Rudy Gets It
Rudy is a guy in Boise Idaho who owns Rudy’s Auto Repair and he understands what it takes to make a sale and to make marketing successful when you are a small business.
The alternator went out on my car so I called a couple of shops, Rudy was the second choice out of a random phone book choice. When he answered the phone, he didn’t speak English well, but he understood what I needed. He told me like the first place that he would get back to me shortly with a quote.
It took him all day. I had given up on a call back.
At 5:15pm, Rudy called back and said “Dave, I forgot about you, I went to the doctor and completely forgot to call you back, I’m calling now to say I’m sorry and your business is very important to me, do you still need help?” To which I said “yes” (because I was unhappy with the first quote which was prompt but alarmingly high). Rudy had all of the information at hand that I needed to make a good decision and had a price that was much more in line. Rudy then said that due to his forgetfulness he would be sure that my car was repaired before Christmas even if he had to work Christmas Eve to get it done because he felt bad and wanted a chance to earn my business.
I told him I wanted to think about it a little longer. So what did Rudy do?
He said “that is great and even if you bring it in on the 24th, I’ll still make sure it is ready for you.” As I was hanging up Rudy asked if he could ask a couple of other questions.
“Where did you hear about me?” Me: Yellow Pages. Rudy: “Which one, I advertise in a couple and I’m trying to decide where to spend my money next year, if I do both again or if I only do one.”
Excellent Question Rudy.
Then Rudy asks one last question: “Dave, what can I do or answer for you to get your business tonight, it is very important to me.”
Excellent close Rudy.
My answer? “You just did.”
Rudy did a lot of things right, he was honest, he didn’t try and make excuses for his inattentiveness, he was trying to track his advertising efforts so he could do more of what works or try something new if one book wasn’t performing as well. And, when I wanted more time to think, he got to the core of the issue, what did I need to know that I didn’t already that would allow me to make a decision right then. The truth was, nothing, I had all the information I needed, in reality, I was going to wait to talk to my wife and see which day worked best in our schedules for one of us to be at the house to have it towed in. Of course that didn’t really matter to Rudy, he was ready to help me anytime but getting a commitment on doing business with him tonight was better than waiting for me to change my mind and I was now obligated by my word to him.
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