tirengolf

I am in the process of purchasing some new equipment. One of my vendors that I have bought from for years has a Teco tire machine, has anyone had a good or bad experience with this brand ?? I have narrowed my tire balancer down to Hunter. Any ideas out there on Teco

New customer calls pricing tires and wheels, tight margin items. After we get to the closing of the sell they say, oh by the way, do you have military discounts. What would you offer.

Customer gets my price down as low as I can go then they ask about a Military Discount. How do you guys/gals handle this. I usually sniff out the takers although these are nice people looking for the best price. I am sure this happens with others , I just have not found a way out. I usually compliment a oil change or a extra service although it always feels odd. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I have the same problem most all of us have we are business guys and gals in the Automotive Business. The one thing that I personally think is important is the ability to google your place and hit a button that dials your phone number without having to dial the numbers. Then it is our job to do the proper phone etiquette and selling. If I can get them on the phone or better yet in my store I usually can handle it from there.

CDHowell, I have been in the business for 40+ years now. The landscape has changed so much. I personally like to see a entry level tech with smaller collections of tools, I look to see how many electrical devices they have, Volt meters, Etc. The older techs have all these huge boxes today it generally does not require as many large tools and boxes. So much today is just diagnosing correctly and changing a part.This is just my opinion, I hope it helps. Good Luck,David

I have had a little drop in business for the first time in 15 years. I have been thinking about doing some mailouts to my customers. I have over 3500 names, addresses, and phone numbers. I have never done anything like this before other than a little card every now and then. I just cannot figure out the best way the way to be the most effective. My business is mostly same people over and over , very friendly mom and pop style location. any ideas. Thanks guys.David

PartsTech, I have thought about a bunch of theories from this report, I am located next door to the Oreilly's hub for our area. They built next to me about 7 years ago. I have noticed and spoke to their manager and parts guys about this topic for years. I have noticed the amount of cars coming in their parking lot is down. I guess it does not surprise me that the retail parts business is slowing, I really think in few short years the walk in hard parts customer will be slowing down even more. These cars are getting very hard to work on and the consumers have no idea where to start. As you can imagine being next door I see horror stories daily. People spending hundreds just guessing. I really felt this would be a good year for my business, we have been at the same location for 55 years although we are down this year, first time in 15 years. I cannot put my finger on it. My customer base is rather extensive, maybe they are waiting for the last 6 months of the year. I sure hope so. We are really starting to look at expenses at this point. I guess sometimes it is like that. You have some good points. I have had a lot more parts salesman in my doors this year than ever before. It is going to be interesting this time next year. Have a good one. David.

Merrill Lynch downgrading parts stores??? Good read Merrill Lynch.pdf

I am in Northern Florida, it also seems to be starting slow although my whole year has been a bit strange. My business is down a little, first time in 15 years. Sure is waking me up. July is starting down a little as well. Good Luck to all.

Pat, I am certainly no expert on this although there are some guys on here who are really up on this and have trained, or just have a good eye for it. I personally like to see a phone number and years in business even if it 5 years. I also like for the phone number to be highlighted where I can call someone from their web page. One of the biggest thinks I did in my area was made sure I was registered on google maps. that to me seemed to really increase my phone rings. That is just what I like for all it is worth. Good Luck. David

http://autosavetireshop.com/ If any of you guys have a chance click my website and tell me good or bad that you see, I pay good money for this website. At times I really do not think it works although I guess it does at some point. This is a great forum for business owners I really enjoy reading and get a lot of info from all you guys. Thanks David

I can relate to all the above, I have a shop dad started in 1961, I have been there since 1975 . I do not think anyone will doubt the pie is getting sliced more and more every day by dealerships. From 1990 to 2000 I installed about 2500 tires a year just for dealerships and used car shops now they do their own. My tire numbers have gone down considerably over the years although we picked it up in service. Now the dealerships are becoming very aggressive on pricing in their service dept. Not all but I see some are still unethical. It is all a changing. I have an optimization company that really pushes my facebook and twitter although I do not know if it is helping me at this point. I have sorta went back to the older way. I have made my presence a lot more noticeable I answer the phone as much as possible and try to test drive all cars. I really think people like the nice honest service, smiling people, ethical business. it just seems harder getting to those customers.

Harry, I should have never touched it. I am not a master tech like you guys. I started in this 40 years ago as a tire buster working for my dad at the shop. As many times as I have had them bite me in the rear, being a nice guy, I stil find it hard to turn a customer down. He was in a jam, I usually can fiqure them out just takes me more time and agravation because of my lack of knowldege on how it atually works. I called 3 GM dealers first, I know them well, they said it would be a week before they could look at it. Funny actually the BMW store here dropped a ceryified car off Friday wanting me to find a shake. I should stick to my vibration correction skills. I will learn one day.

The way I understand it, it is not the dealerships per se. It's the whole way the economic system is structured. That's why it is important we get involved in the Right to Repair movement. Harry, you bring up interesting info, until the industry performs sccurate emmisions data , they give data as passing the test but actually it all changes when the vehicle hits the road / aka VW. The profession I chose to be in, at 15 years of age, gets to deal with this economic structured system you speak of, This tells me you don't understand the fundamental issue behind emission control. That's too bad because you could really prosper by servicing vehicles that need to be maintained to keep from spewing excess poisons. No, I guess I never looked at it through the eyes of the tech like I should, I always have seemed to have looked through the consumers eyes, my customer. I have never lived in a state with emmisions testing. I have never took converters off cars and installed simulators on o2 sensors. I prefer not to go to prison. The consumer is the looser, always will be. I personally had rather not capture profits on the backs of crooked political machines. Basically the testing is corrupt, that is widely known. They have it down to a science . Follow the money. What I am trying to say is simple , If I put myself in a customer position with this diesel truck , I woke up one morning , it says add def fluid, I filled it up , goes into limp mode countdown , sorta feels like prisoner going to the electric chair,, DEF countdown. LOL , I drove it home myself 2 nights with those you got 42 miles left lights and beepers blasting, Then shelling out 2 to 4 k just to get it out of limp mode at that particulare time does a DEF tank really matter . Heck no, the customer has lost 3 days of work , 1500 a day, therefor the tumbling effect kicks in , family obligations, employee's being cut back, because I can't get jobs estimated because all my stuff is in the truck, you know the drill. The truck is about to implode because it says the DEF system is not working when in reality no one has the ability , knowledge or the correct tool to reset the lsystem, remember I took it to the dealer first tech said it needs a BCM/ PCM whatever, I was fumming and just said I will come get it. This is the whole issue Harry, they are not being straight up with us or the consumer. We are a thorn in their side. Thay hate guys like me. The Franchises want that $150 to $ 200 a hour rate and a shop like me to stay out of the way. This Franchise dealerships have made a plan to eliminate the small guy , thank goodness for the right to repair act, it has helped a little bit so far. How would you suggest a guy get involved with The Right To Repair Movement ????? Who can I write to, call, or send a $500.00 check to. All I want is not to wate time , energy and money . I will tell you and be honest about the issue of automobile technology, I did not grow up underneath the hood of a car. I am not a Master Tech , like most of you guys on here. I started at this place in 1975, we only did tires, brakes, and alignments. I busted tires for 5 to 8 years . I was blessed with common sense. I do know PROFIT is not a 4 letter word. I have had to learn this stuff just by being around it and keeping my eyes and ears open also a wide open mind. I learn something new everyday. Yesterday I trued 4 tires for a old guy that says no one does that anymore. I just laughed, maybe I am the fool here. I think one of the biggest deals today is the lack of honest shops that feel the actual pain of the consumer. My custommer base is huge , actually to big. I think our industry is exploding and about to really get large although the obsticals in front of us are mounting, fighting these big guys, I am talking about, as some would say Wall Street, I ain't going down without a fight , The Consumer Will always be the looser. I guess at the end of the day , I am just a old Tire guy trying to feed my family, have a little bit left over. Although the number 1 rule in my book is "Ethics and Honesty" I will never waver on those values as long as I am breathing. It is just the way i was taught. Thanks for your input, sometimes we get stuck in a one dimesional way. I am gonna spin and play devil advocate with this emmission stuff, educate myself farther, I probably really do not want to know the whole truth behind it all. What the Heck. Shoot , I gotta go to work, have a good one my friend. David

Harry ,You actually hit the nail on the head, Like the coal miners in WV, we gonna keep your jobs. Two thirds of the population have no idea about these issues and the controls by the powers to be. I understand the complexity of connectivity with all these different platforms. I think the inability of standardization in our industry is killing the small guy. I am frustrated with this at the moment. That is the first time I ever purchased something that was copyright infringed that i was aware of. I still pay for my music on my phone. The thing that worries me is proprietism that the franchise dealerships are forcing down the consumer's throat. I am not a full line diesel shop, I just take care of my customers, he was in a bind. The dealerships around here have these things lined up for weeks, 3 of them told him it would be 2 weeks before they could look at it. I hear about these stories all the time , it is only the 3rd one I have been involved in, the last 2 I sent to the stealership. As bad as I hate to admit it if I owned a diesel I would yank this crap off tommrrow and not deal with the issue. I do have a account who has 13 sprinters the 07 models were fine, he bought a whole new fleet in 2012, now he is having nightmares with the particulate filters,9 of these are North of 100k. Three have had filters stop up, lack of regen, or the injector line is bad. I pulled one apart and cleaned a few out. I certainely am not interested in arguing that issue with the Al Gore coalition , I just see some issues down the road actually I think they may be here . I only see this trend becoming worse. Lordy, Lordy.

Had one of my good customers drive up in 13 GMC 3500 duramax in limp mode. Scanned it, DEF heater code . replaced the heater went to reset with Verus , still in limp mode. I send to dealer to resett DEF, they say looks like bed ECM/BCM . I go pick up truck/ reflash at my shop with J box, take to another local diesal guy we go in with these snap on scanners, still nothing. Customer starting to get irritated about this, not pissed at me me just the whole def thing. He says, i am going to drive it 50 miles to this guy who can turn this def stuff off. I say, have at it. I was looking online at a Corvette forum about a cloned Tech 2 he purchased on Fleabay. I was like ,wth, so i 2 day aired me this $380 tech 2 scanner to my house. I literally walk out to the truck unbox this thing ,I have never used a tech 2 in my life. Go right into the heater codes , reset the 3 heaters and bingo no DEF light , vehicle is out of limp mode. I am sitting here typing this going why in the world would I pay 6 grand for a verus that will not reset a DEF light. My mind is really thinking now. My Snap on guy is a great guy although I am about to go at it with Snap On . This is crazy to me. I have zero confidence in this machine today. I really think this industry is changing so fast, it is warp speed !!!!

Sparker, You bring up a very interesting topic, Tire Rack forced ATD into internet tire sales called Tire Buyer. I personally feel TR lost ground because of the cost of tire shipping. So to answer your question you should definetly have all options open, most will agree the tire business is lower profit than repair and maintence . I actually restructured my tire sales 5 years ago and just went to fair pricing great service , you will never win the lowest guy in town guy. You should just get a copy of the price and text or email it to your supplier. It is a game that has been played for the last 30 years. Get on a tire program if possible, I personally dont like them although it does bring some $$$$ onto the bottom line. I have been a Michelin Mast guy for 30 years. I am also on programs with Cooper , General, Goodyear and Toyo. The Michelin Mast program is argubally the best one out there. I have some serious issues with the Michelin program although unfortunetly it is the best one for the average size independent. Most all guys that have been in this business for years will tell you the tire business is one crazy business. PS / I bought 32- 205/55r16 China built tires last week for $10.71 each, the bottom line tire's have been elevated in quality, big time. After all these years I still do not understand some of the crazy things in the tire business. Good Luck

With the challenges of parts purchasing we face has anyone used a ecommerce company that is hands down better than all the ones advertised. I find myself spending countless hours on this. Thanks.

Jeff is spot on, I call them center of influence customers, identify them, then ask them to send you one of their friends. You will increase your count. Be consistant and smile.

MSpec, Thanks for your help, my gross is 1,275 a year. I guess after all these years I have become complacent. I am on a fact finding mission as we speak. One thing you mentioned is spending some coin for good help. I am completely lost on that, my inside guy has been with me for 17 years although that is coming to a end very shortly. What are these assistant guys starting out at 30's , 40's. 50's etc. I have not tracted that info, in my search for a replacemen . I am out of tune with the pay these guys and gals are making. My techs are at 35% , which is basically $35 a hour. I am in the process of instilling a bonus program for them. I have spoke to my dealership service manager friends although they push ,push push customers. I do not personally like that sales technique. I am trying to fiqure out a way to make this thing go smoother as a team. My dealership friend says start a assistant manager off in the mid 30's, with some kind of attainable goal. My last guy got very complacent and would not reach any goals. I really think there is a fine line between selling and ramming it down the customer throat, I prefer not to sell the later way. My business is a small town with me knowing the core group of customers pretty well, first name basis. I just started closing on Sat. Oct 1, had a small amount off pushback from 2 customers , went back and looked at there volume and really think I am better without them. Any ideas on how to replace this guy and what his pay scale or formular should be would greatly be appreciated. Thanks David

That is what I was thinking !!! I did not give my exact numbers on my post, it is 1.275 Gross. I really think gross wise I am topped out. I like the idea and that was actually the way I have been leaning. Thanks for the input.

Ok guys I am looking for some advice from different people with some different ideas. I am not grasping at straws just want some different ideas from other parts of the US. My dad opened this location in 1961 I have worked their since 1975. Dad retired in 96, My problem is my customer base is to large and it is working me long hours, to long. I just lost my right hand man of 17 years , he wants to try his own gig, Good Luck. My customer base is very very large. I am doing between 1 to 1.5 mil a year. I am really thinking about going to appointment only, selecting about 75% of my customer base , the really good ones and just cater to them, apointment only. I got a bout 5000k customers in my database . Have any of you guys tried this . It has completely got out of control, actually effecting some quality control issues. We are turning profits, not as much as 10 years ago, although that will be no good when I am in the ground. How have some of you guys dealt with this. I know I am not the first one have this problem. I got some ideas running through my head I just want to make the correct move.My labor rate just went to 100 dollars hour and not slowing down customers are just as happy as ever. I really appreciate your time to read this, I thank you in advice for any input.

well unfortunately in all my 40 years nothing's easy about new customers, I have posted this before. It will cost you one oil change. I have circled in my list of about 50 customers I refer as to my Centers of Influence. I go to there work and tell them how great customer they are, I appreciate all they do for me trust , the same old thing, I then say Mr. so and so, I want you to think of one the members at the country club you stay all day or the rodeo you help with, golfing buddies, whatever. And just say, you have always been my perfect customer, could you please think about some of your friends, men or women that need a good shop to handle their cars needs. Give them a complimentary oil change to give the prospective customer, you will generally have a new customer on your list Just make sure that center of influence guy is a good one. You will be amazed , that guy will tell that new customer you invented the car engine, younger Henry Ford. Another thing I do is get my haircut at a barbershop that has 4 to 6 barbers in there, I send them lunch about 1 time a year, that referral is dynamite as well. I have found in my area people are starving for honest shop owners that run a ethical business. See Ya David

Maybe time for this fellow to make as we say a career change. Good Luck.