Do you have the time?

When I was younger, a common question was "Do you have the time?'--asking what time it was. Nowadays, we have clocks in our cars, on our cell phones and on our computer desktops. I think this reflects the increasing importance we now place on time.

How many times has a customer asked you how long a job will take? This is just about as common as "how much will it cost?". Sometimes its a deal breaker.

I have often observed salespeople in tire stores who seem to place little value on time--neither theirs nor their customer's time. As valuable as time is, this is a poor attitude to have.

The best thing I ever heard said about time is that it is like a block of ice: you set it out on your sales floor in the morning and it slowly melts. When its gone, it can't be brought back.

A typical situation is this: A customer comes in to the store and wants to purchase a tire to match the OE tire on their vehicle. The store doesn't stock this particular brand, so he has to call his supplier. Unfortunately the sales person fails to go out to the car and get the tire brand, model, load index and speed rating before making the call. Now what should have been a 30 second call turns into a race out to the parking lot to get the needed information. Everyone (the customer, the supplier, other customers) is waiting on the tire salesman to do his job.

Instead of looking like a professional, the sales person looks like an idiot. (Excuse the harsh language). The moral of the story is that you need to have a method. Approach every customer and go out to the car and get all of the needed information: year, make, model, options (4WD, 2WD, etc), tire size, speed ratings. Do this all before you start trying to make a sale!

I know its a cliche, but time is money. Your money. Don't waste it!