Joe Marconi

Gary, "interesting" is not the word I would use.....Scary is the how I would decribe it

Great insight on a topic we are all well aware of. The customer is the common denominator. From my perspective, dealing with people is a lot harder than dealing with cars. The car just sits there, nice and quiet, just waiting for you to find the cure. The public, well that's another story....

Great question. We got away from a bonus based on sales only, for that reason. Our goals are now based on gross profit dollars and each service writer needs to understand a bonus can only be awarded when the company makes money. In other words, a shop can have a $10,000 sales week with $2,000 in profit, but another week may yeild $4,000 from $10,000 in sales. So, your point about rising costs is well taken and I am glad you brought that up. Calculate your cost of doing business (breakeven) and add a percentage on top of that to insure you make a return on investment, only after that can you begin to start paying a bonus to a service writer.

Gonzo, that will happen some day, ASO has to grow a bit more, but it's in the cards....

I went to lunch the other day with a good friend of mine, who is also a shop owner. He took me to a local Deli and introduced me to the owner. I asked the owner how things are, and he responded by giving me the “thumbs down” sign. I am assuming business is not that great. As we sat down to eat our lunch I pointed out to my friend that as the owner of the business he should never covey any negative feelings about his company. And unless there is something really tragic in his life at this time he should remain upbeat and positive. Any negative attitude will have a negative effect on his business and his life. We all know how difficult business is and the past few years have been a challenge for all of us. But I am a firm believer that the more positive we are the better off we will be and the more successful we will be in the long term. To focus on the negative will only bring more negative things to you. My tip to all shop owners is to remain positive and convey strength at all times toward customers and the people who work with you. It will pay dividends in morale and eventually productivity. I know at times it’s hard; you as the owner have the weight of world on your shoulders that others may not understand. But, you are the leader of your company and leaders must set the tone that others will follow. You, your company, your employees and your customers will all benefit from your positive attitude and personality. So, when someone asks you, “How’s it going?” You say….”Great!”

It looks like the rise in gas prices is affecting the economy once again. Everything related to fuel cost will also rise, which will dampen the economic recovery (if there really is one). The confusing thing is that I think people are just tired of the roller coaster and all the bad news. I recently spoke to many business acquaintances at the local chamber of commerce meeting, and in general business is down in every sector. But, last week I went to the Cheese Cake Factory with an old friend on a Tuesday night and it was packed. We had to wait 35 minutes before we were seated! The economy may not be the best, but people are spending. They just might not be spending where we would like them to. It could be because people need to choose and budget their money better. I guess when it’s a choice between Teriyaki Chicken at the Cheese Cake Factory and a 60K service at my shop, the Teriyaki Chicken wins out?

Again, it's because you are truly a pro!

I recently bought the Hunter Auto34 for runflat and low profiles. It's great machine for runlflats and low profiles but not too good on regular tires, infact for some tires it's horrible, like an SUV tire with a soft wide section height area. Another thing about the Hunter Auto34, the plastic tip that grabs the tire can snap off if the tech does not position it right. It takes some training to get the hang of it. We have a MAC that handles all other tires.

You know be by now Gonzo....and you don't have to tell me....but I hope you charged what you are worth. There are not many techs out there that do what you do, and don't be modest; I have been around the block more than a few times to know when someone knows their stuff. And you know your stuff. Great story, great dedication to your craft.....no, I take that back.... Great dedication to your Profession!

Mitchell1 Registrations Closing Soon for Workshop Mitchell1/ Shop Key Manager Work Shop to be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 19-21, 2012 For more info and for registration go to http://www.buymitchell1.com/form/m1usersinfo.htm

There are a few ways they handle it. Shops that use a clock will still clock the actual time, but charge back the tech at the end of the pay period. If at all possible, the tech that caused the error should get the job back to redo, if not the tech that does the comeback will get credit which goes against the other techs hours. With shops that don’t track productivity hours and just pay an hourly wage or salary, it’s a little harder. Some shops, when the tech as very few comeback, will not even make an issue out of an occasional mistake and eat it as a cost of doing business. Remember, a chronic comeback problem cannot be tolerated and usually is an indication of a problem. If it’s not a part issue or training issue, then it’s a tech issue. If the tech cannot improve, you need to pull the trigger. I don’t know of any shop owners that actually make the tech pay out of pocket, unless the action was deliberate, and in that case there’s a real problem at that shop.

Come to think of it....it's the EURO dealerships that give us the most trouble....

I just created a simple excel spreadsheet.

Even the best mechanics make mistakes from time to time. I have made my share of blunders too. Unless we share in all the profits of the business with our techs, we need to realize that things will go wrong and chalk it up to another cost of doing business. If a tech has a comeback due to his or her mistake, that tech should re-do the job, if possible. Flat rate shops and hourly rate based shops will have different pay procedures to deal with this. If a tech makes a mistake, find out why. Is it lack of training, lack of following company policies and procedure or is due to sloppiness. If there is a trend where the tech’s quality cannot be improved, you will need to let that tech go. We track all comebacks, tech related or part related and we know what percentage of total sales are comeback related. We know that in any given year we will have 2 to 3% tech comebacks. We add this to our cost of doing business breakeven number and amortize this expense like any other budgeted expense. It hurts less when we know the numbers and have it budgeted. Because we track the number of each tech we can tell if a problem is developing and deal with it.

Below is a link to an article about how consumers are choosing the aftermarket over new car dealers. It’s a great article and I feel it’s worth spending a few minutes reading. It will give you insight in future trends that will affect our business. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-reveals-dealership-service-profits-threatened-by-aging-customer-base-141412473.html

We had a long standing rule about people bringing in their own parts, but now have a different outlook. Economies change and business models change. We all read how the DIY market is shrinking, but I still see a lot of people trying to do a lot of work themselves, so we have changed our way of thinking…somewhat… First, we do not accept the customer’s diagnosis or a part’s house diagnosis. If they bring us the alternator, I insist on testing the charging system and will charge for that. If they will not allow us to test it, I shake their hand and say, “Have a nice day, goodbye”. Second, I tell the customer up front that we are not in the business of accepting parts from the consumer and installing them, this is not what we do. You can’t bring your steak to Outback and ask them to cook it for you. So, please let us build a relationship where we take care of your car. Third, if we think that we are helping someone, we will give the person a price for the job. We calculate the job with parts and labor markup and charge them the gross profit dollars we would normally make on that job if we supplied the part. This way we still get our money, but with no warranty. So, if we normally make $60.00 on the alternator part, we add that to the labor. We have been very successful with this approach and it keeps our margins in line. I don’t like it, but I am tired of trying to win every battle and change the mindset of some consumers. I just hope I am no diluting my brand.

I am curious to know if other shop owners have a no rehire policy. Obviously if someone was fired, I would never rehire that individual. But, what if a valued employee left to start his or her own business or for other sound reasons and wanted to return to you because things did not work out. Would you rehire this person?

Welcome to AutoShopOwner.com. Spend time researching the forums, there are tons of great information from shop owners around the country. My advise, check all business training companies, I don't like being pushed either.

I have always been a firm believer of taking care of my customers as if they were family members. If my customer comes to me with a problem on their car and the car is still under factory warranty or needs reprogramming, we will take the car to the local dealer and handle the transaction. I don’t want my customer to make a separate appointment with the dealer; I want to remove that burden, if at all possible. What happened this week opened my eyes to a tactic I was not completely aware of. Please read on, I must share this with you. A longtime customer brought his Mercedes to us for a noise in the dash when operating the heater. We found a faulty blend door motor, a very extensive job. The customer authorized the job and everything was fine, except that the car needed to be reprogramed after the repair. We set up an appointment and shuttled the car to the local Mercedes dealer for the reprograming. Two days later after numerous calls and no return phone call, we finally reached someone in service and the advisor told us they had to remove part of the dash to repair a broken wire. No call to let us know, no authorization, no consult…..nothing! My shop foremen and lead tech worked on this car and took digital photos thru every step. They are both master techs. Both of them are outraged and said the dealership is lying. But wait, it gets better. After we picked up the car, an email and phone call went out to my customer! The email was a satisfaction survey and the phone call was to inform the car owner the reason why the car was at the dealer: The Reason: TO REPAIR A BROKEN WIRE IN THE DASH! The customer immediately called us to let us know. At this point I was furious and called the dealer. You have to leave a message whenever you call this dealer and I left four messages. It took another day for someone to get back to me. The service advisor told me that they are obligated under the terms of their Mercedes franchise agreement to call all of their Mercedes customers. THEIR CUSTOMER! I had to remind him of two very important facts: First, this is MY customer, not yours, and any obligation you may think you have does not include fabricating the truth. I don’t want to condemn or prejudge all new car dealers. We have great relationships with the local Chevrolet dealer, Nissan Dealer, Ford Dealer, Hyundai dealer, etc. I just thought it was important to share this story with other shop owners. I am not one to draw a line in the sand; I feel we should all get along. I will never know the truth about the broken wire, but this Mercedes dealership tactic has left me with suspicion.

I want to thank everyone with thier input on loaner cars. I will take all advise and make a final decesion. ASO has great talent. Thanks!

Gonzo, we all at times either ignore or are afraid to admit that we went into business to make money. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a reality. The issue, and we have discussed this in the past, is that our business focus is oriented toward car repair and service. And, where ever our focus is will determine our direction. We also spend large amounts of time taking care of customers and finding ways to “prove” to them that they are getting value when their car is in our shop. As an industry, have we trained the motoring public to react the way they do? Take a franchise, any franchise, and you will find a detailed plan based solely on profit. The plan may include all the warm and fuzzy things that we all declare when it comes to customer service, community, great prices and quality. But, the root of their business model is profit. I am not opposed to profit, but I feel some customers whether they knowingly realize it, are.

I find it real interesting that the 100 year old company Pep Boys is selling to the investment firm, Gores Group. What’s more interesting is that Pep Boys will no longer be a publicly traded company and will become a privately held company. As the dust settles, the reasons will be reveals and perhaps lessons can be learned from this story.

Thanks FranK, I am glad I have you around!