Owner Celebrating 10 Years At Helm of Thriving Duncan Vehicle Service Outlet
Jiffy Lube’s Duncan location
DUNCAN – Honesty is the best policy.
At Jiffy Lube, owner Bob Cunningham says it’s their only policy.
“The key to our success is honesty, plain and simple,” says Cunningham, who has owned the franchise at 60 Trunk Road since 2013. “I’m a pretty straightforward guy, and so is my team. We have a philosophy: You either need it, or you don’t, which is pretty simple. We’re not going to sell our customers anything they don’t need.”
To drive the point home, Cunningham shares a story he told at a Pennzoil convention several years ago.
Bob Cunningham owns Jiffy Lube in Duncan
“They asked who their best customer was, and I said for us it was the customer who comes in way too early and I send them out because they don’t need our service yet,” he says. “They’re my best customer because I earn their trust.”
Jiffy Lube offers premium oil, batteries, wiper blades, driveline services, transmission services, OBD service, brake inspections, diesel fuel filters and fleet services. No appointments are required.
There are over 2,000 service centers across North America, and the Duncan outlet opened in 2012.
Cunningham, who has been in the oil change business for two decades now, was the original manager in Duncan, and was granted the opportunity to purchase it a year later.
“I liked it so much I bought it,” he chuckles. “Where else could you buy yourself a job and pay yourself well? Head office wants working owners, and it’s been an absolute success story.”
One of the keys to that is that Duncan Jiffy Lube staff members are not on commission.
“If you start paying staff commission, there can be a tendency for them to try sell a bunch of stuff that customers don’t really need,” he explains. “We have elderly customers who come in with their vehicles after driving them only 2,000 kilo-metres and we send them out without doing it. They don’t need an oil change at that point.”
Industry experts agree that the single best way to improve the life and health of a vehicle engine is to have regular oil changes.
A Jiffy Lube technician replacing a battery
“I absolutely concur,” he says. “Since day one I’ve been telling my customers to follow the mileage on their vehicles, and whatever the manufacturer tells them they need an oil change, have it done then.”
Engine efficiency has changed dramatically in recent years, to the benefit of vehicle owners and operations like Jiffy Lube.
“In the last 20 years, more and more cars have fuel injection, so gasoline does not leak down and dilute the oil anymore,” he explains. “About 70% of the engines are GDI’s, and they’ve moved fuel injectors from the top of the valves right into the combustion chambers. It is fabulous for fuel consumption, but it’s horrible for maintenance.
“For example, at 40,000 kilometers, drivers can definitely feel a lack of power from what you’re used to,” he adds. “Our fuel injection service restores the power and fuel economy, and we sell it for half the price of our competitors because I know it’s good for our customer’s cars.”
By Mark MacDonald
