mspecperformance

Bumping this up

I have to agree seems like you are being taken advantage. She might think in her mind she is right but let's be honest here... She probably has no idea what her car looks like on a week to week basis let alone day to day. If I were you I would probably explain that you were honest enough to admit to the windshield however you feel like you are being taken advantage of. I know it's a hard situation and I feel like you are probably leaning toward caving in. Best of luck to you.

For my market online reviews are immensely important. Once you have a great online reputation you can see how many people walk in and comment on how great your reviews are and that being a major driving force.

DemandForce is customer retention marketing and not new customer marketing. You can set a lot of your CRM marketing to be "automated" but it still does require a lot to set up properly and you still have to monitor it.

Hi James welcome to the forum. This is a great place with a lot of positive people and knowledge.

 

Some quick questions, is it a general repair shop? Do you have any experience in the automotive field? Are you taking over just the business? Is there property involved? Business currently functioning? Any techs? What kind of shop management is currently being used? Do you have access to a listing of your customers contact information? emails and addresses?

 

Hello, our software does not integrate with Maxx Traxx. That could change in the future, however there are no immediate plans to integrate with Maxx Traxx. At the moment, Bolt On Technology's software add-ons work with Mitchell1, NAPA TRACS, All Data, Shop Controller, Tasco, Pace and TCS. Please call if you have additional questions: 610-400-1019. Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

Mike, doesn't bolt on work with RO Writer as well?

 

 

I didn't care for the Google reviews for Auto Vital so I have spent all weekend looking for a different solution. Every one here seems to like Bolt On Technology so I am taking a hard look at them.

 

I currently use Omnique but I am bailing on them after 2 years because of errors and design flaws. Omnique has some big upgrade which will get rid of silver light which may help them but I can not wait.

 

I am moving to Maxx Traxx at midnight December 31, 2014 and I was wondering if Bolt on works with the Maxx Traxx system?

 

Used, any particular reason you are moving over to Maxx Traxx? I used to be with RO Writer. That was a fairly decent program however the way they have their system set up is that you buy the software outright whilst other shop management software you pay a subscription fee. I did not stay with RO Writer because there were option I had to upgrade for and it would have cost me an upfront cost of thousands of dollars. I have heard MaxxTraxx is nice because it is fairly affordable however the reason why I didn't look into further was that there was no integration with a digital inspection service. That for me was the deal breaker. Moving forward I knew I wanted to perform digital inspections and use them as a tool for increased profitability.

 

So far I have been using Mitchell and Bolt On. Any SMS is never going to be perfect but so far Mitchell has everything i have needed in a management system and I have no complaints. The revisions tab is especially useful for service writing.

Great post Joe! Just the words I like to read considering my December was less than stellar. Looking forward to an awesome 2015!

Used message me if u need advice on bolt on

Great posts thsnks used and joe! Right now i have a bosch machine which takes forever and has been giving us problems. Any alignments we have to redo kills productivity and profitability. Our rack is also positioned in a bad spot. Anyway keep those answers coming!

I am trying to do some research on the impact of the alignment service is to repairs shops. If you sell a lot of tires, alignments are important. It also drives a lot of front end work. Its also a service you provide to be a complete provider of everything your customers need when it comes to car care. It is also probably the most expensive equipment you will ever have to purchase. If you guys have alignment racks, or send out your alignments please answer the follow questions and hopefully we can build a healthy discussion on this topic!

 

 

1. Do you have an alignment machine? What kind of alignment system do you have (please be specific)?Do you sublet your alignments? If you sublet your alignments what is the price you pay and the price you charge? If you perform in house alignments how much do you charge? How many hours do you pay your technician?

 

 

2. How efficient and productive are your alignments? How long does it take your technician to perform alignments? Are you doing predominantly 2 wheel or 4 wheel alignments? What are the times for both? Do you have to redo any comeback alignments? If so what are the return rates?

 

 

3. What percentage of your car count do you offer alignments to? What percentage do you actually align? What percentage do you also perform suspension work with alignments? What percentage do you perform tire work?

 

 

4. What is your sales process for alignments? Do you perform an alignment check with your machine? How long does it take for you check the alignment and give a print out to your customer? Do you find this method effective? What percentage do you close alignments with this method? If you have another method or sales process please explain.

 

 

5. If you have an alignment machine and rack, what was your ROI on the equipment? How long did it take you to pay it back? Did you finance? lease? pay outright?

 

 

6. How much do you advertise/market your alignment services? What have you found to be effective?

 

 

7. Do you do pre alignment inspections to check the steering/suspension? Do you charge for this if the person opts not perform an alignment?

 

 

8. Do you perform wholesale alignments for other shops? What price do you charge them? What is your retail price? How many cars do you see for this service?

 

 

 

Please be as specific as possible. Unless you a serious micro manager I am guessing you may not have the figures for the alignment percentages. If you have a guesstimate PLEASE note that it is a guess opposed to actual figures you are tracking. I think this will be a great topic of discussion!

I am guessing you are referring to rear wheel drive vehicles?

I know this is slightly old topic, but I don't get much time to check things out here. Very good topic, and something I didn't think about. How are you billing these additional hours? Are you simply just adding time to the part change, or are you adding a totally new line for test drive and verify? At my shop we do a ton of motors, and all the testing and driving after the repair cost a lot of time.

You should look at your numbers and see how much time you actually spend on the job especially during the verification of repair part. This is very important as a possible area you are leaking billable hours. Of course whenever you increase the cost of a job you have in increase VALUE. the value you should be adding is the additional testing and verification of the repair which should be presented to your customer has a benefit and noted on their invoice.

Last 2.5 weeks have been CRAP for me. All I'll be thinking about is how to make 2015 the best year. Its going to drive me NUTS!

I only have one I built via our digital inspections. Come to think of it I have to revamp it for 2015.

Still don't agree with the thinking of offering discounts. Those customers are short timers and not my choice of clientele.

 

davine4real,>>>> Charge for alignment check if the work isn't performed. Don't do alignment if you are not allowed to do it 100%...items up for law suit. You don't need customers who want you to do that anyway

It only makes complete sense to charge for inspection since a test drive and complete suspension/front end "inspection" was done. Not shops fault it found concerning issues that the customer chose not to have done. A customer is fortunate to find a shop to be honest enough to not just shove a bogus alignment through just to make sure to get more $$.

 

 

Offering discounts is a business model in which I do not subscribe to.

 

Since I am charging a "premium" price for an alignment my next project is to come up with a benefits list of our alignments. Hopefully if I revamp my approach I will not get the same push back.

Unfortunately this is the America we live in.

Mario, I've been there and I have a lot of very nice customers from my old ways of doing business. I have however since looked at my numbers and I was not making the Gross Profit Margins I wanted. Referrals from these customers are fine and good however from my experience a lot of these referrals can bring on customers just like them. We have since weeded out some of our customers and focused on the great ones. My car count has gone down however my ARO and Gross sales monthly has seen a BIG jump. I have not had to deal with a lot of annoying phone shoppers in the last 6 months but these past 2 weeks have been atrocious.

Alfred, we had been in those situations before so we started not doing alignment we knew were going to come out like crap. It saves us time from actually performing the alignment. Unfortunately these deranged people have other thoughts in mind after I show and tell.

Could you not change your script to give out the quote, then follow up with what sets your apart from other shops (ASE's, warranty, rentals/loaners, better parts, fast turn around)? And also follow up with "I think I can get that price even lower when I look at it here in the shop. I've had a lot of cars lately that got quoted a bunch of parts they don't really need".

 

Just seems like instead of arguing with a potential customer, give em what they want, then tell them why your price may be higher than others.

Once you give out a price that is all that's in the mind of the customer.

 

I do not argue with customers, these are consumers that obviously have an agenda.

The idea is you don't want to get into giving estimates over the phone. There will always be someone less expensive than you and if you don't take the time to educate the potential good customers on what sets you apart then you'll most likely not get the sale anyway. Of course my goal is not a quick job but rather the longevity of a customer relationship. I am fairly decent at turning people over because like you read a lot on here many people don't know what questions to ask other than price. Unfortunately I've been bombarded with time wasting bottom feeding consumers. These are the type that treat what we do as a commodity like buying milk at a store. They think any shop can fill their needs.

 

My ratio of people that I give quotes to the amount of times they actually come in is super low.

He was a younger guy it sounded like. Most likely on the forums gaining knowledge from other internet master techs. Very annoying to say the least.

Got a call, customer asked for a quote (2007 335i). I think I even exhaled when I heard that but I went through the my general run down. Here is how the convo went,

 

 

Me: Sir what kind of problems are you experiencing with your vehicle?

 

Customer: I need some quotes on some work for my car.

 

Me: Did you have the problems diagnosed somewhere?

 

Customer: No but I know what I need.

 

Me: Ok what do you need to have serviced?

 

Customer: I THINK I need my valve cover gasket changed, I THINK I need my oil filter housing gasket changed, I THINK I need a belt and belt tensioner and I have the parts, I THINK I need a mechatronics sleeve and thrust arms. How much?

 

Me: Well sir if I can make a recommendation... since you did not get your vehicle diagnosed by a professional I would like to invite you to bring the vehicle to us and we can perform a visual inspection for you to determine what you do and don't need. I can then give you a proper estimate.

 

Customer: But my car doesn't start, I can't move it.

 

My brain goes into the UGH mode.

 

Me: Why doesn't the car start?

 

Customer: The belt jumped off.

 

Me: It sounds like you may have experienced a problem with the tensioner bolt bending and/or your tensioner failing. When the belt falls off on this particular engine you can do a lot of damage other than the obvious. belt material can eat into the front crank seal, damage the radiator and affect anything in the front of the car.

 

Customer: Oh really I didn't know.

 

Me: Yes so it would make the most sense for you to bring the car to us so can properly assess what you need.

 

Customer: I would have to tow it to you then and I don't know if I want to do that without getting a price.

 

Me: Well sir I am not charging you to inspect the car as of now.

 

Customer: I would have to pay for a tow then unless you offer a free tow. Do you do that?

 

Me: No sir unfortunately we do not however I am not charging you to inspect your car. For the cost of a tow you can have a professional look at and I can create an accurate estimate for you. If you don't like it you can always go somewhere else.

 

Customer: Well your not going to get my business unless I get a quote. I want to bring it to you because your specialist.

 

 

 

and the convo went on for another few minutes with nothing being resolved.

 

Odd ball people have been calling me all day and its driving me insane.

Shopcat, thanks so much! its really nice to hear kind words !! I'm not perfect and I certainly don't even think I am all that good but I do care about my business and my customers to try to improve everyday. Just a rough patch right now with so many oddball calls and customers.

Thanks shopcat! Although I feel a certain pain in my side any time I let a sale walk out of the door. When things are going good I couldn't care less because we are flowing with big tickets and I am concerned with servicing my great customers that value our work. When things are a bit slow which isnt too often it really stings even to let $150 bucks out the door

Thanks shopcat! Although I feel a certain pain in my side any time I let a sale walk out of the door. When things are going good I couldn't care less because we are flowing with big tickets and I am concerned with servicing my great customers that value our work. When things are a bit slow which isnt too often it really stings even to let $150 bucks out the door