Extended hours

[Jeff]

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[mspecperformance]

There is a method of thinking that says saying YES to every customer and offering extended hours is a road to success. Gary Gunn and his company the Turn Around Tour promote this heavily. Also Greg Sands of Mudlick Mail talks about this here:

 

http://www.ratchetandwrench.com/RatchetWrench/January-2015/The-Road-to-a-Better-2015/

 

 

I don't neccessarily subscribe to this way however it may work for you. I wish I had more advice for you. I don't know what it looks like in your market. If you are on a budget then certainly grassroots method of marketing is probably best. Set a quota for the amount of cards you want to hand out in your community a week and make sure you do it. Stuff like that. Also stay on top of and mine your Customer Database. This is probably the cheapest and most effective way to boost your sales in the immediate if you are not already doing so.

[Shopcat]

Jeff,

I was wondering what changed about your business? For example did you loose car count, or ARO? Maybe you can get back on track without extended hours. Obviously extended hours costs more in the immediate, and maybe just masking another symptom of slow business. I like the idea of 8-5 M-F. Extended hours may cause your team and yourself to suffer burn out quickly. We all need a break. I suggest make it work without spreading your assets any thinner.

[Jeff]

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Edited February 5, 2015 by Jeff

[slowtech]

As it is now if I ain't working late on a car I am doing paper work and balancing the checkbook

 

Sounds like you are already open extended hours. Advertising longer hours may only spread the same problem over a very long day.

[KMS]

I don't know your clientele, but it definitely sounds like your ARO is way low, or your customer count is low, or maybe both. You sound like you work a lot of hours already. It isn't always necessary to work extended hour. I would look to see if how I could get my ARO higher before I would work more hours. Great Quote:

 

It's not the time you put into your work, it's the work you put into your time!

 

Words I live by!

Edited February 16, 2015 by KMS

[mspecperformance]

Jeff, what is your car count looking like? Maybe you need to find something in terms of marketing to bring in more quality customers.

[Jeff]

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[ncautoshop]

Thanks for the input folks. Car counts and aro are down. Really don't have any good answers. Will be spending more time going over the reports to see who is due, who hasnt returned etc. Like I said I am not hard to find and my reviews are stellar.

We hit a little rough patch through the last 2 months! It'll come back!

 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

[mspecperformance]

Jeff, you should do some simple google searches like auto repair in [your area] and see where you rank on the search results

[shumsauto]

I have though about extended hours on many occasions but I think it could be risky move because it can train your customers to try to come on that day and not figure out how they can drop the car off.

Also most customers during extended hours would be waiters and that would get the ARO WAY down.

Also parts delivery is an issue because most parts stores close at 5:30 - 6 pm so you may be stuck with a customer that needs his car back TONIGHT and you can't get a 2 dollar part that you accidentally broke till tomorrow = unhappy customer.

And last - I believe if customers don't consider it important to make arrangements during regular business hours to leave the car and service it right with no rush, they will try to get you to hurry up, cut corners, "just pass the safety anyways because I need the car back RIGHT NOW" and just overall not quality customers that we are all looking for.

At my shop we have night drop and late pick up option if the customer pays over the phone. We have a lock box outside that the customer gets a code for after paying the bill and they can pick up any time. That solves pretty much all of our problems with customers that work late. Just my 2 cents 😄