GobblesAuto

Xrac business is a little soft but overall Cleveland is booming. I expect business to rebound stronger than ever soon. Recently we had a Discount Tire open and this week an NTB and now they are building a new Tire Discounters so Cleveland is growing and were having to cope with the big guys coming to town. I think its splitting up some of the work. Were doing ok but running slightly behind last years numbers. I think I pay close to $400 a month for Mitchell Enterprise Pro. I don't know the exact amount without looking it up. Hope all is well with you.

I use Mitchell Manager Enterprise Pro which is the same as Protractor. Mitchell buys it from Protractor and rebrands it under their name as their multi -shop software. It is different from Mitchell SE software. Protractor is a good system. Definitely worth looking at.

Does anyone use this tool? http://optitread.com/

Be careful using heat.

I recently talked with a local moving company and was told their rate was $125.00 per hour. Don't know the details if that was per person or additional travel charges etc.... I know they do have a nice truck. It just came up in conversation and it was not elaborated on. Just food for thought.

Build value, build value, build value in your service and sales presentation. Sell the benefits of your service. Charge a fair price for your level of service and if they won't let you make a profit be glad they went somewhere else. Your webpage and shop look good. I can tell you are doing a lot of things right. If you are having trouble closing sales, my advise would be customer service / sales training. Customers focus on price because that's all they know to ask. You have to point out the advantages for them doing business with you. If it was easy everybody would do it. We have to work hard at it every day. Also Marketing to the right demographic helps. I understand the frustration. I wish some shops would close and eventually they will.

Great company. Highly recommend them. Have been a customer for many years.

I've been using this program for three months now. It works great! Customers love it and it is helping us close more sales on needed services. This is definitely worth taking a look at. It will pay for itself from day one. Give it a try!!!!

A good customer of mine just bought two new Hondas. They come with lifetime powertrain warranty if all the maintenance is followed and performed by the dealer. This is difficult to compete with

We are up 15%. Jan and Feb were great. March was flat. Net profit is also up. Things are looking pretty good if gas prices dont kill it.

I have one. I like it but don't sell many road force balance jobs. Comes in handy when hunting a problem. Can be used to build value in your tire sales but it is hard to get customers to pay more because of the road force balance. A good balancer is probably sufficient for most jobs. I feel like it does a great job but won't bring in tons of money. Could be our lack of sales ability also. My opinion is if you want to own the best buy it, if you are expecting to increase revenue dramatically becasue you have it don't expect that.

Hey Matt

I sent in my application last week. I am interested in teaching my technicians uniform guidelines for selling services. I am hoping this helps me teach them when to recommend work and helps me educate customers on why the recommendation was made. I will let you know more as I learn more about it. Tony

Is anyone a member of MAP (Motorist Assurance Program) or AMRA (automotive maintenance repair association)?

I switched from Manager plus 13 months ago to manager Enterprise. I am still learning this system it is difficult but it is very flexible and i have grown to like most of it. I am still having problems learning the accounting side of it. I have used R.O. Writer, Manager Plus and Enterprise and I think Manager Plus is the easiest and has the best support system. Enterprise has a tough learning curve but does a lot of stuff. I mainly switched because I wanted to separate my tire sales from my parts sales and Manager plus would not do it. All programs have thier strenghts and weaknesses. If you want to talk about it call me sometime. Work #423-472-6900. Tony Gobble

Welcome to the group! Tony

Do you follow the manufacture recommended maintenance schedules or do you perform services more often than the manufacturer recommends?

Who can tell me about Auto Profit Masters?

Sometimes Saturdays are not about how much money you make but more about what you schedule during the week and the contacts you make. Being open on Saturdays will help your business even if every Saturday you don't take in alot of money.

Identifix is well worth the money. Have used it for years. Great tool!!!

Isn't air 78% nitrogen? GM's Position on the Use of Nitrogen Gas in Tires General Motors does not oppose the use of purified nitrogen as an inflation gas for tires. We expect the theoretical benefits to be reduced in practical use due to the lack of an existing infrastructure to continuously facilitate inflating tires with nearly pure nitrogen. Even occasional inflation with compressed atmospheric air will negate many of the theoretical benefits. Given those theoretical benefits, practical limitations, and the robust design of GM original equipment TPC tires, the realized benefits to our customer of inflating their tires with purified nitrogen are expected to be minimal. http://www.gm.com/corporate/responsibility/safety/tire_safety/manual.jsp

Just food for thought: According to repairpal.com Check engine light diagnosis for zip code 92109 is $90.00 - $115.00. (This should be the average charge in this area) I do not support repairpal but it can be used for price shopping. There is nothing wrong with using any service as a loss leader (properly done this can be effective) and I agree that diagnostic testing has become what I call menu priced. We have to be competative on common service items such as LOF, alignment, brakes, fluid flushes, tire rotation, tire balance and now our initial diagnostic testing. We don't have to be the cheapest but we must be in the ballpark of most others offering these services or we may be precieved as too high. If we are too high on these menu items we may never get the chance to turn some people into customers. The thing to remember is we need to make a reasonable profit so we may have to adjust rates accordingly on other items to ofset our menu prices. Pricing is an important part of business and most auto repair shops don't spend enough time planning thier pricing strategy.

New tires should always go on the rear. I was skeptical until I got to try it out on a test track at the Michelin Plant. Makes a big difference when driving in the rain. To protect you and your customer always put the new tires on the rear. Watch this video it is true!

There is good money in tires just not good margins. I wish I could do 5K - 6K a week in tire sales. I am averaging 2K - 3K right now but I am trying to grow this segment of my business. 10 - 15% of sales is a great target for a general repair center.