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totalautocare

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Posts posted by totalautocare

    Stocking Tires?

    in Tires and Tire Services

    Posted

    Most clients of ours drop off there vehicles for services like tires. In that case, no big deal. We have only debated on carrying the top 3 selling for quickies on fleet but haven't yet done that because we don't think it's necessary yet.

     

    Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

    Customer cancels repair

    in Customer Experience & Reviews

    Posted

    They authorized. No ifs ands or buts after its started. To late.

     

    They will leave unhappy and won't return however, they wouldn't anyway.

     

    They may have more tricks up there sleeve after you put it back together.

     

    Get the money or get the lien process started. No sympathy for cold feet after you're invested.

     

    Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

    • Like 1

    Setting goals

    in Accounting, Profitability, & Payroll

    Posted

    I really have no clue what KPI's to chase. Absolutely clueless however, this is what I've done shooting from the hip and so far it's been working.

     

    MARGINS

    • Advisor get's paid on part margins, inspections and diagnostic sales.
      • The retail price is pre-established by a 52% margin from napa prolink's pricing to us (they're the highest priced aftermarket vendor in our area).
      • We then call the other local vendors to ask them for there best price on product X and shop around amongst local vendors to beat it and we get dramatic price drops from online (sometimes finding the products for an additional 20-30% cheaper) so if the advisor takes the extra time to source it, he can dramatically increase his pay without becoming out of this world overpriced.

    We've been doing this for the past 3 yrs and haven't burned any relationships as that's the first question I'm asked after I'm told that takes way to much time (do the #'s, 20-30% is huge).

    • Technicians get paid on hours (If the variance goes outside 10% of our estimating guide, we want to know why).

    I don't know what else to really do.

    CSI SCORE

    • Not really even a legitimate one, if the client is ecstatic with our service, we ask them to get online and write a review on FB and Google. 4.8 avg minimum or I get ornery.
    • Afraid of it becoming a leveraging system of clients over staff. Don't know how others have successfully approached that.

     

    ARO

    • Without a minimum requirement or a push, we've always approached it with this mentality: Would you rather see 30 cars to make $3,000 or would you rather see 3? Which one would be less frustrating?

    CAR COUNT

    • I've been afraid to chase this one as the immediate thought goes to "couponing" or something. Does anyone have any suggestions for this?

     

    That probably sums up my KPI's because that's all I know. Any suggestions? (Please refrain from insults and negative insinuations, I'm being transparent hoping that I'm asking questions others have but are afraid to ask for fear of looking silly.)

    What’s your Repair Shop's “Slow Day” process?

    in Joe’s Business Tips For Shop Owners

    Posted

    A common discussion this time of the year is how business slows down in the mid-winter months. Not that you can always predict it. I have experienced some winters that were banner sales months. But in general, business does slow down for a number of reasons, especially in the colder climates: Credit Card bills from holiday spending, home heating bills, tax season, lost days due to storms and more.

     

    So, the question is, how does a shop prepare?

     

    Here's a few things that I do. Perhaps you add your owner strategies, which would benefit all ASO members:

     

    * Prepare in advance and flood your customer base with service reminders, winter promotions and other recommended services during the slower months. Try to increase traffic to your shop during the months that are typically slower

     

    * Review the history on all vehicles the day before the appointment. Look for previous notes and recommended service and repairs. Be prepared to discuss at write-up.

     

    * Make sure all cars get a multi-point inspection - identify needed service and repairs

     

    * Review the service history for all vehicles. Check for services due, services due soon and services never done. Again, this can be done prior to the appointment date and discussed at the write-up

     

    * At write-up, don't forget to ask, Is there anything else we can do for you today? Wipers? Tire Rotation? An oil change?

     

    * If you use email promotions, create email blasts around winter events, for example:

    "Its Valentines Day! Show your car some love!" Include a few winter tips and links back to your website and to book appointments

    OR...

    "Winter Driving Advisory: Is your car prepared for the upcoming storm?"

    Include a few tips; wipers, tires, washer fluid top off, heater working right, antifreeze, battery. And of course, links back to your website and appointments.

     

    * Check your CRM for customers that did not show up for their recommended service or repair. CALL THESE CUSTOMERS. Here's a tip; start calling your best customers, those are the ones most likely to come in.

     

    * Go back and review all invoices for the past 4 weeks. Look over the work orders and check service history too. You will find work that was missed, not sold and services that are due. Call these customers too.

     

    As you can see, a proactive approach is better than hoping people will come in.

     

    What strategies to you have?

    *occaisional Downtime is the best time for a creative mind.

    So funny because this is something I was just thinking about. We were a bit light on appointments going into the end of this week and our next week looks a bit thin on appointments. "Slow Days" should most certainly be a procedure that is strategic and ready to be implemented. Morale can most certainly be affected when cars are not coming through the doors. Along with what Joe had mentioned on his list, it is also a great time to knock out the things that you haven't gotten around to doing. Cleaning, maintenance of equipment, painting, team meetings, filing paper work, putting together marketing plans, going over your budget and see where you can cut the fat, training, etc. The list goes on and on. I am going to personally put together a Slow Days list and also a Slow days procedure that is written on paper. I urge you guys to do the same!

     

    Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

    What percentage of total sales do you attribute to maintenance?

    in Repair & Maintenance Services

    Posted

    Depending on how you categorize your jobs and parts you should be able to extrapolate the information from your management software. I just revamped our categorization for the coming year to better illustrate our true maintenance sales (minus oil changes). Currently we are operating around 5-6% of our total gross which is extremely low. I am putting together goals and a big goal of ours is to increase maintenance. Right now I have a goal of 20% of our total gross for next year which comes to around $300k.

    The lack of response to this seems to reflect the priority shops are putting in this.

     

    We're looking for an a resource that will make it better than Mitchell. Tires plus and valvoline have pop ups on they're software. ..

     

    Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

    Dedicated alignment lift or 2 post with stands?

    in Automotive Shop Tools & Equipment

    Posted

     

     

    It is hard to shift through the marketing info because a company will not tell you "Our machine takes 15 minutes to set up" or "Our machine is really not conducive for productivity." I made a $47k mistake because of bullshit marketing from these companies. This is the truth of the matter from the horse's mouth... Any camera system is going to under perform vs a targeting system. The 2 companies that sell productive targeting systems are Hunter and John Bean. Both companies also sell camera system on their low end. The design flaw is inherent in ANY camera system. Reason being is because the mounts have to be attached to each wheel and the camera have to then be attached. They also all have to be leveled before you can move on with your alignment. All those extra steps eat away at time. Stick to the higher end systems. If you want a system that will be fast and productive I would highly recommend the Hunter Hawk Eye Elite. Even though it is one of the most expensive systems on the market it will do the job whilst you will be wasting your time fiddling around with a lesser system. I can't comment on John Bean as I have never used one however they are similar technology. John Bean's machine does look slightly more cumbersome to use due to Hunter having a much better design with their targets. The difference in how fast a car can be set up on the aligner and broken down is still on a matter of 2-5 minutes more on a John Bean from what I can tell.

     

    If you do some simple calculations let say it takes a Hunter system 5 minutes to attach and break down (It takes us 1-2 minutes I have timed it). A Camera system to set up and break down takes upwards of 15 minutes. Lets say 10 minutes for arguments sake. If you are trying to average 2 alignments a day, that is a 10 minute savings daily. On a week basis that would 50 minutes you are saving and so on and so forth.

     

    Even another thing to think about is what if you have to rack the car and set up the aligner if the alignment is off or the customer complains about the alignment? There goes another 15 minutes of lost time.

    Thanks for the info Adam.

     

    Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

    Dedicated alignment lift or 2 post with stands?

    in Automotive Shop Tools & Equipment

    Posted

     

     

     

     

    Think of alignment checks the same as vehicle inspections. You perform a vehicle inspection on EVERY car that comes through your door to up sell services. You can't upsell services if your customer's (and you) don't know that they are needed! Alignment quick checks perform the same function. This will be the advantage or detriment of the alignment system you are running as well as the type of lift you have. Alignment quick checks need to be exactly that, QUICK. If you have a cumbersome system you will not be able to effectively perform a check on every car. You will also shy away from actually performing them since it will be a chore rather than a method for you to make money.

     

    On my Bosch camera system it took me 15 minutes to set up and an additional 10 minutes to break down the heads. That also included racking up the car. That was entirely too much time to perform an alignment quick check. On my Hunter HawkEye Elite it takes me 2 minutes tops and we can perform quickchecks on the ground without having to have the car on the rack.

     

    It all depends on how you want to sell alignments but quickchecks are a powerful tool and I highly recommend you utilize them in some fashion.

    How can I research this? Sounds excellent.

     

    Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

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