[Tom]

“Consider a four day work week. On a correct rotation the employee will have a 5 day weekend every three weeks.” 

Some version of this is a huge employee benefit. I often wonder why more shops don’t try it. The only catch is that it works best in larger shops. 

[Tom]

__6___ eStore

__6___ First Call

__7___ MORE

__8___ NAPA

__7___ Nexpart

__9___ WorldPac

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[Tom]

As time goes on more people realize that looking to the government to solve your problems is generally a bad idea as it rarely works. Government does a few things well…overseeing auto repair is not one of them. 

Most shops really don’t want the “customers” that go to the Craigslisters anyway. Think of these backyard “shops” as doing you a favor by keeping the losers out of your shop, wasting your valuable time that could be better spent on your first class quality customers…those who wouldn’t go to a backyard shop for any reason…ever.

Your best route to being successful is you….not some government licensing program.

[Tom]

Andy:

We have had licensing for both techs and shops in Michigan for quite some time, often said to be the most stringent overall, if not very close to it. 

Hack shops and techs still abound.

You have dozens of unlicensed techs and shop to chose from as soon as you bring up Craigslist.

The biggest difference is that I have spent well over $20K out of pocket in licensing fees. The big winner here is the state. It does next to nothing for consumers, techs or shops.

People easily forget how government typically works and what their primary goal often is – self sustenance – once it is in place, it will be there forever. 

[Tom]

Much less.

Government in general adds to costs and causes very little improvement in the areas that people tend to think they will.

Just imagine the auto industry regulated by the same folks who run the VA.

[Tom]

So, what are the biggest reasons for extending warranties? 

Competitors? Reason to return to you? Marketing? Selling feature? Other?

[Tom]

The white lettering on the black counter really makes it “pop”…nicely done.

[Tom]

It seems to be highly dependent on where you are. I know of a large left coast shop that gets over half of their new customers from it. We get the occasional customer from it. The costs for the shop are often negotiable. 

[Tom]

Here is a simple system that can be used as a foundation, then adjust to your liking:

Let’s say salary would be $1,000 a week. Take half of that.

Let’s say flat rate is $24 per hour. Take half of that.

$500 salary plus $12 hour for every flat rate hour produced is pay for the week. 

[Tom]

Funny that you mentioned dentist. My uncle is my dentist. He is 82. Best dentist in town. I have had an appointment to see him every 6 months as long as I can recall. When I first found out that everyone did not see their dentist every 6 months I was quite surprised. 

[Tom]

Some days “all of the above” would seem to be the most accurate reply.

But, when considering each one, the most frustrating for me is dealing with certain vendors and suppliers. The people you depend on to make sure your shop runs right. 

Too often the attitude is some version of: “You and/or your staff are morons who can’t read or follow instructions or use a computer or diagnose a car, etc.”  We are not perfect, but we are not total idiots all day every day. 

[Tom]

Mechanical work or collision work?

[Tom]

1: RR…99.9% of those calls out of the blue are probably a waste of your time. It takes a serious expert to place your business at the top. Also…at the top needs to be at the top or very close to it. Position #1 or #2 or maybe #3. After that, even if it is on page one, it has little value.

2: As far as the remarketing goes…who else is doing that and what can you tell me/us about it? Cost? Results? Who is doing it for you? Any other comments?

Thanks!

[Tom]

Great article, Frank. Your website video is very cool, too.

[Tom]

Since so much of what we do under the category of marketing attracts both new and existing (facility, signage, website, employees) it is tough to put hard numbers on it. Much of that might be considered passive.

If we look primarily at active marketing…which sounds more like what you are referring to…about 80% existing to 20% new. 

But, the majority of our response comes from the passive. 

[Tom]

On one hand employees should take care of their work environment. 

On the other hand, a shop doing $8K a day in sales might be better off hiring a building maintenance employee or a professional cleaning service to clean the shop and showroom daily….probably after hours.

[Tom]

Since the late 90’s we have always supplied desktops, laptops (for each tech at his box), and now tablets for each tech in the shop (they have their own smart phones). The only time we ever replaced anything is because it became too old/slow for what it was needed for (several years). But I also know of some shops where the techs supply their own laptops (and probably tablets soon).

Annual replacement seems to me to be a bit excessive, but that’s just me. I know that you can buy hardware designed for tough environments and add extended warranties that are all but “unconditional”. We did that with the new tablets we just bought (eliminated paper in the shop). Sounds like that may be just what you need.

[Tom]

A few quick thoughts since you are in a hurry 😉

We tell the advisers to type in whatever the customer says word for word no matter how strange it sounds or reads. Never try to interpret. 

Personally, I do not like any forms for the customer to fill out. That’s not “service” to me. A form for the advisor to complete is better.

Have the techs make a list of questions related to driveability and narrow it down to the top 5 or so for the advisor to ask every time.

[Tom]

__2___ Caller ID for customers in database

__1___ Email customer from the RO

__1___ Integrated paperless inspections

__1___ Instant view of all maintenance service history and services due

__1___ Job pricing (invoices display total prices only for individual jobs)

__1___ License plate to VIN decoding

__1___ Labor matrix

__1___ Oil sticker printing

__1___ Service advisor event reminders (call customer, check parts arrival, etc.)

__1___ Signature capture

__1___ Technician time clocking

__1___ Text customer from the RO

__1___ Works on tablet and smart phones

__1___ Other :  I don’t know….what else can they do? I will probably want it.

[Tom]

Just a thought…

Pay them a percentage of gross sales (or all kinds) and modify it up or down based on cost of goods.

[Tom]

1: 1994

2: Legible invoices 🙂

[Tom]

Here is ours:

http://www.autocentricrepair.com/24-request-grand-rapids-mi-auto-repair-appointment.htm

BTW, Scott….you spell color funny  😉

[Tom]

Most of the better management software have some kind of customizeable Work in Progress Screen which is similar to a spreadsheet. The trick is to get training or do self training on every conceivable thing that you can do with the screen. Most users are unaware of many of the options…and since we are talking Windows the options are almost “to infinity and beyond”. 

Once set up fully and correctly for your shop, it normally takes just a few clicks to entirely alter the screen to a different view that you have previously created to display certain information. A few clicks (maybe only 1 or 2) would bring up a display that groups together all cars waiting for parts, another group waiting for payment, another waiting for repair, etc…and displays them alone or all at once…and sorts the cars various ways within each grouping. 

I still see many shops with paper schedules, dry erase boards, and so on because, for whatever reason, they do not know how to more fully take advantage of the WIP. Imagine that every person in your shop can stop at any PC or laptop in the building and within seconds bring up the organized status info (and many other details) about one car or all cars which are there and coming in. 

To be clear, this is not some simple thing that you set up in a few minutes. It takes a lot of time to figure out what you want to see, how you want it displayed and so on. After that there will be a never ending editing process to continually fine tune it. But the results are well worth the effort.

. 

[Tom]

When looking for employees I think what you offer as a shop to the potential employee is far more important than the ad itself. 

What is it like to work at this place?

One quick example…if I were a tech considering a shop (in the northern states) I would stop by this time of year and see what the temp is inside the shop. If it’s not in the 65-70 F range I’ve seen enough….next!

[Tom]

Total tech payroll not including tax matches or benefits 26 to 30% of labor $

Total all staff payroll, techs and non techs, except owner not including tax matches or benefits 44 to 54% of labor $

[Tom]

With any question like this, I like to first write a description of who are my target customers (or review what I have previously written).

Then the question is whether this particular service is likely attract or repel those customers.

[Tom]

I can think of several reasons, but one that jumps out is how many of the dealers have convinced the people who bought them that if they take it anywhere else other than a dealer, they “will surely die”.

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I have talked to a number of folks who are clearly terrified of taking it anywhere other than where they bought it for fear of the car being severely damaged by non factory trained techs.

[Tom]

Why do I go to a website? Answer that, then satisfy it immediately and obviously….large buttons/links/text and no scrolling. If I have to look for one or more of these for more than a few seconds odds increase that I will leave and try someone else.

Phone

Address 

Small map

Email

Hours

Make an appointment

Request an estimate

Oil change price

Towing phone number

Credit cards that you accept

[Tom]

What about improving their literacy/education? Provide some classes right at your shop. Everyone wins. The employee, their families, you, the owner and the customers. 

[Tom]

Please be more specific on what you are trying to accomplish with this? 

What is your goal or purpose for this message?