Oil changes

[Dr.Dave]

I was wondering with all the cheap oil change specail out there .When a co. offeres a low price is that out the door price + tax if your state has sales tax.Do you add whasher fluid at that low price ? how about other fluids ? Were do you draw the line?Do you ever a higher level lof that would include fluid or a better filter or oil?Well oil of coarse synthetic always cost more.But I was thinking that I hate to use the cheapest filter I can buy because I would use them myself,but you can,t make a cheap lof without using the most inxspensive filter.Should I suck in my beliefs for the sake of business I will but is there a alturnetive?I,d like to hear from some of you out there in the real business world.

[xrac]

I was wondering with all the cheap oil change specail out there .When a co. offeres a low price is that out the door price + tax if your state has sales tax.Do you add whasher fluid at that low price ? how about other fluids ? Were do you draw the line?Do you ever a higher level lof that would include fluid or a better filter or oil?Well oil of coarse synthetic always cost more.But I was thinking that I hate to use the cheapest filter I can buy because I would use them myself,but you can,t make a cheap lof without using the most inxspensive filter.Should I suck in my beliefs for the sake of business I will but is there a alturnetive?I,d like to hear from some of you out there in the real business world.

 

I dislike cheap oil changes because of the type of customer it usually attracks. There are some good ones but if it is cheap enough you will attrack a lot of bottom feeders. I never want to offer the cheapest oil change in town. What we now offer is an oil change with a free tire rotation. That has attracked a better quality customer for us. If you offer a cheap oil change you need to have cheap filter, oil, etc. We use to offer a basic oil change and also had a full service oil change at different price points. The problem with the basic was people wamted their air filters blown out and wanted windhsield wiper fluid, etc. We only offer one oil change now and we add a $2.00 environmental fee onto our oil changes.

[Joe Marconi]

I dislike cheap oil changes because of the type of customer it usually attracks. There are some good ones but if it is cheap enough you will attrack a lot of bottom feeders. I never want to offer the cheapest oil change in town. What we now offer is an oil change with a free tire rotation. That has attracked a better quality customer for us. If you offer a cheap oil change you need to have cheap filter, oil, etc. We use to offer a basic oil change and also had a full service oil change at different price points. The problem with the basic was people wamted their air filters blown out and wanted windhsield wiper fluid, etc. We only offer one oil change now and we add a $2.00 environmental fee onto our oil changes.

 

I agree, to offer a cheap oil change to lure people in will on bring the wrong type of customer; unless, you build your business as a discounter and cater to that type of consumer. For me, that’s not my business model.

 

We “top off” all fluids at no additional charge. That does not mean if a customer is down 3 quarts of transmission fluid, we give him three quarts. “Top off” means “top off”.

 

To pay for the top offs; we did a study on how much we give away in a year. Then we raised prices on air filters, cabin filters, bulbs and hardware to pay for it; it amounts to pennies when you amortize it across a few product lines. We call it strategy based pricing.

 

We stopped charging supply charges and hazmat fees. People don’t mind spending $300.00 for a brake job, but look at that $2.00 on the bottom of the invoice and start to question it. We did the same thing with supply charges; amortize the yearly income from the supply charge we were making and added a few pennies to a few product lines. The strategy works.

 

Here’s a great program that we started about 10 years ago. We sell prepaid LOF Maintenance coupons. Customer pre-purchases a book of 4 oil change services and gets a discount off the oil changes. The reason this works better is that you are selling to people that are loyal and will become loyal to your company, plus you are guaranteed to get them back at least 4 more times.

[xrac]

I agree, to offer a cheap oil change to lure people in will on bring the wrong type of customer; unless, you build your business as a discounter and cater to that type of consumer. For me, that’s not my business model.

 

We “top off” all fluids at no additional charge. That does not mean if a customer is down 3 quarts of transmission fluid, we give him three quarts. “Top off” means “top off”.

 

To pay for the top offs; we did a study on how much we give away in a year. Then we raised prices on air filters, cabin filters, bulbs and hardware to pay for it; it amounts to pennies when you amortize it across a few product lines. We call it strategy based pricing.

 

We stopped charging supply charges and hazmat fees. People don’t mind spending $300.00 for a brake job, but look at that $2.00 on the bottom of the invoice and start to question it. We did the same thing with supply charges; amortize the yearly income from the supply charge we were making and added a few pennies to a few product lines. The strategy works.

 

Here’s a great program that we started about 10 years ago. We sell prepaid LOF Maintenance coupons. Customer pre-purchases a book of 4 oil change services and gets a discount off the oil changes. The reason this works better is that you are selling to people that are loyal and will become loyal to your company, plus you are guaranteed to get them back at least 4 more times.

 

Joe, we never used the $2.00 environmental until the last year and it seems to work o.k. for us. We have had no complaints. The idea of selling the coupon book is a good one. What kind of deal do you give them if they buy the coupon book?

[CARMandP]

That's what I wanted to know. My wife and I have talked about something like this for a while. What kind of price do you do?

[Joe Marconi]

That's what I wanted to know. My wife and I have talked about something like this for a while. What kind of price do you do?

 

A few customers told me that they considered the supply charge the same as those annoying charges on your phone bill or electric bill. I know that many shops use it with no issues; I just thought that I did not want anything negative. It was a business choice.

 

The LOF program works great. I was tired of seeing quick lube stickers on my customer’s windshield, so I created this plan. The customer purchases 4 pre-paid coupons and will receive $10.00 off each LOF service. So, if an oil change price is $35.00, the customer will save $40.00 on a book of 4.

 

The concept is to have the customer pre-pay for the plan. In this way, it prequalifies the customer because the customer understands that he or she is making a commitment to YOUR business to return at least 4 more times.

 

This program took off from the start, and even though is it a lost leader; we get tons of work from it because we create loyal customers. And, everyone buys more coupons when they are used up.

 

I am working on a new program designed for newer cars under 36k miles where I will package a BG MOA and CF5 and feature the BG lifetime protection along the BG Saftrack Road Side Assistance. It will also include a 10% discount card on all future maintenance and factory scheduled services. The concept will be the same; the customer will pre-purchase the LOF program at a discounted price. The only difference is it will include the BG products at a greatly reduced price.

 

I believe in the razor blade theory: "Give away the razor, the money is in selling the blades".