Nate Smith
Forum Replies Created
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That’s a nice thought, and of course it is correct. However, we are often booked several days ahead. And if a tech is on vacation, the backlog gets worse. So lets say we are booked ahead half the time, what’s your answer? I have not been able to ever find the 1/2 tech that is needed. Or, perhaps the full tech that is only needed half the time.
Just like a good doctor, we have lots of customers that want us to work on their car. But we have a limit to our capacity. Once we reach our limit, the customer will have to wait – a day, a few days, a week.
There are plenty of unrealistic solutions – raise our prices until the backlog goes away; make our techs work overtime or an additional day per week until the backlog goes away. No thanks. I’ll live with what we have.
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Well, if you raised the labor rate and you are not seeing a change, is there someone discounting labor because they don’t believe in the new rate?
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Well, that “tip” makes no sense to me. Does it refer to a phone call, to a face-to-face discussion, to email, or to a repair order? I guess the “tip” proves my point.
It is possible to use too few words, and then whatever you are trying to communicate is vague, or inaccurate, or misleading. While I generally agree with the premise – use a few words as possible and avoid redundancies – we have found that with Repair Orders specifically, our industry is much like Charles Dickens. He got paid by the word (which is why his books are so long), and so do we. A long, thorough and complete explanation of the repair needed, the steps taken, and the results is worth much more (in terms of customer satisfaction) than the alternative. Think about the repair orders you have seen from other shops: R & R engine – $3000. That exactly fits the tip above, but does absolutely nothing to build value!
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We are in the business of automotive repair and maintenance. What cars need the most repair and maintenance? – the older ones! If you are able to keep enough business in the shop while limiting the entry of older cars, then that is fine, and easier for techs. But the majority of our cars are 6 to 20 years old. We are in California, so we have no rust to deal with (we can unscrew the exhaust brackets on virtually every car that we service), and that may be a factor in the formula.
Also, you can solve the efficiency issues through proper pricing.
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Depends on the circumstances. Each one decided on ad hoc basis. Only policy is that we will discuss each request and decide based on the circumstances.
