From the stand point of the shop owner they must always try to portray a positive image for their business. For the purpose of this blog post, we will look at services provided by the "dirty" sections of the automotive industry, these are body shops, mechanics shops, machine shops and so on.
What I call front line professionalism doesn't have anything to do with the people in the shop but it does have alot to do with the attitudes and personalities of the people running and or working in the shop. What I mean by this is for example is a production body shop. When a customer comes to the shop and sees that the exterior of the building is even in slight disrepair it may leave a bad impression on the customer. So, lets go back for a second, we will use a shop which is pristine on the outside, rather impressive looking. The customer enters the shop and it has dirty floors, there are parts stacked disorganised and in disarray, the lunch room is trashed it may leave the impression that the shop is mismanaged. That customer may refuse to get work done there, however if they do decide to get work done there, they may tell their friends that the shop was disorganised and dirty and it may create opinions about that shop by people that have never stepped foot in the shop, even if the shop is the best shop in a radius of 100 miles the image being portrayed may cause people to look away.
Looking ahead, we will move onto what I call secondary front line professionalism and this has to do with the image of the shop owner and the attitudes of the people in the shop.
->If a shop owner travels around town wearing dirty, or even out of style clothes it can leave an image that the shop is struggling and may turn people off of the business out of worry for their ,name object being serviced may be trapped there or half assed due to the owners image. Don't be the stinky kid in class!!!
-> One of the hardest parts of the service industry is pleasing the customer. Now, you cannot please everyone but a shop owner must please most people who come into the shop for the repeat business or to get the word spread on the work performed. Even tho most annoying and demanding customers have money to pay you with and may speak highly of your work, even if it doesn't seem so when they come in.
-> Social media- Social media may be a great tool for promoting your business, but using it incorrectly may lead to negative implications. Making inappropriate post may not be well recepted by some customers. Although they may be humorous for the poster, not all people are that open minded and find the material offensive.
Image is everything, Keep your shop clean, look and be professional and be nice to everyone. Represent yourself well at trade shows and make appearances at events in a professional manner.
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