FROGFINDER

Soon vehicles will drive themselves to the dealer or they will be picked up and sent to the dealer. Some vehicles you work are are emailing others about what's going on. We will soon be recorded and videotaped while working on cars so train your people on this. Until then fix what ever you can, while you can and then spend time with the family as ofter as you can.

We should solve car problems. ALWAYS double check that the customers problem that they came in for is fixed,remind customers about our services,give them something to see and save money on your services, give them something to talk about to others in a positive light and ask for thier referrals. Make sure that they understand that if they have a problem with a vehicle to call you even if it is for advice.

Ya'll have a nice Sunday and Offer help to the Tornado victems.

Frogfinder

So, You Fix Cars…So What?

 

Do you ever think about why you are in business? Do you ever think about how you market your business to your consumer base? I know; you perform brake work, oil changes, steering, suspension, tires, alignments, check engine light analysis, blah, blah, blah. We all do that, so what? What I want to know is why you do what you do. What makes you different from your competition? Now, you’re not going to tell me it’s because you do a “quality” job, are you?

 

The fact is the consumer can buy a Goodyear tire anywhere and get a brake job or an oil change done anywhere. Plus, there are a lot of quality shops out there. Is the only reason you keep going back to your favorite restaurant because of the good food?

 

The truth is quality work is expected, and must not be used to define your company. Another truism; the average consumer has no clue nor do they care about your Snap-On sockets, Hunter Wheel Balancer or your OE factory scan tool. Those are things WE CARE about. Do you go to your doctor and say, “Hey Doc, what brand X-ray machine do you use?” Do you ever ask your dentist, “Those are nice instruments you are using on my teeth, who makes them?”

 

Indentify who your most loyal customers are and find out WHY they keep coming back. The answer will define your business and define who you are. This is what you market and advertise; this is how you attract more customers who fit your culture.

Always listen and take a minute or so to see whats's up. Many people will leave the vehicle if you offer a courtesy ride. If customer is not able to leave the car at least walk with the customer to their car while handling them your card.Try to keep a drive on lift open at all times to "Take A Look". The Sevice advisor can further impress that the vehicle needs to stay longer. For those that cannot leave the car and cannot reschedule for the next morning, send them around the corner to the second automotive shop that you own. That way you cover those customers that will pay more for full service and those that are in and out. Always thank all customers for their business and referrals.

Have A Great Weekend.

[Article written earlier than posted time, link at the bottom to original source]

 

Raising your labor rate and trying to increase your average ticket dollar amount in an effort to increase income may not be the way to financial stability. In fact, it might just make you fail! Before you send for the men in white coats and call me crazy, please have an open mind and read on.

 

Like many of you, I once shared the belief that a high labor rate, quality work, high-ticket averages and superior customer service was the business strategy to create a successful repair shop. I also believed that the customers should never control the flow of work in my bays by dictating to me when they need service and that I should carefully plan out the day. There was also a time when I would refuse a walk-in for an oil change because I had too much work in the bays. Well, I’m here today to tell you that for me, this strategy is dead. It died along with the carburetor, points and condenser. The quality of your work, tracking key performance numbers and providing great customer service still holds true, but in today’s business world, it’s not enough.

 

Look around at the world today. Has anything changed? You bet! We live in a fast past world where people balance work, family, fun, Church and other obligations. Both Mom and Dad have careers and are running from ballet to baseball. The media has been drumming into our head for the past thirty years that great service is getting what you want now and fast. Why do people today value their time so much? Because they have so little of it.

 

So, here’s the scenario. Its Tuesday 2:00pm and Mrs. Smith arrives at your shop unexpectedly with a check engine light on. You politely and professionally tell Mrs. Smith that you would be more than happy to take the car in on Thursday. Now, she’s starts processing in her mind what she needs to do on Thursday: She needs to leave work early to bring her daughter to the dentist at 1:00pm and needs to be back at the office by 3:00 for a meeting, then dinner at 5:30 and the P.T.A at 7:00. “No, Thursday won’t do”, she says. Respectfully, you answer, “How’s next week?”

 

At this point she gets frustrated and says she will let you know. You just may have lost a customer. You viewed her problem as a check engine light and how you would fit her car into YOUR calendar. She perceived her problem as another way to balance an already demanding schedule.

 

Now let’s talk about labor rates and average repair order dollars, and I will hopefully tie all this together. Concentrating on bigger tickets and labor rates as a way to overcome inadequate car counts and low profit will simply not work. I’m not saying you shouldn’t charge what you are worth. I don’t give anything away in my shop and charge accordingly. But, what I’m more concerned about in today’s market is opportunity. I concentrate on maintaining healthy car counts to give me the opportunity to sell more. Today’s cars are not like those built in the 70’s and 80’s. You don’t have the highly profitable repair work anymore and cars are more reliable. Take a look at what the automakers are taking away from us: Timing belts, plugs/wires, fuel filters, distributor caps, rotors, etc. Not to mention long life coolant, transmission fluid and extended oil change intervals.

 

This means you will need a healthy car count in order to give your shop the opportunity to sell profitable service work. This also means that you will need to be very proactive in managing your customer’s vehicle maintenance. You will need to be very innovative in your approach on maintenance and service, and diversify your services to fit a broader range of consumers.

 

Successful “Big-Box” stores understand the law of compounding and moving product. Even in these tough economic times, Home Depot would rather sell 1,000 cans of paint a week and make $6.00 on a can, then make $12.00 per can and only sell 300. Why? Having that many people coming through their doors buying paint increases sales in other areas, such as paint brushes, primer, rollers and drop clothes. Again, when you increase the number of customers, you increase the opportunity to sell more products. This is the law of compounding sales through opportunity.

 

Before you go lowering your prices, STOP. Most of us sell at a fair price already. What I’m suggesting is that when you increase car counts, you give yourself more opportunity to move product: such as air filters, cabin filter, batteries, wipers and other items. Plus, you are working on building a customer base that will more likely return in the future because your willingness to work around their schedule.

 

You may have loyal customers, but if you’re not perceived as convenient and not willing to accommodate them when they need you, you may not be capitalizing on your potential to fully satisfy a customer.

 

How do you increase traffic to your bays? Say “YES” as much as possible. Be more accommodating. Try to work around your customer’s schedule, not yours. Be more flexible. Your daily planner is not written in stone. Promote while-you-wait service, if at all possible. At my shop we welcome walk-ins and promote while-you-wait service. It has proven to be a gold mine of opportunity for us. I do understand that smaller 2 or 3 bay shops may not be able to handle a flood of waiting customers. For these shops you may need to rethink your business model to insure that your daily scheduled jobs are balanced properly in order to maximize opportunity. Remember; opportunity equals profit.

 

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I think you hit upon a great point. Different shops have different expenses and conduct business differently. This means that the cost of doing business is different and profits are determined by this. With that said, we need to understand the competition and price accordingly. The balancing act between being profitable and competetive is a tough battle. I just don't want the conusumer to start making decesions based on price alone...I feel we are headed in that direction...thanks to the "world wide web".

We are in a digital world and no one can withstand 24/7 scrutiny.Cheaper prices are loyal to no one or no one country. Wait until your customer's hand held device apps be used to compete with another shop and scan your body/voice for Stress/fibs/greed real time.

Stay Real and true to the Good Fight, Happy Easter

Employees like to feel important. We must be a place of encouragement and team work. No matter which employee has the problem all pitch in . We must see the tasks front of them in order to smooth out thier day. You know that you have reached a good place when you all look at one another say that the day went fast and all the fires got put out. The customers should be showered with "How may i Help you" always thanked for their business and referrals.

Happy Easter and Passover

Wow, what a discussion…please hear my take on this…

 

People focus on price because we are a price-driven industry, and like it or not much of what we sell has been reduced to the status of a commodity. Every week at the supermarket we price milk, eggs, orange juice and Pepsi. When we need gas for our cars the first thing we do is look at the price, right?? Well, it’s the same with auto repair. I hate to tell you this, but it’s our own fault, not the public.

 

How many of you ride a Harley Davidson? Would you ever consider another bike? Were you inconvenienced by the wait the last time you ordered your bike? Does Harley produce the cheapest motorcycles? No. It’s debatable that it produces the best machine, nor is a Harley dealership considered the “friendly service” in town. But the fact is no one cares about the price or service….as a matter of fact many will tattoo the Harley logo on their arm!

 

Let me go step further, people who DO NOT ride a Harley, who have even never been on a motorcycle, will wear Harley Davidson clothes. The market of non-motorcycle riders who purchase Harley Davidson clothes and other apparrel represents 12% of Harley Davidson gross sales!!! Again, price never enters into the picture.

 

I don’t know how to do it, but we must move away from price. This “price” thing bothers me as much as anyone. I know one thing that no one can refute: If we sell our company brand like a supermarket sells a dozen eggs or milk, we are in trouble. In other words, if we identify our business by the parts and services we sell, then the consumer will judge you by what you sell. Price becomes the only determining factor, because YOU told him that.

 

I have been thinking for a while to position my shop in a different light. I am re-branding my culture and targeting consumers who want my type of culture, those people who don’t want the status quo. People who will allow me to take care of their car and family because they believe in me and my people, just like a family or friend.

 

When and if I figure it out I will let you know…

Birds (customers) of a feather flock together.

HOWDY,

My take on the average customer was a borrowed parable from Homer Simson. Bart was talking to his dog and all the dog heard was "BLAH BLAH BLAH SPOT BLAH ........................

That being said I say Focus on what you do/love best and become so good at doing that people will pay you very well not to stop doing what you love doing. Twenty percent of your customers provide eighty percent of your revenue. Every customer can refer you a $500.00 job if you will will ask them to. Offer every customer a cold drink , a courtesy ride and extra business cards.

The average customer hears BLAH BLAH BLAH $1000.00. The customer call's another shop and hears BLAH BLAH BLAH $800.00. Verdict You are a rip off and they are not coming back.

Read the story of the Prodigial Customer (i mean son)

the average customer does not know that we took a few extra minutes cleaning the parts on a repair job. They don't know that during a simple oil change we walked around and checked underneath for leaks, worn suspension parts etc while the oil was draining. And they don't the time and effort that may have gone into accurately diagnosing there check engine light because the machine we plug in does that for us. Communication is every thing. Knowing our customers and letting them get to know us. No matter how busy it may be at a particular moment when someone comes in to pick up or drop off taking the time necessary to establish what the customers expectations are and communicating whether or not we will be able to meet those expectations when they drop off along with being able to answer any questions and giving them an overview of what was done during the repair process goes a long ways.

Merry Christmas to all.

The Prodical Customer Returns. Change a few words and this could be called "The Black Smith and the Customer"

"I pay my sales force (my customers) the money i would be paying strangers to send me new friends (customers)."The Frogfinder"

"I pay my Sales Force (my customers) the money i would give to strangers to send me new Friends (customers)" The Frogfinder

On Honda/Acura vehicles we do drain and fill's with Honda/Acura fluid. We have had many customers complain about transmission shifting issues after having "Wallet Flushes" at other venue's. On most cars we do fluid exchanges with a machine but use the recommended fluid for that car. We avoid flush chemicals. "If you start early on taking care of your vehicles fluid services the hard parts take care of themselves thus avoiding the need for a extended warranty" The Frogfinder.

I focus on 1.safety 2.the reason they brought it in for, 3.leaks 4. Maintenance. I tell the customer straight up that i don't want his/her money but i must have their referrals and prayers. I hand wash their car even if thay don't buy a thing.

There should be a fee to spend effort and time to trace a problem. All we have to sell is time and the clock is ticking.

Tool bonus works for us.

My hours, 7:30 to 6:00 m-f and 7:30 to 1:00 on saturday are long enough. I don't want everyones business, just 2-3 thousand people that get what i am about and that are excited about telling others about me. As a rule 20 percent of your customers create 80 percent of your business.

Trying to steal your crew is not a cool thing to do.

I advise my customers to come in every 3-4 months or 3-4k miles so that i can check fluids,lights and tire air for safety.I place the reminder sticker on the windshield and send them a reminder card. I often have people telling me that my oil change price is too high or that they have blank % left on the oil life. If the car is on the drive i then check the oil and tire condition/tire pressure in front of them . More often then not the oil is low and black, 20 psi in the worn tires and the state inspection is expired.