There’s plenty to be said about not being complacent. After all, complacency breeds mediocrity. And in today’s competitive service environment, where the name of the game is standing out amidst your competition – being at the forefront in your line of work will bring increased visibility and more customers to your shop.

In striving for excellence, to elevate your shop to be a cut above the rest, you need to define your place in the market, create ways to leverage your expertise and constantly look for ways to improve upon the building blocks of your business.

For your shop to be at its competitive best requires a conscious, concerted effort among all members of your team. It means examining the details of your everyday operations. It means identifying ways to work smarter. It means making customer service a top priority. And, it means never delivering anything less than service excellence and professionalism.

Drill down within your shop’s foundation to find out which areas need most attention. Maybe it’s things like upgrading your shop’s appearance, adding new equipment, boosting your advertising efforts, increasing training, expanding service offerings, better communicating with customers, seeking ways to be more productive or focusing on maintenance services.

Some of you are already headed in the right direction. In a recent survey of ImportCar readers, respondents indicated that they’ve made positive changes in their shop this year to be more competitive and profitable. Excerpts of those comments are summarized below:

Purchased a hand-held scanner and adapters;

Purchased better diagnostic tools and/or upgraded existing ones;

Added new equipment (like an exhaust bender) and more services (for example, custom exhaust);

Boosted efforts to reach out to customers;

Increased advertising and marketing; and

Added another bay and lift.

What changes did you make at your shop this year? Which ones proved to be the most/least beneficial?

As the year comes to a close, reflect on those items to serve as a foundation for your 2005 planning, but create a new slate for the new year.

Rather than being content with the status quo – innovate! Raise the bar! Think of new ways to accomplish routine tasks, create new processes to achieve the same end result, and outline new goals that challenge and inspire your employees.

Your shop should evolve as a means to grow and prosper. Take your shop to the next level and watch your profits soar!