This article is from my business partner, Terry Keller, who owns Keller Bros. Auto Repair in Littleton, CO. For more information about Terry, you can check out his free ebook on our website, "Is My Story Your Story?" Click here to get it!
Benchmarking
Most of us shop owners understand the process of comparing our numbers to a set of benchmarks or standards. I remember way back over 35 years ago, I had monthly meetings with my accountant where he showed me my shop’s financials with the pe
Back in November, the Federal Reserve announced that it would purchase $600 billion in U.S treasuries. What does this mean? What could it mean to your shop?
Very high inflation will cause prices and the cost of living to go way up. That will hurt your customers and your business in several ways. Is it possible to fix it? What can we do right now to stay busy and profitable in the face of high inflation that may continue for years?
If you've been wondering what Quantitative Easing II, in
This is part two of an article from my business partner, Terry Keller, who owns Keller Bros. Auto Repair in Littleton, CO. For more information about Terry, you can check out his free ebook on our website, "Is My Story Your Story?" Click here to get it!
The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
It wasn’t until I discovered a way to measure performance that the light went on. Let me caution that measurement by itself will not ensure sustained improvement. However, I found that just by measuring, im
This article is from my business partner, Terry Keller, who owns Keller Bros. Auto Repair in Littleton, CO. For more information about Terry, you can check out his free ebook on our website, "Is My Story Your Story?" Click here to get it!
I can just imagine some of you thinking, “Why waste time reading this when I’ve already tried everything to train my people to act right and perform well AND IT CAN’T BE DONE?! Why keep beating my head against the wall?”
Or, maybe you’re not so cynica
Hopefully you're getting ready to attend CARS in a few weeks. If you're coming, be sure to stop by our booth and see us!
But no matter what your plans, I wanted to address a problem we dealt with in our shop for years: training that didn't stick.
There's no denying that one of the greatest things that ever happened in our shop is service writer training. We have tracked our training experiences and how they affect each individual, and have at times actually experienced an increase in ou
Are you coming to CARS in Las Vegas this year? You'll want to stop by the Auto Profit Masters booth!
We're giving away two iPads, a VideoStik tool for diagnosing hard-to-see repairs, and much more...
Plus, we're going to be showing off the earth-shattering RPM ToolKit, the SCAN TOOL you've always wanted for your shop!
I hope to see you there!
If you've missed the past couple blogs, I've been sharing the secrets we use in our shop to increase our Lube Lane tickets by $200.
To quickly recap, on every oil change ticket...
1. Tell the customer that you are going to perform a complete inspection on the vehicle when you first sign them in.
2. Be SURE that you begin asking questions about the HISTORY of the vehicle, and WHICH services have been performed as far as the PM goes!
3. Get the vehicle pulled around and out of sigh
Hopefully you saw my first entry for "Timing the Advisement of an Oil Change!" It covered the first two things you should ALWAYS do. To recap:
1. Tell the customer that you are going to perform a complete inspection on the vehicle when you first sign them in.
2. Be SURE that you begin asking questions about the HISTORY of the vehicle, and WHICH services have been performed as far as the PM goes!
Here are the next two things that can add $200 to your ROs if you do them EVERY TIME:
In a session with a client last week, something I had been trying to teach everyone for a long time suddenly became brilliantly clear to both of us…and it’s going to mean a HUGE difference for his shop this year.
I call it the “first quarter” of the sales “game” concept. It’s the difference between a $15.00 oil change and a $350.00 average ticket!
The idea is this: when a person comes in for a quick service like an oil change, it’s important that we understand that we are dealing with an
The RPM ToolKit I mentioned a few weeks ago is so close to being ready to go live it hurts!
We're finishing up the ability for shops to be able to compete with other shops, service writers with other service writers, and techs with other techs on benchmarks...it's got me excited and our clients excited and I wanted to share it with you, too!
But that's not my only reason for sharing...I thought I'd ask you: how often have you ever thought about being able to compare your shop to other
Last Saturday, I cleaned out my car…after putting it off for over two weeks! What is it about the smallest of tasks that we just cannot drag ourselves to do?
I mean, isn’t it crazy that we’d let something we’re putting off, sit in the back of our minds and eat away at our enjoyment of everything we’re doing until we get it done…just because it’s less fun than watching TV, reading your HOA rules and regulations, or cleaning the cat’s litter box?
What a nice feeling to have it done, though
Whether you've heard about WebTools or not, I thought I'd drop a quick line here and let you know that something even bigger is coming...
The WebTools are becoming the RPM ToolKit -- Rapid Profit Management for your shop. It's not just a measurement, training and accountability tool anymore...
It's going to be one of the biggest things your shop has ever seen.
I'm leaking it here first because there's no better dedicated group of shop owners anywhere. Keep your eyes and ears open b
WARNING
NO MANAGERS OR SERVICE WRITERS ALLOWED.
NO CONSULTANTS, NO FRIENDS, NO BUDDIES.
IF WE FIND OUT ANYONE BUT YOU ATTENDED THIS CLASS,
WE'LL BAN YOU FOR LIFE!
WHO: Only shop owners like you! Or ELSE!
DATE: Thursday, July 29, 2010
TIME: 3pm ET | 2pm CT | 1pm MT | 12pm PT | 11am AT
COST: $99 for Public | Free for APM Consulting and WebTools™ Clients
Click here to join us on Thursday!
Why am I being so harsh?
If anyone found out the info I'm teaching on the phone this Thu
One of the oddest things I run into as a consultant and advisor to business owners, is the fact that so many just show up at work each morning like a security guard, and wait for the week to “happen.”
No wonder so many businesses are struggling! I mean there are major brands out there disappearing! Wouldn’t you think that by now, people would start to realize that the old ways of doing things are not working for them?
It’s not enough to just come in on Monday and HOPE that things are goi
Whenever I am hiring a technician, I’ve found that it’s critical to ask a few questions before I even identify my business. It’s important to make sure that “the word doesn’t get out on the street” every time I need to upgrade or replace a staff member. No one wants to work for a shop that they have “heard” is suffering from a turnover of people. When they hear from the tool guys, the parts salesmen, and others that the shop is having “personnel problems,” or “can’t keep their techs,” your shop
