C’mon, could there really be anything better than collecting end tabs or box tops?
OK — there are those trusty belt sleeves! And, if belt sleeves don’t capture your imagination, I suppose you could drop a plastic token in a can, or two, or in a bottle or maybe a container…
But, it’s the box tops and end tabs that really get my motor running! Ripping those little pieces of cardboard off, trying to figure out where to keep them, trying not to lose them, tallying them up and then turning them in is what really motivates me!
And, the premiums, the prizes — it’s what I live for!
I think you may have already guessed I’m not being serious. Belt sleeves and box tops, end tabs and plastic tokens do little or nothing for me. Truth be told, I’m not sure just how much they do for anyone else I know, either.
Sure, we follow the rules and jump through hoops to redeem them, and why not? According to the rules, the rewards are ours. But, does it actually motivate anyone to do anything?
Aside from that, my guess is every one of those programs is expensive — expensive to create, maintain, monitor and implement. I know they involve enough work and documentation to constitute a significant pain-in-the…assets.
Nevertheless, they seem to be a non sequitur in our industry — virtually inescapable.
Of course, there is the possibility I don’t like these “games” because I’m not good at following instructions or dealing with the burden of superfluous administrative work.
If the term ‘games’ is uncomfortable, I apologize. But, isn’t that what you’re asking us to do — solve a set of specific problems with a set of specific rules and tools. That’s the definition of a game, isn’t it?
You’ve provided the rules and the tools; the problem is identifying the problem.
It can’t be tracking sales. You know exactly what my sales are almost as soon as I do. It can’t be increased sales, that would imply incentivizing “stuff” the customer didn’t really want or need. So, if it isn’t either of these two, what could possibly justify the effort and expense?
I don’t have an answer. I’m not sure you do either. I think we’ve been doing stuff like this for so long we’ve convinced ourselves it works regardless of how effective, or ineffective, it may be. But, I hate to lay a problem at your feet without some kind of a plausible solution. So, here it is, albeit unrelated to the quid pro quo kind of incentives and spiffs I’ve been whining about.
Our shop is a Bosch Authorized Service Center. As a part of their program, Bosch has contracted a large international inspection company to monitor the performance of their service centers — to document the quality of service a motorist might experience at my shop, or a shop like mine; and Friday, it was our turn to be “Mystery Shopped.”
Someone called at the beginning of the week to inquire about an appointment and then called back again a day or two later to confirm. He came in early Friday morning requesting an inspection and estimate for the work needed to ensure his vehicle was good enough to pass on to his son. He came in just before closing to settle up. But, just before he did he let us know who he was, what he was up to and how we stacked up.
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We did well, great, in fact! But, that’s not the point.
There were areas we can improve: problems with our service delivery we might not have been aware of; things we might have otherwise chosen to ignore had they not been brought to our attention by a trained observer not emotionally invested in the assessment or its results.
My guess is a three-page service evaluation isn’t cheap. In fact, I’ll bet it’s damn expensive. But, I am equally as sure as expensive as it may be, it still isn’t as expensive as the box top, end tab, belt sleeve and can token programs the industry is so enamored with!
More to the point: what is this kind of evaluation worth?
What am I suggesting? I’m suggesting there may be more productive ways to spend your money — things far more valuable, valuable to you, to the repair community and to the motoring public, then end tab or box top programs; things that could result in the kind of powerful, profound and positive change this industry really needs and needs now.
So, if the question is, “Could there really be anything better than collecting end tabs or box tops?” My answer has to be, “You bet there could!”
