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By Joe Marconi in Joe's Blog0 commentsAuto shop owners are always looking for ways to improve production levels. They focus their attention on their technicians and require certain expectations of performance in billable labor hours. While technicians must know what is expected of them, they have a limited amount of control over production levels. When all factors are considered, the only thing a well-trained technician has control over is his or her actual efficiency.
As a review, technician efficiency is the amount of labor time it takes a technician to complete a job compared to the labor time being billed to the customer. Productivity is the time the technician is billing labor hours compared to the time the technician is physically at the shop. The reality is that a technician can be very efficient, but not productive if the technician has a lot of downtime waiting for parts, waiting too long between jobs, or poor workflow systems.
But let’s go deeper into what affects production in the typical auto repair shop. As a business coach, one of the biggest reasons for low shop production is not charging the correct labor time. Labor for extensive jobs is often not being billed accurately. Rust, seized bolts, and wrong published labor times are just a few reasons for lost labor dollars.
Another common problem is not understanding how to bill for jobs that require extensive diagnostic testing, and complicated procedures to arrive at the root cause for an onboard computer problem, electrical issue, or drivability issue. These jobs usually take time to analyze, using sophisticated tools, and by the shop’s top technician. Typically, these jobs are billed at a standard menu labor charge, instead of at a higher labor rate. This results in less billed labor hours than the actual labor time spent. The amount of lost labor hours here can cripple a shop’s overall profit.
Many shop owners do a great job at calculating their labor rate but may not understand what their true effective labor is, which is their labor sales divided by the total labor hours sold. In many cases, I have seen a shop that has a shop labor rate of over $150.00 per hour, but the actual effective labor rate is around $100. Not good.
Lastly, technician production can suffer when the service advisors are too busy or not motivated to build relationships with customers, which results in a low sales closing ratio. And let’s not forget that to be productive, a shop needs to have the right systems, the right tools and equipment, an extensive information system, and of course, great leadership.
The bottom line is this; many factors need to be considered when looking to increase production levels. While it does start with the technician, it doesn’t end there. Consider all the factors above when looking for ways to improve your shop’s labor production.
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By Hands On
I keep getting a request now and then to go to someones house. I am starting to wonder, is it because they think it would be cheaper, or is it like in that show billions, where the guy has so much money, he can afford to pay chef ryan to come to his house to cook dinner.
How much would it take to get each of you to come to my house to work on my car? Honest answers, and you have to give an amount.
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By Joe Marconi
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By carmcapriotto
Inspiring story of a shop owner Kendall Warnock who went from growing up on a Native American reservation to successfully owning and operating a thriving business.
Thank you to RepairPal for sponsoring The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast. Learn more about RepairPal at https://repairpal.com/shops
How To Get In Touch
Group - Auto Repair Marketing Mastermind
Website - shopmarketingpros.com
Facebook - facebook.com/shopmarketingpros
Get the Book - shopmarketingpros.com/book
Instagram - @shopmarketingpros
Questions/Ideas - [email protected]
Click to go to the Podcast on Remarkable Results Radio
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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 episode of "The Weekly Blitz," Coach Chris Cotton uses football analogies to provide strategies for success in the auto repair business. He compares marketing and managing margins to offense and defense in football, and emphasizes the importance of managing setbacks, like penalties in a game. He also discusses the crucial role of employees and stakeholders, likening them to special teams and spectators. The episode ends with Coach Chris encouraging listeners to keep learning and growing in their business. The podcast is sponsored by Shop Marketing Pros, represented by Brian and Kimberly Walker.
Running an auto shop is like winning in football [00:03:15] Drawing parallels between running an auto repair shop and winning a football game, discussing offense, defense, and the importance of teamwork.
Offense: Your marketing strategy [00:05:33] Exploring the role of marketing in driving the business forward, emphasizing the need for an online presence and customer engagement.
Defense: Managing margins and operational efficiency [00:06:36] Highlighting the importance of managing costs, setting the right pricing, and ensuring an efficient operational workflow to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business.
Don't forget to subscribe and share [00:10:51] Encouragement to subscribe, share, leave a review, and provide input for future episodes.
Get in touch for questions or topics [00:10:51] Invitation to contact Chris at Auto Fix for questions or suggestions for upcoming episodes.
Time to rise and grind [00:10:51] Motivational message to keep learning, growing, and striving for success in the 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 #autoops #onlinebooking #serviceadvisor #serviceadvisorefficiency #autorepairshopmarketing #theweeklyblitz #autofix #boomersooner #oklahomasooners
Click to go to the Podcast on Remarkable Results Radio
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By carmcapriotto
Recorded Live at ASTE 2023, Lester Kovacs, Director of Ideation at Dorman Products, explains Dorman's unique approach to product development, including working closely with technicians, searching through junkyards for challenges, and conducting extensive testing. He also discusses supply chain issues, reaching out to their network for feedback, and upcoming products at Dorman.
Lester Kovacs, Director of Ideation, Dorman Products
Show Notes:
Uncovering Technician Challenges (00:04:02) Discussion on how Dorman works with technicians to uncover their challenges and develop solutions. Part Availability and Supply Chain Issues (00:05:31) Conversation about supply chain issues and challenges with part availability for older vehicles. The discovery of a new product category (00:08:31) Discussion about finding a new product category and the process of developing that particular product. The challenge of developing new products (00:11:00) Exploration of the challenges faced in developing new products and the need to work against the clock. Testing and validation of new products (00:12:58) Explanation of the testing and validation process for new products, including material testing, dimensional testing, and trial and test on actual vehicles. The incubator analogy (00:15:54) Discusses the role of the incubator in finding and developing ideas, identifying bottlenecks, and resource decisions. Percentage of ideas that make it (00:16:58) Discusses the percentage of ideas that make it through the validation process and the importance of a tight funnel to meet customer expectations. Lester's career journey (00:18:04) Explores Lester's background, starting from his love for cars as a kid. Changing Habits and Customer Perception (00:23:01) Discussion on the challenge of changing habits in the aftermarket industry and the need to shift customer perception of certain parts. Improving Marketing Strategy and Relaunching Products (00:23:25) Exploration of the relaunch of a product line after initial poor sales, including collaboration with customers and counter professionals to improve marketing and sales strategies. Suggestion for Website Enhancement (00:24:32) A suggestion to add a tab on the website to address why customers are not buying certain products, with testimonials and repair pictures to encourage sales. Thanks to our Partner, Dorman Products.
Dorman gives people greater freedom to fix vehicles by constantly developing new repair solutions that put owners and technicians first. Take the Dorman Virtual Tour at www.DormanProducts.com/Tour
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-Join our Insider List: https://remarkableresults.biz/insider
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-Our Classroom page for personal or team learning: https://remarkableresults.biz/classroom
-Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/carm
-The Aftermarket Radio Network: https://aftermarketradionetwork.com
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