Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2016 64 W hile we all know that it "takes a village" to raise a child and support a family in today's world, have you ever thought how your business success is tied to others? In today's world of inter-connectedness and globalism, we depend on others to be successful more than ever. Now, this is not a sermon on the "you didn't build your business" meme that seems to be in vogue with some in government these days. You most certainly did build your business, and today, it remains your livelihood and your responsibility. Very often, you employ others that depend on your success for their own, and you carry a heavy burden. But it is true that we depend on the efforts of many others as business partners in making things go. There are some obvious partners–most appliance service companies work with at least one, and in many cases several, parts distributors. These folks support the business by not only supplying repair parts, but also by helping identify parts and locate hard to find items. They also frequently sponsor product training classes and other seminars to help you be a more successful business person. While some companies sell parts directly, the parts distributor is most often your closest ally in making your business a success. And there are others–don't forget the manufacturers that may have set you up to do warranty work, they provide you with training and technical support, both by phone and through website access and literature. Most have regional support staff that also provide you with invaluable assistance and are a key point of contact as the "face" of a company. This may also apply to some third party providers–the ones that do it the right way and have key contact people available to help support your efforts. Technical schools in your area may also provide training, and they also help provide perhaps the most valuable resource of all– potential employees. While it is understood that appliance service is not the sexiest job out there today, there are several schools across the country that fight the continual battle to enroll students in their programs and develop solid, well rounded technicians that might be a part of your business. True, you often have to mentor and further develop these resources, but these schools work hard to provide you with material you can work with. Then there are still others–web development experts that help you build a website that becomes your storefront to frustrated customers searching for a service provider in what are often trying circumstances; SEO specialists that help you position your company for internet reference and customer searches; and the dead tree advertising that still drives people to your business, particularly through local newspaper advertising. And even those word of mouth customers that have had a good experience with your company in the past and may tell a friend in need to give you a call for help. Those are the most valuable advertising vehicles that we can have in this day and age. Don't forget about being a member of industry associations, like PSA. You have the opportunity to interact with your peers in the business–not as competitors, but as partners in taking your company and the industry as a whole to a higher level of professionalism and competence. You also receive technical support, product training and business management assistance, and all for a nominal annual membership fee that is often less than you may have to pay to access web sites that spit out details, but take no interest in you as an individual. It would be wise to not sleep on membership as it is one of the best values and resources in the appliance service industry today! It's a tough world, and a very tough industry to be successful in. You know that. To quote Jimmy Dugan from "A League of Their Own", "It's tough. It's supposed to be tough. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. The tough is what makes it great." But you have resources that you may use every day to support your efforts. Take full advantage of those resources, and remember that you are not in this alone. Help is available. S E R V I C E D E P A R T M E N T RO IT TAKES HELP TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS INDUSTRY Randy Carney Director of PSA

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