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Buisiness; Hot and Cold after a Tough Winter

Joe Marconi
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alfredauto Experienced

alfredauto

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This last winter was extremely busy for us, mostly snow tire installs and maintenance issues. Come the end of February and beginning of March and it was as if someone hit the off switch. No tires, no oil changes, nothing. We made it through 2 weeks of no phone calls by luck, a couple transmission jobs came in which took up the time. (Normally we don't do tranny r&r's but any work is better than no work) You could play hockey on the road in front of the shop, nobody was doing anything except trying to keep warm. Propane shot up to $5 a gallon. Then like the switch turned back on we are backed up 5-7 days again, phones ringing off the hook. The story is the same with other shops in my area. Feast or famine for all of us. I'm optimistic for 2014 as a whole.

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CARMandP Proficient

CARMandP

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We have had a terrible winter. April was a little better but we are already off almost 50k from what we were this time last year. Car count way off. Doing everything that I can to get cars in but not feeling very optomistic even about staying in business this year :(

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Gasanddiesel Rookie

Gasanddiesel

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March was amazing for us. We picked up several engine jobs from people not keeping antifreeze in their engine over the cold winter.

 

April was slow. We barely broke even.

 

May is picking up, but not nearly what i want it to be. Still too much standing around time and doing jobs i don't want to do.

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ncautoshop Proficient

ncautoshop

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Posted

March was amazing for us. We picked up several engine jobs from people not keeping antifreeze in their engine over the cold winter.

 

April was slow. We barely broke even.

 

May is picking up, but not nearly what i want it to be. Still too much standing around time and doing jobs i don't want to do.

March was real slow for us. April was up 40% from last April and now customers are lined up out the door!

 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

    • Joe Marconi
      Want to End Your Technician Shortage? Focus on Retention!
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         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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      Thanks to our Partner, NAPA Auto Care Learn more about NAPA Auto Care and the benefits of being part of the NAPA family by visiting https://www.napaonline.com/en/auto-care Connect with the Podcast: -Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableResultsRadioPodcast/ -Join Our Private Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734687266778976 -Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/carmcapriotto -Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmcapriotto/ -Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remarkableresultsradiopodcast/ -Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RResultsBiz -Visit the Website: https://remarkableresults.biz/ -Join our Insider List: https://remarkableresults.biz/insider -All books mentioned on our podcasts: https://remarkableresults.biz/books -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 -Special episode collections: https://remarkableresults.biz/collections    
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