This past weekend, like many fellow Wisconsinites, I made plans to watch the Green Bay Packer game. It just so happened that there was a birthday in the family as well, so I landed at my relative’s house just before kickoff.
It is no secret among family members that I work in the automotive industry, so aunts and uncles like to vent to me about experiences they have at repair shops and dealerships. Typically, I hear comments like, “They are a bunch of crooks” and “They lied to me from the second I walked in.” So when I heard a story about a positive experience, I had to share…
When my Uncle Mike was cruising in his 1997 Chevy Lumina on his way to the grocery store, a squirrel decided that it needed to cross the street, as quickly as possible.  As Mike slammed on his brakes, he heard a deafening squeal and felt his steering wheel shake wildly. He cursed to himself knowing that he needed to have his brakes replaced.
He decided to try a nearby repair shop that he hadn’t been to before but had heard good things. When he pulled up, he had that all too familiar feeling in his gut.
“As soon as I walk in the door, they’ll start looking for problems with my car, problems that really don’t need to be fixed right now,” he thought. “I know that my transmission is long overdue for a flushing, my belts need to be replaced, and I need an oil change.”
He sat waiting, drinking his complimentary coffee and watching the local weather report while they examined his car. Ten minutes later, they were ready to share their findings.
“Ok, so it looks like we need to get you some new brake pads. Other than that, the car looks to be in great shape!”
In Uncle Mike’s own words, he was “dumbfounded.”
He couldn’t believe that they didn’t pull back the curtain and reveal all of the imperfections under his hood. Instead, they gave him a short list of items that he should keep an eye on and sent him on his way without a fuss.  When I asked him if he would return to this shop when something on that list needed to be fixed, he replied “Without a doubt.”
While it might have been tempting for the shop to increase my Uncle’s bill as high as possible and sell a large, comprehensive repair job, they didn’t. It would have been easy to point out the things that could be fixed, but they didn’t.
The result? The shop established themselves in my Uncle’s eyes as honest, trustworthy, and fair. By deciding that his experience carried more weight than a higher immediate profit, they converted a walk-in prospect to a referral-generating, loyal customer.

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