Joe Marconi

Gonzo, I loved this article. You continue to reach deep down (somewhere) and pull out these gems of wisdom. Always love to read your article!

Thanks everyone for your input. Nice to know you guys agree. I am lucky my service advisor handled it like a pro. But, I am not happy that he had to be verbally abused. Customer or no customer, some things cross the line.

This is sad. What will it take for Cardone to take on these issues, speak to their customers (we, the repair shops) and get these problems solved? Has the damage been so great that even if they make changes, would it be too late?

A first time customer arrives at our service counter requesting prices on a set of tires. My service advisor, using the vehicle information she gave him (big mistake), priced a set of Goodyear tires. She authorized the job and made an appointment. The customer dropped the car off this past Wednesday for the tires. A few hours later the car brought in, only to realize that the tires were the wrong size and the tires that belong on her car would be more money. The advisor called the customer and she went ballistic. She screamed and demanded what we honor the price. The service advisor reduced the price to cost, but that was not good enough. She decided to cancel the tire job and pick up her car. We made a mistake; we should have never given her a price without actually checking the vehicle information and tire size. It was a mistake, we admitted that to her. But here is where it gets ugly. She came in with a friend to pick up her car and she started to insult my service advisor. She called him names and began to throw insults at him that I do not want to repeat. My advisor said nothing; he stood there and took it. We also had other people in the office at the time. I called the women and told her that I would have given her the tires at any cost, but after hearing what she had done and said, I told her that some things cross the line. She responded by saying, “aren’t you guys regulated? Isn’t’ the customer ALWAYS right? And don’t you have to honor the price?” I said, “First we are not regulated, what ever that means, this is America the last time I looked, and we are talking about a mistake here. Plus, the way you acted, I really don’t think we want you as a customer.” By the way, she freely admitted to me that she was “fresh mouthed”, her words, not mine. IS THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS RIGHT? Not really, agree or not?

I think this is a great idea. Would you limit it to free resources? I was thinking about IATN and Indentifix.

Alex, ASO cofounder, and his wife, were recently blessed with another baby girl! All is well and I want to wish Alex, his wife, his new baby and his family the very best life has to offer.

Many of you know that I one of things I do is work with Elite as a business coach/consultant. This may sound bias, but the Elite Masters Course is one of the most powerful sales course around. After 3 days of intense training, the course continues for six months with once a year meetings, assignments and interaction with an instructor. For more info: http://www.eliteworldwidestore.com/affiliate-details/46/elite-masters-program-1.html

We track service advisor's Sales, ARO, Car Counts and customer survey scores. We also make sure that each advisor understands what gross profit on parts and labor is needed to insure that the shop is profitable. The service advisor must understand that there are minimum levels of expected performance that must be maintained. We use Mitchel, and we can generate a report for this (except customer survey) There are other obligations of the service advisor. Is the service advisor working with the tech to insure that the tech is performing the multipoint to find needed repairs and services? And can the advisor make that presentation to the customer? This will improve and/or maintain needed sales. We also require service advisors to update all customers on needed services, review vehicle history, book the next appointment and build relationships. The service advisor is the face and the voice of the company. He or she represents you and the company. Perhaps the most important attribute of a service advisor is working with people.

A few months back I got a call from a vendor about a young tech looking for employment. He was impressed with this young man and asked me if I would interview him. I agreed, although I had no positions open. During the interview I too was impressed with him. We decided to hire him anyway. Good people are hard to find, and if this young tech was a diamond in the rough, better we find a spot for him, rather the competition. All was going well. He was on time each day, worked hard, worked fast and you could see that this guy had the talent that could turn him into a superstar. Then we got the bad news from our insurance company. This promising young man recently was involved in an accident and was charged with drunk driving. Apparently he had other traffic tickets we was dealing with too. We have a very strict policy about this, and sadly we had to let him go. I know I did the right thing for the company and for him too, but I hope he works through this and rebounds from it. I had high hopes for him and felt we could mentor him and provide him with a career path. Life throws us all a curve ball sometimes; lately it seems like those curve balls are coming more frequent.

Gonzo, you never cease to amaze me! You are one talented guy. I started laughing the moment I started reading the first verse. Saturdays would not Saturday without a dose on Gonzo! Thanks, I look forward to your post each week.

I think you and Jeff hit the nail on the head. I think everyone should read your last paragraph too. I hate that ad too, but I thought I was being too sensitive. I don't know what it will take to improve our image, but what I do know is that it will take more money to be in business in the coming years. And as I see it, AutoZone and Advance need to work with us on this, not against us, or play both sides. We understand business is business, and we understand the concept of competition. But, we also understand truth in advertising and integrity. Hey AutoZone and Advance, consider this, What if repair shops started an advertising campaign on the radio or TV that goes like this: Hey, is your check engine light ? Why waste your time and money getting that so-called free diagnose and then buying the wrong part at the parts store, when you could have your check engine light tested once, the right way and the right part installed at your local professional repair shop, saving you time, money and aggravation.

Best of luck and welcome to the AutoShopOwner.com. Don't be a stranger on the forums and search thru all the posts and articles. There is plenty of great information from so many of our members.

In the end I think we need to do our best to make the customer understand the Value, not the Price. The value in protecting the engine, fuel economy, maintaining factory warranty and extended oil service interval. No one wants to lose a customer, but we need to maintain integrity too.

If you speak with most shop owners, we would all agree that training is a key component to continued success in business. There is so much new information these days, the only way to stay at the top of your game is through on-going training. And while most of us set up training for our technicians, we often neglect the need for continued training for our service advisors, managers and even for us as shop owners. Service advisors need ongoing sales training. Shop managers and shop owners will benefit from training on topics such as employee management, employee recruiting, cost controls, understanding the financials, marketing and leadership. Everyone in your shop benefits from training. It not only sharpens their skills, but also improves morale. And you, as the shop owner, can benefit from a tune up now and then too.

So, what's worse than AutoZone and Advance doing free check engine light scans? You know the answer, installing the part that was sold by these part stores without performing your own diagnostic tests first. I was at an affair the other day sitting at a table with a few people I did not know. And then the question I never want to answer comes up, "So Joe, what do you do for a living?" This person told me a 15 minute story about going to AutoZone to have a check engine light scanned, then buying an O2 sensor, bringing it to the repair shop that was recommended by the AutoZone, only to have the check engine light come on the next day. I am sitting at the table attempting to eat a really bad steak, and now I have to save the world. The more I tried to explain the more distant this guy became. So, I gave up and suggested he go back to the shop and pay to have the problem tested and diagnosed. His eyes lit up, "Pay for something they do FREE at AutoZone?" We are evolving into an industry where standards are being re written. And, it's not good. This guy went to AutoZone because of all the ads he hears on the Radio, and also speaking to a few of his coworkers at the office. Is it me or is there a real problem brewing here? Bigger than we have imagined before?

This is a tough one. Trust me, I have been down this road too, and usually no one wins. We lose even as an industry. You cannot trust the information you are getting; either from the customer or the other shop. What bothers me is why some shops bad mouth other shops, when they should keep their mouths shut. The other shop does not know the entire story. They don't know how the customer insisted on "saving money", which almost always turns out bad for everyone. I really don't have a good answer for you. We just went thru this a few weeks ago. I ended up hanging up on the customer. We diagnosed a bad transmission on his Rav4, he wanted to complain to Toyota, so he goes to the dealer. He ends up getting the transmission replaced at the dealer and now wants his diagnostic testing charges back from us! He told me that the dealer told him we did tests that were not needed. Talk about blood boiling. After him shouting at me over the phone I hung up.

I want to wish everyone a happy Labor Day Weekend. I hope everyone is spending time with friends or family, or just catching up on much deserved Rest and Relaxation.

It amazes me why people would skimp on something like this. It's an oil service, what are they really saving?

We have all been down this road. Sometimes we can resurrect these machines, sometime better to leave them dead. One of my favorite "rusterations" was on a 66 Buick Riviera. The customer looked for years to find one. He wanted to surprise is father with it for his 70th birthday. This is the car the family had growing up, so it had a lot of sentimental value. It was not in the best of shape, but it had promise. We did all the mechanical work on it, leaving the body a little dull, but acceptable. My customer drove it from New York to Chicago to present to his father on his birthday.

I feel the same way. It's nice to get great reviews, but we all cringe when we get a bad one. And, as you said, can we trust the source? I am not promoting any company, but at least Angie's List has actual membership that can be verified. Plus, it's easy to reply to a review on Angie's List. Track all reviews, reply to as many as you can, especially if it's a negative review and understand that we cannot be everything to everyone.

This is a perfect example of some of the scenarios that we need to consider when performing high tech work. While it may be hard to standardize each operation, as the years pass we will see more and more high tech work replace traditional straight forward labor jobs. The important thing now is to start tracking the time it actually takes to insure that the car is done right. And while I agree with you about charging $200, we need to establish some sort of compromise. This may not be a perfect analogy but here goes: If a doctor has to order an X-ray after he takes a cast off to insure the bone healed properly, the X-ray is billed to the customer (or insurance). The doctor is verifying his repair. This is great conversation and I hope to hear more comments from others.

As uncertainty continues for many collision shops, many are turning to other forms of income streams. Expanding services such as truck bed liners and detailing services are just some of the things collision shops are considering. I guess the key thing is that, as an industry, change is coming and we need to explore other services to offer.

I recently hired a young tech we acquired from a local dealership. He was a graduate from UTI, passionate about his career, but felt stuck at the dealership because they only allowed him to perform oil changes and tires. We had him work with us on his day off and was impressed with his skills. We hired him three weeks ago. Last Friday I asked him to see me before he punched out. I just wanted to see how he felt about us, the work he was doing and to get to know him better. He said he was thrilled to work for us and that he has done more in three weeks than he has done in the last two years at the dealer. But what really surprised me was when he said, "You know, I did not come to work for you for more money, I just wanted to advance myself. Thank you for the opportunity." I wonder how may young techs feel the same way?

The AAA is growing a chain of repair shops in the mid-Atlantic states. AAA started in 2011, and now have 11 repair shops which they use to sell insurance, increase membership and perform automotive repairs. AAA plans on opening up more facilities in the next few years. AAA has different clubs across the country and each have different strategies. As an AAA Approved repair shop in New York, you can only imagine that there are questions I would like to have answered. Below is a link to an article in Tire Business Magazine. What are your thoughts on this? http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/20140804/ISSUE/308049999/going-clubbing-for-car-repairs-competition-growth-strategy