Tom
Forum Replies Created
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Not at all like an ASE test, but more of a natural gifts test is available from the company noted below for techs and for advisors.
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The linked survey lists ten things that must be working well to get maximum production. Most shops do not have their ducks in a row on every one of these items. The ones that do are able to get their better techs to consistently do 50+ hours per week.
https://www.automotivemanagementnetwork.com/polls/slows-production-shop/
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Major disagreement with you guys on the 50 hours being something special. Most solidly experienced techs can do 50 hours a week in a well run shop.
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A few minutes once in great while – well – it happens. Beyond that, try this – easy to say, but not always easy to do.
Tell them professionally and politely that if they are not on time tomorrow, they will be sent home to try again the next day. (You never terminate anyone this way, they terminate themselves if they never come in on time.)
Then do it. Most employees will then be on time – a few will quit.
This is just one of those fundamental things that you can’t allow to go untreated if you are going to have a successful business.
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Best reason for doing a lot of oil changes is keeping customer’s cars out of any other shop for any reason. Roughly half the cars coming in to a typical shop need an oil change. The best shops will often run 50% to 60%.
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If you make a solid effort to politely ask customers for reviews, you will get all you ever need. Now, some people just aren’t comfortable doing that. In that case you hire one of the auto repair specific marketing companies (see directory on home page on this site) and they will do it for you.
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I read about these and bought one for the shop to see if they liked it. Had to buy more as they were always fighting over it.
The price looks cheap at first, but after you add a charger and 2 batteries for each one you buy, it adds up – but worth it.
#autoshopworklight
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That math sounds reasonably accurate.I think you see the oil change low pricing for a number of reasons.For us, the trick is to set it high enough to cover as much of the cost as possible, but to also set it low enough so that almost no good customer goes elsewhere for their oil change service. As soon as a car enters any other service facility of any kind, we are highly likely to lose some sort of sale – other than the oil change. We want that car to always go to one place for everything – here.This is why many successful shops work hard to get as many oil changes as possible. Ideally, about half of all RO’s should include an oil change because statistically about half the cars coming into the average shop are due, over due or nearly due for an oil change.
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Robert and Jeff, our ROI on calls generated by RP is excellent.Feel free to call or email me if you’d like to discuss it further.
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Depends on the dealer and type of parts. Range for us runs 10% to 40%. Most common is 20-25%. There’s no requirement – at least in the states.
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Before we went paperless we used red, yellow and green highlighters on tech recommendations to designate priority / importance.
Common uses of colors in management and inspections software systems include recommendations priorities, maintenance due/not due, parts vs. labor vs. notes, WIP screen statuses, appointment types, and types of job kits. -
Love to have it, Bobby!
Tom -
First, I don’t think anyone knows for sure yet. However, it has been suggested that if you pay flat rate or some other incentive system, and a tech works more than 40 Hours (not produced, just at work), then any flat rate pay earned during the overtime hours would have to be paid at 1.5 × whatever the regular FR is.
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David said: “Or is the law requiring that I now label it as hours + OT rather than base + bonus?”As I understand it, that is what is required. Whatever the bonus rate is, you must pay 1.5 X the bonus rate for hours over 40.Good luck with that.Kinda like Rubik’s cube…
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I grasp the salary / overtime stuff – I think, anyway.What I do not understand is how this effects flat rate and/or commission employees.Let’s say you pay Fred $10 per hour for 40 hours, then $15 per hour for 5 more hours.During those 45 hours Fred also earned a certain amount of flat rate or bonus or commission. How is that affected / computed?
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Many, many issues in our industry could be greatly improved by doing one thing. Drive to your closest Lexus and Mercedes dealerships. Take a self guided tour of everything that a customer sees if they are coming in for service. Now, go back to your shop and make it look like that.
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If you are going to do something like repaint it once a year during Christmas break or something to that effect, the home garage stuff works OK – like one of the Rustoleum products. Simple, quick, looks good for a year.
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I have researched this a lot over the years. Never did epoxy. Have done paint. Paint does not last long, but it is low cost and fairly easy to redo. Common for some shops around here to paint annually.
My impression is that epoxy done right is very, very expensive.Also, regardless of how well you do it, it does not last very well in northern climates with a lot of snow, road salt and general road debris. These also tend to be areas where shops use firewrenches frequently which can mess the floors up fast.I have yet to see a shop in this kind of climate where the epoxy still looked reasonably decent after 2-3 years. If they exist, I’d like to know what they did to make it last.HTH -
We would track that tire sale as $132.97 and the labor would go in with all other types of labor.
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Steve, we set Repair link for 250 miles out. That way we can pull up all car makes. We’ve also found that some out of town dealers bring us parts faster than the local ones – some by delivery, some by shipping. It is very evident that some dealer parts departments get it while others are completely clueless.
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Online ordering 99%
Most calls to parts vendors – usually dealer parts departments – are to ask them to look at their computer and take care of the order we just sent through online.To get people to order online:1: Show them how – in person if possible.2: Make the ordering as simple as possible. Integration with management software is huge.3: Keep encouraging them to order online more until they are 100% on board.Technology is severely underused by most people. Their minds have to be retrained to think of technology first when they do anything. Most people who have smart phone will sometimes complain about how bad traffic was driving home or across town. Ask them if they let their smart phone choose the route and watch all the blank stares. Then, the next day, they still won’t use their smart phone. Go figure… -
Two things I find a bit concerning with some replies. First, if your techs NEED their personal phones for repair info, then your shop is woefully behind the technology curve. Get yourself over to Bestbuy.com or wherever and get some computers and tablets. Second, personal texting, phoning etc. while repairing cars is no less dangerous than texting while driving – it’s just plain a really bad idea. These are supposed to be professional technicians, not 7th grade girls who can’t go for more than a few minutes without an update from all their little friends. As an industry we should have a standard that calls for no cell phones while working – similar to the union policy referred to in a previous post.
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The place with the most access to OE parts catalogs that we have found is Repair Link.
I know they cover Acura, Mazda, Nissan, GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota (maybe others, too?)I believe that you can get a button for this right on your RO with the software that you use, Alan.Today there are OE parts catalogs available online for pretty much every make if you search a bit.HTH -
Try this…(just kidding…kinda)
“Well, sir – you can select option A or option B:
Option A – You supply the parts. If it goes bad:
You handle the towing when applicable.
You handle alternate transportation because you aren’t getting a free loaner from me for your defective part.
You make a trip to the parts store to buy another part since they aren’t going to warranty it until you give them the defective one – and I’m not going to remove the defective one until I have the replacement in my hands.
Make a trip to my shop and bring me the part.
Make a trip to may shop to pick up the defective part.
Now, see if you can find the receipt from several months ago from the parts store.
You take the defective part to the parts store and see if you can convince them that it really is defective (lots of fine print today, you know).
They may or may not agree.
They may want to “send it in first” – in which case you can continue to stop at the parts store every few days in hopes of a positive reply (we all know how this one ends).
Note: If you bought the part on line, add a few days to a few weeks to this process. You can keep the car at your house or pay me storage by the day.Option B
You stop by the shop and hand me the keys, hop in a free loaner and go about your normal routine with no interruptions’.
Now, which one would you like, sir?”
Personal note: Many (not all) bring your own parts folks are “D” level customers. “D” level customers berating me ruins my day – in some cases two. I’ve had enough of that, and I’m too old to take it anymore. For that reason, we smile and politely say: “I’m sorry sir, but all the parts that we install are ones that we supply.”
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Find out who is the most “connected / experienced” sign business in your area.
They usually know the most they can get away with, and it may be more than you think. -
Lots of different approaches to this – hopefully some shops will reply with good plans that work for them.
One thing we all can do is to ask ourselves why are we attracting that type of customer. In the population overall they are a fairly small minority. Is it our location? Our advertising? Our shop? Our staff? Or, a few dozen other reasons.I do know that there are quite a few shops who have figured out what works in their town and they don’t hear that from their customers very often. If you can figure out who those shops are in your area, do what they do. -
This issue is poorly explained and inconsistent when it comes to government regs. It is best to consult your accountant and/or attorney so you have something more definitive. The feds have their fuzzy way, then each state has theirs. If someone can post a formula that actually came from a government document or official, that could be very helpful.
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Guarantee car count, not hours. Get software that allows techs to do all time punching on their laptops or tablets. I suspect that OT system may not be legal. FR pay should be proportional to OT hours. Under federal wage law dealers are exempt from paying OT, but indies are not.
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A couple of quick suggestions:
90%+ of tech – SA communications (both ways) can be done with instant messaging. This removes most of the emotion, people think more about what they are saying, and the converstations are saved. Plus, you can copy and paste parts photos, etc.Have a 5-10 meeting every day with everyone present to address any issues from the past 24 hours.These two things can prevent a lot of management fires. -
20+%
Honda/Acura – Toyota/Lexus
Grand Rapids, MI
Internet, drive-by – working well
