Off Season Is The Time For Services , Repairs , and Upgrades. How Do You Keep People Engaged?

951 Views 18 Replies 12 Participants Last post by orangputeh, 8 d ago

orangputeh

Discussion Starter · 27 d ago

Just wondering what snowblower mechanics and small engine shops do to keep people engaged to have their snowblowers worked on in off season instead of majority that wait until last minute.

It's frustrating.

Every time it snows I am slammed with questions, emergency repair requests, service requests in late fall or all thru the winter.

Almost every breakdown I encounter is avoidable. if only people kept up on maintenance by having a service every 100 hours or so and not when it breaks down.

What do you do to have snowblower owners be more proactive???

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Yanmar Ronin

· #2 · 27 d ago

Regardless of the season or machine, my policy is the old adage:

"A lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Caveats apply but basically that's it.

Reactions: 5

Oneacer

· #3 · 27 d ago

Most people just put gas in their blower and run it till it breaks. Many don't even store it in a closed protected environment. Then they discard it and get another one. I see it all the time, and that is how I get all my free ones. You're preaching to the wall if you think you can get the average person to care for and maintain their equipment.

The few of us in this forum recognize the importance of it, but the average person just lets it become another throw away item to discard.

Reactions: 4

Grunt

· #4 · 27 d ago

"Attention Lake Tahoe area Honda snow blower owners".
I will be offering a pre-season maintenance service special for $$$$. The service includes ??, ??, ?? The cost will increase gradually to $$$$ as the snow season approaches and there will be no guarantees your machine can be done in a timely manner once it snows.

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Oneacer

· #5 · 27 d ago

Better yet .....

" For those of you that never maintained your equipment, and now buying a new one, I will gladly come and remove your old one for you"

Reactions: 5

Ballroomblitz

· #6 · 27 d ago

"A lack of preparation on your part makes more money for repairs on my part." Daddy needs a new vacation and very fortunate to have people wanting to pay for it hahaha!

Reactions: 1

orangputeh

Discussion Starter · #7 · 26 d ago

Ballroomblitz said:
"A lack of preparation on your part makes more money for repairs on my part." Daddy needs a new vacation and very fortunate to have people wanting to pay for it hahaha!

I like to work at my own pace......not slammed all at once. I just turn down the work when stressed.

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Big Ed

· #8 · 26 d ago

orangputeh said:
I like to work at my own pace......not slammed all at once. I just turn down the work when stressed.

You? Get stressed?
Who would have known. 😎

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deezlfan

· #9 · 25 d ago

Don't really think it is an issue for most small engine shops since they have other units coming in year round. That and the fact that you only have a 50-50 chance a customer will even come and pick up and pay for a repaired unit out of season reduces their motivation to even take blowers in spring & summer.

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orangputeh

Discussion Starter · #10 · 25 d ago

deezlfan said:
Don't really think it is an issue for most small engine shops since they have other units coming in year round. That and the fact that you only have a 50-50 chance a customer will even come and pick up and pay for a repaired unit out of season reduces their motivation to even take blowers in spring & summer.

Agree 100%

Our Honda dealer is also a rental shop , Stihl dealer and is swamped with summer equipment services and repairs.

They did make one change. They have one mechanic who only works on snowblowers year round . They already have half the yard filled with snowblowers and a waiting list .

There are a small percentage of people who are proactive. It's the last minute rush for help in late fall/early winter that bugs me.

tabora

· #11 · 25 d ago

orangputeh said:
They already have half the yard filled with snowblowers and a waiting list .

Yet another reason that I do my own maintenance for non-warranty/service bulletin items... My snowblower lives in the garage when it's not being used; if I bring it to the dealer, it will sit outside in the weather for weeks or months. My old Honda dealer had two big buildings to store equipment pre & post servicing, but the current ones do not.

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orangputeh

Discussion Starter · #12 · 25 d ago

That is why I started my Honda group. To help people do their own maintenance and repairs. It has helped many people especially in emergency breakdowns during the winter but it also kinda backfired in a way.

More people ask me to do services and the #1 reason is they don't have the time. #2 reason is they don't have enough confidence to try and do it themselves.

I think it seems to be a generational thing more than anything.

Reactions: 5

crazzywolfie

· #13 · 24 d ago

orangputeh said:
#2 reason is they don't have enough confidence to try and do it themselves.

some people are just not very handy. a good example would be my neighbor accross the street. he replaced the carb on his snowblower. he got it to run but the throttle wasn't working and it sound like he had the throttle set too high. i took a look at it and found this. while he was installing the carb he bent one of the rods so the throttle lever did nothing and it was running at the rpm he set it to with the idle speed screw. he got lucky because i think he did have the engine running at 4000rpm. i replaced the rod and adjusted the carb to where it should be and had it all working like it should again.

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DC_Dave

· #14 · 15 d ago

Asking questions to explore what people really want can often spur them to action.

What do you think of these questions?

"What is most important to you about your snowblower?" "So, it sounds like you want your snowblower to start every time and be reliable, is that right?" "Do you prefer to avoid problems with your snowblower, or do you prefer to fix problems as they arise, such as a no start issue, or blah blah?"

orangputeh

Discussion Starter · #15 · 13 d ago

Its hilarious to me that during the winter I was inundated with requests for emergency repairs ( most avoidable if the machine had been serviced ) services, upgrades and daily BEGGING for me to sell machines and now that it is nearly summer and I have machines for sale...........nada.

Grumpy Ol Troll comes out in winter and I tell people " Where were you last summer when I was twiddling my thumbs"

ant and grasshopper applies to people also...

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RIT333

· #16 · 12 d ago

Put your feet up man. Summer is time for swimming, fishing, boating, etc. Oh, and drinking beer.

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orangputeh

Discussion Starter · #17 · 11 d ago

Posted this today on my group to install impeller kit on a honda snowblower hydro static model.

forget about the way everyone else does it. to me too much a PITA so I service the augers also. It actually takes me about the same time doing twice the work. but repetition helps after doing about 50 of these.

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dgb553

· #18 · 8 d ago

I have 3 machines, they didn't get much use last season. The gas has been drained out and stored in the shed. The predication is for an El Nino year and so we should get more snow in the mid-west. The past 3 years have been La Ninya years without much snow.

orangputeh

Discussion Starter · #19 · 8 d ago

dgb553 said:
I have 3 machines, they didn't get much use last season. The gas has been drained out and stored in the shed. The predication is for an El Nino year and so we should get more snow in the mid-west. The past 3 years have been La Ninya years without much snow.

throw that old gas in your car or truck. 90% of the problems I deal with are caused by old bad gas.

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