Sometimes, A compromise is a win

[Joe Marconi]

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[mspecperformance]

Sometimes we have to take care of our customers, the good ones that have been there when we were counting pennies and praying we had enough money for the rent the same month. Those same customers that have come back time and time again.

 

Had an incident somewhat related to this topic. I am in the middle of trying to transition my technicians to flat rate from salary (Joe probably knows lol) and my slower technician in terms of hours weekly and I had a bit of an argument today about certain services. He was taught in tech school that everything he puts his hands on he should get paid for. I agreed with him however the subject of wiper blades is what we were talking about. My policy is we install wiper blades complimentary for our customers. It takes a tech 2 minutes to do so and it builds a lot of good will with our customers. I was explaining to him that we are going to always get paid for work that we do however certain things we do for our great customers (all of our customers are great or else they aren't OUR customers) such as wiper blades, tire fill, safety inspections (visual) will almost always be complimentary. It is part of the value we bring to the table that sets us apart from our competition both independent and dealer.

[KMS]

Sometimes we have to take care of our customers, the good ones that have been there when we were counting pennies and praying we had enough money for the rent the same month. Those same customers that have come back time and time again.

 

Had an incident somewhat related to this topic. I am in the middle of trying to transition my technicians to flat rate from salary (Joe probably knows lol) and my slower technician in terms of hours weekly and I had a bit of an argument today about certain services. He was taught in tech school that everything he puts his hands on he should get paid for. I agreed with him however the subject of wiper blades is what we were talking about. My policy is we install wiper blades complimentary for our customers. It takes a tech 2 minutes to do so and it builds a lot of good will with our customers. I was explaining to him that we are going to always get paid for work that we do however certain things we do for our great customers (all of our customers are great or else they aren't OUR customers) such as wiper blades, tire fill, safety inspections (visual) will almost always be complimentary. It is part of the value we bring to the table that sets us apart from our competition both independent and dealer.

 

We have the same policy here, and all of my techs understand completely. We also will replace some bulbs for free. What we did to make up for some of there time is pay them for a courtesy inspection .25/hr. It has not only helped with doing the small things for free, but also has help with upselling on every vehicle that comes through our door.

[Shopcat]

Perception is reality for customers. If you do a few of the small labor jobs at no charge, you are looking out for them. Its a matter of having long term business vision. Your customers develop affinity if they stop by their regular shop with a problem and leave feeling like you are looking out for them, not just charging for every single thing. This will pay off a lot more than the couple of tenths labor you could have charged.

[bluewater182]

I have my general service guy do tires, visual safety checks (with shop foreman supervision) He gets to keep the tips from tire checks, bulbs (I usually don't charge for good customers) Wiper blades goto the tech that recommended (they get $1 a blade spiff).