mspecperformance

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

Here is a good one I got today from a phone shopper...

 

"Well your not going to get my business unless I get a price"

 

 

yay!!!! my December sucks

The problem this guy had was a phone call to another shop that gave a price that was probably $100 too high for the repair. This scared him up and made him look for another route. When we doubled the part and charged book labor we were that much cheaper. I think someone screwed up on the look up which happens.

 

 

Thats why giving prices over the phone is horrible.

Monday we were dead as could be so I give a guy a price for the labor to remove and re-install an alternator that he would take and have rebuilt. I wouldn't normally do this but $70 would help pay my lube tech. Anyway the car came in and we managed to sell the whole job plus a radiator he is coming back in for. Sometimes it works out that way.

 

However, usually people with their own parts are time wasters. They come in with 5W40 oil instead of 5W30 and don't know the difference. That happened this week on a stripped drain plug referral from Walmart. Drain plug was a little damaged because the kid was trying to change his own oil and using the wrong size SAE instead of metric. He didn't know the difference in the wrench or the oil. He was litterally TOO STUPID to be changing his own oil.

 

I would have done the same thing with your Indian customer. The Indians are always trying to beat you down. I once had an Indian woman come in and ask me to change her tail light bulbs which she had. I did it and then when I tried to charge her she wanted it for free. I went out and take the new bulbs out and put the old burnt out ones back in. I did it because I didn't want to see her again.

 

 

It is really horrible to resort to "profiling" since thats all we see on the news. I have been through this dance many times before though. Great customers either don't ask for price or respond well to the education process. When I receive a lot of push back I don't think I've ever had a good experience. Now I am accepting a job on their terms instead of mine. Doesn't usually work out well.

although somewhat off topic, I dont work on any european cars outside of transmission replacements. They just arent worth the headache. Even the simpler seeming problems turn into a pain in the butt most of the time. And on top of it most of the european cars i see are one that were never maintained, they come in and have 15 codes in the system, and the customer wants to fix it as cheap as possible. I usually have the type of customers that buy the high end cars because they just want the emblem.... Champagne taste with beer pockets... I dont want to deal with them types...

 

I don't have a lot of those but the ones I do I hate. I seemed to attract them with alignments some how. At least that was when I priced them competitively with the hacks.

Cold and snow!

Customer walks in today (Thursday). Originally made an appointment for Monday for an oxygen sensor install. Had it diagnosed at the dealer. Obviously called us because he wanted a better price (and he was of Indian ethnicity, profiling!!!). Explained that it would be in his best interest for us to diagnose the problem so we can stand behind the repair. Of course customer didn't want to pay 2x for diag which is understandable. Told him I would scan the vehicle prior to the work being done and if we relatively confident we could do the work however we still were not responsible for the diag. Price was even given to him over the phone for the complete job with parts. Customer walks in with a box in hand. Something I can't stand is the audacity of people walking in like nothing is wrong after missing appointments. Either way I am still very polite when I speak to all my customers always. I mention to the customer. This is how our conversation went in a nut shell:

 

 

Me: "Can I ask you a question? Did we make an appointment for you on Monday?"

 

Customer: "Oh yes I'm so sorry I couldn't make it"

 

Me: "Oh ok thats not a problem. Next time we can always reschedule. I see you have a box in your hand, did you buy your own oxygen sensor?"

 

Customer: "Yes I bought it from the dealer"

 

Me: "Oh I'm sorry, we don't install outside parts"

 

Customer: "Oh I didn't know that"

 

Me: "I apologize if there was any miss communication however you received a price quote with parts. We do not sell parts and labor we sell service which includes both. It is also backed up by our 2 year 24,000 mile warranty. The only way we can ensure the integrity of the work and to provide warranty is to procure parts from our warehouses which allow us the ability to warranty and defective parts with no cost and minimal down time to you. We have this policy for the peace of mine and security of our customers"

 

Customer: "can't you make an exception for me this one time. This is my first time here"

 

Me: "No I'm sorry. We have our policies in place for the security of our customers. You could always return that part and we could perform the work for you. Besides that sir you had an appointment for Monday and I couldn't fit you in today"

 

Customer: "I just don't want to spend 2 hours to go return the part"

 

 

At this point I did one of these :-/ and he left annoyed/defeated.

 

 

Some of you may have handled the situation differently. I felt that even though the rules of the game were explained to the customer he had complete disregard for the way we do business. Even after it was explained to him again he wanted exceptions made. Don't get me wrong I bend over backwards, then forwards and I tie myself into a pretzel for my customers. I am very clear and concise when I answer questions and explain to potential customers what our processes are. It is unfair for the customers who booked appointments for me to jump this guy in front of them. It is also unfair to all the other customers who accept our business practices and become great customers that I make an exception for this guy and install his provided parts. I also think I avoided (although a SMALL chance) that the job could have blew up in my face with the wrong diag or faulty parts. I had a strong feeling that if exceptions were made both in scheduling and parts that it would not have made a difference with this customer. Asian cultures do not value customer service. Many times have I gave a complimentary inspection, explained to them the whole 9 yards only to have them go to another shop most likely ran by someone in their own ethnic community and for me to lose the sale and time. I know from experience as well, I am a Chinese American and my people do it to me too!!!

 

 

Anyway, feel free to call me an idiot for letting a $150 sale walk out the door. Believe it or not it would be nice to make some money this week. Down on sales this week, having a problem upselling probably due to everyone being tight from Christmas, loads of weird ass diag problems with the cars we have so even though my ARO is far greater than $150 any money is good money right now!

I think "show and tell" is the way to go. Get that fresh steel on the rack and inspect it, like any other situation or repair. Show the owner the offending parts and explain if it's not tight, the alignment will NOT hold and it is a waste of time and money. Educate and inform your clients, they will appreciate your candor and you will sell plenty of repair and alignments. Lose the bottom feeder Euro Car crowd. You said "My philosophy is I cannot afford dissatisfied customers and I avoid negative reviews like the plague." Be selective who you take as a client, and bid the bottom feeders good riddance. Let these go folks go to your competition, and I say that is a win-win. YOU decide who your clients are!

 

 

Sometimes you just can't tell. Before I implemented digital inspections I've had customers in the shop under the car an shown why we didn't want to perform an alignment. No matter what you say or do SOME people want it their way and their way only. I have just seen a very unusual concentration of that crowd when it comes to alignments.

I think this is where the problem lies. ( When we refuse to.) Look at it from the customers side. I have X amount of dollars to spend. They want X amount above that to even do What was asked.

 

So for X amount (1/2 price) I can set the toe and center the steering wheel as close as we can get it. It will not be right but it will be better.

 

That gives them choices. Now they feel you want to help, even if its not 100%. They are aware of the additional problems and should leave with an estimate and an appointment.

 

That is a great point. I am of the philosophy if we cant do it right dont do it at all. I guess we can offer to try to set it as straight as possible. I will try this.

I sub out our alignments. Going price is $49.95 at 4 shops within two miles of me. I have a speciality shop around the corner that aligns out cars for $30. I can't justify the cost of the machine for what he charges.

 

I have a shop that I sub out to from time to time that does alignments for $50 with brand new hunter equipment. Problem is its a 2 man process to drop off and pick up. When you work out the numbers its not as lucrative as you think. Besides that anything I let leave out of my shop opens myself up to an opportunity to lose a customer or their confidence.

What I have noticed is being "competitive" with alignment pricing got me the exact customers I didn't want. Sure they drove German cars but they were bottom dollar seekers. My philosophy is I cannot afford dissatisfied customers and I avoid negative reviews like the plague. Very deflating to think about because when I made the investment in the aligner we have I thought it would be a really great move for us. When and if I do move the rack and get a new aligner I really hope that I can profit from it.

Just wondering how everyone's sales is doing and what is traditional for you during Christmas time. We live off a smaller car count, higher ARO. We have seen a dip in spending and lower car count than in weeks past. How about you guys?

flacvabeach, our alignment car count is low as well. This is probably in part due to facility utilization (I've had a lot of dead cars around) and the alignment rack being blocked in at times, alignment rack in the back of the shop, not being confident with my equipment. I am currently looking into upgrading my aligner to the newest Hunter unit and also moving my rack closer to the front of the shop. One thing I have done that has help stave off the unwanted customers is I have increased our charge on alignments significantly ($120 to $176). I may still run alignment specials just to see if I can attract and convert some customers however if I still experience the same problem where our efforts are netting negative results.

What we explain to people is that if we try to align it under those conditions they are throwing their money away. AS soon as the suspect part moves the alignment is no good. We do not want to waste their money.

yup, I say the same thing. I act as the SA here and while I'll never say I am great, I am very very good at connecting with my customers. It just seems that alignment customers are not the type that follow what I say. They will nod as if they agree, say they need to schedule another day to come in to get the work done then go off somewhere else to get the alignment sorted and we end up being the crooks because a hack aligned their vehicle without dealing with the suspension/steering issues. Of course this doesn't happen all the time but definitely a lot more frequently than I am comfortable with.

Bolt-On Technology and Auto Vitals seem to be the leaders there. We use Bolt On and its great.

Since half the battle is getting people in the door, Why not just put it on the rack. Then discuss any problems you find. Show the customer, and let them decide. Good as you can get it or proper repair and align. Then note refused repairs on invoice.

 

That is exactly what we do. When we refuse to align due to bad suspension or steering components apparently that is something that is unacceptable to some people.

I find that if you deny them an alignment they think you are the devil once some hack performs a half ass alignment and you look like the bad guy.

Since I have been offering alignments as a service it has been mixed results. Typical instance is a customer will want to schedule an appointment for an alignment. We will advise them over the phone that we have to inspect the suspension and steering systems to make sure we can perform a proper alignment. Vehicles in NYC are beat to hell with the roads the way they are. Many times unless it is a very new vehicle or a vehicle with low mileage there will be things that the vehicle needs. All this is disclosed to the customer BEFORE any work is done. We also explain to them at the there is no charge for this inspection if we go ahead and perform the alignment OR we perform the recommended work and the alignment however this is a $39.97 inspection charge otherwise. Of course they agree. We check out the car and at times we get the work and perform the alignment. Other times we explain to the customer we cannot perform the alignment and would not be in their best benefit. The customer leaves and that is the end of that. Most of the time these customers who decline any further work simply take it to a hack who will align the vehicle to a better spec than it was and then we look like crooks in the eyes of the customer. The reason I bring this up is rarely do we have unhappy customers. I just got a unsubscribe to our e-mail list and reason was "Unhappy with the service." I check the history and we had only seen the vehicle once before and it was for an alignment. There were problems noted down in their repair order with their suspension. The customer left and never to be seen again.

 

I feel like I get far more frequency of situations like this.

 

Are we not attracting the right customers when it comes to alignments? Should I not even offer alignments other than to our regular customers? Should I take a different approach when it comes to booking alignment jobs? No amount of educating the customer seems to work on these people. It is apparently set in their minds that they can get an alignment we are just out to get them.

 

It really gets on my nerves to say the least. I do everything in my power to not take on the problem customer or problem jobs and I feel like I am getting really good at it. The alignment situation seems to be my biggest challenge when it comes to these unwanted customers.

 

Maybe the I am just bitter about the message of "unhappy with the service" when we were up front, gracious and were 110% honest.

LOL Gonzo. Your daughter was really stringing him along. I can't believe he stayed on the phone that long without getting mad!

shopcat, I agree completely. I was looking for the best way to NOT give a price quote but also minimize damage with a phone customer. People don't like to hear no. Also someone that is not open to listening to reason is obviously a selfish person and my experience is that if they are slighted it wouldn't be beyond them to write a bad review or something to that effect. Yeah I have VERY little faith in the character of the people living in my city LOL

I agree those articles are very good, especially the checklist on this article:

http://www.ratchetandwrench.com/RatchetWrench/December-2013/Make-Fleet-Service-a-Valuable-Addition-to-Your-Shop/

 

As with everything, there is the benefit to the shop and the benefit to the customer.

And it has to be a win-win for both parties. Like all customers, they need someone

they can really trust to take care of their vehicles.

 

What the fleet customer needs is to have their vehicles running because when

a vehicle isn't running, they're not making money.

 

There are many aspects to beginning a successful relationship with a local business owner,

but one of the keys is to be clear about how you do business and how you're going to take

care of the customer's vehicles for them.

 

In other words...

Doing preventative maintenance is the key to helping that business owner keep that

vehicle on the road. In their mind, they make think it's all about fixing today's problem.

The bigger picture is: It's all about keeping the vehicle maintained so that you can

catch potential problems before they become major problems.

 

So, if you have a standard inspection process in place for your regular customers,

you're going to use the same process every time a fleet vehicle comes into the shop.

 

The customer needs to be able to understand and buy into that whole concept or

the program will fail.

 

From a shop's standpoint, fleet work can be a nice addition when priced properly, and

as long as the shop's workflow is organized to handle their special needs.

 

 

I agree Elon that is sound advice. I was most certainly going to be instituting preventative maintenance measures and a specific inspection process tailored to my fleet clients. Other than sprinters I may be able to attract some luxury car rental/livery companies depending how they do business (do they spend money to maintain their vehicles). The largest advantage I see with Fleet work for me is having vehicles on schedule to ensure car count.

 

Elon when you mention "priced properly" what are some generally accepted practices? How much should be "discount" our labor in order to attract these accounts. I am not a fan of discounting and maybe that isn't the right word. I am guessing I may have to set a separate labor rate entirely for Sprinter work as it is a "truck" and my pricing is based off of passenger vehicles. How about parts? what kind of GP should i be looking at if my regular GP margine is >50%

We all get this call from time to time. I like to start a dialogue with the potential client. I explain that the water pump may be the problem, or it may be a symptom. Ask what his profession is...then draw a similar analogy. Lets use a roofer. "well Mr. Jackson, what would you charge me to put a roof on my 2000 sq. ft. house? I know it needs to be replaced". Then shut up and wait for his answer!!! He will realize the question is loaded with variables and assumptions. Assure him and sight unseen answer is loaded with unknowns and assumptions. Tell him and answer would be a disservice to everyone. Any phone answer he gets would most probably inaccurate. Get them talking, understanding, as you win him over, offer a no charge evaluation if you can. Get them in and make them in to a new fan that respects your integrity and professionalism. Its fun to do!

 

 

Thank you for your post, my question really is directed at the phone customer you have already tried everything with. Use analogies, assure them that whatever price will most probably be inaccurate, point out what unknown variables, offer COMPLIMENTARY inspection of the possible issue, etc etc. End of all that I'll sometimes get, "Yes I understand you make a lot of sense, but what if its the water pump. It looks like its leaking from there. I JUST WANT A PRICE."

A fresh rebrand or update to the brand would do wonders imo. Also what percentage is wholesale? If you were to pursue that route in s major way it eould be in your best interest to go out abd establish relationships with every shop in your area.

Great. I feel the same i just need to hammer down a script to follow wheb challenged with this situation

What do you say exactly when they are adamant about getting an estimate?