Joe Marconi

Want to Improve Sales Today? Treat Customers As Best Friends Think about this; if you best life-long friend you haven’t seen in a while entered your shop tomorrow, how would you greet him? You would probably stop what you were doing, run over to him, shake his hand, have a smile on your face from ear to ear and start talking about the old days, family, sports, and a bunch of other things. Right? Would the encounter be business-like? Of course not. Now, here’s the killer tip to increase sales. Let’s say this best friend needs brakes, would you have a hard time selling him? Absolutely not. Why? He’s your best friend; he knows you, trusts you and believes in you. Actually, there is no sale, the sale was made long before you discovered the brakes. The sale was made when you formed that bond with him as a friend. I think at this point you know where I am going with this. We obviously can’t make all our customers our best friends, but we can surely treat them as they are. The sales process starts with the initial contact, whether over the phone or in person. Welcome your customers as if they were a long-life friend and I guarantee you your sales will increase. Build relationships, not customers.

Great advise Frank. Let me add that when I built my new shop, I made the bays 25 feet by 15 feet with 20 ft ceiling and extended height lifts. The reason for the high ceiling was to insure that we had enough room for vans and SUV and light trucks and for a second floor loft, where we built a break room and training room, plus office space.

Just curious how other shop owners feel about the the preceptive candidates for president how you feel where we are headed as a nation.

I agree Gonzo, this was very "scripted", but it does show where technology is headed and what will be available to te aftermarket. I will be interesting to see how this plays out. I know new car dealers must hate the fact that WE can connect to our customers and thier customers cars. I still can't see a shop tech calling customers, that day may never come, for me anyway.

Go to this link and let me know what you think, it's a bit long, but well worth it. http://www.aftermarket.org/tomorrow

It goes beyond that. Just think about this scenario for a moment. You purchase a house and a few years later something is wrong with the wiring to the second floor. Because the alarm system is also affected by the wiring problem, you cannot fix it yourself, or call your electrician. The wiring in your house is locked out and no schematics are available. Only the builder has the house wireing schematics. You need to contact the manufacturer of the house to gain access to certain schematics and the manufacturer electrician is the only one who can fix the problem. Sounds farfetched? Well, not really. We always had issues with car theft and there will always be issues with theft. What make newer cars different than the cars of yesterday? Absolutely nothing. This is a systematic, deliberate attempt by the manufacturer to lock out not only the aftermarket, by the average consumer. We have a work for this: Monopoly

You know, it seems everywhere we go, no matter if it's a wedding or a funeral, someone has a car problem and once they find out we are mechanics they seem to feel compelled to tell us. But, they actually don't want to hear your explanation of what to do...they want you to pull the proverbial rabbit out the hat. Maybe we should carry a crystal ball around with us; one that could fit into our pocket. And the next time someone on the golf course asks an automotive question, we reach into our pocket, pull out the crystal ball and say, "Just give me a minute, let me gaze into the crystal ball". I bet after that, they will stop asking! Always fun Gonzo, keep them coming! You are the best....

Has anyone tried Groupon? I have talked to a few businesses and there a lot of mixed reviews. Through Groupon, you offer a discount which is purchased by the conusmer and Groupon takes a portion of the profit upfront. Groupon sends the offer through a email blast of thier member base. From what I gather, you may get many people into your shop, but they are coming for that cheap discount. The other side is, you get a chance to maybe find new customers. I would like to hear from other shops owners who have done Groupon or have opinions on this. Groupon link: http://www.groupon.com

Jim, Great to hear from you and great post! How to feel about the electronic testing? Could this be a proving ground for the rest of the states. Also, I find it interesting how many states are debating wheather they should keep the Safety Inspection and here NJ is looking into more emssions monitoring. And possible tieing it to EZ pass? I find it strange...

You should reach out to your parts reps. They will have technical hot lines numbers of reps that can help you with understanding the different coolants. As far as what to stock and what to charge, you need to do a demograhpics study of your customer base. As far as pricing, it's always good to know what other shops are charging, but in the end, you need to charge what is profitable for you. Like I always say, " You need to find the balance between being competitive and being profitbale. Also, when you get a car in that you do not have the coolant, is it possible to purchase it, as needed, from a local parts house? Hope this helps?

Sometime we need to do something just because it makes us feel good. There is no doubt in my mind that this man would have paid you, NOT becuase he had to, but because he respected what you did. He was right, he could not find the problem, and just becuase it was easy for you, it would probably fool a lot of untrained people. Good story, sometime when you give something away, you get back in other ways....

The Hunter alignment equipment was installed in my new shop. My Hunter rack is flush-mounted, so you need to contruct a pit approximately 2 feet deep. I got the plans for the pit from Hunter, but the contractor built the pit. Hunter did the actuall install of both the rack and the computer system and the wireing. The electrician did the final hook up to the building electric panel. Hunter was very good with working with the contractor during the entre process.

We don't use univeral fluids either, we use what the car is designed to use. But, what we have done is to average cost our antifreeze/coolant prices and marked up the list to reflect one price. So all antifreeze is billed out with the same list price. It keeps our menu services consistent and it helps us acheive overall profitbalitiy. I price maintenance services to be competitive, but profitbale.

I charged the customer for the correct repair, the wireing harness. The ABS Diag would have been the same, we have a menu price for any ABS issue. So that did not change. But, we had to eat the bearing. I felt it would compound matters by installing the old bearing, which would incur more labor charges, and would not be the right thing to do. What's fair is fair. Lucily, these things don't happen often...

Check Vital Signs and Drive More Sales Think total car care, each time every time Every shop owner knows the value of performing a multipoint inspection. But, is it done properly and on a consistent basis? From my work with many shop owners, I found that although most shops have a process in place, the multipoint inspection is not being consistently. Technicians are wired to focus on the problem at hand. If a customer brings their car in with a Check Engine light issue, most techs will chase down the problem and repair it without a problem. But, what about the rest of the car? Is the car due for any other needed services? Are there any other issues the customer needs to be aware of? I have challenged many shop owners with the above scenario and have asked, “So, you repaired the check engine light, but were the brakes inspected, fluids checked, tire pressure checked along with other vital systems”? Look at it this way, when you go to your doctor for any issue, a competent doctor is going to check your blood pressure, heart rate, listen to your chest, look inside your mouth and look in your ears. The doctor looks at your vital signs. To focus only on what the customer brings the car in for is not total car care; it is not doing the right thing for the customer and does nothing for your business. Obviously, we always need to address the customer’s initial concern first. But each customer should be informed that we also perform a bumper to bumper multipoint inspection and check for any needed maintenance services, which may be due by the current vehicle mileage and other potential problems. Many shop owners are fearfully of being perceived as being too “pushy” with this approach. I disagree. Let me tell you what happened recently to a friend of mine. My friend’s son brought his car to a shop for a stalling problem. The diagnosis was a faulty mass air sensor, which solved the problem. No multipoint inspection was performed, and the shop tech never checked the oil. On the way home, the oil light came on and the engine began to knock. My friend’s son turned around and brought the car back to the shop. Back at the shop, the tech checked the oil level, only to find that there was no oil in the engine. He raised the car in the air and found a leaking oil pressure switch. But, it was too late; there was internal damage to the engine. Now, is the shop “technically” responsible? No. But, would have a multipoint inspection spotted the problem? You bet it would have! My friend did not press the issue or hold the shop responsible, but he will never return to that shop either. Protect your customer, protect yourself, drive more sales and do the right thing for the customer: Perform those multipoint inspections each time, every time.

That's a tough question because it depends how profitable the business is and what the sales are. And, I am not talking about size. Many 2 or 3 bay shops are more productive than 8-bay shops and the profits are better. I have known small independents that earn salaries far better than larger, unproductive shops. The key thing to know is breakeven. Once you know what all the costs are, you need to factor all the other things in life that you either need or want. For example, your home mortgage, family vacations, education for children and retirement. You add all those things on top of the breakeven number along with a return on investment. So, you need to sit down, analyze your business, figure what you need in life and factor in your return on investment...that becomes your salary. Hopes this helps...

Gonzo, I don’t know where to start with this one. You know you have that knack of pushing my buttons right??? First, there is no substitute for experience, but as you pointed out, talent has a lot to do with it too. People like you combine talent, experience and A LOT of hard work to perfect their craft, and it SHOULD NEVER, NEVER be given away. Period! The problem with many of us in the industry is that there are always those shops that will undercut someone else. It’s like they need to “prove” to the world that they can do it cheaper. Why? Are they that unsure of themselves or are they that desperate for the work? I do not want to be known as, “The Cheapest in town”. Let me tell a true story. They say you should never base your labor rate by the other shop down the block. I agree and don’t agree. For years I would call my friend at the Chevy Dealer and ask him what his labor rate was. I knew he did the math. If he said $80.00, I would make mine $85.00….This is the truth! I never thought of myself less than the dealer. He was working on Chevys….I was working on Chevys, Fords, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Lexus, Saab, Renault, boats, small engines, generators, space ships, and any other thing that was either driven or pushed into my bays. I even fixed a Lionel Train transformer for a customer!! Charge LESS! Never, Charge More! One more thing about experience. I had a new tech install a reman starter a few years back. He parked the car outside and I asked him how many times did he start the car. He said once. I told him to go out and start the car at least 10 times. He said, “Why”. I told him, “Just do it”. Well, on the 6th try, the starter he just installed just clicked; a defective part. Now, I had no way knowing that beforehand, it’s just one of things we learn thru the years. But, to this young tech….I was a genius! Sorry for being so long-winded. I think I need to hook up a blood pressure monitor when I read some of your articles…

A few weeks back a customer came in complaining that, at times, when he applies the brakes lightly the ABS would come on. He was sure that he was on firm ground, not skidding. We dispatched the job to one our diag techs. He performed his routine visual inspection and then hooked up the scanner for a road test. The tech clearly observed, thru the scanner, that the left front signal was dropping out at times. Having seen countless issues with GM wheel bearing/hub/ABS components, he advised the service writer to order a new wheel hub. After the new part was installed, the tech performs a final road test only to find that the problem is still there. Is it a defective part? After reviewing the process, I instructed the tech to hook a scope right to the left wheel sensor and monitor the signal at the wheel and also monitor what the computer was seeing. Sure enough, the signal at the wheel never faulted, but the computer was seeing something else. We opened up the harness, which is fastened to the suspension, and found a tiny break in the harness which was flexing when the brakes were applied. A new left side ABS harness fixed the problem. The lesson: Never assume; when we see pattern failures over and over again, it can lead us down the wrong path. Always stick to the basics.

I found this on Aftermarket News, I thought it would of interest to everyone... ALLDATA Prosecutes Software Pirate September 21, 2011 By aftermarketNews staff ELK GROVE, Calif. -- ALLDATA this week has reported the successful prosecution of a software counterfeiting operation that had been illegally selling copied ALLDATA products. On June 28, the ALLDATA Anti-Piracy team, in conjunction with the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, concluded a six-month investigation into illegally copied ALLDATA products being sold out of Northern California. The subject of this investigation was publicly advertising the pirated software in his efforts to distribute it. Undercover officers conversed with the target, who agreed to provide the illegal product in exchange for cash. After the actions of the suspect placed him in violation of California law, he was taken into custody. The efforts of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force in collaboration with the ALLDATA Anti-Piracy Team resulted in the subject being charged with felony counts of Possession / Sale of Counterfeit Articles in reference to penal code 350 (A) (2), which states that the offense involves 1,000 or more articles. On July 27, the subject pleaded guilty to felony charges in Superior Criminal Court. "We will not tolerate software piracy," said ALLDATA President Jeff Lagges. "More than 80,000 ALLDATA customers appreciate the value inherent in our software. Our customers trust us as the industry leader, and we owe it to them to protect their investment. Let the pirates be on notice that we will diligently investigate and prosecute every suspected case of counterfeit software."

From the last storm we had two 2004 Audi A6’s towed in. Both had water that leaked inside the car, soaked the rug and filled the interior with about 2 to 3 inches of water. The TCM (Transmission Control Module) sits in a well under the rug on the passenger side, front. The repair is to strip in interior; replace the rug and the TCM. The cause for one of the Audi’s was a plugged water drain under the battery. It was clogged with leaves and debris. The water filled up the battery tray and worked its way past the firewall and into the car. The other Audi had a window molding problem which did not seal the water from entering the cabin filter area, allowing water to pour down the heater/AC box, thru the blower motor. I thought I would pass this info on…

Something smells a little fishy with Warren Buffett's tax rule. He wants us to really believe that the tax code should be changed and that the majority of the taxes will be paid by the rich? Any increase in taxes will be put on the backs of the working class, you can bet on that. Plus, Mr Buffet, how about paying your own back taxes? You owe 1 billion dollars. You want to help this country, start by paying your own taxes! From NewsMax: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett triggered a major debate over taxes recently when he wrote in The New York Times that he should be paying more to the federal government. He called on Washington lawmakers to up tax rates on the rich. But it turns out that Buffett’s own company, Berkshire Hathaway, has had every opportunity to pay more taxes over the last decade. Instead, it’s been mired in a protracted legal battle with the Internal Revenue Service over a bill that one analyst estimates may total $1 billion. Yes, that’s right: while Warren Buffett complains that the rich aren’t paying their fair share his own company has been fighting tooth and nail to avoid paying a larger share. The story of Berkshire’s years-long tax battle, which is generally known in business circles, took on new life this week when a group called Americans for Limited Government (ALG) reported that, according to Berkshire Hathaway’s own annual report, the company is embroiled in an ongoing standoff over its tax bills.

I am looking to purchase the Hunter Road Force Balancer and wondering if anyone has one and would like feedback on it. Any help will be appreciated.

Well, this wnot make my hgih scohol english taecher very hppay!

All great comments from everyone. I guess what we are fighting is the public's perception of the value of paying for diagnostic labor. My question is; how did this perception start in the first place? Let me give you my opinion: Shop owners giving diag away because the truly don't know how to charge for it, AutoZone and other part companies promoting Free Check Engine light diag and lack of education on the part of consumers (they don't know the complexity involved in cars today). The other day a customer, a Doctor, got upset at the diag fee I charge to locate an EVAP leak. This is what he said, “You want to charge me $149.00 to analyze my check engine light?" I shot back at him at told him, "The analysis is free when YOU stop charging for x-rays and blood tests!"