. some appliance repair companies managed to grow and expand. While each of those companies have their own style and approach to service, they also have a lot in common. Most of them are aware of how the Internet has changed marketing and have adjusted accordingly. They did not do this without help. Many of them also utilized training offered by the United Servicer Association. These companies also make time to keep up with new products and attend product training whenever it is available.

Holding On. The companies that we see holding on are not expanding their businesses. Occasionally they will take advantage of training opportunities if they are convenient enough to attend. These companies may need more training in Internet marketing. Sometimes they are learning new products on the job, wasting valuable time in the process.  They might also be losing time by not keeping a big enough inventory of parts on hand, resulting in return trips that cost both time and vehicle expenses. Not everyone that is just holding on is lacking in skills, though. Sometimes retirement is close by and they have no exit plan. They are willing to go out of business when they retire, leaving them with no desire or need to grow their business.

Falling behind. Sadly, we see some companies falling a little farther behind each year. These are the toughest cases to watch. Often these companies declined opportunities for further skills, either mechanically or digitally. They tend to blame the economy. Many times there is an avoidance of anything resembling a computer. By avoiding jobs involving computer boards, and pinning their hopes on the phone book ads that used to work so well, they find themselves with fewer and fewer jobs. These are the people that need to hear what the successful companies are doing. Unfortunately, they are the same people who will probably never even see this post.

If you want to be one of those "growing" companies, it is up to you to keep your skills up to date. To help you achieve that goal, W.L. May will be sponsoring and attending the ASTI (Appliance Service Training Institute). The event will be held in New Orleans, LA from Feb. 8-12th. Classes will be offered not only on product training, but also on business and Internet marketing. We hope we see you there!

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