Region 3 Meeting

Region Meeting:

Region 3 held their meeting on Friday, November 7, in Dallas, Texas. In attendance were 16 individuals. A quick recap by topic is below:

Surviving Economic Change
The consensus was keep a careful eye on the current growth of your company and don’t over estimate future growth.

Fuel Surcharges
Several suggestions were offered including, “to go boxes” and the use of couriers to transport parts to and from remote satellite locations.

Collections/ Handling Bad Debts
None of the attendees utilized collection agencies. If a new customer calls for service, a credit card is obtained prior to providing service. Small claims court is used for claims up to $2500.00. Cases are generally finalized in three to four months for a fee of $300.00.

Communication Devices
All attendees did not use answering services after hours. Instead, all calls are directed to a master technician who, in turn, dispatches the call to the on-call technician. It was also stated that manufacturers like the cell phone photo capabilities in order to document customer complaints. Most attendees do have GPS tracking devices in the service vehicles in order to “cut down on gas costs and receive a discount on insurance. A company called Fuel Wright, available in the US and Canada, offers a tracking system and a customized report to determine misuse of credit card expense. Fuel Man is a program that offers discounts on gasoline.

Choosing Your Best Business Partners
It was stated that service managers currently do not have the power to resolve issues they once had due to cut backs and consolidations. It has become a trend for manufacturers to create more and more “house accounts” thereby cutting out the rep and the service agent. These “house accounts” are offered deeper discounts than are given to the service companies thus cutting profits on parts. Attendees stressed the need to audit the manufacturers they represent. The CFESA Associate Membership Certification document was briefly discussed for use with this process.

The next meeting was scheduled for November 6, 2009 at the Dallas Athletic Club in Mesquite, Texas. Brock Coleman volunteered to serve as the Regional Leader.

Date: Friday, November 7, 2008

Location: RSI (Refrigerated Specialist Inc)
3040 East Meadows Blvd.
Mesquite, TX 75150

Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM