Shopcat

Ted Turner said it best, “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise”. As summer gives way to fall, marketing becomes more important. Many shops slow down on their marketing as business slows down. This is exactly the time to invest in continued marketing. It’s an opportunity to market while your competition is not. Many shops do reactionary marketing because they don’t have a formal plan. This type of hit and miss approach can be a waste of precious marketing efforts and dollars. Developing a personalized marketing plan will be well worth your time and effort. About 80 % of auto retail dollars are spent at 20 % of the available shops. The reason is these shops understand exactly who their clients are and they market to those clients with a very organized and focused approach. The first step to a great marketing plan is to know your target market. You can begin by using your operating system to run reports that reveal your client base. Look at things like who has spent more than $500.00 with you in the last year. What kind of vehicle do they drive? Where do they live? What is their zip code? If you are active in your shop you can probably think of ten to twenty great clients off the top of your head. Have your service advisors put together a list of their favorite clients too. Assemble all the information into a master list. Look at this list and determine what these clients have in common. What type of vehicles do they drive? Why do they use your shop? Use the information to develop a survey that asks the questions you want answers to. Begin targeting your specific clients. Here is an example of a survey to get you started, but it’s important to tailor it to your shop: Dear Valued Customer, Here at “your shop’s name”, we are constantly striving to provide the very best customer service. If you could take a moment and share your input, we would greatly appreciate it. What is the most important thing you consider when deciding where you will get your vehicle repaired? Price Warranty Professional, friendly staff Other ____________________________________________ What radio station, tv channel, and social media do you prefer? TV channel ___________ Radio Station _________ Social Media __________ (examples, Facebook, Twitter, Google +) Have you or would you be comfortable referring family or friends to our shop and why? Name the top 3 most important things you expect from a repair facility? If you would like, we can add your name to our in-house mailing list. From time to time, we have specials for our customers only. This information is for our use only. Name and address _________________________________________ Email address _____________________________________________ What could we do to improve our business and make your experience better? Thank you for taking some of your valuable personal time in order to help us understand your needs better. If you have any other input, or if I can be of any assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to ask. Sincerely, “Your Name” “Your Shop’s Name” You and your staff should only give the survey to good clients. You do not need any input from undesirable folks. My next article will cover how to use this information to develop an action plan and ACCELERATE YOUR SUCCESS !!! View full article

We all know cars are becoming more and more dependable. The natural swing is toward maintenance since it is easier to schedule than repair and can be more profitably. Often a B or C tech can do maintenance, so it can also helps to reduce the total cost of labor. The big win is it keeps your clients visiting your shop more regularly. What trends are your shop experiencing in this area. What are the ratios now, what were they and how fast is this trend moving?

I'm interested in knowing more about those tests.

Joe Marconi said: For me it is pricing. I think as an industry we are too cheap for what we do, what we need to know and how we service our customers. Labor charges has to be more in line with today's demands on overhead, tool expense and training. Plus, we will always battle the tech issue until we can attract quality people. I am not saying it's all about money....but it does factor into it. Collectively we need to convey to the customer value, not price. We need to deliver world class service and not lead with price or market our business by price alone. I agree, and if we would get better at charging accordingly in line with what it costs to run a shop, we would have more money to attract the better techs and provide more competitive benefits as well. Seems like a win, win.

M-spec, I tend to agree that for many shops finding and keeping qualified techs is the biggest challenge. I get the fact that you see many challenges, I'm like that...always looking to improve in every area possible area. Thanks for the response.

I have noticed several concerns shop owners all seem to be struggling with lately. My question to the entire ASO community is what specifically is the single biggest challenge your shop is facing right now? Is it finding qualified technicians, or maintainging car count, or something else. Also what if anything do you think needs to be done to resolve the challenge?

It’s a typical day, if there is such a thing in this business. You start thinking about what has to be done during your drive into the shop. You get to the shop and it begins. Your service advisor wants to know how to handle a warranty situation. Next is your lead tech and he’s not sure what to recommend on a car because fixing it the right way may cost more than the car is worth. Just as things are starting to settle down another tech pops in your office and needs you to see the play in some upper control arms bushings, then “call the ball” for him. Next is a customer that wants to deal with you directly. Your service advisor asks you to help Mr. Jackson, who is one of many who insists on dealing with you and only you. This continues through the day. The details of each situation are different, but the issue is always the same. Your employees cannot or will not make decisions. Does any of this sound familiar? It probably does. Shops that operate like this are stuck in a type of dysfunction and will never experience any real growth. This begs the question, how can you break out of this cycle and have your staff function independently and efficiently? The primary problem in shops that function like this is that the employees feel disconnected from the company. Employees can feel this way for a number of different reasons. It may be that they do not understand your vision for the company. They may feel that no matter what they do, it won’t be good enough. Many times employees are reluctant to make a decision because the owner seems to think job one is to assign blame when something goes wrong, and take credit when it goes well. Some owners and managers engage in gossip and closed door criticism with other employees. All of these things, and more, can and do contribute to a culture of dysfunction that is apparent throughout the shop. First thing first. Stop this type of negative behavior. You must decide to adopt a positive attitude and lead in a productive way that empowers your employees to function independently and contribute to their own success and the success of the shop. Hold regular meetings and share your vision for the business. Hold meetings at least once each week. Tell your staff what you expect and give them the authority to make decisions. Assure them that they will have your full support. Make sure your meetings are interactive and get your staff to participate. Commit to spending at least one hour per day developing written standards and procedures on how you want your shop to be run. Develop an employee policy book. Have a written procedure for the top ten jobs performed at your shop and let your staff have plenty of input. Get with your service advisors and develop a procedure for customer write-ups. Be sure to always emphasize the three C’s; Cause, Concern, and Correction. Be positive with your staff every day. Compliment them on their success. You need to be a force for positive change every chance you get. The gold standard of shop management is that the shop functions as if you were there, even in your absence. Break the cycle of employee emotional dependency and take your shop to the next level! View full article

In the Florida Panhandle, they are referred to as fender lizards. Good article Gonzo.

Thanks Joe and Frank. Let us never forget those that made the ultimate sacrifice. We are forever in their debt.

I have had some interviews I terminated early and thought I just saved myself a ton of grief. I have developed a pre-employment quiz that the applicant fills out along with the application. Then you can sift thru those and decide if there are any candidates worth your time to interview. You can craft it to fit your shop. I would be happy to send you one if you like.

Great point Joe. Allowing this type of situation to go on only leads to further dysfunction.

Classic story. Good job getting a service advisor. In my experience shop owners are the worst on the counter. It seems like customers try to work the owner for discounts. You will love having that firewall at the front counter.

Zig Ziglar once said, “It is easier to explain price once than to apologize for quality forever”, and I agree completely. The fact is that you must have great people and procedures at your sales counter. You may have the best diagnostic equipment, tools, and talented technicians available and it is useless if you are not bringing your “A” game at the front counter. Does your shop have an organized, talented sales team? Do they have clear guidance and training to make it all happen? What golden rules do you hold sacred at your sales counter? Here are Four counter measures that will insure success in accommodating your clients: Great relationships: Your service advisor must develop great relationships with your clients. They must be easy to like, smart, and organized, to say the least. A great service advisor should go out with the client and walk the car to take notice of things that interest the client. Look for NFL team stickers, NASCAR items, baby seats, free mason logos, military stickers, or anything that can help establish a connection. As your service advisor develops relationships they will build trust and credibility. At the same time you should give the vehicle a good look. Are the tires worn evenly? Do you smell any burning fluids? Keep your eye out for any body damage, scratched paint, or broken lights. Casually mention any noteworthy observations. Giving this kind of time and attention to your client will pay huge dividends. Good intelligence: Getting a good problem statement is so important. So many clients want to over simplify what they tell the service advisor. The reason is either they are not detail oriented or, more likely, they believe the simpler they make the problem sound will determine how much cheaper the repair will be. This is where great service advisors earn their stripes. A few minutes harvesting a good problem statement at the counter can literally save hours in the shop. One of the best ways to get the desired problem statement is by asking open ended questions. Here are a few examples; When was the car last working correctly? Then what happened next? What else happens when the car symptomizes? Under what conditions does the car symptomize? What does the noise sound like? How big is the puddle? After how long? This line of questioning will take its own course through the service advisor’s experience and analytical mindset. The result will be a spot on problem statement. Analyze the information: Gather all the information on your client’s vehicle and assemble it into a logical plan. First, take the diagnosis of the problem the vehicle came in for and turn it into a complete estimate. I emphasize “complete” because so many shops miss the boat right here. Many shops will do the minimum repairs that are needed. These are shops that are worried about car count instead of making the cars count. Remember, we are going to solve the problem not fix the symptom. Always think in terms of concern, cause, and correction. Organize the results of the diagnostic and the inspection into the following format; Needed repair: This would be what you recommend doing first and why. For example, front brakes that are metal to metal. You would probably recommend calipers, rotors, pads, hoses, rear brake clean and adjust, as well as a brake fluid flush. Reliability: These recommendations might include C.V. shafts because outer boots are cracked, but not broken, serpentine belt and tensioner that are worn, but still operational. Things that must be done soon, before reliability is compromised. Preventative Maintenance: These are maintenance items you recommend due to mileage or that are indicated on your inspection. Some possibilities may be a tune up, timing belt, struts, radiator hoses, or transmission service. Economy: These are things that are recommended for better economy, like a fuel injection service, air intake cleaning, air filter, or oxygen sensors. These would be the finer points that really put your client’s car into top shape. Presenting the plan: Always lead with the good things you found during the inspection. Compliment them on keeping their vehicle in good repair. Next address the items that need to be repaired. Explain why you are recommending these items. Going back to the brakes; We recommend the calipers because they are seized, the rotors are ground beyond specification, pads, hoses are old and could be breaking down internally, the brake flush is needed because it’s overdue and the grinding brakes most likely boiled the fluid. The most important part of presentation is the recap. “So, Mrs. Jackson, to do the brakes with calipers, hoses, and brake flush, which includes our 12/12 Nationwide Warranty, tax and everything we discussed would be $472.00 total, out the door”. “We can have that done by 4pm today”, then shut up. At that point you will usually get the authorization to proceed with the recommended repairs. Always under promise and over deliver! You will build trust and credibility with your clients by providing them with the services and information they need. View full article

Thanks for sharing this story. What a great idea sending this letter to the editor. It seems good news rarely get any ink. What a heart warming story.

Hilarious story. Another great read. Thanks Gonzo.

Get Ready to Spring Into Summer What is your plan for summer? As the weather warms up, people begin thinking about summer activities. It may be a vacation road trip or weekends at the lake. In any case, the focus will return to the family car. There are a few things your shop can do to accommodate your clients, put their minds at ease, and give your shop a renewed sense of purpose. Focus on your vehicle inspection program with particular attention on summer items. Wiper blades, washer bottle, & washer operation Check brakes, brake hydraulics, parking brake, and test brake fluid Cooling system hoses, test coolant condition, pressure test, inspect radiator and expansion tank, belts, idler, & tensioner Check tires: general condition, measure tread, set tire pressure, and check for jack, handle, and spare. Perform a charging system and battery test. Check battery connections for proper torque and clean as needed. Inspect tune up/fuel efficiency items. Check throttle body, inspect MAF sensor, air filter, and visually check wires, plugs, and distributor cap and rotor if equipped. Check all fluids and use a fluid comparison plate that puts their fluid next to new fluid. The optics of this comparison are awesome. Check steering and suspension. The general idea with the inspection is to keep your client advised about the condition of their vehicle. It will create sales and improves your average repair order. But by far the most important thing this does is build trust, and that trust is priceless. When the vehicle is picked up, review the unsold recommendations in detail. Explain the benefits of the recommended repairs and services. Show the fluid plate or pictures. Once those seeds are planted, schedule your client’s next appointment. This will improve your ARO and stabilize your car count. Follow up with a call in a week or two to make sure they were satisfied with the service and that their vehicle is doing well. Offer a discount on the unsold service. Have an expiration date for the discount to insure some urgency. This will keep your shop top of mind. Be sure to promote your nationwide warranty. Get with your banner program vendor for handouts and some points of purchase material. Give each client one when they cash out. Another way to stay top of mind and show your clients some appreciation is to do a cook out. Close the shop and grill out some hot dogs and burgers. Get a DJ or do a radio station remote broadcast. Promote it weeks or months in advance. Promote it at the front counter, in your existing advertising, and on your website. Have raffles and door prizes. When planning the date, be sure it does not conflict with any other local event(s). Be sure to personally invite your very best clients. Give them the VIP treatment. These are just a few ideas to show your clients your concern and appreciation all at once. Take this opportunity to make the best of your summer. Focused inspections are great for business and demonstrate your professionalism. Summer only comes once a year and we have to make hay when the sun shines. Grab the reins and make it happen. Here’s hoping everyone has the best summer ever !! View full article

What an amazing story, Bill Krissoff and his sons are the type of Americans that are the very fabric of this country. One of my sons recently returned from a tour in Afganistan. We are proud of him and all service members that volunteer to defend our republic. Thanks xrac for posting this amazing story.

Great point Joe. Its more about where their head is. If they dependable, motivated, etc is more important than a fist full of certifications.

I say its a case by case situation. Keep a list of the warranty companies that are exhausting, like the example mspecperformance and xrac mentioned in this posts and refuse to deal with them going forward. However there are some good ones too that are reasonable and approve the needed work. This might be a good place to exchange experiences about aftermarket warranty companies as well as their names. After all the idea here is the collective mind and experiences we all have so its mutually beneficial.

I appreciate all the likes and positive feedback from everyone. I hope this article was entertaining, and more importantly informative and useful. Thanks ASO!

Good article Gonzo. I think it is very important to get paid for diagnostic time. We just have to explain the training, time and equipment investment that goes into finding these solutions. As far as the common sense, well I think it used to be "common", then about 10 years ago it edged into "uncommon", and recently it has been promoted to a superpower! Good read Gonzo. Thanks