Coach Net

Their Business is Your Customer Service

by Don Magary, editor

It's not that Coach Net cannot mind it's own business. It's simply that Coach Net's business is your customer service. Never heard of them? Well, it's time you did. Whether you are an RV dealer, rental operator, RV manufacturer or supplier, Coach Net can significantly raise your customer's opinion of you and your business. Rather than trying to explain what Coach Net does, let's visit one of your customers at a campground about a day's drive from the dealership where he purchased his new RV.

It's 8 o'clock Sunday night and your customer's family is on their maiden voyage in that brand new RV he picked up last week. He pulls into a campsite, hooks up the electric and water, and looks forward to dinner, a shower and relaxing after a long day on the road. Trouble is it's real chilly outside and when he turns on the furnace nothing happens -- no heat. To make matters worse, his eight-year-old daughter, says, "Daddy, I'm cold." His wife agrees and adds, "I can't get the burner to light on the range." And there's no hot water. Not a pretty way to start their vacation. Now what?

Dad reaches for the nice little plastic suitcase with all the owner's manuals, opens it up on the dinette and starts sifting through the five-inch high stack of documents in front of him looking for a clue as to what he can do to solve these problems.

What started as a vision has developed into a thriving business for Coach Net Founders, (l-r) Laura Aldridge, vice president of marketing; Jerry Aldridge, president and CEO; and Jim Agosto, vice president and chief financial officer.

Sure, his dealer walked him through the RV upon delivery, going over all the procedures of operating the systems and appliances, but that was a lot to remember and that was last week. He'd like to call the dealer but its Sunday night and the dealership is obviously closed.

Then, Dad remembers, the dealer told him if he had any questions or needed any help, just call this toll free number. The dealer said there would be an RV technician on duty 24-hours-a-day just to offer assistance like this.

Dad goes to the pay phone next to the camp store and places the call. Sure enough, the call is routed to an experienced RV technician. In a few minutes Dad's solved the problem with the help of the technician. Now he's back in the RV, the furnace is throwing out a good supply of heat, there's hot water and dinner is cooking on the range.

Smelling dinner cooking, Dad smiles. It's obvious he's happy that he bought his RV from a dealer that really believed in customer care. And shouldn't he be happy? That was outstanding customer service.

But what if instead of the LP gas valve not being turned on the problem was more serious. What if the furnace had a bad circuit board? With that same call, he would have been rescued again. The next morning that technician would locate an authorized service center, made an appointment along the customer's route and called him back to see if these arrangements met his needs. Or say he had a breakdown along the road, that same call would have resulted in a tow truck being dispatched to take him to the nearest service facility. A flat tire? Same thing. And it doesn't cost that RVer a dime.

And if we change that scenario slightly making the customer a rental customer rather than a first-time RV buyer, the results would be the same. Let's say the family renting the RV is from another country and doesn't speak English. That's okay too because within an average of 45 seconds from when the call is received, there is a foreign language interpreter on the line assisting the customer.

This is all possible because the dealer, manufacturer or rental operator had the foresight to partner with Coach Net, a company that provides these services and more. And the nice thing about it is that Coach Net is virtually an invisible partner. In the customer's mind, you are the one that helped them through their problem. Until recently, this service was only available to manufacturers. Eight months ago, the program was designed for rental operators and Coach Net is just now unveiling the program designed for dealers.

To call Coach Net an emergency roadside service provider, although they do that too, would be to sell this company and the founders very short. Coach Net literally becomes an extension of the dealer's, manufacturer's or rental operator's customer service program.

When RV News visited Coach Net's headquarters last month in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, we had little idea what to expect and a lot of questions. After spending the greater part of the day with the company's founders, Jerry Aldridge, president and CEO; Laura Aldridge, vice president of marketing; and Jim Agosto, vice president and chief financial officer, we left with a great respect for this team and what this company does and can mean to the overall welfare of the RV industry. Coach Net is totally focused on customer service and helping those with problems find a quick, stress-free solution -- and they do it in your name.

Coach Net is the dream come true for their founders. In the early eighties, Jerry Aldridge was working as general manger, parts and service for Vogue, an RV manufacturer in Sun Valley, California. He had a vision for a new company that would provide emergency road side assistance and more for RV owners. That vision was shared by Laura who at that time was married to Jerry, and Jim Agosto who worked for Jerry in the parts department at Vogue and is also Laura's brother. They knew it was a risk, but the three of them decided to go for it. Jerry and Jim quit their jobs at Vogue and the three of them set out to make this dream a reality. Jerry and Laura sold their home in Rolling Hills, took the $25,000 equity and incorporated, using the rest of the money to buy one computer and software. The company they formed was Landen Bias Corporation, of which Coach Net is a division. That was 1986. continued