Elon Block

Mspec, I agree with you about not wanting to attract the die-hard DIYer or even the person that's looking for anything for free. Here's the opportunity I was referring to. The shops I work with are excited when a customer comes in with a piece of paper that has a code printout from a parts store - or even from one of the many independent shop owners that's advertising free code reads. Why? Because they have a proven, predictable method of educating the customer on what that piece of paper really represents and what has to happen next. This allows the shop to do the following: 1) Get paid to run diagnostics. [by the way, once the shop owner sees how easily this works... they STOP giving any money away, including they stop rolling the diagnostic fee up into the job. There's no reason to give anything away for free, because you're a professional.] 2) They have an opportunity to educate one more customer, in their community on why they are the best option to take care of all of their automotive needs. 3) Therefore, they add one more customer to their KPI line that is titled: "Number of Loyal Customers". And this is how the shop owner I was referring to increased his monthly diagnostics fees by an average of $2,000 a month for the last 6 months. This doesn't count work that came out of doing the repairs or anything else those vehicles needed, such as brakes, etc. This is how you turn challenges into opportunities, which equals a packed schedule. It equals full bays and money in the bank.

That means lots of parts wearing out and failing every single day. http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1101171307072&ca=5b3bb1e5-dcb4-4158-b167-135966a7d4bc There is a ton of opportunity out there for the shop owner who is positioned to take advantage of it.

I can definitely understand your frustration. The issue is: Manufacturers are struggling to be profitable. They don't care what they have to do to be profitable. If they have to sell it retail. If they have to sell wholesale, it doesn't matter. Tire manufacturers, AC Delco... the list is endless... are all selling Direct to the consumer. In this case, parts stores also have to do what they must do, to be profitable, to stay in business. So, they either have to have dozens of repair shops, like yours, that buy all their parts from them. Or they have to sell to the public. It can be frustrating when parts stores are advertising they can do all that stuff for free but the question becomes who's going to replace the parts. For example, even if the parts store replaces a battery, they're not going to do it correctly, so now a warning light is on or the clock isn't working properly. So, the customer still needs an expert, like you to take care of the issue, which gives you an opportunity to gain a new loyal customer that will come to you next time they need service of any kind. One of my clients has an Advance right next to him and was worried about the same thing. What he did was build a relationship with the manager and now, that manager sends all the customers that need services right over to him. He bumped his sales by 5% just by doing that. By the way, here are some interesting statistics about the DIY trends: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1101171307072&ca=32e8a809-81a2-4fea-aad3-30cdfb857ae8 Everything is about turning challenges into opportunities.

Here are a couple of things to evaluate, in my opinion. Most consulting and coaching companies can help you to understand your numbers. The big difference between the various companies comes down to their philosophy on how to improve those numbers. The improvements usually fall into a couple of areas. For example, your pricing. And your service advisors ability to sell on Value - not Price. My suggestion would be to interview the prospective companies and see if their philosophy matches yours, in... 1) How you want to do business and... 2) How you want your service advisor communicating with/servicing your customers. Because that's where you're going to see a lot of differences.

I had a shop owner say this to me recently: "Why is it I run an honest shop, but I'm still struggling?" If you've ever wondered the same thing, this video is for you:

Technology is affecting every single area of the auto repair industry. It's impacting what tools and skills your techs need. The use of the internet by any customer with a smart phone in their pocket is also presenting challenges in the tools and skills your service advisors need. Shop owners who want to take advantage of this huge opportunity, are going to want to read this: Click here.

There are some interesting statistics about the industry, in this article: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1101171307072&ca=661034f5-54fb-4cde-a898-627f75ff2711 What do you think the challenges and opportunities are for you and your business?

Congrats! You must be extremely proud.

Hi everyone, I wanted to write you a quick note to let you know Pat, my business partner and one of the coaches and sales trainers for my company... Just completed a video addressing a concern one of our clients had about a new competitor moving into his town. Even if this isn't a situation you're dealing with, the information in this short 6-minute video addresses... How to position your business, as an auto repair shop, that believes in "treating the customer right". Here's the link to the video: https://sellmoreautoservice.com/auto-repair-shop-competition/ Hope this helps.

Welcome aboard! There are a lot of people here who have a ton of experience. What is your attraction to purchasing your own shop?

Many shop owners wonder if they have the "right employee" for the job, especially if their monthly numbers are not where they should be. There's a simple test to determine if that's the case. Click here to read about a conversation I had with a shop owner recently that helped put his mind, at ease.

There are many options. It can be confusing, especially when everyone is advertising, "Service Advisor Training." There are a number of things you want to find out when you're interviewing sales trainers. The most important thing you want to determine is: What is the training company's philosophy on how customers should be treated? In other words, does their selling philosophy match how you want YOUR customers treated? Here's an easy test: Would you feel good about using their word tracks and sales methods on one of your family members or a good friend? Here are some questions and other things to consider before you plunk down your hard-earned money: http://sellmoreautoservice.com/how-to-choose-a-coaching-sales-training-company/ Hope this helps.

In any given market, there are shops that have great reputations and there are shops that don't. The ones that don't have great reputations are the best advertisement for the good ones because it helps you stand out, as THE one that can be trusted to treat the customer fairly and take great care of them. For example, we were working with a shop owner recently, doing an onsite training. Within 2 blocks of his store, there was a huge billboard from one of the biggest multi-location tire stores, in that state. He was intimidated by the name, by their branding, their marketing, their advertising, etc. He was scared that these guys were taking away all of his business. The other issue was the chain had a reputation for low-balling pricing, which caused my client to think they needed to compete on price. We convinced the owner (and his staff) that customers care about price. However, price is not at the very top of the list, like they thought. People will pay for great, trustworthy service. As soon as they implemented processes that communicated Value to every single customer calling on the phone and every single walk-in, sales and profits increased dramatically. So, "competition" can work to your advantage.

The best time to find out if everyone is on the same page, is when interviewing people. Many shop owners only ask questions about the technical end of things. They skip the other subjects, which need to be discussed, such as the ones you're describing. In other words, if an employee has been taught one way of doing things, such as "seeing how much you can get out of a customer", it may be a breath of fresh air to work in a shop that believes in treating the customer right. Or as you describe, they may not be a match for your shop, if they want to sell things TODAY... that really aren't due for 90-120 days out, for example. Either way, the best time to find out those things out, is in the interview. By the way, if your shop has a revolving door of owners, maybe you are in a good place if the opportunity to change ownership shows up again.