Parts Ponderings v1.3

I mentioned in the Management Musings blog a terrific book by Simon Sinek called “Start With Why” which is on TED.com as a short presentation which should interest each of you. He posits that your customers by from you not because of what you do or even how you do it but rather why you do it.

The “What” you do is supply parts. The “How” you do it is with skilled personnel and inventories and systems and other specialized tools. But the why you do it is what will keep them coming back to you time after time.

I want you to consider the “Why” as the sense of urgency you have to find the part for the customer, provide it out of your inventory quickly and conveniently and if you don’t have the parts they require you will work tirelessly to find the part for the customer on the same day that they ordered it. That is why the customer comes back to you – or not.

I am afraid that over the years we have not found the parts we didn’t have in stock fast enough or consistently enough and that is why the customer has gone shopping to find parts from other sources. We need to fix this. We need to convey to the customer both in discussions and in action that we will find the parts that they require on the same day that they request them. Notice I didn’t say that we would supply all the parts the same day. I said that we would find where the part is available when we don’t have it and then we will let the customer know and allow them to make the decision about what they want us to do. Consistently performing to this standard we will improve customer satisfaction, customer retention and employee satisfaction as well. The time is now.