UsedTireShop

The sell they "CarCaddy". Cost is $3,999 according the their web site.

My cameras is one of the best things I have done for my business.

Now that I think back, I started having my customers sign the invoice because of a very dishonest SA. She would print a copy of the RO as a receipt and hand it to the customer. As soon as the customer left she would lower the price and then invoice it. She would pocket the difference. I always thought she was accurate because she was counting the drawer several times a day. LESSON FOR ALL TO LEARN: When someone is counting the drawer during the day they are not counting your money. They are count their money. Years later we were moving the service counter and found money in all different denominations inside the counter. These bills missed her purse which she use to place in a little slot near the pc and fell into the counter.

If you email the invoice to the customer then you do not have their signature on the invoice. Has this ever bitten you?

I was performing the fun filled task of filing last months invoices. What my shop does is print an additional copy of the paid invoice and staple it to the repair order along with the vehicle check list. I was thinking of how much work it was to keep all of these papers. I thought of how many times I actually had to go to this file cabinet and look for an old invoice. Why the hell am I going through all this work? Why do I need all these drawers of signed invoices? What is your shops procedure? How long do you keep invoices? I did some math and on average each car uses at least 6 pieces of paper. (RO, checklist, 3 invoices, Marketing letter, occasional reprint of RO) We blow through over 1,000 pieces of paper a week. An astounding 10 cases a year. What ever happened to "Get a computer, it will make your life easier?"

Wow Elon... powerful story. Correct me if I am wrong. I am still finding my way. I want my employees to be in the habit of inspecting cars so we do a simple inspection on every car. It only takes a few minutes and it may save a life. While the tech is inspecting the car and performing the work requested I go into columbo mode. I ask things like "how long have you had the car?" Do you have a regular technician? I also ask at the time of the RO write up: Mr. Jones are there any other concerns with the vehicle? Wipers, oil change or alignment? I have not done so but I intend to post a sign about or free courtesy inspection. I do not like to ask customers if they want the inspection done. I never like to ask questions that people can say NO to. SIGN: In an effort to keep our customers safe and informed about their vehicles we perform a free courtesy inspection. The bottom line is that I do not prejudge my customers and my fact finding tells me how hard to work up selling.

Kind of hard to wash cars in 10 degree weather with 40 inches of snow everywhere.

Conventional oil costs me $2.39-$2.59 per quart oil filters $1.49-$2.06

Elon is 100% correct about the calender. I took his online course and the first video I watched is "Calendar". After 2-3 weeks of using the calendar I got it going good. I actually made a spread sheet like you see in Elon's image. I am failing at informing the customer what to expect. I vow that I will inform customers of what to expect at the time I make the appointment starting tomorrow.

I am in the process of learning the loaner car procedure. How does your shop do loaner cars? Are the cars registered to the company? How does insurance play into this?

Since I have switched from used tires to more NEW tires and service I have struggled getting people to leave me their cars. Why does everyone think that getting their vehicle repaired is like buying a gallon of milk? Do they really think they will be in and out quickly? I am in no rush to repair vehicles. My belief is that when it's right, it's ready. I have worked for many shops and it is always the rush jobs that never get the attention needed. I remember some schmuck service adviser yacking my ear off to hurry the oil change up. When this happened I would be forced to drain, fill and ship. I was at a Dodge dealership today dropping off a customers car for a clock spring recall and I heard this women go out into the shop and yell "waiter here". I felt kind of bad for the customer getting a drain, fill and ship or a set the toe and let it go. You could hear by her voice that waiters are hurry, hurry, hurry. Don't people want a good job done and if so don't they know better to drop it off? Quick lubes? Who the hell would want a quick lube. This is not pizza delivery. I would want a long lube. Change my oil and filter, grease the complete chassis, vacuum my floors, lube my doors, clean my windshield, check my air pressures and so on. Maybe I will be the first shop to offer the "Long Lube". I can't stand the pressure of the customer getting up out of the chair and looking out the window into the shop and then looking at his or her watch. I am real close to taking the chairs out of the waiting room and placing stickers of foot prints on the floor against the wall. LOL Please tell me your word track.

This has been a very insightful forum. Thank you for all the input. From what I gather the start up or struggling shops use cheap oil changes to get cars in the door. Then try to up sell and gain a customer. More established shops do not have to do this. I am going to write up a plan that is right in the middle of both the scenarios.

How would you go about keeping the customer? Is this something the service adviser should do or is this something the owner should do?

I have worked for more companies then I care to admit and not one ever paid for 1/2 the job. From the stand point of paper work it makes no sense. I pay percentage of sales and the percentage depends on the dollars sold. That being said, it is better for the tech to get paid when the job is complete. It will give him a good head start towards the current weeks sales so he can climb from 15% to 18% of his sales.

This goes out to every shop owner out there. Get security cameras. They are so cheap these days. After many instances of theft and 1 assault I made the policy of contacting police anytime a law is broken. In this photo I was attacked by my drug addict tech. He was fired on 08/27/2012 10:29:38

I feel like a politician the way I Flip Flop on the subject of oil changes. Sometimes I feel that I shouldn't give this service away. Then I go to bed and wake up and think that performing an oil change for slightly over cost is a good way to get cars into the shop. After all, every car needs an oil change several times a year. Then after lunch I feel that if I advertise a cheap oil service then I will only attract cheap people who only want the cheap oil change. After my afternoon cup of coffee I decide that I can not offer a cheap oil service. But wait, What about the check list. If I have a lube tech dedicated to oil changes and he was good with my checklist then I could up sell all the other services the car needs. It's the old throw enough crap against the wall and some will stick routine. YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO.... I can't take all the flip flopping!! The only resolution I can seem to come up with that I haven't tried yes is: A value added Oil Service. Has anyone done or is doing this successfully? If so what works best? Free wipers with an oil service?

As automotive industry professionals we must stick together and simply say "NO". You can not bring meat to McDonald's or beer to T.G.I.F.'s. Allowing just 1 customer to bring his own parts in will only lead to more people bringing in their owns parts from word of mouth. Do you think your customer would go to work on Monday for 1/2 his pay? I simply state to the customer that our policy is to warranty the complete job. We only use the best parts with professional craftsmanship for the best possible repair. The word "Policy" is key here, the customer recognizes this word. To be honest I think we seem desperate and hack if we allow people to bring their own parts.

I am good after I get the car in the shop. I was taught a very good lesson from Dave Dickson that works like a dream. When the customers leaves the car I simple explain the we offer same day service in most cases and that their car will be ready at 5:30 unless we have a parts problem. I then go on and say: If we have a parts problem I will call you. so if you do not hear from us that is good news and simply pick up your car at 5:30. No need to call. Explaining it to the customer in simple terms really works well and avoids most lunch time calls.

mmotley, I am so happy for you and your shop with the increasing workload. Keep up the good work. What exactly does the girl do? Does she sell anything or just re-directs the call? I swear to God that there is a hidden camera somewhere in my waiting room that watches me. As soon as I have a customer in front of me 2 of these stalkers will call me. As soon as they dial my number they email their telemarketing friend to call me and try to sell me credit card processing. As soon as the 3rd line rings HP activates the virus they planted in my printer and it begins to jam the paper tray. I am starting to agree with this legalized marijuana law. There has to be a written rule on how to professionally handle this. Anyone know what it is?

You know the whole time I was reading Gene's (or whoever) post I felt bad for him. To have such a talent but yet be so disgruntled. What a tortured soul. I hope some force reaches out and touches you Gene. Life is way too short to be so angry and bitter. I too doubt you have a shop. No one with your attitude can possibly run a productive shop. I am un-following this thread. Too negative for me.

Does anyone know where McDonalds gets their beef? I want to see what it cost's so I can argue the price of my Big Mac. The point is that no one does this to most other businesses. Why do they do it with their auto repair shop? How has it come to be where customers think this is okay? I had a hot water heater installed this fall at my house. It was $632.56. I didn't tell my plumber that Home Depot had the heater for $239. I am on a quest. A quest to find 1,200 customers who will cheerfully pay me any price I ask.

I am trying to get a grip on the positions I need to fill at my shop. I am thinking of getting a person to answer the phone. Not to sell anything but just to answer the phone and greet the customer, give directions and take their name and number so the SA's can call them back. I would hate to hire a person only to let them go because its not a position I really need to fill. How many phone calls can 1 Service Adviser handle? How many calls does your shop get per week? How do you handle it when a customer wants to check in and another wants to check out and the phone will not stop ringing.? Do you take a message, Let voicemail do its job or just pull your hair out?

By "Slave" did you mean that I expect too much when I need a tech to produce 40 hours work for 40 hours pay? Do I expect too much when I need them to come to work on time? Maybe they are a slave because I don't allow them to steal my stuff. Maybe you are the guy that gets mad when I say: "If you have time to lean, then you have time to clean". My last tech produced 33%. Not hours but %. Out of every 10 hours on the clock he produced 3.3 billable hours. This has all changed for me on January 1st. I now pay my techs between 15 and 18%. It is their fair share, It has released me from the baby sitting part of my duties.

I believe that is from AutoNetTV. They are fabulous. I use the Lobby Tv now and I am getting the Menu Board soon. My sales person is Che (pronounced Shay). She is the one you want to talk to. You will love dealing with her. Her number is: Direct: 801.692.1501 | Cell: 801.903.3020 Every shop should look into the Lobby TV. AutoNetTV Media Inc. 345 South 500 East American Fork, UT 84003 (801) 492-9900…

Tires sales are great when bad weather strikes. You will have to run your shop for a while to get some sales history behind you. If find sales patterns are very different through out the country. When you start to gain these sales stats then you can begin to develop a marketing plan. I am developing this plan now and I am always trying to beat this month by this month last year. My goal is a 10%+ gain. Being a part of this forum I have learned several marketing ideas that can immediately get work.