Transmission Repair
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Posts posted by Transmission Repair
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4 minutes ago, Joe Marconi said:
I know two things about booking the next appointment. First, many struggle with it. And those that do book the next appointment at car delivery increase sales, maintain car counts, and have a better ROI. Why, they focus on the customer right in front of them. We all know that retention is less costly than new customer acquisition.
So why do so many service advisors struggle with this?
This post is slightly off-topic, but I feel there's a lesson I could pass along.
We've discussed transmission repair as being a transactional "one and done" event. While we don't sell the customer for their next major transmission job per se, we do sell and schedule the customer for their next ~10-day recheck. Our service writers never had a problem with doing so. This is not only to road test and check for leaks, but it was one of the stipulations of our 5-year/100K mile warranty. A minor leak today could turn into a major transmission repair tomorrow. It would be on our dime, too.
Something for shops to consider is having a BBB-sponsored arbitration text box on the warranty document or repair order. Check with your local BBB and see if they could help. Our BBB required the BBB arbitration clause to be in a separate text box prominently displayed on the front of the RO or warranty. If they sign the RO/warranty, the customer will receive our 5/100K mile warranty. If, for whatever reason, they don't want to sign the warranty, then they get our 1-year/12,000-mile warranty.
By signing the text box, if a disagreement arises, the customer is giving up any legal means of remedy in favor of a BBB-sponsored neutral arbitration. We never had a problem with it, nor did anybody want to use the BBB as an arbiter. Below is our BBB text box disclaimer. The shop named below is the shop we sold our business to.
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Concerning DVIs...
A customer once told me, “I went to the shop for an oil change, and they came out with a list for thousands of dollar's worth of work. All I wanted was a damn oil change.”
Has anybody else experienced this?
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Joe, that's a terrific story! I sold my business for $330K in 2015 which was not enough to fully retire; I only partially retired. I bought the building and real estate in 2013 for $860K. In 2020 the buyer folded and skipped out on a 10-year lease. Luckily, I was able to sell the building and real estate 7 years (10-year mortgage @5%) after I bought it in 2020 for a whopping $2.3 million. THAT gave me enough for both my wife and me to fully retire. We were able to maintain our pre-retirement lifestyle in our retirement. I wish you all the luck and success with your journey in your career. BTW, please consider becoming a full-fledged member for only $30 bucks a year! I have no financial interest in AutoShopOwner other than my $30/yr. membership.
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Wow! I just looked you up on Yelp! and you had an incredible 4.9 stars with 34 reviews. That speaks volumes not only about your pricing but about your service as well. We need more posts from shops like yours. Share some more and consider joining our group for only $40/yr. I have no financial interest in AutoShopOwner other than my $40 annual membership.
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1 hour ago, RYAN B said:
The Aligner and the rack total is probably close to 90,000. But we use the rack as a lift, we do a fleet of ambulances that get the brakes changed every 10,000 miles and several other fleets that the rack now allows us more headroom and service ability on these fleets. The ceiling height in my shop isn't great so the flush mount rack gives you a few more feet of height plus its 16,000lbs.
Wow! That's a great investment. I can't disagree with your business decision. We all would like for you to share more. Why not blow $40 for an annual membership to AutoShopOwner? You'll make another return on your investment. Just sayin'. I have no financial connection to this forum other than my $40/yr. membership fee.
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Estimating on the low side, 7 weekly alignments would result in a revenue stream of $43,661.80/yr. How much was your new Hunter flush mount alignment machine?
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Another great article from Ratchet & Wrench magazine...
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Another great article by Dennis Madden, recently retired CEO of ATRA. There is also a 15-minute video embedded into the article... https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/your-greatest-challenge-the-essential-steps-for-project-completion/
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Although we use itemized invoices, the truth is that the average consumer judges if a transmission shop is too expensive by simple stuff, they have some idea what's ok is stuff like ATF, etc. For these reasons, we don't add garbage fees like waste oil disposal, shop supplies, etc.
The markup in most parts covers selling ATF at parts store cost, and the other garbage fees. (60% G.P.) It worked extremely well for us. It's hard to believe that pricing simple stuff like ATF, will virtually make any bottom line appear to be a good deal. Remember, like the collision business, we are transaction-related, not relationship-related. "One and Done."
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It's a great article from a CPA. Attached below...12 Deadly Sins-2.pdf
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Your advice is a sound strategy. However, a lot of younger techs who become shop owners may not agree. Our industry needs people like you, who also train. Keep doing what you do. Invaluable advice.
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On 9/16/2019 at 9:54 AM, tco said:
Hi,
My company just became a sponsor on AutoShopOwner. I just read your prior post and thought I'd reach out. My company, Loma Solutions, represents a 0% credit card fee solution. We have 1000's of customers in the US and our solution makes auto shop owners thousands of extra dollars every year.
How does 0% processing work?
When your customer decides to pay with a card, they have 2 options. If they use a credit card, a small percentage of the transaction will be charged to their card. If they use a debit card, there will be no fee to the customer. Our software does all the work and explains to the customer of their choice prior to the card being authorized.
What exactly are the costs to the merchant and to the customer?
For credit cards: Merchant pays zero credit card fees, the customer pays 3.5%
For debit cards: Merchant pays 1% + $0.25/authorization, the customer pays 0 fees
Facts:
- A card swiper is not needed: credit card information can be typed in a phone or computer or over the phone. There is a 'brick' card swiper if needed*
- No set-up costs or any other fees
- Our agreement is month-to-month
- If you auto batch by 8:00 PM EST, you get your money the next day
- The solution complies with all card rules and regulations
- We'll have you up-and-running within a week
Benefits to the Merchant:
*** You are being fair to your customer by offering them a choice to pay a fee or not, while you are eliminating your credit card fees, which can be up to 2.5% of your total card sales.
- Simple to use and all charges are viewable through our real-time online portal.
- Support: our team is there when you need us. We will show you and anyone on your team how to use the solution, but it’s very straight forward.
Making you more money!
If your current credit card fees are 2.5% of your total card sales, for every $50,000 in credit card transactions, you'll put an extra $1,250 in your pocket.
* we will provide you with a ‘brick’ terminal: $35/month if needed. This includes free paper re-supplies.
Is there a good time that you like to speak on a call? Please let me know when works best.
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If I could call just one automotive article a complete seminar, this would be the article. It was a very good article with some absolutely great books to read.
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Great webinar. My main goals at this stage of my life (retirement) are health-related. Can I get a link to the slides used in the webinar?
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https://www.ratchetandwrench.com/site-placement/home/article/11461933/not-for-profit
The topic title is a little tongue-in-cheek. 🙂
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1 hour ago, Joe Marconi said:
I recently spoke to a shop owner who told me his techs give him pushback on performing the multipoint inspection (MPI). After a few questions, I think I revealed the REAL problem. His techs are paid Flat-Rate, and not being compensated to do the MPI. When on flat rate, every minute means earned pay. However, is it a flat rate issue or a culture and leadership problem? Or the wrong employees?
I realize that time must be compensated on that type of pay system, but what about the customer and their safety?
I don't believe in the flat-rate system. We paid by the clock hour. Unless the transmission issue was obvious, I usually did the diagnosing myself. I was the most experienced tech in our shop and was deathly afraid of misdiagnosis if I didn't diagnose it myself. One job stands out in my mind.
THE STORY: We had an AWD Audi towed into the shop for no movement. We were busy and my lead tech diagnosed it as a major transmission problem. After removing and disassembling the transmission, he could find no cause for the no movement condition. He found only normal wear and tear for a 150K mile transmission. That scared the crap out of me as I was thinking I should have diagnosed the problem.
We did the normal R&R and rebuild with no hard parts. After the transmission was installed back in the vehicle there was still no movement. I got into the vehicle on the lift and noticed the speedometer was registering speed, but as soon as we lowered the vehicle on the ground, still no movement, but the speedo said it was.
Long story made short; the right front axle had stripped where it goes into the front diff. We replaced the axle and all was good. That was a phone call I didn't want to make. I called the customer up and explained what happened. He was fairly savvy because he was a diehard Porsche-Audi fan. I was going to seriously reduce the price due to our error, but he asked about our 5yr./100K warranty. I said for the reduced price, I could only offer a 12mo./12K mile warranty. He was emphatic about getting the longer warranty. In the end, he agreed to pay full price to get the longer warranty. Feeling bad about the misdiagnosis, we ate the axle and labor.
That's one of the reasons I like to diagnose transmission problems myself. It seemed obvious to my tech at first, but his mistake almost cost me a job, and a customer.
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54 minutes ago, Joe Marconi said:
I think the past few years have told us that consumers, in general, want their cars repaired and serviced with a high degree of quality, a fair price, and a good experience. Let's face it, labor rates have gone up a lot for many shops around the country, but with little pushback from loyal customers.
But, is this a complete picture? I am not sure, while labor is more accepted in the mind of the consumer, aren't part prices still an issue since it's easily researched, such as on Google, Amazon, Rock Auto, etc.?
With automatic transmission repair, part prices aren't easily looked up online like G/R is. What our customers looked at was our bottom line. The few that did look up part prices online would look up the price of a complete transmission and weigh that compared to what we charged. We rarely had an issue with our prices, although we got top dollar for what we did.
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Concerning a new shop location, listen to, or read...
https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/newsletters/follow-the-sound-of-bulldozers/
Read my other posts about selecting a good location. "Expensive rent is the cheapest advertising you can buy."
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HUMOR AT ITS FINEST!... (2:14)
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1 hour ago, Waynes Garage said:
What about shop supplies, if you charge them, if you see fit, to raise it by 1 - 2 % to cover cc fees?
This is a quote of mine from another post I made...
There were several items I "buried" in either parts, labor, or both because listing them separately would raise eyebrows. Items like...
- Shop supplies
- Waste oil disposal
- Towing (because we advertised free towing)
- Chemicals
- Gas in customer's cars
- Credit/Debit card fees
- and other incidentals...
were never listed separately, but the customer did pay. I never had a problem doing it that way."
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We didn't have too much of a problem with parts because we were a transmission repair shop. The few times I did run into an inordinate amount of time for locating a part, I didn't charge extra per se. What I did was to increase the markup in most hard-to-find parts. Nobody ever complained.
There were several items I "buried" in either parts, labor, or both because listing them separately would raise eyebrows. Items like...
- Shop supplies
- Waste oil disposal
- Towing (because we advertised free towing)
- Chemicals
- Gas in customer's cars
- Credit/Debit card fees
- and other incidentals...
were never listed separately, but the customer did pay. I never had a problem doing it that way.
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21 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:
Charging extra for plastic goes against the written merchant agreement.
Well, I guess I'm wrong about charging extra for plastic. We recently received our property tax notice and they charge extra for paying our property tax with plastic. They call them "bank fees" and charge 2.45% for credit cards and 1% for debit cards.
Performing DVIs
in Management Software, Web Sites & Internet
Posted
I mean no disrespect, but you may be hurting your business instead of helping it. How would you feel if you went into a shop for something minor and they came back with a laundry list of needed repairs? If it were my shop, I would only mention safety-related items.
Just by virtue of the customer coming in for an oil change, tells me they want to take care of their vehicle. I would be treating the customer like I would want to be treated. If they get hit with big-ticket estimates trying to be sold every time they pick up their vehicle, I would hazard a guess they would eventually find another shop to do business with.
I'm not trying to tell you how to run your business or find fault how you position your shop in the marketplace. If I offended you, please forgive me.