AutoShopOwner - Automotive Management Network: New All the help I can get - AutoShopOwner - Automotive Management Network

From my understanding (I,ll find out the details Mon. and post anything diff.) You pay for the inital service or throw it in to sweeten the deal,or use the road side asstance membership (that costs you about $10 a card) to sweeten or get more money out of a service.Then any air adjustments is no charge for what ever lenght of time you think will work.Now the people will come back to you for services thinking that the Nitro is free if they need it or any flat repairs too .Just another way to get the costomer thinking of you.

So, if new customers come in for nitrogen air becuase they here you have it, they get it free too? I guess is a form of marketing, but I need to think it through a little more.

As Joe mentioned, keeping up with technology is vital to our success. Regarding the comments on TPMS and N2, I'd like to emphasize how extremely important understanding the technology really is. In our training classes we always stress the importance of not only know how to do it correctly, but also why a particular process or procedure is necessary. I think we all have little respect for the technician that won't take the time to research and get training for a service, before blasting into it.

Regarding Nitrogen, some of the comments above are correct... N2 has virtually zero moisture and therefore is the perfect companion for TPMS. No matter how many dryers you put after a compressor, within economic reason of what a shop can spend, you will never get close to what Nitrogen can do for you. Additionally, the older generator systems did not create as pure of a gas as they do now. Our newest unit can produce 12 cfm with 99.75% moisture free gas and at a purity of about 99%. You can not afford to buy bottles when this type system is now available. (I.E. The cost per vehicle is only about .50 cents with a new style generator, whereas the cost of bottled N2 can be as high a $4 per vehicle.)

When you discuss why someone would want to sell Nitrogen, think about it as service but more so as a tool to bring the customer back to the shop. What is the number one item that "needs" on going service, although most drivers don't every think about it? The answer is of course tire pressure! So forget the cost of getting into Nitrogen, the customer will come in more often and that gives you the opportunity to sell other services. Additionally, if you don't have Nitrogen available, how will you service vehicles that come in with it? You won't be able to balance, rotate, align, etc and that could put you out of business on some services.

NOTE: "A recent study by the European division of tire maker Bridgestonefound that 93.5 percent of cars in Europe have under-inflated tires, wasting some 2.14 billion gallons of high-priced, polluting fuel every year. Analysts believe that a similar percentage of North Americans are driving around on under-inflated tires as well."


What an opportunity for shops that are on the ball!


GWR has taken the wide approach and has developed simple systems for small shops staring at only about $500, so there is really no boundary to having this service at every shop. We likewise have the most advanced N2 systems on the planet, if your operation wants the fastest and most economical service options.



www.PremierNitrogen.com





Regarding the Road Hazard Protection Programs there were seveal comments, so this may help clarify. Factory direct resale Motor Clubs are greatest value to come along for the shop, since disc brakes. You can use it in a multitude of ways to further enhance the value of your operation and to again, bring the customer back to the shop more often. I constantly try to teach owners they need to use their head and not their hands to make a shop more profitable, Nitrogen and Motor Clubs are some of the newest and easiest ways to do this.

i.e. Some scenarios where our Premier Motor Club "ERA" cards can be used...

1. Mrs. Jones, you have been a loyal customer for 10 years and I want to say thank you again. Additionally I'd like to give you a valuable gift that I believe should be in every drivers wallet or purse, our Premier Motor Club program. I know you drive alone sometimes so I would feel better knowing that you are protected and that you have away to easily get your car towed back to us if any unexpected trouble occurs.

2. Mr. Smith, your brake service today is going to be a little more extensive than we initially discussed, here is what my technicians found after inspection...... I realize this is more than you anticipated so we would like to give you a free gift, to help offset some of the additional costs. Our Premier Motor Club will bring you a full year of protection, just like AAA, but will in addition give you up to $150 worth of tire replacement protection and an additional10 miles of towing. This is our gift to you for your patronage and loyalty over the years.

3. Joe, I understand you are concerned about the repair bill for the new cooling system as it was unexpected. Unfortunately we need to replace the radiator, water pump and hoses to get you back on the road. If we could add in a valuable, unique, vehicle protection program for no additional cost would you be OK with allowing us to do the work today? Our Premier Motor Club offers you services that companies like AAA charge over $100 for, or don't offer at all. Not only does ours have unlimited battery jumps, key lockout service, gas and fluid deliveries, tire repairs and more, it also has additional free towing miles and $150 worth of free tire replacment. And again, we would be included this free of charge with your repair.


4. At the end of the one year term, the customer will get an email letting them know their Premier Motor Club is about to expire and that they should being the vehicle back in for a courtesy inspection and renewal. This gives the shop an additional opportunity to have the car in their shop and to hopefully sell additional service it may need. If nothing is wrong or required at that time, you can simply sell them a new card at what every priced you want to charge.

How can you put a price on this type of marketing support? It would easily be worth ten to twenty times what it costs. Based on the groups participation and support, we would like to offer a special reduced minimum initial order on the activation cards. We normally require a shop be involved with the Nitrogen program or purchase 50 minimum, but for this trial deal we would set up 15 cards at just $8.95 each. This would be a great way to try out the program while investing very little initial money.

www.PremierMotorClub.com

Regarding the TPMS, everyone will be doing this service for years to come, so we all need to understand it. In our classes with have found it imperative to use manuals for the specs on the various sensors, and not to rely on memory. For example, we just concluded a training class arranged for one of the largest UTI center in America, not only for for the students but mainly for the teachers. Most everyone was unfamiliar with the true workings of TPMS and found they really needed this class presented by our certified TPMP teacher from TIA (Tire Industry Association). We extensively use and recommend a particular TIA guide I want all of you to get, before you attempt to dive into this service. Please follow the link and read more about it...

TirePressure Monitoring System (TPMS) Relearn Chart

http://www.tireindus...elearnFlyer.pdf


Everyone must understand that there is a procedure and science to these parts and you can not haphazardly start working on them without training. Of bigger interest is the fact that you will be working on more TPMS than you can imaging in just the next year or less. Why? Take a look at the statistic and you will understand what is just around the corner for shops and service centers. Adding up the installed TPMS systems since the mandate in 2007 to the few miscellaneous models using them before that time and you come up with about ¼ billion sensors. As if that's not staggering enough about ¼ of those will need to be replaced in the next 12 months due to battery failure, they are near or over their 5 year life expectancy. Are you ready? Just using simple math the numbers are $20,000 to $50,000 worth of new sensor business for every shop in America, this year alone.

If you don't have the training and specification sheets, the right learnand reset tools, along with a simple and easily accessible inventory at your finger tips... will you be able to tap into this incredible revenue source? I again like to mention we would be happy to help the members of the group with free training and special prices on all the needed relearn equipment, our new universal TPMS sensors and clone tool, plus our reseal replacement hardware kits.

www.ateqTPMStool.com

www.universalTPMSsensor.com

I hope this information is useful, please call me if you would like to talk more about any of the above items.

Gary

1(800)266-4497
www.GWRauto.com
gwrautomotive@bellsouth.net



P.S. Here are some more of the the technical problems associated withTPMS service.

Since the trend in factory wheels is to eliminate the outer flange for appearance, technicians will have to use tape weights to dynamically balance tire and wheel assemblies. The inside flange hasn't changed (yet) so any computer balancer can easily perform a static balance, but ride disturbances are easier to identify with modern suspensionsystems so the likelihood of comebacks is higher using that approach. As if the slowdown from handling sensors isn't enough, dealerswithout advanced balancing equipment that makes tape weights easier to install will be forced to add a few more minutes to each set offour tires. That's just the start of the equipment list that every dealer will have to follow in order to handle TPMS. For instance, the growing number of sensor monitoring/recalibrating tools will play an important role in every operation. A dealer must know if the sensoror TPMS was transmitting and operational before a technician touched said vehicle and notify the customer. It's equally important to know that the system remains operational after the service has been completed and communicate that with the consumer.

Then there's the fact that each vehicle manufacturer uses a different everything! From grommets and o-rings to replacement sensors, there are very few, if any, consistencies between domestic and foreign automobiles. To make matters worse, each individual manufacturer has multiple configurations and recalibration procedures within their own models. So the bottom line is nothing is standardized, except for the fact that all valve stem sensors use a special nickel-plated valve core. The special valve core is the only component or procedure that is standard for all valve stem sensors. Dealers will have to refer to the vehicle manufacturer for all TPMS service requirements after that. While this dependence on the car makers and lack of standardization seems troubling, there is good news on the horizonfor TIA members and the industry. General Motors had a representative attend the Tires at Two seminar for TPMS during the Performance Tires & Wheels/SEMA Show and he provided everyone, including myself, with valuable information. He made an excellent point when hecommented that from the standpoint of GM, it's in their best interest for independent tire dealers to have the correct information on TPMS because it ultimately affects customer satisfaction with a new vehicle purchase. TIA is utilizing the contacts within GM to help establish an on-going relationship with all of the new car and sensor manufacturers so we can make sure our members have the proper guidelines for each model year as soon as they are available.

'TIA'snew TPMS Training Program is just the start of the learning processand members who jump on board right away will be better prepared to service the tires and wheels of the future before the "future" is actually here.' byKevin Rohlwing (TIA)