A few years ago, I purchased a new car.  It was about 3 months old and I was preparing to leave on a trip that would take about 12 hours.  Just after leaving the house, the tire pressure monitor went off.  When this happens a big orange light appears on the dash board and produces three loud beeps.  The warning looked serious to me so I went out of my way to visit the dealer and have my car looked at.

I pulled into the dealership and told them what had happened: the light, the beeps, it must be serious.  The tire tech told me it wasn’t a problem. He checked the air pressure on each tire, while I sat in the car.  He then reset the warning light and said, “Your good to go.”  I was unsure and felt uneasy, but the “expert” had told me I was all good.

I happily resumed my travels.  Made the 12-hour trip and had a great weekend.  A few hours before heading home, it happened.  The light and the beeping returned.  Great.  What now!?

I took the car to the closest dealer I could find.  I pulled up and waited.  The employee was busy on the phone and walked away without any acknowledgement that I was waiting.  When he returned, he looked at the car and quickly stated that my car model was so new that they didn’t have any tires in stock that could fit my car.  “How do you know it needs a new tire,” I asked.

He pointed.  There clear as day was a nail in the sidewall of one of my tires.  I had driven around all weekend on a tire with a nail in it.  A nail in the sidewall of a tire is not reparable.  The employee stated again the he couldn’t help me and walked away.

It was getting later in the day and closing time was quickly approaching.  I was planning on driving home that night and had no plans to stay in town.  Things were getting stressful!  I pulled my car to a different place in the lot and began calling tires stores close to me.  I finally found a tire store that had a tire in stock that they could place on my car for me that night.  It was almost 15 miles away, and I began to be worried I would not make it that far.

It cost me 4 hours of my day to fix a problem that, if handled properly the first time, would have cost me about 30 minutes.  Instead of arriving home around 1 in the morning, I was going to pull in around 5am!  This issues cost me more than a new tire, it made it downright dangerous, first in driving (unknowingly) on a tire that had the potential to go flat while I was traveling at a high rate of speed.  Second, because I now would be driving through the night into the next morning.

I had differed to the “experts” around me.  The first expert I went to didn’t take the time to properly diagnose the issue.  He thought he was being helpful by handling the issue quickly.  The second expert I went to saw the issue and handled the issue by being direct and results driven.  Neither expert really helped me.

I had to become my own expert and help myself!  Both places lost out on an opportunity to make themselves look good (be my hero), and they also lost a sale.

Do you have “experts” in your business that are missing opportunities to be the hero?  Are they also missing opportunities to increase sales?

There is a better way to hire.  Quantum Bounce can help.