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I think less is definitely more. I know when I go in someplace and there are a ton of signs, etc. I just kind of ignore them all... unless I am sitting in a waiting area for a time, then I will look at them out of boredom.

 

My wife commented to me yesterday about a 4 page ad for a local grocery store. It was laid out in a grid system with a lot of pictures. She said "I can't stand their ads. I go into information overload and don't even want to look at it."

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I'm going to agree on the less-is-more strategy. We are already inundated with information, and our brains simply cannot digest every thing presented to us.

 

I just came across this this last night in a web-design book I was browsing (ironically, I didn't even read the whole book, just skimmed it):

 

CL3rT3q.png

Edited by Wes Daniel
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I use a slideshow on my TV to show the different products/services we offer. In effect, this is one advertisement piece, however it changes every 10 seconds to show another service or product. Has been invaluable in adding on sales to tickets.

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Motley, your TV slideshow reminded me of the recent R+W article from the business below. They build belt and brake displays for shops. I'm thinking about making our own timing belt display for a destroyed engine.

 

Article: http://www.ratchetandwrench.com/RatchetWrench/November-2013/Educating-the-Customer/

Website for the displays: http://displaysinmotioninc.com/

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Wes, I would love to see the cost of those displays. I'm sure they work great, I'm just afraid the price is gonna be way too high for the return on invest (plus floor or wall space). By no means am I saying my slideshow is the greatest idea ever (I'm really just to cheap to pay for cable and I don't have enough waiting customers), but like Joe originally asked, can we have to many sales displays. The TV takes up just a little space on the wall, didn't cost me much (really, I took it out of my room at home, so it was kinda free), and has sold tons of keys, rock chip repairs, and headlight buff jobs.

 

I guess it comes down to how many customers you have waiting around and being bored vs. customers coming in a out quickly. Bored customer might check out displays and brochures, but those just coming in to drop off their car or have you check their MIL real quick will at least glance at a tv... At least that's my train of thought. If I ever had a bigger waiting room and extra money laying around, I would probably invest in some of those displays though.

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From the article, I understood that he kept them behind the counter and only pulled the demos out to help the customer understand the issues. The example he used was a customer with a quote $300 cheaper to do a timing belt at another shop. Naturally, the other shop didn't quote the idlers, tensioner, nor water pump. With his demo, he could show everything that went into a timing belt job and sell it.

 

Do you have a copy of the slideshow from your TV? I would like to see it, if you don't mind.

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That makes way more sense (I didn't read the articles, just kind of skimmed...lazy). At that point, I would say they are definitely worth it.

 

Wes, shoot me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a copy of the slideshow.

 

For future reference, if anyone is interested in making a slideshow for a TV, here is a quick rundown:

 

1. In paint/power point/etc. save your image as a jpeg.

2. Save all your files to a thumb drive/jump drive/usb drive

3. Most TVs nowadays have a usb hook up. Insert the usb drive into there

4. Turn on the TV. Some will automatically detect the drive, others you may have to change input to media or whatever

5. Set to play, you may have to choose to loop all the images so they keep playing over and over.

 

Reference http://www.scantips.com/basics1f.html for the correct pixel size for your image. I think it says to set it to 1920x1080 pixels

Edited by mmotley
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello All!

 

My name is Samantha and I am a representative from Displays in Motion. I noticed that we were previously mentioned in this thread and I thought I would chime in.

 

We have found that our automotive displays are highly effective in increasing sales and building trust with customers. We keep our displays out in our waiting area and use them almost every day to help explain repairs.

 

Someone mentioned that they were worried about what a display like this might cost and I think you might be surprised at how affordable they really are! Please contact us at 303-756-2886 or through our e-mail address at [email protected] to learn more!

 

Thanks!

 

-Samantha

Edited by DisplaysinMotionInc
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  • 1 month later...

I agree with less is more strategy. We recently painted our waiting room and put in some new furniture. I removed 90% of the stuff and didn't put it back. Customers like the clean look better. I display a few tires and have a nice brake pad display and a few nice metal signs. The rest is non automotive stuff. No tv in our place, magazines and free wifi only. Customers like it because they can work in relative quiet. I have some informative automotive brochures out so they can get their own ideas of what they should be asking for rather than me trying to sell them something.

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I am going to go out on a lim here and guess that most of us here in the automotive mechanic world are pretty handy. If you have a little time on the weekend I don't see it to be too much of a task to make your own displays either, might be kind of fun.

 

I also had a question for you guys, I have been toying with the idea lately of making informative step by step videos of my mechanic doing all sorts of common repairs and then editing them into short "how its done" type videos that can be played to customers to explain a repair process, or simply to have playing in the waiting area. The videos would have speech and subtitling so you could have it muted or the sound on.

 

Would these videos be of use to anyone? Would you be willing to pay say $10-20 bucks for a set of them. Could have different sets like brakes and suspension, engine, drive train etc. Each $10-20. Worth it to anyone?

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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