Tom Asacker

The positive side of this statement is that a few little things can make a big difference. In the comment you posted, I said I had never had a Wow experience related to a business. I was wrong. One big one comes to mind: Autotech of Athens, GA.

These guys are the rock stars of auto repair in Athens. I first went to them for a repair on a beat up Nissan. I'd taken it to a chain (Pep Boys?) and was given a $200 quote. Bob & Doug at Autotech looked it over and fixed it. "How much?", I asked. "It was just a faulty seal, don't worry about it, no charge". My mouth dropped... a mechanic had said the words "no charge".

Since then, over many years, I have referred dozens... maybe more than a hundred people to them. Shortly after going to them for the first time, they took down their sign. They have no ad budget. If you don't know where they are and aren't referred to them, there's no way to find them. They took down the sign because they were getting too many customers to handle.

Over the years I've had many beat up Japanese cars (they only work on Japanese cars). They always fix them and when they fix them they stay fixed. Always. Without an exception. Even though I travel and disappear for long periods of time, they always remember my name. Not just my name, but details of my life. I once came back from a yearlong stint in Korea. When I took my car to them, their first question was "How was Korea". I have no idea how they knew I'd been there.

My point, I guess, is that they do a few things extremely well. They don't have any slick marketing. They seem to go out of their way to hide their garage. But they are honest, they always remember you, and they are geniuses with Japanese cars. Its hard for me to pin down exactly how they do it but they have created fanatically loyal customers. When I moved to Greenville, SC... I drove my car to Athens (2 hours away) so they could work on it. They told me they have people who come from as far as Florida and Alabama.

These guys have mojo.