I found an article published by Aftermarket News to be particularly interesting because of how the author titled it: “Publisher’s Perspective: ‘Does Not Bother Me None’ – Until It Affects Me, That Is!”. After reading the article, I wondered how many of us are the same way when it comes to all the industry issues circulating today. I know, personally, I fit into this category and in my case, it is a time factor: the lack of time I have available.
In the aftermarket, we are familiar with the right to repair and its value to our independent shops, but have we considered simple pieces of data? Yes, some of these may seem small and insignificant, like the time between service intervals, but the value it can be to other industries is enormous. As an example, an insurance company can use an uptick in miles driven to adjust your rates, and in today’s digital world, all sorts of industries can capitalize on something as simple as mileage.
What happens when the insurance company provides you with a basic fee structure that is adjusted monthly depending upon the mileage driven? Then, because of your travels, you must drive through an area that is known for excessive motor vehicle accidents. The insurance company is made aware of this by your vehicle’s GPS and can add another fee to your bill as a result. Then there might be other fees because you drive on rural roads 60% of the time, and there is a greater chance of a deer collision.
The state in which you live in can start looking at all this data to access road usage fees/taxes. These things might seem far-fetched, but remember so was air travel before the Wright brothers. Of course, we all know air travel is a common occurrence. We must be ever vigilant in the aftermarket to evolve and monitor the rights of our customers, or we will slowly lose customers to nothing more than the POWER OF DATA in today’s vehicle.
Technician.Academy believes in the power of data and that when a new vehicle is purchased, that vehicle’s data is anyone’s to control and do with as they choose. I go back to an earlier statement. How much time do our customers have or don’t have and are they educated in the information of today’s vehicle stores?
I encourage your opinions on how we can work towards educating our customers and not letting any of this happen.