Joe Marconi

Alex, I am saddened by the loss of your father. I know how hard it must be. The loss of loved ones and family at any age is difficult to deal with. It’s all part of life and we need to look back on fond memories we had.

I think xrac makes a valid point. When you know the true cost of doing business, you stop giving a lot away. I have said this before; the balance between being profitable and competitive is tough to maintain. But, just doing simple math, any shop will realize that they need a certain dollar amount per job just to stay alive. Let’s say a shop’s total expenses for the month are $20,000.00, and let’s say a shop’s average car count for the month is 250, that means that this shop needs at least $80.00 “profit” per job just to pay the bills. When you look at it that way, you will realize that every job becomes very important for survival.

Define Your Role and the Role of Your Employees Everyone in your company needs to know what is expected from them. Everyone, including the owner, must have a clearly defined job description. To expect that an employee instinctively know what you expect is not fair to you or to the employee. It would be like shooting a rifle blindfolded, without really knowing where the target is. You have any idea and may hit the target by accident, but most of the times you will miss. Everyone needs direction and goals. You wouldn’t start out on a road trip without mapping out where you are going, would you? It’s the same in business. We need to communicate with our people and discuss with them the goals and vision of the business. When everyone is moving and working in the same direction, positive things will happen.

I feel from time to time I need to hold a meeting and review procedure and policy with my techs. When a period of time passes, they get a little sloppy. I guess its human nature? After a 20 minute meeting and a few follow ups for a few days after, we are back on track again. Is this a problem in with other shops? What tips can you offer to the members to keep techs on track?

I was wondering what other shops are doing with employee bonuses for Christmas or end of year bonus. I know it's been a tough few years for our industry and would like to hear from you. We have always gave some sort of bonus. For new hires, it's usually in the form of a tool bonus. For veterans employees, it's a combination of cash bonus with a gift card for the famliy. I don't go overboard, but I like to do something.

We get the same reaction at times from some people when we tell them upfront that there will be a diagnostic charge. I think between too many years of conditioning people by giving away the diag time and with many shops and dealerships now giving away diag time to get work, we are setting ourselves for disaster. We cannot give away much needed dollars that go into properly diagnosing a problem. I don’t mind listening to the car, quick visual inspection or even a road test to get an idea of the direction we need to take and to determine what tests are needed. By I don’t think we should be giving away diagnostic time. I hear it all over, from dealership to tire stores and now even many repair shops. I understand that we are in difficult economic times. And, I am willing to work with the customer and we even rewrote some of my diagnostic charges and procedures to fit the times. But, to blatantly give away profit? I might as well put the key in the door and lock it up for the last time. Is it me or doesn’t the rest of the industry see how complicated the future looks. By the way, the future is here! The problem is US; some shops don’t stick together and are short sighted. They feel by getting work thru the doors will help them survive. They are confusing sales activity with profit. Hybrids, electric cars, telematics, CAN technology and advanced electronics dictate our future. We need to change our mindset and understand that “DIAGNOSTICS” have replaced many of the common jobs we once did. Thanks Gonzo, you had to get me started?

Great Video! Tells it all (The langage is a bit offensive, but I am old fashion)

Amazing, very nice!

Amen!

I'm glad to see we all have a sense of humor!

I think most of us feel the same way you do. Above all, I want to put my head on the pillow at night after a tough day knowing that I did all I can for the customer and that everything I recommend in repairs and service is completely honest and based on ethics. I tell my people, “Never put profit before people” The great Peter Drucker, a master in business would preach, “The principle purpose of business is to create a customer”. That’s it in a nut shell. The sad facts are that many national accounts do not have business models based on mechanics, but on sales figures. I am not going to judge anyone or any business type, but when you lose sight of why you are in business, things get convoluted. I am not going to lie to you and say that I am not interested in profit, or tell you that I don’t track the numbers of the business. I pride myself in the fact that I have expanded and built a fairly large operation, with 2 facilities, 10 bays and 16 people working for me. But what I will say is that I have never forgotten how I got here; and that’s taking care of the people around me and doing all I can for the customer. You are right on target and would like to hear from others on this very important topic.

I know I speak for all ASO members when I say that we do enjoy the stories. It's almost like therapy; we all "kind of" have the same situations happen at our shops, you bring it to life in a way that makes us realize that we are all in the same boat. As far as helping other local shops, we too have pulled a few rabbits out the hat for other shops, only to never hear from that shop again. Sometime I feel we need to struggle with their problem, and not figure it out too soon. No matter how much another shop needs to be bailed out, everyone still has an ego. And, when the emotional tension is gone after someone else solves their problem, MR EGO can get in the way and cloud things up.

I don’t know how other state workers compensation insurance works, but NY stinks. It has become a battle every year to get my service advisors and manager properly classified. NY lumps them into the technician classification, which is vastly more costly and raises my workers comp insurance. I am curious, how do other states classify service advisors and managers?

I was wondering how shops celebrate the holidays with their employees. For years we would have a shop party, but for the last two years we have been going out to a local restaurant with the wives and girlfriends. My manager suggested it and it has now become our new tradition. I guess to include the wives and girlfriend makes it more like family. What are other shops doing?

My NYTECH rep is now selling zinc weights. I had to ask him about it and special order what we needed. They are trying to deplete their inventory of lead and will restock with lead if you don’t ask. We do a fair amount of tires and have all the special weights for the alloy wheels. The law in NY goes into effect April 1, 2011 and I want to reduce my lead inventory as well.

As usual, you did not dissapoint us, another great story. It's strang how the transmission shop did not go thru the gears on the lift. I thought that would be a common practice. Right?

That's funny, I need to print a copy for my waiting room!

Great story. Life is about balance, and the scale needs to tip more in favor of family.

Rust is a BIG problem and many times is that last straw that breaks the camel's back. We do a lot of fuel line and brake line repair, but when the frame is rotted, you have to draw the line. Just last week a customer came in with his Jeep for his regular scheduled service and we noticed his transmission was hanging down because the frame was rotted where the cross member/support was bolted to the frame. We did talk about frame repair, but with 185,000 miles on the clock, the owner put the car to rest.

AutoShopOwner wants to wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for your support and contributions that make ASO the best source for automotive business management.

High mileage cars making customers to have second thoughts? In the end people are people. This has been a long recession and we hear now that we are in a recovery. (That’s debatable). However, we have seen an increase within our own customer base of new car purchases as customers say enough is enough. There seems to be a threshold factor taking place. As a car approaches or goes over 200,000 miles, many people are not too happy about sinking a few thousand bucks in their car to keep it going. Have others seen the same?

Late Night Shift? There is a tire company in my area that has a late night, Thursday. They are open to 8:00pm. I really don’t know how profitable they are, they never appear that busy on Thursday nights. Has anyone tried a late night or know of other auto service companies that extended the work day? From what I am hearing, many national accounts are open extended hours, even Sundays. By the way, trust me...I am not looking to extend an already very long week...just want to see what the competition is doing.

I have been there, my friend. I know how hard it is to sit down for dinner on a holiday and your mind can't help but thinking about business and how you are going to survive the next week. The stress is too much to take at times. But, we need to remain positive and give ourselves a little down time. That's all I'm saying.

The Holidays; Take Time Off and Enjoy As we begin holiday season, it’s important to take the time and focus on the things in life that we can never put a price tag on; family and friends. Too many of us get caught up in the day to day tasks of business and we sometimes forget what life is all about. I urge everyone this holiday season to set aside time for family, for friends and for yourself. Put down the wrenches, put away the spreadsheets and reports and spend time enjoying the world around you. Your business and your work are an important part of life, but should serve to enrich your life, not consume it. Time is a precious, but limited commodity; let us not waste any of it.