Management Articles

We have previously discussed the necessity for techs to buy their own tools in order to do their jobs and remain competitive in the automotive repair industry. The sheer number of tools required, as well as their cost, causes many techs a great deal of stress. This applies to hand tools as well as scanners and diagnostic tools. Should shops … Read More

Purchasing new tire and wheel equipment for your auto repair shop is an investment. It’s expensive. Some equipment is very expensive. You want to make sure you get all of the return you can on that investment. At what point do you decide you have gotten as much ROI as you are going to get and replace it? Replacing your … Read More

Auto repair scheduling can be a touchy subject in auto shops for both staff and customers. Customers with cars that need service can be impatient to get them fixed and dissatisfied with any delays or excuses. Shop owners, dealing with concerns about the bottom line and tech shortages, walk a fine line between customer service and profitability. Is there a … Read More

Every auto repair shop needs reliable and robust auto shop management software to function smoothly. If finding the right software for your auto repair business seems like a daunting task, don’t worry. The Automotive Management Network has done much of the legwork for you.  Auto Shop Management Software Needs  If your business operates part time or does not do a … Read More

The world has gone through an artificial recession cycle since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Auto repair shops have not all experienced the same levels of lockdown or interference with business. In some areas there were early lockdowns. Other areas suffered longer periods of economic inactivity, while still others managed to maintain nearly business as usual. Hardly any businesses … Read More

One question that auto repair techs are very invested in knowing the answer to is: “What are the auto repair hourly rates by state?” Everyone wants to be compensated fairly and generously, and many workers are willing to relocate for a better wage. Here we will go over the differences in auto repair costs and hourly rates in different states … Read More

We have just passed the one-year anniversary of the beginning of COVID lockdowns in America. It’s been quite a year. Businesses have had to be very limber to figure out how to survive with the restrictions placed on their staff, their physical environment, and their customers. Because auto repair shops must have reliable staff to keep their doors open, it’s … Read More

The Automotive Management Network currently has a survey asking our members about their employee meetings. We would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to let us know how you incorporate employee meetings into your shop’s schedule and management.  Take Our Employee Meetings Survey  As you can see, this survey is about the frequency with which your shop … Read More

With rising energy costs, the rising price of crude oil, and corresponding increases at the pump, consumers can expect to pay more for…everything. Given that the country is still in recession due to the COVID-19 epidemic and the resultant lockdowns, this will have an impact on the retail and service economy. How will it affect your auto repair shop?  America … Read More

Finding and hiring good auto techs is one of the biggest challenges that auto repair shop owners and managers have. We discussed numerous options they may use to do this in a previous blog and survey. One of the possibilities we mentioned was training beginners from scratch, mentoring them to become great techs who will be invested in the success … Read More

What kind of telephone system does your auto repair shop use? Many smaller shops use the traditional, landline phone systems that we are all familiar with. How do on-premise phone systems differ from hosted telephone systems, and how can expanded telephone features help a shop’s marketing and bottom line?  On-premise Telephone Systems  An on-premise system is the type of system … Read More

2020 was a challenging year, and most people will be glad to see it in the rearview mirror. There’s nothing inherently magic about the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, however. If we want to get excited about the new year and its possibilities, we have to be willing to examine past performance, make changes, and set new goals. … Read More

In our last blog we talked about the importance of customer education. A majority of customer education is the responsibility of the service advisors in your shop. It’s an active part of the process of selling repairs to the public. You can help your service advisors do their job, however, by using signage to educate your customers while they are … Read More

In our last blog we discussed how important shop transparency is for building the trust necessary between an auto shop and its customers. One of the ways to do this is for shops to focus on customer education. Do your service advisors take time to explain repairs or the necessity of repairs? Without that understanding, your customers will have questions. … Read More

Currently in America we are experiencing a general decline of trust in government, in institutions, in businesses, and with each other. This has numerous impacts on our society, but for auto shop owners it makes it even more challenging to gain the trust of the public. One way to fight this distrust of the auto repair industry is to have … Read More

In one of our more recent polls, we asked our members to weigh in on which methods they use to find and hire auto repair techs. If you would like to add your response to this poll, vote on our survey page. Job boards are one way auto repair shop owners and managers use to solve their recruiting problems. The … Read More

Hiring is a complex process, and right now in the auto repair industry everyone is focused on it. Every owner or hiring manager wants to do an exceptional job finding and hiring the right techs so that they will be able to maintain and grow their auto shop. One aspect of hiring we haven’t covered before is the role personality … Read More

One of the biggest challenges that auto repair shops face is staffing: finding and hiring enough technicians. On one of our most recent surveys we asked our members to tell us how they go about finding techs to hire. One of the options we gave was to use a professional recruiter or staffing service. In this blog we will talk … Read More

Readers frequently come to the Automotive Management network because they have a specific question in mind: What is the best automotive management software? There is no simple answer to that question, of course. It depends on what a specific auto shop needs. Because we want to help our members answer that question for themselves, we’ve created a number of valuable … Read More