Joe Marconi

All great books. Perhaps we should start a Book List Post?  

Excellent Point!  Too often, we beat up on the technician, when the real problems rests with how the estimates are being created. Too many labor dollars are left on table by not accounting for the true worth of job. Thanks for your perceptive! 
Your post should be required reading for shop owners. 

Keeping track of tech's hours is crucial to understand labor profit. We use Mitchell Manager, and the techs hours are entered in to the system. If a tech works 40 hours and he bills 40 plus hours, that's good. But if he is billing lower hours than he is working, you need to find out why. Is there enough work? Is there too much down time between jobs? Is the tech waiting too long for parts? Is the tech waiting too long to get authorization for a job? Or is the tech too slow due to lack of training or experience? All these are factors that must be analyzed.
 
I can tell you that low billable hours vs. what a tech's potential hours is a big problem in terms of profit.
 
One more thing, efficiency and productivity are different. A tech can finish a T belt in 3 hours, but the book time is 4. That means the tech was efficient on that job. But if he has to wait an hour and half before he starts his next job, his productivity just went south. That's where a time clock can help you with understanding efficiency and productivity.
 
Hope this helps?

One of the reasons why I built my second shop was due to the perception that we did not perform oil changes. It was also true that I was not convenient for that service. Many of my customers came to me when they had a problem. For tires and oil changes, they went to a more convenient national chain. We had six bays at the time and busy most of the year. I had property on the same block, so I opted to build another 4-bay facility instead of dedicating one or two bays from my existing shop.
 
The business model for the old shop remains the same: Heavy repairs, engines, transmissions, diagnostic work, brakes, etc. The model for the new 4-bay is to cater to those customers who prefer to wait for oil changes, we do tires, alignments, scheduled maintenance work, and other minor services.
 
We DO NOT brand ourselves as a quick lube and will not speed thru an oil changes service, or any service for that matter.
 
I can tell you that the plan was a success and we captured our entire customer base for all the oil changes and minor work. We also increased our tires sales and increased our market share. Car counts nearly doubled.
 
Adding the oil change concept in to your business is a good idea. Things to take into consideration: the size of your shop, your productivity ratio, car counts and if you are losing too much of your customers.
 
One more thing: if your shop is at capacity, the phone is ringing off the hook and you business model is working, be carful about dedicating an oil change bay(s). Taking away a bay that produces high profit maintenance and brake work is more desirable. It's the old saying "don't try to be everything to everyone"

When we speak of success and taking care of our customers, every aspect of the business needs to be considered, and ASE certification and continuous training is part of it.
 
I know, I know, I know...I have heard ALL the objections: The cost, there are great mechanics out there that are not ASE certified, ASE does not mean you can really fix a car, the public has no idea what ASE is, on and on and on and on.
 
Every profession requires some sort of training and certification. You can't cut hair without a license, and yet you can hire someone off the street tomorrow with no accreditation and he can repair your mother's or sister's brakes??? Is this the industry that shines with professionalism?
 
Business is tough, I have been around the block more times then I care to admit. I have seen a lot in my 40 years since staring as a mechanic straight out of high school in 1973. I too have many reservations with ASE, but the more we move to an industry with standards and raise the bar, the more respect and compensation we will receive.

I think the first thing you need to do is a demographics study in your area. See if there is substantial market in your area of vehicle owners with the cars you want to work on that fit your profile customer. Defining or specializing your business is not a bad thing, but the key to any business is knowing who your customer is.
 
In the 90s, when people were on a spending spree and leases were becoming popular, many of my customers either purchased or leased higher-end Euro cars: Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, etc. However, later down the road these same customers are now driving Hondas, Subaru’s and Mazdas. If I concentrated on the car make and model, and not the customer, I would be in serious trouble these days.
 
In marketing we like to “position” our company different from the rest, making us stand out among the crowd as something different and unique. But the real potential is finding the right customer that wants to come to you because of your unique position. People basically stay the same, but the car they drive may change.
 
I am not saying your plan is not viable, just understand and know your market.

Tough situation. Most of us panic because we look for a tech when one of our techs leave or when we fire someone, leaving a hole in our service bays.
 
It's hard all over to find Quality Techs. You just don't want to hire anyone. There are a lot of dealer techs who want to make a move and some out of work. The only issue with that is that, if the tech has spent a long time in a dealer, I have found they are limited and fearful of an indepenedent shop.
 
Post on Graigs list, call all the Tech Schools, get in touch with employement agencies, call everyone you know in the business: Part reps, other shops, people you know at local dealers, training companies, tool truck reps and other other agencies that may have listing for techs looking for jobs. I have had some luck in the past with companes like Career Builder, but limited. Is there a local paper in your area, or a Penny Saver? If so, see if you can post jobs online, that seems to work best for youger techs. Basicly, call everyone you know and get the work out everyone you can.
 
Good luck.

We do everything at my shop: from Diag to oil changes, to fluid flushes to engines.
 
The most profitable work we do are maintenance work and brake work.
 
It's hard to make money with diag work. The time spent and the unwillingness to pay by the consumer makes it real tough.
 
If you maket you business right, you can increase your maintenance work. This will make more money for you.