The Power of Schmooze

by Bruce McDowell

(sponsored by Technician Academy)

Wed., March 10, 2:00 - 3:00 CST

Bruce McDowell wants you to be prepared. He always keeps a towel and a bag of peanuts in the back of his truck, akin to Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, though he knows that won’t necessarily help you grow your shop revenue.

That’s why he’s teaching Power of the Schmooze, an hour-long course intended to help shop owners and service advisors create lifetime customers from the moment they walk into the shop.

McDowell has been going to VISION for over two decades, and has found that teaching is in his blood (he was a military instuctor and has been teaching at Technician’s Academy for several years).

“I’ve heard ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,’ ” he says, and he knows that you cannot measure the initial rapport with the customer. What you can do, however, is build upon that initial meeting, foster a friendly relationship and see where that leads. Maybe they become customers for life.

“If you take care of your customer and employees, you’ll make more money,” he says, “and Power of the Schmooze will help prove that.

McDowell’s automotive experience began at a dealership, where sell sell sell was the only prerogative. He grew tired of it, and then became burnt out by the relentless grind of turning people into figures.

“If you take advantage of somebody once, you might make a big sale but you’ll never see them again. “But if you create a lifetime customer whose ARO is about $300 and you see that customer for five years, a small investment early pays huge dividends over several years.

“That’s my passion,” he adds, “and remember, people are people. Take care of them and they’ll take care of you.