As we discussed in Close the Back Door now, the back door refers to the people leaving us — both customers and employees. They leave for a variety of reasons, but a lot of those reasons are in your control to overcome. Just like customers, you spend a lot of time on job postings, recruitment,…
The auto repair and maintenance industry had a tremendous year in 2022. We saw increases over pre-covid levels. Most of the shops I talk to had record-breaking sales in the first half of the year, and indications are it will continue. As predicted, however, 2023 has seen a slowdown in that demand. What does that mean…
Where are you on your journey toward success with 2023’s budget? Have you done the work to put an action plan in place for the remainder of the year? Now is a great time to audit where you are against your budget, goals, and objectives. Performing a mid-year review as an auto repair shop owner is…
In November I wrote a post on how to avoid the slow slump season during the winter months. Now, we’re at the time of year when car count starts to ramp up regardless of what geographical area we’re in. This will be due to college kids coming back home, winterized classic and sports cars coming out of…
Giving discounts properly in your auto shop is essential for attracting and retaining customers, building a positive reputation, and managing finances. Every shop management software system has a procedure to reduce customer repair order totals or, in other words, apply discounts. How we discount in those SMS systems can give us much-needed data or mask…
Often, there can be a disconnect between the techs and service advisors, also considered the front and the back of shops. Service advisors and techs, at times, do not speak the same language and may have differing ideas on what their roles are in providing an outstanding customer experience. They tend to work in silos…
“I don’t have enough cars.” I frequently hear this from shop owners when they start working with me. On rare occasions, it is true; when this happens, we identify what is causing the problem and get more cars in the door within a few weeks. Most of the time, however, it is not true. If…
A few months ago, I wrote a blog concerning marketing that would help make an impact on keeping customer visit count consistent regardless of weather, holidays, or any other type of pattern. However, since some of us didn’t market right, we’re in the aftermath — the car count slowed down, and we’re fretting about how…
It is that time of year to get all your ducks in a row — spend time thinking about what you want to accomplish for the year, make the selections, and put them down on paper as smart goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timebound). It is so important to set your sights on exactly what dreams…
It’s the start of a new year which naturally makes us reflect back on how the previous year went. As easy, difficult, surprisingly sane, or crazy as we may think 2022 went, let’s see what made it work and what made it fail. Hopefully, the wins outnumber the losses, but in either case, we need…