HarrytheCarGeek

I have been struggling to find a good experienced designer for auto repair services. How do you guys go about finding one?

I was at one of the shops last week, where I noticed a customer come in and start telling the service writer how her car is giving her problems since we last serviced it. This is a new service writer and the senior guy was out on a dental appointment. The customer kept telling him how unhappy she was, and how she was not going to pay for all the shoddy work. My guy was taken aback, and somewhat stumped, but the shop manager knows his customers well. He stepped in and greeted the customer, acknowledged her complaint and put her at easy. He looked up the service history and found all the notes about this particular customer. The last thing that was done to the car was rear brakes, but now she came in complaining about her steering. When the car was inspected, road impact damage was found to the front suspension (lower control arm, strut, etc.). When she was asked if she hit something, she replied that she didn't know, and no one else drives the car. Anyhow, we gave her an estimate, without batting a eye lash, she said, "oh, no. That's too much money." The manager stayed silent for a minute watching her, then, said "Okay then, you have our estimate, let me know when you are ready to proceed." She argued that it wasn't her fault, that it wasn't the front end problem, that it had something to do with the rear brakes, etc. The manager listened to her attentively, then again, said to her "I hear you. You have our estimate, let me know if you want to fix it or want to take it as it is". She called her husband, then passed the phone to the manager. I hear the manager repeat the estimate amount, and an approximate time when the car would be ready. The manager got the ok to proceed from the husband. A friend of the woman had arrived by the time the manager was talking on the phone with the husband, as the call ended, the manager gives her phone back to her. She acknowledges the estimate and walks out with her friend. I took a look at her account, they are a very long time customer. When I asked the manager about the account, he said they are weird customers but very loyal. The new service write said that he was glad the manager was there because he really would not have known how to deal with the "lady". The point? Customers are out there that are difficult and you can't take it personally, they are just savvy people that know how to take every opportunity to their advantage.

In my experience, the smartest guys that have the most experience have been really humble and did not mind sharing their knowledge. It has been the guys that are in the business just to make money that have been one's that hoard the information to make an even greater profit. Nothing wrong with that I guess.

I agree. We service over 120 trucks on several fleets. On mission critical trucks, we have installed Bullet Proof Diesel external oil coolers and egr systems. http://www.bulletproofdiesel.com/Articles.asp?ID=307

U.S. Proposes Spending $4 Billion to Encourage Driverless Cars Obama administration aims to remove hurdles to making autonomous cars more widespread http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-proposes-spending-4-billion-on-driverless-car-guidelines-1452798787

I stopped doing Jasper diesels. I get better value from Ford with their reman units, and they come in with a better warranty than Jasper and cheaper by a few hundred bucks. Jasper has all kind of commercial warranty restrictions. https://www.fordparts.com/Products/PowertrainProducts-FordPowerStrokeRemanufacturedDieselEngineAssemblies.aspx

Time for you to do some recon. Go out to your competition and get your car's oil change, get to see them in action. Leave the oil change stickers in place and see if they notice you have the oil recently changed, put new filters and see if they recommend new filters. Pick the front counter people's brain, tell them you are considering doing the struts and ask for an estimate or quote. for about $250 bucks you can stop at 8 of your competitors and the information gained would be priceless.

1. Learn to anticipate. 2. Learn to delegate. 3. Learn to say NO. 4. Learn to hold people accountable. 5. Learn that not everything is an emergency, and not everything needs to be done immediately. 6. Grow a thick skin, and don't fall for googly eyes. 7. Plan your work. For example, you already should know the routine of your shop. If you are the one that opens, visualize your day, don't be negative, because if you begin with a negative attitude it will percolate into your work day. Make a list of the top things you need to achieve that day. And those that have to be pending until later, e.g., 1. Order bulk oil. 2. Order Joe's Camry solenoid. 3. Complete Peter's radiator job by noon. 4. Send tow for Martinez' Nissan @3PM... As customers come in, give yourself time to do the job right, throw in some precautionary words about when the job should be done by. "Mr. Jones, this job takes about 4 hours if everything goes well, but sometimes rust and other issues come up that may delay completing the work on time." Another one, is "We can get the parts in here in about an hour, but we cant be sure it's the right one until we have it here in our hands..." Delegate and hold people accountable, i.e., "Mike, don't forget that Mr. Peter's car is due by noon". If you know that your employee makes excuses for everything and freezes when something comes up with the job, add instructions. "Mike, if you have any issues with that radiator, or need anything else to complete the job that you can't handle, tell John so he can order the parts or give you further instructions..." If the shop is very busy and can't spare anyone at the moment and Ms hottie comes into the shop needing her car's tire pressure check, say no diplomatically. "Hello, Ms hottie, it's good to see you, at the moment everyone is tied up, but if you have 30 minutes to spare, I can check the air on your car's tires." If she insist to do it right now, say you cannot at the moment, but gladly will do so when someone is available. Trust your gut, don't be a push over. Unreasonable customers like to stay unreasonable. Make sure you lead, don't waffle. If you know you can't, then don't. If you know you can, then do. If there are uncertain issues, then let the customer know.

This is how not to divorce your wife: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/md-court-of-special-appeals/1653107.html The lawyers cleaned these people out.

Great post! Wow, you guys must have a blast at your shop with someone like her running the front!

This is what is all about, one's reputation. The biggest obstacle in farming work out, is assuming the risk the contractor will do a quality job, because if any issues pop up, you will be the one answering to the customer. Farming out could work, but sure enough it won't be easy money.

I have sold this job for $1,600+ with some amenities thrown in like pick up and drop off, and car wash and original (OEM) parts. And have just done the belt for $650.00. The difference being I have profiled my customer, in the first instance, they are a couple that live in a condo, dual income no kids., he is an engineer and she a nurse. In the later instance single mom, looking to keep the car for just another year, very tight budget. The couple received priority and the single mom, had to wait until the rush people were taken care of. 1. Define the expectations 2. Inform your customers. 3. Under promise and over deliver. Risks? Charging too little (under pricing) for work. If you use quality parts, you minimize the risks of comebacks and having to re-do your work. If you train well and completely understand your work, you can do it well, efficiently and with minimize the risk of comeback - re-doing the work.

Alldata for timing belt w/water pump service 5 Hours + 1 hour incidentals Gates kit TCKWP329 ( WP+gskt, tensioner, rollers, belt) $205 Drive belt $22 Thermostat $19 Coolant 2 gals $26 Labor 6 x $110= $660.00 Parts $272 x 2= $544.00 Sell at $1204.00 +ss+tax=$$$ Nice professional job with quality parts.

xrac, that is awesome. Good for you. Yes, they do. Lawyering is a devious business, like any business they have to make a profit, but if the man or woman doing the representing is unethical, they will bleed their clients until they go broke. And some are so devious that they will even represent their victims in bankruptcy court.

If you have ever had a controversy with anyone that has require you to hire a lawyer, how did you handle it? What would you do different? About 20 years ago I got sued, had to hire a lawyer that turn out more crooked than a mountain road. Through that painful experience, I came across JURISDICTIONARY http://www.howtowinincourt.com/?refercode=CH0004 From what I learned from that course, I became interested in legislation and political systems. In looking for understanding, I came across these people and their take on what is the United States: http://www.notmygovernment.us/home/ Very interesting information, indeed. How has this affected me as a business owner? Simple, now I know how to direct lawyers and attorneys in my business dealings. Very liberating indeed.

I wasted a lot of money on coverage that I didn't need, and lost money on coverage that I should have had. Do yourself a favor and at least get this book to have a fair idea and understanding of what you are buying: The Savvy Businessperson's Guide To Property & Casualty Insurance: Applications and Practices http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1434394824/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451498699&sr=1-1&keywords=9781434394828 This will give you an idea of how to ask the right questions and compare coverage. Apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

Hi, Bob. Quick questions, have you run any business before? Do you have any business experience? The way it seems to me, you have two main obstacles to overcome: 1. You need business experience. 2. You need some technical experience into the automotive field. If you have the right attitude, you can definitely make a go of it.

Joe, thanks for all you do! The LORD's blessings and a very happy New Year to you and yours!

Jeff, I wish you well and much success! Happy 2016! I think you can achieve your goal, and it is much doable if you focus and wish to pull it through. If I may, let me share a tip for you that may help you meet your goal for 2016. Take small deposits for the work you can pre-sell, try this and see if it helps you keep busy and profitable. For example, if the customer's car needs a timing belt and water pump for $650, tell them that if you are willing to take $xx off if they leave you a $10 or $15 dollar non refundable deposit. Play with the numbers until you find your sweet spot. Adjust your terms as to what works best for you. I learned this from another gentleman that told me the secret to this is that people do not like to "lose" little money, they will return just for the sake of using up their deposit.

Everything is a matter of trust. You need to profile your best customer and seek them out. Qualify those prospects that come through your door that want to wait for their car. Develop a relationship and guide them accordingly. Steer away from you those that are not profitable, inflexible, or difficult to work with. We strive to avoid to have customers wait for their cars, we want to do the job right and to recommend only what is needed to keep their cars in reliable road worthy condition. You must have the discipline to choose your customer wisely, if you don't, you will slowly but surely will create your own trap with difficult people that lower your margins.

1 weeks pay for those 1 to 4 years of service, 2 weeks pay for those 5-10 yrs.

Happy Holidays!! Awesome!

30k/mo as a single man shop is phenomenal! Kudos to you! For me it wasn't as simple. Between answering the phone, selling jobs, and turning wrenches, I came to realize that I needed help to turn out an acceptable service. Being the type of man that I am, I sat down and made a list of things I needed to do, and what were my expectations to give my customer an excellent service. I made a revenue projection and at a worst case scenario, I saw that I could hire someone even if I had to do all the work. I gave myself three months to try it out. I would like to tell you that the first guy I hire was a complete success, but it was not. The numbers held true, and he did make me money, but there came a lot of aggravation for not knowing how to have done a proper screening. Hiring is more than just making the numbers work. I now check references, I ask about the attitude and willingness to learn, I rather take someone with less experience and teach them my process if they have the right attitude and willingness to learn. I also keep in mind their personal relationship with their significant other in their lives, if their spouse is difficult, that will find a way to pollute into their work environment. my 0.02¢

I don't think you made over $200,000, what i think you mean is you had sales revenues in excess of $200K. Having said that, I am weary of cash bonuses because people can begin to construe them as an entitlement. I do believe they are powerful incentives, and I try to link them to the particular's individual performance. Someone living within their means, a cash bonus is seen as a valuable reward, on the other hand a spendthrift thinks he is entitled to even more money regardless of his effort, this has been my experience.

I hate cheap oil changes. In my opinion, anyone doing cheap oil changes is unreasonably providing a subsidy and harming themselves and others. I price oil changes accordingly: Shop hourly rate $110 /, drain and fill, plus R & I oil filter: 15 minutes. =$27.50 revenue labor 5w20 quart @ 3.25 x 5 = $16.25,+ filter $6. = $22.25 for a total of $49.75 This has worked out well for me. Once we have the car on the lift, we make sure to do a complete and comprehensive inspection and note what needs to be recommended to the customer. For this, I credit the tech an additional .25/h and the cost debited to my marketing budget.