We conducted a straw poll recently to find out what lessons people are taking away from the extraordinary circumstances we’re all facing this year.
I’ve learned… …to maintain a wide array of services We stayed open the whole time. People were staying home, people were nervous… but we thought it was important to maintain our whole service offering. Being in Newfoundland insulates us quite a bit but I still had to cut down from eight techs to two. We’re back up to six techs and we’re back up to about 75% capacity right now. John Lundrigan, Capital Mitsubishi, St. John’s, Nfld.
…to arrest the spread This has certainly made me realize how dirty we used to be! We never thought about how bacteria and germs spread, or how we track them throughout our workplace or into vehicles. This has changed our idea of sanitation and safety in the workplace. My staff has been very supportive and understanding. The whole situation has rallied us together.
Jeff Rempel, George Rempel Auto Centre, Winnipeg, Man.
…to believe in your system We really came to rely on the systems and processes we’d put in place. Throughout this whole Covid situation, we embraced the challenge and took a pretty big leadership role. Empowering your team can really make you agile and ensure that you come out the other side regardless of the situations in your way. Jeff Hoff, Gears Plus, Prince George, B.C.
…the cost of not driving If a vehicle is sitting in the driveway untouched for months, that’s going to have an impact. Rust will start to accumulate, parts could seize, there will be a natural breakdown in the vehicle. Unfortunately, if people are short of money, it causes a catch-22 where the customer doesn’t have the money to repair it, but can’t afford to drive either. Art Quigg, Art Quigg’s Service, London, Ont.
…the value of low overhead Owning the property that we’re on and the building we’re in, we actually were in a pretty good position where we could turn away non-essential work in order to concentrate on oil changes and tire changes. My heart goes out to those guys who are stuck between a rock and a hard place, having big overhead expenses. Rudy Graf, Graf Auto, North York, Ont.
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