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Joe Marconi

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Everything posted by Joe Marconi

  1. Joe Marconi
    When Things Go Wrong (Handling Unhappy Customers) I wish I could say that my shop has never had an unhappy customer. But the truth is, from time to time, we have dropped the ball, resulting in a very ugly situation with a customer. We have all been there. Following a few guidelines will help you through a difficult situation: *First, let the customer speak. Don’t interrupt or try to defend yourself. This only makes matters worse. Let them talk as long as they want. Venting will actually make it easier to resolve the problem. *If possible, bring the customer into your office, away from other customers or staff members *Stay calm at all times. Do not get into a debate with the customer. *After the customer is finished speaking, empathize with the customer and apologize. It does not matter who is right or wrong at this point. If the customer is upset, this must be dealt with first. *Review the problem with the customer to make sure you completely understand the problem. Make the customer know that you understand the problem and want to make things right. *If this is a comeback, do all you can do repair the car as quick as possible *For other situations, you will need to resolve the problem. First, ask the customer what they would like see done to make things right. Sometimes their solution is reasonable and something you can live with. If the request seems unreasonable, you will need to negotiate a resolution. *Remember, you need to maintain a professional position and do what you need to do to solve the problem, even at the chance that you may lose that customer. *Do a follow up, no longer than a few days, to insure that the problem was resolved to the customer satisfaction. PLEASE NOTE; there have been times when customers were completely off-base and wrong. I have had people argue with me at the front counter in an abusive nature. I will not allow this at my business. Nor, will I accept my staff to subject themselves to abuse. I tell these people to leave and find another shop.
  2. Joe Marconi

    The sun is out and it's actually a real nice day. Still looking forward to spring

  3. Joe Marconi
    Thanks for those kinds words. A lot of time and effort goes into making sure ASO is top in its class! And yes, Alex does a great job!! Joe Marconi cofounder
  4. Joe Marconi

    Snow, snow, ice...and more snow and ice...it must be a sign...

  5. Joe Marconi
    Many of us need butt kickin’ from time to time. I remember years ago one of my techs could not get a car started after he had tuned it up. I was real busy that day and didn’t fully realize what was happening. After an hour of pulling his hair out, I finally walked over to him. He told me the car had no spark to the plugs and that he tried a coil and module. I said, “NO SPARK AFTER you replaced the wires, cap, ROTOR and plugs?” He said, “Yep”. Gonzo, You know the rest of the story. I screamed out, “Take the distributior cap off, you forgot the freekin rotor!”
  6. Joe Marconi
    Don't fear corruption too much. I think you need to put faith in your process and in your people. I have been doing this for a very long time, and my main fear is the inability of my people to sell the work, not selling unneeded work. Yes, I know some may take advantage and those people need to be let go, but most people are honest and just want to do a day's work and get paid for it. Set up processes to indentify needed work and programs to help the people in service to sell the work. If you are truly looking at each car in its entirety and looking out for the customer's best interest, the rest will fall into place. All my techs and service advisors are training to look for potential work with each car. We always address the customer's main concern first, but always make it a rule to inspect the entire car and inform the customer of needed preventive service or other needed repairs. That, I feel is my job. If you don't do that, you not helping the customer or yourself.
  7. Joe Marconi

    Reflecting on Jan 2011, sales hit hard due to snow, not good.

  8. Joe Marconi
    Yes, and a word of caution, some insurance companies are good, a lot are horrible. When a customer comes in with an insurance repair policy, we take the time to review the warranty contract. Most of them are “Mechanical Breakdown” policies. So, if the policy says the transmission is covered, you need to know exactly what that means. If the clutches were burned up, and it looks like abuse, it may not be covered. The policy may state that they will warranty the transmission repair due to a particular component failure only, not wear and tear. Be sure to spend the time, reviewing the policy. Another important thing to do is to explain to the customer that the insurance company may not pay the entire cost of the repair. We always explain to the customer that we do not work for the Insuranace Company and may not necessarily agree to what they are willing to pay. The insurance policy is an agreement between the insurance company and the consumer, not the repair shop! Any difference in what the insurance company is willing to pay and what I need to charge will have to be paid by the customer. Make sure this is put in writing on your repair order upfront at the start of the process.
  9. Joe Marconi
    Now that's funny! My wife is a nurse, I will be sure to pass this on to her.
  10. Joe Marconi
    I am curious to know what company you use, but some part houses use different companies based on who they buy from in that particular part of the country. If the price differenence is extreme, we give the customer the option of OE vs. Aftermarket, with the understanding that we recommend the OE. Let me tell you...the very last thing I want to do is buy from the OE or Dealer. I think we all need to support the aftermarket. But quality becomes an issue, not just with Cats, but with any part that does not meet quality standards. In this effort to keep prices down, we just may be hurting the industry.
  11. Joe Marconi
    Good information, I am lossing faith in aftermarket cats. WE DO test them right and have no failure with oe Cats, just aftermarket. And, many of the cats that come back were replaced becuase of rust thru, not for an emissions failure or check engine light. But, they return with a check engine light that was not on before.
  12. Joe Marconi
    Good point XRAC. I am not necessarily opposed to nitrogen and understand fully the advantages of nitrogen, but it has not taken off in our area either. And, on the very rare occasion, when a customer comes in with the green valve caps, the customers don't even realize or remember they have nitrogen filled tires. Plus, all tires need to be checked periodically, and refilled. These same people tell me that they themselves have gone to the local gas-n-go and topped off their tires with regular air. This negates any advantage of nitrogen. I guess, if the entire industry were using nitrogen, it may be a different story...but I don't see that happening...not yet anyway.
  13. Joe Marconi
    For us, we cannot give up the Saturday sales. The business as evolved into a six day a week industry and many national accounts are even open on Sunday. I know many shops out there say they are successful being open from Monday thru Friday, and that’s fine. It’s a business decision every shop owner must make. Our techs and service advisors rotate Saturdays, having a day off during the week. We have a few techs that actually want the overtime, so for them they work Saturdays on a regular basis. We are open on Saturday from 8-2pm. If it’s busy we stay later. We have 8 techs, 2 service advisors and a manager. Everyone has accepted that this is the way we need to do business and it works. We have customers that commute to work durning the week and need Saturday to get their car serviced. If we were not open, they would go somewhere else.
  14. Joe Marconi
    Welcome to AutoShopOwner.com. Looking forward to you contribution, especially in the areas of marketing and advertising and internet related topics.
  15. Joe Marconi
    Yes, I agree. The way they played in the 2nd half, they should have won the game. It's been 42 years, I am a bit tired of saying...There's always next year.
  16. Joe Marconi
    I know this may seem a bit off base, but I have been a JETS fan since the days of Joe Namath. Tonight we shalll see if the JETS will make it to the Super Bowl, the first time since 1969!
  17. Joe Marconi
    Agree, Agree, Agree... we must have hearts the size of watermelons. We make the customer's problem our problem. We have this instinctive need to "fix" anything. How many other business people do that? I wonder???
  18. Joe Marconi
    As a the owner of a general repair shop, I don't really consider extreme bad weather such as a snow storm or ice storm as oppourtunity. How do our Auto Body Shop Owners feel about extreme weather and its effect on business?
  19. Joe Marconi
    First, I need to tell you...THANK YOU. This is something I have been saying for a very long time. We all know that treating "people" with kindness and in a professional manner is something we all need to do to be successful. But this one-sided approach to a certain gender or group makes no sense. What if we singled out another group of people? Can you imagine if a shop advertised, "We are an Asian Friendly Repair Shop". Think about that! We all need to indentify the needs of our customers and understand that there may be different needs for different people. But, in the end it's just good old fashion business sense and providing the very best in customer service and quality repairs. Thank you Tonya Briggs and Auto Shop Solutions for this article, it's about time we spoke about this!
  20. Joe Marconi
    Agree...I have gotten "married" to a few cars too in my career, it's no fun. I hate to profile a customer and/or the car they drive, but sometimes the end result does not justify the time, effort or money.
  21. Joe Marconi
    How’s Your Credibility? In order to be credible you need to be believable to others. A Shop owner is the leader of the company and a leader must be credible. To be credible you need to be consistent in your actions. Follow through on what you say, but be flexible and understanding of others who work with you. You need to hold yourself accountant and not make excuses when things go wrong. Make yourself available to the people in your company and above all you must have integrity. You will have a much greater chance of success when the people around you believe in you.
  22. Joe Marconi
    In this competitive and ever changing economy, are there shops that have ventured out and added different forms of income streams. For example, many shops have started to sell used cars as a means to add more income to the bottom line. Other shops have added a car wash or detail center. I am curious to hear from other shop owners if they plan on expanding their business by adding new services or products?
  23. Joe Marconi
    Great story...more sad than funny. Even after more than 35 years in this business, people still baffle me. I do agree that it's about money...but not everyone is having it tough financially. I think, too many people DO NOT WANT to spend the money. As usual, I enjoyed reading you article. Thanks!
  24. Joe Marconi
    Do you think that due to increased competition, many shops are using more and more services as lost leaders? Major companies put items "On Sale" as a way to bring people thru the door, but the truth is the "special sale price" is still sold at a profit. Some times the promotional sales price is the actual price of the particular item. When we "give away" lost leaders as a means to gain a customer base, are we losing much needed profit? I bring this up only to stimulate conversation, I want to hear from other shop owners and how they market lost leaders and other forms of marketing to bring new customers in.
  25. Joe Marconi
    More information about "2011, AutoShopOwner.com Salutes Its Members"
    As AutoShopOwner.com enters its fourth year, I would like to personally thank all the members for their continued contribution and making AutoShopOwner.com the “go to” online business forum for the independent automotive repair industry. The success of ASO is truly due to the strength of its membership. The combined knowledge and participation of its membership base has far exceeded our expectations. For that reason, we at AutoShopOwner.com are very proud. One year ago I wrote about the tough economic times we have endured the last few years. I stated that although 2009 was very challenging, 2010 would be the year to make our mark. Well, another year has passed and the automotive independent repair shops have once again shown their resilience and the ability to overcome just about anything thrown their way. We may have lost a few colleagues, but not many; certainly not nearly the numbers that were predicted. And, when you compare it to new-car dealership losses, we truly need to stand up and give ourselves a round of applause. In an era where conglomerates such as Chrysler and General Motors needed Uncle Sam to bail them out; we tightened our belts, restructured our pricing strategy, diversified our services, continued to train our technicians, and stood up to adversity. The truth is we maintained the attitude of, “Business as usual”. Our strength always has been and will continue to be, ourselves. Yes, I know how you are constantly being told that you need to run your shops more like a business, and I have heard over and over again how an industry of “mechanics-turned shop owners” is the main reason for our demise. But, how do you explain our continued success? How do you explain the fact that the independent repair sector is alive and well? How do you explain that we, the independent repair shops, are the number one preferred choice of the motoring public? I think it’s time to examine how WE do business, and maybe the rest of world should take a few lessons. To be honest, many of can do better financially. Shop owners and technicians work extremely hard, give a lot of the profits away in lost productivity, and simply do not always charge what they are worth. Too many of us end our careers with little to show for it. For many of us, breaking away from skills of mechanics and learning the skills of business is almost unattainable. As we get older and a bit wiser and beat up, we make the necessary changes to ease back and take more of a managerial role. We see the writing on the wall and feel the pain of years past in our backs, hands, and shoulders. But, we endure, and make a life for ourselves and our family. As a fellow shop owner, let me outline the profile of the typical shop owner. The typical shop owner is a dedicated, community focused person, involved with either the local Church or other organization(s). We put in an enormous amount of hours each week, working on every aspect of business. We always strive to do our best and produce the best product possible. We commit ourselves to continued education. We always give the customer the benefit of the doubt and will do just about anything (even at a loss) to keep the customer. We warranty repairs long after the warranty period. We come to work sick and take very little time off. We never hesitate to pick up a wrench, broom, mop or push a car into the bay. We are in the business of helping people and keep this country moving. Without us, our communities would come to screeching halts. We will work days on a problem, until we find the fix. We never give up. We always find a way to win. No one, and I mean no one, can take away the fact that the typical shop owner is truly committed to their customers and to the industry. As a group, we may not be the best business people, but we always find a way to get the job done. My vision for the future is to see more and more shops realize that our proven track record dictates that it’s time to secure our place in the future. We have done great things in the past, now it’s time to do even better. Continue to shift your role as a company leader and look for ways to transform your business where all the people in your company can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Build a solid future for yourself and for the people around you. This will be your legacy. Do this for all the reasons why you have done everything in the past, not solely because of economic gain, but because it’s the right thing to do. You owe to you, your family, and to the people who work with you. As we move forward in 2011 and beyond, AutoShopOwner.com is committed to your success and will continue to provide a platform where the open exchange of opinions and ideas will provide valuable information through shared knowledge and experience. Premium Members Can Download Here

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