Shop Operations

Have you ever considered the fitness level of your sales and customer service efforts? I’m not talking about some sort of employee exercise program. Rather, I’m asking if the employees who provide sales and service to your customers are functioning at peak performance.

The most profitable shops in America employ technicians and advisors who are superstars. So, it’s no surprise that one of the most common questions we hear from our clients is, “How do you find and hire the stars?”

I spend nearly every day talking to shop owners. While some seek my advice, others I encounter as I search for locations to open new shops. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, locations and individual situations, all of them inevitably ask me the same question: “What is the magic bullet that will take my business to the next level?”

In Part 1 of this article in the March/April issue, I discussed how investing ample time in the interview process can prevent hiring the wrong person for the job, as well as employee turnover, because you can get a more accurate assessment of a candidate’s qualifications. This article will continue with that discussion, zeroing in on how to properly assess a job prospect’s skill sets.

Bringing in more revenue is at the top of the list of things to do for most shop owners in 2011. Selling more and cutting costs are the tried and true methods for doing this but, often, both are easier said than done. That is why some smart automotive repair shop owners are considering alternatives.

As many of you know, it takes a lot more than excellent mechanical knowledge to run a successful automotive repair business. In fact, you could have the best mind in the world for vehicle service and diagnostics, but, at the end of the day, you need at least a nodding acquaintance with what it takes to turn a profit.

To some degree, I think everyone in a job interview is a bit of an actor. For the most part, the interviewer/interviewee relationship tends to accentuate the positives and gloss over the negatives. But, the information each party shares in the interview should give the other party an accurate image of the qualifications, experience and general work ethic or attitude he or she brings to the negotiating table.

In the last issue of Shop Owner, I talked about the need for receiving feedback from your employees and how important it
is to improving your leadership abilities. Another element of an effective leader is that he or she delivers feedback to employees in the form of recognition.

The true test of a business’ customer service effort is not when things are going right but, rather, what is done when things go wrong.

We’ve all sent and received email messages by mistake. Whether they’re sloppy, misleading or just plain indecipherable, they all scream the same thing: unprofessionalism.

If you are like a shop owner friend of mine from New Hampshire, you probably don’t think of yourself as a leader; most good
leaders don’t. They just do what they do … lead, and they do
it so well, that others take notice.

Whether you are a business owner or an individual, continuous education and training improves your return on investment. The key is to have a plan that can be implemented and measured.