Joe Marconi

Someday our paths will cross. Have a beer together.

Are you attending CARS this year? If so, I would love to see you there! CARS is an event specifically designed to deliver high quality and trusted education and product information to automotive service professionals, and if you haven’t been in the past, I would encourage you attend. As many of you know, I’ve recently joined Elite Worldwide as a business coach for shop owners, so I will be at the Elite Worldwide trade show booth Oct. 11th-13th helping the attendees grow more profitable businesses. If you plan on attending the event, I would be honored if you stopped by to say hello! Event Info: www.carsevent.com Conference: Oct 10-13 Trade Show: Oct 11-13 Mandalay Bay Convention Center Las Vegas, NV

I just want to mention that customer write-up is a key opportunity to start the sales and service process. We train our service advisors to not only review what the customer concerns are but to be proactive with needed service work, reviewing vehicle history and any suggestions that were made at the last visit. Many service items are pre-sold at the counter, increasing efficiency. For new customers, we take a different approach. We want to know how that customer found us, is the vehicle up to date with maintenance and talk a little about what we do. We will also inform the customer that we always perform a bumper to bumper inspection with every service. For diagnostic work, we try to pre-sell diagnostic time; this saves time, giving the tech the go ahead, and not have to wait for authorization. We don’t use any particular form, just the Mitchell Manager Estimate and Repair Order forms. The techs will get the Mitchell Tech sheet along with the Service Intelligence form (from Mitchell) to show vehicle history and what service is due.

We offer this to our exsiting customers only-at this time. When a customer purchases a new car, we send a letter with the coupon offer. We also promote it in our marketing. We will have a tag line in our newsletter for example stating: "Purchase a new car lately? Ask about your free oil change!" We also have posters on the counter saying the same thing. After a while, your customers will know the program and keep YOU in mind when they buy a new car and let YOU know. It's a great way to keep them out of the dealer. I am not sure if it would work with people we don't know, it may bring in people who are just looking for a freebie.

Is there anything else we can help you with? We all know this and most of us probably do this on a daily basis, so this is just a reminder for some: Are you being proactive with your approach and asking for additional sales when booking appointments and writing up customers? If not, you are missing the opportunity for increase sales, the easy way. When a customer calls and schedules an appointment for an oil change, are you asking, “Is there anything else we can do for you or help you with? A tire rotation? Wipers? By asking may trigger the customer’s memory and they just might add another service item to the appointment. It’s easy and it’s simple and should be automatic.

I am not here to judge anyone, since I know many, many great techs that started out as shade tree mechanics, I included. When I was 19 years old I started a mobile auto repair business with a friend of mine in the Bronx. We worked nights and weekends: we both had regular jobs working as techs. But after realizing that I would never get to where I needed to go in business, I decided to go legitimate. I opened my own shop. That was on October 1, 1980 – 30 years ago. Those of you, who know me, know that I am a firm believer in running a business as a true business. And the better business person you are the more successful you will become. Committing to the skills of business will open more doors for and make you more money, resulting in a better life too.

When do you think America will wake up? When it's too late?

9/11/01-Let us never forget Let us never forget the tragic events of nine years ago when terrorists attacked our country which resulted in the death of 3,000 people. September 11 will always be a day of remembrance for those who died; those who fought that day to save others and those brave men and womien in our military who put their lives on the line for our freedom.

Great points, thank for your input...we all learn from each other.

The ugly truth!

I love it, clean old fashion fun!

Great motivating story. It shows the power of the human spirit.

Don't be afraid to fail Is the fear of failure holding your business back from achieving even greater success? Every great person in history had to overcome failure. Thomas Edison tried over 1000 time to find the right element that would make the electric light bulb possible. Michael Jordon, one of the greatest Pro-basketball players of all time, accepted the fact that he like everyone else, fails from time to time. You can only achieve great things in life and in business by trying. If you fail, so what, you now know what does not work and you move on and try again. That's the process of learning and success.

For me, I tend to hold on to the hope that people can change. But, the truth is, when an employee starts to show certain signs, you need to act. The damage of delaying letting someone go can be harmful to your business. I now ask myself two questions when I am having problems with an employee: 1. If this employee came to me today and said they were leaving, how would I feel? If it does not upset me or makes me happy, the person needs to go. 2. If this employee were to apply for the job today, would I hire him/her? If the answer to this question is a definite no, fire the person now!

Sometimes when I get these "backyard engineers" I am embarrassed for them. They seem proud of what they did and I just stand there in amazement wondering how in the world will this work? I end up taking a job I really don't want, even after my entire staff says no. In the end, I have to pull a few rabbits out of my old worn-out hat. Nice article,Gonzo....keep up the great work!

Congratulations! This is a big step. You will most definitely need to do cost analysis to determine what your expenses will be. This will give you a base line (your breakeven) to know what you will need to be profitable. Remember, breakeven means you’re just paying your bills, above breakeven means you’re making money. It may take a few months of tweaking before you know your true numbers. Last year when I built my new shop, I did a lot of home work projecting labor costs, fixed expenses and variable expenses, but nothing is like real life. Creating a price structure plan can be a little tricky. Again it depends on your CODB (cost of doing business), payroll, market area and other factors. Are you planning on having a grand opening? That would be a great way to jump start the new building. Maybe you can have some one-time lost leader or run a few specials. In general, your part profit and labor profit needs to generate profit “dollars” to your bottom line. Do an analysis on your competition; find out what they are doing. I am not suggesting that you follow blindly what they are doing, but you need to know your competition. There is shop in my area that advertises FREE Check Engine light diagnosis, I don’t compete head to head with that but I do have ways to indirectly compete by promoting our convenience, speed of service and tech certifications. Sorry to go on and on, but there is a lot to cover on this subject. Let me know if I helped and if there are any more issues or questions. One thing I can tell you for sure, never compete on price, someone will always be cheaper and you will left in the dust wondering what happened to the business.

Well said, and argree.

I am willing to bet that there are far more customers that know you are honest, doing a great job and appreciate you and your company. Sometimes, during a tough situation we need to be reminded of that. So, I am reminding you. Focus on the positive, learn from the past and do all you can to be better tomorrow. You're a good man; no one can take that away from you!

We have all been down this road and there is no need to feel responsible for what happened. You can change your service procedure and learn from the experience, that’s a positive move. But there will always be situations that are just out of our control. Your focus was on the tires and alignment. Should you have performed a basic inspection prior if this was a first time customer? Perhaps. But don’t beat yourself up over it. You can’t possibly expect every possible thing that can go wrong. We are not gods, just people. And we work hard each and every day to be the best we can be. An elderly later came in recently with a 1992 olds for a state inspection and an oil change. The car had about 40,000 miles on it and was immaculate inside and out and nothing was found wrong with the car. When the work was finished, the engine just cranked and cranked, but would not start. A few quick checks revealed a failed ignition module. Now, how do you explain to an elderly lady that her car came in running fine, but now needs an ignition module? I did my best to explain to her, but she accused me of breaking her car and was getting very upset to a point where I feared for her health. I decided to install the module for free. Maybe I was wrong for doing that, but that’s what I did. Your situation is different, you did the right thing and I would have charged for the battery also in that case. We are tested every day, it’s part of being in business.

We will see more and more of these types of web sites. I am really on the fence about this and have mixed feelings. Even a simple front brake job with rotors can run into difficulty. What if there are caliper problems or seized slides? Attempting to price jobs on line concerns me. Buying parts online and trying to find shops to install them also concerns me. I guess we need to be listed on these sites, but are we part of the problem or accepting change?

Maybe we are looking at this wrong. Perhaps, we should fight for the “Right not to be Frustrated”. I totally agree that investment in training, tools, equipment will serve us far better in the long run. But what about a 3 bay shop that services: Toyota, Hyundai, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, VW, Volvo, Honda, Kia and Suzuki? How can a shop of that size afford all the training, tools, scan tools and equipment to really compete? I hope the answer is not that he/she has to pick and choose what models the shop can afford to work on. Because that, I see is the only answer. The only way to truly compete is with factory scan tools and factory equipment. The aftermarket, is very good, but does lack in certain critical areas. If a shop has to give up market share as a business decision, he gives part of his business. And, what if a shop has a fleet account and takes cares of a local company’s Ford Vans and next year the company decides to buy all Sprinter Vans? Try tooling up for Sprinters, that is no fun. Again, the shop already invested heavily in Ford scan tools, training and equipment but now needs to change gears and tool up again. I know, change will occur, but it is frustrating. I have a large company and due to my economy of scale I can afford the training and tools necessary to compete, but that’s not the case across the board. Plus, I really cannot put all the blame on the shop owners and techs, they do a remarkable job with the limited resources and training they have. I appreciate the dialogue in this forum. We as independents need to work together. Let’s keep the dialogue going, it’s our future.