Selling More MaintenanceService: Fluid Exchanges?

[stowintegrity]

Our company is interested in researching the purchase of some new equipment for performing fluid exchanges at our shop. Do any of you have any experience with any particular brands of equipment, or can you give a thumbs up for a particular service program? I know some of the manufacturer's of those machines also sell the chemicals directly to professional servicemen.

 

The services we're seeking to sell more of:

 

Cooling System Flush

Air/Induction Decarbonization (Top Engine Cleaning)

Brake Fluid Flush

Power Steering System Flush

Transmission Fluid Drain & Fill / Flush (Advice?)

 

- also -

 

We're seeking a line of retail additives worth selling in our lobby, or to be used during any/all of the services above, including:

 

Engine Oil Stop Leak

Oil Stabilizer (High Mileage Detergent Additive)

Power Steering Pump Conditioner

ATF Fluid / Gasket Conditioner

Cooling System Flush / Chemical Additive

Fuel System Additive

 

Your thoughts on these matters would be appreciated. Currently, maintenance services only represent about 10% of our sales. With the possible addition of new equipment, we're in need of developing a program to encourage the sales of more manufacturer's maintenance items, and fluid exchange service.

 

Thanks in advance!

[carolinahigear]

We use B-G Products for throttle body/air intake/fuel injection services. It's the best we've used. The primary fluid services we do are brake, power steering, and transmission. For brakes we use a Snap-On machine, for Transmission a T-Tech, and for power steering a "generic" machine. They all work well. The best machine is the one between the service advisor's ears that explains the need to the client. Today on one van we did the power steering, brake, coolant, and fuel/intake service. Helps the vehicle.....raises the ARO......gives the tech satisfaction of doing a thorough job.

 

Hi-Gear

[HarrytheCarGeek]

Our company is interested in researching the purchase of some new equipment for performing fluid exchanges at our shop.

 

Before buying any equipment, first do your research for pricing on the fluids and time involved so you can make a projected income on the return on your investment.

 

OEM fluids are very low margings items, unless you know how to position them, the value is difficult to present to a customer if they have not developed trust in your business, as there are many fraudulent operators out there.

 

OEM Fluids are engineered products and you have to give the customer this knowledge as to the essense of using the correct fluid and product. If you can substiture branded product for aftermaket comparable product with your customer approval your margings can certainly improve. I found a way to educate the customer, get their commitment and to keep them coming back for service maintenance. that was the only way I could justify the upgrade into more expensive service equipment.

[stowintegrity]

BG Services is one of the top contenders I was looking at. They seem to have a well established program, training videos, and of course, at least from what I've read, quality products/chemcials. Another company, offering hat I think is a "generic" type approach, is called QuickDraw, which seems to have inexpensive machines, but there's not a sense of the congruency of a real "program", with the added training, or even marketing materials to help sell the program.

 

Do you offer the services as a package, or have you considered selling a "Maintenance Program" card as a grouped/discounted rate? I know this topic is something as old as the industry itself, but I'm hoping to really punch out a solid program that we can soon become known for in our community. We've done the same for a brake service program I believe has become valuable, and we've been able to grab that ever-valuable top-of-mind real estate when it comes to brake service, so people think of us first, as they recall the program's benefits.

 

Here's a good question for you all, and one that will surely humble me, as my little company has a long way to go before we're reavhing our shop's potential in our town. What percentage of your overal sales dollars is coming from brake service? How about from maintenance service?

 

As silly as it sounds, I don't include LOF service into maintenance. I realize it's CLEARLY maintenance, but IMHO, someone that let's us perform an oil change service is not necessarily someone who appreciates the real value in spending money on maintenance to avoid breakdowns.

 

This is what we categorize as "Maintenance" in our system: Mfr. 30/60/90 packages, our annual "car care service" package, all fluid exchange services, battery terminal cleaning/protectant, etc.

 

Hey - please help this new guy figure out whether my goals are realistic, or maybe even if I'm not setting the bar high enough. How much brake / maintenance service does YOUR shop do?

[HarrytheCarGeek]

What's to stop you from what BG Services does? Developing your own program is not that hard, albeit you have to give it some brain power.

 

I sell maintenance at 80-90%, I don't do tough intermitten diagnostics if I can help it. I work hard to pull regular maintenance from the dealers and their customers into our stores, I TRY NOT TO MARKET OIL CHANGES.

 

I use nexpart and use their buyer's guide to see the parts I need to craft maintenance programs that I can sell to segment of my customers, then I make them an offer they can get onto my programs to keep coming back to my stores.

 

We are no longer a mechanic shops, we are basically a marketing company that profiles their best customers and see how we can keep them happy and coming back to us, the point being, there are other auto repairs shops but why use them when I can take care of them with no hassles.

 

Having said that, I do not market to nickel and dime customers that are not value generating, I steer those to my competitors.

Edited October 30, 2015 by HarrytheCarGeek

[stowintegrity]

 

I sell maintenance at 80-90%, I don't do tough intermitten diagnostics if I can help it. I work hard to pull regular maintenance from the dealers and their customers into our stores, I TRY NOT TO MARKET OIL CHANGES.

 

Harry,

 

Are you saying that 80-90% of your shop's revenue comes from maintenance services? I don't think we're positioned to becoming just a maintenance shop like that, as we're counted on to be much more than that to our guests, but I know there's a lot more maintenance we should be selling to help them keep their cars on the road longer.

 

What kinds of things do you do to "pull regular maintenance" from dealerships? I'd love to be able to add some marketing dollars to our budget to increase that segment, also.

[HarrytheCarGeek]

 

Harry,

 

Are you saying that 80-90% of your shop's revenue comes from maintenance services? I don't think we're positioned to becoming just a maintenance shop like that, as we're counted on to be much more than that to our guests, but I know there's a lot more maintenance we should be selling to help them keep their cars on the road longer.

 

What kinds of things do you do to "pull regular maintenance" from dealerships? I'd love to be able to add some marketing dollars to our budget to increase that segment, also.

 

Map out the lifecycle of your typical customer at your store. Check your perspective as to how you view maintenance vs repair, what is the lifecycle of the consumables in today's cars. Would you rather keep the dollars in your store or give them to the towing companies when customers have breakdowns?

 

Let me give you some specifics, I use three wonderful tools, I use Autotracker PLUS and DemandForce by Intuit, and another program for financial profiling of my customers.

 

Check your numbers and see how much it costs you to acquire a customer, I was not pleased with that number to be honest in my case, so I changed my strategy to get more customers in through my doors at a lower cost.

 

I had a partner that did insurance photo inspections, but his people hated doing them. Since I wasn't in the bodyshop business, I hadn't given it any thought in bringing that business in. So I asked his people why they hated doing insurance inspections, and they said it was time consuming and they would never see that customer again. Light bulb went off in my braincell....

 

Think about the wealth of information and opportunity you have when a customer comes in for an insurance photo inspection... I developed a welcome package, offered them a free safety inspection and profiled the customer and car. Input all this data into your systems and map out the possible revenue for the next three years for those customers. If the vehicle is a brand new car, you know they will go to the dealer, but you still have the data and you can still map out services and make offers to them. if there are recalls, let them know, this builds good will and trust with them, if they have other cars, they will bring them to you.

 

Mine your service data, and see at what mileage are you changins alternators, starters, batteries, etc. Then take the manufacturers recommend service maintenance, develop offers from those that information.

 

For example, car has a five year old battery, sell the cables and terminals they most likely are sulfated, and it's a six year or older car, recommend selling the starter before it completely fails. You have the data. Same for brakes, struts, ball joints (suspension), tires, tune up stuff, consumables, wheel bearings... just like a farmer tills the land, you have to be pro-active and start pre-selling the consumables, have your customer budget for those big ticket items...

 

Make them an offer, give them an option to buy in early, take a small deposit to lock them in psychologically, give them value and they will reward you in kind. Then there are the customer that doesn't listen, he is always coming in on the back of the tow truck and he is always broke. Profile him as such and take his business accordingly.

 

My $0.02 cents.

Edited October 31, 2015 by HarrytheCarGeek

[tirengolf]

I did one thing that almost double my PM monthly income. I have no connection or interest in this business or person. He sells cutting edge stuff, it is simple and easy to use. It also holds up under criticism because it is chemistry. It is a bifold product with Fluid test on Chromatography paper. It is low pressure to the customer, I sorta pick and choose who to perform test for. Just check it out . I actually spoke to the guy on the phone in West Palm Beach and he told me the story of how he got into the fluid testing business as a disgruntled customer with a horrible experience at a Repair Facility. He had a good point and has some very cutting edge and quality products. http://www.fluidtesting.com/

[tirengolf]

I did one thing that almost double my PM monthly income. I have no connection or interest in this business or person. He sells cutting edge stuff, it is simple and easy to use. It also holds up under criticism because it is chemistry. It is a bifold product with Fluid test on Chromatography paper. It is low pressure to the customer, I sorta pick and choose who to perform test for. Just check it out . I actually spoke to the guy on the phone in West Palm Beach and he told me the story of how he got into the fluid testing business as a disgruntled customer with a horrible experience at a Repair Facility. He had a good point and has some very cutting edge and quality products. http://www.fluidtesting.com/ I sell the BG line to my top tier customer, Some of mine want the less cost. I let them decide. I personally like the BG product, my BG rep actually comes and helps me if I run into a snag. That also helps.

[tirengolf]

 

Map out the lifecycle of your typical customer at your store. Check your perspective as to how you view maintenance vs repair, what is the lifecycle of the consumables in today's cars. Would you rather keep the dollars in your store or give them to the towing companies when customers have breakdowns?

 

Let me give you some specifics, I use three wonderful tools, I use Autotracker PLUS and DemandForce by Intuit, and another program for financial profiling of my customers.

 

Check your numbers and see how much it costs you to acquire a customer, I was not pleased with that number to be honest in my case, so I changed my strategy to get more customers in through my doors at a lower cost.

 

I had a partner that did insurance photo inspections, but his people hated doing them. Since I wasn't in the bodyshop business, I hadn't given it any thought in bringing that business in. So I asked his people why they hated doing insurance inspections, and they said it was time consuming and they would never see that customer again. Light bulb went off in my braincell....

 

Think about the wealth of information and opportunity you have when a customer comes in for an insurance photo inspection... I developed a welcome package, offered them a free safety inspection and profiled the customer and car. Input all this data into your systems and map out the possible revenue for the next three years for those customers. If the vehicle is a brand new car, you know they will go to the dealer, but you still have the data and you can still map out services and make offers to them. if there are recalls, let them know, this builds good will and trust with them, if they have other cars, they will bring them to you.

 

Mine your service data, and see at what mileage are you changins alternators, starters, batteries, etc. Then take the manufacturers recommend service maintenance, develop offers from those that information.

 

For example, car has a five year old battery, sell the cables and terminals they most likely are sulfated, and it's a six year or older car, recommend selling the starter before it completely fails. You have the data. Same for brakes, struts, ball joints (suspension), tires, tune up stuff, consumables, wheel bearings... just like a farmer tills the land, you have to be pro-active and start pre-selling the consumables, have your customer budget for those big ticket items...

 

Make them an offer, give them an option to buy in early, take a small deposit to lock them in psychologically, give them value and they will reward you in kind. Then there are the customer that doesn't listen, he is always coming in on the back of the tow truck and he is always broke. Profile him as such and take his business accordingly.

 

My $0.02 cents.

Harry, that is good stuff. It sounds like me and you are on the same page , thinking and preparing ahead, you are just a bit ahead of me. I am convinced a guy like you will have great days forward.

[alfredauto]

There's a fine line between preventative maintenance and unnecessary repairs. Be cautious. As far as the engine stop leak/conditioner/etc its mostly garbage. Ask yourself, are any of the additives approved by the manufacturer? With very few exceptions, notably coolant additives for diesel trucks, the snake oil is detrimental.

[HarrytheCarGeek]

There's a fine line between preventative maintenance and unnecessary repairs.

 

I suspected someone would bring this up, what better source of knowledge in the field of preventive maintenanace that those that run critical systems:

 

"An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance" By R. Keith Mobley

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Predictive-Maintenance-Plant-Engineering-ebook/dp/B004N3CN8W/ref=sr_1_1/177-9018369-7711051?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446309546&sr=1-1&keywords=9780080478692

 

 

Analysis of maintenance costs have shown that a repair made in a reactive, i.e. after failure mode will normally be three times greater than the same repair made on a scheduled basis.

http://www.ruylecorp.com/pdf/TheBasicsofPredictivePrevMaint0124.sf.pdf

 

That's why the guy's car that comes on the back of the tow truck is always in financial trouble.

Edited October 31, 2015 by HarrytheCarGeek

[stowintegrity]

 

Map out the lifecycle of your typical customer at your store. Check your perspective as to how you view maintenance vs repair, what is the lifecycle of the consumables in today's cars. Would you rather keep the dollars in your store or give them to the towing companies when customers have breakdowns?

 

Let me give you some specifics, I use three wonderful tools, I use Autotracker PLUS and DemandForce by Intuit, and another program for financial profiling of my customers.

 

My $0.02 cents.

Harry,

 

I think your views are exciting, and I'd love to take you to lunch sometime. I couldn't find your company's website, though, to find out more. How big is your shop - how many bays?

[HarrytheCarGeek]

www.harrythecargeek.com, shop size is about four bays plus alignment rack.

[stowintegrity]

 

I suspected someone would bring this up, what better source of knowledge in the field of preventive maintenanace that those that run critical systems:

 

"An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance" By R. Keith Mobley

Harry,

 

While I agree with the "science" behind your views, I think there's a giagantic leap between "Preventative" and "Predictive" maintenance in this context, and it's not genuinely what I'm seeking to do. The moment anyone speaks out in experience about any topic, someone else with more data is likely to speak out against it.

 

I also tend to agree with alfredauto's view: "There's a fine line between preventative maintenance and unnecessary repairs. Be cautious." No one can argue that being cautious is a fool's decision. I'd wager that like many of you, I have some very loyal customers, given our manner of winning/caring for them. Still - I'm not sure there's enough pretty words in the dictionary to effectively say, "Your starter's testing fine, but given that it has xx miles on it, you're likely to need one soon, so we're recommending replacement of the unit"

 

I'm intrigued by the concept of "Predictive Maintenance", and I think I'll pick up some reading on the topic, for sure. I appreciate your input on the topic!

 

Just another guy's 2 cents.

[HarrytheCarGeek]

 

Still - I'm not sure there's enough pretty words in the dictionary to effectively say, "Your starter's testing fine, but given that it has xx miles on it, you're likely to need one soon, so we're recommending replacement of the unit"

 

You know, like I said, the data now is ready available from your service records to those of OEM parts manufacturers. Clearly a single shop operator does not have the breadth of information available from his records but that information is ready available from other industry sources, namely parts manufacturers.

 

Trucking, aviation, and other industries have been using information like this for decades, and not to mention the insurance industry has been using data like this to make predictive business decisions.

 

Our customers have been practicing "run-to-failure" type of maintenance management, that is to say we only tend to fix things until the vehicle has been put out of service.

 

Do some sampling from your own shops, draw a budget and from the next 100 alternator and 100 starters you replace, inspect them and qualify the reason for failure, you will see some clear patterns emerge, from worn bushings, bearings, carbon brushes, burnt windings, diodes or rectifiers. Compare that to the service data and see what you can extrapolate and then test it.

 

The point is, you can make the recommendation to your customer from facts and let them decide what action to take from your recommendation.

 

Having said that, think about where our industry is heading, and that includes the probability of having driverless cars on the roads in the not too distant future. Who do you think will be servicing those vehicles?

 

I am not too comfortable discussing this things in an open forum, as it eventually leads to discussion of political implication for the industry.

 

 

Edited November 1, 2015 by HarrytheCarGeek

[5 Star Auto Spa]

For the shops that are using the machines to perform the fluid exchanges/flushes, do they really actually speed up the process versus performing them manually without a machine? I am interested in this topic as well to see if purchasing some of the machines (brake fluid, coolant, etc.) would help speed up the process in performing the services that we are currently doing manually without machines. Also, does BG provide you with marketing material to help promote the products?

[LynxStarAuto]

I unknowingly at times practice Harry's approach of predictive maintenance. My whole life I have used that approach with my own personal vehicles. Change it before it breaks, and I have never once experienced an uncomfortable moment with my vehicles outside of a flat on a road trip.

 

Some jobs are harder to sell than others. For example yesterday I finished the day by selling an oil cooler on a 2008 Bluetec. Common nightmare failure for many Bluetec owners. The failure in truth is just the oil cooler seals, but due to the magnitude of the repair, I up-sold a new cooler, intake gaskets, intake cleaning, turbo inlet seal, VCV valve, and turbo feed line seals. This bundled repair is an easy sale because you have to remove the majority of those components to do the fix anyway.

 

Now if a vehicle comes in with a dead battery, unless the terminals are toast, and the alternator is the culprit, it is very difficult to sell the customer a battery, new terminals, and the alternator because they are old and will eventually fail.

 

Perhaps I present it incorrectly, but that seems more to me like a money grab, than preventive maintenance. With the first example I use labor as my leverage. "Hey these things go bad, and I have to do this again if they do. Let's just do it together". Easier sale for me.

[stowintegrity]

There's a difference, though! We cant say we're suggesting part replacements sell because we're looking out for our customers in these cases. If you're going to suggest that theres a statistical probability that although a starter is working normally, it can be suggested for replacement due to the mileage on the car, and our limited control grouping of data from replacement ts done in the past, I think it's prudent to add (as profoundly) the fact that we stand to profit nicely in this assumption, or as the other gentleman stated, it just looks like a "money grab".

 

If data mining suggests we've replaced starters at 120k miles the last 100 times, its not a slam dunk. First, the act of replacing the unit preemptive to a failure will skew all data gained AFTER the fact. Second, if you change 50 starters this week, but saw 200 cars total with similar mileage, it no more states that those starters were bad, as it does that the remaining 150 were good. In that scenario, WE acted upon the data having made grand assumptions.

 

What happens when we make assumptions, again?

[FROGFINDER]

I recommend fluid services by condition and mileage. I use oem type fluids and make sure that the vehicle leaves with no fitting leaks and full. I road test the vehicle before the service to detect transmission slipping, poor brake feel or engine temp issues. A lot of cars come in with low or overfilled dark/contaminated looking fluid levels, leaking fittings and the customer states that he just had the fluids flushed by xxxx.

[tirengolf]

For the shops that are using the machines to perform the fluid exchanges/flushes, do they really actually speed up the process versus performing them manually without a machine? I am interested in this topic as well to see if purchasing some of the machines (brake fluid, coolant, etc.) would help speed up the process in performing the services that we are currently doing manually without machines. Also, does BG provide you with marketing material to help promote the products?

Personally , I think there tranny machine is a good one, the only other machine from BG i have is the air intake cleaner. There are other manufactures who build good stuff also. I have found if you are doing enough volume my BG guys will basically give you some of the equipment. This topic took a turn I was not expecting, I only was insinuating about the fluid changes , I guess you could recommend a fuel pump in GM truck with 150K on it. I personally have not started that although I have some customers that would want me to. That is a fine line as some have mentioned

[LynxStarAuto]

I use Wurth, and Wynns products. The Wynns induction service kit is gold. I typically try and sell the induction service at every oil change. Since, the vehicles I service call for oil changes every 10-12k. That's pretty much once a year. I also market it to customers after I do an intake runner cleaning. I use the cost of that repair, as leverage to say, "hey you can prevent this with a top engine cleaning.

[HarrytheCarGeek]

What happens when we make assumptions, again?

 

Cute.

 

How is it a money grab, if you present the facts and the customer gets to make his choice? Do it or not. His choice.

 

We are in the mechanical field, things are engineered by design. That's why manufacturers spend billions on reseach and development.

 

What is the "service life" of the components in cars? Why not ask the manufacturers and follow their recommendations? They know what they engineer them for.

 

When do you think is a better time to have a tensioner and belt replaced, before it breaks or while you are driving out in the open highway or in rush hour traffic?

 

Is it prudent to always drive a part past its useful life that exceeds into the design's marging of error?

 

There is no free lunch in our business, no super natural power, no hocus pocus. Material engineering is a science, we have the data, use it.

 

The difference between poverty and wealth is knowledge and action, the customer may pick me, but I get to choose him. I have no fear of missing out, because I know my business. Likewise, if the customer does not understand what I am doing, I give him the knowledge to make an informed choice, then it becomes his choice to keep picking me if he knows I give him value.

 

Think about all the death traps that come into your shop for lack of proper maintenance that have exceeded the parts useful life; Are you comfortable knowing they are out on the road where your wife and children may come across them?

 

Sell the maintenance, save a life.

[stowintegrity]

This topic has surely given me a lot to think about. I really appreciate many of the opinions expressed, and I think it's given me a good idea of how I'm going to proceed. Although I'm not convinced that predicitve maintenance is right for us, I'm eagerly looking forward to implementing a much more aggressive approach to offering maintenance service that I TRULY believe will benefit my customers.

 

I recently had the privilege of talking with some manufacturing reps for a few different companies producing fluid exchange equipment, and I think we're going to use BG Products. Their data was thorough, the equipment comes with a really strong warranty, and I believe the training after the sale, and for the life of our relationship with them is going to be well worth the intitial investment.

 

Of course, now I have to compare a cost/index pricing model to the market/competitive data and decide exactly what my company's offering is going to look like on a "menu of services" as far as what I'll charge for them.

 

I haven't seen all the data yet, but I'm going to guess that I'll be able to offer pricing incentives when we're authorized to perform 2 or more services on the same visit.

 

Thanks again, everyone, for your valuable insights. Once again, this community has proven to be a valuable resource for us. I can only hope that over time I'm able to contribute as much help as I've received.

 

Thanks, team!