Think you know best? If your customers don't agree they'll leave. Convenience, Amenities & Information keep them close. Find out more in our article in the May-June Fixed Ops Magazine – page 20!

http://fixedopsmag.com/magazine/mayjune2013/document.pdf

June 12, 2013; American Fork, Utah Tuffy Tire and Auto Service announces the successful launch of AutoNetTV Digital Menu Boards in their locations.

As part of a campaign to provide its customers with a best-in-class in-store experience, Tuffy locations nationwide  are being renovated with a fresh new color scheme, free WI-FI, leather seating and unique customer takeaways.  Central to the experience is AutoNetTV's state-of-the-art Digital Menu Board. 

The AutoNetTV Digital Menu Board is customized with Tuffy's new corporate look.  Franchisees select content to be displayed in their individual location from AutoNetTV's extensive library of cutting-edge 3D animations, motion graphics and full motion video.  Unique Tuffy content can be added at the corporate and at the location level, allowing each location to tailor its messaging to its customer base.  Locations are able to advertise and educate customers on the benefits of the services they offer.

Brian Kaufman, Director of Marketing, Tuffy Associates Corp., says, "We quickly identified the AutoNetTV Digital Menu board as a means of upgrading the customer experience in our store lobbies.  We conducted a three-month trial of the AutoNetTV Digital Menu Board system and the feedback we got from our franchisees and customers was overwhelmingly positive.  We decided to make the system available to all Tuffy franchisees and are pleased that over 90% of our 200+ locations have adopted the technology.  Based on the results of our pilot program, we expect franchisees will enjoy an increase in customer satisfaction, enhanced professionalism, and improved sales."

"The Tuffy team has been great to work with." says Bobby Cannon, Director of Sales at AutoNetTV.  "They are totally committed to providing their affiliates with the best tools available to help them build their businesses.  We're proud to be a part of Tuffy's differentiation campaign."

About Tuffy Associates Corp.

Tuffy is one of the largest full-service automotive repair franchises in the country. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Tuffy Associates Corp. operates and franchises over 200 Tuffy Tire and Auto Service Centers in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

About AutoNetTV Media, Inc.

AutoNetTV is the pioneer of automotive television programming for customers in the waiting areas of automotive centers.  Viewers in thousands of locations throughout North America receive this custom programming to educate customers on their factory scheduled and preventative maintenance needs, and to improve their waiting experience.  AutoNetTV combines fast-paced entertainment pieces from CBS, SPEED and others with independent editorial content to increase customer satisfaction and preventative maintenance services.  The monthly program is approximately four hours long and provides multiple options for major service brands to integrate their branded messages within the existing AutoNetTV programming content.  AutoNetTV Digital Menu Boards provide highly customizable menu systems complete with an extensive library of short videos and animations on typical menu items.  AutoNetTV Web Tools brings powerful, search optimized consumer education video content to the websites of automotive centers, attracting potential customers. Web Tools videos are used at point of sale to help consumers understand service advisor recommendations.

Website: http://www.AutoNetTV.com

AutoNetTV Media, Inc.
Bobby Cannon
Director of Sales
Phone: (801) 492-9900 

About a year ago my wife’s ‘93 sedan, with its 150K miles, faded gold paint, and malfunctioning engine, was finally laid to rest.  For some reason, she shed no tears on behalf of the only car she had ever driven.  While I mourned the loss of our “family member” she was already shopping for a new vehicle.  A new SUV was looming in the near future.

The SUV was the first new car she had ever owned.  To say that my wife was thrilled with her new toy would be an understatement.  Why was she so happy with her purchase?  Because it had heated/cooled seats, a spacious interior, four-wheel drive, leather seats, satellite radio, and finally a clean white color (she has this thing against rust).  I’m sure I left a few reasons out but you get the picture – it was a complete upgrade, in every facet, over her previous vehicle.  Most importantly, these features helped my wife feel more comfortable and safer with her driving experience.

I like to compare this situation to our Digital Menu Board product.  Most service centers and quick lubes have some sort of plastic menu board on their wall that tells customers how much their services cost.  AutoNetTV’s Digital Menu Board on the other hand educates customers as to what specific services entail and how those services will benefit them now and down the road.  Certainly, the Digital Menu Board can still list services and pricing, but it allows a location to highlight the benefits, not the price of a particular service:  A silent salesman, if you will.  Now, one of those menu boards can be compared to a ‘93 sedan (virtually no features that enhance the experience), and the other to a brand-new SUV (every feature imaginable).  To me there’s no comparison.

Granted, there are hundreds of digital signage companies across the nation peddling a hundred different digital signage solutions.  But the difference comes in what a customer recently told me, “Hey, I can go down to the local high school and find a kid that can program a menu board for me.  The difference is your product actually gives me something WITH my digital signage – CONTENT!  No one else has the content that you produce and you know what they say – Content is king.”

I guess it all comes back to my wife’s two cars:  Both will get you from Point A to Point B, but which one will provide the more enjoyable experience?

Bobby Cannon is the Director of Sales for AutoNetTV Media, Inc.

April 2013, American Fork, Utah – Even as technology under the hood and in the shop has taken huge strides in recent years, so has technology in front of the counter.  AutoNetTV^TM Media, Inc., producer of award-winning automotive service and repair content and cutting edge content delivery systems, reports its best sales quarter in the company’s history. 

The Utah based company had 742 product installations in the first quarter of 2013.  Bobby Cannon, Director of Sales, reports that the sales were comprised of their Digital Lobby TV, Digital Menu Board and Web Tools products. 

·         Digital Menu Board is a high-tech advancement of traditional menu boards, illustrating a service center’s offerings with 3D animations, motion graphics and full-motion video.  The content displayed and menus are customizable by the individual location through a cloud-based interface.

·         Digital Lobby TV is customizable television programming consisting of automotive service and repair video segments mixed with short-form entertainment content from various sources.  The AutoNetTV video library is accessed via a powerful cloud-based user interface.

·         Web Tools is a SEO content generation system for automotive center websites.  Weekly service and repair videos and animations are delivered to the website.  The videos are accompanied by key-word rich articles, personalized for the individual location to facilitate local search.

“We’re delighted with how the industry embraces our products,” said Cannon.  “We’ve made a significant investment in all areas of the company to develop leading edge content, cost-effective content delivery, and a great customer experience.  And we’re very excited about the new products we have under development.

AutoNetTV’s sales success extends beyond their products to custom video and animation production for outside companies in the automotive industry.  Production projects already booked this year are double last year’s number.

About AutoNetTV

AutoNetTV is the pioneer of automotive television programming for customers in the waiting areas of automotive centers.  Viewers in thousands of locations throughout North America receive this custom programming to educate customers on their factory scheduled and preventative maintenance needs, and to improve their waiting experience.  AutoNetTV combines fast-paced entertainment pieces from CBS, SPEED and others with independent editorial content to increase customer satisfaction and preventative maintenance services.  The monthly program is approximately four hours long and provides multiple options for major service brands to integrate their branded messages within the existing AutoNetTV programming content.  AutoNetTV Digital Menu Boards provide highly customizable menu systems complete with an extensive library of short videos and animations on typical menu items.  AutoNetTV Web Tools brings powerful, search optimized consumer education video content to the websites of automotive centers, attracting potential customers. Web Tools videos are used at point of sale to help consumers understand service advisor recommendations.

Website: http://www.AutoNetTV.com

by Sean Whiffen

Few things are better than the rush of the wind against your bare skin as you cruise in nothing but underwear and socks.  Or so we imagined as we ran around the house with one pair of tighty-whities on our bodies, another pair on our heads – with one of the openings placed over our eyes so we could see, and a pair of white socks on our hands like sweet riding gloves.  The loud muffler sounds rippled off our lips as the spit flew in every direction. 

Yes, back in the days of early Saturday morning cartoons, when the TV set sat on the ground and was made of the same wood as the rest of your furniture, our pre-pubescent bodies cruised the house with thoughts of real asphalt rolling beneath our feet.  Imaginations seem so vivid and expansive when you’re young.  Thankfully, they don’t end as we age.  We adults still have dreams and goals, but the difference is often in the way we make them more personal – with emotional connections.  These are often the most powerful because they have deeper meaning.

Your customers also make personal connections with your business.  Some may tie into their dreams of affirmation for making smart decisions, others perhaps to an actual relationship with a professional who cares for them and simply gives good advice that protects them and saves them money.  Always consider the human element when implementing anything new in your business.  Of course things can and should make your business more efficient, saving time and money, and improving service for people. But a new “widget” can be a bad addition if it doesn’t have a positive emotional connection that helps people.

For example, a customer at a Los Angeles tire dealership cancelled his additional service order of over $400, work that he needed, because of the negative emotional impact of the cable TV news discussing a current downturn in the financial markets.  Alternatively, I observed a Grandmother reading the book she brought to a local tire dealer – eventually putting it down because our program had a video clip about glass cookware breaking.  She had no interest in other clips, but that one resonated with her and finally moved the book to her purse.  I see examples like this Grandmother often when I visit and observe at our customers’ locations.  We call and we talk with our customers.  We hold sessions with actual vehicle owners, show content, watch their behavior and ask them questions.  In the end, it’s all about the people.  There are personal connections made with you and your employees at your business.  The content and/or messages you promote inside of, and externally about, your business should also encourage personal connections – and emotional benefits to the customer. 

Imagining your customers in their underwear may help a new and nervous service advisor start the conversation.  But remembering the thrill of being a kid and developing experiences will help you look for better ways to establish a rapport and provide tools that connect your services with the emotional and logical needs of your customers.

Sean Whiffen is Co-Founder and Vice President of AutoNetTV.  AutoNetTV’s digital signage products deliver entertaining and educational TV programming to the lobbies of automotive service and repair businesses as well as digital menu boards and automotive website video content.

Your business depends on your prospects and customers knowing what you wish they already knew.  What is the best way to convey that knowledge during your best opportunities?  Go to our article in the March – April edition of Fixed Ops Magazine for some very effective suggestions.  See you on page 44.  http://fixedopsmag.com/magazine/marchapril2013/document.pdf

I did not learn about the inside of the car until I got married. One day I drove into my driveway and my neighbor, ex NFL defensive end, and his father walked over to me. They were looking at me very strangely and then Stan said, “Your wife was outside today changing the oil in her car”.  Caught a bit off guard by their statement, I responded, “Good, because I wouldn’t know how to do that”. Fortunately, I played some running back so I avoided being sacked.

The lesson I learned was valuable and something “we” passed along to our children. Taking care of our cars is critical to their longevity and safety. But, of more importance is understanding what the various services are on a car and why they need to be done. There is more than just oil that needs a car owner’s attention.

Recently my daughter, from Dallas, a long way from home, called me about her car. She had received a notice to have her car serviced. She and her husband, more financially inclined than I, took their car to the service center for the work. In a few minutes they left without doing any service. She called me all frustrated. “They told me that I needed all of these services and I didn’t know what they were talking about.” I understood their frustration: if you’re asked to spend money you want to know why.

Any wise customer wants to understand why they need to perform services. As my daughter said, “Call them and tell them to use your videos to show me what they are talking about”. You know she is right. A picture is worth a thousand words. If a customer can see how a specific service works and the impact it has on the longevity and safety of their car, they will see the benefit of the service. Most people don’t understand how many parts and systems on a car need routine maintenance.

Help your customers by attaching video links on emails and postcards; show them at the point of sale or in your waiting area. No one wants a frustrated daughter.

Robert Cannon is Chairman and CEO of AutoNetTV.  AutoNetTV’s digital signage products deliver entertaining and educational TV programming to the lobbies of automotive service and repair businesses as well as digital menu boards and automotive website video content.

I was just two months shy of my 16^th birthday when I found myself hanging from a balcony 20 feet off the ground with a half dozen strangers below holding a fireman’s net yelling for me to jump.  I leaned back, closed my eyes and let go.

Now I wasn’t jumping for my life, it was the opening event of a “Father and Teens Wilderness Experience” put on by Brigham Young University (BYU).  After a few more harrowing activities, my dad, younger sister and I were given a can of root beer and an orange as we boarded a bus from campus to the Uinta Mountains.  Turned out that this was all we would get to eat until we got another orange the following morning – after a 14 mile overnight march to camp.  The next couple of days were filled with confidence and team building activities like a ropes course, rappelling off a cliff and pit roasting an old sheep that we killed and dressed.  None of this was in the promotional brochure, by the way. 

For me, one of the highlights of the experience was our guest “speaker”, the late Dr. Stephen Covey.  Dr. Covey, then a professor at BYU, brought his son Sean along on the trip and conducted several breakout sessions for the group on topics like relationships, spiritual growth and charting a course in life.  Of course, he went on to author “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and to develop an entire program that has benefited millions of people worldwide.  I’ve been fortunate to have participated in Covey’s training at two companies for which I’ve worked.

We all realize that success comes from doing the right things; the most important things.  The problem is that we get so busy working in our businesses, that we don’t take time to prioritize all that activity and make sure we get done the things that will provide the best long-term results. 

Stephen Covey taught us to distinguish Importance from Urgency using a chart like this one.  For example, a ringing telephone is urgent.  It makes noise and is hard to ignore.  Is the call important?  Maybe yes, maybe no: we’ll find out when we answer it.  How about getting Mrs. Jones’ alternator replaced as promised by 5?  That’s important and urgent.

So what do we end up doing?

• We have no problem eliminating things that are unimportant and not urgent 
• Things that are both important and urgent are no brainers – just do them
• We tend to end up doing unimportant things that are urgent just get them out of our life
• What most often gets left undone are things that ARE important, but not urgent – for most of us, thinking about and focusing on this quadrant will deliver big results

For example, the AutoNetTV production department has more custom work to do in the first six months of this year than it had in the previous two years combined.  These are all Quadrant II projects – they’re important and they have deadlines.  But what about other activities like marketing support and research?  Obviously they are important: marketing today means sales tomorrow.  Today’s research will lead to the future products and services we will create and offer.  These are the things that determine our long term success; but with no outside deadlines, these vital pursuits can end up postponed indefinitely.

Dr. Covey reinforced this with the concept of taking care of the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs.  If we neglect to feed and nurture the goose (our business) because we are too focused on the golden eggs (fixing cars, creating videos, etc.) the goose will suffer, be less competitive and eventually could cease laying eggs at all. 

I suggest setting aside time at least once a month to look at those Quadrant I issues: Identify them; make a plan to address them yourself or delegate or automate (perhaps your in-store marketing could be automated with an AutoNetTV  Digital Menu Board – just saying) and schedule time to get it done.  You’ll be surprised how it really won’t slow down your Quadrant II priorities.  And the focus on Quadrant I will give you a quantum boost.

One last Dr. Covey story:  One of our activities was to cross the Strawberry River, raging at near flood stage from early summer run-off, on a single rope stretched across the river.  The idea was to crawl along the top of the rope to conserve energy.  Of course only a couple guys were coordinated enough to pull that off – the rest of us slid around and were hanging by our hands and ankles.  It was really hard and dangerous.  Half way back, Dr. Covey was struggling.  He tipped his head back, looking upside down at us cheering him on from the bank and yelled, “P.H.D. – help me now!”

Lance Boldt is Vice President and Co-Founder of AutoNetTV.  AutoNetTV’s digital signage products deliver entertaining and educational TV programming to the lobbies of automotive service and repair businesses as well as digital menu boards and automotive website video content.

Here are observations of the OE market from the perspective of a company with 9,000+ product installations in the Aftermarket.  Both the OE and the Aftermarket have strengths and weaknesses in their approach to automotive service and repairs.  Our article is on page 38 of Fixed Ops.  http://fixedopsmag.com/magazine/septoct2012/index.html