Joe Marconi

Is there anything else we can help you with?

We all know this and most of us probably do this on a daily basis, so this is just a reminder for some: Are you being proactive with your approach and asking for additional sales when booking appointments and writing up customers? If not, you are missing the opportunity for increase sales, the easy way.

When a customer calls and schedules an appointment for an oil change, are you asking, “Is there anything else we can do for you or help you with? A tire rotation? Wipers? By asking may trigger the customer’s memory and they just might add another service item to the appointment.

It’s easy and it’s simple and should be automatic.

I am not here to judge anyone, since I know many, many great techs that started out as shade tree mechanics, I included. When I was 19 years old I started a mobile auto repair business with a friend of mine in the Bronx. We worked nights and weekends: we both had regular jobs working as techs.

But after realizing that I would never get to where I needed to go in business, I decided to go legitimate. I opened my own shop. That was on October 1, 1980 – 30 years ago. Those of you, who know me, know that I am a firm believer in running a business as a true business. And the better business person you are the more successful you will become. Committing to the skills of business will open more doors for and make you more money, resulting in a better life too.

Why didn't you post this from the start? Without reading the pitch, we are all speculating without really knowing the facts. After reading it, I don't see an issue either. The "only" thing I can add it that many shop owners are bombarded daily with claims of solving all their problems from a multitude of companies, and many have been burnt. But, I really don’t see this here.

When do you think America will wake up? When it's too late?

9/11/01-Let us never forget

Let us never forget the tragic events of nine years ago when terrorists attacked our country which resulted in the death of 3,000 people. September 11 will always be a day of remembrance for those who died; those who fought that day to save others and those brave men and womien in our military who put their lives on the line for our freedom.

Ok I signed up. Free advertising! Found most all of the local shops are listed. Several of them listed low-ball labor that I know is incorrect. At any rate any free advertising I can get I will take. I see AutoMD in the news kinda regular so it cant hurt. I will add that I have a paid listing with RepairPal that has been a good source of referals. And the price is right. Just tryin to hang on at this point!

Great points, thank for your input...we all learn from each other.

Indian Wanting Coffee:

 

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other.

 

He says to the waiter: "Want coffee."

 

The waiter says, "Sure, Chief. Coming right up."

 

He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee..... The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere and then just walks out.

 

The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling another male buffalo with the other.

 

He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter: "Want coffee."

 

The waiter says, "Whoa, Tonto! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"

 

The Indian smiles and proudly says, "Training for position in United States Congress: Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull, Leave mess for others to clean up, Disappear for rest of day."

 

 

VOTE 'EM ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL OUT

The ugly truth!

Vaseline

 

A man doing market research knocked on a door and was greeted by a young

Woman with three small children running around at her feet.

He says, "I'm doing some research for Vaseline. Have you ever used the

Product?" She says, "Yes. My husband and I use it all the time."

And if you don't mind me asking, what do you use it for?"

"We use it for sex."

 

The researcher was a little taken back. "Usually people lie to me and say

That they use it on a child's bicycle chain or to help with a gate hinge.

But, in fact, I know that most people do use it for sex. I admire you for

Your honesty. Since you've been frank so far, can you tell me exactly how

You use it for sex?"

The woman says, "I don't mind telling you at all. My husband and I put it

On the door knob to keep the kids out."

I love it, clean old fashion fun!

Great motivating story. It shows the power of the human spirit.

Don't be afraid to fail

Is the fear of failure holding your business back from achieving even greater success? Every great person in history had to overcome failure. Thomas Edison tried over 1000 time to find the right element that would make the electric light bulb possible. Michael Jordon, one of the greatest Pro-basketball players of all time, accepted the fact that he like everyone else, fails from time to time.

You can only achieve great things in life and in business by trying. If you fail, so what, you now know what does not work and you move on and try again. That's the process of learning and success.

For me, I tend to hold on to the hope that people can change. But, the truth is, when an employee starts to show certain signs, you need to act. The damage of delaying letting someone go can be harmful to your business.

I now ask myself two questions when I am having problems with an employee:

1. If this employee came to me today and said they were leaving, how would I feel? If it does not upset me or makes me happy, the person needs to go.

2. If this employee were to apply for the job today, would I hire him/her? If the answer to this question is a definite no, fire the person now!

Sometimes when I get these "backyard engineers" I am embarrassed for them. They seem proud of what they did and I just stand there in amazement wondering how in the world will this work? I end up taking a job I really don't want, even after my entire staff says no. In the end, I have to pull a few rabbits out of my old worn-out hat.

Nice article,Gonzo....keep up the great work!

Congratulations! This is a big step. You will most definitely need to do cost analysis to determine what your expenses will be. This will give you a base line (your breakeven) to know what you will need to be profitable. Remember, breakeven means you’re just paying your bills, above breakeven means you’re making money. It may take a few months of tweaking before you know your true numbers. Last year when I built my new shop, I did a lot of home work projecting labor costs, fixed expenses and variable expenses, but nothing is like real life.

Creating a price structure plan can be a little tricky. Again it depends on your CODB (cost of doing business), payroll, market area and other factors.

Are you planning on having a grand opening? That would be a great way to jump start the new building. Maybe you can have some one-time lost leader or run a few specials.

In general, your part profit and labor profit needs to generate profit “dollars” to your bottom line. Do an analysis on your competition; find out what they are doing. I am not suggesting that you follow blindly what they are doing, but you need to know your competition. There is shop in my area that advertises FREE Check Engine light diagnosis, I don’t compete head to head with that but I do have ways to indirectly compete by promoting our convenience, speed of service and tech certifications.

Sorry to go on and on, but there is a lot to cover on this subject. Let me know if I helped and if there are any more issues or questions.

One thing I can tell you for sure, never compete on price, someone will always be cheaper and you will left in the dust wondering what happened to the business.

I would have to agree with ya on the "don't need" part... over the years most people will say the same about my shop with one exception.

The usual statement is "Man, he's good, but, boy he ain't cheap" By the time those kind of jobs show up at my shop they have already been to several other shops and never got anything accomplished... then it's my turn.

 

The way I look at it... be fair... be articulate... sound professional, be professional... get the job done, done right the first time... and don't forget you're in this for the cash... it ain't a hobby....

Well said, and argree.

Yes, I have been in that situation before and I will be there again but it is always frustrating when you know you did nothing wrong and the customer is absolutely convinced that you are guilty as sin.

I am willing to bet that there are far more customers that know you are honest, doing a great job and appreciate you and your company. Sometimes, during a tough situation we need to be reminded of that. So, I am reminding you. Focus on the positive, learn from the past and do all you can to be better tomorrow. You're a good man; no one can take that away from you!

We have all been down this road and there is no need to feel responsible for what happened. You can change your service procedure and learn from the experience, that’s a positive move. But there will always be situations that are just out of our control. Your focus was on the tires and alignment. Should you have performed a basic inspection prior if this was a first time customer? Perhaps. But don’t beat yourself up over it. You can’t possibly expect every possible thing that can go wrong. We are not gods, just people. And we work hard each and every day to be the best we can be.

An elderly later came in recently with a 1992 olds for a state inspection and an oil change. The car had about 40,000 miles on it and was immaculate inside and out and nothing was found wrong with the car. When the work was finished, the engine just cranked and cranked, but would not start. A few quick checks revealed a failed ignition module. Now, how do you explain to an elderly lady that her car came in running fine, but now needs an ignition module?

I did my best to explain to her, but she accused me of breaking her car and was getting very upset to a point where I feared for her health. I decided to install the module for free. Maybe I was wrong for doing that, but that’s what I did. Your situation is different, you did the right thing and I would have charged for the battery also in that case.

We are tested every day, it’s part of being in business.

We will see more and more of these types of web sites. I am really on the fence about this and have mixed feelings. Even a simple front brake job with rotors can run into difficulty. What if there are caliper problems or seized slides? Attempting to price jobs on line concerns me. Buying parts online and trying to find shops to install them also concerns me.

I guess we need to be listed on these sites, but are we part of the problem or accepting change?

Maybe we are looking at this wrong. Perhaps, we should fight for the “Right not to be Frustrated”. I totally agree that investment in training, tools, equipment will serve us far better in the long run. But what about a 3 bay shop that services: Toyota, Hyundai, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, VW, Volvo, Honda, Kia and Suzuki? How can a shop of that size afford all the training, tools, scan tools and equipment to really compete? I hope the answer is not that he/she has to pick and choose what models the shop can afford to work on. Because that, I see is the only answer. The only way to truly compete is with factory scan tools and factory equipment. The aftermarket, is very good, but does lack in certain critical areas.

If a shop has to give up market share as a business decision, he gives part of his business.

And, what if a shop has a fleet account and takes cares of a local company’s Ford Vans and next year the company decides to buy all Sprinter Vans? Try tooling up for Sprinters, that is no fun. Again, the shop already invested heavily in Ford scan tools, training and equipment but now needs to change gears and tool up again. I know, change will occur, but it is frustrating.

I have a large company and due to my economy of scale I can afford the training and tools necessary to compete, but that’s not the case across the board. Plus, I really cannot put all the blame on the shop owners and techs, they do a remarkable job with the limited resources and training they have.

I appreciate the dialogue in this forum. We as independents need to work together. Let’s keep the dialogue going, it’s our future.

Last week I sent out an email to my shop owner clients titled, “Zero Cost Advertising for Your Auto Repair Shop that Really Works” that was promoting my upcoming Auto Repair Event in Las Vegas. A few hours later I received an email from a past client that was obviously upset that the email didn’t contain all the nitty gritty details of what my new strategies were, as well as full instructions on how to put them to use.

 

He called me a ‘plaid suit salesman’ because my email got him so excited about the killer results that I got from testing my new strategies that would produce new customers in his shop without spending a dime on advertising, but then I made the dastardly sleazy switch – in order to get the strategies, it would cost him money to learn all the details on how to put them to work for his shop.

 

Apparently, unlike with his business, when he packages up his knowledge, expertise, and experience and then markets them to his clients, he’s allowed to get paid for performing them; I’m in an entirely different business. When I market my knowledge, expertise and experience, mine should be given away for free.

 

Does that sound right to you? Is it sleazy of me to expect to get paid for the services that I perform? If you think so, look in the mirror and ask yourself the very same thing. If the answer is yes, then adjust your business plan accordingly. Then whenever a customer is unwilling to spend any money to fix his car, just go ahead and fix it for him for free. Forget about all the money and time you’ve spent honing your skills for the past dozen years. Forget about the knowledge you’ve gained while being in the trenches running your business. Forget about the enormous risks you take every day as a business owner – because after all, since this guy doesn’t WANT to spend money on his car… he’s entitled to your services for free.

 

What a great business model, huh? You’ll get quite the reputation in your community, right? Sure the profits will be non-existent. Maybe you can make it up with more volume?

 

Okay, okay, I know I’ve gone way over the top to show how ridiculous this guy was being. I’m sure you got my point a long time ago since I have no doubt that you’ve dealt with folks just like him and were left scratching your head while trying to figure out their logic. I hope you fired them too.

 

Since when is developing an excellent product or service, marketing it in a compelling way so that your prospects get excited about having it, and then expecting to to get paid for it, drum up images of a sleazy cigar-smoking overweight balding guy in a plaid suit? Sheesh!

 

Am I wrong, right, or somewhere in between. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Best, Ron Ipach, CinRon Marketing Group

 

Ron, I really don’t follow the issue. If you sent out an ad claiming one thing, as a call to action ad and the ad confused someone, maybe the guy is right. Maybe it was the wording of the ad???

What if I hung a banner outside my shop that stated: “Find of about our NEAR FREE auto service”. Do you think customers would get upset when I begin to tell them all they need to do in order to reduce prices on vehicle maintenance is by spending money on systematic maintenance plan?

Do I understand this right? Maybe it’s me.

When one of my customers gets upset with me, I DO look in the mirror first and make sure it was not me that caused the issue. To me, the customer “perception” is the only "reality" that matters. Right?

When I read this I couldn't help but think of Gonzo:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Golfer-s-swing-sparks-25-acre-California-blaze?urn=golf-266447

That's why I don't play golf...something like that would happen to me too!

Cheap Prices, Great Quality, Outstanding Service

Do you think you can run a successful business by offering the cheapest prices, quality repairs and outstanding customer service? I think you know the answer.

In business you need to identify what type of business you want to become, which will determine what type of consumer you will need to market to. There are many businesses that brand themselves as the “Cheapest in Town”. This can work, but you can’t offer the cheapest prices, the best quality and outstanding service and be successful.

You need to choose what type of consumer you want to market to. Put it this way; if you run a hi-end European repair shop, servicing BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Land Rover and Porsche, you cannot brand yourself as the, “best prices in town”. It just won’t work.

So remember: Create your business identity (Your Brand), identify your target customer base and market to these people.

A member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Rep. Martin J. Walsh, who originally supported the right to Repair Act, is now urging his colleagues not to vote for the bill. Rep. Martin J. Walsh, a Democrat, was listed as one of the original co-sponsors of the Bill.

According to Rep. Walsh, the claims that small repair shops are at a disadvantage are nothing further from the truth. He goes on to say that repair stations see it unnecessary to invest in a full suite of the tools and training and that the solutions are already in place.

In other words folks, this politician is agreeing with the notion that the problems that we are faced with everyday in repairing and servicing our customer’s cars are all ours. We are the problem, not the auto maker. Our Problem???

We created TPMS? We created window door modules that need reprogramming after installation? We created transmissions that need reprogramming after replacement? We created idle relearn recalibration after removing the intake plenum to replace spark plugs? We created steering angle sensor recalibrating after a wheel alignment? I could go on and on, but you get the point.

How do you feel about the right to Repair Act? Is it a waste of time? Are you all really happy with the direction we are headed?

I know where I stand. I have been fighting for our rights for years, even at the State level, testifying before public hearings….tell me where you stand.

Have our liberal politicans lost all of their marbles.

The insanity continues! There is a shift in this country that concerns me. It's as if there was a hidden agenda. I go back to my question; why build this mosque there? I can tell you why, it is a symbol of triumph. Now the rhetoric claims that America is the oppressor and that the terrorist attack on 9/11 and other attacks were brought upon by what America has done. Can you believe this!

So I ask the Muslims and other immigrants to this country. If America is so horrible, why come here in droves? If you feel oppressed and hate this country, leave. If America is so bad, why build another mosque here? There are over 1200 mosques in this country already. Over 1200!

The fact is that we (The USA) bends over backwards to be politically correct. We walk on egg shells not to offend “certain” people. Well, I am not afraid to speak my mind... speak the truth. And if anyone labels me because of it, so be it!

Excellent analysis! The balance between being profitable and competitive can be tricky at times, but being profitable is job 1. Let me add a few thoughts: Every business needs to do cost analysis to find what their breakeven is. Not that shops should settle for breakeven, that’s just surviving. But understanding what it actually costs to put the key in the door everyday will show you what you need to make a profit and how important it is to be profitable on every job.

Also, identify your customer and market to your customer. Don’t worry too much about those that want the cheapest job. Competing on price alone is a recipe for disaster.

I have to agree that shop efficiency is probably where many shops loose the most money.

We had a 2002 Subaru Outback today with a wheel shimmy at 55-60mph. The customer just had 4 new tires and a wheel alignment at another shop and the vibration was still there. We checked the balance, align and wheels...all ok. When we ran the car off the ground we found that the right side wheel wobbled as if the wheel was bent. We ran the car without the tire on the right side and could clearly see that the rotor wobbled badly.

We removed the rotor to check the hub, it was good. We installed a new rotor and the wobbled was gone.

If felt just like a tire balance problem.