Joe Marconi

A powerful show, and one that can affect anyone! 

For all the veteran shop owners who have been around the block a few times, and have experienced the roller-coasted rides of being an auto repair shop owner, what advice could you give those shop owners just starting out or planning to go into their own business? 

21 hours ago, tomkatv10 said:

With the amount of cars that are dropped off every morning (most at the same time, mind you), it would create a serious backlog at the front counter if I implemented that. Plus, with the amount my service advisors have to do now in a day, they’d probably quit if I added another job to their list. And, we have a lot of after hours drop offs to consider. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to this question. It all comes down to how your shop processes are set. We’ve talked about this in team meetings and the techs would rather make those checks themselves, anyway. 

This makes sense. I had two locations when I was in Business. A 4-bay and an 11 Bay shop.  The 4 bay, with lower car counts and the way the facility was constructed, it was possible to greet customers and perform an initial walk around MPI. With my 11 bay shop, and with the amount of drop offs and check-ins, it just wasn't possible.  Plus, the way customers entered the parking lot, it just would not work.

I agree with you: There is no one way to run a successful business.  

On 2/22/2023 at 3:26 PM, newport5 said:

Regarding “My strategy was to price the (European) work so high, the customer would be the person saying "no" and not me.”

While that strategy makes sense to a shop owner, let me add this.  I want to encourage a panel discussion at an upcoming auto conference on improving the perception of our industry. I started a list of talking points and overcharging is one of them. And that strategy looks exactly like overcharging. When the customer checks a European repair shop, they obviously decide you are overcharging. And our industry looks bad. I believe we need to fix that. For the benefit of all of us.

Thoughts?

Side note: we're a German car repair shop in Orange County , California and German cars are EVERYWHERE !!!

That would be a worthwhile discussion and lead to many different strategies and opinions.

I do agree we need to fix our image, but it has come a long way in the last 30 to 40 years, since I started as a young tech in the Bronx, NY.  I can also say, that from my experience, the more value I gave to the customer, the less price was an issue. You can't charge whatever you want., But if the value exceeds the price, you just made a happy customer.  

This discussion will no doubt go in many directions, but it is a great topic! 

44 minutes ago, newport5 said:

I read the post to mean: start the vehicle inspection. But the only mention is tires and wiper blades. And re tires, the tires have to be pretty much turned to see enough of the tires. Unless the advisor gets on his knee to look closer. It seems like saving under 5 minutes.

I DO like taking a pic of the dash for warning lights. So many customers “forget” about their check engine light.

Re: “And do they begin to discuss what services are due?“ I believe THAT should be done when making the appointment. Get the current mileage when making the appointment then look at the recommendations: spark plugs, brake fluid flush, air filter, etc? Handle that THEN to get it into the quote so the tech can start on those additional things right away.

God point, and I agree. There are also times when customers make appointments online, and depending on that process, the customer will usually list only what he or she thinks they need. Also, unsheduled walkins for existing customers should include looking up vehicle history and recommendations. Great comments! 

21 minutes ago, adam12 said:

Joe, The service writer will look at and take pictures of anything odd with the exterior during their walkaround. Their discussion with the customer about any services due occurs after the tech addresses the customers complaint and performs their multi point inspection. The service writer then will prioritize safety and maintenance needed. 

Thank you. Great process!

Thank you Larry! Appreciate it!

12 hours ago, carmcapriotto said:

I know shop owners who are paying more attention to this. Our world can be unforgiving, and it is best that we practice and keeps a safe facility. No one wants to be the example heard around the world.

Carm, I agree. This is a very important topic. And as was pointed out on your podcast, "It's always the other guy that got caught."  No so.  And even if we never have an OSHA visit, we still need to provide a safe workplace for our team. 

50 minutes ago, Transmission Repair said:

In 40 years in automotive, I've never had, nor know anyone, who has had an OSHA inspection.  I've heard they do happen.  Or... perhaps I and my shop owner friends are just lucky.

Lucky. My friend.  Lucky.

If you are going to Vision in March, please stop by the Elite booth and say hello to Kevin Vaught, Tom Amero and the new Owner of Elite, Darrin Barney! 

Also, two great training sessions by Elite...

High Impact Service Advisor Sales Course - Tom Amero and Darrin Barney

March 2nd, 1:00 pm-5:00 pm
People buy from people, not companies. As a Service Advisor, what you say and HOW you say it has a huge impact on whether or not people move forward with doing business at your shop!  In this class, we will help you generate higher profits through increased sales, more repeat business, and more referral business. We will talk about how to ethically build relationships with your customers and how you can help them view you as a trusted credible expert. This course will be led by Tom Amero, an Elite Certified Sales Trainer. With over a decade of sales, sales training, and leadership experience, he will help Service Advisors build their confidence and gain the tools they need to create more success.   Come to this training and let's get your Advising skills to the next level!

The Care and Feeding of your Superstar Techs and Advisors - Darrin Barney   

March 3rd, 8:00 am - 11:30 am 

Everyone knows how important your team is for the success of your business.  But in reality, how many people are able to find and most importantly, keep those superstars once they get them on their team?   Darrin Barney will show you a road map that will allow you to find, keep and grow your most important asset..  Your employees.    Darrin and his team have grown his shop to one of the largest independently owned auto repair facilities in North America, and they have customers, literally around the world.  His unparalleled success quickly caught the attention of the industry, and it’s brought about his being featured in countless podcasts and nationally published articles, he’s been on the cover of Auto Inc. magazine, and he’s spoken at number of the industry’s largest events.  He is also currently the President of Operations at Elite.  Here are a few of the topics that Darrin will be discussing.

ELITE WORLDWIDE

 A great and relevant topic. A must-listen to podcast for all shop owners! 

When I was in business, each year for 41 years, we experienced a slow down in February. The reasons are many, but by the second week of March, things went back to normal.   

However, from what I am hearing from some shop owners, they are concerned. They point to riding this wave of business since coming out of COVID, and fear that the wave may become a trickle. 

What is your opinion?  Good times are still here? Should we be concerned? 

42 minutes ago, weighit said:

When I was a service writer, we used to have a China marker in our pocket, when first talking with the owner, we would invite the owner to walk around the car with us,pointing out any chips, dings or issues in the body, as we used the marker on the paint. Did two things, allowed us to make sure it was going to leave with the same amount of damage it came in with, gave us a bit of time to discuss the car, look at the tires, check the mileage and lights on the dash and overall condition, before it ever got into the repair shop. Once the car was finsihed being written up, then the camera came out and photos taken. Since each writter was making a commission on total ticket sales, we were tuned in on really looking at the car.   

Great info! Thank you!

51 minutes ago, adam12 said:

Our service advisors start the inspection with a minimum of 4 pictures of the exterior, a picture of the odometer, and a picture of the dash with the car running to identify whether any warning lights are presently on or not. 

Nice! Do they also look at tires, exterior, etc.?  And do they begin to discuss what services are due? 

19 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:

This wasn't really a problem in our shop because of the low volume of vehicles that came through our shop.  Yes, our service advisors had the same whirlwind of tasks, but with only averaging 25 tickets a week, it was not overwhelming.  Conversely, general repair shops will write 25 or more tickets a day.  I can easily see how all the tasks could be overwhelming.

I would however, still help out the service advisor in a background capacity.  What I mean by that is that I would help doing tasks that didn't involve speaking to the customer.  We had a rule in our shop that "Whoever first talks to the customer, stays with the customer." meaning the customer never ever talks to more than one person unless it was a complaint of some kind.

I would help mainly road testing and diagnosis.  I also, from time to time, I would be helping out writing estimates and ordering parts.  I would occasionally do those tasks to set an example for my service advisor in a "monkey-see, monkey-do" atmosphere.  In closing, I do agree that if a service advisor is overloaded, it will certainly hurt sales.

You bring up a good point, it may depend on the business model. I guess for high volume shops, this may be more of an issue. But, as you point out, any help would be appreciated and also help overall workflow. 

Is there are advantage for the service advisor starting the multipoint process, if at all possible?  For example, the service advisor is writing up the car and performs a walk around, takes a few photos of the exterior, take a look a the tires, looks for damage, maybe an obvious torn wiper, etc.?

Would this speed up the process and build value? Again, this may be hard to do for some shops.

Thoughts and comments? 

I was talking to a shop owner at the Elite Fly with the Eagles course this past week, and said that he feels that his service advisors do too much, and sales are suffering.  Between answering phones, scheduling customers, checking in customers, building estimates, finding the parts, car delivery, on and on, it's a whirlwind of tasks.

I tend to agree. I know is may be hard to do, but how can we get the help the advisor needs, or redefine the position?

Let's face it, no one or no entity will help us with the Tech shortage. The truth is, this is not new. This shortage has been created largely from decades of steering young people to college, and not the trades.  I believe we need to get involved with apprenticeship programs. Below is an article in Motor Magazine.

Your thoughts? Comments?

You can't pick up a newspaper or watch the news on TV without reading or watching something about the state of the economy. No matter how this was caused, or whether we are in a recession now, or it is coming, will the state of the economy affect the Auto Repair business?

Are we recession-proof as so many say we are? Or should we prepare ourselves for tough times ahead?  

2 hours ago, cooterdavenport1 said:

Yes. I've been told I'll have to house servers for Mitchell or other on-premise systems, which sounds like a bigger headache than I can imagine from anything where I don't have to. I'm not a computer whiz but I'm good enough to get by on something with no maintenance I'd bet.

Yes, Mitchell is not cloud-based, and while the system does do an auto backup, Mitchell reps have told me also to do a daily back up too.  This is a headache, plus for multi-store owners, Mitchell does not work.  Trust me on this, I had multi locations.

I do believe most all other programs are cloud-based now. 

7 minutes ago, cooterdavenport1 said:

OK that is helpful. My understanding is that not all of them had access to these guides which would mean a lot of lost time for my investment if other options have them. I have been approached for demos by RO writer and Napa Tracks already, but am concerned about using an on-premise system for reasons like these. 

Are there other reasons I should not be considering an on-premise system? this will help me figure out who to spend my time shopping. Thank you so much for your help.

When you say "on-premise system" are you referring to a non-cloud based system? 

1 hour ago, cooterdavenport1 said:

Thank you for all the help so far. Asking other shops is precisely why we're doing this. Like you said, I don't have time to make a mistake and have to replace a solution. I think I have a good start here so far, and will definitely be factoring QB into my decision, but I am hopeful I can find an system where I don't need it. 

What has been a huge drag on my time is the labor guide. I don't have time to look all of this up and call around for parts, etc. I need to be in a bay, especially until I can afford another tech. 

I've heard this is an additional cost with a lot of systems. Can anyone provide insight into what systems this would be an additional cost for or one's that don't work as well as a shop would need it to? @Joe Marconi @bantar

All business systems have access to labor and parts guides. I can't speak to the cost for each system, sorry. But, it is not significant when you think about its value. Please bear in mind that a labor guide is just a guide.  And sometimes they are way off.  Also, the parts guide gives OE prices.  With this said, it will be important to understand YOUR DESIRED labor and part margins.  One step at a time; don't get overwhelmed. Put first things first, shop around, get demos and make a decision. 

And don't worry about a wrong or right decision. No business system is perfect and will do all you want it to do.