KMS

I have recently heard of this also. I don't think it is going to hurt us. These mechanics have been around for ages. Heck, we all have probably been there at some point early in our careers.

We won't turn away any vehicle, but I will always have a conversation with the customer, if the average cost of repairs, is starting to surpass the cost of a newer vehicle.

it should be promoted that way then. People would follow what you submit more so than the person that owns the site because you are a shop owner on a site with other shop owners and managers. If you know the guy im sure your friends and you should state that instead of coming in with a "hey i found this site, and i am using it" as it misleads people that read it, almost like you didnt want them to know that you knew the owner of the site.

 

cheers.

It wasn't meant to mislead. i just didn't want anyone to think I had any interest in the site. I was trying to separate myself from it. Sorry, it was perceived that way. Thanks for your comment. Do you have any thoughts on it?

kms, werent you promoting that website in another post and the moderators told you to stop. Do you have a vested interest in that website? If memory serves me right, your shop is located in the same town, a few streets away, from the websites owner, coincidence?

I don't have any vested interest in it, but yes, I do know who owns it. We have had many discussions about advertising costs and review websites, and he decided to build that website to help all of us save some money. I think the only way it is going to work as designed is it needs more members. We have received some good reviews and got a couple new customers from it. It is worth a try, especially because it is free to join now.

 

 

I agree. I don't know how they manage to squeeze this out of those extended warranty companies

From personal experience, I have dealt with extended warranties through the dealer and independent. It works the same way. If the dealer sold the customer the warranty, they do cover it completely most of the time. If it was a warranty they purchased elsewhere, the customer would pay the difference in price.

Banning together has been the best solution for many of the independents woes. The problem is independents are by nature just that... independent! Building a coalition of competitors would be a monumental task. But considering the benefits that could be achieved with our massive combined buying power, creativity and hard work ethic does make you think.

Coalition, I like that! The way this would need to work is for all the independent shops to not worry about losing any customers to other indy shops. If we are treating our customers right, we won't lose any to eachother. I think some of the problems would be we all use social media and advertising differently. Coalition

We need to all ban together somehow, in the same place, and advertise this place! One spot where all customer's can go to find us.

There are 2 new car dealers near me that dropped their labor rates from 110.00 down to 89.95. we already work hard for our customers. Now we get a price matching war. I really stress customer service with my employees

Customers, in general, do not shop on price. They are mainly interested in customer service and continence.

If our guys diagnose a car they will get paid for it. The customer will always pay the diagnostic charge. I would never discount the charge. We would just add it to the total cost of the repair. We all need to stick to our guns and charge what we need to charge, period!

Got your attention? Good!

 

This past Sunday I took a booth at the local Business EXPO in my town. I like doing these things for the obvious reason - It helps to promote my company's brand in my community. But the other reason I do it is to speak with the average consumer to gain information. One of questions I ask is this: "What model car do you drive and where do you go for service?"

 

It is amazing to me how many people go back to the dealer for service work. And here are some of the reasons:

 

• It's a lease car, I didn't know you could take my car to you for service
• It's a new car, don't you HAVE to go back to the dealer?
• I don't know where to take my car, so I stayed with the dealer
• I have free maintenance (we all what "free" means)
• I don't want problems if I need warranty work
• My salesman told me when I bought the car that I had to used dealer parts and service
• Aren't the dealer mechanics better trained?

 

By the way, when I asked about the level of service and convenience, all of them rolled their eyes and said something like this, "Well, it's the dealer, you know what you get." MAN! I can't help thinking that if they came to YOUR shop you would win them over just on your level of customer service!

 

So, as you can see, we are in a fight with the dealers. The great news is that we are still the number one choice of the motoring public. Let's fight to stay that way.

 

We, as independent aftermarket shops, do not aggressively market ourselves against the dealer. Maybe we should start?

 

Your thoughts?

I have heard all those comments before. I talk to our customers about this all the time. We need to find a way to advertise like they do. We have already tried a commercial. It worked a little, but without a lot of advertising capital it didn't reach that many people. I think online would be the best choice to reach the public, but we need to be able to find a way to do it together? Any thoughts?

The only thing I don't like about like about a site like this is that they advertise everybody, even chain stores and dealerships. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay a month to be on Repair Pal?

The only thing I don't like about like about a site like this is that they advertise everybody, even chain stores and dealerships. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay a month to be on Repair Pal?

The only thing I don't like about like about a site like this is that they advertise everybody, even chain stores and dealerships. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay a month to be on Repair Pal?

The only thing I don't like about like about a site like this is that they advertise everybody, even chain stores and dealerships. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay a month to be on Repair Pal?

www.bimmershops.com and all of i85media.com/directories seo the unreal the best online money can buy positive ROI.

We are already pay to be on those websites, and only get a few customers a year from them, so we still pay thousands of dollars a year in different advertising.

 

 

How do you deal with the limited amount of money they pay out as well as the non covered items? It is a huge waste of time and customers don't ever have a good feeling about coming out of pocket for repairs but if a warranty company will not cover the full labor rate, full cost of parts, and cover all the items on a repair order then it lands on the owner. I have a $4300 job on an 2009 4.8 X5 for oil leaks from gaskets, a leaky water pump, some other stuff and the warranty ended up covering the water pump for a grand total of $301 after the deductible. Tell me how this customer benefited from forking over thousands of dollars to this company for "coverage" and "peace of mind"

When a customer asks about an extended warranty I always tell them to only purchase one if they can get seals / gaskets, and high-tech coverage. If they already have a warranty and don't have these coverages it was definitely a waste of their money. These days if these things are covered the customer almost always covers what they paid out for the warranty. Some warranty companies are better than others. We always quote out factory parts and up our labor with them, and sometimes we still have to charge the customer the difference. We explain this to the customer before we even work on their vehicle, and most of the time, they are completely understanding.

 

• "$19.95 / month, for up to two Makes of vehicles, Repair Shops Only."

so what 2 makes did you buy for 20 whole dollars.

 

BMW and MINI. It is a brand new site and only went live this month. We'll see what happens. My name is Brett. The review is from one of our customers, and she does know about cars. She is a race instructor at Mid-Ohio.

That is awesome! I am going to try this tonight. My wife is going to be so pissed. lol!

I couldn't believe it either! It was worth my $20.00

Never let a customer demand when their vehicle gets worked on. Pushy customers just need to be put into there place sometimes. I liked the idea to record. This would shut them up if there ever was a discrepancy in what was / wasn't promised. Sometimes people like that need to be taught how to treat other people. I have no problem in letting them know that.

Set up two appointments this morning GoDocAuto.com, new customers. These two appointments paid for my membership already. Also received my first review on their site last week

Really bad idea. You don't need any unnecessary conflict.

Here is what I found out. I was told it works with Google Plus, Yahoo, Bing, Organic SEO, link building, high-rank back links, Facebook, and Pintrest.

The way I look at it is if I get two customers out of it in 12 months, it is well worth it. My ROI would be great!

I miss those days. It has been winter for 6mths. Just starting to warm up some these past couple weeks.

I see that you are a BMW only shop. Did you start in your current location? Did you have a personal following before you opened? If you have a good reputation and following it can be done. However, if you are like me and know nothing about the business and open a store it is much harder. Before I was in this business I was an environmental consultant/engineer. I did work in Twinsburg, OH, near you for Coca Cola Enterprises at the bottling plant they had there.

Did it a couple years out of a home garage first, then moved where we are 11 years ago. We did have a small following. We started out upgrading differentials and doing conversions, then changed over to a complete repair shop. It was hard at the beginning, but every years gets better and better. Do you miss the great weather up here in Northeast Ohio?