Chuy Reyna

One of my goals this year is to "Brand" the shop and really push my marketing! One of the local attorneys in town is using a billboard and he said it's the best move he's made for marketing. My shop is In a small town of about 25k population. There is about 5 large "poster" boards around town, Once you pull into town about 1 mile before our shop there's a billboard, Our shop is on one of the main streets in town behind a gas station(hidden) The land lord will not let me put up a big sign on the road. So the alternative, is billboards?? My question is, has anyone ever used one?? If so, do they work? It's pretty expensive, 800 a month.

I just recently stumbled across this article http://www.ratchetandwrench.com/RatchetWrench/May-2014/Mobile-Marketing-through-Text-Messages/index.php?utm_source=KnowledgeMarketing&utm_medium=RW%20Newsletter%20Emails&utm_term=RCHT%20-%20Monthly%20"In%20This%20Issue"%20Newsletter&utm_content=RW-Monthly-Newsletter-20140501&utm_campaign=This%20month%20in%20Ratchet%20Wrench&eid=221267980&bid=860925& Has any one used a company like this? Do you feel its bombarding customers? I currently use BoltOn Tech, but you cant use their texting feature for mass messages. Looking for new ways to communicate with customers, it seems like "Email" is a dying form of marketing. People get 20-25 Emails a day, and just hit the delete button, including myself.

We can all relate to this

Let's bring some laughter to the forum.

Thanks Joe! Happy new year!!!!

I wish I would had a better coach with ATI, my experience wasn't the greatest. Brian H is who I would've preferred.

That's funny!!! I'll have to sing it to my techs on Mondays meeting... Lol.

I'd be glad to be a part of this group. I love speaking to shop owners! We are the only ones that understand each other.

In my opinion you're never to busy to clean up your work area. The more organized/clean you are the faster you can crank out work.. I was once a tech and I made it a point to clean up after myself. I also have that problem at the shop. I implemented a policy and designated work areas and trash cans for my techs. The policy states- If you're area isn't clean, you will not receive your bonus on Monday. If it doesn't hurt their pocket, they won't change. I also told them that I provide them with a clean restroom, they should provide me with a clean work area!!

Like it isn't hard enough to be a shop owner! A start up company "Otobots" has allocated funds to start "yourmechanic.com." As a shop owner I disapprove of a company like this, we run honest businesses, and this company is trying to cut our throats! How can we unite and take a stand?? The link to the artical I came across. http://www.dailydot.com/technology/otobots-uber-car-repair-on-demand/ Here is a link to the site https://www.yourmechanic.com

I love the proactive approach! I will differently be following this guide line. Thank you for sharing!!

What would you do? Would you keep your shop? Invest in it? Open a new location? Or just sell yours? http://nypost.com/2014/09/05/auto-shop-owner-finds-winning-2-9m-lottery-ticket-in-his-truck/

Richard, That's a great idea, but I tired that. Trust me I've talked to many shop owners about this, I didn't want all this training, uniforms, etc, relationships she built with customers to go down the drain. I truly now believe the "selling high" has to be in you! If you don't get up and jump, and have a smile across your face when you make a great sale, then your not fit for the position.

Thanks!!!

This will not affect how I pick my new advisor. I have a list of potential advisors, I always have a active ad for techs and advisors.. I just feel like I need to step in, bring the shop moral back up. I miss my customers, and the rush of when I sell a big ticket! I'll start interviewing soon, I'll get tired of not getting lunches real fast!! I love the active members!! This is a really good auto shop owners forum!

Thanks for the replies! Her and I had a heart to heart conversation. We decided she wasn't fit for the the job. Looks like I'll be running the front for a bit.

Let's start off by stating I am not a sexist, on the contrary I'd love to find the "right" female service writer. Now my story- Last year I hired a female service writer that had NO experience in the automotive field, I started her from scratch hoping she wouldn't bring any "bad habits" from other shops. I set up a training ramp program for her, first I had her do the BG webiners. . Then for 3 months she didn't sell any work, she strictly build estimates, had her go out after every inspection and figure out what the problem was, and what, why it needed to be fixed. How the system works, and how it'll benifit the customer. She also went thru the ATI service writer classes. She's been with me for a lilttle over a year now, but I can see the frustration, she has a very hard time selling work, she's nervous and she use "ummm" a lot when she's talking to the customers. We role play calls before she calls the customer, but when she makes the call she freezes. I also have some phone lines that are on a recorded line and she seems to do ok on getting the customer to come in, I'll give her credit for that. The issues- She's not motivated, sits on her bottom, I have to remind her for a lot of things, doesn't get the feel for shop flow, doesn't want to go out and chat with the techs on what the required repairs are. She's on her phone to much, or surfing the web, and she makes next to nothing in sales. If I am gone the shop suffers. The hard part she's family, how do I get rid of her to Leave??? In a nice way?? Or maybe I'm not a good teacher??? So my question is, has anyone had any luck with a female writer or this industry going to stay male dominate. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Customer has been advised and understands that there are multiple reasons for a check engine light (CEL.), service engine soon (SES) or malfunction indicator light (MIL) to turn on. A-Plus Automotive warranty applies only to specific diagnostics, labor and parts replaced. If the codes are P0300 thru P0310 (miss-fires) there may have been damaged to the catalytic convertor and may cause a P0420 or P0430 code. A-Plus Automotive does not warrant the Check engine light, Service Engine Soon, lights will not come on for other reasons not necessarily present at the time of repair.

I haven't had any real issues, but I am working on making Canned jobs so we don't have to type it out every time. So far I've built this one for check engine light repairs.

I use it, and I love it!! It's in the could, they have great customer service! Always making changes for the better. I think the owners have a couple transmission shops. They just added text messaging and there working on photo attachments.

Do you use waivers? Examples- *Vehicle that had a coolant leak, over heated prior to you working on it??? *Oil leaks, if you repair it and the engine knocks afterwards? *Check engine lights, you repair any P0300 codes and the car comes back with a Cat code? *Declines a brakes job, and car is unsafe to drive Do you think any of the waivers/ disclaimers will protect you as a owner??