Staffing Saturdays

[vitester]

I open 9 till 2 on Saturdays and the guys rotate, just one tech and we

do light work and oil changes etc. tidy the shop etc and usually book a

job or 2 for the coming week.

I get pizza in for lunch and try to have some fun. Most people now get

that if they want to stop by and shoot the breeze, pick my brain or

otherwise waste my time, Saturday is the day to do it!

[bilthemech]

We are open 9 till 2 and rotate my B techs 2 on each saturday and the helper comes in to learn some when we are less hectic. I also buy lunch for the guys (usually pizza) and any customers that want to come by and shoot the bull.

We tie up our loose ends and schedule work for the week. Focus is on service for customers that work all week and need to get in on the weekend.

[davesgarage]

I go fishing on Saturdy. My crew does their thing. My feeling; if you can’t be profitable on Monday through Friday hours, give it up. Customers comming in to “shoot the breeze” is feeding stray cats, all for them. zip for you. Is yor shop a business, or a hobby. Working employees 6 days a week will bring bad attitudes, even on a rotation basis. Employees will never share your ethusiasm to “serve the customer” and make the extra $$s. Sorry, but after 33 years in auto service, Saturday hours have never been profitable.

[jon]

Good morning. I thought I would add my 2 cents to this discussion. First, let me state that from 1977 thru 1995 we did operate Saturday mornings. (for 15 of those years we also sold gas). Saturday was always our most unproductive day of the week. Our biggest problem was simply that the customers that absolutely couldn’t make any day but Sat work were the ones that would bring the car in late, if they showed at all, pushing everyone else’s appointments out of sync, and worse making a problem getting the car finished by quitting time. At that time there was only one parts house in town (now there are 5)so parts availability is much better. Also, the improvement in everyone’s attitude when we were able to have normal 2 day weekends was unbelievable. We’re a 2 man/3 bay shop, compensating days off isn’t practical. In fairness, a local chain tire store up the street considers Saturday there best day of the week. I undrestand the temptaion to have another productive day, and if you have the manpower it can be done, possibly without ruffling too many feathers, but think the comment about employees lack of enthusiasm is right on the mark. Most of the places around here that do 6 day hours state that up front when hiring. I feel the weeday productivity increase from the better attitude more than made up for the cut of 4 hours a week from our schedule.

[edcar70]

When I was a mechanic I hated saturdays. I told my guys we will never be open saturdays. We get better techs because of it and they all have better attitudes. I’m taking off fridays now also. love the 3 day weekends. ed

[Tom]

Tell your employees that you need to find some way to be open on

Saturday and ask them to help you figure out a plan.

There are many good reasons not to be open Saturday, however the

reasons

to be open are increasing. More competitors are open and the requests

from customers for Saturday service has never been greater.

If you are not open Saturday, you are losing a certain percentage of

business to the competition…and some of it is solid business from

excellent customers who you want in your shop.

[davesgarage]

Tom, in your area that may be the case. In my area, the only shops open on the weekends are the ones that my customer avoid, and they [my customers] understand that weekends are for family and friends. I have learned that a lot of customer “float” from shop to shop due to poor time management on their part. Saturdays were usually emergency repairs before a trip or such. Even during the week some will not schedule if it can’t be done on the day they call. If Saturdays are profitable for you, go for it.

[Scott Kintop]

I have been open Sat for 25 years (Granted I don’t work many Sat anymore only to fill in for SA vacations)and have recently put some thought to being closed an Sat to give staff some time off. I came to the conclusion that it would make a lot of customers unhappy and we would more than likely loose some. We are in a mostly residential area and most people commute an average of 20 miles to work, so to arrange for a ride would be inconvenient. So instead of closing Sat we will be rotating, 3 master techs each have every 3rd sat off, 1 B tech offered to work every Sat in exchange for Wed off, 3 tire/lube techs will have every 3rd sat off (starting after the busy season!) 3 SA will rotate every 3rd Sat as well. Yes we will have to slightly restructure our scheduling, but I think in the end morale will be better. Don’t forget to consider yours and tech vacations, sick days, and they are used to all of their Sat being open to schedule family and fun time. Make sure you look at all the pros and cons and your staff is on board, because once you start it will be hard to go back! I wish I hadn’t started!

[joecval]

Dave Karczewski wrote:

> Tom, in your area that may be the case. In my area, the only shops open on the weekends are the ones that my customer avoid, and they [my customers] understand that weekends are for family and friends. I have learned that a lot of customer “float” from shop to shop due to poor time management on their part. Saturdays were usually emergency repairs before a trip or such. Even during the week some will not schedule if it can’t be done on the day they call. If Saturdays are profitable for you, go for it.

Dave thanks for your reply and sharing your experience with being open on Saturdays. I originally posted this question because much like yourself, I have never been open on Saturdays….EVER. But am aware of a change so to speak with my market that is making me give consideration to Saturdays as a workday.

1. We are becoming a bedroom community with many people working 30 – 60 minutes away Monday – Friday

2. I have noticed alot of activity at shops that are open on Saturdays.

3. We are seeing more of the “I want/need it now” mentality. Example – We have a very competitive price on oil changes but a small 3 bay shop. Instead of waiting 30 – 60 minutes people will opt not to wait…or even schedule it. The ability to take care of the customer right away at the time they want it is becoming more and more important.

I am not interested in working 6 days a week every week, but rotating with everyone getting 2 days off in a row would be preferred.

I guess what I am saying is that things are changing and I may need to change too (I am struggling with this concept of working Saturdays) Just because Saturday 15-25 years ago didn’t work who’s to say it won’t work now?….Guess we may just have to try it and see…and make a judgement then.

[Alan Ollie]

Almost every VW Audi dealer is open on Saturdays. 4 dealers are open

sundays. One even has service till 9pm weekdays.

VW and audi dealers are very aggressive letting people know about the

extra hours.

My techs work every Saturday till 5:30 .They turn lots of hours.

We do 2 times the business on a sat then a weekday.

I make sure i go to the shop every sat.

I Live to work Ollie

[Patrick McElroy]

I used to be open on Saturdays and we did O.K.. But to recruit the counterman and techs that I currantly have, I had to close on Saturday. That was seven years ago and I have no regrets. The pleasant results have been that my sales did not decrease but have been increasing almost every year since then. I am now in my fifties and I have no intention of ever working another Saturday if I can help it. I may have lost some customers, but the rest have arranged to get their cars in during the week. If you treat people right, they will want you to work on their car(s), even if your not open on Saturday.