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Just throwing a stone in lake to see what ripples. I did some searching and didn't find to much information. I am also intrigued about the idea due to several owner's continuing to contact me over the years after I have moved on, moved to another shop, moved to another state, etc.

Just a preface... been in the automotive industry for roughly 13.5 years. Started young, fixed own cars, modified own cars, worked on neighbors cars, cousin's, friends, you name it. Began to be the "go-to" for everyone and everyone in my community, school, baseball team, etc until I went to college. I began searching in college and founded an explosive automotive car club at a highly accredited university, graduated with a major in business in 2008 (the recession people...) and found a difficult time finding jobs in my metropolitan area. After a few months and scratching my head thinking about how I couldn't pay student loans by just doing sidework in my backyard, I sold cars at a local dealership nearby. A year and a half later, I transitioned into the service department. That is when I found my hidden talent of reasoning, negotiating, persuading a customer into spending money on their 198X bucket, that the repair was 4 times the value of the car. It was then I began to learn the value into servicing your vehicle, how to be attentive and listen to your customers, learn the trigger points and motives that persuaded a customer into a sale and continued to refined those traits I had acquired. I was even a consultant for a short period of time for automotive repair shops and learned even greater value into how to drive customer sales and keep them coming back. I ran several shops across the city, from the mom and pops to the high volume gas stations to the full blown performance shops and certified AAA approved and NAPA approved auto shops. Every shop had their quirks and each shop was different in each and every way. But I adapted. I never had issues finding success at each of these shops and each experience was more satisfying in the end than anticipated. I moved one from certain shops due to low wages, long hours, extra long commutes, and my quest to fulfill the roll of a husband. My wife wanted to take up acting as a full blown career so I find myself in LA, just running another shop, making the owner tons of money and trying to figure out my next move in life.

So I have to ask you this question. If you had a certified ASE C1 service writer that was willing to cover for you, from open to close for your small business, that you trusted to straight up pick the ball up and run with it, has extremely valuable knowledge of a technician yet is capable of selling a coloring book to blind man, is it something that you as an owner would be interested in for a right price for someone to keep your business open, fluidly moving for a week to two weeks, and be confident that this person would not just screw everything up?

This isn't a "I will fix all of your problems in your shop" kind of ordeal. I just really understand how automotive repair works and have been in so many different situations and have been bored for quite some time now that I am looking for different opportunities to establish a career in not running my own fixed location but remotely helping your location when the help is needed. Now if you think I will come on board to dissect your business because you think I can help you run your business better? I absolutely can but that is not what I am looking for. I am interested in coming in as a "friend" to help out and run your shop privately so you can take that dream vacation to Maui and not have to sweat about the shop and what to do with your employees or that appointment for the coolant leak for Mrs. Robinson's cadillac after you replaced her water pump last week. I need a full 411 lowdown about the shop. It will involve some lengthy forms to fill out about liability and 1099 contractual employment and the fact that I will be an official representative of the business for that week or so. But it may give you the breath of fresh air that you have been looking for. I have done it for my previous bosses a few times and I plan on continuing to help him out when I have the time and am in a position to help. I still got contacted after being 3000 miles away and I am the first go-to guy in this situation because I am reliable, willing, and right man for the job. Some of you think I am crazy but I am certain that there is someone out there is desperately figuring out a way to take a few weeks off without having to close the shop and suffer a major loss in business.

What are your thoughts?

contact: [email protected]

The following words are NOT foreign to me: Mitchell, Alldata, Shopkey, quickbooks, RO Writer, Reynolds, RepairPal, AAA, ASE Certified, warranty claims, write it right

 

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

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      It always amazes me when I hear about a technician who quits one repair shop to go work at another shop for less money. I know you have heard of this too, and you’ve probably asked yourself, “Can this be true? And Why?” The answer rests within the culture of the company. More specifically, the boss, manager, or a toxic work environment literally pushed the technician out the door.
      While money and benefits tend to attract people to a company, it won’t keep them there. When a technician begins to look over the fence for greener grass, that is usually a sign that something is wrong within the workplace. It also means that his or her heart is probably already gone. If the issue is not resolved, no amount of money will keep that technician for the long term. The heart is always the first to leave. The last thing that leaves is the technician’s toolbox.
      Shop owners: Focus more on employee retention than acquisition. This is not to say that you should not be constantly recruiting. You should. What it does means is that once you hire someone, your job isn’t over, that’s when it begins. Get to know your technicians. Build strong relationships. Have frequent one-on-ones. Engage in meaningful conversation. Find what truly motivates your technicians. You may be surprised that while money is a motivator, it’s usually not the prime motivator.
      One last thing; the cost of technician turnover can be financially devastating. It also affects shop morale. Do all you can to create a workplace where technicians feel they are respected, recognized, and know that their work contributes to the overall success of the company. This will lead to improved morale and team spirit. Remember, when you see a technician’s toolbox rolling out of the bay on its way to another shop, the heart was most likely gone long before that.
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