The Itinerary Review Post

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BellePlaine
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by BellePlaine » Sun Dec 15, 2013 8:40 am

My apologies for not yet providing my input yet, but I did have a quick thought for Colin and it's kind of related to Chris' idea. I'd like to see a catalog of jobs to choose from, AND to share with other local VW folks who aren't IAC members. For instance, a job listed in this catalog might be to "Install Zerk Grease Fittings in Ball Joints" with a quick overview of the job, benefits, estimated time and tools needed. This way, Colin communicates expectations, and the customer might hire him for jobs that he didn't even know could/should be performed. And one of the hardest parts for me to win new local business for Colin is explaining to new folks that they have to sign up for the forum, PM Colin, give him your life story regarding your VW, etc. However, a catalog of jobs would help with all of that.

$0.02
1975 Riviera we call "Spider-Man"

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Cindy
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Cindy » Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:40 am

There are plenty of simple ways, at the end of a job, to assess what has been learned and then promote retention. A clever teacher can do both with one quick exercise. Might add extra value to your service.

Cindy
“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side.
Or you don't.” ― Stephen King, The Stand

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Amskeptic
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Dec 15, 2013 6:53 pm

Cindy wrote:There are plenty of simple ways, at the end of a job, to assess what has been learned and then promote retention. A clever teacher can do both with one quick exercise. Might add extra value to your service.

Cindy
The Final Exam Invoice write-up has been doing exactly that since 2003. Whether or not it works is the question. As I write out the day's procedures, I ask for every single input, valve adjustment settings before and after, breaker point gap before and after, initial timing subsequent timing, carburetor/fuel injection adjustments, all repairs and lubrication points, and then the dreaded asterisks for additional issues and part orders that will require further attention, with scribbled drawings on *how to do* the subsequent repairs (or a complete lay-out of all parts under the car in order of reassembly, like Reverend Dean Caldwell had to do with his front suspension when we found a broken torsion bar).

This "quick exercise" often takes us over the 10-12 hour point, and the maybe the question really is, is this too much?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Amskeptic
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Dec 15, 2013 7:05 pm

BellePlaine wrote: one of the hardest parts for me to win new local business for Colin is explaining to new folks that they have to:
sign up for the forum,
PM Colin
give him your life story regarding your VW,
etc.


However, a catalog of jobs would help with all of that.
Could you explain this a little further?
Do people not want to:
sign up with a group of like-minded VW enthusiasts
PM me to share their hopes and dreams and perhaps share
their feelings of mechanical knowledge or perceived inadequacy

I love this first step of making a *connection*.

How would this catalog of jobs help them discover what they can realistically expect to do
while helping me get an idea of who I will be spending some intense time with?

I am curious but at the same time trying to see what the current deficit is, and how this would cure that.
People really don't want to sign up here where they can see the Itinerary unfold and communicate directly with me, but they do want to spend ten hours of one-on-one with someone they have never met?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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airkooledchris
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by airkooledchris » Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:17 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
BellePlaine wrote: one of the hardest parts for me to win new local business for Colin is explaining to new folks that they have to:
sign up for the forum,
PM Colin
give him your life story regarding your VW,
etc.


However, a catalog of jobs would help with all of that.
Could you explain this a little further?
Do people not want to:
sign up with a group of like-minded VW enthusiasts
PM me to share their hopes and dreams and perhaps share
their feelings of mechanical knowledge or perceived inadequacy

I love this first step of making a *connection*.

How would this catalog of jobs help them discover what they can realistically expect to do
while helping me get an idea of who I will be spending some intense time with?

I am curious but at the same time trying to see what the current deficit is, and how this would cure that.
People really don't want to sign up here where they can see the Itinerary unfold and communicate directly with me, but they do want to spend ten hours of one-on-one with someone they have never met?
Colin

My personal take on the above - is that not everyone is tech savvy enough to feel comfortable with an online forum/community system like this. They know Facebook at best, but once you start explaining to someone how it all works and how they can get involved, you can usually see this 'glassing over' effect and you wonder if they'll ever make it.

Of all the locals that i've pushed here, two of them *did* make it far enough to join the board and start posting. One of them has done a few visits even, but i'm in a small pond without many opportunities to promote the service to a wider audience. Certainly the current system is great for me and all of us that already take advantage of it, and if there isn't really room on the schedule to start cramming a bunch more people - then these are probably just interesting things to discuss and never move forward with. But still interesting. =)
1979 California Transporter

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Amskeptic
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:55 am

airkooledchris wrote: My personal take on the above - is that not everyone is tech savvy enough to feel comfortable with an online forum/community system like this. They know Facebook at best, but once you start explaining to someone how it all works and how they can get involved, you can usually see this 'glassing over' effect and you wonder if they'll ever make it.

Certainly the current system is great for me and all of us that already take advantage of it, and if there isn't really room on the schedule to start cramming a bunch more people - then these are probably just interesting things to discuss and never move forward with. But still interesting. =)
I must be in a bubble warp. Here I am thinking that this is the "Old Days" and email/PM is dinosaur communication, and I will not do Facebook. :scratch:

So, youse people trying to refer VW aficionados to this place, slow down, give it simply, talk up the easy, stress that I am the last mechanic on Earth who actually wants to hear what they have to say.
or sumpin,
Colin :flower:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by hambone » Mon Dec 16, 2013 11:26 am

Don't get too corp-rit. I like you and your special biz just the way they are. When I was I.T. I HATED reviews etc. "How may I serve YOU, THE CUSTOMER??????" :pukeright:
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:19 pm

hambone wrote:Don't get too corp-rit. I like you and your special biz just the way they are. When I was I.T. I HATED reviews etc. "How may I serve YOU, THE CUSTOMER??????" :pukeright:
And how may I serve you, my esteeeemed customer, any worse, Mr. Hanbome?
We at Itinerant Air-Cooled take great pride in our lower quality and higher prices. If there is any way we can botch up your parts order or perhaps ruin your perfectly good car, we will strive to leave you agog in utter despair. We think we can exceed your worst fears and cause untold destruction of your ill-advised faith in our corporate charter. Give us a call and see for yourself why more people than ever say, "Itinerant Air-Cooled? Here's the number for GEX."
Call in the next fifteen minutes and we'll double, yes, we'll double the price for your next visit. Call now.
Colin :drunken:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by hambone » Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:14 am

:sunny:
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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BellePlaine
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by BellePlaine » Sun Dec 22, 2013 12:01 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
BellePlaine wrote: one of the hardest parts for me to win new local business for Colin is explaining to new folks that they have to:
sign up for the forum,
PM Colin
give him your life story regarding your VW,
etc.


However, a catalog of jobs would help with all of that.
Could you explain this a little further?
Do people not want to:
sign up with a group of like-minded VW enthusiasts
PM me to share their hopes and dreams and perhaps share
their feelings of mechanical knowledge or perceived inadequacy

I love this first step of making a *connection*.

How would this catalog of jobs help them discover what they can realistically expect to do
while helping me get an idea of who I will be spending some intense time with?

I am curious but at the same time trying to see what the current deficit is, and how this would cure that.
People really don't want to sign up here where they can see the Itinerary unfold and communicate directly with me, but they do want to spend ten hours of one-on-one with someone they have never met?
Colin
Let's back up and ask what are your hopes and dreams for your business, Colin. As pure and holistic as your business is, it still is a business with the purpose to make a profit. I assume you are right now taking stock of that business to understand if it's best for you to grow it or kill it. As your customer, and as your evangelistic midwest sales person, I hope that you will grow it.

If you choose to grow it, to whom should we target as new customers? You have established this forum to announce your upcoming itineraries, the cost and logistics, and to philosophize about the benefits of maintaining these fantastic honest vehicles. There are 876 people currently registered and you performed 48 visits in 2013. Once an iac user is here on the iac, there is a 5.5% chance that they will spend $470 for your service. You should ask yourself: a) are you doing enough to market your service on your own forum, and if you are, b) how can you bring in more folks as members? If you had 1000 members, you might expect to make 55 calls next summer.

Start thinking about how can you grow your membership. If I was to perform a SWOT analysis on your business, a weakness might be that thesamba has more members and probably is many new VW owners introductory forum of choice. It was for me, until I found you on the samba. Are you marketing enough on the samba?

A SWOT strength is that an iac member is likely very loyal to you personally and will do whatever they can to assist you in your business goals. When someone is here, as a member of your forum, you are the best to explain why they should hire your service. I sometimes forget to send you a PM asking to be put into the schedule, how about PM to the group reminding us and asking for a reply? If you took notes from the previous visit, perhaps you could remind your customer that you recommended that we perform a particular job to be done in this PM.

Outside of iac land, those of us who are your iac evangelists, we are the best ones to get them here. We need an easy to communicate and compelling tool to get our local VW friends interested in your service. It's a benefit to me and to you to get more appointments localized. If you have 6 Twin Cities visits scheduled next summer and one person cancels, then the miles spent getting to that cancelled appointment are less costly to you. The catalog idea is a way to generate interest and a reason for a non-iac member to go to your site and learn more. I visualize it as a link on your site that I can email to anyone from my phone. Plus it serves to inspire someone to hire you for a job that they didn't even think that they needed to do. How many of us didn't hire you last summer even though our pushrod tube o-rings leak, alignment is off, gas gauge doesn't work, blinkers don't return to center after a turn, lower windshield frames are rusty, or CV joints need regreasing, etc.

You're not becoming corporate by marketing a little. What you are doing is letting others know of your good idea, which is to help more people enjoy and maintain these old cars.
1975 Riviera we call "Spider-Man"

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BellePlaine
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by BellePlaine » Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:15 am

I've re-read my post a few times and I'm hoping that it doesn't come across like I'm talking down to Colin or whatever. I really don't know anything about Colin's business and I don't know that it's purpose is to make a profit, or that he wants to increase his profits, or that this business isn't perfectly sustainable as it is. I just wanted to get that out there before I get crushed for prescribing ideas based on assumptions.
1975 Riviera we call "Spider-Man"

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Amskeptic
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:20 am

BellePlaine wrote:I've re-read my post a few times and I'm hoping that it doesn't come across like I'm talking down to Colin or whatever. I really don't know anything about Colin's business and I don't know that it's purpose is to make a profit, or that he wants to increase his profits, or that this business isn't perfectly sustainable as it is. I just wanted to get that out there before I get crushed for prescribing ideas based on assumptions.
You do not ever have to fear that I will take offense when you have invested time and thought. I only take offense with things like
"your a despot hyppocrit"

I liked your post, and looked carefully at your prescriptions. My takeaway is that I must devote more time to remaining a presence at theSamba and gently steer people here for its "peaceful ambience". I am trying to get some control over the proliferation of links in their stickies that have my articles fully hosted there. I think at a minimum that the links should come here where I have the ability to edit the information at will.

Otherwise, I can't sweat it. This place may not grow, but it is a launch pad for my summer work and it is a place for me to continue working the articles. That others enjoy this place as a springboard for camping and whatnot is just an added benefit.

I am terrible at self-promotion, I am disappointed with my psychological make-up which refuses to schmooze, and I am incapable of making a business enterprise out of something near to my heart, unlike my old appliance/HVAC business where it was easy because I was not so invested.

Once again, thank you for your input and insight and loyal patronage, my most-esteeemed cuzztomer.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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hambone
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Location: Portland, Ore.
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by hambone » Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:16 pm

The forum, while it does support your biz, it is not THE biz. I think that's an important distinction. Otherwise, the community here takes a back seat to a money-making venture and I don't like it that way. Is every post on the IAC just a marketing tool ultimately?
Most of here seem to be here to learn and grow, and support our odd habits of ancient grease. The VW world would suck without this resource, "how many Samba.coms can you fit in a phone booth?"
Love first, and the money (may) follow. If not, no sweat, move on.
Sincerely,
:bootyshake:
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Dec 24, 2013 8:17 am

hambone wrote:Is every post on the IAC just a marketing tool ultimately?
Love first, and the money (may) follow. If not, no sweat, move on.
Sincerely,
:bootyshake:
My presence here (particularly in Free Speech) lends credence to the notion that my posts are actually anti-marketing tools, what with the thousands of humans I have alienated over the brief seven years here.

On the one hand, those who survive my editing process and still invite me to sample their coffee and say hi to the dog know well that if I happen to be "friendly" it is because I am feeling friendly, no suck-up left in me.

On the other hand, I can count the people who have survived the Free Speech Tempering Process.
All four of you.
Colin :sunny:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Mr Blotto
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Re: The Itinerary Review Post

Post by Mr Blotto » Thu Dec 26, 2013 6:12 am

Amskeptic wrote:
hambone wrote:Is every post on the IAC just a marketing tool ultimately?
Love first, and the money (may) follow. If not, no sweat, move on.
Sincerely,
:bootyshake:
My presence here (particularly in Free Speech) lends credence to the notion that my posts are actually anti-marketing tools, what with the thousands of humans I have alienated over the brief seven years here.

On the one hand, those who survive my editing process and still invite me to sample their coffee and say hi to the dog know well that if I happen to be "friendly" it is because I am feeling friendly, no suck-up left in me.

On the other hand, I can count the people who have survived the Free Speech Tempering Process.
All four of you.
Colin :sunny:
OK - going to chime in here and take this notion a step further. Colin, although this site is nice and cozy for your "core" people (myself included), there are portions of this site that have the potential to alienate "outsiders" from wanting to become "insiders". I am speaking of the various human interest/social elements like Free Speech, the Lucky Lab Thread (always wondered why that is in the Type 2 forum), General Chat, Camping, etc. While these elements are very near and dear to many on this board, having them can (and I am sure does) turn off a good segment of your potential audience, and thus a segment of your potential PAYING customers. To an outsider, this place can seem very cliquey - you can say all day that the site welcomes any and all viewpoints (and that is great), but the fact is, some folks - potential PAYING customers - just don't like that scene.

While I have personally benefited from the human element of this board, perhaps get rid of the human elements and more will come. Or, perhaps YOU need to stay out of them. If someone is picking a doctor/carpenter/lawyer, they want the one that is technically the best at what he/she is does. If someone learned that they don't share the same political/religious/etc. viewpoints as he/her, SOME would just pick another doc/carpenter/lawyer. Call it shallow or whatever, but unfortunately, that is the truth with some folks. You may say you don't want that kind of person around here anyway - and that is fine - but if your interest is increasing your business, who cares.

Just a thought.
1978 Sage Green Westy - 2.0 FI - SOLD WITH 109887 miles :-(

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