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| The e-Servicer |
Monthly communication from United Servicers Association |
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Greetings! ,
 April showers bring May flowers. The month of May is filled with the sounds of birds, the smell of fresh flowers and the hint of summer breezes. The month of May also celebrates Small Business Week.
Every year since 1963, the President of the United States has proclaimed National Small Business Week to recognize the contributions of small businesses to the economic well being of America. This year, National Small Business Week will honor the estimated 27.2 million small businesses in America.
Small businesses are major contributors to the strength of the American economy. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business. They also create 60-80 percent of new jobs in the country. Small businesses drive innovation, create 21st century jobs and increase U.S. competitiveness.
Your association, the United Servicers Association, represents small businesses and we celebrate our members this month. We exist to protect your confidence through business management training and building relationships in our community. USA is taking our confidence building management training on the road to reach even more members through the Regional Service Program this fall. Watch for details in this and future newsletters.
Happy Small Business Week,
eServicer Newsletter Team
United Servicers Association
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USA CODB Webinar
Calculating Your Cost of a Service Call
 Would you sell a truck load of washers for less than you paid for them? No, not if you want to stay in business. How do some service companies accept low labor rates from third party extended warranty companies and manufacturers for warranty calls? Some small one man shops can accept low rates and survive. Some companies use these calls as fillers to fill a days route in off peak times. In more cases than not the service company owner doesn't know what it costs him to run a service call and he hopes for the best after the call is run. This is a form of Russian Roulette that won't have a happy ending.
Attend this free webinar and learn how to use the USA cost of doing business calculator to determine what it costs you to run a service call. See how to use this valuable information to decide if the rate your being offered by any vendor is right for your business.
June 6 11:00am ET
Click here to register for June 6 webinar
June 20 1:00pm ET
Click here to register for June 20 webinar
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USA Regional Service Meetings
Technical & Management Training
USA's Regional Service Meeting Program provides owners, managers and technicians with two days of technical and business management training. A registration fee covers meals, training materials for the RSM and a first* year membership in United Servicers Association. On-line registration will soon be on the USA home page as details are confirmed. Save the date of the city near you.
Portland, OR September 20 & 21
Dallas, TX September 20 & 21
Detroit, MI September 27 & 28
Sacramento, CA October 4 & 5
Vancouver, BC October 11 & 12
Houston, TX October 11 & 12
Maryland, MD October 18 & 19
Fayetteville, NC October 18 & 19
Seattle, WA October 25 & 26
Toronto, ON October 25 & 26
Phoenix, AZ November 1 & 2
Montreal, QC November 1 & 2
Berkley, CA November 8 & 9
Atlanta, GA November 8 & 9
Salt Lake City, UT November 8 & 9
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Warranty Company Asks Servicer to Cut Service Rate
By David Riddle
On May 14, 2012I received this letter in the mail. We haven't done much work for this Third Party Administrator (TPA) and I guess this explains why.
Dear Service Provider, We recently performed a rate audit and identified your service center as having rates considerably higher than other providers in your area.........
Internet industry chat rooms have been set a fire over this topic, I've been talking with my peers and I find that I'm not alone. 
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Understanding the Adaptive Control in the New Style GE Top Mount Refrigerators
By Samurai Appliance Repair Man, www.Appliantology.org
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There are at least as many adaptive defrost control (ADC) schemes out there as there are manufacturers-- maybe even double. Most of the manufacturers have two and sometimes more, different ADC systems depending on the make and model of the refrigerator. Keeping up with 'em all can make your head spin.
Most of us are familiar with the ADC system used in GE's Profile and Arctica line of refrigerators-- you know, the ones with the affectionately-named "muthaboard" on the back. But, like most of the other manufacturers, GE uses a different ADC scheme on its lower end top-mount refrigerators, the so-called TMNF line.
Example model numbers are:
- GTH/HTH 16 cuft
- GTH/HTH 17 cuft
- GTH/DTH/GTS/PTS 18 cuft
This mercifully short little video explains the ADC system used in these GE TMNF refrigerators. In the video, I explain I how this ADC works and how to put it into manual defrost mode for troubleshooting and testing.
Click this link to watch the video GE ADAPTIVE CONTROL
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Building a Good Relationship With Your Parts Distributor
By Paul MacDonald
 Relationship opportunities come to us all the time with parents, children, friends, business associates and even the casual stranger we meet and connect with. Every interaction with another, offers us a chance to be in a relationship. We spend 30% of our working day building a significant proportion of our relationships from our business experiences. Typically we focus on our employees and customers spending a significant amount of time nurturing these key relationships. What about our parts suppliers? Every service company is dependent on parts suppliers
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Let Fleet Tracking Help You Get the Most Out of Dollars You Spend on Gas
By Drew Sheahan
With gas prices rising steadily this spring, ensuring the efficient use of fuel among your fleet of vehicles is increasingly crucial. Because fuel costs can so quickly eat up a business's resources, it is important for companies in the service industry to be aware of the ways in which fleet tracking can ensure that your company uses fuel as efficiently as possible.
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Seven Tips for Coping with Customer Questions
Do you sometimes think your customers are clueless based on the questions they ask? If so, you are not alone.
A new survey from IT-employment agency Robert Half Technology reveals chief information officers get asked some pretty bizarre questions - and many of them clearly fall outside the realm of an IT staff's job description. Among the IT help-desk requests the CIOs got:
- Can I turn on the coffeepot with my computer?
- How do I start the Internet?
- Can you come over and plug in this cord for me?
- How do I pirate software?
- Can you recommend a good dry cleaner?
Funny - and yet not. But the range of crazy questions demonstrates how important it is to train customer-service employees to be ready for anything.
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Finessing Facebook
By Nancy Klosek, www.dealerscope.com
 Jackie King, president of Nampa Appliance & TV, is a good example of a growing number of specialty CE and appliance dealers who are adding Facebook to their retail tool kits. With a single store in the Boise, Idaho, market, located amidst giants like Lowe's, Home Depot and RC Willey, she has learned to leverage Facebook since creating a page last summer and building a following from a handful of "likes" to around 1,000.
"For her market, that is a great step in a year, with no major expenses," Bob Donaldson, Brandsource's vice president of digital marketing, said of King, who is a member of the buying group. __________________________________________________________________________________ |
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ITC Finds for LG, Samsung in Fridge Case
By www.dealerscope.com
The U.S. International Trade Commission this week (4/17/2012) found in favor of LG and Samsung and against Whirlpool, ruling against the imposition of duties on steel car wheels used in refrigerators.
The vote was a unanimous 5-0.
"Samsung welcomes today's unanimous decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission, which finds that Samsung has not caused any injury to the U.S. domestic industry," Samsung said in a statement. "Whirlpool's action in bringing this case simply resulted in a lengthy investigation that has been costly to the U.S. taxpayer, the result of which has been to prove that Samsung is in compliance with U.S. trade law."
"LG respects fair trade and the rules of international trade and is gratified that its selling practices were found to be in accordance with these rules," Chris Jung, president, home appliances, LG Electronics USA, said.
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Wash Some Green Into Your Laundry
By Mr. Appliance
Save some green and help the earth without ever leaving your laundry room Wash out your family's green grass stains and wash in even more green savings. The laundry room can be the busiest room in your house, and if your washer and dryer aren't performing at their best, it could show up on your energy bill. It may be time to give your family's laundry habits an energy-saving makeover. "Busy schedules and full households can cause lots of wear and tear on laundry room appliances," said Doug Rogers, president of Mr. Appliance. "Homeowners should take special care when using their washer and dryer to make sure they keep working efficiently. The harder an appliance has to work to do its job, the more energy is wasted in the process." Follow these simple tips from Mr. Appliance to help your laundry room conserve energy and money. Washer: - When appropriate, wash clothes in cold water. This saves the energy needed to heat the water.
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Jennifer's Warranty Tips
Tip #26 - LG Parts Account & Warranty Statement
Is your parts bill out of control and making your head spin with LG? It may be that you're not getting all of your warranty part credits. If you're not checking your monthly warranty statement closely and making sure you are getting credit on each and every part you billed on your claim, you might be paying out of pocket for parts used on warranty repairs.
LG warranty statements list each claim separately, broken down into labor and parts, with each part number listed on a separate line and a dollar amount.
Some of the dollar amounts listed next to parts are $0, indicating that you did not get credit. When you find a part that was not credited on the claim, you must submit a second claim for part(s) only. LG asks that you use the same claim reference number and put an "A" at the end. (You can bill more than one part at a time on a resubmitted claim.)
Watch your claims very closely because LG has a 30-day late submission policy. (Yes, they call these resubmitted, part only claims - late submission claims.)
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About USA
USA's mission is to develop and provide services and programs intended to assist members in building strong businesses in North America's competitive environment.
Among these services are:
- Educational Programs
- Manufacturer Relations
- Management, Marketing and Operational Programs
- Peer Group Formation & Facilitation
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Contact Us
United Servicers Association
3105 North Ashland Avenue, Ste 199
Chicago, IL 60657
1-800-683-2558
March 6-9, 2013
ASTI REGISTRATION
NOW OPEN!!
Click here to register and save |
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