Tom
Forum Replies Created
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Cheryl Lindbeck wrote:
> If a customer schedules for a noise or a leak, how much time do you set aside for your tech to check out the complaint? If the customer needs over 2 hours of repairs, how do you plan your schedule for these unexpected repairs?
>
> Do you upsell to a new customer during the first appointment? Or just mention maintenance the vehicle needs when the customer picks up?
Scheduling (quick guidelines): When a car is coming in for test/inspect/repair, reserve your current average hours per RO for that appointment. It should usually balance out pretty close when several cars are figured in.
First timers: Some where in between. Always inform everyone of what you find, make it clear that you take care of those things and that you would be happy to do them. Then listen and watch for cues on where to go from there.
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Cheryl:
As shop owners we often spend too much effort on things that cannot be
changed easily or at all in some cases.
Your most efficient way to address this is to let him talk to the tech
after you have tried and he still insists. That is…if we are talking
about something that occurs once in while.
If this happens constantly, then ask yourselves if you are growing
enough to add an employee who can help both in the shop and up front
in situations like this.
In the long run the business will do the best by making almost all
customers happy even when their demands are not what we may like. It
is hard to accept that stopping and talking to a customer is more
profitable (in the grand scheme of things) than to not stop and keep
working on job.
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Gabe…here you go…
Seven Benefits of an exceptional customer lounge
Customers are less prone to be rude or angry
It says that you are better at repairing cars
It attracts good customers and repels bad ones
It attracts those good customers who prefer to wait
Profitable prices are justified and expected
The pressure from waiters is greatly reduced and often disappears
You feel better about yourself and your shop; you live there
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While you may be technically correct, this is probably best left alone
since you’ve already brought it up to the owner. I would also think that
the techs might be able to make the case better.
The good news is that wheel cylinders and packable wheel bearings are
decreasing rapidly. The wheel bearing issue is all but gone at our
shop…might see one every few months. I mentioned drum brakes to
another member here one time and he said with a grin: “What are
those?”….he has a Euro shop.
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I had that thought a while back. Everyone here talked me out of
it…instead, just cover it in the cost of your oil change pricing.
We buy it by the 55 gallon drum…you know you are going to use it and
it’s not all that expensive that way.
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mohamed hatem wrote:
> hi
> can you know about the model year of iveco trucks and scania trucks
> and how can read their vin code
> thank you
> mohamed hatem
Try this site:
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Almost all of the aftermarket parts store chains have some kind of
labor warranty program. Each has their own system, but most or all
have something. I know with some of them you have to be part of their
“program”.
In most cases, the cost of signing up is offset by the discounts and
other benefits. A lot of shops participate in two or three programs.
We have been running into less defective parts lately, so the need for
the labor coverage has been reduced.
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Dale Gervais wrote:
> As the Chicago Cubs say “Maybe next year” We’ve got two months to help
carry us into next year. Crank it over!
How about a trade…we’ll take the Cubs, you take the Lions?
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Any idea why off so much?
(September was pretty weak here, October close to normal.)
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Not sure about that aspect, however your group is likely to do better in
the long run with some type of dues primarily to compensate one
individual to facilitate.
Schedules, agendas, topics, the role of border collie, etc.
Volunteerism will wear thin after a while in most cases. If someone is
“paid” they are obligated to always take care of certain things.
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Tell your employees that you need to find some way to be open on
Saturday and ask them to help you figure out a plan.
There are many good reasons not to be open Saturday, however the
reasons
to be open are increasing. More competitors are open and the requests
from customers for Saturday service has never been greater.
If you are not open Saturday, you are losing a certain percentage of
business to the competition…and some of it is solid business from
excellent customers who you want in your shop.
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Larry Bloodworth wrote:
If Google wanted to take any or all car makes out of the entire global keyword lists, they could do so. That’s why I believe it’s localized by the car dealers who complain to Google; and why I have a different experience than you.
>
> Larry
Thanks, Larry! That explains why we can get about half of the car makes through Google here and the others are rejected.
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Larry Bloodworth wrote:
> I believe running a logo of a carmaker that may hold water, but just the name, I disagree. To believe that is essentially to believe in the mattress police. You know, the cops that arrest you for tearing off the label off the end of your mattress under penalty of federal law. Yeah, right.
> J. Larry Bloodworth
As I understand it, you can use the brand name if you do not use the logo and do not use their fonts and colors when you list the name (their fonts and colors are trademarked just like the logo). This would go for anything from signs to uniforms to website to print ads, etc. Also cannot say “authorized service” or similar language.
If someone knows differently, please respond.
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SA desks:
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Tom Piippo wrote:
I wish WE had an AC Delco supplier…
I would think that Rowerdink could UPS anything you needed overnight.
Their website says anything ordered by 3:30PM will be shipped same day.
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We use employees. When we are open, there is a system of who answers
first, second, third, etc.
When we are closed, the phone is forwarded to one of us and we try to
answer as much as we can.
Voice mail does exist…might kick in when we are open about once a
month, more often when we are closed, but the odds of getting an
appointment are vastly higher when customers talk to a live
person….just like when you call a business.
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One thing that all shop owners should learn and remember early on is
that some techs “have it” and others do not…and there is gradual scale
between the two extremes.
This is more of a “gift” thing that never will significantly change for
a tech. It can’t be taught.
For me they have to be somewhere on the upper half of the scale.
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Richard Zaagman wrote:
> who greets the customer first when
> they walk in?
>
> >>WHOEVER IS FIRST AVAILABLE
>
> Who answers the phone first?
>
> >>WHOEVER IS FIRST AVAILABLE, IF IT RINGS MORE THAT 3 TIMES, THEN
ONE OF THE NON S/AS WILL BACK UP THE S/AS AND GET THE PHONE. THERE
ARE 6 PEOPLE IN OUR OFFICE, SO SOMEONE WILL GET THE PHONE.
>
> Is it always the same or does it vary in some way?
>
> >>>VARIES BECAUSE IT’S ALWAYS WHO IS AVAILABLE.
>
> Do you have a specific system, and if so, what is it?
>
> >>>WHOEVER IS AVAILABLE…
So, if no one is available the customer stands there and waits until
someone is available?
If 2 or 3 are available, they flip a coin?
Yes…I know my questions sound silly…but your “system” sounds
confusing.
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Christmas time
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Your can have as many monitors as you have video cards in your computer. Older ones usually have one. Newer ones usually have two. But, you can have a computer guy build you a computer with as many as you want. When you see the trading floor on Wall Street, six seems to be pretty common. My wife thought it was silly until she tried it. Several hours later she said “I need a third monitor”. Being able to see all the programs you have open at the same time makes getting things done quite a bit faster. Look for the photo below to become common fairly soon.
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Tom Huxoll wrote:
> Looking over my operations pie I wonder what slice equipment, tools & training should be. With only so much to go around balance is important. Any thoughts?
My observations…
Equipment and tools: Many shops over equip/tool their shops (walk
around most shops and do the dust test on the equipment). However,
most shops also under equip their offices, service write-up, and
customer areas. Many shops would get far bigger bang for their buck by
dropping $10K up front instead of in the shop.
Training: It’s fairly well known that most techs do not get sufficient
training, although thorough use of internet resources in the shop can
take up much of the slack. However, in many shops the owners are often
over trained in the management area. They get stuck in the cycle of
train, plan to implement, fail to implement, then train some more. And
they wonder why things don’t change very much.
How much to spend exactly on all of this varies greatly depending on a
shop’s situation. The big thing is to set a specific budget and stay
within it as the year goes by.
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What about getting him heavily involved in the creating of the
program/system for doing the training.
Maybe if the program feels more like it is his he will do better with
it?
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About the same or harder.
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One could write a book on that topic.
One simple thing that can be done is to use job pricing for all services so that the diagnostics, the labor, the parts, supplies, etc. have just one total amount.
Maybe you can go into detail about what you are asking and break it into several specific questions.
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PPC currently limited to under $10/day.
No phone tracking.
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What is it that you are trying to diagnose/fix?
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If the person is not totally “nuts” (most are not) and if they can come up with the money to fix it (most can), then estimate it accordingly.
In many cases, if you blow it out the door, then a few days later it is at the shop up the street with a 4 figure RO.
So, smile and think about the GP.
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Dick….how did this story end?
Thanks,
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Administrator wrote:
> Do you heat your shop at any time during the year?
> __X___ Yes (almost all waste oil, a little natural gas)
> _____ No
>
> Do you air condition your shop at any time during the year?
> ___X__ Yes (office, customer area)
> __X___ No (shop)
>
> Where is your shop located?
> _____________Michigan________________
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Thanks for the feedback, everyone.
I checked this morning and all but one of my replies have been
removed. Our approach now will be to only reply to bad reviews and do
so as professionally as we can.
I have been saving all reviews and replies on my computer, so all I
had to do is copy and paste the missing one that I wanted to put up
again.
Next mission: Get reviews on Angieslist.
