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German shop Owner, of just 18 months...


RyanGMW

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Hey everyone-

My name is Ryan Gangemi and I own a German auto repair business (BMW/Mini/VW/Audi/Benz/Porsche only). We started out small in a private location and moved into a commercial building June 1st 2011.

I'm a 30yr old BMW Master Technician and I run the shop myself while my wife does our books from home. I have 2 employees, one is a Mini Cooper master tech and another is our apprentice technician who does a lot of custom work (engine swaps, suspension/brake custom work, ect).

We are adding another tech to our staff soon with over 20 years of tech experience and service manager experience.

I have been browsing through the forums and it looks like there is a plethora of useful information here.

We have been booming lately, with over 650 new customers in the past 18 months. Business has been better over the past 2 months than ever before, and word has spread quickly in our town about us and we just keep gaining steam.

I look forward to learning lots from other board members and I hope to help where I can as well.

 

Our website is http://www.ryangmw.com/.

 

See you guys around!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi RyanGMW! Welcome to the site!

I am rather new here... but I couldn't help but respond. It's such great news to hear an auto repair shop that's going 'gangbusters'! Keep it up! The only comment I would like to make is this. I know you're busy. I know you've got a lot on your plate. But make the effort to start working on your customer retention, customer referral programs and stuff like that.

 

SooOOooOooo many times, shops call me looking for that 'quick fix'. You know... just the good stuff in marketing that works fast! Yeah. No such thing. Maybe that Unicorn can help them.

 

Don't get caught in the trap of not marketing. I am not wishing or hoping a change in your fortune. But don't wait until you need it. Get a system in place now. You can always 'turn it down'... or 'crank it up'.

 

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

Matthew

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Hi RyanGMW! Welcome to the site!

I am rather new here... but I couldn't help but respond. It's such great news to hear an auto repair shop that's going 'gangbusters'! Keep it up! The only comment I would like to make is this. I know you're busy. I know you've got a lot on your plate. But make the effort to start working on your customer retention, customer referral programs and stuff like that.

 

SooOOooOooo many times, shops call me looking for that 'quick fix'. You know... just the good stuff in marketing that works fast! Yeah. No such thing. Maybe that Unicorn can help them.

 

Don't get caught in the trap of not marketing. I am not wishing or hoping a change in your fortune. But don't wait until you need it. Get a system in place now. You can always 'turn it down'... or 'crank it up'.

 

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

Matthew

 

Couldn't agree more with this post, It's so true...Marketing is key

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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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