ACtion Magazine - June 2012 - (Page 12)

Under the Southern Cross Ken Newton, CEO. VASA Setting the example when the members meet at the annual general meeting and forum in June, the same issues will be raised from the floor. And they’ll get the same answers, which are all contained in Andy’s superb action plan for lifting our game. I often find that those who do the most grumbling in our industry are those who don’t look outside the front door very often. Meaning that they don’t take an interest in their community, they rarely if ever attend training sessions of any kind, and they blame everyone else for their low profit margins. A few years back, I was helping the auto electricians of Australia lift their image. Until computers and wires took over the total running of the vehicle, the auto electricians were usually found in grotty little workshops in the side streets. The majority of their work was handed down from service centres and garages who may have known everything about crankshafts and brakes, but freaked out if they had to replace a light bulb. A journalistic exaggeration for sure, but you get the point. I coined the catchphrase, ‘From back street to Main Street’ and then explained how important the auto electrician had become to the welfare of the modern vehicle. The brochures we printed were mostly aimed at the auto electricians and not the public. It was a bold move to lift the esteem of these back street whizkids, because we realised that unless the industry lifted its own game, there was little likelihood that the motoring public would think more kindly of them or their expertise. Looking back, I realise that more than 50 per cent of material I have written for VASA has been what you might call motivational. I have run businesses of my own and I didn’t need a guide book to tell me we had to be well presented personally and in our premises. So why do aftermarket auto workshops, generally speaking, think so poorly of themselves that their business ‘look’ is more inclined to frighten customers than embrace them? I’ve also never understood why so many business operators find it so difficult to crack a smile, or offer advice, or even a comfortable chair. So I’m with Andy on this. We do think alike and we face the same problems and issues as you do. Dear readers, pay attention to your chairman. Go back and read it again, and do as he says if you want to improve your profit margin. ❆ n Aussie and an American were walking side by side down the street. How do you tell which is which? Answer – you can’t. At least not until one of them opens their mouth to speak. But even then, despite our respective twangs, we do understand each other. We read from the same page so to speak. I was reading my latest AC TION ™ magazine and as we writers do, I headed for my own page to check how the editor had treated me, and then flicked the page to read what your chairman Andy Fiffick was on about. The column ‘Lead by example’ in the March/April issue discussed the lack of talent in the industry, the lacklustre profit margins and the public’s lacklustre image of the industry. Andy’s been reading my notes again, I mumbled accusingly. The issues he raises are discussed at every VASA board meeting in Sydney, and I can guarantee that A 12 ACTION • June 2012 Reader Reply No. 22 http://www.dealerautomotive.com http://www.macsw.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=ACtion_Reader_Reply&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=8247

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - June 2012

ACtion Magazine - June 2012
Contents
Outlook
Expansive Valve
Technically RELAY-ted
Under the Southern Cross
Leonard's Law
Cooling Corner
Virtual View
News & Updates
State of the Art Detection
Running Short On Time and Info
The End of R-134A?
Association News
Quick Check
New Products & Services
Last Watch

ACtion Magazine - June 2012