stowintegrity

At our shop, we have several "call lists" that are printed out every week. these lists are assigned to various people in the company to "work through", and report the results to me. One of the most important lists is our service followup list, where each and every customer is called and asked up to 3 questions on our mini survey. The first thing we tell the individual after identifying who we are (reminding them, actually...) is to let them know that we're simply calling to thank them for coming in to the shop and counting on us for the service on their car. It's firecely importnt for our staff to embrace the fact that it doesn't matter how much or how little they spent....sales dollars are NOT the point of the survey. 1. Did we do a good job? Did we address their needs? Was everyone nice to them? Was it obvious how much we care? 2. Did our staff focus on your primary concern? Did they listen carefully, without interrupting? Were you happy with the result? 3. Did we work hard enough to earn your business again in the future? Would you consider referring friends/co-workers to us? These three categories of inquiry help us to know what our customer's impression of us was, whether we helped make their experience with us a positive one, and whether we can cont on their business/referrals in the future. Like I said, these calls are only one of several lists we print & call on a regular basis, but one of the most important, because it really has nothing to do with cars...it has to ddo with PEOPLE, and whether or not our team worked hard enough to deserve their ongoing business. Just one man's take on it all.

I've never so much as changed the oil on my own car, and have no hands-on experience in the repair field. I am in love with the business of auto repair beause as the owner/operator of my shop I'm able to help others, and make a living at the same time. I've been involved in many businesses over the years, and the auto repair field is so full of unscrupulous operators and greedy managers...well, let's just say that they tend to make it easy for me to shine. That being said, I agree that this business is tough enough without having to consider trying to run it successfully without the appropriate business experience. It's not for the faint-at-heart!

If we took the time to share the details of our business processes, I think we'd see that there are a lot simiarities. However, I'm also convinced that our "step-by-step" processes contain some stark differences, because we all do things that we think are in our own best interest, so policy & procedures are put in place where it makes sense for us individually. What does your service & followup program look like? Do you have a documented process for greeting & taking care of your customers? What does it look like? What things do you do in this regard that show you the results you want? At our shop, we are continually trying to document our processes. We like our service staff to answer the phone a particular way because they quickly learn the difference it makes to our customers. Our technicians are told from the beginning that no conversations can be had with the front office about any service/repair concern unless they have the job ticket in their hand, and they've already (in shorthand) documented the problem they uncovered that needs addressed. Furthermore, no one in our company is allowed to refer to the car or the service when bringing up issues with the repair. We refer to "MR. SMITH'S" concerns, not the "WATER PUMP JOB", or the "FORD TAURUS". A small tweak...but one that has made an incredible difference in our operation, and especially in the lives of our customers. These are only a handful of small things we find important, that we think make a difference. I'm hoping some of you will share a brief description of the greeting, service, and followup process you use in your shop. Maybe we're doing something that makes sense to one of you, and you can find it helpful. Maybe there's something one of you are doing that makes sense to us, and can help us. So how aggressive are you in contacting or communicating service proposals with your prospects? What are you doing "in-house" that's making an incredible difference in your business? Just one man's hopeful request.

Although I can't begin to deny that finding the right employees to handle our controlled growth has been one of the most challenging aspects in the execution of our business& marketing plan, I found the following information while reading to keep up with industry data available to us. Happy reading! According to the Small Business Market Research Report from SBDCNet: Auto Repair Professionals: Field Report 2010 Job Outlook Employment of automotive service technicians and mechanics is expected to grow 17 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. As the number of vehicles in use continues to grow, more entry-level service technicians will be needed to do basic maintenance and repair, such as brake pad replacements and oil changes. The increasing lifespan of late-model cars and light trucks will further increase demand for qualified workers. However, continuing consolidation in the automotive industry may lessen the need for new mechanics. Job Prospects Job opportunities for qualified applicants should be very good as some employers report difficulty finding workers with the right skills and education. Jobseekers who have completed formal postsecondary training programs—especially candidates with training in advanced automotive technology, such as hybrid fuel or computer systems—should enjoy the best job prospects. Those without formal automotive training are likely to face strong competition for entry-level jobs. The majority of job openings will be in automobile dealerships and independent repair shops, where most service technicians currently work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm hoping to get some feedback regarding the circumstances described below. Any advice you might have about other ways to have handled the situation is welcome. Maybe you had a similar situation in your shop? How do you handle this? I started our commercial fleet services program five years ago, and have been fairly aggressive in doing what's necessary to attract local business, including the following: We bought a targeted mailing list (B2B) that was designed to reach the right-sized businesses & target the decision makers. We setup a budget to mail out our carefully constructed postcard mailers every 3-5 weeks. We hired an additional service advisor with outside sales experience & give him the opportunity to spend about 30-40% of his time out of the office shaking hands & making friends in high places. We share the responsibility in attempting contact with prospects who've never given us the chance to be their automotive service provider, and we've spent a fair amount of money on dynamic fleet service program brochures & other program collateral. Everything about the program is designed with our end-game in mind, and overall the program has been very successful. It's important to know that we didn't want to simply "dabble" in trying to attract this kind of business, we planned to dive in, commmit our resources, and be consistent in our efforts. People were either going to give us the chance to serve, or compel them to give us a bona fide reason to stop calling/contacting. (A simple "No", or "We handle this in-house", etc, is sufficient to call off our dogs!) So, on to the events of the day... There's a company with a small fleet of about twenty E150 & E250 vans who's maintenance supervisor has failed to give us the privilege of performing even a single oil change on any of their vehicle over the last 5 years. Of course - that's just how it is...sometimes you get the business, and sometimes you don't. In this case, although I've never been so unprofessional as to take it personal, it's a fact that they are just NOT our customer. He called the other day, and so it began: "Hey, how are you? This is Bill over at XYZ, Inc. Remember me? Of course you do, we've talked plenty of times - I'm the guy that has 20 Ford vans at our company. We do a lot of service on our vans, and I mean A LOT of service. It seems like we always have one of them in the shop for one reason or another." So right off the bat, I was trying to decide if it meant we were finally going to be given the chance to show him what a good job we can do for him. Afterall, we'd been "chasing" him for 5 years, with no response from himever ...even a polite return phone call or email. "Listen, we have another shop that handles our repairs & service, and they do a fine job, but to tell the truth, they're just a little backed up right now, and I'm having an issue. There's a strange electrical issue on one of our vans, and I think we need new balljoints." The reason for his call was transparent to me, now, and I felt like he was setting us up for an ambush, either with an attempt to low-ball, or expect service at a level proportionate to someone deserving of the "no-holds barred" variety for an account that brings thousands of dollars to us annually. "If I bring it to you in a little bit, are you guys gonna be able to diagnose our electrical issue & give me an estimate for the suspension work? If so, can you get it fixed & back to us today, do you think?" I explained that we would be thrilled to finally see one of his vehicles, and that I hoped it would be a chance for us to show him how hard we work for all our customers. I explained the basic premise behind our comprehensive inspection process (A $19.99 service that's waived completely if he authorizes the suggested repairs), as well as the normal steps we take to trace down the type/caliber of electrical faults he described to me over the phone. "Well, we don't need an inspection, we already had that done at our regular shop. You need time to trace the electrical issue? How long? There's a COST for that? Do I get the diagnostic free if I let you fix it, too?" By now, I guarded my tone to hide my disappointment, but told him enthusiastically that if he didn't need the inspeciton, that there would be no charge, of course, to write him an estimate immediately when he arrived in our office, if his "real" mechanic already told him what he needed. As for the diagnostic question, I was matter-of-fact as I told him that the honest time/materials to trace faults in power/ground would be charged, but that our shop rate for that kind of service is no higher than our standard rate. "Ok, well, I guess we'll just see, then. Can I bring it to you now?" Before he arrived, I began looking up the parts/labor for the suspension work he suggested he needed, and then even took the time to cross-reference it with the information found at Repairpal & AutoMD. In this case, although the estimate was rough and constituted about 6-7 hours of work, by all accounts, it fell at OR below the estimated price range found at both sites. I was confident the estimate was accurate & competitive, and awaited his arrival. The moment he arrived, he tried "rushing" me through the drop-off, insisted that he didn't need an inspection, but he wanted us to "look at it", and said he decided he didn't want us to address his electrical issue at all, that he would wait for his mechanic. I enthusiastically interrupted him, and let him know that I took the time to prepare an estimate for the repair he suspected needed to be done, and handed him the estimate, along with printed pages from the two valuable web resources, showing the competitiveness of the service. He took issue with the fact that I wrote estimates without looking at the van. I asked him if he wanted me to inspect it, and told him I was under the impression that he didn't want the inspection. I told him that if the work was approved based on his mechanic's assessment, that we would (of course) road test the vehicle & make sure the repair would accomplish his goal before proceeding. He left my estimate on the table, and rudely turned & walked out, saying that he was just going to go elsewhere. When I followed him toward the door, I asked him if I somehow offended him, and he said he was just a little "overwhelmed" (??) I asked him to at least take the estimate that I prepared for him, and encouraged him to call me with any questions. At least, I indicated, you can use them as a second opinion if you don't find what you're looking for elsewhere. It's my contention that he simply had NO intention of giving me the chance of earning his business, and that he only wanted me to give away the inspection, give away the diagnostic service, and lowball me on a difficult suspension job on a commercial vehicle. (Either because his ACTUAL mechanic didn't have the time, or desire to do it, or maybe he just finished beating up his "regular" guy and found himself without the professional help he needs yet again) Do you ever "fire" customers? Size them up? It's dangerous to pre-judge people this way, but isn't it plain sometimes that there are customers who, if they're difficult on the first day, that they'll be forever difficult, taxing, and unprofitable in the end? Ok friends...if you've read this far...please tell me if you agree, or if you think I have some growing up to do. Just one man's confession.

Our POS software has a scheduler, and although we don't use it in entirely the manner it's been intended, it manages to get the job done. I do, however, wish that it offered a visual (at-a-glance) demonstration of the hours booked for the day/tech. We count the hours sold against the hours our staff is able to bill out each day, but admittedly, we have a flawed, "EOD", or end-of-day completion process in play, which exaggerated the problem of have 6-8 customers all being in our lobby to pickup their cars at 4:30pm everyday. A good friend of ours that has owned his own shop afor about 15 years has begun using the Google calendar for exactly this. It's interesting to me how he's set it up. For those of you familiar with Google calendar, he uses a different color for each of his technicians, and it gives him a quick picture of remaining time available to sell more work. One of the things he appreciates about it is that he doesn't have to enter anything except the customer's last name in all capital letters, along with the time of the appointment. Of course, here's where I think it gets interesting... He sets the time loosely according to what technician will be doing the service, and adjusts the timeframe to reflect the complexity of the job, as well as the relative efficiency of the tech that will be performing it. I encouraged him to use a different color, not for the different technicians, but for the relative skill level required to do the work. He knows who can adequately perform the various types of service, and really only needs to know how many "B" hours are sold for the day, compared to how many "B" techs will be on the floor. Same goes for General Service employees knocking out inspections, or even "A" techs digging into diagnostic services. Although I haven't used this system yet, there's something powerful, in my opinion, about being able to see a snapshot of the day's work, organized by billable time, efficiency, and talent required. I think I've talked myself into looking into trying it for our shop, afterall. Just one man's circular encouragement.

I agree very much. As I've already touched upon in other posts, I am sternly against competing on price. I am completely inclined to make certain my price is fair, but those two statements are mutually exclusive. "Fair pricing" has a lot less to do with what 10 of my competitors charge than the average customer understands. I looked into Openbay some time ago, and although they put a strong focus on price, their vantage point is different than RepairPal. It has been some time since I spoke to OpenBay, but if I'm correct, the customer pays OpenBay, and then OpenBay sends you the money, minus their fees. To my knowledge, this isn't something RepairPal gets into. My opinion is simple - I don't need to invite anyone else to put their hand into my pocket, and take a share of what I earn simply because they claim they can send some cars my way. If your value proposition is correct...you don't need them anyhow. Other, more traditional forms of promotion or marketing are more effective, anyway. Just one man's opinion.

As shop owners, we all know that the result of an honest, thorough inspection is the opportunity to offer additional service to our customers. This of course, in turn, gives us the opportunity to shine, and potentially win a valuable lifelong customer that our competitors would be hard-pressed to figure out how to steal from us. A carefully mapped out process, beginning with the initial contact, and leading up to the moment where we have the privilege of driving or standing under our guests' cars will ultimately lead us to the matter of inspections. I think we're all plagued by the frustration we feel when we find ourselves having to remind our technicians that without a good, solid inspection, we have less opportunity to offer additional services to them. Without the inspection, NO ONE wins - not the company, not the technician, and certainly not the customers. In & around our office, we refer to the inspection as our "Patient history", just like a doctor would. We put a shelf life on the inspection of about 90 days, and consider it active & valid unless the customer brings us a primary concern otherwise, in the meantime. SInce all our paperwork is scanned immediately and the customer is given the original copy with their invoice, we have the simple pleasure of being able to key in the invoice number of their last inspection, (Especially if it's been within 90 days) and print a copy to attach to our tech's job ticket. Better than that, if oustomer gets their oil changed with us, the inspection is included free. Since we perform a visual brake inspection on every vehicle brought in, we'll have that data at our fingertips also. So at our counter before the oil change is finished, our customer is informed that the stabilzer control link on the driver's side is broken. If they are uninterested in hearing anymore about it, it's recorded in the software under recommendations, and appears not only on the inspection form as a "Required Repair", but also prints on their final invoice, which is highlighted before we hand it to them. Six weeks later they call & ask if they can "stop by", because their car is making a strange rattle noise when they go over bumps in the road. All we have to do is key in their previous invoice number, and we're immediately reminded of the previous recommendations. If something sounds as though it may be congruent with their now current concern, we'll remind them immediately about the stab links, and of course, schedule it for a free "quick peek". In the meantime, and as a preemptive measure, the stab links are ordered & put on our shelf. When they arrive, our tech spends 5 minutes looking it over while the service advisor is going over ALL previous recommendations, & offering estimates for the service. If we can confirm the cause, the work is sold. I guess my point is simple: The best way I've found to encourage our techs to respect the inspection process is to consistently remind them about the process, & continue to prove to them that it works not only "on the spot", but days, weeks, or even months later. We also have a nominal spiff/bonus program that encourages technicians to be thorough, bu not so aggressive that we've had any issues with them "over suggesting" service. In the end, having a current patient history is in everyone's best interest. It keeps techs busier, everyone gets to make a little more money, and of course, our customers know that the process is intended ONLY to keep them informed, not to sell them service they don't feel they need, or to pressure them into maintenance with any sort of "crash & burn" approach. Just one man's opinion.

I use www.melissadata.com most of the time. The site has plenty of "lookups" that'll help you drill down and narrow your search parameters. Also, Xrac - it's the only site I know of that will let you search by "People who own German cars". I've bought lists below of Ford owners, in a particular geography,making a certain out of money, and then scrubbed out my existing customers. Then I sent out a cleverly designed letter (I can say that, because it worked) where I introduced myself, and then offered to do a free search for outstanding service recalls at the dealership. The letter was designed to look very official, and the call to action was that if they were willing to let us change their oil, that while they waited one of our service advisors would review any open manufacturers recalls on their aging car. All matters of recall were of course, directed to the closest dealer, and if they wanted us to, we even called ahead and scheduled the appt. Here's what we got out of it: A new customer who came in and paid for a regular-priced oil change. The results of our comprehensive inspection, and of course, had the privilege of letting our new friend experience just how hard we work for them, and how much we genuinely care about their family's safety. Any recommend services, maintenance, and the ongoing care of their vehicle was ours if we took good care of them, because we know they won't stick with the dealer... (A person with an aging car, out of warranty, needing service is generally more likely to be loyal to an independent operator that shows they care & will save them momey, than to go back to the dealer after a recall service.) If the recall search comes up empty...everything else about the campaign still holds true. Simply put: The LOF is complete, here's your inspection report. We have you tentatively scheduled again in about 14 weeks to keep your oil change up to date. ...

This post is a description of a very successful direct mail program we run consistently. If you're contemplating a budget for direct mail, it's worth the read. There's a lot to say about direct mail pieces, but some of the very best postcard mailings I've seen, are overshadowed by a micro-mailing program someone turned me onto years ago directed at acquiring new customers. The premise is simple, actually. Of course, we all know that the quality of your list is paramount, but without reitterating some of the most common aspects or practices of a program like this, I'll tell you what I really liked: Once you have a quality list defined, buy only a small portion of the target. In this example, let's say that it's 250 addresses. Scrub it against your own customer database - for our purpose, there's no need to solicit to anyone who's been to your shop before. Assume you need to drop 50 addresses (good for you...they've already been to you before, and if you like...you can mail them folks something different later.) This brings your usable control group down to 200 addresses. Now here's the exciting part - prepare 4 or 5 ad pieces (postcards work well for all but the final one). Create a marketing message that expresses who you are as a company, but DO NOT advertise any discount offers with fun little dotted lines around them. The point of the mailing is to introduce yourself to the prospects ONLY. You're going to mail out 200 postcards to people who have never been to your shop. Tell them where you're at, what awards you've won, how much you care about your customers, maybe offer a list of the services you offer...but NO discounts or "special offers". Just introduce your shop, and ask them to consider visiting you for service. "Does your mechanic not seem to care as much anymore about keeping you happy? Give us a try!" Give the post office 3 days to make sure they reach the prospects, then add a solid business week to the timeline, and make sure your staff is asking how new customer heard about you, so you can tell who's responded to the postcards. Let's say it was miserable. All that hard work, planning, and design work...netted you 3 responses. (Could've been 2 oil changes & a price shopper, doesn't matter). After a solid week goes by, send out your 2nd postcard to the same list, minus the ones who already responded to the first one. Mail out 197. The 2nd card is kind of like the 1st one - You talk about how much your customers appreciate your hard work – maybe even include a testimonial with a picture of one of your customers. Emphasize the flexible scheduling, your staff’s training & certifications, & tell them what hours you’re available to service their needs. NO DISCOUNTS. Wait 3 days for delivery, start tracking the response from the postcard again for a solid week, and tally them up. Maybe the 2nd mailing only netted you 1 more response. Maybe it was a brake job, though. Of course, your first postcards are still out there, too, so this week, maybe you got another one from the first round of cards. That’s only a total of 2 more…but it’s 5 altogether. Subtract the responding addresses from the list, and (you guessed it) send out the 3rd card. This one is really special, though…it has the American flag on it, and your face, and you’re smiling. There’s a short comment from you about how much you’ve been looking forward to meeting them, but you haven’t seen them. Tell them you’d like to personally invite them to come in for a cup of coffee, a brief tour of your shop, and that you’d like them to tell you EXACTLY why their old mechanic has let them down. NO DISCOUNTS, and send it to the remaining 195 folks on the list. Wait 3 days…then track the results for at least one solid business week. Now, a really cool thing will start to happen, and you have to try it to see for yourself, but people will start to respond! The right message sent to the right prospect, at the right time…and a direct mail program comes to life! I’ve seen the 3rd step of the program personally work to bring in a response of as high as 2% without offering an discounts or offers. Afterall – PRICE isn’t all they’re bargaining for, right? So if you’ll let me finish the story…a 2% response on 195 addresses is a whopping 4 responses! This one can be fun, though, because they want to talk to you about why they hate their old mechanic. Got time for that? Aren’t you going to tell those 4 people how horrible that is, and how YOUR shop works hard to prevent EXACTLY those kinds of issues? You’ll sell them more than an oil change, for sure. So after 3 mailings, you’ve received a total of 9 responses. (I won’t speculate on the gross sales…there’s too many variables, and that is truly up to your sales staff to control) Now you only have 191 addresses left. I’ll spare you the longer version of the remainder of the program, and just tell you to repeat the process of mailing/tracking for the last 2 pieces, but the nature of the pieces will change. #4 – You use a headline on the postcard that says, “We really want the chance to show you how hard we’re willing to work for you!”, and then you can finally add a SOFT discount on the card. Either give away a congruent service like a tire rotation, with their oil change, or offer a soft dollar or % discount off another, common service. Brake work? 5% off. Fluid services? $10 off. Give them the call to action they’ve been waiting for. Whatever response rate you’ve been seeing on average for the first 3 mailings will DOUBLE on the 4th. #5 – The rope-a-dope. Prepare a letter. Really – a personal letter, on stationery, with your company’s logo on it. Let the “Title” of the letter be something that pops, like, “Did we do something wrong?” Tell them in a paragraph or two about all the new faces you’ve been seeing, and let them know how much you want the chance to earn their business, and show them that what they’ve been reading about your company is true. Tell them that you’re SO ready to prove it to them that you’d like them to take advantage of you by redeeming a discounted oil change at your shop, and that you’re doing so only as a last ditch effort to meet them, shake their hands, and prove to them how hard you’re willing to work for them. Now, I use a $10 synthetic blend oil change (up to 5 qts. Includes filter, on most cars), and give them ONLY 30 DAYS to redeem it. If you track new customers, and you track average repair order figures, and you’ve been tallying up what the 5 mailings have cost you out of pocket, by the time you have the 5th mailing out to them, you’ll smile as you realize that the return you’re getting on a direct mail program is 6-8 times higher than those reported as averages by the DMA. I’ve seen total program responses of as high as 20-25%. (That’s 40 responses on your list of 200). You MUST remove people’s address who’ve responded, and keep track of sales, profits, etc., as well as keeping your schedule. 5 mailings in 6-8 weeks. The beautiful thing is that once you’re “finished”, you’ll be managing your new customer followups like normal…and you can start with 200 more that meet your list requirements, and do it again. Sorry about the long post. We’re currently managing a list of 300 at a time, and have 2 campaigns running concurrently. Our average response rate per campaign is 9-10%. Just one man’s (really long) story.

What keywords or phrases do you all find are the most successful in executing your SEO plan? Do you buy keywords ro invest aggressively in an Adwords campaign?

I see your point. I guess what's worked for us so far has been that although we use the process I've been describing to write our estimates, that in the end, I guess we do, in fact, adjust the labor $ our POS assigns if we feel the job hasn't been written in such a way as to still be able to justify the price over the value our customers are receiving. It makes me wonder what mistake is made more often? Do more shops tend to undercharge, either fearfully or thinking that a low price is the best way to generate volume, or do you think there are more that error on the side of setting price too high, ignoring the value propostiion as perceived by those they hope to serve? I guess I really, truly want to know that we're charging what we must in order to be highly profitable, but not so much that our customers try to lump us in with the less-than-reputable shops that price-gouge. I'm not certain where I first heard it, but we've made it part of our service writer training to ask the following question: "When considering parts/labor costs passed on to our customers, how much should you charge?" The simple answer is to let the trainee know that on every estimate they should charge systematically AS MUCH as they can, minus JUST ENOUGH to make absolutely certain that our customers can't help but see the value in the offering, and are delighted to write the check. This is as good as anywhere to ask the question: When considering ONLY the parts/labor equation...what is your shop's weekly goal for gross profit margin? In considering a week's worth of service completed, what's the lowest and highest acceptable margin? (Assuming you'd rather not have a service writer try to write all your service at 95% GPM, giving you a bad reputation for being overpriced) Curious.

I just found this thread, but I couldn't be more excited for you, Ncsvoboda! How are things going for you, so far? I've never had a partner in business, but my wife tells me it's because she thinks I'm too hard-headed! I wish you the very best of luck in your endeavors, friend. Definitely keep us posted!

I really like this idea, and we've tried implementing an hourly + bonus, based on actual billed hours weekly. Can you give me an idea of how you structure the commission, or percentage basis? I really like that it;s based on skill/efficiency as well as time with your company. If you don't want to share publicly, I'd love to learn more about your process if you want ot message/email me.

I agree with bstewart on this matter, at least in his thoughtful approach. Calculating a potential ROI when considering the purchase of a new piece of equipment is the most responsible way to approach making a large investment in your shop. However...I think you need to consider that we're not talking about a "piece of equipment", we're considering an advetising vehicle or medium. In my opinion, the standard by which you should measure the potential return on your advertising dollar is steeper than that of, say, the purchase of another lift or a new piece of shop equipment that'll let you perform a new service. I can honestly say that there are very few (if any) advertising opportunities in the realm of 30-40 thousand dollars that a single unit, independant repair shop should be considering without there being additional, bona fide considerations in the mix. For example, if you have a less-than optimal location, and you want your marketing plan to include making your company visible in some very high traffic areas, then signage or space "leasing", which can be costly based on the potential traffic, should be considered. The reason for my opinion is that there are FAR better ways to advertise that cost significantly less than that, and they'll offer you a much faster return on your investment. Once the advertising is paying for itself, assess it's overall effectiveness, and either continue it as a fixed part of a larger plan, or get out of it, and move on to the next best thing. If you carried $30 into a casino, instead of betting it on one game of chance with long odds, bet $4 at a time on the game that has better odds until you find yourself with $60 in your hands. You've returned your investment, and profited...now keep doing what you've been doing, or reassess your goals. If you think you're ready for a longer risk with a greater payoff,....now maybe it's time to consider the $30 investment you considered when you walked in. By the way...I'm not much of a gambler, if it happens to show...it's just a colorful methaphor. Just one man's opinion.

After reading this thread, I am reminded once more how very much I appreciate all of you! We're all in this together, it seems, and after reading many of your comments, I can tell you that I fall right smack dab in the middle of the mix. I don't fear what Repairpal comes up with, but mostly because I can't begin to know exactly HOW they process the data, exactly. For that matter, it may as well be a site called, "A guy named Joe gives you his opinion". On the other hand, however, like many of you, I am often in the thick of it when it comes to seeing where my pricing lands in comparison, so I really don't care how they come up with their range. I think the larger issue here is the same proposition we all face from time to time, and it doesn't necessarily have to involve Repairpal. That is simply this: What is the best way to deal with a customer who questions the accuracy or competitiveness of the service quote you've prepared for them? The easiest way to see the best answer, in my opinion, is to use silly numbers. For instance, let's say you pride yourself on always being the most inexpensive shop in town, silly as it may be. Your estimate for the installation of a water pump on their family's car, after careful consideration, is that to put a quality part on their car, peform service necessary to insure normal operation (flush/fill), and give them the professional sevice they seek so they can have the piece of mind to drive away content, and assured will cost them $28.74. It's EASY to justify & respond to the customer who says, "That price is unfair! See? XYZ Auto will do it for $15. ABC Auto will do it for $15.10. Why are you so expensive?" The answer, regardless of the price you quoted, is that there will ALWAYS be someone cheaper, somewhere, and that's why competing on price is almost always a bad idea. Your answer should always be a reitteration of what value they get for the money you NEED to do the job in the manner you're proposing. Simple. There doesn't need to be an emotional aspect to the proposition. If someone indicates they spoke to 10 other shops who all quoted between $100 and $120 for the service they seek, my first task is to ask them why they didn't have it done elsewhere? 10 shops jumping through hoops, chasing a dime...that's precious. It's not surprising that they often tell me that they just didn't "feel right" or just "didn't trust" what the other shops were telling them, because they assumed it would only be $80....and now they're going to call 100 shops until someone validates their erroneous, amateur assumptions. If they give me these lines, I then suggest that if the cheapest price is what they're seeking, to take the lowest bid they have so far, because whatever MY price will be...it will involve a great deal of over-the-top service & care, not to mention some of the best parts & warranties in the industry. A wise person once said that LOW PRICE, IMMEDIATE SERVICE, and TOP QUALITY PARTS are all mutually exclusive. If it's price they want...send them down the road. (I just realized this thread has me on a rant again. Man, I love you guys)

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what pumps you're referring to on your lifts. We've had safety cables, pistons, & even a lift cylinder replaced before. Are you referring to the hydraulic pump itself? Although it's not a requiredment in our state, we have all of our lifts checked/serviced once per year by the same, certified service company that installed them. Our take on it was that if we hope to be able to encourage our customers to appreciate the value in preventative, or regular maintenance on their vehicles, we sure as heck should be taking our own advice on our shop equipment! I've found that we get really fair treatment from the service company that comes out. Because they know we're interested in taking care of our lifts, and further understand that as our needs grow that it's THEIR company we'll be counting on - it was easy to get the multiple lift "discount", on this annual checkup. Furthermore, they appreciate that we're flexible in letting them service one or ALL of them in the same day, giving them the ability to fill holes in their service schedule, and get my inspections, adjutments, lubrication, etc. all done in a week or so. (or all in the same day) If they indicate the're coming in to make a day of it, we try to schedule one of our regular "Boss is buying lunch" days to correspond, and we include their service staff. Just taking care of the people that take care of us!

The answer is yes, but I don't want to mislead you... Nexpart is the electronic catalog "platform" used by several of my aftermarket suppliers. Essentially, it connects my POS software (Mitchell1) with their electronic inventory on their end, so I can pick & choose what parts to drop to my estimate. Knowing that they sell me Champ filters, for instance, I used the Mfr. lookup to get ALL the filter numbers in a single lookup, then once it's added to the vehicle's info, we always now what parts that car uses. The Nexpart catalog interface will, in fact, interchange Purolator numbers...absolutely. There's a "tool" built into the catalog that let's me enter the number I already have (OE, Champ, whatever), and even if my supplier doesn't normally carry the other brands (Fram, Purolator, Napa, Carquest, etc.) it will give me a list of all the filters matching the number I entered. I didn't want you to think that I've found a way to automate the filter selection completely...I just know what numbers I need after our first contact with a customer. I know there's a piece of software (It doesn't link to Mitchell1 that I'm aware of...) That you purchase one time called Chek-Lube. It's target market is the quick-lube industry, and when you enter a year/make/model car, it will return the following: ALL filter numbers (Oil, fuel, air, cabin air, transmission), ALL belt numbers (serpentine, accessory), ALL automotive fluid capacities (in quarts or liters), Wiper blade sizes (front, rear)...and more. The parts numbers returned from the lookup are chosen from a pretty good list of aftermarket manufacturer's brands that you select in the software setup. The page can be printed, if you want, or the information copied/pasted into your POS. The data is based on the Motors database, and furthermore, includes limited labor time information and chassis lube points. I think it was a couple hundred dollars. Happy hunting!

Thanks, xrac! Excited to read so many posts by so many different operators. This is officially my new homepage on my browser!

I'm not sure what you mean, I'm sorry, (but I think you & I are in agreement) Instead of starting with considering what a job may cost anywhere else, our process is reverse engineered, in a sense. Determine what you want to pay your highest paid technician, then work the math backward to determine what you'll need to charge to get the margin you need. Comparing it to publicly available averages or other data is just the furtherst attempt we try to make to make certain we're being as competitive as we can. My bottom line pricing to my customers is justified by clearly stating what value they get for the services I propose. My technicians? I justify what I pay THEM, based on performance, experiences, and talent. As for the ratio between the two, I've made it no one's business but my own. (And all of you nice people, lol) If your labor rate is $117, you should be able to pay your top technician as much as $33 an hour, loaded, and still keep your margins healthy, according to my application of this system. The truth lies in the simplicity of this: Profit is not a dirty word. Customers and technicians alike are universally important to my success, of course. But I further justify the ratio to both groups by letting them know that there are more bills to pay than just labor & parts. IF I can't profit according to my business' needs, I can't stay afloat...and then I'm of no service to ANYONE. You sound like you have a firm grasp on this, I'd like to hear how your proposed labor change helps your numbers! Tony

One of the hardest procedures to implement was encouraging my service advisors to schedule each customer's next service at checkout. They all feared it would seem too pushy. As a matter of fact, they all felt it might actually backfire and cause our customers to use our services LESS often. I persisted, and kept on them about it, until everyone was on the same page. It took about 2 1/2 months to develop, but about that time, an incredible thing began to happen, and we all felt it. Our appointments increased by nearly 20% and better than that, the practice increased our maintenance mix. So as impractical as it might seem, regardless of what kind of service or condition someopne has their vehicle in for, scheduling their next appointment for 2, 3, or even 6 months later is a practicve that once implemented, you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner. Oil change? Schedule their reminder for 3, 4, or 5 months from now based on their preference. Front brake job? Schedule a complimentary brake inspection 2 months out to make sure their parts are breaking in well, and to get in front of any potential parts/labor warranty service. (Of course, you could reexamine the rear brakes, too...) Misc. breakdown? How many miles is on the car? Schedule a reminder about upcoming scheduled maintenance service. Of course, anything mentioned on their current inspection report should be followed up on as a part of your recommended service (Or Recserv) program, but anything they don't ask you do complete can be revisited when they come back in for their next scheduled visit. Just one man's opinion.

We’re not the cheapest guys in town. There – I said it. But we’re not downright unfair, and we do a good job at offering over the top value to those we hope to serve. In any market or industry, there are three distinct categories of customers, the price conscious, value conscious, and the quality conscious. Sadly, the price conscious folks seem to be the most discussed in forums. We had a young lady come to us 2 years ago for service when she had a breakdown. In addition to the way her concerns were addressed from a technical/mechanical standpoint, she received such over-the-top treatment (I think her initial invoice was about $300), that her review of our company online indicated some key points in our company's mission statement, validating our effort to serve our market in the way we set out from the beginning. This, alone, made us dance joyfully. (I know…picture that, will you…) A month later, she cancelled an oil change appointment...actually, I think she was a "no call, no show". When we called, we found that she had fallen ill with the flu. As she was local, and exactly the kind of customer we knew we wanted to be of service to, my service writer took it upon himself on his lunch to buy her a get well card, some hot soup, and a balloon, and deliver it to her door that afternoon. Total cost? About $10. Weird, I know, but seriously, how awesome do you think SHE felt about it? What happened after that, and over the next 2 years was nothing shy of amazing. She has, without failure, come in EVERY FRIDAY with a plate of fresh, homemade cookies for us to leave out in our lobby for our other customers to share. Every week, for two years and counting! He cookies initially sat next to a well-articulated, printed letter she wrote, expressing her gratitude for “these weird mechanics who always seem to be more interested in the people who come in than the money they are hoping to make.” As it turns out, she had a rotten experience with her last mechanic, and as we’ve all heard the story, vowed she’d never return there. Apparently they just didn’t seem to care about her…they only wanted her money, and over time, it became more and more evident to her & her family. Zig Ziglar (paraphrased) said that you can have everything you’ve ever wanted in life if you’ll just help enough other people get what THEY want. He’s right. We focus on serving the people that come in, not the “almighty dollar”. Focus on the needs of people, and the money will ALWAYS follow, I promise. Focus on the dollars, and you may make a few…but you’re falling short of your potential. By the way, the customer described herein is married, has 3 college aged kids, and an elderly parent living with her. 6 cars. Six. In the last 2 years, we’ve collected almost $12,000 dollars from them for services provided, including 2 engine jobs. And she couldn’t care any less about the coupon in the paper at my competitor offering $10 off an oil change. Just one man’s story.

The lowest profit margin on one hour of labor, with the bump, as I called it, is about 70%, as our posted discount rate is $80. The important factor, though, is that while we answer the question regarding what our "rate" is freely, we don't sell hours, or time. Heck...sometimes it feels like we don't even sell parts...we sell solutions to problems. Here's a completely hypothetical situation: If the going rate for a brake job in town is $150, and the range indicated on Repairpal is between $120 and $200, anything inside of that range is understandable. However, what if I told you (up front) that in order for us to do that job, we would have to charge $250, that the parts are all warrantied for 3 years, 36,000 miles, and that although it will take a day or so to finish it, we can offer you a brand new 2015 car to drive for the day at no additional charge, and this service package comes with a gift card for lunch at Subway? I'm making this up, of course, but my point is that price is truly only ONE consideration as to why they should do business with you. Instead of figuring out how to come down to "match" the competition's pricing...figure out how to stand up, and offer more to your customers. You'll build loyalty that your competitors will be unable to infiltrate/steal. We offer one of the most valuable selling propostiions in our market, founded on the way our customers are treated, and are continuing to seek out over-the-top methods of earning their continued loyalty. I know I'm off topic now, but pricing, service, & offering...it's all connected. If they want a cheap price, I smile, shake their hand, and promise them that if they look around, I know they'll find it. It's a beautiful thing when you can know your intended market so well that it becomes easy to identify when someone you're trying to help just doesn't fit the mold. Stop wasting time & money worrying about trying to fit square pegs into round holes. It's expensive, frustrating, and not as profitable. The ONLY time it's more profitable to approach this any differently is if you happen to be the cost/price leader in town. And even if you are, it's a fragile mountain of gold you're sitting on. Just one man's opinion.

What a wonderful discussion thread! I've had flat rate technicians, and hourly, and I agree with the consensus that there really is no "one size fits all". I have, however, come up with a promising program that I think encourages the positive aspects of both types of plans, and avoids many of the negative aspects. The bulk of out technical staff is paid hourly, but as alfredauto stated, my guys don't get sent home early, and in the rarest of occasions when there's truly nothing to do, I'm happy to let one or more of them take off, and I'll pay them for the day regardless. (The guys DO love to fish on occasion, and it feels like playing hooky when they dont have to run straight home for dinner, lol) So I decided that what flat rate guys like the most is that the harder they work, the more they bill, the more they make. What the hourly guys like the most is what they feel is a "steady" paycheck, and earnings they can count on. What I like the most is when I can run the appropriate reports, and see that I can generously pay my staff according to their productivity, and of course, what my customers love the most is that we have very little turnover, they get to know the same faces, & expertise thats cared for their cars on a regular basis for years. So how to make everyone happy? (Or so it seems?) I pay my technical staff hourly, at an agreed aupon rate, with the promise of 40 hours each week. In addition to the hourly rate, they earn a billable time bonus weekly, based on the hours they turn. Basically, its the best of all worlds. They have a living wage they can accept, and since they're hourly, no one is offended if I ask them to pick up a broom when it's their turn, or shuttle a customer to work. On the other hand, since their hourly rate doesn't get them "the whole way" toward being excited about their earnings, I make the top 20% or so of my payroll costs associated with who's billing out the time. The more you turn, the more you earn. One of the benefits to this approach is that I can scale/negotiate the hourly rate based on experience or skill level, and give hourly rates when it's appropriate to do so. Furthermore, I can give generous billable time bonuses on top of their hourly pay that expresses the sense of urgency in being efficient & meeting deadlines for our customers. The affectionate term for this at our shop is, "He who bills...eats." So an experienced technician with multiple ASE certifications may earn $16-$19 per hour in a promised 40 hour work week, but also know that he or she will earn $6-$8 for every billed hour on their sheets for the first 25 hours in a week, and $10 - $12 for every billed hour after that. At the bottom of my example is a guy making $16 per hour, or $640 per week hourly, plus $6 for each of the first 25 hours, and $10 for each of the rest that they bill out. Someone working a 40 hour work week who bills 45 hours in this example would earn a total of $990 in gross wages for the week. From my perspective, it's the same as having paid $25 per hour for the 40 hour week, but I didn't have to do that unless he/she billed 45 hours. When WE make money, my staff makes money. The risk I take is when my staff has little/nothing to wrench. And hey, when things slow down, as they sometimes do, everyone is on the same team, and pitches in, helping whereever they're needed. I love the team atmosphere it produces. Just one man's opinion.

We begin our estimating process by looking up the times in the national labor guide as published in our Mitchell software. The settings automatically bump the charged time by 33%. We setup a default that automatically assigns every generated labor line to a tech named Tech Assign. (It shows up as Assign, Tech) and that technician assigns costs to the job (as alfredauto suggested) by a calulation based off our highest paid technician's loaded payroll cost. We actually use a bump in that calculation also which helps to protect our bottom line against a techncian who is less than efficient on any particular job. So, by this explanation, a job that takes 2.5 hours according to the guide (with all combinations & consideration for any overlapping service), is charged to the customer at 3.33 hours. Here's what happens: Let's say that Joe, our highest paid technician, earns $23 per hour, flat rate. So of course, Joe's rate in the technican's setup screen indicates that he will cost $29.90 per billed labor hour with estimated taxes, workers' comp fees, etc. added in. The default technician, "Assign Tech" is also setup this way. The software suggests charging the customer 3.33 hours, or the amount of time in the guide multiplied by 133%. The default tech is given 2.5 pay hours, the customer is charged 3.33. Once the job is assigned, no matter which technician is paid for the job, the nature of the profit margin as it pertains to the associated labor costs can't change in a manner as to cause us to lose money on the job. In fact, if it's ultimately assigned to a tech that earns $17 flat rate (or $22.10 loaded), the additional $25.97 collected in labor fees is essentially unassigned, and bolsters the profit margin originally written in the estimate. Fair? Absolutely! If a less experienced tech is assigned a job, and has any struggles with it, our more senior staff is always happy to help, even for a few minutes to help get them past a difficult point, because the company can generously afford to pay that tech the additional time, ON TOP of what the assigned tech is earning, because it's a built-in contingency. It also gives us a very powerful advantage...ANYtime one of our technicians runs into a problem on a job that was unforseen, or requires additional effort or steps to complete the work, our staff can, at their discretion, request additional time on a job, and given that our effective labor rate weekly is generally higher than our posted rate (due to all the calculations above) we can almost ALWAYS give that time generously to our staff and encourage them to continue to do the best they can, taking their time, and not cutting any corners...without going back to the customer for more time/money. Our parts matrix is a simpler assessment. We generally try to get a 100% markup or greater, representing a 50-60% profit margin on the parts. Now of course, in all fairness to our customers, we can't rely on the software to tell us what to charge without first assessing a completed estimate and diligently making sure the total estimated cost represents a fair price. Anytime there's any question about whether our price is competitive, our service advisors are encouraged (BEFORE presenting the estimate to the customer) to check some of the various publicly available resources such as AutoMD, or RepairPal to see how we size up. All in all, we tend to average a gross profit margin of between 60-64% on the written estimates weekly. We've learned that it's a MUCH better proposition to charge much more than the discount/hack shops, and only nominally more than the reputable shop. In any given set of circumstances, it frees us up to always be ready and willing to give back to our customers when it's truly warranted, or even toss in some free, ancillary services on the visit, or on repeat visits. Just one man's opinion.