Managing your shop includes making sure its operating well. This can also include the building, equipment, facilities, vehicles, maintaining your bays and overall shop operations.
Automotive repair shop workflow management, procedure, productivity, quality control, systems & shop forms you use. To generate profitable sales and consistent quality customer service, you need to be in control and have in place specific systems and procedures.
Parts matrix, shop labor rate, add-ons, and maintaining the correct pricing strategy to ensure your shop is profitable. Discounts, coupons, and specials.
A sale must bring profit, if it doesn’t It’s a loss. Accounting is a major part of any business. Are you in control of your accounting and profitability? Are you controlling your payroll to be profitable?
Automotive repair shop topics on human resource, payroll, employee hiring and terminations, team building, healthcare and training. State Laws are all different, please check your state laws for specific guidelines.
Education and Training your technicians, service writers, and other employees is an important part of making sure your staff is well equipped to service today's customers. Technical, sales, business and general shop automotive education topics.
Don't get complacent! 1st of all we are having a great best year, with that said, things change. Our employees have all been here from 6 years to 20 years. Well, One of our Technicians is leaving for another shop with a salary of $100,000.00 He would be making this or almost this by flat rate of $41. He is fast, but has to pick up kids at different times, etc, life. We left the door open for him coming back. The shop he is going to does about 1/2 of our total sales. They have 2 Service writers. This doesn't compute to me. Oh, it is a partnership with a silent partner.
Now my question. What are you paying flat or salary or combo for top diag tech ASE cert with electric and hybrid. What are your benefits. Ours are matching 401K, bonus shared by all employees, gloves, insurance (50%) espresso, vacation, Aflac Our lube techs with B qualifications 20-25 hourly plus 5% commission and master tech 38-41 flat with a possible 500 bonus each employee with 1/2 on pay check and 1/2 to 401k. SW makes 8% of all sales.
Don't get complacent! 1st of all we are having a great best year, with that said, things change. Our employees have all been here from 6 years to 20 years. Well, One of our Technicians is leaving for another shop with a salary of $100,000.00 He would be making this or almost this by flat rate of $41. He is fast, but has to pick up kids at different times, etc, life. We left the door open for him coming back. The shop he is going to does about 1/2 of our total sales. They have 2 Service writers. This doesn't compute to me. Oh, it is a partnership with a silent partner.
Now my question. What are you paying flat or salary or combo for top diag tech ASE cert with electric and hybrid. What are your benefits. Ours are matching 401K, bonus shared by all employees, gloves, insurance (50%) espresso, vacation, Aflac Our lube techs with B qualifications 20-25 hourly plus 5% commission and master tech 38-41 flat with a possible 500 bonus each employee with 1/2 on pay check and 1/2 to 401k. SW makes 8% of all sales.
My belief is keep doing what works and look for new ways to wow your customers. It works. Track all marketing. This is our best year ever. I believe, when new cars become available, we will see a change again. As a small business, we can be ready to adjust and adjust to what ever is thrown at us.
Ha! I can relate!
I was always been a firm believer in being in the trenches with my staff. I did my best to balance life, family, and business. Very hard at times. As I got older, it became more and more important to put more emphasis on the things money cannot buy.
I couldn't agree more. As a believe in we get what we give, I've seen people who lost everything yet spent all their time serving customers to the best of their ability and now that things are sort of at pre pandemic levels again (besides gas, baby formula and mustard seeds, of course) no one forgot his kindness and his business has quadrupled in revenue since pre-pandemic levels. Such a come back that he deserves way more than his competition who only looked out for themselves.
In the shop at least, because I'm there almost every day (by proud choice) I like to expect the next customer to call or come in while cleaning my tools and equipment. That way when the next customer miraculously comes in they're impressed by how clean everything is. Otherwise, I'm searching for forums like this lol.
Craig Popp, First Tire & Automotive, 4 locations, Sugar Land and Katy, TX
Key Talking Points
Surround yourself with people that have experience
Do something that you know, and do it very well and you'll be successful
Buying additional locations- you need the customer base, the goodwill in the community, and the location that makes a big difference.
You can't do it all, you got to depend on your people, you got to empower them.
Make sure that when a customer comes in, your employees have the authority to decide to take care of that customer.
Do not hire the first person automatically. Don't fill a void, talk to them, get to know them, and spend some time before you hire that person.
Set the expectations, set deadlines, and train them to be what you expect them to be.
Sometimes doing the right things is hard, but still the right thing
“You’re only as good as your weakest link”
Keeping a training resume
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