How was Business in 2008?

Please vote on the poll also.

Happy New Year!

...then this might be just the thing you were looking for.

It's a slightly unique story told a number of years ago by Frank Paretti...one of the best story tellers ever. It's a family story...perfectly safe for all ages. When you can get things quiet for about 20 minutes, click on the link in the middle of the page that says: "Listen to the entire program".

http://www.programsnow.org/specials/frankeperetti/

(Some parts of the audio with music are a bit rough, but the story telling comes through just fine.)

Please let me know if you liked it!

Merry Christmas!

WHICH TOOL BRAND DO YOU PREFER SNAP-ON OR MATCO. WHICH ONE DO YOU THINK LASTS THE LONGEST.
I WILL BE GOING TO SCHOOL NEXT YEAR FOR AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, AND THEN TAKE OVER MY FATHER;S AUTO SHOP, BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHICH TOOL BRAND I SHOULD BUY.

Hi guys. I am new to this website. My name is Issa Dawud and i am 16 years old. My dad has a small 4 bay shop in blue island illinois. I want to take over the business when im older and i want to learn as much as i can from your experiences. Thank You!

Hello folks.

I run a 9-bay facility in Baltimore, MD, and I am wondering how the rest of you handle the UPs system in your shops (i.e. which tech gets which jobs and when.)

I seem to be running into a "child care" issue with my two lead techs, and before re-vamping our system, I'd like a bit of input from some other shops.

Thanks in advance for your help in this maddening matter.

M.P.Hoffmaster
Manager
Towson, MD Midas

Is anyone using Smart eCat with R.O.Writer? I was looking for some feedback on this system. Below is the description off of their website:

Progressive Automotive Systems, Inc. Introduces the latest Shop Management System Innovation: Smart eCat

Let me ask you three important questions…

Are you taking advantage of the power of the Activant Catalog Today?
Yes you say, excellent…
Are you utilizing electronic parts ordering from inside of R.O. Writer?
Yes again, wonderful…
Do you have more than one parts supplier?
Yes, of course you do…

If you answered yes to all three of the above questions, then you already know how great the Activant catalog is! Six years ago, Progressive Automotive Systems integrated this awesome technology into the R.O. Writer Shop Management System. You also know that the Activant catalog has information on over 4.5 million parts, labor time information, factory scheduled maintenance, tire information, VIN decoding, cover to cover part pictures and much more. Who doesn’t need access to all that information?

Of course R.O. Writer didn’t stop there! Four years ago, we built new functionality on top of the Activant catalog and brought you R.O. Writer’s SmartJob functionality. These are predefined canned jobs of parts, labor times, shop supplies, and vehicle specifications. They are setup for package or flat rate pricing, presenting information specific to the vehicle that you are working on in an easy to use step by step methodology.

And you already know that eOrder within R.O. Writer is a wonderful and powerful innovation that we launched three years ago. With electronic connectivity to all the major parts suppliers including NAPA, CARQUEST, O’Reilly, CSK, and 1,000’s of independent parts suppliers, R.O. Writer’s eOrder functionality easily connects you electronically to the parts suppliers in your area.

Ok, so you knew all that – then what’s this new Smart eCat feature? Well, Smart eCat combines the data from Activant with the connectivity of eOrder, presenting the information to you the way you want to see it, in the way that you conduct business. You can now lookup a Water Pump for a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier and see all the parts that fit that application from all of your part suppliers including pricing and availability in real time on one screen. No more jumping from the Activant catalog to the eOrder module to check part stock and determine profit margin. R.O. Writer Smart eCat gives you all that functionality in one easy to use, simple interface.

But wait, we didn’t stop there… We built on top of Smart eCat brand new Smart eJob functionality that takes all the best features of R.O. Writer’s SmartJobs and combines them with the real time lookup capabilities of R.O. Writer’s new Smart eCat. Yep, you read that right! Real time pricing and availability displayed from multiple suppliers within a SmartJob that is fully integrated into R.O. Writer’s workflow and application functionality. (I know, whoa!) You must see how this seamless, beautiful integration really addresses the needs of the service writer.

So don’t waste your time with Web Based Catalogs or buttons to other third party modules that force you to learn new navigation techniques. Use the power of R.O. Writer and Smart eCat functionality to reduce your estimating time; you don’t have to jump between Activant and eOrder to check parts suppliers pricing and availability. Improve your shop profitability by knowing the actual cost of the parts before you present the estimate to the customer and finally (oh finally) be able to protect your profit margins. Live up to the promises you make to your customers by ensuring that parts are available before you tell them that their car will be ready by 5:00pm today.

Smart eCat does not emulate the way you conducted business yesterday. Smart eCat does not let you continue to make the same uninformed decisions today. Smart eCat is the way that business will be transacted in the future. Smart eCat and Smart eJobs are both available now in the v1.20 release of the R.O. Writer Shop Management Suite.

Are you ready for the future?

Here's the link: http://www.rowriter.com/SMARTeCAT/tabid/57/Default.aspx

Want to Kill Your Business? Here’s How…

Prior to the great depression of the 1930’s, Ford outsold Chevrolet. Reacting to the downturn in the economy of that era, Ford cutback back on advertising while Chevrolet continued with an aggressive marketing plan. Ford’s sales suffered and the two companies actually reversed roles in the automotive market place.

It seems everyone is looking to cut costs theses days, and for good reasons. With the economy in a recession, we need to make tough decisions. Cutting advertising during these times is simply the wrong thing to do and a great way to kill your business. Shop owners need to look at their expenese made during the last few years and find ways to cut the “fat” not the “meat”. We need to understand the difference between an expense and an investment. Investments will eventually add to your business, unnecessary expenses will hurt business.

Want another way to kill your business? Offer deep price discounts. We are all concerned about our customer’s wallets and hear the complaints about prices everyday. If you think that deep discounting is a way to sell work and bring in customers, think again. In past recessions, it hasn’t been the companies providing the cheapest goods and services that have done well. Consumers become very picky about how they spend their money during tough economic times.

Concentrate on value, not price. If consumers only cared about price, the Yugo would have outsold Toyota or Honda. Yugo was about price, not value. The end result: You don’t see a lot of Yugos around, do you? Being competitive in your market is one thing, giving away much-needed profits can be disastrous.

It’s better to offer a Winter Maintenance Package (which includes an oil change) for $49.95, then trying to sell $14.95 oil changes. Selling a Winter Maintenance Package has value and will give your techs the opportunity to look for other profitable service work. Work on increasing car counts, this will increase your opportunity. Don’t try to hit a home run on every car. The little things add up at the end of the day. Adding a few cabin filters, air filters, wipers and batteries will add much-needed dollars to your bottom line.

Here’s another way to kill your business: Worrying about all the bad things that might happen. When your thoughts are focused on all the things that can go wrong, a lot of the things you worry about actually occur. It’s like the kid in little league that walks up the plate and says to himself over and over again; “I’m going to strike out. I hope I don’t strike out. I always strike out”. And guess what happens…he strikes out!

Be positive. You are the leader of your company. You need to be strong and show confidence. This is equally important when talking with customers. Don’t complain about the economy, this makes things worse. People want to be associated with winners.

And here’s the last way to really kill a business? Ignore your two most important assets: your employees and your customers. Your loyal customers and your faithful staff were with you building your business during the good times. When things seem bleak, it’s easy to forget the good times. But good times will come again. Things go in cycles. Don’t take my word for it, just look at history and listen to people like Warren Buffet. So, take care of the people that made your business a success: your employees and your customers. Treat them with respect, show them you care about their well-being and they will be there when things turn around.