Truett

A very smart man once told me.... “You can bend over so far you fall on your face”. With some people you just can not please them no matter what you do.

I was relaying what one of my old bosses did. I set a price and that is the best price we can do . Sorry but do not negotiate a price down. If I could I would have done a better price the first time. This is why I do not price match. If you can match a lower price or negotiate down you lied the first time about your best price. Just my feeling on the subject. We always put honesty first. Just my ethics.

Had a boss one time that would always inflate the cost to an Asian customers 20% and when they asked for “discount” would give them 10%.. They loved him and sent him all their friends. Called it a handling fee......

Looking for anyone's experience with UniFirst. Have a really good quote from them but have had such bad experience with uniform company's that I am gun shy......

For those of you who have stopped your uniform service and are still supplying shirts and pants to their employees, what type of pants and where did you buy them and at what price. I have had it with uniform companies. Over charge and under produce. I have always supplied uniforms to my employees. I supply shirts and the uniform company supplies the pants. At the end of next month my contract is over and need to supply the team with pants. Any Ideas?

Well.....My low end techs (oil changers and tire people) have come up to 55% from about 40%. My "B" techs are now doing around 60% and my lead techs that were below 50% are now running 62-65%. Amazing how that works isn't it.... They are trying really hard to get that $100 bonus for over 60% for the month. Hope this keeps up. Will let you know. Richard

I do not know about the labor rules in your state, but in Illinois we also have to pay overtime (1.5 x bonus hourly rate) on the bonus. Don’t forget about it as it can become costly if you get audited. I was audited last year and thank goodness i had done it correctly.

I feel this, done that been there.

Well i guess I will find out how it works. I implemented it starting Oct 1....so we will see

We have tried to show them what their numbers were and what their production is, but if it does not affect them directly they don't want to "Change the status quo ". I feel I have to shake thing up. Want I wanted to know is how this new plan compares to other shops. I have only worked in this system or a full flat rate system. I was very productive in both but always have been self motivated. As for a Win, If they just reach a 60% level they can be close to their old numbers and if they reach 75% they can make more (and so can I). I am going to approach it in that manor. Richard

Yes I think I will have to start Recruiting. I know it is an Uphill battle to get the moral back but if they want a job it may have to be this way or will not be in business for much longer.

You are correct, I meant to say production not efficiency.. My problem stems from an old pay system left over from the former owner that was a Goodyear plan used at company stores. We pay x dollars per hour and 7% commission on total ticket. Exception is tires. No commission for techs on tires. The techs are making enough that they do not feel any urgency to get work done in a timely manor. I pay them, most times, more they the make the shop. Mostly they do two clock hours or more for each flag hour they turn. So unmotivated is what I feel they are. Hoping this will kick start more production. There efficiency is poor also. I was a line tech in my past life and I did turn the 135% week in and week out on full flat rate. Mostly they turn less then 20 hours in a 40 hour week. There are 3 techs in each one of my stores. A lead "A" tech, a "B" tech and and oil changer / tire guy. I pay them different hourly wages according to their ability. All of them do less then 50% productivity. Richard

I need to change my pay plan for my Technicians from a hourly wage plus a commission on total ticket. This is what I am thinking about. Anyone have any comments? Richard Rollins Forgot to mention we currently are at about 35 to 40 % efficiency. Sorry so large but it was copy and paste..... New Pay Plan The new pay plan will be based on Technicians efficiency. The Technicians will no longer be getting a commission on sales but rather a Bonus based on the ability of the Technician to complete the job in the allotted times. Less then 50 % 0 % Bonus 50 % to 54.99 % 10 % Bonus 55 % to 59.99 % 20 % Bonus 60 % to 64.99 % 30 % Bonus 65 % to 74.99 % 40 % Bonus 75 % or greater 50 % Bonus Also there is going to be a $100.00 Monthly Bonus for anyone staying above the 60% level for the entire month. Percentage amount is based on Hourly Wage. Percentage is figured on Flagged hours divided by Clock hours. Example: 25 Flagged hours divided by 30 Clock hours would be a 83% Efficiency rate. This would be a 50% bonus. 20 Flagged hours divided by 35 Clock hours would be a 57% Efficiency rate. This would be a 20% bonus. 19 Flagged hours divided by 40 Clock hours would be a 48% Efficiency rate. This would not result in a bonus. Overtime would be figured as: ((Hourly Wage + bonus X 40) + ((1.5 X Hourly wage + bonus) X (hours over 40))).

We also pay a commission on total ticket so it is really closer to .5 on a LOF plus commission on what they find if they replace it. A finders fee if it goes to a tech.

We pay .3 for an oil change

🎂 Cake, cake is always good way to celebrate !!!!! No really thanks for all the responses and great posts. Richard

I'm in Illinois, other side of xrac, and we are down 15-20% first 3 months of the year. Route sales guys say it's the same every where they go. Richard

Has anyone tried RepairPal? What were your experiences? Cost? Did it work? I am thinking abut tiring it for my locations. Just need a little information to base a decision on. Thanks, Richard Rollilns

True. We use WorldPay (First Mile). We pay a flat Fee per month ($200) no matter how many we process, then the bank fees. Have saved as much as $500 in both stores from old system (EPX)

We switched to Vonage about a year ago. I have two lines, Internet fax service(love this) and call waiting and voice mail all for only $79.33 pre store per month. I have had Vontage at home for over 5 years and pay $9.95 per month for it. The only time it goes down is when we loose internet or like said before when the dos atack happened. If we have poor connections or any other problems they are there (real People) and they solve the trouble right then. I have fiber in one store and high speed cable ($59.95 per month each store) in the other so do not know how well it works on a slow connection.

Jeff, Let us know what you did and how you are doing. Good Luck Richard

I am also going to have to write a handbook this year. Any and all samples of what you have would be great as a primer. Thanks, Richard [email protected]

We give $500 to managers, $250 to lead techs, $100 to "B" techs, tire and oil changers. Don't forget taxes. Richard

Glad your here. Not real close but same state. We are in Champaign-Urbana. Your up by Dupage College if I remember correctly.

I have thought abut this also. In the major city's I can see this but in the rural community's there is no way. Can you see sending a car 10 miles out into the country to get a farmer then going back. Remember they, milinums want it now not in half and hour. Just my thought.