Joe Marconi

We have a customer we call Mrs. Sincha. That's not her real name but every time and I mean EVERY TIME we work on her car, she comes back and says those most dreaded words we all hate hearing: "Ever since you worked on my car, now the radio is not clear". Or, "Ever since the oil change, the car sounds loud". Hence the name; Sincha. She an elderly lady, actually she was a nurse during WWII, stationed in Europe. Because of that, we tolerate it and try not to let it bother us. We now hold a contest to see who can guess what will be her new "sincha" complaint.

Gonzo, this is a topic that really disturbs me. Maybe it's because I'm from New York, but I think I have heard every con story on the planet. But the customer, in some cases, has been tainted by less-than-honest businesses too. Here’s case that comes to mind: Years back I failed (New York Safety Inspection) a Dodge Van for a rotted frame. The spring shackles were rotted away, and where the shackles bolted to the frame looked more like Swiss cheese than steel. The customer was angry, even though I tried to explain to him that the Van is not safe. Not safe for him or for others on the road. He drove off mad as hell. The customer returned about an hour later, drove up to my bay doors, beeped the horn and pointed to the windshield. He was pointing to a brand new State Inspection Sticker! Another shop passed it with a rotted frame. What I told him wasn't pretty....it was the one and only time I cursed at a customer!

From what I am hearing from friends in other trades, the problem of finding good, qualified people is an issue everywhere. Years back, in the early 80's I could hire a kid right out of a technical high school. He was far from being an Ace Mechanic, but he was light years ahead from the young people I see today. Back then, kids went to work early on, they pumped gas and worked with their father fixing the family car. They also fixed things around the house. Today, most kids don't really have a job, no one fixes anything anymore and everyone is geared toward "higher education". This country is filled with too many lawyers, too many accountants, etc. Our true work force is dwindling. We need to change that.

That reminds me of a Stephen King Story...or was it Twilight Zone? Either way, it's the life we live each day, right?

Frustrated because your employees don’t have that “Sense of Urgency”? Many of our employee frustrations are sometimes the result of not communicating with them in times of crisis. We somehow expect our employees to magically know what needs to be done and we get frustrated by their lack of sense of urgency. For example, it’s Friday morning and you’re concerned that the cars that were promised by the weekend, may not get done. You see your techs walking out to the tool truck minutes after they had a coffee break and your blood pressure begins to creep into the unsafe zone. When a crisis is at hand, gather your people together and let them know the situation. Ask them for suggestions on how to get the work done. You may be surprised by their reaction when you include them in on the circumstances. Doing this will also help you cope and maintain morale.

You make a very valid piont. Too much blame for low productivity is due to smoking. I am not a smoker but I have techs that smoke and they are great producers. I may not agree with the habit, but it's their choice, not mine. Again, great point.

Please keep us informed. I like you idea of in-house training and setting guidelines. We do the same thing.

Understanding What the Customer Buys How we position ourselves in our market will determine how successful we are. Too often we offer services and products that we “hope” customers will buy. First we need to understand that the customer never buys a product, a customer buys the satisfaction of a want. And price is always a secondary consideration. In order to become successful in business, we need to understand what are customer perceive as being important to them. What is of value to them is what they want to buy. One mistake many businesses make is trying to guess what’s important to their customers. That can only be answered by your customers. If you don’t know what's important and most valuable to your customers, find out by asking them. If you do know, ask your customers if you are delivering.

Just curious, for my repair shop all alignments are menu priced with a range from front wheel, 4 wheel alignment and up to SUV, truck and performance alignment. But, for the few times I deal with an insurance company, I always us book time, which is more than my menu pricing. Doing a wheel alignment correctly for some vehicles should require charging book time. I don't just; "set the toe and go". Many tire shops and discounters use alignments as a lost leader. For what the equipment cost these days, we need to rethink our price structure. Thoughts? Body guys and repair shops...

I am not and don't know of many shops that are. I like the idea of conusmer education, I don't know how effective MAP as been as far as making a difference for us. What are your thoughts? DO think MAP has value that we need to explore?

Amazing how nuts some people are, right?

What a powerful story, I will never look at a Kia the same way anymore. Gonzo, your best work! You are amazing!

Honor Our Soldiers This Memorial Day Let us reflect upon and honor our brave soldiers who fought for this country and those that gave their life to preserve our freedom for this great nation. Let us also not forget our brave soldiers that fight each and everyday around the globe. USA, Still the Greatest Country in the World!

I need to tell everyone; I know I am one of the few shops around this country that services TPMS, but I have no problems selling the kits with each tire sale that has TPMS sensors. And we sell a lot of tires. My service people explain the system to the customer and warns them that due to the fragile design of the sensor, sometimes the sensor core is siezed or the sensor can be damaged during the mounting process. I don't agree with shops that stab the tire with a knife to let the air out because the core is seized or they don't want to touch the sensor. That's me, our process works. We SELLl tons of kits and SELL (NOT GIVE AWAY) lots of sensor.

Yes! Right on target....great job!

Gonzo, you can bet your paycheck that he got someone to solder that wire. Trust me, he did. I guess what disturbs me the most is his lack of respect for what we do. Who do these people think we are: A group of dummies that could not make it any other profession and had to settle for the simple life in Car Repair??? Let’s turn this around a bit with this scenario: I hurt my shoulder playing racquet ball. I go on the internet and research my injury and pain. I determine that I have a torn rotator cuff. I do more online research and find a relatively new procedure for repairing the tear in my shoulder. I download the paper work, bring it my doctor and say, “Here it is Doc, I did all the research, here’s my problem and here’s the solution. So Doc, let’s schedule that surgery based on these procedure.” Does this ever happen? I hope not! We see this too every day, and I am like you Gonzo; I’m the Car Doctor, I do the diagnosis, I recommend the repair. YOU the customer can say YES or NO. The End! (Boy Gonzo, you got my blood pressure up….Again)

Promote A/C Service Now! In many parts of the country spring has kicked in and the weather is warming up nicely. Start today to market you’re A/C service. You have a golden opportunity every time a vehicle is brought in for service. Ask each customer, in for service, if they have used their air conditioner yet and if they feel it’s working ok. Remind them that it’s better to spot problems now before that first hot day arrives. Create an “Air Conditioner Service Special” that’s priced just right and recommend it. Customers will be very thankful that you found an A/C problem before they found out while on the road.

Having my father and many family members who served in WWII, this is an honor. Great video! Every American needs to watch this!

I have been using Mitchell Manager for a very long time. My rep wants me to upgrade to the new Mitchell SE version. Has anyone have any information or feedback on this upgrade? I hear a lot of conflicting views. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I'm finding the same thing. And, you are right about advertising. We need to spend the money for continued growth, but the balancing act of not enough work vs being overbooked is tough at times. It's as if people today are conditioned to get everything they want now. Years back, people were more understanding.