mspecperformance

Cars and car makers are becoming more and more complicated. The industry is trending towards having to have separate scanners/computers for every car make. Sooner or later 1 scanner fits all type of tools will be obsolete or very very limited. If you want something for general repair I hear the newest Autel is pretty good especially for the money. If you are looking for something that flash, go OEM tool.

Document everything. Liability is a hell of a thing.

Man this week has been a swing and a miss down the order! We are getting a lot of cars in for specific problems and we are having a tremendously hard time closing sales. I am unsure if its a bout of back luck, August blues (back to school) or are we doing something wrong. Very frustrating!

2 possible scenarios I see...

1. It is possible you did not properly communicate everything you just laid out. Did you personally speak to the customer? Did a service advisor speak to the customer? Maybe something got lost in translation when you were explaining you did not want to service the front brakes due to them being very new.

2. The guy is a total douche bag.

Do you perform digital inspections? If you had visual proof that his rear brakes were in need of service then you could have rebuttal stating facts and proof instead of your word against his.

Man I feel for ya. I am really tired of these whiny baby customers as well. Besides that we are having a record slow week so far so I am pulling my hair out.

CARMandP, $2000 all the profit?

They have been working well for me. Although here is a tip... your marketing rep will work hard for you however if you want to see more results you have to be an active participant in the process. For instance I am currently writing content and uploading my own landing pages. Something Kukui has not done for me in 18 months. I had been looking for ways to boost SEO and exposure on a few car makes we work on and waiting on them was like watching the grass grow. I have been doing it myself but the kukui dashboard makes its pretty easy to make any adjustments and changes I want.

had a similar situation happen on a 1987 325i. Took care of the timing belt, guy drives upstate 200 miles over July 4th and car breaks down. Local shop up there inception'ed his stupid ass and he was telling us it was the timing belt. Got the car towed down here, took a look, timing belt was intacted, oil pump pulley exploded, bent some valves. Explained to the customer that we don't believe it was our fault due to what we see (timing belt and tensioner completely find, belt a little shredded but still 85% together). Guy flips out tells us hes going to sue us etc. Bite the bullet and offered to put another engine in for him. Have another retard customer that wants to take us to court over $1300 in which he acknowledges $900 he authorized (he actually authorized $3200 but doesnt want to pay). We still have his car and I have to go through the process of throwing a lien on it. Also the car is worth 25k in poor shape and this fine example of a human being wants to argue over $400 (which is the machine shop charge for his cylinder head that we had to pay).

I dread that I'll experience the same come December / January.

We have used the universal coolant for a number of years with absolutely NO PROBLEMS. I personally will not put DEXCOL back into any vehicle unless an owner insisted. I have removed it from any vehicle I have owned. As far as oils go we stock full synthetics in just about every weight except 10W30 and 10W40. If a vehicle calls for full synthetic that is all we will use unless we have the owner instruct us otherwise and then we put a disclaimer on the ticket.

Most German vehicle have a specific requirement which can be found in most information sources such as All Data and Mitchell. Many off the shelf oil brands do not have the required certification from the manufacturer. Does it really make a difference? That is debatable. Is the correct method set by the manufacturer in performing an oil service on a German vehicle? Yes.

As for the coolant, I would have to strongly disagree. Incorrect coolant is a consistent red flag for a previous service shop not knowing what they are doing. It is a personal peeve of mine since before I was a shop owner and just a BMW owner I would hate to have a shop poor green dex death into my cooling system.

The two fluid examples are easy sells when we meet a first time client. When they don't know the oil that is going into their car or if we pop open the cap and see green coolant its a wrap.

I am pretty sure Asian Imports have stringent specifications especially with the new vehicles.

I know a shop across town from me that puts up great sales numbers. I also know that they use subpar fluids, synthetic blend oil in cars calling for specific synthetic oil, and wrong coolant. They also scam their customers by charging their customers for fluid flushes and do the old suck a little out and top off method. Sucks for the industry, I don't know how these people sleep at night.

Since we are a German Car Only shop it peeves the crap out of me to see anything other than make specific coolant. Actually this is the only time I point it out to my clients that whoever was servicing their vehicle was completely incompetent and did not know how to service their vehicle properly. I don't throw other shops under the bus but this is one of my only exceptions. I have replaced several head gaskets over the years and cracked open several more engines and have seen the damage it causes (rust, metal eaten away from corrosion, etc). I really hope my ASO brothers out there use the proper coolant!

I never have this issue but dealing with particular customer has gotten me to rethink my processes.

Running into an issue lately. Most of the work we do the customer drops off the car and we give them a call after. Generally we usually send them our findings via e-mail or text from our inspection report and then we discuss the recommended work. Customer authorizes over the phone, we do the work, they pick up. Done deal.

Normally we have no issues... normally I mean years I have never encountered a problem. Recently working with a knuckle head and he is claiming he didn't authorize some work to be done. He also never signed an estimate due to all correspondence through telephone. Also to keep in mind most of my tickets are $1000+ and I have not had any issues thus far. This is situation is causing me to rethink my procedures. Unfortunately having a customer authorize via signature can be difficult due to customers going to work, going away, living far enough distance from the shop etc. What have you done in your shop? Obviously there are state laws and such to consider as well...

Welcome! These guys are really nice and very helpful.

 

Went to the website you posted, now looking for a copy of the book.

PAP if you have not read the E-Myth you HAVE TO!

40k over 3 years isn't so bad.

im moving down to florida!

I just re-upped with MS!. The plan works if you work the plan and find a consultant you can work with. My FIL is great at the transmission rebuild side and not so great at the business/customer service end (his words). He admits that we wasted the first 40K by not following the plan and not working well with our first two consultants.

 

In one of our recent meetings we discussed the idea of signing back up and trying again, but 40K isn't chump change. We agreed that I would do the program and he would allow us to implement changes to prepare us for the transfer of ownership between him and my wife and I. So far so good.

 

There are better programs with a different bent to them, such as Elite, but MS! works well for us. Whatever plan, program, or coaching you decide on, you have to be willing to put in everything you can and learn to take 100% responsibility for the results you achieve, good or bad. ​​

40K???? Over how long of a period??? That is a ton of money... If you are seeing gains 6 digits to your bottom line I suppose its worth it...

Good luck and you are on the path. Educating yourself is the first step to freedom.

If you go with their service please let us know if you are satisfied. Curious to know if the premium service is consistent throughout the process. As we know its very easy to charge a bunch of money. I hope they can deliver!

mspec,

 

You're in a populated area and...

 

You are surrounded by dealerships that do not have very good reviews,

which puts your shop in a great position to pick up all those customers

that are dissatisfied.

 

Cars still need oil services, maintenance and repair work, in the winter.

Those vehicles are going to be in somebody's shop.

 

I'm just curious, why do you think business will be falling off for your shop?

I think its more of the fear that i have. I have spent years not understanding how to run my business and it wasn't until about a year ago that I started truly educating myself and seeking help.

Comparatively speaking winter months are tougher to work through due to the weather, shorter days etc. We don't completely die off during the winter of course but also with Christmas and the after affects it always seems December

and January are the most anemic months. I just want to do everything I can to counteract that potential problem.

If you have a high car count and there is a lot of traffic on and off your lifts I think that it may be worth calculating. When you calculate a techs worth per minute you'll see how much you could potentially miss out on

My problem with Bolt on Technology is that I had a problem with Mitchell and they did nothing to remedy the situation. My plans are to never, ever spend another dime with Mitchell.

 

Sorry to hear. Bolt On has been good to me. Mitchell can be hit or miss

So first, Management Success must be

a clear definition of what Management Success means to the individual. It must be known, communicated, and understood. Next it is a beingness, doingness, and havingness of the words Management Success. The following are what Management Success means to me.

Management - The ability to handle and direct people and particles toward a predetermined direction or vision.

Management - The ability to get people to do what is needed, when it's needed for the purpose of production.

Management - Setting and directing the elements of the environment using efficient actions toward the attainment of necessary results and goals.

Management - Controlling ones environment through causitive actions towards the attainment of known goals, desires, and end results.

Management - The way that people control and organize different situations that happen in their lives or their work.

Management is not coping. Often times people confuse their coping with management. Coping would be more a reliance of luck to see things through to brighter days. Coping is not very predictable nor fruitful. MANAGE per it's derivation/origin comes from mana (hand) to handle. To have Management Success, I or (One) must be the manager(handler) of my own success. I manage, I create, I make things happen, I am the responsible party. Whether through action or inaction, whether problem or solution, I am the MANAGER(handler) of my own SUCCESS .

Next:

Organization: The ability and constant action of setting, directing and arranging particles (people, places, things), for optimal flow and function in a dynamic fashion toward perpetual motion and growth.

Management is: Organization (as a verb not a noun, doingness of) + Known Desired Outcome = Management

So with continuous organazition and knowing what I am trying to accomplish I handle my life and environment toward the success I want to have.

Success: The Setting(Having) and Achieving of ones Goals.

SETTING GOALS(Having) + ACHIEVING GOALS = SUCCESS

Since I have been mentioned in this conversation, and have had first hand experience with the company and its products. And have used them once, then re-signed with them a second time I will gladly participate in any question and answer on the matter. All one has to do is talk on the phone. PM me with a name and phone number and I will gladly communicate with anyone who has a true interest in prosperity. If you want to blame, complain or criticize don't waste my time, your time, or any body else's time whose lives are geared toward prosperity. Also, I am not a representative nor have a vested interest in any company. I'm a guy with intellect and observational skills, and real solutions to real issues I've had to overcome in life and in business.

I hope you don't mind that I had mentioned you in the thread. My own experience was not a good one however I know you are very successful and have used their services with positive effects so I felt it was only fair to counter my position with another perspective.

Exacty the reason ill never get into the used car game

That is a customer you never want. Once a customer dictates what needs to be done and how to do it, u have to shut the door on them. The only people who will take on this work are 1 person operations just getting started types.