A lesson in specialization
Bill Myers
How to become the go-to person that customers seek out . . . His name was Junior. And to many people living in Hot Springs,
Arkansas during the 70's and 80's, Junior was a legend. It wasn't his intention to become a legend, it just turned out
that way. See, Junior was a back yard mechanic, the kind of guy that loved
to work on cars. But not just any cars. Junior's speciality was
the Volkswagen Beetle. You could take Junior a VW bug in any condition, and he could
breathe life back into it. He could make your VW purr. Or if you preferred, he could turn it
into a Porsche-like street racer. Whatever you wanted, Junior could do it. But Junior only worked on VW bugs. Nothing else. It was his
specialty. Even after Junior moved into a real repair shop and adjusted his
prices upward to reflect the reality of running a real business,
he still had more business than he could handle. Seems that his customers appreciated a mechanic who specialized
in just their make of car. It gave them comfort to know that
Junior was the 'go to guy' if you had a VW bug. That's why Junior never had to spend a dime on advertising -
because his customers spread the word to other 'bug' owners in
the area. By choosing to be a specialist, Junior became a legend (at least
among his customers) - and a person who enjoyed a prosperous
business until he retired. We can all learn something from this . . . Whether you are a mechanic, a heart surgeon, a video producer, or
a copywriter, specializing in something you love can make you a
legend. Like Junior.
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