Joe Marconi

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It will always be remembered as the "Day of Infamy"; words spoken by President Roosevelt during is declaration of war speech. More than 2,400 American troops died in the early hours of Dec. 7, after the Imperial Japanese Navy swarmed on Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, hurtling the U.S. into the World War II. It's been 72 years since that attack, but as Americans we must never forget.

The phone is as valuable as any other tool in your shop. I know how tough it can be when the phone rings off the hook at times, but it must be managed. We just hired a part time receptionist to help with the phones. We also bought a phone system a few years back that will pick up the phone with a message after the 6th ring. We really don't like a computer automated person, but it's a lot better than not answering it.

Thank you, you too. And stick with us here at AutoShopOwner.com, We will help you thru the good times and the tough times. That is my promise to you and to all ASO members!

I got involved with the Toys for Tots program a few years ago. It's a program that collects new unwrapped toys for needy kids. It is sponsored by the US Marine Corp. I have to tell you, it's a very rewarding thing to do. We have a big box in our waiting room with the Toys for Tots logo on it and customers see it and come back with a small toy. It is amazing how giving people are. We promote it thru all our advertising media the month of December and thru email blasts and social media. I like doing things like this around the holidays. I don't know how others feel, but during the holidays I shift my mind away from business and focus more on people and spreading Goodwill. Here's a link: http://www.toysfortots.org/

That is exactly what I do. Customers know who we are and what we do. Building relationships and showing them you really care about loyalty will pay dividends in the future. I like sending seasonal tips thru a email blast and on social media, highlighting all the concerns people have during the winter months: Tire tips, wipers, the importance of antifreeze, snow tire tips, travel tips, tips if you get stuck, have your battery tested if it's more than 3 years old, etc.. Then I have a link which goes to my web site for more information and my seasonal promotion, which is a winter check(checking all those concerns) with an oil service with a rotation. We also add a BG oil additive and a BG fuel treatment. I like this type of marketing because it shows more value and it gets the customer thinking about the need for safety and maintenance. We do this 4 times a year, for each season.

What application is that wiper for? We stock all types of blades, both conventional and the new beam type, cost us anywhere from $7.50 to $20.00. We don't install junk either, I buy Bosch, Anco, Trico. We try to have a complete inventory too. You can't sell them, if you don't have them.

The dispatch area is adjacent to the customer service reception area. We use wall racks to organize the work. The service advisor will code each work order in order of urgency, type of job, wait customer, long term, comeback, etc. No tech takes his/her own work. The tech is not part of the process. The service advisor will, at times, choose the tech he feels is better suited for a particular job, but the service advisors and foreman coordinate the work, organize the workflow and review all work in progress. We also give the techs the expected time of completion, so the tech has a target to shoot for.

I may throw you a curve ball and please with all due respect, but around the holidays we don't market or advertise. We send out holiday greetings cards and email blasts and travel tips. We also promote that we collect toys for Toys for Tots campaign. Sometimes the best promotion is no promotion at all, just good old fashion greetings and wishing everyone goodwill.

Shop Owners: Time for thanks and to look forward Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday season and it also means that another year will be ending soon. We all know how tough business has become, and with each passing year, it becomes increasingly more complicated. But, when you reflect on the big picture, we need to be thankful for a lot of things. Oh, I know there are shops and areas of the country that are still feeling the affects of the recent recession. But, if you are reading this, you are still around, and that alone is a testament to your resilience. As the year comes to a close and we enter into the holiday season, focus on the positive and on the things that make life worth living. Disregard what went wrong and live by the principle my father preached to me. “Make today better than yesterday, and work hard today to make tomorrow better than today.”

Great question! First, we factor in road test time when we calculate diagnostic testing time. If you add up all the minutes, that turn into hours, at the end of the week, it is time that must be accounted for. Time = Money. We do have different road test routes, depending on the problem. And we do try to limit the road test time. When we need to recheck and re-test after a repair, we have the foreman do the final road test, so the tech can keep productive. If the car is not legally registered we avoid road testing. We also avoid road testing on bad snow days. Here's another issue: How about when a car comes in on empty, have you ever run out of gas with a customer's car on a road test? I have and it's no fun!

This is a topic that I often discuss with other shop owners. While people may think a particular price is high, let's say for a Italian combo sandwich, it's accepted and the consumer pays for it. I often make reference to Starbucks. The line at my local Starbucks is out the door every morning. Maybe coffee isn't just coffee, and that's the secret of Starbucks. When you think about the price for a typical LOF and compare it to other items, you begin to scratch your head. My wife is buying a scarf for my daughter with a price tag north of $50! For what, a piece of cloth? Well, again, maybe a scarf is not just a scarf. The consumer sees little difference from repair to repair shop across town. When the shop across town gives away Diag time, why don't we, the consumer asks, right? The next time I am in the Deli buying a cup of coffee and my buttered roll, I think I will ask, "Hey, that's a lot of money for a buttered roll and coffee. Can't you give me a break? After all, how much do YOU pay for that roll?"

I don’t know where you stand on this issue, but State Farm’s mandate that Collision and repair shops must use PartsTrader parts to procure parts has started a storm of controversy. The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota (AASP-MN) has filed a formal complaint with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, requesting legal action to prevent State Farm from continuing this program. Is this a sign of what’s to come, with regard to insurance companies? Will this intrusion into our business become the norm and continue to erode our margins? Many, including the ASA of Ohio and many groups and other organizations across the country, believe so. How do you stand on this issue? For more information go to: http://www.partsandpeople.com/node/5782

I first-time customer arrived to us the other day, a referral from one of our regular customers. She had a drivability problem which her repair shop could not diagnose, so they sent her to the Honda Dealer. The car was supposedly diagnosed at the Honda Dealer, but she declined any work being done there. After my service advisor wrote her up, I asked her, “What made you leave the dealer without letting them repair the problem?” She replied, “I got a real bad feeling with the way both the women at the counter and the service guy spoke to me. I just did not trust them.” They told her she got a load of bad gas and wanted to remove the tank, flush it out, flush the injectors and do a de-carb. They were wrong. The problem was a valve adjustment, which we did, and the car runs like new. We did manage to save her money and correctly diagnose the problem. But, what was more interesting, were her instincts about the dealer’s credibility. Also interesting, she had only good words to say about her regular repair shop, even though they could not diagnose the problem. Why? I guess because they were honest. Even in today’s crazy world, honesty and integrity still wins out in the end!

Most mechanics are tool nuts. They look forward to the tool guy, no matter who is it. And I have to admit, when I was a tech way back, I too look forward to the tool truck. It can be a distraction and interfere with productivity, but I do not have any easy answer how to best control it. We encourage the tool guys to bring into the shop, the weekly specials, this has nearly eliminated the techs from hopping on the truck. We make techs buy their own tools, and that is a big expense. Speak to the techs, speak to the tool truck guys and work to minimize the down time. I know that chasing the tool truck owner off the property or running around angry when the tool truck arrives does not solve anything either. Let's face it, when you come down to it, there are so many more situations where time is lost or when we are not charging the right labor time. For me, I will choose my battles and engage in the ones that I know I can win.

We do on average 26 to 32 cars per day. We have two advisors, a manager and a part time receptionist. We also have a foreman. The service advisors, who write up the work, are directly responsible to manage the customer thru the workflow process, whether it is a wait or a drop off. The advisors will coordinate the work with the manager and other advisors and then line up the work to be dispatched. Every work order is also discussed with the foreman and eventually the tech. Techs do not pick their own work and are not involved in how the work gets distributed. We control the work by constant communication between the service advisors, manager, receptionist and foreman. We also update the Work in Progress field in our Mitchell System so that everyone is on the same page. Communication is key.

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

In case you haven’t heard about it, the term Wallet Flushing started a few years back when a movement started in California to investigate the “questionable practices” of some repair shops selling allegedly unneeded and unnecessary fluid services. That initiative is dead, after an investigation by California’s Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). BAR made a statement that it will not pursue any public awareness campaign with regard to fluid services. This is a big win for the our industry. I am a big proponent of selling fluid services; but honestly and ethically. We disclose to the customer, that our recommendations may not be found in your owner’s manual; however we recommend fluid services as preventive maintenance. I am also under the belief that the best time to service fluid is BEFORE it goes bad. You don’t change engine oil when it’s sludged up, do you? I also promote the BG Lifetime Protection Plan. We know that the majority of our customers keep their cars well beyond its factory warranty and to offer a lifetime peace of mind protection plan is of great value to the consumer. The movement was also largely defeated by the persistence of various industry organizations.

Gonzo, it is uncanny how you are tuned into the minds of others. We were having this conversation the other day when a customer asked us to install a fuel saving device on his car. Talk about a '"sucker born every minute". Give me a break. But maybe what you say is true, if it makes them a believer and if they are happy, who are we to judge. Let me tell a true story about the power of the medicine man. Ten years ago my son got real sick with bronchitis. He was a star wrestler and he was scheduled to wrestler in a tournament the next day that college coaches would be looking at him. He was coughing and sweating so bad the night before I was afraid he would miss the tournament. At one point all I wanted was for him to sleep. I called him into the kitchen and told him, "Anthony, I am going to give you this pill. It's really powerful and it will knock you out so you can sleep." As I was handing him the pill, I stopped and said, "Anthony, this pill is too powerful, let me cut it in half". I cut the pill in half and gave it to him. He went into bed, and slept like a baby. He went on to win the tournament and got offers from top schools. The pill I gave him? Half an Advil.

Let me make one thing clear. If we reduce what we sell to commodities, we will find it very hard to compete. Let me explain, for the most part if you need a gallon of milk, or a dozen eggs, we really don't care what brand we buy. A gallon of milk is a gallon of milk. There is very little to differentiate it from other brands (for the most part). Now, tire as just a tire, you are right in one respect. But is it???? If you sell "only" the tire, you are selling a commodity. And that means you better be the best price in town or near the best price. But if you package in value added benefits, then you begin to remove price from the equation. This strategy works on your better clientele. The segment of consumer market that only look for price...well...all I can say is that I rather sell value, not a commodity Makes sense? Let me know your thoughts.

The Internet Has Changed the Way We Do Business The other day, Mike, one of my service advisors, gave a customer a price on tires. She then reached into her pocketbook, pulled out her Ipad, and said, “Give me a minute”. After a few minutes of surfing, she said to Mike, “Well, the price you gave me is ok; there is one tire shop in Danbury that has those same tires for $15.00 less per tire. Can you match the price?” Sound familiar? You bet. We have all been down this road, and that road has no end to it. Look at your new car dealers. The days of the traditional car sales are over. Many new car dealers no longer pay commissions to sales people. Why? The margins have shrunk due to competing dealers giving prices online, and so many car dealers competing for a share of the same pie. While, I don’t think the internet will have the same impact on our industry, it has impacted us to a degree. And we must learn to deal with, not fight it. You need to bring value to your customers. Don’t enter the price game, you will lose. You need to be competitive, but you need to be profitable too. Making a sale for the sake of a sale, without turning a profit is financial suicide. Promote benefits, not price. Create your unique value proposition: Ask yourself, "Why the customer should buy from you." Let those shops that don’t understand this engage in a price war. As they fail, it will only make us stronger. How did Mike handle the question about “Matching the price?” He simply said, “Well Miss Smith, let’s review some of the benefits. Our tires come with a road hazard warranty, road side assistance, lifetime tire rotation and flats fixed free. Plus, Danbury is 45 minutes away, if you ever have a problem with the tires, do you really want to travel to 40 minutes to shop where they don’t know who you are? She looked down at her Ipad, looked back up at Mike, and said, “Ok, makes sense, put the tires on."

We never close either. We have too many customer that need service that day, plus all the college students are home for the weekend. Different parts of the country are different. Ask business owners in the area about traffic that day, speak to other shops too in your area. It's a business decision, but not the end of the world. I know some shops work longer hours the three days prior to Thanksgiving, and inform customer they will be closed the Friday after. This is why you get paid the big bucks, to make this tough decisions. Good luck and most of all HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I remember the old days, before electronic information. A check engine light diag in the the 80s took a lenghtly process and knowledge in computer technology. Even back then, it was pretty intense, not like to today, but it tough in its own right. To call those shop owners cry babies becuase we don't like other diluting the industry is something I cannot agree with. I still believe in intergrity and ethics and will not cross the line and do something that is not right. Share a login among shops? Why not the entire industry share the same login for that matter? It does not make sense. Indentifix, IATN, Mitchell, AllData and all the rest of the informational sites are well worth the money. Each shop needs to support these companies. In addtion, shops need to understand how to MAKE money by charging what they need to charge, then by trying to save a few bucks by doing something that just is not right. For what it's worth to everyone, this is my opinion. Hopefully other around the country agree. Joe Marconi ASO Co Founder

It's well known that many of the review online are bogus. Many companies hire people to write reviews for them. I think in time, reviews will not have the impact they once had. I remember, years back if I did not get a perfect score, I could not sleep at night. Now, it does not bother me nearly as much. I read reviews of my favorite resturants and see reviews all over the map. Everyone will get a bad review from time to time. I don't like a site that cannot and will not insure the source is credible or not. I do agree that we should all do the right thing, maintain quality, keep checking the reviews and contact our customers as a follow up. We need to do all we can to insure that our customers are experiencing the very best.

Again Gonzo, right on target....Never waste beer!