xrac

Cash For Clunkers Leases a Bad Idea One Year Later http://markets.hpcwire.com/taborcomm.hpcwire/?GUID=14132401&Page=MediaViewer&ChannelID=3198

Sounds like he is successful. I am sure you are very proud of him. Hope he shows dad a good time in CA.

Joe, have fun. What does you son do?

If we are the nice guys guess where they will send people they know if they need something done. We get referrals from our vendors and from our vendors employees.

Wow! Gonzo I can't believe the customers you get.

What are your thoughts on this article?

Here is an article that everyone should read. How is this for an eye opener:

It happened to me again yesterday. It was just past our closing time and all the guys were gone and I was alone. A young guy, about 20, came in telling me he had a hose leaking on his Mustang and could I do anything to help. As you guys know I am not a technician and at 6:00p.m. after a long very hot day I am not interested in practicing to become one! He and I discussed the situation and I suggested he try the nearby Pep Boys and then I offered to give him a gallon of water which I did. I then locked up and headed out the back where he was sitting only to be asked for some more water and a pair of pliers. I complied and then proceeding to help him shorten a hose and move a clamp to make a temporary patch that probably got him home. The most amazing thing to me as I walked off was there was not a word of any kind spoken: no thank you, no do I owe you anything, no nothing. It is absolutely amazing to me that people have lost all courtesy!

This is true for Most States not just California) California: The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out, bites the Governor and attacks his dog. 1. The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural. 2. He calls animal control. Animal Control captures coyote and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it. 3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases. 4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged. 5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is free of dangerous animals. 6. The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote awareness" program for residents of the area. 7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world. 8. The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack somehow and for letting the Governor attempt to intervene. 9. Additional cost to State of California: $75,000 to hire and train a new security agent with additional special training re: the nature of coyotes. 10. PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files suit against the State. Arizona: The Governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A Coyote jumps out and attacks her dog. 1. The Governor shoots the coyote with her State-issued pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge. 2. The Buzzards eat the dead coyote. And that's why California is broke.

Don't Close The Sale - Open The Relationship http://www.tirereview.com/Article/75904/dont_close_the_sale__open_the_relationship.aspx

More news about the AAA competition: Tire Business - Log In

Don't you just hate dealing with these smarty alec punks who think they know so much about cars when in truth you know they know diddly squat. What they don't know is when they open their mouths and start talking they immediately notifiy anyone that knows anything about cars that they are know nothing braggart wannabes.

Some of your wives didn't appreciate the other jokes I posted. Maybe they will like this one better! 40 years of marriage.. A married couple in their early 60s was celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant. Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table. She said, 'For being such an exemplary married couple and for being loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish.' The wife answered, 'Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband The fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - two tickets for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands. The husband thought for a moment: 'Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me. The wife, and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish. So the fairy waved her magic wand and poof!...the husband became 92 years old. The moral of this story: Men who are ungrateful bastards should remember fairies are female.....

I have been reading another great piece by somebody by the name of Joe! Ha! Joe, this is a good one that I wanted to be sure that everyone saw. As some of you know I am president of the Joe Marconi fan club! However, this article has sparked some thoughts that I want to talk about namely how we have to change to remain competitive. My shop has been open for 11+ years and we had never invested in any Eurpoean diagnostic software or equipment. Last week I broke down and made my first investment for the European software and connectors for our Snap-On Modius. It wasn't a huge expenditure (about $1100) but it was a first. Why did I do this? It use to be that the Eurpoean cars we saw (BMWs, Mercedes, VW, Volvos, Landrovers, etc.) were few and far between. Remember that Evansville is in the middle of nowhere and we do not have an Infiniti, Landrover, or Acura dealer. However, as our business and reputation has grown we are seeing more and more Eurpoeans and we have been working on a lot of VWs lately. I realized that if we are going to be servicing that customer base I have to become equipped to do it. On the subject of change the two newest Car-x Franchisee stores that opened in Indianapolis have been built as 8 full service bay shops with three additional quick lube bays attached. These stores are doing $1,000,000 in their first year. The area manager there says they build the quick lube bays, run cheap oil changes to build a database, and then use direct mail to market their other services and it works. This last month the store in the whole Car-x system with the highest sales was a store in Champaign, IL, which has been open less than one year and it is built on some type of tire store model. Remember that Car-x started as muffler shops. My point is that change is a fact of life and something we all have to be open to. If hybrid technology becomes popular we are all going to be forced to look at our business model.

That is amazing! What is wrong with people? Is letting people like this go without asking for some payment reinforcing this ingratitude?

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/Blog/Tire-Talk-with-Mike/Story/2010/07/Dealer-sends-customers-home-with-a-soda-and-a-smile.aspx July 22, 2010 Dealer sends customers home with a soda and a smile By: Mike Manges When it comes to in-store promotions, sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ideas. Just ask Clayton Snow, owner of Clayton's Tire Pros in South Jordan, Utah. Each summer for the last several years, Snow has handed out two-liter bottles of Coke, Sprite or root beer to every customer who spends more than $20 at his single-location shop. It doesn't matter what they purchase -- tires, new windshield wipers, an oil change -- if they spend more than 20 bucks, they go home with an ice cold bottle of soda. Snow gives away so many bottles that he no longer buys them at the local supermarket. Instead, a beverage wholesaler delivers them to his front door! "We receive five to six cases a week," he says. The promotion doesn't cost Snow a lot of money, but it's been extremely effective. "It's crazy how people will write a check for $700 or $800 and if you give them something for free, they suddenly develop a big smile. And when they go home, you become a topic of conversation among their families and neighbors. "We want everybody to leave here happy," he continues. "We want them to feel good about the experience. That, to me, is more important than the bottom line. If you operate that way, it comes back to reward you."

If you use Identifix you also have labor times in it. I think it is Chiltons and Motor.

Unashamedly I will say I hired a world class service manager and 90% of the credit goes to him. Over time we got rid of all the help we had before he came. We hired better qualified people with better skills and attitudes and paid them better. We expanded our service offerings and developed a very positive and up beat attitude. We cultivated positive relationships with key vendors. We worked hard on customer service. We did women's seminars. We learned how to sell and how to properly present the need. We concentrated advertising where it seemed most effective and jazzed up our ads and offers. We have tried to offer something catchy and different from what competitors are offering. How about a camel and a gas pump and something about beating the pump. We did that in one ad. How about my picture on the face of a ten dollar bill that was actually a coupon. We have used that as well. We started opening at 7:00 a.m. in the morning. We started rotating our work schedules so a tech gets at least one 3 day weekend per month. We became better organized.

Consumer Confidence Continues Declines http://www.tirereview.com/Article/75700/consumer_confidence_continues_declines.aspx

I am not a tech and never was a tech but was in a different business entirely. However, I took a $10,000 per year pay cut to purchase our franchise and open our business. For the first 5 years it was iffy if we would survive. It was seven years before I could give myself a pay raise. We have a successful operation now but if I had to do it all over again I think I would have pursued a different business (probably insurance). I could have probably made more money doing anything else during the period of time although now I have a successful business on a prime piece of property that we own. You need to do a serious business plan. Figure out conservatively what it would cost to get into business then add 25%. Figure out what your monthly expenses would be and add 25%. Figure out what you have to have personally to survive. Especially figure out what health insurance will cost if you are not covered through your wife. Figure what you are grossing now and add the value of FICA, health insurance, retirement matches, etc. I have seen a lot of people jump into business without having everything thought out. They do it because they are burned out and tired of what they are doing. Mid-life crisis is real and affects all of us guys somewhere between 35-50. Some guys buy a motorcycle and dump their wife. Others quit their job and start a business when they don't understand what is involved. They choose and invest in a poor business location. They spend money for stuff they don't have to have and spend too much money. They cash in 401Ks and burn through the money. They hire the wrong people. Not very long ago in our town a guy who worked for the Government quit his job and bought an All Tune and Lube franchise. He had plenty of money from his 401K. He did everything I said above and burned through it all and was out of business in a year and a half. My guess is he burned through at least $200-$300 thousand. If you are serious contact SCORE in your town and have someone experienced in business help build a business plan and mentor you in this process.

At the St. Peters Catholic Church in Chicago, weekly marriage seminars are held for husbands. At a recent session, Father O’Malley asked Giuseppe, a naturalized citizen from Italy who said he was approaching his 50th wedding anniversary, to share some insight into how he had managed to stay married to the same woman all these years. To the assembled husbands, each leaning forward and listening intently, Giuseppe said, “Well-a, I’ve-a tried to treat her nice-a. I spend-a da money on her. But best-a all, I took-a her back to da old country, to Italy, for our 25th wedding anniversary.” Father O’Malley, duly impressed, responded. “Giuseppe, you are an amazing inspiration to all the husbands here. Please tell us what you are planning for your wife on your 50th anniversary?” Proudly, Giuseppe said, “ I’m-a gonna go pick her up!”

You can become a sponsoring member if IATN for $15 per month which we use to do. That is too cheap not to have if you don't have Identifix. However, we are now subscribers to Identifix and no longer use IATN . We just don't need IATN and almsot never consult it. We have found Identifix to be invaluablel. It has bailed us out on a many occasions and by consulting it we have saved hours of time up front. Often with our use of Identifx we have had almost instant diagnosis of what was fairly complex problems we were unfamiliar with. It makes us look real good to the customer. I would seriously consider Identifix. I think you can get a free trial for a week.