Joe Marconi

Yes Frank, the wicked sister of the West!

What a story: flying monkey wrenches; brilliant! You hit the target again today. I had a customer walk in the other day for a price on a check engine light diagnose. She also needed a NY State inspection, and it will not pass with the check engine light. She said she already knew what the problem was because her boyfriend is a mechanic and the code is for an EVAP problem. I asked her, why not let him fix it? She said he’s real busy at the dealership but he gave me this bottle of engine cleaner. She said that you have to put the bottle in the gas tank, drive it around and it will pass the state inspection. I mumbled a few words under my breath, and my service writer quickly ran out of the office saying to himself, “Oh boy, this is not good, she just flipped Joe’s switch”. When I tried to explain to her that it is not going to work, she raised her voice and said, “Yes it will, just put the bottle in the tank, drive it around and it will pass inspection”. I now repeated in my loud voice, “Why don’t to ask your boyfriend to do it, he gave you the bottle!” She rambled on, but at this point I was not listening. Well, without going into too much detail I ran around the counter to the door, opened it up and said, “Mam, you have the wrong guy, thank you, but no thanks”. As she was walking out she mumbled, “Well, I heard you guys are expensive anyway”. If she only had a brain!

Yes! You Can Measure Advertising John Wannamaker, a prominent business man in the early 1900’s, once said, “Half of my advertising money is wasted, but the problem is I don’t know which half”. While there is some truth to this, there are things you can do to help zero in on your target market and find what forms of media are working for you. To start, whenever a new customer arrives to you shop you need to ask this person, “How did you hear about us”? The person may say a friend, a TV ad or radio. This information must be documented and tracked. Equally important is to ask a second question, “Did you know about our shop before you saw the TV ad?” Many times they will tell you that they pass by your shop every day or heard about you though print ads, etc. This is important information. You need to build a profile of how people find out about you, where they live, who they speak to, what local organizations they belong to. This is how you zero in on where to put your advertising dollars. In other words, if you are spending money in the local newspaper and no one ever tells you they see your ad in the paper, you are probably wasting your money for that newspaper ad.

Sorry, never heard of that. You said the car was jumped started. But for what reason, was the engine cranking a long time and the battery ran down? Maybe gas fumes accmluated in the intake? It would be interested to see what transpired just prior to the jump start.

We recently installed a new gas tank in a 2002 Hyundai Elantra. The old tank was rusted badly and leaking. About 2 weeks later the customer called us to tell us that after she filled the tank; gas came gushing out of the filter neck spilling onto the car and the ground. We called the company that supplied us with the tank and they told us that they never heard of that. We also called the local dealer and he told us the same thing. We had the customer bring the car in, we took it to the gas station ourselves, filled the tank, the gas nozzle clicked off and a moment later about a two quarts of gas came gushing out. We removed the tank, check all the vents, lines and hoses and ordered a new tank. After doing some research, the tech on this job found a diagram of the tank showing all the components of the tank and everything hooked up to it. Inside the neck of the tank there is a fuel shut off valve. It’s pressed into the neck. We did not see any valve in either the tank we installed or in the new tank. After a lengthy call to the local Hyundai dealer, the parts guy found the part number and ordered it. He said he never heard of the valve and according to his records, never sold one either. We got the valve, but it would not fit into the neck of the tank. We had to carefully file the neck until we were able to press it into the tank. My assumption is that the old valve was never seen by the tech who installed the tank originally and was discarded along with the tank. I am sharing this with everyone as a word of caution and education. We called the tank company, he was very grateful to hear we solved the problem. My problem; paying for this “education”.

Sorry, I am in New York and have no knowledge of such a law. Is there an a trade association in your state that can help you with that? In my area, we have a local auto trade association where we can call with all legal issues. Maybe another ASO member can help also, good luck!

Agree 100%

That's a great question, and I call tell you from my experience, every shop is different with respect to breakeven and sales and labor. You can have two 5 bay shops with 3 techs and both do 20,000 in sales per week. Shop one has no mortgage and low taxes. Shop two has a mortgage, a truck payment, high taxes, a new aligmemnt lift note each month. The two may do the same in sales but the profit at the bottom line is quite different. For my shop, I don't like labor cost to exceed 30% of sales, but again, that's my number and my cost of doing business is different from the shop down the block. Just keep this in mind when you do your calculations. I hope this helps, sometimes I can too analytical, but I am a numbers guy....

You know, I was thinking, why do we have to do these in April or October? I think of a shop wants to hold an event, do when they can. I was even thinking about doing one as a fund raiser for a local charity, to get the entire community involved.

Don, I also had Service Expert, it was a great system. The reason I switched to Mitchell was that we were told at the time that CCI/Triad would not support or enhance the program any longer. I do like Mitchell, but not happy with the progression of the features, it seems like they stalled in that area. They have great support and the new SE version works great with online part ordering. I would take a look at Mitchell, Max Tracs and any other program. It's not an easy choice and there is no program that will suit all your needs unless somone builds it for you. Good luck!

1) Yes, we have two buildings, a seven bay shop and a four bay shop, we kept the 7 bay shop open for business and we had the table set ups in the 4 bay building, along with the food, drinks and pop corn. 2) It took the entire staff to pull it off, I assigned duties to key people: Clean up on Friday night, set up on Sat morning, Food person, my office manager organized the food and getting the food, my foreman was in charge of traffic control, two techs were assigned to the car care lane (we rented a 16x16 tent for the actual car care inspection), two service writers took care of the workflow, 4 techs worked in the 7 bay shop working on regular service work and repair work, I took care of the car care lane and jumped around saying hello to everyone, we a hired a photographer to take photos and video, CARQUEST had 2 reps to help and BG had one Rep. 3) The event hours were from 9-3pm, the radio station was there from 10-noon 4) Car Care Lane outside in the tent, all talbes and demos inside the 4 bay shop 5) All car care inspections were done according to the car care inspection list: underhood, fluids, lights, horn, battery, belts hoses, tires, tire pressure....no undercar 6) Without extra payroll, about $3,000

Is this for real????

I lived that life as a mechanic at a Dealer way back in the 70's...I guess some things never change....

We held our Car Care Event yesterday, April 14th and it was a hit. It was the first time we did in in grand fashion. We promoted it through the local newspapers and TV, mailed and emailed about 10,000 flyers to the community; we grill hot dogs, made fresh popcorn all day long, and had the local radio station doing a live remote. We did a few dozen car care inspections, mostly new people. The local Cub Scouts came by, which was really nice. The kids had a blast looking around an eating hot dogs and popcorn. We also set up display tables with worn belts, hoses, dirty cabin filters and air filters. CARQUEST and BG Products also set up tables to show their products, which I am very grateful for. All in all it was a great day. If you are looking for a way to promote your shop in your community, you should consider an event like this.

Great insight Gonzo, this is a topic that is frequently discussed at my shop. When I train service advisors and also when I coach my business clients, I tell them to be more like a detective. Ask questions that make them tell you clues to the problem, don’t have them interpret what they “think” is wrong because “trust” me; they will lead you down the wrong path. Always enjoy your articles, I was busy yesterday all day at my Car Care Event at the shop, first thing I did this morning was turn on my computer to read your article…always a pleasure

We have a mulitpoint inspection checklist we perform with every LOF service, we will use this (without the LOF, of course). I need to think about how I contact these customers. I wil probably tie it around a service reminder, knowing that thier oil service was done already. I am not concerned about the give-away either. I have learned in the past, that every good deed comes back to us and the rewards of the good deeds outweigh any short term monitary loss.

The daughter of a long time customer came to our shop the other after the dealer, during their free Oil Change service, informed her that she would need brakes on all four wheels. (This dealer gives free oil changes with the purchase of a new car) She called her father from the dealership and the father emphatically told her to get the car out of the dealer and bring it straight to Joe. She brought with her the invoice that clearly stated: “Brakes needed front and rear, pads at 3mm”. After a road test and a four wheel brake inspection, we found that she only needed rear brakes. The front measured at 5-6mm. In addition, the car was due for its annual NY State inspection, the wiper blades were torn, and the tires needed rotating. She authorized the rear brakes, the wiper blades, the Sate Inspection and I included rotating and balanced the tires at no charge. She was happy and upset (at the dealer) at the same time. I did not discredit the dealer, but did bring up the fact that sometime free is not a good value. This situation got me thinking. This car had 42,000 miles on it and has been going back to the dealer since new for the free oil changes. So, in that time, the dealer was unable or could not establish a relationship strong enough for this customer to trust them. When the customer needed repair work that would actually cost them money, my relationship won out. I think this is a lesson for all of us, don’t give up on what makes us so strong as independent shop owners: The relationships we have with our customers. I plan on working hard finding out what customers have purchased new cars recently with free service and market to these people that free is not to be confused with value. I also plan on inviting these customers for my FREE safety check, after all these are still my customers and I want to make sure their cars are safe and maintained. Let’s brainstorm on this and see if we can share ideas. The customer may still go to the dealer for that free service, but their hearts are still with us. WE need to capitalize on this.

I have never seen that before. My uncle was an engineer for Gruman Aircraft. He worked on air craft parts. He told me years back that a part should always be engineered so it could not be put on backwards or upiside down. We all know that is not so in our feild. How many times have your seen DIYer put on brake pads backwards with the friction side up against the brake rotor?

Happy Easter, Happy Passover!

After hearing a number horror stories about a few shops in the surrounding counties, I reluctantly agreed to voluntary audit by the Department of Labor to identify any OSHA violations. OSHA walked into these other shops unannounced and the fines were pretty hefty, ranging from $5,000 to over 50,000. The Dept. of Labor spent about 5 hours at my shop this past Thursday, walking through my two facilities, looking at my MSDS sheet, Emergency Action plan and any other programs and policy I had in place. The rep made a few recommendations and identified violations that I need to take care of. Most of my violations were small, but still would have added up to a few thousand dollars. I will get a written report from the Dept. of Labor, the report and the voluntary audit is confidential. In fact, if OSHA walks into my shop now, I can tell them to please leave, because of this voluntary audit, unless someone has made a formal complaint against me or my company. I did find out a few things I would like to share with you: Housekeeping is the biggest issue. The more sloppy and dirty the shop is the more OSHA will dig to find violations. If everything is neat and clean and your book work is in order, the inspection will go better. Another thing to consider, the number one reason for an OSHA visit is when an employee (either former or present) files a complaint against a company for unsafe conditions. Overall, the experience was good, I learned a lot and now know what I need to do to protect myself, and hopefully I will never have to go through an actual OSHA inspection. I don’t know what programs are available in every state, but it might be worth checking out. If any shop had an OSHA inspection, please share your experience.

Great article, a little different, but I like it. I enjoy real life situations; it brings a little more reality to our lives and the parallel to our industry is right on target. I make comparisons to doctors all the time when I speak with customers. We are pros like anyone else. Glad you wrote this story, very uplifting! Hope Gizmo is feeling better…

How many times during the day does a customer stop by or call, and asks to only speak with you, the shop owner? Do you know why? It’s because in general, the experience the customer has when dealing with the owner of business is much different than when dealing with an employee. The owner goes out of his or her way to make the customer feel special and important. The owner has a vested stake in the customer relationship, and an attitude of appreciation is expressed toward the customer. The customer picks up on this and thus the tendency is to seek out the owner. You, the shop owner, have a culture of ownership. Think about your favorite restaurant, Deli or other business where the owner goes out of his way to say hello to you, and spends a few minutes engaging in small talk. What kind of impression does that make with you? It makes you feel great. You can’t put a price on that type of customer service. Now, just imagine how powerful your business would be if your employees also adopted that same culture of ownership? Most employees have no feelings of ownership, and many feel disconnected from the company’s success or failure. They may value their job and are loyal to you, but don’t always feel that their contribution to the company is recognized and makes a difference in the overall outcome of the company. If employees think that their efforts are not valued or respected, they will not develop the right culture and consequently, not care as much. So, the question you are probably asking is, “How does one create the right culture”? First you need to understand the term, “buy-in”. Buy-in means that the people in a company do things not because they are told to, but because they want to. You don’t want people to simply obey you; you want people who can think on their own and contribute to your company. You want to create an atmosphere where everyone has mutual respect for one another and are committed to the common good of the company. Employees adopt the right culture when they are shown appreciation for the work they do. People who are just compliant to the rules of the company aren’t totally engaged and committed to the overall success of the company. When people are engaged and feel that the work they do does make a difference, they are committed to the success of the company. Give people the power to make decisions, don’t handcuff them with complicated polices and procedures that have them constantly reporting to you. Let them use their talents and empower them to make decisions. Will they make mistakes? Absolutely, especially in the beginning, but in time you will build a powerful team of thinkers and decision makers. Get people more involved with the daily operations. Ask questions and ask for help. Request their feedback on critical issues. You may be surprised by just how in tune your employees are to the inner workings of your company. By discussing issues, both good and bad, you will make everyone feel important and part of the big picture. Above all, people want to feel that they matter to the company. Money is important, but self-esteem is something that will bond an employee to your company. When an employee feels they can act on their own, take risks, and make decisions on their own, they will begin to adopt a culture of ownership. They will feel good about themselves with the confidence that you are behind them 100%. Customer service, productivity, and quality will all improve. One thing to remember, everything starts with you, the owner. Take a long hard look in the mirror and look at the way you treat people. The way you treat your employees will be reflected in the way they treat customers. If you walk around with a doom and gloom attitude, your employees will also. If you speak in a harsh tone or are disrespectful to employees, one can only imagine what they are saying to your customers. You set the tone in your shop, so carry yourself in a way that people will emulate you in a positive way. This will insure that customers are treated with the world class service they deserve. Building the right culture will improve the customer service experience. The customer will receive that warm reception from not only you, the owner, but from anyone they come in contact with. That culture will build strong relationships and loyal customers. The result: increased sales, more profits and positive growth. View full article

ASO Golf Outing....that's sounds impressive....I will put this on my "to do list"....but can't make any promises right now....

Here's a scenario one shop owner told me: What if you discover a head gasket and frame rot on a customer's car and make all the notes about the car, and the person goes to the dealer to trade the car in, and the dealer picks up YOUR repair order with the notes on the head gasket? You have done nothing wrong.....but.......You know the rest of this story....