I’ll admit it. I’m old school. I still wear a flat top haircut.  I’ve been with the same beautiful woman for 34 years. I say “yes ma’am and no sir” when addressing folks of all ages. I buy American whenever I can; I consider my word as my bond and in the order of importance behind God and family, I run a distant third.

Many of you folks reading this are also old school. It’s how we were raised and old habits are hard to break, but are our old habits hurting our businesses? Are you “Old School” or perhaps an “Old Fool”?

How many of you out there still hesitate to embrace technology? Probably more than care to admit it. I know I used to be. Before my arrival at my current company, I didn’t even know how to turn a computer on, let alone how to work it. I was fortunate enough to have some great people help me along the way and now, I’m proud to say, I’m pretty efficient!

For me, it was sink or swim. I chose to swim. Is your business sinking because you refuse (or are uncomfortable admitting  you don't know how) to use the technology that’s available?

I had a customer call me the other day to register for a CarWash College class. During the course of gathering his information, I asked him for his email address to send his confirmation. I believe his response went something like, “I don’t use any go&@m# computers, I just don’t have the time for them. Mail me the confirmation”.  Do you think this gentleman’s wash has a website? Does email blasts? Sends text coupons? Old school or old fool??

There are more folks like him out there than you think. Folks who can rebuild a Heco drive blindfolded, replace a chain and rollers with one arm tied behind their backs, can tell they have a pump cavitating by a sound they hear from 100 yards, yet are afraid of technology.

Most folks in our demographic now carry smart phones, have laptops, tablets, or phablets, (which are, I’ve been told, a combination of a phone and a tablet). We email, tweet, text, and stay connected with the best of them. If you’re not marketing through these methods, purely out of stubbornness, your business isn’t doing all it can to be successful.

In the CarWash College Management class, there is a session on social media and how to apply it to your business. Although it may look intimidating at first, it all becomes second nature rather quickly. Trust me; if an old dog like me can learn new tricks, you can too!

I’d like to think that being old school is still in style. We all know that being an old fool, is not.