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Ok, I know there are some Elite customers on this website. I believe that Elite can no doubt help our shop, but my shop owner is very hesitant and is concerned that the coach we get will have us raise our prices which will drive away customers. He also is apprehensive about how much help Elite can provide for the one year commitment (the dollar vs. value). Truth be told I don't think he believes we need any help. We are a strong shop. We have really good car count and great gross sales, but we bleed from places I'm sure we don't even know about. What I'd like to know is if there are any shops represented here in the Houston area. If so I'd like to visit with you over the phone or preferably in person. Thank you in advance for your input.

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Another suggestion is maybe you should join a 20 group? For the more mature shop a 20 group seems like a great thing to be apart of. If you are beyond the basics then being with a group of like minded shop owners looking to improve their business may just be the ticket

Please tell me what a "20 group" is. Thanks a lot!!

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From what you posted, it looks like you guys must be doing a lot of things right. Congratulations!


I checked out some of your reviews and one of them really stood out as a testimonial of how you're

perceived by your customers. There's nothing better than having customers talk about how trusting

they are of your customer service.



That doesn't happen by accident, so great job!


As for your questions about improving your profits...


Car count and gross sales are both required to have a profitable, successful auto repair business.


You mentioned you thought the business may be "bleeding from places I'm sure we don't even know about."


There are a number of ways to improve profits and your boss is smart in wanting to make sure

any changes to the way he's doing business now - do not drive away customers (or employees).


For example, making blanket labor and parts pricing changes is often suggested as a means of

quickly increasing profits. Sometimes, small changes to how you're currently doing things are what's needed...


But you have to keep your eye on the big picture - not just making sweeping changes without a really good reason.


That may have worked in the past, but today's customers have the exact same information you do meaning...

websites such as repairpal.com have changed the rules of the game because parts and labor

is all out in the open now.


Once the labor and parts formulas are tweaked, (if it actually makes sense for you and your marketplace...)


The very next place to look for more profits is by making sure the sales people are not missing

any legitimate opportunities.


There are many opinions on what that looks in the real world.


This is definitely an area you want to closely evaluate to make sure any recommended changes

are not going to upset your customers.


You also want to make sure the recommended sales methods are employee-friendly, meaning

your sales people can actually see themselves doing it, even if they're not natural born sales people.


Bottom-line, the sales methods need to be customer-friendly and employee-friendly.


The best way to evaluate this is to watch some videso of the trainers demonstrating how they sell jobs.


These are just some of the ways to evaluate if the training company philosophy matches how you folks

want to do business.


PS The same evaluation process also applies to joining a 20 group, just so you know.

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there are several companies that have "20 groups". The ones i have looked into specifically were RLO and Elite. RLO calls their group offers the Bottomline Impact Group. Elite has a 20 group called Pro Service. Both are excellent companies. Most consulting and coaching companies offer some sort of 20 group. There is a screening process involved and they may recommend a coaching program before the 20 group.

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When I signed up as a NAPA center they gave me some great business tips, the most important is keeping track of income and expenses measured in percentages. If there are say 20 categories and your shop is making 5% net profit, saving 1% in 10 areas and increasing price 1% in 10 areas will net you 20% more profit. One percent is easy to accomplish, nobody will notice brake pads costs $1 more. Call your supplier and save 2% on oil, easy. Raise your labor rate 20% and people will notice!

 

This website is basically a 20 group, we don't have to suffer in silence. Businesses helping businesses in a non competitive way is good. Try talking with the shop next door about pricing and problems and it might not be so easy.

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20 Groups train through comparison of policy and procedures, shop layouts, and of course numbers. As far as I know every 20 group works off a monthly financial composite of all the group members. The facilitator of the group whom is essentially the "coach" sets certain benchmarks such as Labor Profit Margin, Parts Profit Margin, Hours Per RO, etc and group members get to compare and contrast how they are doing against the benchmarks and also against group members. There are usually either a teleconference once month and also meetings 2-3 times a year.

 

 

BTW this is as far as I know with the research i have done. I have never been apart of any 20 groups.

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Mspecperformance and I are in a Focus 2 group. Which means we just talk all the time and share ideas and numbers. 18 more of you are welcome to join our Voxer channel and BAM we have our own (albeit inexperienced) focus 20 group.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Mspecperformance and I are in a Focus 2 group. Which means we just talk all the time and share ideas and numbers. 18 more of you are welcome to join our Voxer channel and BAM we have our own (albeit inexperienced) focus 20 group.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'll make it a Threesome.....

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We are located an hour an a half from the Houston area and have been working with Elite for several years. They have been instrumental in helping me grow my company. Very great group of people to work with. Feel free to message me your contact info and I would be glad to contact you. Maybe I can come shadow your shop in Kingwood.

 

 

Please share more info on the Focus 2 group. I would love to be a part.

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Sorry, I have been very busy and have not checked this in a bit. Please download an app called Voxer and message me your username and I will add you. Make it a private message because I get those emailed to my phone and I will see it.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         1 comment
      Have I got your attention? Great.
      Let me start by saying that I believe in giving praise when deserved and letting employees know when they dropped the ball. However, the truth is that no one enjoys being reprimanded or told they messed up.  
      The question is, what is the appropriate balance between the right amount of praise and the right amount of critical feedback? According to studies done by Harvard Business School, the ratio of praise to critical feedback should be about 6:1 – Six praises for every critical feedback. I am not sure if I agree with that.
      From personal experience, I would recommend a lot more praise. The exact ratio doesn’t matter. What’s important is that before you consider giving critical feedback, ensure you have given that employee a lot of recent praise. If not, whatever you are trying to get through to an employee, will fall on deaf ears.
      When you do have to give critical feedback, remember a few things:
      Focus on the issue or behavior; never attack the person, and remain calm in your actions and words Ask the employee for feedback, their side of the story Speak to the employee in private Address the issue soon after it happens; never wait Don’t rely on second-hand information; it’s always better if you have experienced the situation yourself that you want to correct Have an open discussion and find things that both of you can agree upon Have an action plan moving forward that the employee can take ownership of Use the experience as a learning tool Make sure you bring up positive attributes about them Remember, you don’t want the employee to be angry or upset with you; you want them to reflect on the situation and what can be improved. One last thing. Everyone makes mistakes. We need to be mindful of this.
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