stowintegrity

Our policy regarding the possession and use of cell phones by employees in the bays is very clear, and is drafted on a form given to all employees that they must read, agree to, and sign as a condition of employment. Anyone refusing to do so is not offered a position with us, it's just that simple. First of all, our handbook acknowledges that we are a family owned & operated company. A company that despite demands from customers to the contrary, is NOT open on Saturdays or Sundays because we feel strongly about offering our staff a generous opportunity to share time with their own families, and have a regular, 5-day work schedule. With that disclosed, our empoyees are told (in this memorandum about phone & computer use) that they're encouraged to give the shop number to anyone in their family that needs it, in order to get a hold of them during work hours in the event of a family emergency. Furthermore, my emlloyees are promised that at NO time when a family member calls in such a case, will we hesitate to immediately contact the employee, stopping their work, in order to put them in contact with their loved one. Our promise, essentially, is that although work hours are for working...they can rest assured that if their family needs to reach them in an emergency, they can do so anytime. On the other hand, the policy specifically states that cell phones, tablets, computers, etc. are NOT permitted to be used on company property unless the employee is on a scheduled break. The single most pressing point in the policy is that since they are only allowed to use those devices during a scheduled break, the techs are encouraged to leaves them in their car, or "put away" in the toolbox. Any tech seen with device in hand, especially while standing anywhere NEAR a customer's vehicle, is given a verbal warning. The normal procedure is used for any employee violating this company policy, just like any other policy. So now you know our policy. Would you like to understand how we make it work? Our staff is encouraged from the moment we hire them, and they begin their training, to understand that when we enter the building and begin our work day, that everyone from the newest general service tech or porter, on up the the Service Manager must approcah the day with an attitude of SERVICE. We are here to help the people who come to us, and that's why we clocked in this morning. As I said in previous posts, we don't refer to the "Blue Ford Taurus" that needs spark plugs. We refer to "Mr. Smith's car" that's running rough, and he needs to get to work on time. When my staff is in uniform, and working in the bay - I expect them to keep that attitude. I've encouraged them to imagine that Mr. Smith was standing right next to them while they worked. Is it fair to Mr. Smith that your attention is divided between the installation of his ball joint, and the "ding" of your cell phone going off because your buddy sent you a text message? If they MUST somehow communicate with their wife or family via a cell phone call during work hours, I've taught them to come to the office and make the call. They've stepped away from their work area, they've concluded their call, usually in rapid fashion, and then they return to giving Mr. Smith 100% of their attention. As for the "lulls" in the work flow, we've also built into the system a set of expectations that are imparted to all our employees from the beginning. For example - if the repair job is finished, the road test is done, the paperwork & keyes are returned to the office, they have "steps" to take before the job is REALLY done. They check their board for the next job. If that's empty, they go to completed their cleaning list where their bays are swept, oil dry buckets changed or filled, trash taken out, scrap put in the bins, etc. Again...if they DON'T follow these procedures, then enforcing the cell phone rules is as simple as enforcing ANY of our policies. Simply put: Encourage your staff to understand, agree to, and EMBRACE what your goals are, and why your policies are so important. Let them know you DO care about them, and tell them you'll spend all the time they need discussing it, as soon as the work is done. Just one man who hasn't had any turnover in over a year.

Harry, Are you saying that 80-90% of your shop's revenue comes from maintenance services? I don't think we're positioned to becoming just a maintenance shop like that, as we're counted on to be much more than that to our guests, but I know there's a lot more maintenance we should be selling to help them keep their cars on the road longer. What kinds of things do you do to "pull regular maintenance" from dealerships? I'd love to be able to add some marketing dollars to our budget to increase that segment, also.

I'm inspired by all your comments, and of course, the photos submitted by Cmillet. We've been meaning to remodel & expand our lobby area, too. I think it's the one part of the building that you shouldn't cut corners on. For the record, the idea of putting in a small toaster oven, and expanding our convenience food/drink to include fresh, warm cookies or even other items is a great idea. I strongly believe all of you are forward thinking, and "outside-the-box" kind of operators, not just because you signed up like I did for this forum, but also because of the MANY things I've read pertaining to endless aspects of our businesses, and your creative solutions to industry problems. With that in mind, I'd challenge you consider every repair shop lobby you've ever seen or visited, and actively begin creating a document that, in lieu of a better title, creates a "Word Picture" of what every one of those lobbys has in common, and WHY they're set up the way they are. List all the features, right down to the OPEN sign, and the water cooler. Once you have a list, step two is to consider each item on that list, and then ask youself why that item is a part of the lobby, and what value it brings or adds to your customer's experience with your company. I'll give you two examples, one good one, and one that I humbly believe revealed why a change was necessary in our own lobby. 1. The OPEN sign What type of sign do you have? Is it electric, or a colorful sign that's simply flipped over each morning as you walk in? How big is it? How big does it NEED to be? Do you need to see it from the street, or is it to assure someone walking toward your door that it's unlocked, because you're obviously open (via the sign). The point here is that it's likely that each of us has an open sign, and of course, if we continued to dig deeper and study the "Why"...we'd all agree that an OPEN sign has value, and speaks to our ability to help someone in need...if only because it lets them know somoene is inside that they can talk to right now. This was a simple, obvious example, and one I thought makes my point in this exercise nicely. (lol, of course, if it forced me to realize my 120 sq. ft. lobby was encumbered by a 3' x 4' Neon, flashing OPEN sign...well, maybe it would give me reason to ask if it wasn't just a little bit oversized, or out of place, taking up real estate on my window or wall better suited for something else.) 2. The front counter. How big is your front counter? Is it tall? Long? Do you sit on a stool, or a high-backed chair? Is it a one-seater, or are there stations for multiple service writers? There's obvious value in your desk/counter setup. Fancy or otherwise, it serves as a fixed place for you to work with guests in your lobby, access your computer, catalogs,write estimates, use the phone, access reports, etc. It's your own personalized "Captain's chair", just like James Kirk had in the center of his bridge. There's no question about who's in charge on the Enterprise. That may have made perfect sense to Kirk & the team...there could be no question or hesitation about who was in charge, and who they had to look to for answers. However, in my opinion, our environment is very different, and it's time to change that standard layout. When your customers come in, ask yourself why you need such an obvious division between them and you. Now I don't know about you, but I don't want them looking over my shoulder as I'm crafting the very best timing service estimate ever written, but that doesn't mean you need to be up on a high stool, behind a barricade. I want our lobby to be inviting, and comfortable. A space that makes them feel completely at home, and relaxed. I'm not trying to trick anyone, but the truth of the matter is that the more comfortable a prospect is with you, the easier it will be to show them they can trust you, and then of course, the easier it will be to make the sale. We got rid of our nicely built counters, which were well appointed, and custom built 2 desks that were the same height as a kitchen table. Furthermore, the desks are shaped kind of like a kidney bean, so that it's just "natural" for our customers to pull up a chair to sit at our table, and have a frank discussion about what the service writer has to say about our tech's inspection of their vehicle. More often than not, we'll even actively move another chair in the room alongside the guest, to go over the information no differently than two people who were sitting in a livingroom discussing the big game last Sunday. In other words, we saw value in the more cliche' tall service writer desk, but saw a powerful advantage in letting our customers know that we're no better than them, we're advocates, and we sit alongside them when discussing their concerns. It's a fact in business that sitting "Across the desk" from someone will always imply a power structure...one of the two participants is in charge of the situation, and we decided we wnated to foster a feeling of advocacy, not authority. It has worked wonderfully, and to our customers, the lobby area is just "comfortable". In keeping with my Star Trek metaphor, however, in the words of the late Gene Roddenberry, "Something can be designed with purpose or intent in mind and be completely acceptable. However, anything of GREAT design will be invisibie, or transparent to those who see it. To those people, the response can only be: Well of course...that's just how it's supposed to work" As usual, this post is more lengthy than I'd planned, but sometimes it's hard to convey how excited I am for the little things that just seem to work so well. Our lobby is in a state of disrepair, as we're making it larger & have hired a consultant to assist us in making the best use of the space we have. When it's done, I'll post the finished photos, if anyone wants to see them. Just one man who LOVES taking care of people.

BG Services is one of the top contenders I was looking at. They seem to have a well established program, training videos, and of course, at least from what I've read, quality products/chemcials. Another company, offering hat I think is a "generic" type approach, is called QuickDraw, which seems to have inexpensive machines, but there's not a sense of the congruency of a real "program", with the added training, or even marketing materials to help sell the program. Do you offer the services as a package, or have you considered selling a "Maintenance Program" card as a grouped/discounted rate? I know this topic is something as old as the industry itself, but I'm hoping to really punch out a solid program that we can soon become known for in our community. We've done the same for a brake service program I believe has become valuable, and we've been able to grab that ever-valuable top-of-mind real estate when it comes to brake service, so people think of us first, as they recall the program's benefits. Here's a good question for you all, and one that will surely humble me, as my little company has a long way to go before we're reavhing our shop's potential in our town. What percentage of your overal sales dollars is coming from brake service? How about from maintenance service? As silly as it sounds, I don't include LOF service into maintenance. I realize it's CLEARLY maintenance, but IMHO, someone that let's us perform an oil change service is not necessarily someone who appreciates the real value in spending money on maintenance to avoid breakdowns. This is what we categorize as "Maintenance" in our system: Mfr. 30/60/90 packages, our annual "car care service" package, all fluid exchange services, battery terminal cleaning/protectant, etc. Hey - please help this new guy figure out whether my goals are realistic, or maybe even if I'm not setting the bar high enough. How much brake / maintenance service does YOUR shop do?

Xrac, Since this is the kind of repair that you'll rarely see described in a Labor Guide, we had to develop a process for estimating that worked for us, regardless of which of our technicians ended up doing the repair. Depending on the person performing the inspection, however, we've left this kind of estimate "open" to the interpretation of the tech's suggestions based on knowing the individual's history. (Some techs will estimate linear footage of line more liberally, others might more conservatively think they can get the job done faster than the others in the bays, etc...) Our techs are responsible for identifying a failed line, and then "estimating" three things: 1. The time they think it will take them to replace the line. 2. The number of linear feet of line they'll need. 3. The number of "fittings" they'll need to replace. We generally never reinstall an existing fitting, and although there are sometimes significant cost differences from one fitting style to another, it generally matters little in the grand scheme of things. If we believe the tech is one of the guys that is generally "spot on" with what he'll need, we'll write the estimate, and then bump the total dollar amount by 10%. (Generally adding it to the labor time) We charge a minimum of 1 hour of labor regardless of how short the line is, but as we generally end up suggesting the replacement of multiple lines during the same visit, when our customers agree to allow us to do that, it always rounds downward in the customer's favor with each additional line. For example, one line may be an hour on the estimate, but two relatively shorter lines may be 1.7 hours, and three lines may be 2.4, etc. There is no labor guide to follow on a make/model basis, and if ONE line has rusted & failed...you can bet that the rest of the lines are at least VERY rusty. We won't insist on the replacement of additional (non-failed, but rusty) lines unless we believe (by even a simple visual examination) the structural integrity of the lines are compromised. There's lots of pictures available online of brake lines with varying degrees of compromise....we found pictures of Bad, Worse, and Worst, and have diagrams in the office to exemplify the relative state of decay to our customers. We learned this approach once we grew tired of having to call customers and tell them that a second line burst during the brake bleeding procedure, and got tired of being accused of breaking their cars by people who felt ambushed. Now - we tell them, "This one's broke. That one's likely to go soon, and this other one is very rusty. To take care of them all and make sure your car is safe, it'll be $XX out the door" Anyone that asks about "just fixing the one line" is warned of what may happen during service, and asked to sign a disclaimer when they pick up the car, then given an estimate for the one line. Since the estimate is writeen to make the 2nd, 3rd, & additional lines MUCH more cost effective to fix....sometimes telling them, the cost difference serves to sell the whole job anyway. So an hour of labor, roughly $3 a foot for the line, and $4-$5 per fitting. Brake line replacement is a "labor job", meaning most of the associated cost is in twhat it takes to ask a professional to make sure it's done right, and the car is safe. One last thought... If someone presents a vehicle to us and says that the pedal just went to the floor, and we discover rusty brake lines, one that's failed: Typically this customer will be grateful that they're not looking at a job that costs them $750 - $1200. The dollar amount to get you back on the road with the assurance that your brake lines are in good shape for $250 - $400? What are you going to do...go buy another car? Just one man's take on it. (And hey...I'm wrong as often as the next guy.)

Our company is interested in researching the purchase of some new equipment for performing fluid exchanges at our shop. Do any of you have any experience with any particular brands of equipment, or can you give a thumbs up for a particular service program? I know some of the manufacturer's of those machines also sell the chemicals directly to professional servicemen. The services we're seeking to sell more of: Cooling System Flush Air/Induction Decarbonization (Top Engine Cleaning) Brake Fluid Flush Power Steering System Flush Transmission Fluid Drain & Fill / Flush (Advice?) - also - We're seeking a line of retail additives worth selling in our lobby, or to be used during any/all of the services above, including: Engine Oil Stop Leak Oil Stabilizer (High Mileage Detergent Additive) Power Steering Pump Conditioner ATF Fluid / Gasket Conditioner Cooling System Flush / Chemical Additive Fuel System Additive Your thoughts on these matters would be appreciated. Currently, maintenance services only represent about 10% of our sales. With the possible addition of new equipment, we're in need of developing a program to encourage the sales of more manufacturer's maintenance items, and fluid exchange service. Thanks in advance!

We use the Nickel/Copper Alloy tubing in 3/16" & 1/4" for all our brake line replacements. As others have mentioned, I don't think we're talking about straight copper tubing, like the kind you might still find in your mom & pop hardware store. The alloy lines bring together the strength of steel, and the "corrosion resistant" copper. Being in the NE, we stock 300' of the 3/16" line, and often replace 40 feet or more at a time on the vehicles we see. Typically if there's a line that's rusted & busted, there are other lines in the system that are rusted enough to be able to honestly suggest more linear feet be replaced at the same time. Any reason anyone can tell me that I need to do more research on this? I found a link to a page that has a TON of technical data on the manufacture/specs for some different types of tubing. I found it to be interesting, so maybe some of you will, also. Enjoy. http://www.copper.org/applications/automotive/brake-tube/brake.html

August has ended up being the worst month in the history of my company. The first month we not only failed to reach our sales growth goals, but also failed to beat last year's sales for the same period. I'm not sure why reading this thread made me feel bettter, but I might as well share some of ourstory, and maybe it'll manage to make someone else here feel better: 1. The company I've used in the past to handle some transmission rebuilds for us went bankrupt after 30 years, and I've already had to go into my own pocket to honor a warranty on the work by having it rebuilt again for my customer. ($2000) 2. A real pain in the butt, first time, price shopping customer begged me to put in the cheapest parts, and even a USED part on the service he needed. When it failed prematurely, he charged it all back to me by complaining to his credit card company ($750) 3. A rookie tech failed to latch a hood...smashed a windshield on a Venture van we just fixed up for a good customer of ours. ($200 and I let her borrow my own personal vehicle for a couple days) 4. A customer complained as he was picking up his car after getting $900 worth of work done, claiming he was told it would cost $500. Since we EMAILED his estimate to him in the beginning, we encouraged him to recheck it. He emailed us back that although he sees that we charged exactly what we said we would before we started, that he thinks it's unfar, and will never return again. (No direct loss of cash...but he posted a negative review online, insinuating that we are over-priced, and charge unfairly. 5. A customer complained about a noise in the back of his 4x4, and screamed at my rookie service advisor that he just had us do axle bearings, and they're already bad. (3 months ago). MY rookie rushed the customer into a warranty service, and the cause of the noise wasn't confirmed. We spent half the day replacing parts "under warranty" that made no difference to the noise he was hearing...and then got blamed for the failing planetary gears in his rear differential. ($400 + a bad review because he thinks we broke his rear end by putting in axle bearings) 6. A customer had a bad power steering leak. We inspected, and although there was fluid EVERYWHERE, we told him he needed a particular line replaced, as well as his pump, then "clean & retest". We put in the pump & line, then immediately saw that he needed a steering rack (another leak), got authorization to put it in, Once the rack was in...my tech let me know that the pump was faulty...the one we just installed. By the way....this stuff all happened in the same week... So...who gets fired first? Can it be me? Just one man's nightmare August.

I've eard lots of short comments on RO Writer. I've been using Mitchel1 (Manager) for 5 years. Does RO Writer allow a data migration from Mitchel1?

I didn't see a thread specifically naming/rating digital inspection applications. Do you use a digital inspection process? What is it called, and what has been your experience with it? I'm shopping...

No. Don't be tempted to show your staff, especially someone disgruntled, those figures. You are NOT a co-worker with special access to that information...you are their boss. There are plenty of ways to "show the numbers" without really revealing the specifics. For example, if your incentive was based on sales growth, you could establish what your sales increase goal (week to week, or monthly) is with your staff, and plot it out as an indexed figure. If your sales growth goal is a 40% increase in sales over the previous year, your data would look like this: SALES 2014 SALES GOAL (40%) SALES 2015 RATING Week 1 $1000 $1400 $1400 0 Week 2 $1200 $1680 $1550 -11 Week 3 $2100 $2940 $3100 +8 Week 4 $1800 $2520 $2800 +16 Monthly $6100 $8540 $8850 +5 In ALL weeks, you beat last year's sales, but: In this case, a rating of "zero" means that your company has done very well, and has exactly met it's sales goal. Any rating with a positive rank is AMAZING, and should be an exciting thing to discuss with your team. Any rating with a negative rank means the company did NOT meet it's sales goals, so bonus/incentives would be lost, or at least diminished. (In this example, even a rating of -10 still means that your company experienced a growth of 30%...a fact that your staff does NOT need to be made aware of unless you have another bona fide reason for sharing, but since the goal wasn't met, you're not compelled to have to invest in as much of an incentive bonus) Always share PERFORMANCE NUMBERS, not sales/profit specifics, unless it's somehow integral to the employee's success, such as with a service manager in charge of a staff of service writers needing to assess opportunities for improvement in selling work profitably or seeing who's more challenged. I can't stress this enough...your goals MUST be both REALISTIC as well as CHALLENGING. If they see impossible...no one will work toward them. If they seem too easy, no one willl care about exceeding them. Tell your whole staff that you just had an $XX,XXX week, and they'll think you're sitting on a pile of money in the back office. They soon forget about the A/C machine you just bought, the lunch you bought for the staff twice last week, and the advertising attempt that was ineffective, not to mention they won't understand that they may have been the cause of one or more comebacks, there was a big warranty job, a competitor opened up across the street, and the shop's efficiency rating was only 20%. They'll tell you that none of that stuff is any of their business, and I'll tell them that neither are YOUR sales numbers. Just one man's way of engaging the staff

I firmly believe that just as the ideology of the past has changed, so should the attitudes and perceptions of shop owners. The old adage was that "Our employees are our greatest asset", and I believe that the wisdom behind that still applies. Do we want our staff to be comprised of automotons? Although we can't indefinitely tolerate employees who's performance or punctuality is consistently poor due to drama in their private lives, I believe that when we choose to become business owners, we also inherently choose to become leaders. Great leaders never forget that the health & welfare of their staff is of primary importance, especially when it comes to guarding your bottom line. It takes practice and experience to hone the skill of balancing your focused efforts of motivating and encouraging your staff to perform (sometimes through disciplinary measures) with careful enforcement of company policy. Otherwise put - sometimes it really does pay to slow down your process enough to support and encourage an employee who's having personal problems, and find a way to help them avoid adding yet another problem to their list...namely their own unemployment. We can't forget about our own professional/company concerns, but try to imagine how productive your staff will be, on average & throughout the year, if they're reminded that the company they're keeping is as interested in his or her own personal success as their own? There's nothing wrong with being "human" and giving someone a break once in awhile, and it's nice to know you can honestly compel them to hear you when you admonish them with the words, "You owe me one". Just one man's high-hearted, tree-hugging approach to keeping the peace

Hey....us Northerners are fighting it year round, lol. I stock 300' of NC 3/16" brake line....although I haven't looked at it in awhile, there's been months where we've installed nearly 500' of the stuff. You just GOTTA love rust, no?

You touched on another good point, AlfredAuto, mentioning at what price points you advertise your tires. When we write our estimates we have an in-house procedure we keep in mind, that gives us yet another level of consideration when polishing an estimate before presenting it to our customer, we call in the BEST pricing program, and it's really simple. When writing estimates for Brakes, Exhaust, Shocks, or Tires...always be as aggressive as you can. These are the main categories of service that are price-shopped in our area, and if we earn someone's trust/confidence with expert brake service at a highly competitive price...when they come back for a water pump, they don't even ask for the price up front! Just one man's Mneumonic estimating device

Good point, 5Star, and you're absolutely right...we have to be careful in situations like that. So for instance, if you called us and wanted us to give you pricing over the phone for service you believed was necessary, in so many words, we'd deliver the message you reiterated: "I promise, we won't charge you a nickel for our inspection service, and this will give us the privilege of giving you an accurate recommendation and estimate for the repair service you need. If you like what we have to say, wonderful! If not, we tell everyone we're most interested in meeting and serving new people, so you're authorized to ball up our estimate, and toss it back at us, and we can still be friends." The situation doesn't change at all, if after a "quick peek", we find bona fide reasons for not being able to give them a guaranteed fix...we can still keep our promise and give them an honest recommendation based on facts, and what it will cost if they authorize service. "Mr. Smith, we've finished peeking under the hood just like we promised, and it I have to tell you, I think you may be correct about the fact that your water pump is the source of the coolant leak. After taking a closer look, my senior technician has indicated that your engine has small coolant tubes that run in the same vicinity of the pump, and the fact that there's so much coolant i the area, I'm inclined to give you an estimate for servicing both of those items, as a worst-case scenario. We can't imagine what else it may be in that area, so I think it's safe to say that there's at least a small possibility that the wter pump is fine, and that it's the coolant pipes/seals that are leaking. Whatever it is, you can be assured that you won't be paying for any service that doesn't take care of the problem." Of course, we're not always this bold, 5Star, but the example I used involves some "grey area" when our tech just can't be POSITIVE on a quick inspection. In this example, we may even recommend they allow us the privilege of performing a cooling system pressure test first, which would come with a fee attached. Regardless, price shoppers that come in to our counter are ALWAYS given the estimate they asked for...even if after they arrive, we're not given permission to inspect the vehicle. Our view is that we're happy to give out estimates all day long at our counter, where we at least have access to vehicle information. Someone could come to our shop with a radiator that is working perfectly, with no signs of compromise whatsoever...and if asked, I'll give them an estimate at our counter for it's replacement. Our invoice, of course, will include a disclaimer that the component was replaced at their request only, that a comprehensive system diagnosis was NOT completed by our staff, and that we cannot guarantee that the service will address any of the symptoms they're experiencing. Why not? We have people often enough ask me to replace parts on their car that I tell them up front, "I strongly believe that replacing your flux capcitor won't address the problem you're having...but we are here to serve, and would be happy to perform any service you as of us." I think you're probably referring to issues that blatantly require a diagnosis, however, 5Star. In that case, our free quick peek still comes with the culmination of service resulting in us keeping our word...the estimate they get will explain everything we then know about the car, what trouble codes (if any) were present, and a to-the-penny estimate for the recommended service.....which in this case is: "TECHNICAL DIAGNOSTIC SERVICE: Testing and other service necessary to determine the root cause(s) of the complaints/symptoms desccribed on this work order. May include time necessary to remove components & examine or test them for normal function after having been removed from the vehicle." If the professional in front of you says you need teardown/diagnostic service, or else throw parts at your car at your peril....they don't HAVE to let me do anything. Option 1: Thank you for the free information. You guys are really nice...thank you for being thorough, & trying to help me figure this out. (Free) Option 2: Yes, I think what you're saying makes sense. Let's schedule the diagnostic service, per your recommendation. ($) Option 3: What you're saying makes sense, but I really think it's my flux capacitor. I think I'll just have you replace it, per the estimate you gave me, knowing that if I'm wrong, we'll have to have you run your diagnostic afterwards. ($) Just one man's approach to giving people what they want.

Oh, by the way, group - I've used this incident as the motivation to change our policy on using customer-supplied parts. When making this decision early on, I took the time to research the name, location, and phone number of every brick & mortar auto repair shop with a shingle hanging outside their door. I expanded my search to a radius around my shop of a distance of nearly 20 miles. The purpose of my reasearch? To present each of my competitors with a situation whereby I knew what I wanted done on my car, I bought the part I wanted installed, only to determine that I really don't have the time to do it myself, and wanted to know if they would install my part for me, at my request. 70% of those called indicated that they would, in fact, install a customer supplied part, and most even went so far as to say that there would be no additional charge of any sort to do so. (Previously, any customer allowing US to supply the parts was automatically entitled to receive our "Discount Labor Rate", which was in fact, the labor rate I wanted to charge all along. Those bringing me their own parts to install were quoted our "Standard Labor Rate", which was 20% higher. Nevertheless...I'm happy to be one of the 330% now that cares enough about the people I serve to NOT let them make the mistake of paying for service where they're not protected vy any warranty whatsoever, and they end up paying more for the labor. My shop. My labor. My parts. My warranty. My reputation. So far...we haven't lost a single job over it.

I appreciate your take on this Jeff! Anymore, it really does seem like the largest part of the problem is tryingg to get people's ATTENTION. My kids are all in college and we've had the discussion about "screens" in our house more than once. (Someone always has a screen of one sort or another in front of them, most of the day) I think I understand the notion of "paying a lot of money to make the phone ring", but I'd accept that only as a euphemism. We invest money in advertising, and carefully monitor the ROI. If I decided to asdvertise on coupon flyers on the tables at a local italian restaurant, and it was going to cost $4000 a month, I'd be ok with that...especially if I showed my partners that it was netting us $15k a month. Now that's a spicy meatball! We had a near record week one time, and yet our phones were down for almost 3 business days. Just one man's screwball experience.

Of course. This is just one simple activity that may be something you can add toward finding new customers, and you have to use your head. On sites where the "reviewer" has an actual profile, you can click their name and briefly skim over the reviews they've left for other businesses. If all of them are whiny, complaining, and sometimes downright unfair....sometimes you're easily able to tell that maybe this is someone you want to avoid. The real power comes from the absolute ease of execution, and the willngness for some of those "hurt" by your competition, to give you a shot. NO fortunes were ever made when the economy was booming. When there's a downturn, whether it's an annual cycle or otherwise, SOMEONE is getting the business. Why shouldn't it be YOU?

Although this isn't a specific answer to your question, I thought it might be of interest. Here's one of my favorite marketing strategies, and it's so simple, it's almost silly to even admit. When we think about marketing, advvertising, and promotional efforts, we tend to think in terms that are grandios. Anything on a large scale...so that if you reach 5,000 peopla, maybe 10 more will come through your door, right? When I find myself with a few minutes to kill, and I want to feel good about the use of my time, I get in front of Google, and pick a competitor. You know whop I'm talking about, right? The shop/dealership not too far from your place that's been there 100 years, gives really horrible service, doesn't seem to care about their customers? Anyhow...pick one, the bigger the better. Now start searching for reviews. Of course, you can probably avoid the ones posted on their own site, but if you do a handful or searches for "That" company, and the reviews from others in the community, you are absolutely going to find more than one site where there are some negative reviews posted about them. Read them all, and pay close attention to the categorical nature of the report. Were they overpriced? Underhanded? Unfair in their practice? Did they keep the customer's car too long? Break their promise on the deadline for repair? Not take care of the original concern? You know what I mean. I have a knack for reading these reviews, and then tracking down the person who left it, and reaching out to them. If you're lucky enoug to see their whole name, like on some review sites, then you're in business. Even if not, sometimes B. Worchinski really IS the BRYAN Worchinski who's facebook page you found with a simple search. Write Bryan a simple email, apologizing to him on behalf of honest/fair-minded mechanics everywhere. Tell him you recently read about his rotten experience at XYZ Auto, and it compelled you to reach out to him. Tell him you want him to KNOW that not all mechanics are like that. Tell him there are places.....just like yours, that really do care about taking better care of him, than what you read, and then INVITE him to your shop. Start by saying you just want to shake his hand, and have the opportunity to give him one of your cards....then add that you're even willing to give him a free, basic oil change, just for the privilege of meeting him. Tell Bryan that the way it's been for him in the past, well...it just DOESN'T have to be like that. Ok, some of you may think I'm crazy, but I've personally reached out to a doen or more unsatisfied customers from OTHER shops in the same week before, and added 75% of them to my car count, and gotten the chance to cnvert them into loyal customers of my own. So, it's not 5,000 prospects, it may only be 10. But what if you got 5 of them to come in? What if 3 of them turned out to be great customers? Now, that's guerilla marketing. Just one man's crazy idea.

I'm surprised to hear that there are many who still don't think a rewards campagin is a suitable part of a successful marketing program in the auto repair industry, but this thread has been quite an interesting read, I think. We have a loyalty program for our customers that has been quite successful, and the return on our investment has never been greater. We've used the rewards card program to tie together a multitude of other marketing efforts, and in 2015, we've gotten definitive feedback from countless customers who've come to appreciate the real value inherent in "being a member". Believe it or not, I'm aware that I can be long-winded sometimes, so I'll be lazy for a moment, and spare you all the exciting, longer descriptions of how it works with a simple bullet list. Suffice it to say, however, we're all very excited about it....me, my staff, AND my customers. It brings people back in more frequently, encourages them to "spend more", by giving them more incentives to authorize additioanl services, and in some ways, even encourages them to "hold on" to their rewards as opposed to spending them as fast as they get them. (Like offering a free tow to our facility with only 30 "dollars" worth of points.) I'm happy to comment on any part of the program, but here's some quick info" 1. They earn points anytime they spend money with us. (Subtotal) 2. The points are spent, using a ratio of points to dollars. 3. They earn bonus points when someone they refer to us comes in for service, based on what their friend spends on their first visit. 4. They earn bonus points for signing up for our monthly E-blast, & our Mobile (texxt) marketing program. 5. They earn points for engaging with us on several of our social media pages. 6. They have a chance to earn double rewards on services we are promoting. (Nice to fill the bays with work you WANT) (August, Brake Safety Awareness Month...means brake service earns double points) 7. They almost always earn triple points on manufacturer's recommended maintenance packages. 8. They can spend their points at our facility on any future service at the most lucrative ratio of points to dollars. 9. They can spend their points at a dozen or so other local businesses by "purchasing" gift cards for services elsewhere. (But they spend more points elsewhere for each actual dollar gifted, than at our shop) 10. We have 3 tiers of retail gift cards available for them to "spend" their points. There are almost 100 different company gift cards we can send them, from brick & mortar home improvement stores, specialty retail, restaurants, amazon/ebay, the apple store, Google Play Store, etc. 11. Our card is also valuable at several other local businesses where they can "flash their card" for discounts that are unavailable otherwise, toward services such as landscaping, plumbing, personal fitness/training, etc.) The program has helped us to tie together all our communications with our clients, and we have a central database that keeps track of the emails, texts, discounts, rewards, etc., that we offer or make. As the director of marketing for our company, I can tell you...that list is the central nervous system of our campaigns. We can cross reference it with our POS software reporting, and test the effectiveness of each segment of our marketing against actual sales & frequency of visits. So...if I haven't bored you to tears, I'm guessing I've at least convinced you that I'm a real geek when it comes to this junk. I guess I should just cast my vote and say that I'm a firm proponent to the use of a rewards card program, as I've seen it work very well for us. Just one man's opinion

Bingo. You're NOT deceiving anyone by refusing to give a price over the phone. Once you learn not to be afraid of losing the "price shopper", your phone will eventually begin ringing only because people who want to schedule appointments are calling. I've heard some of my staff answer like this (out of context), "<chuckle> Oh, you've never been here before? Well, you don't know what you're missing. We're confident that if given the chance to be of service to you, you'll understand that in order to stand tall, and boldly behind the work we provide, we like to get it right the first time. Stop by, let me shake your hand, make you a cappucino while you're waiting, and we'll prepare any estimate you ask us for. Your trip & your time will be well spent, and you won't feel pressured into letting us do anything for you that you don't want. We're here to serve...give us a chance to meet and make a new friend?" Priceless.

Hi AJ! Followup emails texts outta be used as a last resort. Don't be tempted to eliminate the human interaction altogether - make it a part of the process...the FIRST part of the process. Since we implemented this procedure, our customer engagement has increased to as much as 83%. Consider that for a moment: We actually connect with 83% of the people we serve within a week (or so) of their service at our shop. This is how we measure that number: We engage, or connect with those individuals by certifying that we: 1. Spoke to them directly on the phone after service to make sure everything was ok. 2. They responded to a text we sent them on the last day of the cycle (our last resort) 3. They responded to an email that was sent out to them asking them to rate their service experience with us (a parallel effort) 4. They stopped in to our shop for another purpose, or sometimes, just to say thanks. (It involves cookies sometimes...) That equates to personally guaranteeing that we heard from 41 out of 50 people we might see in a week, and they either told us how great we were, that they were just "satisfied" that we did alright, or that they revealed somehow we could improve, which of course, set a WHOLE OTHER marketing process into motion. If your marketing & promotional program is underfunded to say the least, I would implement a process like this FIRST, before worrying about how to get more folks in the door.

Slowtech, I think I love you. I'd like to hire ten more team members with your temperament, I think. I make more than my lead tech. I make more than all my technicians combined. But then again, I'm responsible for ALL the costs associated with running the business, including the mistakes made by the great staff of people I employ. I honestly believe that me, my customers, and my technicians are all in this together: 1. My staff works hard to educate my customers so they'll understand why I don't advertise "We work cheap", and they're happy to see the results of that effort everytime they come to me for service. 2. I work hard to make sure my staff knows how much their skills and expertise is appreciated, and they know that I pay them every penny of the time they earn, the bonuses they accrue, and the wages increases they deserve as they hone their skills. 3. My customers learn quickly that we're the ones in the room that are workiing hard for THEM, and that the concepts of fast service, inexpensive service, and quality service are all mutually exclusive. They're happy to expect (and GET) what they pay for. I wouldn't trade my customers OR my staff for anyone else in the marketplace.

I appreciate all of your comments very much. I thank you, also, for the advice on calming down. I admit that I'm so focused on always trying to do right by my customers, that sometimes when someone of lesser character outright accuses me of treachery, well...it gets under my skin. However....a WONDERFUL resolution has been implemented, and I thought you all deserved to hear.... Upon reading my response, which was direct, professional, and VERY revealing to the details he left out, he called me personally, and took advantage of my offer to allow us to reinspect it, and ride with him to hear the noise. He authorized us to disassemble the front brakes, and we found a few problems: 1. The other shop didn't replace the brake hardware. (A mistake, in my opinion) 2. They missed the fact that one of the calipers was leaking. 3. They inadvertently "cocked" the piston on one of the calipers, which never ended up even touching the inner pad on that side. 4. None of the remaining pads were quite installed correct, as no pad had evidence of touching the rotor by more than 50%. So - I let him know that to take care of the issues, he would have to go back to the other shop to ask for warranty service, or let us take care of it all while it's at our shop. I sent him the photos of the problems we discovered, and he authorized the whole repair. Calipers, pads, & new hardware all around. On the test drive afterwards, he was so excited, he apologized for taking out his frustration on us, and vowed to rescind his review, changing it to a 5-star review for all our hard work & results. His last comment indicated that he planned on naming the other shop in our review, which made me chuckle. (I also, NEVER throw any other working man under the bus...we all make mistakes, but I can never control what my customers say, now can I?) So in the end, we got a review that more fairly described our efforts & results, and landed a nice job out of it, as well as a customer for life. Good thing I didn't lose my cool online in my response. I owe you guys one for that. Just one man's feeble attempt to overcome the odds.