J.P. GLENN

In the past I also tried Val Pak for 3 months. It brought me 0 new customers and brought in 3 of my least favorite customers (now holding coupons!). I am interested to see how it works for you. I hope you get better results!

That is #1, always prepare the customer up front. I also recommend that you understand each individual companies procedures EXACTLY, and record all communications with them. I have had both good and bad experiences with multiple companies. The worst one being a company that "approved" the repairs and then refused to pay because, per their procedure, the wording should have been "authorized". (they argued that the "approved" only meant it could be covered, and we were waiting on "authorization" from upper management.) That one is still hard to talk about! For the most part if you CYA and are a little cautious, they are not too bad. I always build in a little extra labor time, sometimes paid by the customer, to cover the added time required to deal with the process. Stick to your guns, and never let them tell you how to run your business.

In the first few years of business I found myself competing with those guys alot. I always find it amusing when I give someone a quote, and they respond with "oh, well my friend said he will do it for free at his house this weekend". So am I supposed to pay you to fix your car? Thats the only way I can beat free!!! I can tell you that I do not want the customers that are using the mobile/backyard mechanics. I most likely will NEVER make enough profit off of ANY job they bring to me. That goes for their vehicles, and most of their referrals too. In the last year or so I have been able to "weed out" all of the price shopper type of customers that I used to have. I make much more profit and have alot better customer service experiences by only dealing with the right kind of customer. I take all of that time that I used to spend on making a couple of dollars from the discount oriented customer, and apply it to keeping the ones that see the value in what we do. That has been the most rewarding decision I have made up to this point in business. It is very hard to turn away work when things are slow (and money is tight), but I still don't give in. I always try to build value in my pricing when explaining a repair. I mention my great warranty, my quality parts, and my trained staff. If they are not interested after that conversation then I send them down the road. I can tell you from experience that is a good thing most of the time! From my experience they were the ones that take up most of my time, give me the most headaches, and at the same time pay the least. That is just not the business I planned on owning when I started it. It really all comes down to what type of business you want/need. You can't have it all, and either can your customers! JP

Thanks CARMandP for the reply! I use Worldpac daily! Do you matrix your dealer parts the same as others? I might have read it wrong, but do you mark-up dealer parts more than other supplier's parts? I deal with both of our local dealers regularly. (One far more than the other, but still buy from both). When I call to "price shop" a part, I get sent to the parts deparment. They both quote list. But I have been told that the service department does use a matrix. I have had some difficulty getting accurate quotes from the service writers. In one recent attempt, I got 2 different prices, from 2 different writers, on the same job. I assume that they do mark-up the parts, but they are quoting list when asked about a specific part. Being a specialist too, do you compare your pricing to the dealers? I know what I need to make, but am always concerned about being more expensive than the dealer. (and in some cases I NEED to be). Thanks! J.P. Glenn Intercoastal Auto Service

Hi everyone! I browse the site frequently, but this is my first time posting. Thanks for any advice in advance! I have been working on my parts matrix and am concerned about marking up dealer parts too much. My main concern is that we are a Honda/Acura specialty shop and use ALOT of dealer parts. It is hard to think that we should make less money using better parts. I don't believe in list price on anything. My margins are my only concern. In fact, I am not even sure that the dealer sells parts at list (something I would love to know). They quote list if you call the parts department, but do you pay list as a service customer? Should I have multiple matrixes? Should I stick to one? Should I stick to dealer list? I am just wondering what others are doing, and if anyone has suggestions. Thanks! J.P. Glenn Intercoastal Auto Service