George Smith
Forum Replies Created
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I honestly do not see how one could put their company in harms way by hiring someone that you knowingly takes these drugs regularly….one accident and they test positive, could end the business period.
Just not worth the risk to me!
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We charge $135 at our shop and we are the cheapest in town…crazy frankly!
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Flat rate commission is the only way to go when paying technicians in my opinion. Then put bonuses on top of that for: a. hours booked b. lowest policy c. fixed rite first visit d.goal hitting…or whatever you feel will push the techs to work in your shop.
Techs are going to break things, but it sounds like to me, your guys are at the pure “don’t care” mode, this is hard to get out of without changing two things : 1. the tech that breaks the most must go and the shop needs to know why 2. once you have set up a bonus plan take the cost of breaks out of that bonus, not their regular pay.
The owner needs a reality check it sounds like to me, set down talk it out, show him the issues on paper, give him your recommendations and if he’s not receptive, be looking for a new job!
Best of luck, it’s gonna be tough, I’ve done it once in my 21 year career, hope to never have to turn a shop around again!
One last thing, if and when you get your shop turned around, stay on it, have that boring meeting reminding them of how YOUR shop works……we have ours weekly!
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In our area, the tire business is only for the up sale. Competition is fierce, we make $15/tire, give free rotations so we can check the front end/brakes/etc… to make a little money on down the road. Paid for advertising I guess you would say, , , , Best of luck on your goal, no way to get there in our market.
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If your guy is dead set on leaving when he finds a job, you must protect your company and replace him as you find someone. The bigger question is, do you replace one of the journeyman or the guy that you think may leave? With him being with you that many years and is as down to earth as you say, I would pull him in the office and talk it over with him, show him that you don’t want to make that decision, but for the company you must and see which way he sways. This talk will also give you a lot of inside information on how his head is. IMHO
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We used to go by the numbers for accessing our advisers, now we add the history tracking for customers. If you notice non-repeat customers, you usually have an issue at the write-up desk.
I personally call customers that do not return, talk with them, ask them for their business and find out what they didn’t like about our shop. It takes time, but my time is cheaper than advertising to replace them for sure!
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We have a different approach, we charge 1 hour for diag, but we let the customer know, if the repairs are done by us, we ‘roll’ that diag into the repair cost. I have a couple of very good ‘ole school’ technicians that other shops used to send over customers for diag, then they do the repair. This practice stopped that in it’s tracks. On electrical/diesel diag, if the problem is found fast, we still get the hour, helps make up the losses to the techs.
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Ok, I’m the dealer, don’t throw rotten veggies at me!! Probably different in our area that others, but many of the local shops bring their customers vehicles to us for recalls and warranty work.
We work very well with the local shops or atleast 95% of them. We cut our door rate by 50%, wholesale parts and work with them any way we can, as they do us. I send alot of vehicles to local shops because we are just to tied up to take care of the customer in a timely manner. At this time, we have 3 vehicles in our shop from local shops, none are warranty items, but problem children they have been working on.
We lend our tools, clear codes, relearn pcm/tcm/bcm ect… do self test and “quick” diag for free to the local guys that uses are shop and parts to a degree.
With all this said, if they don’t use us, they pay retail.
And yes, if the vehicle comes in for a recall, we do perform an inspection along with code check, advise the customer of items that should be addressed. Isn’t that what we are suppose to do? Wouldn’t it be a disservice if we didn’t?? Isn’t that what independent shops do?
So, yes, carry the vehicle to the dealer, stop by the Service Managers office and see if you can just talk with them. Many a good working relationships where started over a free cup of coffee!!
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We have a female Lube Tech, and looking for a couple just like her!! No problems in a year, or atleast nothing I am aware of or has come across my desk.
The girl is tough, can run with the best of them, and pays much better attention to the details IMHO!
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Wayne,
Just seen this, sorry! Just make sure they have two jobs and two jobs only, Customer Service and Sales!!
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We have 6 non tech positions (counting wash rack and Warranty admin) and 9 technicians.
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We have a Body shop at our dealership. At first, it was rough, but after a few rounds with different “body guys” we finally found good
people and it works out great.
Lee Smith
Johnson Dodge
Meridian, MS
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As of now, , , , he is turning hours, going to school and has a somewhat descent attitude as compared. Had the “talk” and hopefully he will keep it up. Sent him home a couple of days to decide whether he wants to work here, that seemed to be the ticket
to the change in attitude anyway.
Thanks and I’ll keep yall up to date.
Very informative site btw!
