SACTO AUTO

I would like to increase take rates in brake work at my shop. I've done coupon ads, both percentage-off and dollars-off and my service writers are also allowed to offer discretionary discounts at the podium if it makes the sale. However, this isnt moving the needle much. I have been advised to try price point advertising aka per axle pricing to simplify the service review process. Now, to be clear, I have no intention of throwing out the $99 per axle offer with the small print disclaimer of "most vehicles" or "additonal parts not included". Im not sure what the number is, but certainly it would be a two, maybe three tiered offer, passenger and heavy duty and specialty (euros etc.). Of course there would be some obvious exclusions which would have to be carefully managed. Has anyone moved from parts and labor pricing to per axle pricing succesfully? Thanks!

My apologies for the late response....Ive been having issues logging into the site ??? Worked with Mozilla finally. Anyway, WOW!! Thanks to all of you for the comments and great advice! I would agree that only a consignment program would make this worth the effort. In a cost comparison, current vendor vs. alternate vendor SKUs, Id only be saving an avg of $8 - $10 per set which was dissapointing to say the least. Besides, having just started up I feel im still a bit underpriced given the quality of our work and the parts we install. I have no compunction whatsoever in raising prices eventually. Also, I have great service with the current vendor. Delivery times are consistent (15 mins +/-) and so far the pads themselves have performed well (the rotors not so much :/). Love hearing there is profit to be found in brakes. I agree. Now if I could just find more jobs to do in a day!! The greatest challenge of all, right?? I am beyond excited to have found this forum. Thanks again.

Hello there......... This is my first post and I wanted start by thanking you all for the wealth of information and insight available through this forum. I hope that eventually I'm be able to share some of my own insight with fellow members. I have a quick question regarding stocking inventory and I apologize in advance if this has been covered in previous posts (I tried searching but was unable to find any answers to my specific question). Ill try to be brief: We've been in the business for roughly a year and a half and it seems I've hit a brick wall when it comes to controlling COGS. We are doing quite a bit of brake work, so I'm going to start by focusing on the profitablility of that service. I've recieved pricing from a few different vendors for brake pads and it looks like I could save anywhere from $5 - $20 per set if I buy in bulk. It has been suggested that I need to carry around 100 SKUs to achieve a respectable rate of coverage. Does anyone have any thoughts on this topic? I realize the vastness of brake part applications on todays vehicles, so my assumption has always been that this is a fools errand. However, if im able to sell a job based on the availability of parts and speed of service, while at the same time achieving lower COGS, its a win win. The pads we currently install meet or exceed OE and I have no intention of trying to expand margins by installing a lower grade pad. This is simply out of the question. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank so much!