Jackie Cooper, s. Shop

Transcription

1 Jackie Cooper, s Genuine ActBy Keith Turner The name says it all: Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics believes in vintage business standards by treating customers right. But never accuse the business of fearing quick and dramatic change. here s a sign posted on the inside walls Tof the Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics store in Oklahoma City that reminds the staff of the Five Key Behaviors to customer service: 1) Welcome customers with a warm, friendly and genuine greeting. 2) Personalize the interaction by using the customer s name. 3) Give customers your undivided attention. 4) Maintain a positive, I can help you attitude. 5) Walk customers to the door, thank them, and give a warm, friendly goodbye. If this sounds like something your mother would have told you growing up, then you are right. As a family-owned business for 47 years, Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics has managed to convey that family atmosphere to its 34 employees, many of whom have been part of the company for decades. We are blessed with the big benefit of a great group of employees and installers averaging 20-plus years with us, says Jill Splitt, who co-owns the tint, tire and electronics business with her brother Donnie Chaffin. Our competitors don t have that. We pay our people well, they are very professional and take their job very seriously. All of our staff is interested in the technology industry and take it upon themselves and keep up all the trends. They are con- 6 Restyling & Truck Accessories March 2015 restylingmag.com

2 The Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics staff. stantly bringing stuff to us. The success of Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics is a result of the leadership, vision and spirit of Jill and Donnie s father, Don Chaffin, who worked with local auto dealer Jackie Cooper (no relation to the late Hollywood actor) to install radios in the cars at Cooper s dealerships in Oklahoma City. At one time Jackie Cooper was one of the youngest Oldsmobile dealers in the U.S., says Kevin Kelley, who runs the store s dayto-day operations. He then developed and secured other lines like Mitsubishi and Lincoln Mercury, and Rolls Royce and BMW, and many others over the years. To this day he still owns the only BMW dealership in OKC. Don Chaffin was his partner in the electronics and tire part of the business. With Don s passing, Jackie Cooper sold the rest of the electronics business to his son and daughter. Success through service According to his children, Don Chaffin Sr. was a big believer that the way to success in business and in life was through service to others. Our history is tire automotive and then we got into car audio when electronics got really big, Donnie Chaffin explains. Then we started getting into automotive security systems and just kept rolling with the trends 12-volt systems, restyling and lighting. Then phones became a big part of the business and we became an authorized dealer for AT&T. Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics had five stand-alone AT&T wireless stores with gross sales of more than $14 million in Chaffin says that the business is now run as three separate entities, with tires and service, mobile electronics and wireless all under the same management team. 8 Restyling & Truck Accessories March 2015 restylingmag.com

3 Electronics and wireless are the bigger part of the business now, but the tires and service division is still the backbone, the foundation, and it has a very loyal customer base, he says. Flexibility and being able to adapt to the current needs of customers is truly what helps Cooper Tire & Electronics to success, Chaffin says. The company has recently shifted gears by also offering new accessories, such as window tint, in order to attract new customers. Window tinting is the biggest margin item at the moment, Chaffin says. It s a very labor intensive business, but a good window tint installer can do it in and out in an hour. The business offers a wide range of window tinting options and price points to customers, and even offers a visual tinter button on its website that allows customers a look at how their make and model will look with tinted windows. Also a big seller at Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics is remote start systems, as well as back-up cameras and radar detectors. Aesthetic wonders can be achieved with a little paint. Here are before and after images from the showroom at Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics. restylingmag.com March 2015 Restyling & Truck Accessories 9

4 Key audio brands promoted at Cooper Tint and Electronics include Alpine, Kenwood, WetSounds, Focal and JL Audio. While car stereos may be on a slight downtrend due to the high-quality OEM systems, Chaffin says that dashboard cameras with DVRs is a segment that seems to be expanding. It s all about knowing the market and what your customers are asking for, he says. We are constantly getting people who are shopping online, so you ve got to be on your toes as far as knowing what the customer knows, be humble enough to listen while also confident that you can do the job with assurance that you can do good quality work. High-tech showroom Chaffin and his sister Jill Splitt in 2013 made the decision to consolidate their business into a brand-new, state-of-the-art super center in order to remain relevant within a changing market. The 5,000-square-foot building dedicates 1,000 square feet to a high-tech showroom with a 25-foot-high ceiling that showcases the company s key product categories, including window tinting, speakers and audio systems for automotive and marine applications; along with five large flat-panel monitors to show vendor messages, music videos, car club slide shows and promotions. There s even a window into the 4,000-square-foot service and installation bays that accommodate eight cars at a time. Our goal in designing this building was to enhance the customer experience, Splitt says. We wanted to create a fun atmosphere with a high-tech environment and we added showroom windows that look directly into it so customers can see the cars that are being worked on. An added benefit is that it keeps the installers motived to do a good job because they know that they are being watched by customers. The Showroom at Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics accomplishes a lot with very little. The room is open and flows customer foot traffic from product to product. Social Marketing Madness From a marketing perspective, Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics utilizes a multitude of social, electronic and face-to-face venues to help stay fresh and in front of its customer base. In addition to an everchanging website and Facebook page, the business encourages customers to sign up for its text messaging club in order to receive discounts and coupons. The company also 10 Restyling & Truck Accessories March 2015 restylingmag.com

5 The installation bay at Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics is usually packed. posts to YouTube with informative videos, like how to install window tinting, and entertaining videos, like the one with the staff doing the Harlem Shake dance move. We take pride in the fact that we are No. 1 on Google when people are searching for window tinting car audio in the OKC region, says Kelley, the operations manager. We recognize that s how people shop these days. There s no more Yellow Pages, so we have to be at the top of the search page. Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics makes great effort to stay visible within its community. Local car clubs are invited to take over the shop parking lot to showcase vintage classics. Also, a monthly on-location, three-hour broadcast by a popular sports radio talk show allows the Jackie Cooper Tint & Electronics pros to talk about cars, answer questions from listeners and promote specials. Most important, Splitt says, is establishing a special customer experience for visitors of the shop. We have a fantastic clientele and get a lot of business through referrals, she says. We use an online scheduler to keep track of our appointments that also helps us send reminders a day ahead of time and follow up with thank you notes afterward. We strive to develop a great relationship with them because we know that if they have a good experience here they will keep coming back. Just like your mother would have wanted. restylingmag.com March 2015 Restyling & Truck Accessories 11