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Another new member - sort of!


kellyurl13

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Just wanted to introduce myself. I joined a while back just doing some research. I worked at the same shop for 16 years and the owner decided not to honor my "right of first refusal" he had presented me with some 12 years earlier. He sold out to a dealer tech who was a great guy, but clueless on running a shop. I was trying to explain why he needed to understand the front end of the business and stumbled across this site. I showed him some different articles and he just didn't want to follow through. Well, 18 months later..... I decided enough was enough, obtained some working capital, and my partner and I set out on our own. We now have a 7 bay repair shop and life could not be better. Although business is just ramping up, I continue to be encouraged by the response thus far. I have used this site countless times to research software, tools and equipment, management ideas, advertising, etc. What a wealth of information and variety of ideas! I hope to become more of a contributor as time goes on. Thanks to all of you for being willing to share you knowledge.

 

Kelly Wilson

Kelly & Stans Automotive

Roswell, GA

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Kelly,

 

Glad to hear that you understand the front end is as important or more so than the back, so many techs end up owning a shop without the business training need to make it successful. Although I was a technician 25 years ago, for the last 20 or so we have been developing products and teaching programs for shops all over he world. Please feel free to call or email me anytime, with your ideas, thoughts or questions, I enjoy talking shop and hopefully I can help you or even share your finding with others.

 

Sincerely,

Gary

 

www.GWRauto.com

1(800) 266-4497

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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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