Richard Zaagman
Forum Replies Created
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Hmmm, I’ve visited several dealerships while traveling in my Range Rover and the service was really good. I’m not sure I’d do that for a year though. A few visits is good. I’ve brought my Airstream in for warranty work many times over the past 3 years. The service there is pretty bad.
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I would agree, it sure seems that way. Or a hybrid system of some kind that gives a high base rate and flat rate bonus on top of that.
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And oh yeah, I forgot to say that we also only schedule oil change and tire work on Fridays now. So all of our other techs don’t have any added cars to their work on Fridays, they just work on what’s already dispatched to them. This gives us a chance to get caught up.
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Good question, we are booking the second week of September right now. We used to schedule 15-18 cars a day. We now schedule 6-8 cars a day. We have such a backlog of work, we just had to cut down what we were taking in to survive and have enough parking, we were running out of parking with over 150 cars on site. Cutting way back on scheduling leaves us room for tow ins that are our customers. We have been turning down many tow ins that have never been to our shop before or telling them we won’t get to their cars until September, that usually sends them away. I bet we have turned down a million dollars in work in the last year. Basically schedule all non emergency and maintenance farther out, as far as you can. This will leave you more available time for the tow ins that you want to be able to service.
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My guess is there won’t be enough availability of the precious metals to meet demand for EVs. There will be a mixture of ICE, Diesel, Hybrid and EV with ICE and diesel leveling out at 40% of the market. Wild guess, but so be it.
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I suppose in some cases where the customer has a legitimate complaint where we actually screwed up somehow, financial compensation could be a solution, with the agreement the review is removed. I just had one. Body damage while the car was in for service. But when someone is just complaining because you gave them an estimate they thought was too high? No compensation is going to be given from me.
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Funny story somewhat related. 50 years ago at 18 I drove up and down my street and applied at all the gas stations along the way. At one of the shops I was told to get a haircut and he’d consider me. Long hair was part of my identity so I moved on and took a job at another gas station a mile away. 4 years later, still a long haired hippy, I returned to that shop owner that told me to get a hair cut and bought his company at the age of 22. 47 years later, same location, 10 more bays, projecting 3.5 million in sales this year. Oh yeah, I finally cut my hair too. Can’t judge a book by its cover, can’t always rely on first impressions.
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Update from my earlier message. Actually UP about 30%. Hired an 8th tech which has allowed the increase. Could use another tech but we are out of space again, need about 4 more service bays which would bring us to 16 bays. I doubt that will happen too soon.
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We are not down much at all last year as many were when Covid hit. That being said, we are up about 23%. Had to add staff to accomplish that. We were maxed out so this 23% is mostly due to added staff. I could currently add more staff if we had room and but up another 20% probably.
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Simplified our labor rate/s? I wasn’t aware of that being a need. Our rates are not that complicated. We have several rates. Euro, Asian/Domestic, Specialty Vehicle and Customer Supplied Parts. Our current software allows us to set different rates based on the things I mentioned. Too bad the software we are switching to doesn’t offer that option. We will not have to return to setting various rates which can mean forgetting often. Software should help eliminate the forgetfulness. I guess that’s a whole different topic though.
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As Tom mentioned, just a polite request. Mr Smith, for us to safely work on your vehicle we will need it cleaned out first. I think that’s all that’s needed. Given what you’ve said, my guess is he’ll never clean it out and probably won’t come back to see you.
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For our shop we haven’t even considered it at this point. There has been zero call for this service at our shop, perhaps its different with your shop? Before we consider this the demand will have to be there.
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I don’t know what the best coating is, I can only tell you that over the past 20 years we have gone with epoxy. Not all epoxy is created equal though. Clear top cote needs to be UV resistant or it ends up yellowing which destroys the effect. I’ve also had coats that were too thin and wore away in 4-5 years. Even the best epoxy is pretty much in need of a redo after 5 years though due to the chipping that occurs when items are dropped on the floor. If memory serves me correctly, I think I’m on my 4th or maybe 5th application and we are due for the next application soon, in the next year. Probably close to 20k I’d guess to do our complete shop again.
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Those jobs always seem to be guestimates. Since there is no labor guide you’ll have to give it your best shot. All depends on the rust situation. 6 hours?
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Ridiculous!! That’s all I have to say about that.
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Looks nice. Seems very expensive, unless you’re using one everyday. We use heavy duty wheeled tables that seem to work pretty well. Once we have most everything loose, we lower the car and drop the motor/trans on the table, then raise the car. Probably not as nice as this, but thousands cheaper.
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I’d guess we raised the rates about 5 donuts in the last year and will probably raise them again another 5 donuts by January I suspect.
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Not really sure what you’re trying to accomplish here, sound like you’re trying to track billed hours for the most part? If that’s the case, I use the software Quicktracs and have been using it for years. I know Tom Ham says it irritates some techs but what my experience is it usually irritates the poor performing techs, or the ones with poor attitudes you don’t want working for you anyway. I have substantial bonus levels that directly relate to their production which is taken right off the Quicktracs software. I have 7 techs including a couple more entry level ones. 4 of them Bill between 50 and 70 every week, two of them bill in the 40s and the oil change tech bills about 35. The bonus plan gives each tech up to $600.00 every 4 weeks IF they bill 50 hours 4 weeks in a row. I love using Quicktracs and it has worked wonders for me, not to mention how it helps with managing dispatched work and knowing who can take on more work. I can explain more but would work better via phone call. 616-774-7048 if you want to hear more.
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If there is more time involved to replace the belt that what is involved to just replace the alternator, then sure, charge more, why would you not charge more if more time is involved. We sell time, don’t we? I’m sure there are many examples of where there is not additional time involved but in other cases I’m sure there is. Add another 10th or 2.
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We use a product called Oil Eater. Works well, no residue. We do have epoxy floors though, which helps a great deal with clean up.
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Hello Dan,
No idea you moved to another shop. I don’t see you much. You’re still in Elite, right?
As far as camera systems, we just installed a new one with our new addition on our building. We have 21 cameras and could probably use more. I purchase my system from Security Camera Warehouse. I’m the “local” shop Tom Ham was referring to.
I don’t think they are the cheapest, but you know the saying, “You get what you pay for”. I think I paid around $5000.00 for mine and then another $3000.00 for a local company to install the system. I’m very pleased with the system. Good resolution and good night vision. I don’t have zoom cameras. Those are available but at a higher cost.
Security Camera Warehouse knows their stuff and are very helpful with support. I’d suggest you call them and explain to then exactly what you’re looking for. I’m sure they will do a great job for you.
Call me if you have more questions. I’d love to hear how you and your shop are doing as well.
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I can imagine that this could be a problem. Currently I’m happy to say my employees all have, or have had fathers, most of them good ones. Some of the employees, ones that are no longer here for one reason or another may have had father issues or lack of father issues but I can’t say that I got that deep into their past to know whether or not that was the case.
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I agree, oil life has been over extended, however, we have to keep in mind there are some legit reasons. Much cleaner burning engines, no more carbs running rich all winter. Most oil changes now are synthetic blend or fully synthetic so oil changes can go to 6000 or more now. I personally don’t go beyond 6000. Why the removal of the dip sticks? Now that one somebody needs to explain to me.
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At this point we have not invested much. Seems like 10 years ago there was more training available for Hybrids than there is currently, at least that I’m noticing. My philosophy in that regard right now is kind of a wait and see. We are not seeing many Hybrids, at least ones with issues that needs to be addressed. When and if we start running into problems, we’ll ramp up the training. Right or wrong, that’s my plan. Perhaps we are not seeing that many because Euro car brands seem to have lagged behind in this area and that’s mostly what we work on.
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Looks like some good responses from others here. Not sure I have a lot more valuable information. Like you said, assuming nothing has changed in the shop, then show them the facts. Ask them why they think their billed hours are down and have them give you evidence. Show them what you know. Put them back on flat rate and use some kind of system or software that can accurately track their production every day so they know where they are. Quicktrac software does this well.
I have a tech that’s leaving cause his production is down this year. Our sales have gone up and up, 30-40% over the last 3 years and we’ve only added one oil change tech which should increase the other techs actual production. All the other techs seem to be billing good hours. He’s been offered a guarantee of $80K at another shop. Good luck with that, he made over $70k here last year but I’m not going to guarantee that, he’s not that good a tech.
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I would follow Tom Ham’s steps to arriving at you appropriate Labor Rate. That is how we do it as well.
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We use the YES management system by Pace. I’d rate it a 7.5. Works well, has lots of features, support is good. There are things I think could make it better. Parts ordering integration doesn’t work well for us.
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Well, I went for 40 years in this business without using air reels, just had hoses hanging on the wall. Cheap, but doesn’t look very nice cause the hoses are always on the ground. Recently I installed 7 reels. I decided to go with Harbor Freight. BAD decision. They are cheap. Most are still working yet after a little over a year, but the hoses have self destructed. I’ve had to replace all of the hose with good quality hose. So this reply doesn’t answer your question, just tells you and others what NOT to buy. I did however just purchase a Goodyear reel and hose to replace one of the Harbor Freight ones that broke a spring, it’s only been in operation for a few months though but the tech likes it much better.
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Tire’s don’t get billed under parts, they are bill separately under Tires so they can be tracked separately since the GP is different than parts.
Labor is listed separately as well so that can be appropriately tracked.
Hope that helps.
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As far as you “grease monkey” abiding by company policy is a must and policy should be uniforms, even if the uniforms include shorts. Make an effort to find comfortable and cool uniforms. Add A/C to your shop. We have 12 bays, all air conditioned. This helps to attract good techs as well and increases production on those hot and humid days. Pays for itself. Grease head to toe is unacceptable! 4 steps to corrective action:
1. Verbal Warning.
2. Written Warning.
3. Disciplinary probation.
4. Discharge or Suspension.
Cell phones? I don’t have a hard and fast rule, my S/As use them for work all the time so I’m not going to take that away. Most of my techs are not using them much. If I see a problem with over use, I address it and if it continues, I’d make the individuals that abuse the privilege give it up for a while.
