mspecperformance

Just a story on Unifirst, they gave me a great price, signed contracts with them, took measurements, waited 6 weeks got a call saying they couldnt offer the same deal they had previously so they had just wasted 6 months of my time. They got put in my blacklist of companies I hope go bankrupt.

There should be a separation between your job in the shop and also as the owner. If you are acting as the manager or service advisor or technician you should be paid a salary or whatever based on your job. Whether you deserve more or less than what you would be paying another person to fill the position is another story however you should pay yourself a fair wage. This may or may not make you the highest paid person in your shop. If you have a rock star SA or Tech and they are pumping out work making the shop money then they should be compensated accordingly. Now the when the dust settles you are the owner and can now reap the benefits of whatever net profits your business makes. For instance you could be taking a salary of say 60k/year for being the manager and you have a SA or Tech making 80k however if your shop is making 200k in net profit (would be awesome right?) thats yours to play with so to speak.

On going training I provide unless you are talking about tech school loans.

Great post, the way you calculated the numbers definitely makes sense however as most of our repairs go most of the time when we are putting in an hour worth of work we are normally charging well over that 1 hour. For example a booked job is 2.5 hours but my tech completes the work in 1 hour. I understand what you are saying in terms of GP percentages per job however I am speaking in terms of actual Time where we can squeeze out more work in 1 hour than it is worth dealing with tires. I struggle to find the $ motivation in pushing tire sales. We also have an issue where a lot of our vehicles need a lot of work and a set of tires becomes lost in the middle or last of the priorities. I will look at the numbers again and see what it would take to make tire sales more profitable.

Just curious if anyone makes their employees pay for their uniforms (pass along the cost of uniforms to your employees). Thought never really occured to me but a customer had mentioned his company makes him pay for his uniforms (works for a sewer plumbing company). $15 a week he pays.

Any customer that comes in for service we give out a $25 Restaurant.com Bosch Service branded Gift Card. First year doing it. Yielded some positive results so far.

I do the same however i can see how this can backfire. In my area at the very least (I am sure you see the same but maybe to a lesser degree) I find that people here are irrational. No matter what you tell them, they can be driven by emotion. They can agree to the repair and now it doesn't fix their problem. They are upset and in a negative mood that is now associated with your shop. Sure you can make an extra buck now for added work/diag however you potentially have a customer whom will not bring their car back due to the negative feelings towards paying 2x. Although I am with you on what you are doing since I do the same I also cringe when it doesn't work out for the customer because I am always thinking about how to make my customer songbirds for my business.

I was told through shop management education that I should be charging using the same matrix with all my other parts. I have never been able to do so HOWEVER I do charge over list in a very unscientific/mathematical method. Since I've started doing this (about 3 months) I have yet to hear any complaints. Normally my customers do not price match and shop around. Do your customers shop around? I am not used to dealing with those customers so forgive my comments if that is your situation. Its in my opinion that your customer care, presentation, workmanship and warranty is a far greater selling point than a loaner car and free food. At the dealership you hardly ever if ever speak to your technician and the place has the feeling of being "ripped off" which consumers understand. Also your warranty I'm sure blows dealership warranty out of the water. When consumers choose your business they get YOUR support. Not some fast talking SA that might be gone the next day. These things should be a strong enough position to charge over list. How much over list is up to you. A Dealer parts matrix is a good start.

For my shop tires are not very profitable however my 2c is if you can push some volume when it comes to tires that would be the move. It is very expensive to have an experienced certified technician performing tire service all day. I'd must rather have a steady stream of tire customers to hire a tire tech. Also you have to have a solid tire matrix to stay profitable. Tire warranty, alignments, front end work etc is where you can really maximize on tires.

Also I wanted to add I personally prefer Snap On Tools to anything else due to the ease of warranty and always having a truck anywhere you go. Sears/Craftsman stuff is a cheap alternative that can work as well however nothing is more annoying to a shop owner than tools breaking and not being able to complete a job until someone runs to Sears

ncautoshop, do you have an active living business plan? I made a move about 2.3 years ago and its something I would highly suggest to be done thoroughly before a move is made. I didn't and I have to figure things out as I go along.

--- Questions --- 1. How important is it that a new technician looking for employment with your shop has previously attended a dedicated automotive technician program? Do you prefer that the individual had gone to a nationally recognized school or a local community school? Are there any schools you are more inclined to hire from? Are there any schools your are less inclined to hire from? If we are speaking on entry level technicians in this day and age I believe it is very important. Vehicles are very complicated today and some sort of formal instruction on vehicle mechanical and especially electrical systems is warranted in order to shorten the learning curve. Without a primer on the automotive field it puts a lot of pressure and responsibility on the shops part to take the technician from Zero to Hero (LOL). 2. What sort of tools do you expect a new technician entering the field have on day one of work in your shop? (Detailed lists welcome, but not expected.) Basic Hand Tool (hardline tools), Voltmeter, Brake caliper kits, impact tools (electric ratchets are really convenient), quality torque wrenches. This is the list off the top of my head. 3. What level of pay do you expect to pay new technicians fresh out of school? (A range is best here, it's just to give them expectations.) Any technician out of school would have to go through a probation period for at least 90 days possibly longer. Initial starting pay would be somewhere between 10-15 an hour. 4. With this job being all about experience, how do you intend to handle technicians growth? Will you start them with oil changes and then keep feeling them out with more and more difficult jobs until they have the experience needed? Do you like to let them work alongside your more advanced techs to learn? (I find most technicians learn best from observing and then doing, rather than book instruction.) Thorough vehicle inspections and basic maintenance items would be a good starting point. It is vitally important that a technician understands the value of a proper vehicle inspection. Shadowing an experienced technician is a good idea as well as long as it does not hinder the productivity of that technician. All work should be supervised and quality checked by an experienced technician as well. 5. What sort of information do you look for on an application and/or resume? Do you want a detailed tool inventory? Should they provide pictures of their tools? What sort of contacts do you prefer (remember this is for new technicians) to have listed? Tool List, Grades, School Grades, Professional References, Character References. I like personal statements to go along with resumes stating what kind of person they are, why they are in the automotive field, why they want this job etc. I like personality to come through on this and also I would like their personal statements to match their actual demeanor in an in person interview. Communication skills are key and also being able to communicate both verbally as well as on paper is important to me. 6. What is your expectation for the amount of mistakes they will make? What sort of mistakes do you expect? What sort of mistakes do you expect to not see? New technicians are expected to make mistakes of course however it is the shop's responsibility for these mistakes to never get past the quality checks in place (Customer never see them). Of course the same mistakes being made over and over again is another story. 7. How can a new technician identify if they have what it takes or not? What level of learning is too slow? There has to be an element of self belief. Not everyone is going to be super talented and learn quickly out of the gate. Attitude is the most important and the willingness to go beyond what is required to learn the trade. If a new technician is not making an effort to learn as much as possible and self study then they are not in the right field. Speed of learning can vary, what is important is how much you want it. 8. How much time over book do you expect and allow for them to complete jobs when they are new? Will you speak with them when they are not meeting your expectation, if so, will you work with them or let them go? This is subjective and I don't think I can comment on how much over book is OK. 9. What indicates to you that a tech is hungry to learn and how much are you willing to do to advance him beyond oil changes and other basic tasks if he shows aptitude/interest? Ask questions, be proactive, ask to do more, self study, attain ASE certs, ask for training, having a great attitude consistently. 10. What are some bad habits that you would like new techs to be aware of and avoid? Do not be late, Do not be late, Do not be late, Do not stand around and do nothing, Don't be a chatty cathy with other technicians, Be mindful of your appearance, Have a good attitude at all times especially around customers, Be as organized as possible. 11. (Final question.) In your opinion what is the best way for a new technician to develop diagnostic and electrical skills that are in short demand in this industry. Training and experience. Read, learn, ask questions. hope this helps.

Thanks mmotley

does anyone know how the insurance and liability is handled with loaner cars? Worst nightmare is a customer getting into a major accident with your vehicle.

I dont think a loaner car in NYC is viable. Insurance is way too high... but the honest truth is I haven't looked into it all that much.

Better question is how do you offer a rental car to a customer? Do you try to reserve one for them? Have them reserve it themselves? reimburse them once the repair is done?

I have never offered car rentals for my customers however we do run into situations where we need the car past the allotted time and many times the vehicle is not in a drivable condition (we have all been there!). What do you guys do to provide rental car service for customers?

That could be a great thing. Pick a kid with potential and a great positive attitude that is willing to work hard and learn. The real challenge is the later stages to create a great atmosphere where your employees are well compensated and fully engaged with your shop. That is where I am at right now, creating shop culture and a profitable atmosphere.

Alex, don't count me as an expert however you certainly sound like you could be doing a lot better. 350k I'm assuming a year of course. With 3 techs and a SA you could be doing closer to 1-1.2mil. Without getting into detailed numbers that's what my sales goals are and I run a similar size shop/staff.

How are your sales?

I believe you major problem is the operating structure. Even though you are 50/50 partners you are running 1 shop and there are no two captains to 1 ship. It seems like you may have an issue where your brother does not want to relinquish the feeling of being the owner. I have ran into this problem in the past as well. It also doesn't help that you don't have any dedicated front end people as you are turning wrenches and working the front end. There really should be a division of responsibilities IMO.

Thank you very much for this post! I think a lot of us on here can relate. I know I can. I used to think of myself a decently smart person but the best thing I did for myself was to tell myself, "I know nothing." Without doing this I was stuck in my old ways that got me no where. If you are one of those 1 in a million and can be super successful on your own then more power to you. For the rest of us mere mortal shop owners the best thing for us is reading, training, learning.

200 cars on 1 lift a month wow

I wonder how this type of service will affect the euro car market in the coming years.

There has been a lot of talk about Shop Management and Sales Training Seminars recently and I just wanted to give my experience to everyone on the Elite High Impact II Sales Seminar I attended over the weekend. It was a 1 day class focused on Elite's Service Advisor/Sales method. This was not a class on Shop Management per say so I don't want to confuse anyone. It was however a really good introspective on a proper sales cycle that most (including myself) do not have a solid system for. If any shops out there have a need for good sales training or at the very least movement in the right direction I would recommend this seminar. What is nice about this seminar was that there was no excessive sales tactics for their other services. They mentioned their other programs briefly (10-15 minutes) and left you with a folder if you were interested. I have been to other 1 day seminars (Management Success, YUCK!) and had been completely turned off by them. If anyone has any specific questions they can PM me.