Gary A

I never had any problems until we started torquing them. I guess it is easy to get sidetracked and forget without a procedure in place. I had 2 come back loose over the years and now one where the wheel came off. Procedure will be in place now. Thanks for your responses.

Nice!

Hello All

Can you tell me what your procedures of verifying proper wheel torque in your shop?

What do you require your techs to do to prevent forgetting to torque them once the car hits the ground?

Also where do you get the torque specs from?

I am looking for either a book that just has wheel torque or some type of wall chart so that techs can access this information quickly. I have a chart that came with the torque sticks but it is outdated and looking it up in Mitchell takes too much time.

Thanks

Gary

This is cool. A Chevy dealer in Nebraska with lots of brand new cars for sale from the 50's to late 70's. It was good that these people waited for the internet to be in full swing to sell these cars!

We actually have the busiest street in our town in front of us, 30k cars/day and I cant remember getting a drive by customer ever.

I'm sorry but I don't understand this part of your post.

What’s next, the flying car?

Yeah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KeXRGhhKDGs#!

I have Quickbooks 2012, Integrator cost is 29 per month

Integrator is available now for Manager SE. I just upgraded a few weeks ago. I have used it for many years with 5.9. It imports all payments and invoices from manager and eliminates manual entry of them. I am not sure about the inventory functions as I don't have Manager Plus with inventory. I am not sure that I understand your post in reference to using both at the same time. I use Manager because it is designed specifically for automotive repair business with many features for that type of business. Mitchell does not do accounting that's where QuickBooks is needed. Customer invoices are printed from Manager. Any questions you have I'm sure I could answer for you.

http://mitchell1.com/main/manager-home/quickbooks-integrator/

http://mitchell1.com/press/?p=1402

Try going to the dealer and not get charged for diag time, and they still make lots of money!

The customers that like to go to the dealer are the ones we want. To be honest all of the dealers I go to if I happen to go out for parts are very busy. Most of the customers we see that dont like the dealer are the ones who dont want to spend money either. We need to present ourselves as professionals so we can bring the right type of customers to us. We need to do more than the I'll do it cheaper approach which is going to hurt our bottom line and reason of why we are in business.

Don't buy into the lie that you cant find good help. When I began hiring I went through many people and it seemed hopeless. After time and perserverance though I did find 2 great employees and it was not about the money either. I tried offering more money at one point and that was not the answer. Just keep trying and searching and the right people will come your way. I will say the cell phone issue is a tough one

Great job on the new update Alex!

Hello,

I have a new website and would appreciate any feedback you guys could give me. I actually liked the look of my old website better, but the new guy I hired said the site coding was outdated. I do plan on making changes to the content as we go along. A lot of the things that are on it I don't like from a technician's viewpoint (IE Picture of diesel injection pump, some of the services listed). He told me not to worry we will review the performance in a few months and make any changes that are necessary. My biggest obstacle is the time it takes to write the content for the website. The good thing is that it is getting the phone to ring. I am not looking for feedback on looks or graphics as these have very little to do with it's performance. I want to use the website and tailor it to bring the right customers in. As with any advertising it seems to bring in a lot of price conscious customers which can be very difficult for a shop that focuses on quality and doing the job right.

www.littlefallsautoservice.com

We've been working on the next chapter for AutoShopOwner, which includes an ovehaul of our website, which was put together with the idea that bigger is better! Today's modern computer screens are bigger and allow for a fluid width websites and the ability to fit more on the screen. We have had the option here of moving to a fluid layout for some time (extended option lower left of this site) but that hasn't been our standard. In addition it's time to bring in some new features and some back end improvements to allow us to manage this community more efficiently as it grows. We will be launching the new website in the coming weeks, but I wanted to share some pictures of the new layout with everyone before hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alex when I try to view your screenshots I get this message: [#10171] You do not have permission to view this attachment

Be glad they thought enough about you to call. DON'T burn that bridge. Send him a Thank You for his Business and referrals card right now. I ve got people that don't spend any money to speak of in my shop that have referred THOU$AND$ of dollars a year worth of jobs to me.

I agree with Frogfinder Have a chiropractor that my whole family goes to that has his own personal guy who does all the work on his cars. He has told me so and since I respect his choice I don't bother him about it. But this chiropractor's staff all come to us and have our cards on their desk and refer work

I don't think Joe is referring to someone who sends customers to him but rather someone who he has had the opportunity to meet and pursue a business relationship with, another business owner who probably should be treating Joe how he would like to be treated.

Joe I totally understand your frustration. It's almost as if people do not want you to make money.

There is no right or wrong answer on this one. These and many other situations that we find ourself in have to be taken on a case by case basis. The truth is most of the phone calls for price do not turn into jobs whether you give the price or not. Some people are just harder to work with than others. Let's face it we're all business owners who have to watch our finances and for most people price is always at the top of their priority list. There were a couple of times where people came in and if I acted how I did in the past I probably would have wrote them off as "not my target customer" but by changing my attitude and resisting what I really wanted to do I "pursued the relationship" with a customer that brought his own part and hounded me about the price. I'm now working on car #4 with this customer and I have gained his trust and am charging what I need to. But yes there are those people who will just not be your customer no matter how hard you try....

Good one Frank. Here's something I read the other day. I'm sure you guys will enjoy

Faith.doc

I have a potential job from a local body shop that I do business with. Car was hit in the front, body shop replaced bumper, rad, hood etc. When he got done, no heat. Looks like it may need a head gasket. I already flushed the system with new coolant, it was nasty looking and smelled. I'm just wondering if it's even worth getting involved with the insurance company paying. I just read through other posts of dealing with the insurance companies. I will try some of the things that I read.

Bringing in a lot of traffic. So far one good job and a new customer as well. Also the customers are usually driving later model vehicles and are most likely good leads for me.

Hi RyanGMW! Welcome to the site!

I am rather new here... but I couldn't help but respond. It's such great news to hear an auto repair shop that's going 'gangbusters'! Keep it up! The only comment I would like to make is this. I know you're busy. I know you've got a lot on your plate. But make the effort to start working on your customer retention, customer referral programs and stuff like that.

 

SooOOooOooo many times, shops call me looking for that 'quick fix'. You know... just the good stuff in marketing that works fast! Yeah. No such thing. Maybe that Unicorn can help them.

 

Don't get caught in the trap of not marketing. I am not wishing or hoping a change in your fortune. But don't wait until you need it. Get a system in place now. You can always 'turn it down'... or 'crank it up'.

 

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

Matthew

Couldn't agree more with this post, It's so true...Marketing is key

This is something I had thought about doing. Great idea!

Sounds like this verse from the bible

Matthew 25:14-29 NIV

"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "The man with two bags of gold also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. "'So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

http://host.oddcast....90705f2efcc16b8

Hey guys check out this oil container system from Shell. I was at a local tire store yesterday and saw this

Shell Ecobox

Don’t Assume Customers Prefer Emails

 

Emails are a great way to communicate to your customers, especially with service reminders and recommendations. But, don’t blindly assume that customers prefer email correspondence or that the customer even reads their emails in a timely manner.

 

Many people, especially with home email addresses, don’t check their emails daily. And when they finally get to them, the “in box” is loaded with a back log of emails and your service reminder email may be missed as the customer quickly scans the emails and hits the delete button. Business people live by emails and text, that’s different.

 

At write up, particularly with first time customers, ask what form of communication the customer prefers and get permission for either: Email, Text, or Post card. We have many people who when asked for their use email, say yes and give us the email address. But when asked how they would prefer their service reminders, they tell us, “Post Card please.”

 

More and more shops are using text programs to remind people of appointments and to communicate with the customer. This technology has its place too. Again, just make sure you discuss with the customer that you use this technology and ask their permission to opt in.

 

One more thought, because of all the spam and junk emails we get, email may not be as effective as it once was. Post cards reminders and recommendations still have their place with CRM marketing.

Joe,

Great post. This is something that I have been thinking about. I was advised by my Mitchell CRM rep to put a coupon on my service reminders. I never get people responding to these reminders. I encourage them to bring it in and be entered int a drawing for a free oil change. I dont think many are reading the email service reminders. I like your idea of giving them options. They do come back for service though, maybe some just like the sticker