Tom
Forum Replies Created
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Cheryl Lindbeck wrote:
> Tom,
> I’m trying to target the 65+ seniors in our area. What type of special services would you offer? I was thinking because many of our current seniors mention being on a “fixed income” (haha aren’t we all?) that a discount would be beneficial to them. We recently added a coffee maker to our waiting area and our customers have the option of waiting while their vehicle is being serviced. We also offer free Wi-Fi for those that want to stay connected while waiting.
Cheryl:
More of what you mention. If I am a senior in any kind of waiting area, I want the following to be excellent (not just “average”): Heating, lighting, cleanliness, furniture comfort, coffee, restroom, TV, friendly staff. The older I get, the more I appreciate these things. The higher income senior is used to this. If you have the best of these in your area, I will be back.
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Cheryl Lindbeck wrote:
> I would like to creat a post card marketing campaign offering a discount to senior citizen drivers. Any suggestions on wording? I’m at a lose this afternoon with words! thanks!
Cheryl:
What kind of senior citizens? “Young” seniors…age 50-65…are often a good group to target. Higher disposable income and very active. Not so much for the older ones in general.
You might attract the best of them with conveniences and extra special service as opposed to discounts.
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Guy Lapierre wrote:
> You could also upgrade your Mitchell Software to Mitchell Enterprise and have that functionality.
Can you point me to some shops now using it?
Thanks!
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Marty Kloosterman wrote:
> Not the easiest way nor the least expensive way, but you could always switch to Vast and have killer software support AND be able to e-mail your customers from anywhere in the software and also be able to use your customers e-mail addresses for doing a mail merge by e-mail…
Anything is possible, Marty. Stop by next time you are in town.
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Jon:
No simple answer that I know of, but you are half way there since you are asking the question. Here are some thoughts.
Restrict that extra bay to quick jobs and jobs which allow the car to be driven out almost instantly.
Make sure your waiting area is exceptionally nice. We found that this has a huge effect on how much the customer is “in a hurry”.
It is critical that you and everyone on your staff understand how important oil changes are to the business. You never, ever want your customer in any other shop for anything…period. Many highly successful shops will show an oil change on 40% to 55% of their RO’s. This helps ensure good future car counts. If all staff are fully on board, oil changes will occur more often and more quickly. Techs are smart…they can figure out how to get it done once they grasp the importance.
With the two teams, a competition might be in order. Who can do the most or increase the largest percentage amount.
I believe that the successful shops of the future will likely do a lot of oil changes (or maintenance services, if you prefer).
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Lenny:
With all due respect, it sounds like you have lost much of the control of your business. A strong response to a situation like this is in order. It might be time to create written guidelines on the way you want things to be, communicate them to the staff, and begin to enforce them.
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Read Pat’s reply again…well said.
Too often, we focus on the occasional complainer. Just smile and do your best with them.
If you are getting this often, then figure out why you are attracting a lot of them, or why your approach is not working well. It has to be confident and demonstrate polite authority.
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Instead of a letter, give them a call at home during the evening. A personal call from the owner has far greater impact than any mailer. Before you do it, take some time to plan what you are going to say. Make it personal.
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Larry Moore wrote:
> first time – 21-30%
> Most from internet
That’s a lot from the net, Larry. If you could give more detail, that would be great!
Thanks
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Chris Alvarado wrote:
> There is some talk about which shop management software one should use,
> pros and cons. In your humble opinions, what are the features that are
> important to have? What should shop management software do? There are
> some obvious features, but beyond that, is there a feature or features
> that are really important and why?
>
> Thanks
Many softwares should probably do LESS that what they try to do…because it gets too darn complex.
Make the fundamental, critical operations as user friendly and simple as possible.
If it’s unlikely a feature is going to change or be added…just say so.
Make sure the software works well with the latest technology.
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Gary Keyes wrote:
> What type of marketing are you doing at the new location, and is it different than what you were doing before ?
Gary:
It is quite different…here are the highlights:
-LED reader sign on a busy road on a high pole.
-Very nice looking facility…especially the customer lounge (drinks bar, HDTV, wireless, fireplace, etc.)…scroll down this page: http://www.autocentricrepair.com/about-us.htm
-Greatly increased emphasis on email…both getting addresses and marketing with email.
-Concentration on being extremely customer friendly. A shop owner I know in your state goes way out of his way to make sure that NO ONE ever leaves unhappy…even the deadbeats and worst losers…and it works nicely for him.
I gotta remember to stop at your shop…I’ll be doing classes at Disney for MACS and AVI in January. Make sure you sign up!
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Tom Huxoll wrote:
> Thanks for the responses. I agree with protecting personal side from business problems. In this business every day is like a jump from a tall building without a parachute. Most of the trip isn’t so bad. My issue is how much time is spent with corporate meetings, minutes & what ever else there is. I haven’t participated in anything other than sole proprietor. Time for the next step. Thanks.
Time spent is very minimal…not enough to include as a consideration in my opinion.
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This is yet one more reason why we moved.
Before move, 11%
Since move, 16%
Last month, 20%
We’d like to average 20-25.
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Wayne Fleishman wrote:
> What does your account charge in bananas?
> the new tax laws for 2012 take effect January 1 2011. Seems like I am being charged more and he does less He just raised the cost 300 bananas. On top of what I give him
> If this post is not allowed please let me know
In reviewing expenses a couple of years ago, we moved most of the simpler accounting in house. The majority of it is basic math and it causes us to more aware and understand the flow of money better in our day to day operations. We have an accountant handle the more complex things. Most of what he now does is annual. I believe he currently charges somewhere between $200 and $250 for the monthly work.
You can post pretty much anything related to expenses here. Here is a survey on accounting costs from earlier this year:
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At least two less near the location we were in earlier this year. Still way too many there.
The good news is that we moved about 4 miles north. Less than half the number of competitors. Better yet, most are hidden with only one easily visible from the main road.
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Mohd Razip Salim wrote:
> I have big workshop with 27 workers , last time we holding Fiat Francies ,now no more we lost francies. our busnies became slow.
> The question is can I still go on with my 27 workers to get back the good busnies on others model.
This has been a very common issue the last few years around here. Many lost franchises. Many, if not most, have closed. You will have to be very creative and open minded to look at how other independent (non-dealer franchise) shops succeed. Franchise dealers normally operate much differently and have a hard time changing into the independent world.
