We are now well into the New Year. On New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, you probably told someone what your New Year’s resolution was. The problem is that by now, most of us don’t remember what our resolution was, or worse, have already given up!

For most people, they didn’t take the time to write their goal down. The key to accomplishing your goals is simple: have a written plan.

Read the article: Accomplishing Your Goals

During the past year, even the best shops have been battling with trying to stabilize car count. It hurts technicians, service managers and families of shop owners all across North America. We all know what is causing it. But what can we do about it? I was listening to Rick Johnson, a Nebraska shop owner and ATI coach, explain how to solve the problem. He began by asking, "Do you know how many times a year your customers are coming in to visit your shop?"

Read the article: Tracking Those You Serve

I was listening to a great story being told to one of our clients by Coach Eric Twiggs, and I thought you would enjoy it. Twiggs said marketing is not the real key to your success. Now that I have your attention, let me clarify the point. I am reminded of the story of a young man who had an encounter with an older rich man wearing an expensive suit. The young man asked him how he made his money. "Marketing was the key to my success," replied the older man. "I invested a nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple

Read the article: Create Marketing That Gets Ignored

Everyone has to start somewhere, and not everyone starts their first shop with all the bells and whistles. Let's face it: You can't have the "Garage Mahal" without the customer base to support it, yet most of us dream about having the top shop in our market. Let's listen to Head Coach George Zeeks explain the building blocks you need to become a top shop. New shop owners have a whole host of things to think or worry about. They simply don't know what they don't know. They're out there overwhelmed with pressure, and it's easy to see why.

Read the article: Where Do You Land on the Auto Shop Pyramid?

I want to share a great story that will help you continue to be the best shop in your market. Our head coach, George Zeeks, shares what he has learned from helping hundreds of shop owners obtain a better life. Let's listen to his story. Spending time with my grandson is a joy for me, but the repeated cartoons can really become mind-numbing. That is, until I began to look at the lessons behind the stories. Passion is something all of you had when you started your business. You were filled with excitement and optimism when you first

Read the article: Lessons In Leadership From A 2-Year-Old

Several years ago, I wrote an article on this subject, because as a coach, I saw that when shop owners did not balance business and personal life, it could cost them big on both sides. Mike Bennett, a shop owner in Gettysburg, Pa., was listening, and I want you to hear how he did it. Bennett remembers some phrases we have all used as excuses at one time or another: “I own the business so the buck stops with me” or “I have to do it because no one else can (or will).”

Read the article: Stacking Success

Our people we employ are our biggest , most important asset in our business. However, if you don’t focus on their roles first, it will be difficult for the employees and the employer to be happy. This month, our coaches' coach, Bryan Stasch, is going to share with you how to focus on your people's roles so your operation can become more profitable and run smoother, to help you stay the best shop in your area and still allow you to take some time off. Let's listen to Bryan.

Read the article: Realigning Your Focus

In our world of the automotive repair industry, we have two constant moving targets: car count and staffing. Maintaining these targets usually costs a lot of time and money. There is a process that won’t cost you a nickel; however, it will take great leadership to implement it into your daily routine. Basically, it will be a way to put a bow on your service. And just like tying a bow on a present, it might not cost a lot, but it will take some time to finish. Let’s listen to Bryan Stasch, the director of client fulfillment at ATI, as

Read the article: Putting A Bow On Your Car Count

For the past couple of years, the economy has affected us all, from long-standing companies going out of business or suffering massive layoffs, to people picking and choosing where to spend their dollars. Yet I am astonished at the dreadful customer service I run across daily. At a time when I believe everyone is in a battle for every dollar earned, owners are putting customer service in the hands of employees who don't know or care what true customer service is. Let'’s listen as our head coach, Mike Haley, explains to shop owners how to solve this problem so that all your customers keep coming back.

Read the article: Want to know a secret?

Many OF us learned valuable lessons from our dads that have really helped us in business. It didn't matter whether they were in our business or not, because the stories they told somehow would help in any situation. I want you to listen to a great story told by our head coach, George Zeeks, about his dad. My dad received his GED while he was in the U.S. Army, which he joined to escape his family of 15 brothers and sisters. His departure meant one less mouth to feed, but he was still loved and missed. His eighth-grade education drove him to years of reading and study

Read the article: When the Rock Won't Roll Up the Hill

Every week I hear from clients, "Man, in the good old days," or things like, "When it turns around and things go back to normal." It got me to thinking, what if this is the "new normal" or what if 20 years from now we look back on today and say, "Man, 2012 – now that was the good old days?" In fact, as time goes on, I am more and more convinced that the present time is, in fact, the new normal. I personally don't believe that we are ever going to see things like they were pre-2008. Credit lines certainly have tightened. Cars are more reliable than...

Read the article: Increasing Sales

Every shop owner I have ever met wanted to change something in their shop at some point in their career. The real challenge is implementing change so it lasts forever, because many times things go right back to the way they were if you aren’t careful. Geoff Berman, one of our seasoned coaches at ATI, has a very successful strategy for implementing change, so let’s listen to his story. Ever wondered why no matter how hard you try or how committed you are to a diet, just can’t keep the weight off? If you’re lucky, you’re one of the few that this doesn’t apply to.

Read the article: Don't Put Your Business On A Diet!

How's business? Are things back to normal or at pre-recession times in your shop? Do you really know? I mean do things "feel" better? More importantly, how do the numbers look? That is where we really can see how things are compared to pre-recession figures, providing that you know what numbers to look at. You do look at the numbers of your business, don't you? Or are you running your shop based on pure emotion?

Read the article: Emotional Figures

While the first day of summer doesn't officially happen until June 21, the bountiful days of summer are coming. The world of automotive typically experiences a boom in the four or so months of summer that can rival the other eight months of the year. There is air-conditioning work, overheating vehicles and clients preparing for trips by catching up on their needed maintenance. Our service advisor instructor, Randy Somers, trained more than 1,000 advisors just last year, and I heard a great story sitting in his classroom. Here’s his story.

Read the article: Seizing A Chance

We've all heard this old saying, but does it have any real meaning in the automotive world? Let's listen to Senior Coach George Zeeks share his experiences in the trenches. After spending more than seven years talking with and helping shop owners through their problems, I can firmly say that it definitely, maybe does have meaning. One of the biggest issues is responsibility, and so many people try so hard to avoid that particularly thorny issue. They begin to embrace the smoke and pray that the fire doesn't break out.

Read the article: Where There's Smoke, is There Fire?

This month, we are going to learn a new skill that will help you stabilize your car count, increase your profits and help you stay the best shop in your area. One of our head coaches, Mike Haley, has been working with shop owners to help them implement QR codes. These codes were initially introduced in 1994 by Toyota to track parts in vehicle manufacturing. I must admit, I was not sure the QR (Quick Response) codes were going to be a fad or a new cutting-edge technology in mainstream business. Nevertheless, I've become a fan of this remarkable digital marketing and informational tool. Why do I find these jigsaw-looking squares so fascinating?

Read the article: Can You Learn A New Trick?

Have you ever asked yourself what you could do differently to get your people to do what you want them to do? Here is what Tom Ringle, a veteran ATI shop owner coach, tells his clients. As shop owners with so many things to do to get through the day, you might find yourself seeking new ways to create or define accountability. So, what is accountability? We'll start there on our lesson. Accountability is owning the consequences of our own actions and decisions. It means you are responsible to someone or something. Every person in the workplace must be held accountable. As owners and managers, you regularly deal with managing your work force.

Read the article: Employees Keeping You Up at Night?

One of my favorite movies is "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray. In the movie, Murray's character is stuck in a frustrating cycle. Every morning when he wakes up, it's the same day. During this day the town, events and people never change. It is not until he changes that he is able to break this cycle. Have you ever felt like Murray's character? You go to the shop day after day and the results stay the same.

Read the article: Graduating from Groundhog Day

Turning wrenches, answering phones, diagnosing cars, building estimates, ordering parts, directing technicians and speaking with customers makes up a typical day for most shop owners. Add just one hiccup in any of the previously mentioned events, and you add several more to the list. The day typically starts at the crack of dawn and runs straight through until the sun goes down, and for some, even longer. At the end of it all, you are just happy to have survived the day. But what did you do to survive tomorrow? What about surviving next week, next month or next year?

Read the article: Surviving the Day

I wanted to begin this month by thanking all of the Profit Matters readers who have emailed me over the years telling me how much they enjoy reading our articles. If you haven't picked up on it yet, I am recognition dependent, not money motivated, and my No. 1 passion has been helping shop owners grow over the past 40 years. I do realize that in order to stay up with the changing times you need to stay close to where the action is, which is in your repair shop.

Read the article: You Might Be Measuring Tech Productivity All Wrong

In today's economy and in talking to many shop owners across the country, I often hear, "I need more cars," and "Customers just aren't buying." If you have made either of these statements yourself, maybe you need to look at the level of customer service on your counter. Building a relationship with your customers is the key to their becoming repeat customers and spending more money with you. As a bonus, having that relationship with your customers will prompt them to refer more new customers to you. Having said that, way too often in automotive repair and other retail walks of life, the person behind the counter is a robot.

Read the article: Is Your Service Advisor More Like a Robot?

The price of gas is hovering around $4 per gallon. Consumers are driving less, so their time between visits will be longer. What does that mean to you, the auto repair shop owner? Keeping car count consistent in your shop is going to be more challenging than ever! Today, building strong relationships with your customers is critical. Shop owners constantly tell me they're looking for the magic pill, the secret sauce or the silver bullet to get more cars into their shops. So what's the secret?

Read the article: The Magic Pill To Increasing Car Count

This month, one of our top coaches, Matt Winslow, is going to share our secret super-powered tip to keep your bays full of cars and your cash register ringing with sales: "Give good phone and you'll never be alone." All of your marketing and advertising is designed to do one thing: make your phone ring. Answering your phone effectively is critical to the success of your business. Taking the time to make sure your employees do it right will help you stay the best and keep your customers from going to your competition.

Read the article: Answering Your Phone Effectively

If you want your shop to be perceived as the best shop in your area, you have to differentiate it from your competition. When your car count is stable, your profits will be stable and you won't have to lay off employees when you don't want to. The way you accomplish this is through branding your service center. Many of you already have started on this journey and don't realize it.

Read the article: Branding Your Service Center

"It has taken me years to learn how to fix cars and run my shop. I don’t have the time to learn how to do advertising; I'll just pay someone to do that." Does that sound familiar? Here at ATI, we have heard it so many times that it sounds like a broken record. The bottom line is that whether you like it or not, whether you want to do it or not, you're already in marketing! For better or worse. It is a fact of life. If you want to survive you had better learn what to do and how. This month, we’ll hear from George Zeeks, our Internet marketing instructor, who will get you started on stabilizing or increasing your car count.

Read the article: The New Age of Marketing for Increasing Car Count

Why is it that building the right staff and keeping them is so difficult for many business owners? We all know that one of the key elements to a smooth running and profitable shop is getting the team members to follow the same script. Talking to shop owners over the years, it has become obvious that the three biggest problems to maintaining discipline effectively are on-time attendance, smoking in the shop and excessive cell phone use. Holding people accountable for following the rules is one of the most challenging things a shop owner must do.

Read the article: Effective Discipline Without the Pain

We have a way you can leave loose ends behind. One of our senior coaches, Brian Hunnicutt, has an easy and fast technique for implementing change called, "Eating the Elephant with a Notebook," otherwise called the Notebook Technique. This simple technique requires the massive investment of a spiral-bound notebook for each employee, one for yourself and one for the shop in general. After acquiring the notebooks, take them and walk your entire shop, starting from a street view, through the parking lot and front door path that a customer would take, through the front counter, waiting area, bathrooms, office area and entire shop.

Read the article: Eating the Elephant

I have been blessed to have been able to hang out with some of the most successful shop owners in North America over a 40-year work history in the automotive repair industry. It isn't one thing, but about 15 things a successful shop owner has to do in concert to truly have the most successful shop in any given market and to have enough free time to enjoy life. I won't bore you with the 15 things, but the most important one is to have a definite purpose in life and the power to achieve it. If you are reading this article, you made it through 2010. Some of you may have made a few New Year's resolutions for 2011.

Read the article: Shop Owner Secrets to Achievement

Like many of you, I started in the automotive industry at the ripe age of 21. Life seemed so simple and a heck of a lot of fun. I had just flunked out of my third college when my dad asked me if I thought street racing could be a career. You see, I talked my dad into getting my mom a 1969 COPO Camaro with GM’s 427 cubic-inch iron block coupled to an automatic, which had a lot to do with my lack of interest in higher education. Then I temporarily lost my license doing something stupid, and began drag racing in Super Stock against the likes of Ronnie Sox, whose HemiCuda would blow us away on any given day. I remember my dad saying, “Do something you have passion for,” so I applied to Sun Electric, because I liked their tachometers.

Read the article: Choosing the Lane to Successful Shop Culture

Is discounting killing your business? Yes! Now, I know what you’re saying: Discounting helps create new customers and increase sales. But that is not always true. I do agree that discounting a service as an acquisition tool might help you attract new customers. But what type of customer did you just attract? And can you retain that customer for future visits? The answer to those questions depends on the efforts and passion of your service writer. And on the sales side, did you generate enough in sales to make the discount worth doing?

Read the article: Don’t Let Discounts Make Your Shop D.O.A.

One of our senior coaches, Brian Canning, told me there is no doubt that in writing this we are going to upset many of you. But if we can get you to take a close look at your shop operation, I think a little of your wrath is well worth my effort. I will apologize in advance to those very rare shops that are doing the things they should be. But for many of you, I am truthfully hoping that the truth hurts enough to get you to act and to correct what is going on in your shop, because that will put you in the best possible position to thrive in this challenging market.

Read the article: Making Friends With the Shop Operations Mirror

Believe me when I tell you that when I first meet a shop owner (or service manager), most are very proud of being a businessman or woman and happy to tell me about their shop. They tell me how long they have been in business, how many bays they have, how many techs work there and so on. However, there is always this little something in their voice that says, “I want my business back!” I wanted you to hear a real pep talk from our leader of trainers and coaches at ATI, Bryan Stasch. He is a former shop owner who manages other former shop owners and service mangers in implementing changes in 948 shops every week.

Read the article: Cowboy Up and Rope in Your Shop

Most shop owners have a pretty good idea of how many cars it takes each day to maximize their profit. Too much or not enough car count can affect bottom-line profit daily. If you would keep what we at ATI call your “win number” of cars in your bays, every day your profits would soar. But how do you do that consistently? Senior Coach George Zeeks had one explanation.

Read the article: Hitting the Car Count Bull’s-eye

I want to take you on a trip to the happy ending of your day-to- day hard work in your business. Matt Winslow, our director of seminar development, has worked with our coaching staff to present the overall system we use for actually helping you plan your retirement. If you were to spend a day with Matt, it would go something like this. How many of you are thinking about retiring? What is your plan? Will a family member take over or will a trusted employee? Will they buy you out? Will you draw a pension? Will you become a landlord?

Read the article: Planning for Success a Step at a Time

Helping shop owners do the balancing act of driving profits at work and taking dreams home is part of our mission. The challenge is there is no such thing as work-home balance. In real life, you are either heading for a crisis or coming out of one. Most of us keep pedaling the bike even when we know we are off-balance. When we lean too far to the left, by making too many withdrawals, we try to balance by making deposits. We fall off the bike when we lean too far to either the family or business side. And how would that look?

Read the article: Riding the Fine Line Between Shop and Home Life

How are the tire and service shops in North America doing? In light of the economic downturn, you would expect the answer to be bad, awful or terrible. While there are areas that have been hit much harder than others, there also are many shop owners holding their own and a few having record years. Many shop owners got scared and were forced to make tough decisions they wouldn’t make before the “Great Recession.”

Read the article: Sizing Up Your Shop With Surveys

If you want to increase car count by working on the relationships you have with your customers, then pay close attention to what our best clients are doing about it. Our 20 Mastermind members are made up of the best of the best from thousands of our shop owner clients. Any time the majority of this group gets excited about a marketing concept, you can be sure it is a winner. In this article, Senior Coach George Zeeks this month will teach you how to get started in the world of social marketing.

Read the article: Catch the Wave of the Present

Many years ago, Dale Carnegie wrote a book that became famous by helping us really care about other people. The book taught us the basics to really listening and what not to say if you wanted to win friends. Shop owners, in an effort to make real money, must focus as much on the customer as the car today. As a matter of fact, many times the customer is more broken than the car.

Read the article: If you don’t care about customers, do you think your employees will?

Many of us have been surprised by the way this recession has affected our businesses. Who would have thought OEMs would go bankrupt and so many new car dealers would close their doors? Then for every independent shop we see experiencing increases in sales due to lack of new car sales, there is a shop located in a challenging area of high unemployment experiencing decreases in sales.

Read the article: Why Some People Always Make Money in the Service Business

Most of us who join the automotive industry at a young age end up spending our entire lives in the business. It just gets in your blood! Shop owners and technicians usually have a dream of achievement that is different for all of us. Some want to be the best, some want to be rich and others just want to be comfortable while helping others. All of these dreams require continuing education by investing in yourself, whether you are a tech or a shop owner.

Read the article: What Happened to the Dream?

Over the past four decades, my passion has been helping shop owners grow. I believe profit matters, and trying to make 20 percent to 30 percent cash profit is a necessity not a luxury. Most shop owners get in trouble when three problems appear at the same time. Most of us do not get in trouble with one problem, but with a combination of multiple problems. A toxic employee is defined as one that pollutes the entire business and creates multiple problems in the blink of an eye. These problems can be very expensive to correct, and without a fat savings account you may not be even capable of proving your innocence.

Read the article: Toxic Employees

Many fishing professionals feel bananas bring bad luck or a chemical imbalance to the fun times. I overheard one of our senior coaches, George Zeeks, relate The Banana Theory to spoiling our customers. How many times have you purchased a bunch of bananas at the store? I’m talking that perfect, firm one, just the right shade of yellow and smelling exactly like a banana should smell. You bring the bunch home and maybe even snack on one or two right away. Then, like a lot of other things, we forget about them.

Read the article: The Banana Theory: How Customers Spoil

There are many shops in North America that are nominated for top shop awards, and many that go unmentioned but certainly not unnoticed. I would define a top shop as one in which it has become famous in the area by quality, integrity, relationships and differentiation from its competitors. Its sales would depend on the size of the market they are located in and could range from $500,000 to $3 million annually. The challenge with being the best is that everyone wants to be the best, so it can be tough to stay on top. I have had the pleasure of working with lots of the best of the best shop owners and here is a list of basics to focus on so you can stay the best.

Read the article: The Six Ways to Stay a Top Shop

This month I wanted you to hear from our head instructor, Matt Winslow, who has been in the trenches giving ATI one day workshops across the U.S. and Canada. Over the last year, hundreds of owners have asked, “Can we survive the bad economy?” I say yes, and not only just survive, but flourish and reach your dreams and goals over the next five years. Here are Winslow’s suggestions to help you implement change in 2009. We all know 2008 was a tough year. Banks failed. The stock market dropped to half its value. Retirement funds evaporated.

Read the article: Survive and Attain Success in a Bad Economy

Since we all know the joke about opinions, I have one like everyone else, and I’d like to share my opinion on the economy in 2009 with you. I have been through a few tough times since I joined the automotive brotherhood in 1971. Actually, I went through rough times before then. While I am the CEO of a company that mentors 947 independent automotive service centers and tire dealers every week, I had three different colleges ask me to leave, and leave I did. So I have seen in our industry some shops doing better and just as many doing much worse. So what’s my opinion on 2009, and what can you do to survive?

Read the article: An Economic Forecast

Today I will let you decide if we are in a recession, examine where we currently stand on your recession plan and decide what we are going to do about it. I received a great e-mail from a shop owner upset that one of our earlier articles might be blaming you guys for the recession. Although I do not feel that way, perception is reality, so I want to certainly apologize if any of you felt the same way before we get started. Many of my coaches were shop owners in their previous lives, and they understand how hard the automotive service business can be at times. They also understand that most of the time the difference between success and failure in a recession

Read the article: The Economy Is Not The Boogeyman In Your Closet

I want to share with you 19 ways to stabilize your car count. Look at this as a quick review without taking the time to dig very deep into each strategy. My objective is to help you take an inventory of what you are doing in your shop and focus on the strategies you are not currently using in your business that can help you stabilize your daily car count. This is accomplished by doing everything you can to retain customers and get them to come back even in a recession and in a time of reliable cars.

Read the article: 19 Ways To Stabilize Your Car Count

I know a lot of you have been hearing the customers complain and grieve about today’s economy, how the cost of everything is increasing and that it leaves little or no money to put into their automobiles. Every time they have to go to the gas station or just drive by and see the prices posted, they are reminded of it. That, combined with just turning on the TV, is what fuels their woes. Once they start complaining about the price of gas and the economy, I have seen and heard service advisors jump right on board with them and acknowledge their complaining.

Read the article: Turning $4/Gallon Gas Prices into Continued Profits

Like many of you, I have had the challenge of working through many recessions in the automotive industry. Historically, it has always been good for us, as we watch the repair business go up as car sales go down. This recession has been more challenging as gas prices reduce mileage, which certainly has affected tire sales for most of the tire industry. The good news is shop owners who are staying proactive still are having a good year in service. As a matter of fact, the shops we coach weekly are up $2,143 a week in cash profits since the day we began working with them.

Read the article: You, Perhaps, and Not The Economy

One of the most common complaints from shop owners is the need for more customers and more cars. Shop owners spend their hard earned money on a multitude of marketing ideas, but they forget to focus on the most important part of the marketing process. The idea behind all of this marketing is to get the phone to ring — a customer calling to ask for your services. Few shop owners spend the time needed to develop the proper system for answering the phone. Fewer still measure the effectiveness of the employees who are answering the phone and have tools in place to gauge how many incoming calls result in the customer coming into your shop.

Read the article: Will You Please Answer The Cash Register?

You have successfully built a wonderful business with a great reputation. Everyone is proud of your accomplishments.Your family is very appreciative of the many hours it has taken you to build your business.Your customers love you for taking care of the safety of their families.Your associates have looked up to you for years and, for the most part, will follow you into any battle. You love your business and you enjoy working in it. You have rarely ever met anyone who can do it as well as you can. You have made mistakes like most shop owners, but you have hung in there and learned what it takes to run a profitable business.

Read the article: Working Harder And Enjoying It Less?

Everything is going great. The phone is ringing, we have customers coming through the door wanting work done on their cars and all is right with the world. Except, we don’t have enough technicians or maybe the right technician for the job. This is a very common scenario that plays out in shops around the country every day, and a common complaint from our clients is the problem of finding a good technician or the “right” technician. My first impulse is to ask why they lost a good technician and were they that good to begin with.

Read the article: Finding the Needle In A Field Of Needles

In consulting with automotive shops across the country, I have talked to a lot of owners and one thing is very clear: when it comes to creating an environment for managers and other staff to flourish, most owners just don’t get it.We, as an industry, have not stepped up to the idea that managing an automotive shop is a profession. Much of the population would rather go to the dentist than take their car into a shop for work.Many think that as an industry we score just above a collection of attorneys when it comes to image. Don’t shoot the messenger! I certainly do not believe that stereotype is real or deserved, but rather that most shops are fair, trustworthy and professional.

Read the article: The Care Feeding of Your Manager

In December, we discussed how women have become the No. 1 buyer of maintenance. So this month, let’s focus on our sales process skills. I’ve co-developed the Relationship Marketing System (RMS) to help capture the estimated $70 billion in untapped maintenance. The most interesting thing about sales is that most people believe they are an expert or a guru. After spending 35 years of my life in sales, I believe some days you are much better at it than others. During the past decade, I have trained more than 11,000 service managers in the art of relationship- based selling.

Read the article: Maintenance: A Catch-and-Release Business

Last year, I was invited to speak to 1,100 of the industry’s finest at the AAIA Town Hall Meeting at SEMA. The subject was “Why are we closing the hood on the $70 billion in untapped maintenance?” There are many issues preventing the flow of cash in our pockets; however, let’s first explore who is purchasing this extremely important service: women. Most men believe since they sleep with women, once in a while, they are mental giants when it comes to communicating with them. Our trainers have discovered this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Read the article: Selling Maintenance to Women

If the most difficult task in the automotive service world is getting customers to actually hop in the car and make that long journey into our shops, many would say that increasing the amount of the average repair order (ARO) would be second. Though it requires a combination of effective procedures and strong leadership, this process need not be as daunting as many would make it. Most shops with low ARO do not have a measurement or quality control system for their courtesy checks. You should expect 75 percent of your daily car count to receive a complete courtesy check, if you inspect the forms being attached to your hard copy.

Read the article: How to Increase Average Repair Order

I am certain most of you have read articles on how to increase shop productivity — and if tested, would ace the test. The real challenge is achieving 100 percent productivity during the majority of your year. My goal in this article is to remind you of something you used to do or help you add the missing ingredient that could help you net 20 percent to 30 percent cash profits. The vast majority of shop owners need coaching or mentoring to see their blind spot in this area. Once they have the hang of it, most of our clients can maintain a very productive shop. Because the average shop in the U.S. and Canada is only 67 percent technician-productive, the hardest part is arriving at this lofty goal with some consistency.

Read the article: How to Increase Shop Productivity

Many times during the course of a busy day I’ve started to eat lunch or a snack and I get interrupted. Have you ever taken a couple bites from an apple and have to put it down to take care of something? The problem is that when you come back, it has already started to turn brown and just doesn’t look as good as it did. The same thing happens to your labor margin. If you “put it down” or don’t pay attention to it on a constant basis, you will find your labor margin going bad and it just doesn’t look the same on your bottom line. A complete understanding of what affects your labor margin — and how to hold a 60 percent margin fully loaded with benefits — is essential to maintaining a profitable shop.

Read the article: Is Your Labor Apple Going Bad?

Last month, we talked about netting 20 percent to 30 percent profit, and I shared a model that some shop owners have been able to accomplish. In that model, it required that your parts costs be 18.5 percent of your total sales. In order to accomplish this, you must hold at least 53 percent profit on your entire parts pool. This is key performance indicator (KPI) No. 3 out of the 37 KPIs that a shop needs to hit that ideal 20 percent to 30 percent net profit. However, this is one of the easiest plates to spin because unlike labor, parts don’t talk on cell phones, smoke, get sick or take time off.

Read the article: Making Parts Profitable

Most of us have encountered low points in our life when we thought there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Some of us put our heads down and fought to survive when many a mortal would have said we had no chance.You may have been that person and rose to become the top shop owner in your market.You may be presently fighting the battle to take you and your family to the Promised Land. You know - the land where all your dreams are fulfilled and your bank accounts are full of profits. What makes this actually happen? And if it hasn’t happened to you, when will it take place? How long will you have to fight to ensure a happy retirement and fulfill your family dreams?

Read the article: Let The Journey Begin