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Is it Time To Change the Model of the Typical Auto Repair Shop?

Joe Marconi

By Joe Marconi
in Running The Shop

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newport5 Enthusiast

newport5

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Posted

Regarding “My strategy was to price the (European) work so high, the customer would be the person saying "no" and not me.”

While that strategy makes sense to a shop owner, let me add this.  I want to encourage a panel discussion at an upcoming auto conference on improving the perception of our industry. I started a list of talking points and overcharging is one of them. And that strategy looks exactly like overcharging. When the customer checks a European repair shop, they obviously decide you are overcharging. And our industry looks bad. I believe we need to fix that. For the benefit of all of us.

Thoughts?

Side note: we're a German car repair shop in Orange County , California and German cars are EVERYWHERE !!!

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newport5 Enthusiast

newport5

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I apologize for the confusion. I had read it all. I wasn't blaming. We've all done it and I NEVER thought anything about that until I started brainstorming reasons for our bad rap. And polls have shown overcharging is an issue, even though they don't say HOW those customers decided that!!!

As if it FELT high to them???

My point was, when that customer calls a shop that specializes in European cars and they quote a regular price, the customer jumps to the conclusion that you were overcharging. Human nature.

Again, I apologize for the confusion.

Victor

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

    • Joe Marconi
      Want to End Your Technician Shortage? Focus on Retention!
      By Joe Marconi in Joe's 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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