Joe Marconi

Service advisors need to explain the benefit to the customer when recommending a particular service or repair. To simply tell a customer, “Mrs. Jones, your car needs a tire rotation”, may not have much meaning to the customer. A better way to sell the service would be to explain the reasons why the tires need to be rotated and the benefits of extended tire life and better tire wear. When the customer sees the value in the service you are recommending your chances of making the sale increases greatly.

Another great story Gonzo! It really captures the sometimes strained relationships between customer and mechanic. Not that all customers are difficult, but the ones that are really make it difficult appreciate the good customers, at times. There are days when I just want to be locked up inside a bay with my tool box, no phone, no paper work…just my tool box and a broken car.

These stories really touch my heart and there will be a place for us for doing the things we do. We all work and have a business to make money, but some things transend money and the rewards we get, that feeling we get, you cannot put a price on. Again I need to say, it's reasons like this that I am proud of ASO and it's members. Shop owners are truly the best of the best. What great stories to share on fathers day too! As always thanks!

Call it old fashion, call it crotchety... I really don’t care...but you are RIGHT to feel the way you do. We have all been down this road too many times before and we get taken advantage of because of our good nature. But the rewards we get for being the way we make it worth. About a year ago a women in her 70’s walked in my shop asking for help. She got gas at the self serve station on the corner and when she got back into her car it would not start. The people at the gas-and-go told her to walk over to my shop to use my phone to call AAA. It was a summer day, hot and humid, about 95 degrees. Why she could not get help from the gas station or use their phone baffles me! Anyway, I let her use my phone to call AAA and after trying to work through their phone prompts, she was becoming increasingly upset over the entire episode. After reaching the AAA dispatch they told her without an exact physical address, they could not dispatch a truck. By now she was drained, I could see in her face that lost feeling. I asked her if she would like me to help her and grabbed the phone from her. After attempting to deal with the idiot on the other end of the line at AAA, I gave up and hung up the phone. I asked the women for her keys and told her I would go to the corner and see if I could help. She asked me how much? She said she was on a very fixed budget and did not have much money. I told her that I want to see what the problem was and for that I would not charge her anything. She seemed to relax and started to calm down. I took a helper down to the corner. The car was blocking the bays and someone from the store shouted to me that I better get that car out of the way soon! I just stared at him with a look that could kill, walked over and told him, “If you had any sense you would have helped the old woman instead of making her walk a few blocks in this hot weather. Now turn around and go back inside”. Without a word, he did just that. The problem was a dead battery. I jumped the car, got it back to my shop and put a new battery in it. She asked me how much? And I asked her what she could afford. She said she had $75.00 on her. I told her to give my $50. She started to cry and told me that she knew it was more than that. The next day her daughter came over to offer me more money. I refused and told her some things are more important than money. She could believe her hears and thanked me. I know each of us have a similar story to tell. These are the reasons we are the best of the best!

Sorry to hear that Alex, I hope all will be ok.

Happy father's day. Relax tomorrow and enjoy your family, fishing, golf or whatever makes you happy. Forget about the shop for one day, it will be there on Monday, I promise you.

There will be thieves, but I will never get use to it. I only pray they take money from the cash draw, which we leave there on purpose (A few hundred bucks). Don’t touch the tools, the equipment or destroy the place.

I am a little concerned that we may be headed down a slippery slope for smaller shops and may not be able to get back up the hill again. If I am hearing this correctly; use diag fees to maintain healthy car counts. I would agree to this, however, smaller shops may find it hard to be profitable because they are physically limited by their size. Dealerships, large franchise store and large independents (those facilities with more than 8 bays) can support a lost leader approach because it gives them the opportunity to not only fix the check engine light but to up sell other related service work they identify while the car is being repair. Now let's look at a 2 or 3 bay shop: A check engine light repair can tie up the main tech for an hour or so performing the analysis leaving the other bay or 2 open for other work. The problem is there's not enough space or man power to keep a steady flow of more highly profitable work; such as brakes, steering, preventive maintenance and so on. Now take a 12 bay facility; they can have performing analysis work while the other bays are performing service work, this keeps a steady flow of income which offsets lost leaders. This is why and how dealers and large franchise stores take the lost leader approach. I guess my fear is that smaller independents will use the lost leader approach with respect to analysis work but may not be able to recoup because their size prohibits them from capitalizing from more profitable work. Their efforts will be to get the car done and on to the next.

The video tells it all. There WERE times that I wanted to jumped out of my seat and confront these people one to one. This is a very tough issue and very emotional to me now that I see how the “other side” thinks and how they perceive us. Please, everyone, watch this video and pass it on. The shop owners of this country need to know the master plan that has been created by the car maker to put us under. I will not allow this to happen! But I need your help. I need each and everyone to be angry, make those phone calls, be active and support the Right To Repair Act. Joe Marconi

How do you handle very complicated diagnositic work. The one's that you know going into that it will require a lot of time? And how are the techs reacting the reduction in labor time?

Solid, sound business advice. Everyone should review each morning before they start their day.

That's a great program, I know many other shops that do the same thing to collect emails. Another thing we all need to consider, the future generation is our future customer, they are an electronic gerneration. A lot that the baby boomer generation struggles with with be common place in the very near future. Collecting emails and having precence on the web is our future.

You know, that's not to far off...

I use CARQUEST. I don't like part companies that cater to the DIY market. There has been an issue with part quality across the board, especially those from China. But, with a company like CARQUEST, the service is great and they will always work with you when you have a problem. The sales people are great also, and they really do care about their traditional market; the independent repair shops. We get our WorldPac parts through our CARQUEST part store.

Thanks for confidence in me. I made a pledge to myself this year to get more involved in the political arena. ASO members such as you have helped me greatly in understanding the needs and the frustration of the typical shop owner. I will continue to fight for our rights, but I need your comments and opinions. ASO will become the greatest source of automotive shop management information, worldwide!

Highlights from the NY State Public Hearing on the Right to Repair Act On Wednesday June 9, 2010 I gave testimony at the NY State Public Hearing in support of the Right to Repair Act. It was a very interesting day and a lot was said, both for and against this bill. The public hearing lasted over four hours, so I will summarize some of the highlights for everyone. It is interesting to note how vehemently the opposition is fighting this bill. I felt some the comments of those who opposed the bill were at times insulting with respect to the aftermarket. Some questioned the integrity of our work and inferred that the work we do may be somewhat inferior to that of the new car dealers. Also, some opponents question the parts we use, as possibly inferior. Luckily, my turn to testify was after many of the opponents, so I loaded my gun and gave it to them, both Barrels! I told the panel of assemblymen that the comments being spoken here are insulting and I am outraged by these comments. I went on to tell them that we, the aftermarket are the preferred choice of the motoring public, not the new car dealers. I also told them that the aftermarket solves many of the factory mistakes, such as Ford Explorer ball joints and Chevy Silverado control arms. All we want is a fair and level playing field. We are asking the car makers to make available all the information and tools necessary to fix the cars “they” made. Also, car makers should not build systems that force the consumer to go back to the dealer. The right of the people to choose to where they get their car fixed should be theirs, not the automaker. For those of you that may be members of the ASA (Automotive Service Association), they are against the Right to Repair act. Don Seyfer was there to represent the ASA. His position, like all those who oppose the bill, is that all the information and tools are already available to us and there is absolutely no reason to proceed with this bill. Don Seyfer cited “Lack of training” and “Not knowing how to obtain the information” as the primary reason why independent shops hit road blocks and can’t complete a repair. There were only four independent repair shops testifying. However, we made a great presentation and one Assemblyman; Michael G. Dendekker, actually told the audience that before hearing from the 4 independent repair shop owners, he was not in favor of the bill. But, after hearing the testimony from the 4 shop owners, he now understands why we want the Right to Repair Act. He stated that the 4 shop owners made the most powerful argument of the day. Much was said that day, and I am not sure what the outcome will be. My fear is that the car manufacturers, the new car dealers, the new car dealer associations and the auto workers unions are a powerful group and they comprise a lot of voting power. But the aftermarket is a powerful group too. We need the support of all segments of the aftermarket; from independent repair shops to aftermarket part companies to aftermarket franchises. One last thing, The Right to Repair Act is something that I support. I don’t know your position on it. I feel passionate about it because of the increasing challenges we must endure to properly and safely repair our customer’s cars. Also, it is clear to me that the systems and the design of new cars are an attempt to lock out not only us, but the consumer from his own car. Tell me how you feel; for or against and why.

Want to boost morale? Talk to your people about things other than business. Find out what Tom the Tech likes to do on his day off; golf, fishing, hunting, etc. Talk to him about it often. You will see a difference in his attitude when he sees you are interested in him as a person, not just a tech. People want to be recognized as people and sometimes too much business is not good for morale. Remember, a little small talk goes a long way!

It's a great point, and one that is often overlooked. A lot of us may think nothing will happen to us, but the reality is we need to prepare for the worst. We also owe to our families to have them protected. Tough subject, but we all need to deal with it.

Gonzo, you stole my thunder again! All kidding aside, I agree. This is a learning experience and you need to "learn" from this. Don’t be everything to everyone. You need to look at the car in its entirety before you commit yourself. I know it’s easy for me to say this, but I have been down this road before. I also agree with xrac, have a legitimate sit-down with this customer and explain the facts. Stand by your convictions. No refund! One more word of advice: create a checklist to pre-check cars before you work on them. You need to indentify things like: check engine light on, SRS light on, TPMS light on, broken lenses, etc. This will save a lot of grief. I can’t tell how many times we had people tell us, “That ABS light was not before you worked on it”. I feel for you, we have all been down this road and will travel down tough roads in the future. Look at it like this: It will only make you stronger and wiser.

LKQ in our area offers reman for some units. We intalled a reman manual transmision from LKQ on a Subaru. It worked out great. Saved the customer a lot of money, greater value and we maintained of profit margin. Win, Win.

A lot of money!!! A little over 20k. I saw a few models but none broke down tires like this. Anyone can change a tire with this machine, I mean anyone. The machine lifts the tire up onto the machine for you. There is no effort, no fighting, no struggle. You can break down a low profile run flat the same way you break down and 75 series on a steel wheel. Plus, after buying the Hunter Alignment machine, I am really sold on the Hunter company. It's a lot of money and that's an issue, but I felt it was the best and the time savings and the ease of use is a big plus.

Great articles, should be mandatory reading for shop owners, service advisors and managers.

Great, Great story. I wish all our customers would realize this. Actually I wish the dealers would stop spreading these myths. Too many people think they must return to the dealer under the warranty period. At the State Hearing yesterday for the Right to Repair Act, many of the Assmblymen and Senators did no know this was the law! And they write the laws!!!

I just purchase the Hunter Tire Machine Auto34. This tire changer breaks down run flats with no problem. It truly is a quality machine. We just got it installed today and already we saved time on a few tough low-profile tires. Here's the link check it out: Hunter Auto34 Tire Changer

Want Help Growing Your Business? As many of you many know, I recently joined Elite Worldwide as a Business Development Coach. Elite Worldwide as many programs and products that can help you grow your business. My role will be working with shop owners who are interested in one-on-one business coaching. We are looking for the right candidates. If you are interested or know someone that is interested in finding out how Elite can help you grow your business, please contact me. For more information on Elite go to EliteWorldwideStore.com Joe Marconi AutoShopOwner.com Elite Worldwide, Inc Osceola Garage