cornerstone
Forum Replies Created
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IF YOU GET A PREFERED AD WHERE YOU ARE IN THE TOP 5 LISTINGS IN YELP,MERCHANT CIRCLE,YELLOW BOOK AND OTHER SIMULAR WEB SITES YOU WILL PAY $30 AND UP PER MONTH.THEY DO LET YOU HAVE A FREE LISTING,BUT ITS BURIED WAY BACK WERE NO ONE WILL FIND YOU.AT THE BEGINING OF THIS YEAR I GOT A CALL FROM A COMPANY CALLED AUTOREPAIRLOCAL.COM.THE OFFERED TO GET ME LEADS OFF THE INTERNET FOR $14 A LEAD.I WAS ALREADY IN THE TOP 3 IN GOOGLE SO I SAID GO AHEAD.THE FIRST TWO MONTHS THEY GOT ME 6 LEADS THAT PULLED IN $1800 AND COST ME $180 FOR THE 2 MONTHS.THEY RECORD THE PHONE CALLS, SO YOU CAN LISTEN AND VERIFY THEM.I STARTED GETTING CALLS FROM MY EXHISTING CUSTOMER THRU THEM.I MENTIONED TO THEM THAT MY EXHISTING CUSTOMERS WERE CALLING FROM THERE LISTINGS AND THEY REINBURST ME FOR THOSE CALLS ALSO HAD SOME CALLS THAT DIDNT RELATE TO MY BUSINESS AND THEY REINBURST ME.IF YOU DONT KEEP TRACK THEY WILL CHARGE YOU.TO GET TO THE POINT THEY PUT YOU OUT THERE ON 30 LOCAL WEB SITES WHERE PEOPLE CAN FIND YOU.ON THE AVERAGE THE LAST 6 MONTHS HAVE BEEN THE SME AS THE FIRST TWO MONTHS.I AM HAPPY SO FAR AND BELIEVE I HAS SAVED SOME MONEY.
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HEATER = THIN JACKET 1-2 MONTHS
AIR CONDITION = SHORTS 6 MONTHS
LOCATED OCEANSIDE CA. NEAR SAN DIEGO
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I shoot for 50-55%. this year so far 51.5% down from previous years.more engine and trans jobs this year,and also buying more parts from the dealers because of quality, mostly engine sensors. What kind of profit margin on dealer parts is everyone getting.I am at 42%
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I have been using the car care club for about 2 years and I am very happy with it. It works best on your top customers it really brings the average Invoice up.Bottom feeders just use all the free stuff.Now I only offer to it to my better customers,it also keeps them from going any where else. When you sign up Ron has a sales letter for you to send out to your customers.after seeing my results I would recommend you just send out to your top 20% to begin with.I sold 100 in the first 2 months.The way I keep track of it,when I sell one it goes under labor with no one attached to it.then when they use it I give the discount under labor. when I looked at the difference in labor profit its about 1% lower with car care club this year,but my gross profit parts and labor is up $3000 per month this year.You can also just raise your labor rate to off set it.
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The question for me right now is do I offer parts and labor warranty or do I offer lifetime on labor and 2year warranty on parts.Parts stores like Carquest and Napa and Worldpac only give 1 year warranty on parts. I have asked them to warranty some parts at around 2 years that I thought should have lasted longer,they did but very reluctantly.Some other part stores like Onestop and Fast under car have no problem warranting their parts anytime.in reality we dont start replacing broken parts on cars until their over 60k (I am on the west coast)and after that do people really keep their cars more than 5 years from there.Someone out there has the million mile warranty how are you doing it?
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I have small shop 2 mechanics and a service adviser and I use Mitchell you are probably already paying for their repair access. the management system is only $30-$40 more a month.To print invoices you use regular paper.Mitchell has everything you`ll need.
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My shop is in San Diego county we have lots of senior communities.their two biggest fears are getting ripped off and getting stranded.The best way to over come this is with testimonials.When I advertise to the seniors I buy an ad in their community news letters,or I send out a ti-fold with something on the out side to get the attention and a sales letter with testimonials on the inside. I always offer senior discount 10% off labor. the best thing about seniors once they trust you, they refer their fiends at higher rate than any other demographic.
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Down 7% for 2010,in June I was down 15% second half of the year car count about the same but avg ticket coming back to were it was in 2009.
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The last 3 months right at 30% due to better ranking on google maps on the internet.I fully filled out my profile and paid the $25 a month to google to high lite my listing, and getting my customers to write reviews online.Before that about 20% new customers.
