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Joe Marconi

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Everything posted by Joe Marconi

  1. Joe Marconi
    Osceola Shop Expansion 3
  2. Joe Marconi
    Osceola Shop Expansion 2
  3. Joe Marconi
    Osceola Shop Expansion 1
  4. Joe Marconi
    In tough economic time people get picking and frustrated easily. Don’t loose a customer over an overlooked service item or a grease spot on someone’s seat. Create a checklist where every aspect of the job is completed and reviewed. You can also go to the download section of AutoShopOwner and download some of these checklists.
  5. Joe Marconi
    Make this year the year to look to add more services to your sales arsenal and increase your marketing strategies. Be innovative. Here are few suggestions, let’s hear from other shop owners and add to this list: Create a lube bay and offer while you wait service. Purchase flush machines Start doing detailing work Consider buying an alignment machine Sell a few used cars Offer a late night for service work Carefully consider opening Saturdays Solicit to other shops and body shops for work they don’t perform. Let’s add to this list and make 2009 an banner year!
  6. Joe Marconi
    If you listen to the news reports, you might as well climb out onto a window ledge and throw yourself off. We know things are bad, but we don’t need to hear it 24/7. Is there no good news anymore? Of course there is. It’s more important now than ever before to remain positive and upbeat. I know it’s hard. I’m a shop owner too. But to focus on the negative news and things that can go wrong just may make you another causality of the recession. People want to do business with winners. People want to work for winners. In times like these, the difference may be your attitude.
  7. Joe Marconi
    Great advice and response, I totally agree. Have the passion to be the best. Understand both sides of the business, the mechanical side and the business side. Your success will be determined by how you run your business and your knowledge of business. I learned the hard way, but once I understood it, it changed my life.
  8. Joe Marconi
    Are there sales goals to reach? Do you consider your break-even?
  9. Joe Marconi
    I have my business set up in a way that all positions are taken care of. My role is to oversee the operation, work on growing the business and to coach the people around me. There was a time when I did everything. From service writing to working on cars, all the office work, road testing, etc. But I was killing myself. We are much more profitable now that I concentrate on running the business, instead of working in it. We have 4 techs, a service advisor, office manager, shop foreman and a clean up crew.
  10. Joe Marconi
    So, you find that offering specials increase car counts?
  11. Joe Marconi
    New cars are not selling and people are keeping their cars longer. People will eventually need cars for themselves and/or children. They may not be in a position to purchase new. You have a distinct advantage, since your customers already trust you. Offering them a used car may be another way to add a few bucks to your bottom line.
  12. Joe Marconi
    You stand behind your work. I know you do, because I do! But what about a part company that gives you grief over a part failure. Who pays for the comeback? We need to talk to our suppliers. And the worst are the new car dealer parts departments. I recently had an issue with a catalytic converter that was special ordered for a Jeep that took a week to arrive. The O2 sensor hole was drilled in the wrong place and the dealer told me it would be at least another week to get another one. It took my tech 2 hours to cut, weld and re-engineer the converter. When I brought it up to the dealer he told me there was nothing he could do about it and would issue no form of credit for my labor. That dealer no longer gets my business.
  13. Joe Marconi
    With the closing of new car dealerships in our area, we have seen a lot of techs looking for work. If you are looking to hire a tech, my advice would be to carefully screen these techs. The first to get let go at the dealer may be the bottom of the barrel or the least experienced. The dealership also may be looking to get rid of the dead wood.
  14. Joe Marconi
    Discounts eat into profits. All of us understand this. In this economic climate it seems many businesses are offering discounts to increase sales. But at what cost? Another problem, it may to hard to increase prices when the economy turns around if you have established yourself as a discounter. However, if discounting drives more traffic into your bays and gives you the opportunity to increase other related sales, is it wrong? I would like to hear from other shops on how they feel on this topic.
  15. Joe Marconi
    Many shops put their advisors on salary with a performace bonus. Salary based pay has its pros and cons. For those advisors that don't watch the clock, it can work out to the shop's benefit. For advisors who need a lot of flex time for family reasons, it may present an issue.
  16. Joe Marconi
    Not a problem, I enjoy the conversation.
  17. Joe Marconi
    I'm glad to hear that you understand the need for growth. One thing to remember, create a stradegy for steady, contiunous growth. It's not one thing you do that will make your business a sucess. It's a combination of everything you do. Work hard on your business and understand the numbers. Like Walt Disney said; "Dare to Dream"
  18. Joe Marconi
    Yes. Depending on the position and after certain goals are met, a bonus will be paid. The precenages vary per person and goal.
  19. Joe Marconi
    Everyone needs direction and everyone needs deadlines. We would never conduct business without knowing when parts are going to arrive, when jobs need to be done, how long jobs will take to complete and every other aspect of running a repair business. What’s vital to your business is to understand the amount of work needed (labor hours and parts sold) in order to reach your sales goal, which translates into profit. In other words you establish deadlines and goals on a daily basis. You probably do it so instinctively that you don’t even realize you’re doing it. Construction is a bit different. Although it’s your project and you have a General Contractor (G.C.), you are at times at the mercy of a particular contractor. I have gotten tough over the past few months and talk frequently to the G.C. about the progress of the construction. With any construction project, establish goals and deadlines from the start. Meet with the G.C. and the all the contractors and establish a realistic deadline for completion for each contractor. Review those deadlines often and make the contactors accountable. This may be hard. What happens in the construction business is that if they land another contract, they try to do both at the same time, yours and the other job. They don’t want to loose the income so they over extend themselves. I can’t blame them, but your main concern is your project and this needs to be conveyed to the contractor. The General Contractors on my project is extremely good at making sure contractors hold up to their commitments. My job is to have periodic meetings with the G.C. to review the progress and to make sure we’re still within our budget. Cost overruns and extras can kill you. There will be countless extras that each contractor will want to up sell you. Stick to your game plan. If the extra saves money in the long term, carefully consider it. If it’s a “nice to have”, but not a “need to have”, it might be best to pass on it. There will be enough unexpected expenses for you to worry about. We are coming down to the wire, with about 2 months to go. Every waking (and sleeping) hour is devoted to this project. Excited? Yes. Scared? A little. Nervous? You bet! Stay tuned!
  20. Joe Marconi
    Eric, if you want to grow and thrive in this business you will need to expand. With your present situation, it will very difficult to increase sales and productivity. Even with the addition of another tech. You need to look into expanding your bays or finding a new location. If you find a new location, try to go as big as possible. Trust me, I have been in business for 29 years and having bay space is a distinct advantage. Another recommendation I can make is to slowly remove yourself from the bays and into the office. Or get someone who can run the service counter. I used to think that no one could do as good a job as I could. That’s bull! There are good people out, find them! Your mindset will also dictate your ability to grow. If you go to work everyday and your focus is on fixing cars, you will become very good at that. You need to go to work with the mindset on growing your business. If your focus is on that, you will eventually become good at growing your business. I am in the process right now of expanding my shop. We are going from 6 bays to 10. It’s a huge undertaking, but one that I believe will be my retirement. You can read my blog (Joe’s blog) about the process of expanding. Good Luck! Joe Marconi
  21. Joe Marconi
    Before I pay anyone (Service advisor, tech, foreman, etc) I establish goals. I factor in my breakeven, previous sales, return on investment and then set a bonus for a percentage after that figure is reached. I have found that to pay a percentage of sales without a benchmark goal takes away their incentive to do better.
  22. Joe Marconi
    We really should consider the chat session, please contact me. Joe
  23. Joe Marconi
    I understand what you are doing. My only concern is that some of those dealer ads are misleading. For example: Timing belt $199.00. If they come to you with a coupon, it's up to you to inform them that this probably does not include the water pump, coolant, drive belts, etc. The cusotmer may think that YOU are trying to up sell them. I don't like price wars. I need to be competetive, but profitable. I don't mind competing apples to apples, but I rather take my chances building my business based on value proposition. In other words, what makes my company stand out against others? We all sell the same things, what can I do that will make people come to me. If it's only the price or for a discount, it won't be long untill you're pricing yourself out of business. I have plenty of customers that tell me I am sometimes more than the dealer but they come to me for all the other reasons: the ride home, the while you wait service, friendly staff, clean shop, etc. Just my thoughts, what do you think?
  24. Joe Marconi
    There is a future in the auto repair buisness. 150k is a lot on money for any career. It's not impossible but you have to work really hard and dedicate yourself to the trade. There will always be work for us in this business, inspite of the economy. You just need to be good and be the best.
  25. Joe Marconi
    More information about "AutoShopOwner.com Celebrates its First Year"
    This month, AutoShopOwner.com celebrates its first year anniversary as a web-based automotive management network and forum, dedicated to the success of automotive shop owners around the world, through shop owner networking and the exchange of ideas. I want to take this time to thank all members, welcome new members and wish everyone great success in the coming year. We all know that 2008 has brought many economic challenges to not only our industry, but also to industries around the globe. It appears that the economy will not begin to recover for a while. It seems that every sector of the economy is affected. We haven’t seen a downturn like this, since the great depression. Whether you are for or against the “bail out” of American corporations, the fact remains that, what ever happens in the short term will greatly affect us all, well into the future. Many businesses, large and small, will fail in 2009 and more people will loose their jobs as companies trim the fat and become leaner; something that should have been done years ago. More domestic new car dealerships will close their doors. For many of them, they have no choice. Their business model just doesn’t make sense anymore. Is there only bad news? Not really. We happen to be in an industry that prospers in any economic climate: good and bad. 2008 was a terrible year for new car sales and ALL manufacturers, resulting in the greatest opportunity for service and repair work we’ve seen in decades. People may have held back spending money in “08”, but eventually they will need to get their cars in to you for service. And you need to be ready. Now is the time to be aggressive in your marketing and advertising. Create ways to offer cost savings services to your customers. Give them options and be flexible. You don’t have to hit home runs to win the game. I understand money is tight, but the shops that stay strong and invest today will reap the benefits when the economy turns around. History as proven that the companies that maintain a positive outlook, continue to advertise and adjust to the changing times, are stronger after the economy picks up. Maintain a constant watch on all the businesses in your area that are suffering, especially other automotive chains and new car dealerships. As these companies fail, this will create opportunity for you. Watch your overhead, but continue to invest in training, tools and equipment. You can’t afford to be left behind technologically these days. Playing catch-up may not be that easy. And of course, be accommodating to your customer and provide outstanding world-class service, anything else won’t cut it. In tough times, consumers can become fussy and demanding and won’t settle for sub standard service. From the dialogues I have had on AutoShopOwner.com, throughout this past year, I am impressed by the resolve and strength of the typical shop owner and see a positive future for our industry. As a group, we are strong. Failure is not an option for us. We find ways everyday to solve the most complicated mechanical problems and that determination will be the reason why we will not just survive in the coming years, but thrive. The best of luck to all shop owners in ‘09’ and look forward to the forum discussions.

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