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TIME
FOR HIS FAMILY
was one of the reasons that Ross Mesnick chose MARS.
Ross and wife Wendy enjoy a carousel
ride with twins Tyler and Keirstan (2 ½ years old).
Ross
Mesnick (Ohio) says, "Flexibility was one of the
primary reasons I chose MARS. I wanted to allow myself
to spend more time with my wife, Wendy, and my two and
a half year old twins, Keirstan and Tyler."
"The ability to be flexible
is a wonderful comfort zone. You may not use it, but
it's good to know you have it."
Mesnick left a successful career and five years with
a job that required a seven day a week commitment,
with the attendant pressures and stress. He was actively
looking for a business to purchase: "I figured
that if I was going to spend that much time and invest
my blood, sweat and tears, I wanted something out of
it," he recalls. He was contemplating several opportunities
when he chose MARS.
SEVENTEEN (17) ACCOUNTS
At the time of this interview, Ross had been in his
MARS business less than two months, and he was already
working with 17 different commercial accounts!
He states that six or seven of these are obviously becoming
established accounts, and the others involve repeat
calls with good production.
In view of this quick initial success, we asked Ross
to review his 'in the field' training with his Mentor/Field
Trainer Steve Reither (Ohio).
MENTOR STEVE REITHER
"We quickly established a strong rapport,"
recalls Ross. I spent a week with Steve in his place
of business, and then he spent a week with me when I
started my business. During my first day with him, I
was initially observing, as Steve had no idea of my
background and abilities.
"However, I am the type to just jump in, and I
did, telling him to let me know when I did something
that was unsatisfactory.
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"During that week, I was very comfortable, maybe
overly comfortable. This was because I left my two weeks
of training at MARS International with a solid understanding
of all of the Systems. Steve and I used four Systems,
Bumper Repair, Spot Blending, Interiors, and Odor Removal."
MARS SYSTEMS EASY TO LEARN
"I feel that with all of the MARS Systems, the Trainee
can jump in and learn them fairly quickly because the
Systems do the work. None of it is extremely technical.
I feel that the overall work is as artistic as technical.
I realized that I had certain needs in the painting area,
and I told Steve Reither what I wanted to learn. He taught
me what I asked to know."
"Painting was the area where Steve helped me the
most," Mesnick remembers. "He helped me developed
the confidence I needed.
"About seventy percent of my work now is paint. In
a short period of time, word of mouth has promoted me
as one of the better painters in my market. I've had so
many requests for painting that I almost couldn't keep
up with it, so I raised my prices. I'm still getting all
the painting business I can handle."
FLEXIBILITY IN THE FIELD
"Now that I'm in the field, I've learned to adapt
my training and all the MARS
Systems to the needs of my market. I think everyone in
the MARS business uses each
System their own way. They tweak it to their level of
skill and the needs of their customers."
Ross points out that he adapted the new Miraculous Paint
Repair System in that way. "I use it the way it was
shown, for scratch removal, but I've also learned how
to use it for Touch Up.
"The premixed colors make chip repairs very easy
because the most common colors are already available."
MARS RECRUITS SKILLS AND ABILITIES
When MARS recruits for new employees and franchise owners,
the company searches for people with skills that will
create success. Few people have a background in cosmetic
auto repair, but MARS has found that many other business
skills are important. With the background he brought to
the business, Ross is a good example of that.
For example, Ross tells us, "Steve gave me a real
compliment. He told me that he has always seen his primary
responsibility as a Mentor to teach new Operators to market
themselves, to sell, and to observe them in their skills
and help them where needed. He said that after one or
two days with me, he felt that I knew more about sales
than he did, and was more comfortable in some of the Systems
than he was."
Asked what he attributed this to, Ross said, "My
background. I have a strong background in sales, marketing
and business management. I had no problem in approaching
and talking with the dealerships managers. No one threw
me out. In a short time, I had a strong customer base."
Continued
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