Honda touts the Insight as 'populist's' car
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By Joe Marconi in Joe's Blog5 commentsI 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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By carmcapriotto
The Weekly Blitz is brought to you by our friends over at Shop Marketing Pros. If you want to take your shop to the next level, you need great marketing. Shop Marketing Pros does top-tier marketing for top-tier shops.
Click here to learn more about Top Tier Marketing by Shop Marketing Pros and schedule a demo:https://shopmarketingpros.com/chris/
Check out their podcast here: https://autorepairmarketing.captivate.fm/
If you would like to join their private facebook group go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autorepairmarketingmastermind
In this end-of-year update podcast episode, Coach Chris Cotton from Auto Fix Auto Shop Coaching, along with Coaches Mike, Brent, and Al, discuss the challenges and successes of running auto repair shops. The coaches highlight the importance of having a cohesive team, dealing with parts availability and cost increases, and the need for clear career paths for technicians. They also discuss the impact of high interest rates on the industry, the challenges of finding replacement parts, and the trend of shops closing due to lack of succession plans. The podcast ends on a positive note, with the coaches sharing success stories and expressing their excitement for the upcoming year.
The impact of lockdown team on shop performance (00:01:44) Coach Mike discusses how establishing a strong team atmosphere and having the right technicians greatly impacted his shop's performance. Hiring an additional staff member (00:03:05) Coach Brent talks about the positive impact of hiring his son as an additional staff member, relieving him from various duties and reducing stress. Improving staffing and team dynamics (00:04:59) Coach Al shares how having a cohesive team and implementing employee rewards helped improve workflow and reduce turnover in his shop. Technicians struggling to find parts (00:10:29) Discussion about the challenges of finding parts and the need to raise labor rates to compensate for the time spent searching. Increasing cost of parts (00:11:51) Conversation about the rising costs of parts and the impact it has on the industry, including the need to update quotes more frequently. Dealerships marketing against independent shops (00:13:09) Discussion about a dealership specifically targeting an independent shop and the use of geofencing and advertising to compete. The technicians' perception of income (00:20:01) Discussion on how front-end guys buying new campers led to the perception that they were making more money, and how this perception changed after a hierarchy was shown. Providing a path forward for technicians (00:21:13) Importance of building a foundation and providing growth opportunities for technicians, including training, job experience, and addressing productivity levels. The cost of owning a shop and technician frustrations (00:23:21) Discussion on the financial aspects of owning a shop, including insurance costs, and how it can discourage technicians from wanting to start their own shop. Also, the importance of having a path forward for technicians and helping them reach their goals.
Note: Only three timestamps were provided in the given transcription segment.
The average age of vehicles is increasing (00:30:17) Discussion on the shortage of used cars and the rising cost of repairs on newer vehicles. The increase in repairs on 18-20 model vehicles (00:31:08) Exploration of how the high cost of replacing vehicles is leading to more repairs on newer vehicles. Challenges faced by unsuccessful shop owners and the trend of shop closures (00:35:08) Conversation about the difficulties faced by shop owners who are not profitable and the increasing number of small shops closing their doors. Success Stories and Relief for a Mechanic's Wife (00:40:23) A coach shares a success story of a mechanic who implemented coaching recommendations, leading to increased profits and reduced stress for his wife. Small Town Success (00:41:50) A small town auto shop in rural Kansas achieves record-breaking success and hosts community events with high turnout. Setting Up Business Foundations (00:42:59) A coach discusses the importance of establishing a strong foundation for auto repair businesses and the satisfaction of helping clients build successful structures. 00:51:06 - The Outlook for 2024 Discussion on the potential success of the auto repair industry in the coming year and the importance of treating customers and employees right. 00:51:37 - The Importance of Coaching Encouragement for struggling shop owners to seek coaching or join peer groups to improve their businesses. 00:53:28 - The Power of Coaching Personal testimonial of the impact of coaching on the success and growth of an auto repair business.
Connect with Chris:
[email protected]
Phone: 940.400.1008
www.autoshopcoaching.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
AutoFixAutoShopCoachingYoutube: https://bit.ly/3ClX0ae
#autofixautoshopcoaching #autofixbeautofixing #autoshopprofits #autoshopprofit #autoshopprofitsfirst #autoshopleadership #autoshopmanagement #autorepairshopcoaching #autorepairshopconsulting #autorepairshoptraining #autorepairshop #autorepair #serviceadvisor #serviceadvisorefficiency #autorepairshopmarketing #theweeklyblitz #autofix #shopmarketingpros
Click to go to the Podcast on Remarkable Results Radio
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