Tips

You must have detailed long-term plans on where you are going! That was good advice at one time. Today it takes just a few years – sometimes months – for the amount of change that took decades to occur not that long ago. Place most of your focus on now and what’s coming up soon. Make plans for the next several months and the next year or two. Beyond that, some general rough sketches are fine, but things will be radically different by then, and most detailed plans will no longer apply.

We think we are experts in customer service in auto repair. If you want to know how much you don’t know, commit to taking all of your personal cars to other shops for service for one year, including comebacks. Do not let your staff check or service your vehicles in any way. You will gain a lot of understanding of experiencing the process from the customer’s point of view. I certainly did.

The problem with a minimum pay guarantee is that the pay can be way under one week and way over the next. Every week it’s under the shop pays. Instead, consider a guaranteed minimum average weekly pay over 13 weeks. An agreement like this will smooth out the ups and downs, and both the employer and employee will have a more predictable weekly figure for planning finances.

I am a tech or advisor looking to work at the best shop in town. Your help wanted ad looks pretty much like all the others. Ho-hum. Yet, most shop owners can go on for a while telling me why their shop is the best. That should be your ad. “If you want to work at the best shop in town, you want to work here. It’s not even close. Here’s why.”

It can be challenging working in a shop where multiple languages are common. First, make it a policy that the most common language of your customers is the one that all staff should use during the workday. Second, get some training for key employees to learn the second (and maybe third) most common language your customers often use. There are many online ways to learn. Look for websites employees enjoy. Our favorite so far is Duolingo. Fun, easy, and free. Happy learning!

One way to irritate employees is with a perceived lack of fairness. If you decide to let Harry often show up fifteen minutes late, then everyone should be able to do the same. If you don’t like that idea tell Harry to arrive to work on time every day or suffer the consequences. The same approach should apply to every policy. If your goal is to be a top shop, this should be a part of your standard operating procedures.

You can write the perfect set of directions, but what works even better is several drone photos (or a brief video). Hire a professional photographer who uses drones to put this together. Cost is typically not a lot. Some customers will love this, not only for directions but to get a good idea of what your shop and the surrounding area looks like before they visit.

We formulate a reply, often an excuse or rebuttal, before the talker stops. We all do it. On the phone, in person, chat, text, or email. If you are not 100% sure of the correct reply and 100% sure it will delight the other party, all you need to say is: “Let me check into that.” This type of response becomes especially critical when there is a problem. Once you’ve said you would check into it, do so promptly. When you take a few minutes to investigate it, your reply is almost sure to be both different and better – sometimes massively better. Train your staff to do the same, and you will avoid some of those less than happy reviews.

Every morning, review the cars in-process and ask the appropriate employees why that car was not complete yesterday. Sure, many times, the answer is both obvious and legitimate, but ask it anyway. There must be an urgency at your shop to get as many cars completed as possible every day. We are not talking about hurrying; we are talking about focusing on getting work done correctly as soon as possible.

Employee’s family members are not technically your employees, but they can significantly influence the performance of your employees. Remember them. Does that new policy affect them? What will the family think of those Christmas gifts? Is their view of vacations the same as the employees? The point is that you always want to have employees’ families on your radar. If the family likes you, you are more likely to have a better long-term employee.

Glass. Whatever kind of construction you consider, add as much glass as possible, especially to the shop area. A massive picture window alongside a lift is ideal. When implemented correctly, the marketing value will outweigh the additional construction cost. The added natural lighting inside the shop improves the work environment in multiple ways.

Does your lights inspection checklist that technicians complete, and advisors view include text that says: “Offer to replace both sides.”? Increased customers’ safety and convenience while improving sales. Everyone wins!

Some of the best customers love the idea of making their appointment online, yet they don’t do it. They tried it a few times, and when they arrived planning to sign and go, the shop had transferred almost nothing to the RO, so the customer had to repeat the process from scratch. Customer info, car info, services requested, symptoms – everything. Not just reviewing the appointment form, but like it never happened. If you are not going to tend to your website, take it down and save your money. As Witt always says: “Why spend money to p— off your customers. You can do that for free!”

Customers can contact you by phone, email, website contact form, and maybe by texting. Some shops also have AI chat programs, while others have a live chat program, enabling people to stop by your website to ask questions. Chat has become a regular source of new appointments for some shops – another way to outshine your competitors.

Before you make significant changes, before you change course, before you react strongly to something, ask yourself three things.

1: Are my shop and my staff operating honestly?

2: Are my customers and employees generally happy?

3: Is my shop turning a decent profit?

If the answer to all three is “Yes,” then you might not want to fool with things too much.

Often, technicians know precisely why you do certain things, why you have a policy or procedure. But, sometimes, they aren’t sure. Or they have assumed incorrectly. Or, they have no clue at all. So, the first step in assessing why you are getting less than excellent cooperation on something is checking if you have ever fully explained the reasoning behind it. If you are not sure, post a written explanation and cover it at your next employee meeting.

Post the following numbers every morning for the day before and week so far for all employees to see. Include the goals.

1) Total billed hours for the shop

2) Total billed hours for each tech

3) Total idle hours for the shop (hours that techs were on the clock to work but not clocked onto a car)

4) Total ROs

5) Average RO

6) Total oil changes

7) Labor GP (gross profit) for the shop

8) Parts GP (gross profit) for the shop

After all, everything is going digital, which means many once-packed mailboxes have become echo chambers unless they have that one piece of direct mail. The one from you. “Someone sent something to me. I may as well look at it. Who sent it? What is it about?” Dust off that old direct mail special, spruce it up, and give it a try. It could be the boost you need right now.

It’s never been easier, yet it keeps getting worse. Spelling. Grammar. Punctuation. You don’t have to recall diagramming sentences from junior high – you just run it through some form of technology, and you sound like an Ivy League scholar. Proofread everything you or your staff writes that a customer will view, especially marketing pieces and signs. Bonus tip – proofread the content your marketing company produces for you.

How do successful shops make management problems go away quickly? Often, they “buy them” out. Money will fix many things in business. Consider nearly every kind of customer service issue. The odds are good that you can spend your way out of it and make it disappear rapidly. Build it in as an expense, adjust your prices, and spend your time making your business better and more profitable instead of fighting and agonizing over distractions that you can fix quickly with a few dollars.

We have dozens of things we want to get done. We choose one and go after it with determination. Progress is slow or non-existent. Solution? Drop it – for now. Odds are it will be easier at some other point in time. Plus, you have all those other things to do. Pick an easy one and get that done. Some things will never be easy, but they usually will be easier eventually. By constantly looking for the lower resistance things, you will get more done sooner overall.

Has everyone at your shop been vaccinated or recovered from COVID? Are you in an area where that is particularly important to people? Consider trying something like this:

“For your peace of mind – everyone at Acme Auto has been vaccinated (or has recovered).”

Odds are some folks will choose your shop for this reason alone.

Virtually all businesses of all types fall into one of two categories. The company is either run primarily for the convenience of and from the business owner and the employees’ perspective. Or it is run mainly for the convenience of and from the perspective of the customer. It is reasonable to say that nine out of ten businesses fall into the first category. The category becomes glaringly apparent when any problem or complaint arises. Anyone who has ever complained about a product or service is familiar with this. Ask yourself which category best describes your shop.