bantar

I attended my first ever industry management conference. What a great experience. If you've never gone, I would encourage you to add it to your do-now bucket list. There was a lot of open and detailed sharing. For example, in a work session talking about bay efficiency analysis, they used real numbers from the audience. Monthly Overhead, Gross Profit Percentage, desired bottom line profit. It showed multiple paths to success that were immediately relatable. None of the presentations were about perfection. As a matter of fact, most presenters shared information about how they did things stating that this may or may not apply to your situation. No one told you what to do, but rather offer tools for analyzing your own situation. None of the presenters were making sales pitches. In other sessions, real shop owners share tips and techniques on a number of topics that we see here. Being a live event, these were more dynamic conversations. I've returned from the conference with a renewed sense of urgency analyzing my numbers to see where we had success and where we need to improve. I do expect to make real changes, but don't yet know exactly what changes I'm going to make. Got to crunch some numbers first. I signed up for the conference when it was first published, but sat on the CC screen for a while debating the value of this conference. Should I go, or should I stay? I reluctantly pushed the GO button. However, looking back, I should have enthusiastically smashed that GO button! The next one is in Denver. I recommend that you consider attending. A side benefit is that I got to meet Joe Marconi and in a session that we jointly attended, I overheard Joe say that he was mentored by Jerry Holcom. Later in the conference, I had the pleasure of talking with Jerry as well. In the many networking sessions, we met many different shop owners and had great conversations. --brian

I think we're saying the same thing. Rather than competition, you can say fellow-shop-owners. I too do my own thing and just focus on success, but sometimes, local perspective / comradarery is useful. We have our internet frens, here, and our local frens (friends). With my very close local frens, I try to discuss less business strategy than I do with my further away frens, to respect the competitive nature / boundaries. There are times when I refer someone to a shop that I know for specific reasons. However, I won't refer to one that I don't have a relationship with. What is interesting in the local vs internet world is that sometimes, you may have a better / closer relationship with your internet frens than you do with some local frens. The internet allows you to connect with folks that are more closely aligned with yourself that may not exist or be known locally.

I keep in touch with a number of folks that operate a business similar to mine (same name). We share information somewhat freely. I've walked into a few shops to say hi, but I'd have to say that Cold Calling is not a great way to make friends. You're viewed as a salesman. Hard to break the ice.

We are in a northern suburb of Dallas, smack in-between 2 golf courses. My receptionist uses Uber to come to work daily. Her arrival time is variable. I'm often texted copies of her map showing very few 0-4 Uber drivers in the morning in the larger general area. On occasion, I do see people ordering Ubers and not have terribly long waits. It all depends on availability at this moment. I'll generally shuttle people home myself. It solves most of our needs. We have one loaner car and will offer/provide it if it will close a deal. We don't offer it to everyone, but it helps. I find it more useful to get us out of a pickle if we have unforseen delays and no transportation is planned. I'm looking for the opportunity to another at some point and we have a hand-me-down van about to join the shop. Wife needs/demands/desires a new car and doesn't like me fixing this one.

Joe, it looks like we may be able to meet each other. I'll be at the R&W Management Conference in Dallas next week. I look forward to meeting you and hearing you speak! --brian https://www.rwconference.com/rwmc2022/agenda

Well, if your poor are anything like my poor, it's a priority issue. The iPhone 14 just came out and I can't be seen in the soup line with an iPhone 13. What would people think? They have disposable income, it's a matter of how it is disposed of. I find most low income people spend WAY more than I do. I'd never pay the outrageous costs for Door Dash, but some of my lowest paid employees will do this often. They could drive the 1 mile themselves and save an hour's wages in the process. They could use my refrigerator make or bring their lunches. Snide marks aside, I do have a number of low income people who value their car as an important means for their survival. They want good service and will prioritize it. Granted, this is a small percentage. How are we dealing with inflation? Markup and rate increases. We have to survive. All costs are inevitably passed onto the consumer. Redirect their ire at their inflation loving politicians. We offer financing plans thru 3rd party vendors for some people if it helps them (3/6 months same as cash).

Agreed. Multiple times now, I've had a customer say that they called out a mobile mechanic and he tells them what is wrong and then says that you need to take it to a real shop for work. The implication is that this is not a candidate for mobile repair. Then, we get to start all over. Seems like a wasted and expensive first step.

In Texas, annually, we inspect tire tread, min 2/32" on center treads, outers can be bald, but no secondary rubber or belts or sidewall damage, with all lugnuts present. Then all lights working and not falling off, horn working, wipers clear the windshield with no tears or major streaking, 1 rearview or side mirror, no torn seatbelts, no worn serpentine belt, no exhaust leak (hearing test only), no power steering leak, We do drive the car to test steering lash and braking stopping distances and verify that the parking brake works and verify brake fluid is near full. We are not allowed to disassemble the car, so if a hubcab hides the lugnuts, these remain uninspected. And we do a smog test that is read from the ODB2 monitors (can have 1 failed monitor, but not 2) . The engine can be making crazy noises, the wheel bearings can be screaming, the control arms or body can be rusted to an unsafe point, but these are not inspection items. A test failure blocks your ability to register your car. We charge $7 for a safety inspection and $18.50 for the smog test, for a total of $25.50. This fee is set by the state. Takes us about 15 minutes to do these. Thank goodness that we don't need to disassemble anything at these prices. FUN FACT: We just inspected a Superformance GT40 MKII this morning! (A brand-new 1967 continuation. See here.) Most of the inspection consisted of a runway parade with lots of pictures being taken and then a few boring minutes of inspecting. When people are happy that they pass the State Inspection, I tell them not to be super-impressed. It's the minimum necessary to be on the road. We do a more thorough inspection when we are doing their oil change than we do with the State Inspection. We can tell them about other noises, but we can only fail for what is on the checklist. I'll say this. A majority of the people would want to fix the problems that we find, but are unaware of them. I didn't know my tires were bald. I didn't know that noise was bad. It helps them stay safe. Some others will find a shady shop to pass very unsafe vehicles for "an extra, let's say, convenience fee". Next state north, Oklahoma does not have an annual inspection requirement.

IMO, "mechanic" is only frowned upon within the auto shop. Your average consumer does not know the difference between a technician and a mechanic. A mechanic works on cars. I have a car that needs work. I need a mechanic. I'm not denigrating anyone by using a common term, mostly because I don't know the other term. I probably don't even understand that cars are hard to work on. I can't work on my car, but I bring it to a shop and they have that computer which tells you what is broken, so how hard can it be? Doesn't really matter. Customer comes in. If they don't value your service, they go out too. Otherwise, you help them fix their car. Heck, I overhear many people telling their ride-home that they are at "jafj fdkjfakj", not even knowing my proper business name.... but they are here, so my marketing worked. It only matters later when they go to recommend my business to their friends and can't get the right words. I generally explain automotive repair in this manner: Cars are very complex. The most talented technicians want to be paid what they are worth. If you are seeking out the least expensive car repairs, you will find technicians that work for low pay. Good technicians don't work for low pay. You get what you pay for. Sometimes this resonates, sometimes it does not. Caveat Emptor. Don't try to change the general public's language. Match their language with your advertising. Focus on your reputation. Good reputation implies that you have good "mechanics" working for you!

Well, I have a friend that builds an application for Service Industry businesses... Anyone that schedules repairs, has cars/trucks on mobile jobs, etc. (Carpet Cleaners, Handyman, etc) His product is called ServiceMinder.io It tracks driver locations, plans the routes, handles invoicing, etc. It's probably overkill for a small mobile team. I'd have to guess that there are other such products on the market. Probably search for mobile worker tracking app. In the old days before GPS, you'd see the telephone linemen (and many others I'm sure) taking a nap on the side of the road, and no one knew that they were not "on the job". Now, with GPS, you are on a leash. I'm betting that it also reduced the revenue on the golf courses too. Some people like siestas and some like to play. The new GPS technology reminds me of a story that a friend told me about another new technology that started back in 1974..... Direct Deposit. Many people would get a check on Friday, cash it and then bring home, let's say 80%, pocketing the other 20% for fun money. The wife didn't know how much the husband really made. He said his team was livid about having to use Direct Deposit. It worked out well for those wives as their husbands FINALLY received that long over due "raise". 😁 Technology is both great and evil depending on context.

I don't care if they wait, but it does not change their total time. However, I agree with Frank, if something is going to go wrong, it's going to be on the waiters or those on a hard deadline. Both of these are Jinxes against successful plans! However, there are times when I'd rather they wait on a vehicle. Don't want to take someone home for a .5 job. In this case, we may reorder the schedule to make this happen. At the same time, if they have their own ride, drop offs are always preferred.

No OSHA inspection nor Fire Inspection in 5 years. I'm mindful of obvious OSHA issues and try to keep things right. I'm sure that there are some lesser known items that we may not be compliant with, but I hope not.

I'm not suffering from that TERRIBLE 100% 5 Star rating, so I can't tell you how bad it is on that side of the fence. About 95% of my 1 star reviews are from people who have never spent money here. I've earned (vs the many unearned ones) 2 of them, and one recently. Autistic kid offers to buy a lady's car because she could not afford the repairs in order to help the lady get a new car. He has no money himself. P.S. Her car broke down later that day. I don't bow to my haters. I address them head on and write my review responses to my new readers looking for a shop. One person recently told me he came because I didn't apologize to the undeserving. We solicit reviews with an after-service survey and a link to provide reviews as well as in-person request if we think that they were happy. Both methods work. BTW, It takes 26 5-Star reviews to cancel a 1 Star review. (26 * 5 + 1 = 131 131 / 26 = 5.03) As you get more and more reviews, it's harder to move the needle much. I have a 3 pager buried in Yelp Not Recommended section. It was from a customer that I fired because he wanted to argue pricing. Last time, I explained how it worked. Next visit, he paid my diag fee, which I explained during drop off, but to his wife. He was unhappy and tried to convince me that I was wrong. He was also fired. Same review is also sitting in the BBB files.

Must be nice. We just exited quite a heat wave. We were at 103-105 for about 2 weeks straight. We installed the fans during this heat wave. I've been telling people that it's made a big difference. We went from being in an Oven to being in a Convection Oven!!! 😁 Once it dropped back to under a 100, it was pretty nice. The way our shop is laid out, our work takes place away from the sun. I have heavy insulation on the roof, so the shop stays at the outside ambient temp. We really appreciate the wind tunnel effect until it gets cold, such as 70F.

No AC. The shop is a wind tunnel when there is wind blowing, but on those days when it is still, it was bad. Last month, I just installed a 12' Big Ass Fan along with two 24' Spot Big Ass Fans. The guys like these.

We have 3 main revenue streams: Quick Lube - Oil Changes, Batteries, Wipers, Brake Fluid, Coolant, Power Steering Fluid, Transmission Fluid, Differentials.... I call this one the farm (1a as it's tracked as QL) State Inspections - I used to hate these, but it's a high volume, low $ cash cow and brings in lube business too Repair Shop - Mechanical, Driveability and Electrical Repairs - No body, no glass, no tires, limited transmission repairs (no rebuilds), no more project cars (have 3 sitting here now that need to leave) Revenue between QL and Repair is about 55%-45% leaning either way. Some months repair leads and some months QL leads. While I lump state inspections into my QL profit center, by it's self, it's 10% of my monthly revenue. With labor and machine costs burdened in, it's runs about 91% GM. Profit wise, the repair side still owes me more. We're now doing enough steady work that it will start performing better. YTD, QL profit has outpaced Repair, but 2 of the 6 months, it was opposite. Still 45%-55% flip flops. I'm hoping for repair to steadily out-perform the QL. What makes this difficult to explain is that QL dominates in volume and it's not fully tapped yet. The QL allows us to establish a trust relationship with our customers and this helps to feed the repair side. The real magic is that we are indeed trustworthy and not a badly run QL. Some of our repair work is farmed routine maintenance, but the bulk is broke cars. We're still growing both businesses. Adding the lifts should help us with throughput. We already use the spaces outside of the bay doors as flat bays... being creative with space. But the Texas sun won't let you work outside without melting. --brian

Tires are labor intensive. Used tires require storage. This means moving them somewhere, which is more labor. Tire machines require floor space. I have 6 high volume, low margin tire stores within 3 miles of me. Tire delivery is slow... today or tomorrow, sometimes requiring shops to go pick them up for faster delivery. Tires are often a need-it-now. Failed state inspection and want to pass today. I have a few friends that have added tires, but it's not been a strong revenue stream. Using less labor, I can generate more profit in my QL than I would with tires. We do paid tire rotations, but even this is labor intensive and ties up a lift. We only do this to be a single stop for routine maintenance. Luckily, most folks are not regular tire rotating types, or they get it done for free at the high volume tire stores. I charge more for stand-alone tire rotations as a disincentive. I don't want to be a tire store, but also, it increases the profit of these slower services, so I grumble less. Overall, this is more of a pick your battles exercise than an actual distaste of tires. So, wrapping this up in an EV umbrella.... my revenue streams are not EV and I won't be selling tires to EV's. I might have to pivot at some time in the future, but for now, EV is not my bag of tea.

Well, I'm in the middle in installing 2 new (made in the USA: Fort Worth, TX) lifts (for a total of 6), and 3 Big Ass Fans (1 12' and 2 smaller spot fans). All should be turned on Monday after the electricians wrap up. Our building is not conducive to AC, as it is a wind tunnel with doors on both sides. Works well in the heat when there is wind, but when it's still, it's terrible. I think I've turned away enough 1234yf AC jobs already this year that I might hit my magic number of 10 declines later this year. Next up (spring of '23) is a 1234yf rig, with multiple leak detection upgrades (nitrogen tank, Inficon Stratus leak detector, digital Fieldpiece manifold set). I've told my MAC tool truck that if he can help me sell my Hunter SmartWeight Touch Tire Balancer, I'd buy his unit immediately. (My business is not compatible with Tires, so we gladly refer them to the tire stores and generally, they refer folks back to me. I think this is a GREAT tradeoff. ) I don't have the clearances in my shop to tackle ADAS, so we are turning away ADAS jobs while looking for a reasonable outsourcing solution.

We allow our customers to talk to our technicians, but ONLY IF a manager is present. Manager's job is to keep it brief. For instance, today, my lead tech and myself discussed why one of my better customers' Jeep was saying HOT OIL during a grueling 4WD mountain climb. Short and sweet and he got personalized service. A new or basic customer would not get such a privilege, unless a manager deems a specific topic to have value. Sometimes, we'll have folks walk into the shop after hours (they see an open door among the many closed ones) and we have to chase them away. Techs are generally nice, so, will take an interruption and offer to help, but I will nicely be the meanie / protector.

After 2 days of being here, my rehire, Carl, has generated two 5 Star Google Reviews!! These will help balance the 1 Star review that we received because we could not bust the oil drain plug loose on a Subaru that was last changed at the dealer. Subaru finally extracted it and said that we bent the oil pan. I have pictures of his oil pan. Not bent, not leaking. But, they wanted to sell him a new oil pan and get me to pay for it. They poisoned his mind and he's now mad at me. I declined and referred him to his Dealer and told him that they are over-selling. We've seen 3 Subarus over the past 3-4 weeks from this same dealer with over-tightened drain plugs.

We use the Pronto Warranty Program. 2yr/24000 miles. It was $420 annually last year and $600 this year. We have it for my "peace of mind" should someone be traveling and break down. I'd rather know that they had coverage than worry to death. I've been on the receiving end and they paid full boat. I've had a customer use the program and it only covered the failed part and labor, but of course, the customer didn't use the warranty. They paid, and I had to submit for reimbursement for them. Didn't cover the entire bill as there was a secondary problem uncovered, but related to the part failure. So, I'm a little less confident in them, but the warranty covers the installed parts as it should. This warranty covers me regardless of where I buy parts, subject to the exclusions of things like rebuilt motors and others. So, I'm not required to buy from any specific vendor. We handout a tri-fold warranty card with each invoice. We don't promote it with signage, but do promote a Nationwide Warranty during check in or out as needed. They also offer affiliate programs for other vendors, such as AVI on Demand, Enterprise Rental, etc.

LOL. I just rehired a GS Tech for the 3rd (or 4th) time today. Customers love him and I do too when his attitude is good. When he left last time, his attitude soured and it was time for him to go. Didn't fire him, but was nearing it. Emotional people have very high HIGHS and very LOW lows. My emotional roller-coaster tracks are flat and boring. His are exciting and terrifying! 😁 Regardless, my manager made his demands for return clear and brought him back. There are multiple others who've asked to return and we've declined. It's all about their chance for success today.

At the 6 mega apartment complexes near my shop, how will all 600 residents charge their EV? Does the apartment complex tear up the parking lot and install chargers at every spot? Do they put in 100 chargers and everybody place parking lot shuffle? Or just stay with the 2-4 token ones that they have now. I've said it before and will continue to say it. INFRASTRUCTURE is king. Cost to deploy complex infrastructure kills many interesting projects. EV will be here forever. It's not for everyone.

Self driving until a sensor goes out and then when they learn the cost to repair that self-driving feature.... "It's ok, I'll just drive it myself". LOL I know that if I had self-driving and I felt like it could do the job, I would instantly get distracted by something else and NOT pay attention to driving. Imagine a world where the mainstream gets a hold of a self-driving car that is 98% effective in collision avoidance. Collision rates will skyrocket. Now, if it was 100% effective, they would drop. I doubt that they will get to 100%. And even if they do, oops, I knocked that sensor out of alignment and didn't bother fixing it or even know it was misaligned or covered by dirt. However, either Tesla or someone is creating a huge database of open-source driving scenarios that someone can use for testing their self-driving features. This is incredible as they can run automated testing of their software to verify that this particular release of software does not hit anything. They are on a path to making it very good, under perfect conditions. See the oops above.

Is your $500 bonus monthly or weekly? It equates to either $2.77/hr or $12.50/hr. Guessing monthly. 50% Insurance guessing $700/employee, so $350 = $1.94/hr. 2 weeks vacation = $41*80 = $1.64/hr. Matching 401K @ 6% match = 41*.06=2.46*5= $1.23/hr. This all adds up to $7.58 (or $7-$8/hr) on top of their base pay. Staying with your top rate ($41 + $8) = $49 * 2000 = $98K. (used 2000 hours as the 80 hour vacation is in the $8 already). Someone told me a long time ago, that your employees will not understand / comprehend how much they are making, especially with intangibles. He liked to write their hourly pay on their paychecks, so that they would SEE their actual pay rate. My top earning GS Techs continually under guess their pay rate. I have one leaving now that is taking a pay cut, but thinks he's getting a raise. Now, if they offer him overtime, he will make more than here. He randomly gets overtime, but we keep it to a minimum as best we can. What I've noticed is that employees with little fiscal control, like to make their lack of money in their account my problem. "My account is empty because your are not paying me enough." Mind you, they are ordering food in via Uber Eats, buying expensive drinks from the Walgreens next door and have other expensive vices. Next, does this employee have insurance? Does he contribute to his 401K? Is the bonus regularly hit? These are valued at $0 if he does not partake. And they are valued at $0 if he doesn't understand. I'm sure that you explained all of this to him. It could be that the other shop has some perks too that cancel yours out. Is he making a SALARY at the other place? If so, his income is guaranteed. He does not get penalized for picking up kids, etc. Having certainty in one's income is high ranking in quality of life. If flag, time will tell. I have 1 tech making $1800/week, + $5/hr flag bonus ($45/hr + $5 = $50). I have another making $35/hr + $10/flag hour and an apprentice making $20/hr + $6/hr. Hourly guys are paid at 1.5X (of base+flag) if they work OT. And I don't have Insurance Matching, 401K or Vacation. Next on my list to add is Insurance matching. While I don't have a vacation benefit, I've randomly paid bonuses (of 1-5 days) in lieu of vacation/sick time or kept people on the payroll just to help them. Have a manager/service writer out with a heart attack, and kept him on payroll for about 5 weeks without being here. (He's still out, but now on leave. I hope for him to return in 2-3 weeks. Still a maybe). I like your question. It had me doing math and I see the costs of benefits that I'm not offering in black and white. It's going to help me too! P.S. Just before posting this, I added 50% matching on health insurance as a new benefit. I just polled everybody and have a 3-4 that want to sign up. Only 2 were willing to sign up with 0% matching, because they are young and their insurance rates are very low. I want my techs to have insurance so that they stay healthy! Thank you.