HarrytheCarGeek

Yes. Don't expect lots of replies, the large majority of business owners I have spoken to are not willing to discuss this particular issue.

First, step step back and look at it with fresh eyes. DON'T panic. Some people like gossip, but if you have been in business 48 years, many people have experience with doing business with you and know you are a straight shooter. People that are scandalous tend to be known as such and other people take them with a grain of salt. Having said that, resolve the issue as soon as you can in a reasonable manner.

Ladies and gentlemen, Another year comes to a close, I hope 2017 has been generous to you as it has been to my team and I. We started the year with a simple premise of making 5 calls to customers everyday, and that snowballed into a sales breaking record for us. These are very simple things we learned and helped us prosper: 1. Learn to communicate with your team, set the expectations and hold them accountable. 2. Always, always, always be respectful, courteous, attentive, and mindful of your customers, you don't know what they have been through, yes, some have deep financial issues but the majority are looking for honest, knowledgeable, and professional people, earn their trust and give them great value, they will reward you with their continued business. 3. Treat your employees well, charge what they are worth and reward them accordingly, if you skimp on fair wages they will know and look for greener pastures. Many joined us while their competing shops closed, we have pick of the litter. 4. Be honest, do the right thing and get rid of toxic, unreliable, and unethical people. If you have a bad apple in your team, deal with it quickly, else they will poison your team and create systemic problems that will be even harder to deal with later. 5. Always use the best tools you can afford, if you have to redo work for lack proper tools and equipment it will cost you 3x as much, and the customer aggravation and inconvenience will be reflected on your bottom line. Well, that's it for me. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy And Prosperous New Year 2018! All is possible by the Grace of God, and according to His will! -Harry

As I said back in September, inflation is up, used cars prices are way up, and there is plenty of new labor coming to the market. No need for a crystal ball, right?!

Well, it is the end of November 2017! This year flew by, we have had a record year. I didn't forget about this thread and I have been minding to post an update. There really is nothing I can say other that if you begin with making five simple calls a day, you can certainly double your annual sales, no question about it. I hope you all had a great and awesome Thanksgiving. One more month to go and the year is over, I hope you prospered and enjoyed your work. And hopefully I will post before the new year. -Harry

This tells you everything you needed to know. The vicious cycle is hard to break for those doing drugs to detach from reality. And the irony is that he will blame everyone else and not himself for all his troubles.

Sound like a lack of education on the part of your tech. From what I am reading, is seems your tech is coming from a place of ignorance and lack of prosperity. I have had techs tell me ball joints were in acceptable condition from their perspective even when the service guide calls for them to be changed due to minor play. It's here where you have to teach your people why the customer comes into your store seeking your professional advice to avoid breakdowns and getting stuck on the side of a very dangerous highway. One thing I see from my competition, they seem afraid to teach their people to be better because they are afraid their people will ask for more money or will leave and be able to get more money working for another shop. This is a very poor mentality that keeps people in poverty. I make it a point to train my people to be the best, I encourage them to keep learning and improve their condition, I teach them how to inspect and be conscious of our customer's car conditions. I teach them about the value we give the customer and why our customer take the choice to make us their shop. In turn, I find out, my people chose to stay with me because they know we are in it for the long run to benefit them and me, I couldn't deliver great service without their support and care for our customers.

You made me smile reading your article. Here is my 0.02 cent story: 2005 Mercedes Benz E500 comes in from the local MB dealer, the complaint is that it has all kinds of intermittent electrical problems, it has new batteries, alternator, gateway and other modules, etc. On the preliminary inspection I find two ground straps broken, fix that and I hook up the picoscope to look at my current flow, see odd ripple, take a look at the serpentine tensioner and it's worn out with a new pulley installed. Changed it, car runs like a dream. Customer: "Are you sure that was it?! We spend over five grand in parts trying to fix it."

lol, the thing is you knew this would happen, or better said, you suspected this would most likely happen, yet you chose to go ahead and put yourself through it. Isn't life grand?

I really enjoyed reading your post, you echo many of my own sentiments. Regarding marketing, I agree with you that is an effort in frustration. I have taken the long hard road and have learned many things, some that have worked really well and others that have failed miserably. Regarding this forum, like you, I came here looking for others with similar like experience and to see if we could share experiences and ideas, suddenly it became obvious to me that none of us with a lot of experience and financial success could share anything substantive without putting our interests in jeopardy, that's why I think you will not find anything deeper than a casual or superficial treatment of any topic by the most senior people. That's why a 20 group may be a better fit for someone that is looking for a deeper perspective on the subjects than the forum. Going back to the marketing topic, logically we think that marketing should increase car count. But would you believe that I spent $20,000 on a EDDM campaign that did not produce a single lead? I can't tell you why it failed, except the suspicion that the postal service never delivered my pieces. I have no proof, but that is my suspicion simply because I had 5,000 pieces re-printed and had them delivered by my own team over a weekend, with the results being a 2.6% response rate(over 130 leads on 5K flyers). On the other end of the spectrum, I have run campaigns that have had response rates closer to 30%! These have been customers that have been profiled and their pieces and offers carefully crafted and targeted for their particular vehicles. It is very important for you to know your customers financial profile in order to get the best return on your marketing dollar, there is no point in making offers to customers that cannot afford your services no matter how much they like you and are willing to use you except that they cannot afford to use your services. As for the consultants here looking for gigs, well, my opinion is that if you know that you need help then hire someone that can provide the help you need, and here is a logical place to find people that may be struggling with their shop. So what a better place to find a consultant than here? For if they are lousy and don't know what they are doing, their reputation would soon come to light.

I can't complain, business had been really great this year, mostly because we were able to identify several patterns that really let us prosper. And you know what, another opportunity is coming right this very minute that will let you make a lot of wealth that will let you retire if that is what you are looking for. As you are aware, all the catastrophes that are affecting our country will dislocate millions of people. You will see a lot of migration into your areas putting pressure into housing, and inflation. Labor will be abundant and assets will rise in price, so act accordingly and take this great opportunity for what it is. Cheers, -Harry.

Gonzo, I hope you are doing well. Great article, I make sure my guys understand the fundamentals so the more steps are integrated into the technology they completely understand the systems they are working on. One of the biggest obstacles to overcome with the new tech, is the manufacturers obstinance to share information with the independent shops.

Hit all the nerves you want, as a matter of fact stomp on them. The ignorance and stupidity found among shop owners is second to none. Early on, I remember seeing UPS raise their rate 3 to 5% every year, I could not figure it out until some old-timer explained to me how the money is created and how inflation works. Since then I always made it a point to raise my rates the same way. Warranty companies tell me I am crazy for charging $175 an hour that they will only pay their max rate, I say "right, but your customer will pay the difference," and they do. Excellent people do not come cheap, and you can't compete with scavanger rates.

So true, xrac.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving/u-s-house-unanimously-approves-sweeping-self-driving-car-measure-idUSKCN1BH2B2?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House on Wednesday unanimously approved a sweeping proposal to speed the deployment of self-driving cars without human controls by putting federal regulators in the driver’s seat and barring states from blocking autonomous vehicles. The House measure, the first significant federal legislation aimed at speeding self-driving cars to market, would allow automakers to obtain exemptions to deploy up to 25,000 vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards in the first year. The cap would rise over three years to 100,000 vehicles annually. Representative Doris Matsui said the bill “puts us on a path towards innovation which, up until recently, seemed unimaginable.” ...

Rent plays a big part in new customer acquisitions, if you are situated in a high traffic area the cost of your rent is a big part of the cost of acquiring that new customer.

From my experience this is so true!

We are on the last month of Summer, the Air Conditioner work we expected never materialized. We picked up a phenomenal amount of work from the bankruptcy of a major Brooklyn dealership group. With all the extra work we were tempted to pull back on marketing but didn't.

We are praying for our brothers and sisters down in TX. We have sent supplies to Austin, and hoping we can help in whatever way we can.

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/news/724720/new-jersey-governor-signs-unsafe-used-tire-law A new law in New Jersey forbids the sale of unsafe used tires. The legislation, signed by Gov. Chris Christie on Aug. 7, 2017, was supported by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), Tire Industry Association and the New Jersey Gas Station-C-Store Automotive Association. The law fines businesses that sell tires that exhibit any of these unsafe conditions: — tread depth of less than 1/16 inch measurable in any groove; — damage exposing the reinforcing plies of the tire, including any cuts, cracks, bulges, punctures, scrapes or wear; — improper repairs, including, but not limited to: any repair to the sidewall or bead area of the tire; any repair made in the tread shoulder or belt edge area of the tire; any puncture that has not been sealed or patched on the inside and repaired with a cured rubber stem through the outside of the tire; any puncture repair of damage larger than 1/4 inch; — evidence of prior use of a temporary tire sealant without evidence of a subsequent proper repair; defaced or missing tire identification number; — inner liner or bead damage; or — signs of internal separation, such as bulges or local areas of irregular tread wear. Violators will be subject to a fine up to $500 for a first offense. A second offense will be considered a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act and subject to a penalty up to $10,000. Additional violations will be subject to a penalty of up to $20,000. Anne Forristall Luke, CEO and president of the USTMA, said, “New Jersey has taken a bold step to protect motorists from high-risk used tires that have no business being put back into service on New Jersey roads." The USTMA says its research shows more than 30 million used tires are available for sale nationally. The legislation does not ban all used tire sales. It targets used tires that have specific, well-established, unsafe conditions The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says worn-out tires are three times more likely to be involved in a crash than tires with sufficient tread depth. NHTSA crash statistics indicate about 200 fatalities and 6,000 injuries are attributed to tire-related causes annually. The law was sponsored by Democrats Shavonda Sumter and Raj Mukherji. Sumter said, "What initially seems like a good deal ultimately can be deadly in the market for tires. Retailers who sell damaged tires to consumers endanger not only their customers but also everyone else on the road. Banning the sale of damaged tires simply is a common-sense matter of public safety." Mukherji said, "Drivers in New Jersey should be able to buy tires and rest assured that the items they've purchased are safe. The lower cost of used tires does not warrant putting lives across the state at risk. Damaged goods that put consumers in danger simply should not be on the market, especially when it comes to tires."

check Cam Retard Offset.

http://theunboundedspirit.com/heaven-and-hell-the-parable-of-the-long-spoons/ Heaven and Hell: The Parable of the Long Spoons BY SOFO ARCHON What is heaven? What is hell? The parable of the Long Spoons explains very well what heaven and hell truly are. One day a man said to God, “God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.” God showed the man two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with a large pot of stew. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, “You have seen Hell.” Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same. There was the large round table with the large pot of wonderful stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The man said, “I don’t understand.” God smiled. It is simple, he said, Love only requires one skill. These people learned early on to share and feed one another. While the greedy only think of themselves… [Author unknown] Sometimes, thinking solely of our personal gratification, we tend to forget our interdependence with everyone and everything around us, so much so that we stop caring about them. But, as the parable makes it clear, by doing so, not only don’t we help others overcome their suffering, but we’re also unconsciously harming ourselves, since we are all connected on a very deep level.