Joe Marconi

I guess I am a little gun shy about giving price over the phone. How many times have you given a price on a particular service only to find the car need additional work, like front brakes or tires? Joe

My 2 cents worth of marketing for today: Market today for A/C work. Don't wait for customers to tell you their A/C is not working. Br proactive and ask customers if they want the A/C checked. Perform a simple visual inspection on every car and turn the A/C on every car before it enters the bay. Be proactive, be profitable!

My 2 cents worth of marketing for today: Market today for A/C work. Don't wait for customers to tell you their A/C is not working. Br proactive and ask customers if they want the A/C checked. Perform a simple visual inspection on every car and turn the A/C on every car before it enters the bay. Be proactive, be profitable!

Don't you think that we cannot rely on just on source of information anymore?

We have been using Identifix for about 2 years now. I think it is another valuable source of information. Today, you can't rely on just one source. We have Mitchell, Alldata, IATN and Identifix. It's a lot! The key is to sell enough diag time to pay for everything. Hope this helps

With the rise in the price of gas and food I am finding that my customers are unusually cranky. No doubt they are concerned, but are they blowing things out of proportion or are their concerns justified? I think we need to be positive and not feed more negative thoughts about this economic climate. What have you seen with your customers?

Yes, we have been using it for about 2 years. In today's world you need more than one information resource. We have Mitchell, Alldata, IATN, Identifix and will also log onto OE sites if needed. Information saves time and makes money.

Spring is in the air and people are usually in better buying moods. What spring promotions have you done that were successful in the past and what are your marketing plans for this spring season?

Great comments! Did you know that the main reason why people do not return to a business is because they feel that the business does not care about them. Get to know your customers. Treat them like family. Is it too much to ask to smile???? Outstanding customer service will grow your business faster than anything else. Your customers may not know what ASE is, or a Hunter Alignment Machine. BUT they do know when they have been misstreated.

First things first. It’s difficult to analyze another business when you don’t have all the facts. But after reading your posts, it appears to me that you have an above average shop and that you are dedicated to the success of your business. With that said, I think you know what the problem is already. It’s car counts. Have they been decreasing or steady? That’s important. You need to find out what’s happening in your area. I speak to many shop owners around the country and the main concern seems to be car counts. You need to find ways to increase your traffic. Do you sell tires? Offer while you wait service? Open Saturdays? Offer late nights? Is your advertising reaching the right people? Do you have a program that offers a complete line of services? Are your service people doing an outstanding job at the counter and on the phone? The answers to your business must come from your analysis of your business. Focus on what works and what is most profitable. Find ways to increase what is most profitable. Let’s keep the dialogue going and I hope other join in. One More thing: Remain Positive! Remember, if you’re negative, you will bring negative things into your life. If you focus on the positive and tell yourself today I will find one more way to attain my goal, it will happen

BRAVO! I agree with you %100. I take the same approach. A year and a half ago we started a new program called: “Just Say Yes”. When a customer calls, we find out when he wants to bring the car in and we book that time. This program has increased our car counts dramatically, without sacrificing productivity or quality. It works! The problem with these management companies is that their principles are outdated. They are living in the past. Look at all your national chains. They are all car care centers, open all week long, including Saturdays and even Sundays. We live in a fast paced world. People do not want to wait. We need to listen to our customers and find what THEY want. I think those management companies can take a few lessons from you.

I have attended the same class and countless seminars like those. First, let me tell…it’s not that cut and dry as when it’s explained in those seminars. And I don’t care who is giving them. The problem is that EVERY shop is different in the way they pay their techs, expenses, overhead, etc. For example if you just purchased a new alignment machine and built a new building, your expenses are going to be dramatically differently from a shop that has no mortgage and no outstanding loans. To generalize numbers can be misleading. Plus, you don't pay your bills with %, you pay them with profit dollars! You sound like you have a good handle on your business. Your ARO is great. I would not consider cutting staff or cutting benefits. That’s a sign of retreating and that can be bad for morale. You are probably going through the same thing that many shops are going through right now, my shop included. Our fixed expenses are increasing a bit faster than our sales income. Find what is most profitable and do more of those things. Increase car counts to increase your opportunity to sell more profitable service work. Make sure you get compensated for diagnostic work and look for ways to become more efficient and productive. I would do these things before I consider raising prices. Hang in there. You also sound like a leader. Trust in yourslelf and find ways to improve!

The key to a successful event is in the promoting. Send flyers to you customers and local businesses. Contact the local newspapers, local cable company and radio stations. Ask them if they would give you media spots as a public service. You might want to tie the event around a fundraiser. This is great PR. Good luck!

Welcome! It's a pleasure to have you on board. For me, it's been 27 years in business. Take from me, in today’s business world we need to network. As we share ideas and experiences we become stronger. With all the knowledge out there it makes perfect sense to align shop owners in a common cause. Thank you again and looking forward to exchanging ideas and opinions.

Service advisors are the key people in your company. You can have the best techs in the world and it won’t matter if your service people are not providing outstanding service. I see too many service advisors with no enthusiasm and have feelings of indifference towards customers. You want your business to fail, hire bad service advisors.

Some people say car counts are not a problem if you average repair order dollar amount is high. Some say you need high car counts to have the opportunity to sell more hi-profit service and maintenance work. I agree with that. I like healthy car counts. I want to know that large masses of customers seek my service. What's your opinion?

My plan involves rewarding those who deserve to be rewarded. It also involves training and one-on-one employee meetings. A process that demands its employees to follow a system, will not work. Your employees must see the importance of the plan and how it will benefit them, the company and the customers. Our bonus plan was more of evolutionary process. We tweaked the plan for a period of years and still make changes. When your people see the benefits, they will buy into it. The most important thing I have found is that the employee needs to know what his/her minimum level of expected performance is. Also, every employee goes home with a guaranteed pay amount. It’s the opportunity to earn more income that makes the difference. Tracking productivity and rewarding people for great work will help to insure the success of your company.

I think you speak for many of us. In an effort to be the best we can be, we hire the best, offer great pay, purchase the best equipment and enroll in continuous training. All this eats into our profits. I am not saying that we should change our business models. I am saying that with the ways things are today, we need to increase car counts in order to have the opportunity to sell more work. Business is different today, but too many are running their business as if it were 1975. And the national accounts and mass merchandisers are destroying the market by advertising cheap prices. We can have it both ways. We can’t expect to attract the best people, pay them a decent wage, pay for training, invest in the best equipment and not charge for what we are worth.

I think the only way to stay in the game IS to remain profitable. I do agree that many "price sensitive" services must be priced accordingly. We are too often judged on the prices of the basic services we offer. However, in other areas the boxing gloves come off, such as diagnostic work, electrical, engine repair, transmission repairs, etc. In these areas we need to charge what we are worth. I have this fear that if we focus too much on price to the consumer, they will loose site of the value we have to offer them. I rather be a Ruth Chris Steak House than a McDonalds. But, that’s me.

I fear price wars. Has this become a trend in our industry to stay alive?

We don't have that type of market. Our market is residential, home owners, with kids, who rely on their cars for everyday use and to commute to work. For us is great.

You need to first decide how long you want to work and where you want to live after you stop working. You need to sit down with a financial advisor and determine you financial status based on your assets and what you will be worth when you retire. You need to forecast how much you will need to carry you into those golden years. This is a lengthy process but one that needs to be done for everyone in business. Build value in your business. Build a business that can be converted into an income source; a company that can be sold, or turned over to family member, or hire a manager that can run it for you. If you own the property where you business is located, you will have more options and greater net worth. The key thing now is to start putting your wants and goals for the future on paper.

What should shops do to stay ahead of the curve? In your opinion.

A question for everyone. We are charging extra for tires with TPMS when we replace the valve kits. Is anyone charging extra labor on cars and trucks with TPMS as a general rule.

I urge all memebers to check out the download section. More download forms and checklists will be added. If you have suggestions please let us know. Joe