For a couple of years now I have owned an old Porsche 911. She appeared one day after I specifically added “I own a Porsche” to my morning goals. My younger brother rang me and said – “Hey there is an old Porsche out here – and they want to sell it – you like them – you want it?”
My first lesson was to be more specific with my goal statements. ie put the word “NEW” or “AWESOME” or “PERFECT CONDITION” to the statements!
Well, this particular Porsche had some challenges. And there was no Porsche dealer in Townsville. (There is one coming very soon.) So I worked my way through a mixture of different mechanics – all of whom claimed to be able to “fix anything”.
So my lovely 911 spent a long time sitting. Sitting in one workshop, then another. Then she would come home – have something fail, and sit in my garage. Sitting, sadly leaking oil.
My investments to keep her sitting sadly – had mounted up quite considerably, and one day after cleaning the leaked oil from the garage floor – the obvious occurred to me.
“If my car was a person I would have simply found the best solution and done it by now!”
If I was sick – I would find the best doctors. Even if I needed a computer part – get the best one! I thought I had learned – but obviously not. I had been unintentionally avoiding just finding the best mechanic available – and I was paying the price. The price per hour was probably less than the best mechanics, but probably not much less. And the total paid so fair was getting pretty substantial.
Bewdy! A clear path to take.
Ok – now to find the best available. It turns out that the simplest way to find a great Porsche mechanic it to ask people who own them “Who looks after your car?” This information, combined with close scrutiny of the how their cars are running – tells me who talk to.
So – I simply approached people driving Porsche’s around Townsville – said hello – and asked them. Every one of them was delighted to talk about their cars. One lovely woman (with a lovely car) that I met outside the Post Office – wanted to keep talking forever about it – even though her husband was standing about 100 metres away on the corner waiting – hands on hips, to be picked up. Oh well.
It seems that the Porsche dealership in Cairns, which is now part of the Motoco group, has a man called Lars who every month or two they fly to Townsville to service the Porsches here.
I purposely did not ask what the charges would be. The question was “I have a 74 911 3 litre with a long list of challenges – can you have a look at it for me?” “Ok – we can probably fit you in in about 5 or 6 weeks.”
Fast forward 6 weeks, and my Porsche is delivered to a workshop. Later THAT DAY, I get a call saying that everything on my extensive mind map of things to fix, had been fixed. “WHAT?”. Even the bonnet latch? The indicator switch? The cold start issues? The mongrel gearshifts? The not quite right feeling in motor? The angry clutch?
“Yes” says Lars with his slightly odd accent. “Although I think it would make it nicer if we replaced the bushes in the gearshifting mechanism. I can get them here by Thursday [today is Monday] and might have time do them then?”
I am still in a slight shock because I have wasted 3 years at least with a sick car. “Great” I say. Again – the price not questioned, as this is test. On WEDNESDAY I get a call from Cairns saying my car is ready to be collected. “HUH!”
As I purrr away from the workshop, changing gears effortlessly [except for 3rd of course], grinning, I take my lesson.
Going straight to the best I can find is a very nice strategy.
I can hear you asking – “how much did it cost?” Well, my guess without knowing the cost of part OR labour was between one and three grand. It was closer to one – but did it matter? The ongoing cost in both money and energy terms of having ‘a mess’ in my garage would have been far more.
The only real shortages in our world are our time and our attention. Decisions made to ensure great returns on both are generally more powerful for us.
And the business lesson today? One is that as the “Porsche guy” – Lars has a very tight USP. Another is that a tight USP allows better margins. And perhaps “we get what we pay for”. That reminds me of my $12 haircuts – but that is another story.
Go and clear up a mess today!
Cheers
James