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Joe Marconi

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  1. Joe Marconi
    Managing Your Most Important Asset, Your Employees
    A practical guide for shop owners
     
    By Joe Marconi
     
    We all know that without customers, your business would not survive. The strength of your customer base insures the success of your business and that success is directly related to the quality of people who work in your company. The only way to insure a great customer base is by building a great team of employees.
     
    When Yankee legend Yogi Berra was asked, “What makes a great manager of a baseball team?” Yogi replied, “A great ball club”. His answer may be simplistic in nature, but it speaks volumes. Satisfied customers can never be achieved without happy employees. Perhaps the most difficult part of management is motivating our employees to work toward the common goal of insuring the success of your company.
     
    Managers and owners deal with a variety of issues each and every day; from personality differences to generational differences. Workers from the baby boomer generation often have a tough time understanding younger workers which can cause resentment on the part of your older workforce.
     
    Speaking for myself, a baby boomer, I understood the unspoken hierarchy that the boss was king. And when the boss spoke, you listened. The boss commanded respect and ruled by the doctrine of, “My way or the highway”. I remember the owner at my first job at a gas station in the Bronx telling me the day I was hired: “You’ll work Monday through Saturday, half days on holidays, pump gas when needed and I’ll start you off at minimum wage”. The owner of that gas station never shut the bays doors unless it rained hard or snowed, never turned on the heat and we had no hot water. No one at that shop complained, we didn’t know any better, we were just happy to be working.
     
    Today, we live in a completely different world. I am not here to judge which way was better, only to say that the differences in the generations, gender and cultural must be recognized in order to maintain healthy morale in your workplace. For without a healthy and a cohesive workplace, your business will not thrive. The boss may still be king, but the king needs to earn the respect of the people that work in the company.
     
    Priorities and lifestyles have changed too. Past generations viewed their job and their family as their number one priority. Today, people still hold their careers as vital to their survival and future, but also desire a life beyond work. Time off, free time, family and friends are part of their makeup.
    Motivation becomes the issue. There was a time when just having a job and providing for your family was all the motivation you needed. That may not hold true anymore.
     
    People today are more social. They want a balance between work, family and play. So how do we motivate and get our employees to work as a team? How do we express to them the importance that the quality of their work is directly related to the success of the business? Well, the very first way is to tell them. That’s right; let your people know that you appreciate them. Spend time talking with the people in your company. Praise them when they do a good job. I remember when I worked at a Ford dealership in the late 70’s, the only time you would see the boss come out his office was to reprimand someone. You would cringe when you would see him walk toward you; you knew it wasn’t good.
    Don’t be that boss.
     
    Find things to talk about with your people. Become genuinely interested in what interests them. It could be sports, their last vacation, their family, the weather or anything other than work related. This shows your human side and lets people know that you care about them as a person, not just a worker.
    Get your employees involved in some of the decision making processes. If you are looking to upgrade your tire balancer, hold a meeting and discuss it with your staff. Have them help research the different equipment makers and collectively arrive at a decision. Making your employees feel important enough to help you with a key decision will go a long way in improving morale. That must be you goal. Remember, I can’t say it enough times: Happy employees make happy customers.
     
    I must be honest with everyone. I too once followed the doctrine of “My way or the highway”. However, though the years I have learned that you can be more effective when you get the people in your company working and producing because they want to, rather than because you ordered them to.
    When the people in your company feel the company respects their position and values the work they do, they begin to take ownership and pride in their work. People need to feel that they are making a contribution and that the company they work for recognizes this. Everyone likes to feel important and appreciated.
     
    Start today by walking around the shop and talking to your employees. Pat a few people on the back for a job well done. Let your employees see that you are more than just their boss. Trust me; you cannot grow your business by yourself. You need good people around you. Positive employee morale will result in higher productivity, better customer relations and more income to your bottom line. Employees are people first, workers second. Treat them as people and watch your business grow.
  3. Joe Marconi
    Everyone has core beliefs; those values and ideals that determine your personal success. Notice I said, “personal” success? That’s because success is defined by your goals, your desires and your individual talents and potential. Not by the achievements of others. A great athlete may study other great athletes to see how they achieved their success, but ultimately it’s the talents, work ethic and the potential of the individual that will determine personal success.
     
    Below is my list of core beliefs:
    1. Never judge your life or your achievements by the achievements of others.
    2. Always go the extra mile when performing any task, even at the risk or perceived risk of short term monetary loss.
    3. Commit to a life of continuous improvement and learning.
    4. Never give up when a problem arises; whether in your private life or in your daily work. Work diligently to find solutions.
    5. Never dismiss someone’s perception of you. While we should not govern our lives by other people’s opinions, how others view us should be considered. Are we respected and considered credible by the people we associate with?
    6. Spend more time listening than talking.
    7. Analyze what goes wrong in your life and learn from your mistakes.
    8. Never hesitate to make a key decision out of fear of making a mistake.
    9. Make decisions based on your gut feelings; which is founded on past experience, expertise and personal judgment.
    10. Accept responsibility of your life, your family, the world around you and your coworkers.
    11. When things go wrong in your business or in your life, blame yourself first. Ask yourself; “Was there anything that I could have done that would have prevented what happened?”
    12. Think beyond your job description, always be willing to help others, the more you understand the concept of the team, the better individual you will become.
    13. Be a leader, find other leaders and help others achieve their personal greatness.
    14. Don’t look for praise or recognition. Knowing that what you do in life matters is recognition enough.
    15. Find happiness in your life. If you spend your life looking elsewhere for happiness, you will never find it.
    16. Focus on your strengths, not your weakness. Do what you enjoy, but also do what brings the greatest return of fulfillment in your life. Joe Montana, famous quarter back for the San Francisco 49ers, devoted his life to becoming one of the greatest quarter backs of all time. Although he was a great football athlete, he did not spend his time perfecting his skills in tackling and catching the ball. That would have been a waste of his time.
     
    This is my list; you may agree or disagree with these core beliefs. The key thing to remember is that we all need to know what makes us tick. Who are we and what do we stand for? We may never know completely who we are and may never reach our personal definition of success, but, as we all know, life is a never ending journey, not a destination. Striving continuously in achieving our very best is what defines us and defines life itself.
  4. Joe Marconi

    Never Apologize for Your Prices

    By Joe Marconi,


    Customers
    Shop owners today understand the challenges of rising costs and inflation.  Without addressing this issue and making the needed adjustment to your margins, the increase in your expenses will end up hurting your bottom line. Adjusting prices, up or down, is a function of being in business and, at times, unavoidable.
    Shop owners often fear that their customers may push back with any price increase. They ask themselves,  “Will my customers understand? Will they shop other auto repair shops to compare my prices?” 
    The truth is your true profile customers are not loyal to you because of the prices you charge for your services and repairs. Yes, you need to be competitive, but you also need to be profitable. Your best customers are loyal because of the value they receive from doing business with you.  Those are the customers you need to focus on and spend most of your energy on.
    If you determine that you need to raise your prices, do it, but never apologize. Continue to build value in what you do. When value increases, price fades as an issue. However, when the customer does not see the value in your services and repairs, the customer will then focus more on the price.
  5. Joe Marconi
    The strategies outlined in this blog reflect real-world strategies I have learned and used in my 41 years as an auto shop owner. I also use these strategies when helping clients as a business development coach. 
    While running a successful auto repair shop today has many components, the list below contains the top 9 strategies I believe every auto shop owner should consider when looking for ways to improve their bottom-line profit. 
    Ten Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line:
    Hire the best people and have enough staff. You will have a much easier time achieving success when you’re surrounded by the right people. Calculate your correct labor rate and adjust that labor rate every quarter. Charge a higher labor rate for jobs that do not include any parts, such as electrical testing, check engine lights, onboard computer issues, and drivability problems. The missing part profit must be made up somewhere. Review and refine your checklists and procedures to improve overall efficiency. Make sure all your equipment is working correctly and that you have the equipment and tools needed for the vehicles you service and repair. Make sure your part margins allow for a respectable gross profit.   Make sure your inventory is up to date, with up-to-date pricing, and you don’t have too much stock sitting on the shelf. Make sure you have a process to get the proper credit for part cores, returned parts, and defective parts. Invest in ongoing training for all employees. BONUS TIP: Speak to your accountant and business coach about tax planning strategies. But do not wait until tax season. Tax planning should be done throughout the year.
    I hope you found this information helpful.
  7. Joe Marconi
    I was taught a valuable lesson in pricing back in the 1980s by a fellow shop owner. Tom (not his real name) owned a five-bay independent auto repair shop. We met in a training class and became instant friends. The discussion of labor rates and pricing came up often, and his opinion was spot on.  He would tell me, “Joe, we will never get paid what we deserve until we put a higher value on what we do.”
    This leads me to the reason for this blog: The mindset that auto repair shops should price themselves lower than new car dealerships, is a myth. Tom would emphasize, “Look at your expenses, your payroll, the benefits you give to your customers, and don’t forget your payroll and company profit. Then, do the math and set your prices.” What influenced me was not only his forward-thinking but the fact that he would call the local dealers, to make sure his labor rate was ABOVE theirs!
    Positioning your prices lower than the dealer just because you are an independent auto repair shop is selling yourself short. Your labor rate and prices should be determined by you, factoring in your overhead operating expenses, payroll, financial goals, the amount of net profit you desire, and the value you provide to your customers.
    Another thing: don’t be everything to everyone. Understand your key profile customers and build your marketing plan around them. Cater to those who are loyal to you.
    Here’s the bottom line with pricing: sell value, not parts and labor. When the value increases, the price fades as an issue. 
  8. Joe Marconi
    Most shop owners would agree that the independent auto repair industry has been too cheap for too long regarding its pricing and labor rates. However, can we keep raising our labor rates and prices until we achieve the profit we desire and need? Is it that simple?
    The first step in achieving your required gross and net profit is understanding your numbers and establishing the correct labor and part margins. The next step is to find your business's inefficiencies that impact high production levels.
    Here are a few things to consider. First, do you have the workflow processes in place that is conducive to high production? What about your shop layout? Do you have all the right tools and equipment? Do you have a continuous training program in place? Are technicians waiting to use a particular scanner or waiting to access information from the shop's workstation computer?
    And lastly, are all the estimates written correctly? Is the labor correct for each job? Are you allowing extra time for rust, older vehicles, labor jobs with no parts included, and the fact that many published labor times are wrong? Let's not forget that perhaps the most significant labor loss is not charging enough labor time for testing, electrical work, and other complicated repairs.  
    Once you have determined the correct labor rate and pricing, review your entire operation. Then, tighten up on all those labor leaks and inefficiencies. Improving production and paying close attention to the labor on each job will add much-needed dollars to your bottom line.
  11. Joe Marconi
    I am a firm believer in providing employees with a competitive wage and the opportunity to earn more through incentives. However, any additional incentive bonus must pay for itself. That means any additional incentive compensation must not eat into company profits. While we typically look at payroll as an expense, everyone in your company must be productive enough to support their compensation plan. This is especially true with service advisors.
    Too often, shop owners don’t properly establish sales and gross profit goals. What occurs then is that the incentive pay, which is above the base pay, reduces overall gross profit, which decreases net profit.
    Here are a few guidelines when considering a pay plan for service advisors. First, you need to know your breakeven and calculate it at least twice a year. Remember breakeven is never a goal, it’s just the sales number your company must attain BEFOFE it makes any profit. Next, you need to establish sales and net profit goals above breakeven.  Many shops shoot for a 20% net profit, so you need to determine your desired labor and part gross profit. If you don’t know how to calculate your breakeven or gross profit, please reach out for help from your accountant or a business coach.
    After that, you need to establish minimum sales and gross profit goals that must be achieved consistently before any incentive is to be paid.  In other words, if you determine that achieving a 20% net profit requires on average $30,000 in sales per week with an overall gross profit of $20,000 per week, then that becomes your minimum required weekly goal that must be maintained by your service advisor team every week.
    This is important because you don’t want three weeks where your sales and gross profit were below your goals, and pay an incentive bonus in the fourth week, just because your service advisors had one good week. Additional pay incentives can only be paid when the company is consistent in achieving its required sales, gross profit, and net profit.  One thing, if the goal is too high and perceived as unattainable, your service advisors will give up. Lowering the bar in some cases may be needed, just have a plan in place to incrementally raise the bar to ultimately achieve your desired financial goals.  Please also note that for you to have a consistently profitable business requires a healthy work environment, training programs, systems, processes, and of course a great technician team. 
    One last thing, the service advisor’s base pay must meet the individual’s basic needs in life. And as I said earlier, incentive pay is the opportunity to earn more. However, they must consistently produce, after all, incentive pay should be earned, and never an entitlement.  
  13. Joe Marconi
    John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach from UCLA, once said, “In my forty years of coaching, I never took a shot at the basket, never scored a point and never made a rebound. That was not my job”. John Wooden understood his role as a coach and the role of his players. We, as shop owners need to do the same.
     
    For too many years I wore way too many hats. This notion that I, because I was the “Boss”, had to be the best technician, the best service advisor and essentially the best at all positions was ridiculous. This way of thinking leads to burnout and disappointment.
     
    Learning your strengths as a leader is crucial. Knowing the strengths of others in your shop and helping them become better is a gold mine. Thinking that the world surrounds us and that we need to have our hands in every element of the business will lead to our demise. When the second baseman is not performing, the coach does not take his place on the field, he gets another second baseman.
     
    Once we assume the role as business owner, our life changes. If we don’t clearly define our role and all positions in our company we will not succeed. Trust me, until I realized that it’s the people around me that leads to my success, I struggled daily.
     
    Running a shop is not easy. It’s perhaps, one the toughest jobs out there. But it can be rewarding both financially and emotionally. Work on your role first, and then go to work making others around you better at what they do. Your happiness and the happiness of others depend on it.
     
  14. Joe Marconi
    “Leave your problems at home” is a common expression. The thinking behind it is that if you are having a problem at home, it will affect your performance at work. So, change gears when you get to work and put the problem out of your mind.
    However, can people just shut it off?  Can they leave their problems at home?  Consider this example; your technician and his wife have a very sick child who is getting worse. Their doctor is concerned and wants to refer the child to a specialist, fearing that something is seriously wrong. In this situation, do you truly expect your technician to shut it off, and simply put it out of his mind?
    Problems at home are part of life. As a shop owner, you need to be more understanding and have empathy. You also need to build a solid relationship with your employees that allows them to approach you in times of need or crisis. This is a key component to building the right culture with high morale.
    Here’s another scenario to think about: Let’s say your service advisor is overwhelmed at work. She is having a hard time keeping up with all the work and reaching the point of burnout. In addition, she works with a problem technician that is always complaining about something. Do you think this service advisor can shut off her work problems and not bring them home?
    The bottom line is this; as shop owners, you need to reach your employees on an emotional level. Yes, you are running a business and you have your own set of issues and problems. I get that. But your success is directly related to the success of the people around you. That means that everyone must feel that they are people first, employees second.
    The next time you see something off with one of your employees, don’t assume the worst. Pull them aside, show them you care, and ask if there is anything they need and if there is something that you can do to help.
  16. Joe Marconi
    No, I have not lost my mind. You and I both know that the oil change business is different today from what it was years ago. If we go back to the 1980s, and up through the 1990s, we judged customer visits by a factor of 4 to 5, which meant that we needed to see a customer at least 4 to 5 times a year, an indicator of customer retention rate and loyalty. Back then customers brought us their vehicles every three to four thousand miles for the traditional oil change. That business model no longer holds true.
    Today, the customer mindset has changed. Plus, oil change mileage intervals are a lot longer. For many, they don’t think about the oil change service the way consumers thought about it years ago. Just look at your customer base. How many customers drive well over the suggested oil change mileage interval?  How many customers wait until the Maintenance Light comes on? Or even worse, the Engine Oil Light! 
    I am not suggesting that you don’t perform oil changes, what I am suggesting is that you take a different approach. First, for those customers who drive well over the oil change mileage interval, it is in the best interest of the customer to educate them on the value of preventive maintenance. Instead of selling an oil change, promote the value of the vehicle’s scheduled maintenance service; for example, a 15k or 45k Service.  This is not new; we all know this concept. Selling a maintenance service will help to ensure that we are doing all we can to protect our customers, promote vehicle safety, and extend the life of our customer’s vehicles. This concept also lowers the overall cost of vehicle ownership over the vehicle's life.
    Lastly, you have the perfect opportunity at vehicle delivery to educate your customers about the importance of preventive maintenance. Review with all customers, the service interval that is due next, and book that service with your customer. If we focus on what is best for our customers, we can’t go wrong.
    I frequently tell shop owners, “Every vehicle in your shop today will need a future service or repair. Make sure that your customers return to you.”
  17. Joe Marconi
    I am going to borrow a quote from billionaire, Warren Buffet, “The best investment you can make is in yourself,” This statement, while simplistic, speaks volumes. A shop owner is much more than a boss, a shop owner is a leader. And leaders are solely responsible for the success of their team. This means that you must work hard and commit to a life of continuous learning and improvement. It also means that if the team fails, a leader must always blame himself or herself for that failure and find ways to improve.
    For your business to flourish, you must invest your time and energy in understanding what your role is in your company. It also means that you must be committed to continually improving your level of competence. This does not mean that every task is your responsibility. However, it does mean that the buck stops with you. If your business is not where it needs to be, or you are looking for increased growth, then it is your obligation to do the hard work and set goals, have the vision, perform the research, and develop the plan to achieve your overall objectives.
    When you invest in yourself to become the best leader and the best businessperson you can be, others around you will feed off your energy and your passion. This sends a strong message to everyone on your team that you have what it takes to bring the company to the next level.
    One last thing, another obligation to your company is assembling the right team of people around you. Once you have the right people, you need to invest in them too. Find what truly motivates them, not what you believe inspires them. Be a coach to your employees and always strive to bring out the best in them. Be strong with your convictions and expectations, build strong relationships with your employees, and don’t be afraid of admitting when you drop the ball.
    While Warren Buffet is best known for making billions of dollars with his investment strategies, I want to believe that this quote has its basis in something that money cannot buy.
  20. Joe Marconi
    Auto shop owners are always looking for ways to improve production levels. They focus their attention on their technicians and require certain expectations of performance in billable labor hours. While technicians must know what is expected of them, they have a limited amount of control over production levels. When all factors are considered, the only thing a well-trained technician has control over is his or her actual efficiency.
    As a review, technician efficiency is the amount of labor time it takes a technician to complete a job compared to the labor time being billed to the customer. Productivity is the time the technician is billing labor hours compared to the time the technician is physically at the shop. The reality is that a technician can be very efficient, but not productive if the technician has a lot of downtime waiting for parts, waiting too long between jobs, or poor workflow systems.
    But let’s go deeper into what affects production in the typical auto repair shop. As a business coach, one of the biggest reasons for low shop production is not charging the correct labor time. Labor for extensive jobs is often not being billed accurately. Rust, seized bolts, and wrong published labor times are just a few reasons for lost labor dollars.
    Another common problem is not understanding how to bill for jobs that require extensive diagnostic testing, and complicated procedures to arrive at the root cause for an onboard computer problem, electrical issue, or drivability issue. These jobs usually take time to analyze, using sophisticated tools, and by the shop’s top technician. Typically, these jobs are billed at a standard menu labor charge, instead of at a higher labor rate. This results in less billed labor hours than the actual labor time spent. The amount of lost labor hours here can cripple a shop’s overall profit.
    Many shop owners do a great job at calculating their labor rate but may not understand what their true effective labor is, which is their labor sales divided by the total labor hours sold. In many cases, I have seen a shop that has a shop labor rate of over $150.00 per hour, but the actual effective labor rate is around $100. Not good.
    Lastly, technician production can suffer when the service advisors are too busy or not motivated to build relationships with customers, which results in a low sales closing ratio. And let’s not forget that to be productive, a shop needs to have the right systems, the right tools and equipment, an extensive information system, and of course, great leadership.
    The bottom line is this; many factors need to be considered when looking to increase production levels. While it does start with the technician, it doesn’t end there. Consider all the factors above when looking for ways to improve your shop’s labor production.
  22. Joe Marconi
    Everyone has their own perception on life and the world around them. This perception becomes reality and it’s the only reality that matters. At least for most. This does not always hold true for shop owners.
     
    As shop owners, we don’t always have the luxury of viewing things from our perceptive. There are other people around us and their families to consider. As the owner, and the leader, our concerns and issues take a backseat to the concerns and issues of others. This is something I know we accept and we do our best everyday to look at things from the perceptive of others.
     
    For me, it’s been 33 years since I put the key in the door of my repair shop for the first time. And I can tell there are times when I feel like it’s the 12th round of a 10 round boxing match.
     
    I am not complaining, mostly because my position does not allow me to complain. Leaders and business owners have to remain strong, positive and put the interest of others before themselves. This is in part what makes a leader a leader; the ability to put one’s interest aside for the greater good of others.
     
    However, this makes it very lonely at times. Leaders must have vision and work to not only improve themselves but improve the lives of others. Leaders also must look to praise and recognize the accomplishments of others.
    Moral building and team spirit become the essential building blocks of any organization. We as shop owners are well aware of this. I am not asking those who are employed to understand all of this. But please, is it too much to ask for just a little consideration and understanding of what WE go through?
     
    I am not going to get into all the petty situations that drive us crazy. It really does not matter. I also realize that the words I am putting on paper will do more good for me, and hopefully for you, reading this. It will not, I am sure, change the way many people think and act who simply go to work each day and expect a pay check at the end of the week.
     
    Ok, that’s off my chest. I feel better. To be honest, things are not that bad. I have a great family, great wife and three amazing children. I have built a company that I am proud of; a business that was only a dream decades ago. I entered this industry as a mechanic and was transformed into an entrepreneur. I have achieved a lot of the years. And I am not done yet. There is still much more to do and will work hard to achieve my goals and aspirations.
     
    Maybe I try too hard. Maybe I judge others by how I was and how I am today. Maybe that’s wrong. Perhaps, I am not the leader I think I am. Leaders must find other potential leaders and cultivate them to become future leaders. Leaders must also be understanding and find the good in others, and not focus on the negative. Maybe I needed to write this tonight to remind myself to stop complaining and get back to work. If something isn’t right, then I should take a long hard look in the mirror. The answer to my problems and questions can be found in the man staring back at me. So, let me get back to work.
     
    Yes, a leader can be real lonely at times. But I would not want it any other way!

     
  23. Joe Marconi
    About a year ago I hired a service advisor that I believed at the time would be a great asset to my shop. He had a lot of experience, knowledgeable about the business and well-spoken. He showed all the right credentials.
     
    Soon after being hired, I noticed something that I did not pick up in any of our three interviews; he did not smile. How was it possible I did not notice this? A few more days turned into weeks and I could see that this person’s personality, or lack of personality, did not fit the culture of my company. We had a few meetings together and I would ask him, “Is everything ok? You never smile”. He didn’t think too much of it said that everything was fine. Personally, I had my doubts.
     
    Shortly after I hired him, an equipment rep came to see me said to me, “Joe, your new hire, you do realize he never smiles”. Well, this began to worry me. As time went on I could see that his demeanor did not go well with the other people in the shop, or with the customers. People feed off other people’s personality. When someone walks around with the look of doom and gloom, it affects the attitude of others. And it surely affects how the customers react also. It actually affects our ability to communicate and sell. I knew that if something was not done soon, it would have tragic consequences.
     
    It also bothered me that no one in shop really liked him. I later found out that was because he did not treat people nicely and would berate the techs.
     
    I tried all I can to help this person to change, but nothing I did could crack a smile on this guy’s face. Time went on and I hoped for the best. I soon learned that hope is never a plan for success. Soon, customers began to complain. After a while it became apparent that the negative behavior from this person was having a negative effect on the customer’s behavior. In other words, people feed off of other people’s personalities. If someone walks into a place of business and is greeted with a warm smile and a big friendly hello, it puts that person in warm and friendly frame of mind. When the opposite happens, things will go downhill and turn bad.
     
    As usual, I waited too long to pull the trigger. I gave myself every excuse why I should keep this person, when the truth was it was also affecting my personality and my ability to remain upbeat. For the sake of everyone I finally fired him, but not after the damage he had done to my company.
     
    The sad fact is that he will never see what his personality is doing to himself and to others around him. Why he was so unhappy remains a mystery, I hope in time he can release those demons. For me, I learned a valuable lesson. There are times that you cannot get people to change. For the greater good of everyone, stop the bleeding and fire the person. You are doing the best thing for that person, for others in your company and for yourself and your family.
  24. Joe Marconi
    While the United Auto Worker’s strike may be over, this won’t be the last time Detroit will hear from the UAW. As a result of the contract agreement, the Big Three (General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis) will now have to find ways to pay for the increases in wages and benefits, which are estimated that it will add $850 to $900 to each vehicle produced.
    Putting politics aside, the effects of this strike are far-reaching, with no clear winner. Here’s a quote from UAW President Shawn Fain, “We wholeheartedly believe that our strike squeezed every last dime out of General Motors.” Can you imagine your technician or service advisor saying that about you after a performance review?
    While the UAW is taking a victory lap, the Big Three will not just roll over without making key changes. No doubt, we will all pay more for new cars, and perhaps used vehicles too. Plus, even though many car companies don’t have union workers, the consequences of this contract agreement will impact the entire auto industry.
    But, enough about the UAW and The Big Three. Let’s focus on some of the lessons that many large corporations don’t seem to ever learn. At the heart of this strike is the relationship between big corporations and rank-and-file workers. As companies grow, they sometimes lose touch with their employees. All too often, the focus on profits, instead of people, becomes the main driver for decisions, and unfortunately, employees are sometimes used as pawns.
    Let’s be clear, I am not supporting the UAW, the union workers or the Big Three. There are problems on all sides. However, we need to understand that the power of the unions can only happen when management moves in a direction that the employees feel is unstainable. Which is a direct result of poor leadership.
    Here’s the biggest takeaway; as you grow your company, maintain the culture that has laid the groundwork for where you are today. Never forget about the people who come to work with you each day. Continue to create strong relationships with your employees. Continue to treat them with respect and find ways to pay them the salary you would work for and a benefits package you would want. I know everyone reading this knows all this, and in fact, I have more faith in you as a shop owner and your company’s future than I do in the Big Three.
    Perhaps The Big Three should take lessons from Auto Shop Owners!
  25. Joe Marconi
    Nearly every car that leaves your auto repair shop today will need some sort of service or repair in the future. The question is, will your customers take their car back to you? In this blog, I will discuss three simple ways to increase your customer retention rate, which will also increase sales and profits.
    First, ensure that the entire customer experience is amazing; from scheduling the appointment, vehicle write-up, the sales process, and especially car delivery. A poor experience could result in a lost customer. Remember, an amazing customer experience tells the customer, “We want you back!”
    Second, spend time at car delivery reviewing all the work that was done that day. Make the customer feel good about the decisions they made regarding the repairs or services done that day. Discuss all future services, recommendations, and any deferred work. Engage in conversation and always look to build a relationship with your customers.
    Third, and the most important, make sure that your service advisors are informing all customers of their next service appointment, and book that appointment. This step is crucial. As a business coach, I get pushback on this from shop owners and service advisors stating that their customers don’t want to book the next appointment. This is nonsense. Your dentist books your next visit, and so do your pet groomer, your doctor, hairdressers, eye doctors, and HAVAC companies. In fact, I got a reminder call the other day from the company that cleans my fireplace chimney about my October 26th  appointment. So, please, no excuses!
    The bottom line is this. One of the best ways to build a more profitable company is to pay attention to the customers right in front of you every day. Create an amazing experience each time, and make sure you perform the car delivery with such execution that it gives your customers a compelling reason to return to you.

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