I was alarmed recently while visiting a Canadian market to find that apparently the auto glass wholesaler’s most popular urethane system being sold had a safe-drive away time of more than eight hours.

As I asked around it seemed that everyone in this Canadian metropolitan area, regardless of who they worked for, was using it. The other thing I found was how few technicians really understood that they needed to give it the full eight hours before the car could be driven safely. This month I have been to two other markets in the United States and found the same issue.

No, I am not talking about Glass Doctor— we negotiate great pricing only on one-hour products or less as I’m sure other glass companies have also. But when the wholesalers’ most popular product is not a quick cure system, then a lot of inexpensive, high-drive away time adhesives are being used by many.

I may be dating myself but remember in the 1980s when auto glass shops would install windshields with butyl even though the windshield had been installed with urethane from the factory. Even worse yet, they would convert urethane installs to a rubber gasket. What were we thinking? It was wrong and everyone today agrees. Having a customer drive a car that has not cured the recommended time is wrong also.

The safety of your customers and their families should be enough for you to do what is right. “But, Doug, I am saving money,” you might say. No, you’re not—this is a litigious society.

We all remember the McDonald’s case in 1992 when someone ordered hot coffee, spilled it on him or herself, and then sued McDonald’s because the hot coffee was too hot. The jury awarded the plaintiff more than $2.7 million.

Here is my question. If you have installed a windshield with a urethane system that needs eight hours to pass before the car is safe to drive, but you allow the customer to drive the car before that, and then the customer has a wreck and the windshield comes out or the airbag doesn’t work as designed–do you think you might be headed for a lawsuit? (Remember the “hot coffee” lawsuit!)

As professionals we have to remember that we are accountable for anything that goes wrong. This isn’t saying anything against your customers; I simply am stating the obvious for those of us in the business. This being the case, we have to err on the side of caution—every day. Customers’ lives and your business are at risk.

Here is where we must continually work on training. The example above, with the urethane, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to safety issues where our people are responsible. It’s important every day—every hour.

Let me offer you a caution. You may hear from your technicians that you are “too paranoid” and that 99 percent of the time it doesn’t matter and nothing will happen.

That phrase, though, “99 percent of the time,” reminds me of something written about 20 years ago, found on Google™, entitled, “Is 99 Percent Good Enough?” It cited the following statistics. If 99 percent is good enough then:

- Two planes landing daily at O’Hare Airport in Chicago would be unsafe;

- 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour;

- 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months;

- 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year;

- 268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year; and

- My favorite—12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily!

Whether it is teaching our techs to use turn signals and put on a seatbelt to not using the dashboard for storing old hamburger wrappers and pop cans, to making sure they aren’t texting while driving, all the way to being careful about making sure urethane safe drive-away times are being followed, we have to focus on safety.

The good news is that if you are reading glassBYTEs.com™ you are most likely either in a leadership position with your company or should be. Because of that, your focus on safety will keep you out of the courts.

Hey, be careful with that coffee!

I’ve been called a lot of things in my life but never a blogger. But, I’m only 42.

Those of you who know me would say, “Doug, why are you writing a blog? Don’t you have enough to do? Besides, we don’t think you are that great of a writer!”

Honestly, I have no idea other than that Penny Stacy asked me so nicely. I know, for sure, it is not for the money. Maybe it is because Glass Doctor has more than 400 stores in North America and we depend on more than 200 independent business people, with a common goal, to grow them through franchising.

I am honored to have been asked to write this blog. I was born into the glass business. My dad worked at the first Safelite shop and ended up managing the shop. He retired with Safelite after 38 years in 1991. Dad taught me a lot. I had cut my first piece of glass when I was 16. By the time I was 17, I was installing windshields.

I have learned so much in life from my dad. One of those things was the importance of “recognition.” This is by far one of the most important motivations and rewards for efforts of employees, friends, family and, yes, even business owners.

The official definition of recognition is “1: the action of recognizing: the state of being recognized: as a: acknowledgment; especially: formal acknowledgment of the political existence of a government or nation b: knowledge or feeling that someone or something present has been encountered before; 2:  special notice or attention.”

Last November, our franchise leadership council, made up of franchisees, gave me a project to redesign the pricing guide used by our franchisees. This project was by far an unbelievable task and I spent every day and night working on it, to the point of only sleeping three to four hours a night for the entire month.

In the months since then I’ve heard some nice things from various franchisees. Honestly, I enjoyed the project. I’m not sure my wife, Karen, did. Looking back Karen handled all of my household responsibilities and chauffer duties for the kids while I was consumed with the pricing guide project.

A couple of weeks ago Glass Doctor had our national convention in San Antonio. While on stage after one of my presentations I received a from-the-heart round of applause from our franchisees. This was more than enough for me to know that the effort was worth it.

We have to realize that recognition can be more important than pay. Let’s say that I would have received a $500 bonus for my work. (I didn’t!) If I would have I would have spent the money on some household project. But I’ll never forget the recognition I got from our franchisees.

What are the rules of recognition?

1. It comes quickly;
2. Everyone is eligible to receive it;
3. It is given for specific actions or behaviors; and
4. Anyone receives it for the same behavior going forward.

That said I better get going and give my wife some recognition for putting up with me during the pricing guide project  … and handling things while I got stuck in Canada last week … and moving from Wichita to Minneapolis to Kansas City to Waco while I moved from Safelite to Harmon to Glass Doctor over the past 23 years.

Whew. Karen deserves a lot of recognition! (Fortunately she appreciates it more than jewelry!) What about your people? Who should you be thanking right now?