carolinahigear

On 1/18/2018 at 11:57 AM, jeffa1958 said:

I tried repair pal for over a year. Brought in people we didn’t want as customers. Dropped them. No change in business except more money in checkbook. My old policy for over the phone estimates was to take down their information on a piece of paper and do nothing. If they called back and bitched they had not gotten their estimate I would apologize and make out the estimate and call them back. Now we do give the estimate but it is when we have the time. People go down the line in the “phone book” they have no idea the cost of estimates. 

When non-clients call us for a quote we act like we're taking down their number and then do nothing. We are too selective and too busy to waste time on somebody we'll never see.

4 hours ago, cdhowell said:

Labor turned? Do you mean flagged hours? Trying to understand.

 

My guys clock in and out like a factory worker would, and get paid for 40 to 45 hours per week normally.  By labor turned, I mean the $dollar volume of labor produced. If Joe produces $14,000 labor for the month he gets a 5% bonus. $700.

My 5 techs are paid hourly. Not flat rate. They also get a monthly bonus of 5% of their labor turned during the month. This 5% usually runs from $550 to $950 depending on work and tech. This amount usually pays their house payment for the 3 techs that have one. They also receive weekly (paid Monday) spiffs for flushes, shocks, struts, fuel services, filter, wipers, and batteries. Sometimes the weekly spiffs can be $250 to $300 per tech. They bust ass, write work, and are very productive. PLUS they're not EVEN thinking of going anywhere else for a job.

Hi-Gear

On 11/16/2017 at 3:44 PM, Gavilan said:

Hi-Gear how much did it cost you the total package? I just got a quote from Hunter the rack is $32,070 and the Alignment machine is $13,660.

Hi, Gavilan! That sounds like a great price. I bought the Hunter Hawkeye Elite w/ the RX-16 lift with all the options and it was right at $67,000. You cannot go wrong with Hunter!!

Hi-Gear

Hello!

I also looked at your place on Google Satellite. If you sign a lease you will be LOCKED IN for rent, power, maybe insurance and taxes (depending on your lease), so I am offering my thoughts and coaching tips.

1) We're all in this business to make money, so I recommend investing $800 to $1200 per month on marketing to increase car count and sales. You will not be LOCKED IN to this expense: it will be optional. I do recommend at least six months commitment to make it work.

2) Also, at my shop, we make our most money on cars that are dropped off and no one waiting. WE do ALL WE CAN to keep people from waiting. We use Uber, our driver, and whatever it takes to take them home, to work, shopping, to the Library, Etc. so we can do a quality inspection and sales job.

3) On your marketing, just tell them your shop is right behind the cleaners. Are all the parking spaces along the back lot line yours? It looks like you have plenty of parking right at your shop. If the prospect were to come to the front door on the street it looks like they would have a hard time figuring out where to park.

4) Many of us have shop layout and land situations that are not ideal, so I know how you feel about wanting a street location, but I have a feeling if you spend $1500 a month on that space you will tire of it very quickly.

Best Regards,

Hi-Gear

$99.50 Upstate South Carolina. Also up the time accordingly. Holding high gross profit.

I don't like to just mark up my products....I usually double, triple, or quadruple my cost. Plus I buy deals and I pass the savings on to ME!!! I smother my clients with excellent, super, and unexpected service, and I make sure I am MORE than compensated for said service. If I were in business for my health, I would own and operate a GYM!!!

Hi-Gear

We're busting ass and not even taking names!! I'm not in this for my health, although I work my little brain so much it may keep me from getting Alsheimer's!!!!

For our regular clients, we either do it or have it done. If we sub it out we make money on it. This means we are the only shop they need to think about using.

We use the Interstate Batteries Tester and it is the best ever. Like JimO said, it is great and prints starter, charging, and battery results we can show our clients. It also shows ripple effect so we can identify bad alternators. It costs us $45 per month and we sell a Butt-Load of batteries!!

Last May was a decent month. This May knocked the socks off last year. My gross profit was up by 47%. We've had 3 very strong months in a row!!

Hi-Gear

My guys are all paid hourly plus spiffs plus monthly percentage of labor turned. These guys get paid on Friday and again on Monday when they receive their spiff money. They work very, very hard and are super productive, and are doing high-quality work and are not trying to beat the clock. When broken bolts and/or other situations arise, they take care of them knowing that they are getting paid. One reason this works for me is because I have built a very dedicated, capable, and talented team who absolutely love their jobs, our environment, and our work ethic.

Hi-Gear

My guys and gals log in and out online, and it takes me about 10 to 12 minutes to run payroll weekly. Each associate's pay is in their bank account when they wake up Friday morning. If a shop has one or more employees, using an outside vendor is the only way to go!

Hi-Gear

9 hours ago, OTPAuto said:

This is one I'm curious to see more feedback on as well.  As a general rule, before opening my business I had VERY good luck with Advance batteries in my personal vehicles. Since opening my business, I've seen nothing but trouble with the Duralast batteries from Autozone, and thus far no issues with the Oreilly's batteries. 

The O'Reilly battery rep told me that East Penn makes their batteries. I stock Interstate batteries and often buy fast movers from Pep Boys (Champion and/or Bosch) for $69.95.

On 4/28/2017 at 7:38 PM, Jay Huh said:

did you have to buy 6 in order to get that price?

Jay, The store special was for 3 or more.

I bought 6 jugs today at $99 each from AutoZone. We charge $19.95 per pound. If the car holds 1.7 pounds we charge for 1.7 no matter how much came out. We love A/C work!!

We are open M-F from 7:15 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Techs work from 8 to 6. Sat. 8 to 12. We bust ass hard all day long and 4 hours really hard on Saturday, and we get done all we need to do during these hours.

Back in the day I ran a diesel engine machine shop and we worked 2 shifts in order to keep the work flow going and to run some of the machines 16 hours per day. It worked well for the type operation it was.

Nowadays our clients appreciate our weekday hours and Saturday mornings being open,  so that is what we are sticking with.

Hi-Gear

Hi, Leonard!! Welcome to this community of gearheads, motorheads, wrench turners, computer geniuses, and business owners. I fit 4 of those descriptions, and none of my descriptions include the word "genius."

Please join in the discussions and help us to learn from your knowledge, experiences, and every day happenings in your shop.

Hi-Gear

Like XRAC said, I believe that less than 5% of my clients ever ask what brand oil we use, and I just say "Valvoline --World's First World's Finest". For synthetic oils, I use what I get the best deal on and enjoy making a good mark-up on synthetic oil change services.  I like to double my money or more on synthetic oil. If a client prefers Mobil 1, Castrol, etc. we gladly oblige them.

Of course the most money to be made on an oil change is once the inspection is finished and sold, you add two zeros to a $40 oil change and it becomes a $4000 job!!!

Happy Easter!!

Hi-Gear

If you charge top dollar for your work and parts then you can pay top dollar to your personnel!

Hi-Gear

We don't charge for individual supply items or sundries such as butt connectors, brake clean,  dielectric compound, gasket sealer, etc. When doing a wiring repair job we will sell everything as one lot. For instance "wiring and supplies" $49.88 and add labor. We DO charge shop supplies as a percentage of the job, and these shop supplies bring in to my one shop around $4,500 to $6,000 a month. We never mention shop supplies and our clients don't either.

22 hours ago, xrac said:

 The one we are considering is a RX16. 

XRAC, we bought the RX16 and can put most any vehicles we service on it. It makes an extended cab F150 look short. If the price is right, it will be an awesome addition to your shop!

Hi-Gear

On 3/21/2017 at 11:23 PM, xrac said:

Is anyone using the scissor type alignment lift? IF so what brand and how well do you like it.  Does anyone have the Hunter Sissor lift?  

Hi, XRAC! In February we took delivery of a new Hunter alignment machine and 16,000 lb. capacity scissor lift. We had an older scissor lift that we moved to a different bay. We love our new machine and lift as we can turn out alignments quickly and also do longer trucks than previously. Alignments are now being performed in and out in 15 to 20 minutes. I am very pleased with our new machine's performance and capacity!

Hi-Gear

We took delivery of a new Hunter system in February and it is an astounding machine. It has a 16,000 lb. scissor lift and all the bells and whistles. We can now check the alignment and get a print-out in 3 to 5 minutes. Many of our 4-wheel alignments are performed in only 15 to 20 minutes. Thursday afternoon a 2015 Corolla came in for a tire rotation only, but the front tires were slick and the rear were down to the wear bars. This was at 4:20 PM. I showed the new client his bad tires and gave him a price on tires and alignment. He said to go ahead, and my son installed new tires in 25 minutes and then took the car to the alignment tech. The complete job was completed and test driven in 45 minutes.

We definitely enjoy our new Hunter set-up.

I have bought my last 3 lifts from Advance Auto Parts at a great price and received 12 months no interest financing. The payments show up on my regular statement and I pay one or more payments per month. It's great for cash flow. Just talk with your commercial manager and he may or may not involve the area sales manager to get it set up for you.

These lifts are the asymmetrical 10,000 lb. lifts manufactured by Champion and they're great!!

Hi-Gear