I recently attended the Mobile Air Conditioning Society’s 2014 Training Event and Trade Show in New Orleans. The main topic of discussion was R1234yf, or “twelve-thirty-four” in A/C lingo. There has been a lot of hype about the changeover to this refrigerant. Don’t panic. The reality is that it is not the “air conditioning apocalypse” some are predicting.
Are you one of the 7,570 technicians who are ASE-Certified Undercar Specialists? If not, you should be. I recently took the X1 Exhaust Test to qualify as an Undercar Specialist. To gain this certification, you must be concurrently certified for Suspension & Steering (A4) and Brakes (A5) from the Automobile & Light Truck Test Series, and Exhaust Systems (X1) from the Specialty Test Series.
At the end of every year, I reflect on the events that transpired over the past 12 months that pertain to my business and personal life. Reflection can have a powerful impact on how you act in a similar situation you may encounter in the future.
There’s a lot of talk about the importance of providing quality customer service and superior customer experiences to improve customer loyalty and sales. In fact, these topics are the primary elements of my training and consulting practice for the tire and auto service industry. On the flip side, there’s relatively little dialogue about the aspects that turn customers off, harm customer relationships and can ultimately have customers not only leave your business for a competitor, but do so while complaining about your business to everyone with whom they come into contact.
The way customers prefer to communicate is changing, and there are great opportunities for every business owner to reach them more efficiently through E-communications. Email, social media (Facebook/Twitter) and texting are just a few of the electronic communication channels we use that benefit both our customers and our shop.
In a society that is increasingly becoming accustomed to instant gratification (you can find just about any information with a quick Google search), it should come as no surprise that the motto at Mark’s Auto Service in Rockford, IL, is, “We fix it all, right here, right now!”
Most shop owners understand the importance of setting goals, but are lost when it comes to the rationale for setting their goals, how challenging the goals need to be, and the types of goals that need to be set. This article will address each of these considerations to help you get your shop on the right track for 2014 and beyond.
Having spent 25+ years in the sales industry myself, I have seen a wide variety of salespeople, from dreadful to truly great with most somewhere in between. Of course, top-performing salespeople are invaluable to any business as they typically represent the 20% of the team that generates 80% of the revenue or thereabouts.
If anything good came out of the recent recession, it’s that many people have learned to budget their finances. We are all well aware that there are times when the customer can’t afford all of the services and/or repairs that we are recommending. For example, a customer comes in for a 60k service and you discover that the car needs brakes on all four wheels and tires. The customer, due to budgeting reasons, declines the 60k service, but authorizes the brake work and tires.
We must be constantly negotiating with and reevaluating ourselves, our goals, our performance, risk, attitudes and lessons learned. If we don’t have predetermined plans for how we will deal with the facets of our businesses and our lives, we will end up in a place we don’t want to be. As we start a new year I see no better time to do just that. Take some time and have a plan ready. Check your goals, reset them if needed. Be prepared for the unexpected, know where you want to be, and you’ll get there!
As we start the new year, make sure that you take a moment to take each of your employees aside and give them your heartfelt thanks for being a part of your team. Nothing is more important to the success of your auto repair business than having the right employees working with you, so be sure to give these stars the recognition that they deserve.