Secret to 9 Minute Oil & Lube’s Purple Cow
TL;DR
A local subreddit search recommended Nine Minute Oil & Lube. After seeing the glowing 5-star reviews on Yelp, I decided to forgo the $19.95 oil change special at Pepboys down the block in West San Jose and drove my 02 CR-V 30 minutes out to Palo Alto to experience it for myself. Consensus? Completely blown away and they got themselves another loyal fan who’s now spending his time writing this article.
Why?
-The personal touch — The owner Sam shook my hand and thanked me personally.
-The experience — There’s a purple cow built into the business.
-The value — Far exceeded what I paid for the oil change ($34)
The Process
Took 12 minutes total. 3 more minutes than their name suggested which was more than reasonable.
1m mark (9:07am) — Pulled into the shop bay.
2m mark (9:08am) — Tech greeted me and asked me to pop open the hood and started checking air pressure for all 4 of my tires.
6m mark (9:13am) — Owner came over to shake my hand and said good morning thank you for coming.
8m mark (9:15am) — Tech showed old oil filter that we removed.
9m mark (9:16am) — Tech showed me the new oil level and clean oil from the dip stick. The owner introduced himself as Sam. Sam told me how much he appreciated my business, broke down the charges and told me that he gave me a free upgrade to Castrol GTX oil at no additional charge. Sam also asked if this was my first time and told me he’s very happy to have me here and gave me an instant $5 off discount and a $10 gift certificate for the next visit.
12m mark (9:19am) — Finished and on my way back home.
The Personal Touch
Not only did the owner Sam shake my hand and thanked me personally, every interaction with their employees was top notch. From answering my phone call promptly and politely to greeting me with a happy face that told me they appreciate my business. Why is this important? Well if you’ve read the classic How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie, you’ll most likely remember that the #1 thing humans crave is the feeling of importance. I think it’s fair to say 9minute Oil & Lube made me feel important as a customer.
The Experience
What is a purple cow and why does 9 minute Oil & Lube have it? Purple cow is a term made famous by marketing guru Seth Godin, it simply means to make your business remarkable, make it special, offer a secret sauce so people have a solid reason to come visit you. The experience itself at 9 minute Oil & Lube is well worth the trip if you’ve never been to a drive thru oil change. With a background in the automotive field along with having worked as a repair shop manager, I can honestly say this was the best oil change experience I’ve ever encountered in my life. From having a TV monitor to show you the technician is actually working on your car, to showing you the dipstick with the clean oil they put in, all the way to breaking down the charges and services performed, it is clear without question that their intention is to be completely transparent and make you feel as comfortable as possible. And the best part? You never have to get out of the car!!
The Value
It was supposed to cost me $39 for this convenience. However, since it was my first time, the owner offered to give me a $5 instant discount which knocked the price down to $34 with everything included. To make me feel even better, he offered a $10 gift certificate for my next visit which makes my next oil change here only $29!!
I gotta bring up time savings alone is well worth the extra cost. On my last oil change, the idiots at my local Pepboys managed to turn a simple oil change into a 2-day ordeal, it’s safe to say they can take their $19.95 oil change special and shove it where the sun don’t shine!
The extra $14 I paid at 9minute Oil & Lube was an incredible deal considering the time savings, professionalism, and the experience.
The Takeaway
Besides being completely blown away by the experience, there was one important lesson I learned today: With a bit of creativity and drive, you can innovate in any existing field, even if it’s crowded. Automotive oil change business is one of the most competitive and difficult fields, yet somehow 9minute Oil & Lube found a way to build a purple cow into their business and converted me into a loyal fan.
I made myself a promise today: Any business or product that I create from this day forward, must have a purple cow built into it or I will tear it to the ground.
Final thoughts
Are they perfect? Nope. They made a silly mistake giving me a 20,000 miles oil change interval on my windshield reminder sticker. But will it stop me from coming back? Absolutely not. I simply corrected their mistake with my pen.
If you hit the hot buttons of what your customers truly care about, they will forgive your mistakes. Just look at Apple.
Reference
https://www.yelp.com/biz/nine-minute-oil-and-lube-palo-alto
Originally published at reallifeux.net on June 13, 2016.
