TOMSAWYERAUTO

That's exactly what we're doing. Sign on door for customers to know masks are required. Office staff and mechanics wear them in the office whenever a customer is present. The techs do not wear them in the shop, nor would I expect them to. Its hard enough wearing them in an office environment, the shop would be brutal. Talking on the phone is tough, its sound muffled all the time.

Thanks for all your feedback. I think we're all saying & doing virtually the same things, finding the sweet spot for our specific shops. I was hoping there was a magic recipe that maybe I was missing, but I guess not. Seems we're all in the same boat when it comes to trying to schedule an orderly day but I guess the right combination of all those things works for all of us.

YES. We have two shops in southeastern Pennsylvania. We were hit hard during the peak of the Covid pandemic. Although we were considered essential and allowed to remain open, our phones stopped ringing entirely. We didn't have work so we couldn't remain open. We closed for just over a month. We reopened a few weeks ago and we're seeing things bounce back slowly but surely. We struggled quite a bit during this pandemic, we worried quite a bit during this pandemic; we do not want to go back there again. We have signs on our office doors stating that masks must be worn upon entry. We aren't fooling ourselves that masks and gloves will complete prevent us from catching or spreading the virus entirely, but we'd rather play it safe and do our part. We've implemented policy changes, removed waiting room chairs, placed complimentary masks on our counter for customers that forget to bring them, stopped allowing in-office waiting, etc. This isn't just for them, its for us as well. In addition, most of our customers are wearing masks themselves and want to see this from us - they feel safer seeing us practice safe distancing, wearing gloves and masks, etc., It instills a sense of security in our customers, & we're happy to do it!

Hi all, I feel like this is a broad question but I'm curious as to how other shops manage "scheduling". This has been the bane of our existence for years, searching for the perfect formula so that we won't overwhelm or underwhelm ourselves on a day-to-day basis, and yet the secret to this still eludes us. Do you use software that manages the daily car capacity for you based on the type of jobs scheduled? Do you manually manage the intake? How do you allot time for inspections when some can take 45 minutes and others could last several hours if much work is required to pass inspection? Or dealing with delivery delays on top of an already tight schedule? We've been in business for many, many years and obviously what we're doing is working - but I guess I'm just looking for feedback as to how we could improve this for increased efficiency. I've been thinking about upgrading our software to include a scheduling component but I'm not sure if this would be worthwhile or further limiting. Thoughts and feedback would be most appreciated!!!

I'm just curious what other shop owners charge for shop supply fees. In the past, I've heard various responses; some charge a percentage of the total bill (parts and labor), some charge just a percentage of labor, others charge a flat fee. We've tried a low flat fee in the past but that doesn't prove to even make a dent towards covering the cost of shop supplies. We switched to a small percentage and found that we netted about the same because the quantity of large $ tickets balanced out with the quantity of low $ tickets. Looking to make another change that will prove worthwhile but wanted to get some feedback first. We're in the Eastern PA area. Thanks so much.

Well in fairness, I should say our pay is "commensurate with experience". If a guy is asking for let's say $27/hour and the skills and experience he has are worth it, we'll pay it. I guess it just depends on what the candidate is bringing to the table, however we're open to at least considering any salary a candidate is looking for. Honestly we just can't seem to find anyone qualified. The ones that do apply have less experience, licenses, etc than we want, and the qualified ones that have come through seem to be looking for "managerial" type positions. They clearly want something different than we want. We can't seem to find the person in the middle.

I'm just curious but I'd like to know how others are finding mechanics to hire? What types of media or job advertising? Online versus print? Schools, etc...? I'm located in Montgomery County, PA and we're having the most difficult time finding qualified help. We ask our tool guys, sales reps, etc and advertise on online job boards - but we find the pickins are slim. It's not a money issue; we're willing to pay top dollar for those that are worth it, we just can find any that are even close. We have a fairly full crew but we have room for 1 more and finding this last piece to the puzzle has been proving to be exhausting. We either find those without much experience or those that have plenty of experience but set in their ways & unwilling to learn new ways... Any ideas that might prove helpful would be much appreciated..! Thanks!