I tend to agree Ed: Companies will be keeping their equipment longer and they will need repairs. We first of all, need to take a Deep breath and Get-a-grip. It is not the end of the World. Fear is a lousy motivator, you make bad decisions when you are in fear.
Forklift Dealers who are privatley owned will have to tighten their belts and streamline their operations. Getting rid of "Dead Weight" management and un-productive office personell.
This is a good time for them to build a good productive team that is willing to look after the company they work for and forget this "New Age" attitude of "What can the company do for me". Finding ways to operate more efficiantly and be productive.
"Shaking the trees" for more customers, being more thorough on PM's and selling "Legitimate" work, instead of "Banging for eight and going home early. We need to "Double Check" our repair work and make sure we "Did it Right". Rework is costly!! Some say, "Well, I get paid anyway" Will you?? If you have to be sent back to a customer because you did not take the time to check behind yourself, You have become a
"Liability" instead of an "Asset". During economic slowdowns, Owners are watching the numbers more closely.
We will be seeing Forklift companies who will send out people to our competition, offering $19.95 PM's and other ridiculous offers to "get them on board" only to come around and make it up on the "Backside". Sadly, there are those that will fall for these scams. We want our customers to think we are the Best in Town and will never consider changing. It is much more difficult to regain the confidence of a customer, than it is to keep it.
Making sure the tires in your Service Vehicle are properly inflated. Drive like you are paying for the fuel. Plan ahead and try to schedule PM's in one area if possible to keep from driving all over town.
Try to save the customer money and still be some what profitable.
We can get through this, but we as Tech will have to do our part and make ourselves "Valuable Assets" to our company. We need to always remember that Customers are people and we need to take care of them, After all, that is where our Paycheck comes from!!!
The attitude of Large companies, that have shareholders,
They see customers as "ROI's" instead of people and they will soon learn that they will be out of business, which is good for the Privately owned Companies, because they can come along and "Scoop" their customers up.
The customers we take care of now, Will be the ones who will buy new equipment when the economy picks up and will be loyal to us from now on because we helped them get through the hard times.