Many people would feel just as uncomfortable sitting in a mechanic’s waiting room as they would waiting for a dentist’s chair.
Knowing this, two BYU alumni devised a plan to ease the anxiety associated with having a vehicle serviced. Lance Boldt, a 1985 finance graduate, and Sean Whiffen, who earned a BS in business in 1998, developed AutoNetTV.
AutoNetTV is the first and only exclusive automotive television network viewed by customers in waiting areas of automotive service centers. Not only does the programming entertain with an energetic cast, it also educates customers who might otherwise feel like waiting-room captives.
“Our broadcasts give customers specific vehicle information and maintenance tips,” Whiffen says. “The programming helps vehicle owners learn how to save money, improve safety, and increase vehicle performance in an easy-to-understand way.”
Boldt and Whiffen spent more than $500,000 in pre-market testing, research, and development before the program began to take shape.
To give their business added seed capital, Boldt and Whiffen partnered with Andrew Orgel, co-founder of MTV Networks. They also entered into an agreement with Talking Pictures, a leader in the film review industry. With their new partnerships, AutoNetTV now has more than four hundred contracts with service centers coast-to-coast showing their programs.
“We are our own case study every day,” Whiffen says. “After digging up as much research as you can, you simply have to follow your instinct.”
Whiffen says much of what he learned about the value of innovation, he learned at BYU. “There is more than one answer to every problem and question,” Whiffen explains. “Each of the successful businesses and brands we learned about at school took risks and focused on developing good products and services. Those principles don’t change.”
