Bossman

The new breed is way different than the old. They think they are entitled to everything the senior techs get

Out of 8 employees, we had 2 that could never get to work on time, period. We have meetings in the morning 2x a week and they would come straggling in. Let me say they are both good Techs in most other ways. I had tried everything to get them here. I can't stand being late and I think if they want their job they should be on time. Finally, I did the following, not sure it would be good or right for everybody. It has worked for me. If they are late I will deduct 1 hour for each day they are late. This was for flat rate technicians. The 1st two weeks I deducted 4 hours. He came in and asked me how come. I told him we had a meeting and this was my last resort. He said well, I didn't think you would really do it. When you hit them in the pocket book, it makes a difference. I also had told him if he was on time, he would also get a raise, which he deserved. He then made the effort and is on time. He came in and now wants his hours back. I will give them back after he proves he can come to work on time for more than 2 weeks.

But did I make the decision

Who wants to be the first to charge $50.00 for a flat repair?

Don't do reviews too much but there is one thing I do get kick out of. The people that give poor reviews, if you look at their history, they give almost everybody poor reviews. Some people are never happy.

More and more new car dealers are jumping on the band wagon and offering free maintenance or a low cost maintenance plan with new car sales and used car sales. When you factor in the longer warranties, an added maintenance plan may keep your customers going back to the dealer for a longer period of time.

 

I do not like leaving things to chance. The new breed of dealers left behind after the economic dust settles will be an aggressive bunch, having the support of the car maker behind them.

 

Should we worry? Should we find a way to compete? Should we wait and see what happens? Like to hear from you…

A couple things to say about it. If you think about it, Toyota care is free maintenance for 2 years or 24,000 miles. Whooped de do! Think about that, it might cost them 100.00 in parts over that time for oil changes, rotations and cabin filters. And you know "there are certain things that will need to be done" that are not in the owners manual. I have a few customers whom would rather pay me than to got back to the dealer for anything. I have some tell me to fix something even though they know it's under warranty because they don't want to deal with them. For Toyota, I think it's a way to earn back loyalty for the whole Camry recall issue. More power to them then.

More and more shops are being proactive about maintaining their business and understand the need to stay in touch with existing customers. We all know that marketing to our existing customer base is a lot cheaper and more effective that attaining new customers. There are many companies out there; MechanicNet, Demand Force, Customer Link, CARQUEST Auto Alert and Mitchell1 launched their new version.

 

Just curious to see what other shops are using for their CRM programs and how effective it has been? And what other forms of marketing are other shops using to maintain the customer/shop relationship?

We use Customerlink and we have not had anything work this good at driving in customers. I feel that ROI is spectacular and I would recommend it to everyone. Reminders, Thank You cards, etc. The only thing I am not impressed with is their "Find new customer" but I am staying with it until the end of the year.

Yes, please send me the link, I would like to learn more about it, thanks...

Me too Me too

We've created this section here for you to post your shop website. This is a great way to get some more exposure, relative backlinks for search engines, and feedback from your peers.

 

Please post relevent automotive shop websites only. Any posts including non automotive shop websites will be moderated and removed.

 

Thank you.

 

New recently

www.johnsplaceglenview.com

I am using rowrighter and have been for about 7 years now, also using the accounting link from rowrighter to quick books

Ostrom's sales and service

Minong Wi

715-466-2377

How do you rate the integration with QB?

No! What I am saying is that I would like to be able to import the OEM part numbers and labor time into my estimates from what ever guide I am using be it Mitchell or Alldata. Based upon what I have seen so far I am leaning towards Alldata's system. Has anyone used both Mitchell and Alldata? Any other suggestions.

We use Shopkey. Really stable. Kind of limited in my opinion. Couple years ago we bought RO Writer. Great program but never had the level of service writer that could use it to it's full potential so we went back to Shopkey. I now have a qualified guy that I think can run it so I might be taking it out of the drawer again. Thinking of the industry today, RO is much better. It can do a lot more.

So I have this young tech. He thinks he's a hot shot (What tech doesn't other then real good ones) He's been with me about a year. He WILL be a great tech in a few years. He had asked about going to a BMW training class. I researched it. I think it is slightly over his head at this point but I agreed. I am paying for everything but accomodations.

The other day I was out of town and my manager was scheduled for all day training. He was told he could not be late under any circumstances. Well lo and behold he shows up 45 minutes late. My number 2 sent him home and wrote him up. I know we all take our lumps with young techs. I cancelled the training.

I told him if he keeps his nose clean for 6 months and shows me responsibilty I will have no problem sending him to the next one that comes up.

Looking for wisdom

Generally we pull them out. We do make it a point to do it in front of the customer. We also use a durable paper one for using more than once. The guys decide it can be re-used or not. Keeping the costs down

We all have had employees that quit. Sometimes we are grateful, sometimes it makes an impact on our business and the recovery from that loss is an issue. I have mixed feelings about rehiring people once they quit. If the person left once, will they do it again? Is this a pattern and part of their personality?

 

I know of many businesses that have a No Rehire rule. And, I am inclined to sway to that opinion. But, it’'s not always that black and white. Sometimes a young person can be influenced by a smooth talking sales manager at a dealership and steal the tech. In time the job is not what is supposed to be and the tech is looking to return. Would we take this tech back, if he fit our culture, was a productive worker and a competent tech?

 

Let me know your thoughts…

If the employee was a good employee and never caused problems, I would rehire providing I had an opening and I tell them that upfront. Alot of youngsters need to learn lessons. We all learn from experience. I have only had 2 employees that haven't come back looking for a job and those 2 I would not take back anyway.