In my early 20s, I delivered pizzas to make some extra cash.
One day, a new guy named Dave came on board.
He was trained, per usual, riding along with another driver for a shift, shadowing him as he drove around town delivering pizzas.
We showed him how to use the map to find the best route to the customer’s house (This was before GPS and Cell phones existed).
Dave was given instruction on proper etiquette when talking to customers.
What to do with the money. And seemingly everything else he’d need to know to do the job of a pizza delivery guy.
But we hadn’t discussed everything.
Because when Dave was set free to do his own deliveries he messed up big time.
As I’m sure you are aware, pizzas are made with tomato sauce, cheese, and a variety of other toppings.
And, we had standard operating procedures for almost everything.
Once a finished pizza came out of the oven it was quickly cut into slices, boxed up and placed on the heating table.
The delivery driver would then pick the pizza up from the heating table and place it in an insulated bag.
The whole idea was to keep the pizza hot until the customer received it.
Well, on Dave’s first go-round with delivery, he picked up the pizza box, placed it into his insulated bag…And then tucked the bag under his arm like you would your school books.
As mentioned, the goal is to keep the pizza as hot as possible until it arrives at the customer’s home. That means the sauce and cheese are easily disturbed.
By now, you know where I’m going with this.
When Dave turned the pizza on its side, all of the cheese, sauce, and toppings slid to the bottom, ruining it.
Dave was trained on customer service, driver safety, using the map, handling money, and a whole host of other things.
But, since Dave had never made a pizza and hadn’t yet carried a pizza to a customer’s front door, he didn’t know that keeping the pizza horizontal was paramount to the entire operation.
I guess he’d assumed that carrying the pizza the way we did was for show, and he wasn’t into it.
I don’t know.
Now, I know it might seem like a bone-head move on Dave’s part, and back then, we certainly thought so.
Heck, I’m still telling the story more than 30 years later.
But you gotta give him a little slack.
It kinda reminds me of the children’s game of telephone.
If you don’t know what that is, it goes like this.
You have a group of, say, 5 to 10 kids in a row.
The first child is given a phrase that’s whispered into his ear.
He is then instructed to whisper that phrase in the second kid’s ear.
And then on down the line, the phrase is whispered into the next child’s ear.
Until the last one gets the phrase and then says it out loud.
And what usually happens is, what they say is nowhere remotely close to the original phrase.
It might rhyme, but it’s usually just nonsense.
That’s what happens when you allow drivers to train drivers.
The specifics of how YOU want things done get watered-down through each iteration of “training-session.”
And eventually, your methodology is wiped clean.
That is unless you have a hand-full of Dynamo Hot-Shot Performers.
But to get these types of A-Players on your team, they must be bought into your business.
How do you do that?
Well, isn’t that the million-dollar question?
I’ve expounded on the topic in previous emails.
But it all boils down to getting a firm grasp on this concept.
–
There are only three kinds of services.
Good – Cheap – Fast
But you cannot get all three at the same time.
And you can pick any two.
If you want GOOD & CHEAP service, it won’t be FAST
If you want GOOD & FAST service, it won’t be CHEAP
If you want FAST & CHEAP service, it won’t be GOOD
–
If you continually cater to customers who are looking for good & cheap or fast & cheap service, something’s gotta give.
And what that something usually turns out to be is high driver turnover.
Why?
Because you can’t afford to pay them enough to keep them around long-term.
Much less incentivized so that they wow your customers and create referrals, reviews, and repeat business.
When you keep your prices low in an effort to give your customers “the best quality service at reasonable rates,” what you’re actually doing is signaling to your people that they are less valuable than customers.
Is that what you’re trying to do?
The reality is, higher prices allow you to properly compensate your people, keep your equipment in top-notch shape, and market your services so that you always have a pipeline of new customers.
Higher prices means your customers will be better taken care of. Because well compensated and experienced tow truck operators and dispatchers will be bought into your company.
They’ll have a vested interest in it.
They’ll want to ensure that the Golden Goose (your company) has everything it needs so that it continues to produce for years and years.
Because their family depends on it.
Bottom line, stop futzing around with motor clubs.
Stop thinking that customers ONLY care about price.
Think about a mother stranded roadside on her way to pick up her son from soccer practice.
She’s not concerned with the cost. She’s got abduction horror stories running through her head.
And, if you’re too busy dawdling around with the clubs this woman might be required to wait an extended period.
If you’re ready to take your business seriously and get this thing off the ground, get in touch.
Don Archer
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