031: The Bleeding Neck Problem

“Yep, we can help, bring it in.” 

Said the man on the other end of the phone. 

I was so relieved. 

That morning, we had left to go on holiday and travelled less than 20 minutes before we picked up a puncture. Without a spare and losing air rapidly, it felt like the whole holiday was in jeopardy. 

And we never go on holiday. 

Wilco Fast Fit on Dereham Road was the fifth garage I had called as we tried to find some help. The other garages, the ones I would normally call, were chock-a-block with routine appointments. 

There was nothing the other garages could do to help us and I didn’t blame them either. Their business model (of taking back-to-back appointments) meant that their bays and their technicians could operate at peak efficiency. It wouldn’t have been fair for me to expect them to delay another person’s job just to help me. But at that time, it was the only thing I really wanted.

Then I called Wilco. 

We parked up, they finished work on another car and our car went up and onto the ramp. 30 minutes later and after a modest charge of £20, we were on the road again and headed for our destination. 

The technicians at Wilco might have thought they were just doing their job - and they were. But they were doing something else. They were the solution to my bleeding neck problem. My time-critical, air escaping, holiday impacting problem. And I was very grateful. 

There are many more important things in the world to worry about than a deflated tyre. But just keeping a bit of extra capacity to be able to respond to your customer’s urgent needs, at a very specific moment in time, can go a really long way.

After all, where might you now think of the next time you’re looking for a garage?

James