New Interactive Workshop Courses Announced at the Management Success 2016 Spring Convention

GLENDALE, CA. April 27, 2016. In addition to a slew of already popular workshops, Management Success revealed two new workshops at its Spring Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona.

To the right is a brief description of the new Management Success Workshops. 

Building Your Dream Team
 
An interactive workshop designed to give shop owners the skills needed to recruit the best employees and keep them effectively trained on an on-going basis. 

On-site Shop Workflow 

An interactive, hands-on training program that gives shop owners the skills needed to improve their shop’s workflow.

“The response we have received regarding these two new services has been overwhelming,” stated Robert Spitz, Snr VP Business Development.

Management Success Announces Award Winners at the 2016 Spring Convention

GLENDALE, CA. April 25, 2016 Semi-annually Management honors its clients who have made great strides in the auto repair industry.

The recipients of the 2016 Spring Convention Awards are: 

Master Elite 
Aaron Ledford - Aaron’s Semi Repair
Mark Probst – Probst Auto Body 

Masters 
Tobi Klunder-Edmonds – Edmonds Import Auto
TJ Cleveland - Durango Muffler & Brake
Greg & Stacy Conner - Equipment Experts, Inc.
Kristi & Wade Wright - Wright Way Collision Repair, Inc.
Brett Gioe - Zoom Tech 

Sustained Masters 
Jim & Terri Anderson - Anderson Automotive  

HOST Master 

Jim Anderson - Anderson Automotive 

Competent Shop Owner 
Eddie Lawrence – MTR
Terri Anderson - Anderson Automotive
Javier & Esteban Najera - Tres Amigos Auto Service, Inc.
Jesse Schillinger & Bola Schonoiki - Honest Accurate Auto Service West
Effective Shop Manager
Dean Thomas - Deano's Complete Automotive Svc & Repair 

HOST Award 
Dino DiGiulio - Body Best Collision
Joe Fenski - Fenski Automotive
Steve Ek - Ek Automotive
Mark Probst – Probst Auto Body 

Top Team of VMT Game 
The Innovators: Europro Autohaus, Knockout Collision, K-O Auto, Top Shop, Ultimate Truck 

Top Player of VMT Game 
2nd Place Jim Krell / K-O Auto Inc
1st Place Willie & Tess Contreras / Top Shop Automotive

NAPA Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada

From Tuesday, May 5^th, to Friday, May 8^th, 2015, National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA) invited Management Success! to attend NAPA Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada to deliver talks on truck shop management.

On Wednesday morning, Robert Spitz, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Management Success!, led a discussion with truck shop owners David Saline (2^nd-to-None Service), Dave Bloom (Pine Aire Truck Service, Inc.), and Eddie Lawrence (Mobile Transport Repair). With the packed room, Spitz and the three panelists discussed techniques and strategies for marketing a truck shop. The audience learned many useful skills and valuable knowledge that could be implemented once they returned back to their shop. That evening, Spitz and Saline led a second discussion on how to improve the bottom line of a truck shop.

With all the information shared with the audience, Management Success! sparked the interest of many NAPA Expo attendees. Truck shop owners were interested in gaining more knowledge and skills to apply to their shops, improve their own management skills, and take advantage of all the benefits Management Success! has to offer.

During NAPA Expo, attendees also had the opportunity to browse through the booths of other automotive-related companies and vendors to obtain more information on them.

"The Expo was fun, and I got lots of useful information at the discussions. The location was huge, so it was nice to interact with people from all over and see what each booth had to offer. I enjoyed the Management Success! discussions because we got to hear the personal experiences of truck shop owners and the changes they've made in their shops to become successful. Aside from that, spending time in Vegas was an awesome getaway from the daily stress of our lives." – E.M.

For more information on Management Success!, please visit www.managementsuccess.com, call (818) 546-5836, or contact Morgan Scott at morgan.scott@managementsuccess.com. For more information on NAPA, visit www.napaonline.com or call (818) 246-1711.

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Don’t Risk Falling Down the Google Rankings

If your site is not responsive, it’s time for an upgrade.

For quite a while, Google has made clear its preference for responsive web design, but never claimed to rank any particular URL format above another as far as SEO goes. Now, it looks like Google may actually demote websites that are not mobile-friendly. So, if you're looking for a New Year’s resolution, how about going responsive in 2015?

With responsive design, a website’s URL and HTML code stay the same regardless of the type of device it is being viewed on (such as desktop, tablet, or mobile), but the display renders differently (i.e. “responds”) based on the screen size. You can count on perfect readability on any device, along with a well-structured appearance. (Check out our blog “So What’s the Deal with Responsive Sites?” for a more in-depth discussion of responsive design.)

Google prefers responsive websites over redirects.

As an aspect of its overarching goal to improve the internet user experience, Google has rolled out several ranking updates that favor responsive sites over non-responsive sites. According to Google, having one URL makes it easier for internet users to interact with a webpage and enables Google’s “algorithms to assign the indexing properties to your content.” It is also more efficient when Google is crawling your content because Google does not have to crawl multiple pages.

In the past, we offered clients a mobile redirect, which essentially transferred mobile users to a different version of the website that we formatted for mobile use. While having a mobile-friendly option is good, it is not the same as having a responsive site. A responsive redesign involves putting your website on an entirely different platform, not just changing the HTML code.

Check us out at MSWebPros.com

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Management Success! Truck 20 Group Meets to Discuss Operational Issues & Best Practices

On August 9 and 10, Dan Klepper and Dennis Poirier, owners of Sawaya Fleet Services, hosted the Management Success! Truck 20 Group at their 17,000 sq. ft. NAPA Truck Center facility in Denver. Top truck shops from around the country gathered to discuss important issues facing truck shop owners, as well as best practices for increasing profit potential. The meeting was moderated by Management Success! Senior Consultant, Jim Smith.

On the first day, the group talked about operational issues, and worked out solutions to some of the most pressing problems members deal with in their shops. Dan and Dennis treated everyone to BBQ, and the group toured their facility, analyzing throughput on both their mechanical and collision divisions. The second day was spent on profit and loss reviews, and sharing best practices. Afterward, Dan said, “It was a pleasure hosting the group at our facility. Anytime you have the chance to meet with likeminded professionals and hammer out important issues that we all deal with, everyone benefits.”

According to David Saline of 2nd-to-None Service, “The best part of an event like this is networking with other shop owners. It’s great to hear different viewpoints and bounce ideas off each other. It’s also very motivating to see what’s possible with a shop by having others look at your numbers and by giving ideas and input on how to improve those numbers. The Truck 20 Group is made up of great shops and great owners that come together to go to the next level. So there’s also an accountability factor - other shop owners point out issues and give recommendations, and now it’s up to you to act. Groups like this will only improve our industry, and there’s really no limit to what shops in this group can accomplish.”

The next Truck 20 Group meeting will take place at the Management Success! convention in Universal City on September 28, 2014. For more information on Management Success! or the Truck 20 Group, please contact Morgan Scott at morgan.scott@managementsuccess.com. 

Management Success

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Is Your Service Writer an Order Taker? by Robert Spitz

Robert Spitz
Senior VP Business Development
Management Success!

This used to be a fairly simple business. The cars were simple, and repairs and maintenance were common. The cars manifested problems on a regular basis, and the owners of the vehicles knew something was wrong.

I grew up in this business and started working in shops in the late 1960’s. I worked primarily in import shops, what we used to call foreign cars. The first job I had was a decarbonization job on an Austin Mini with less than 40,000 miles on it. This was commonplace - brake pads every 10-12,000 miles, front end work and clutches, tune ups every 6,000 and 12,000 miles (and boy did those cars need tune-ups!), not to mention constant exhaust work.

We didn't need to be great salesmen. Customers came in and told us what the problem was. We told them we’d fix it, and we’d give them a call when it was done. We didn't even have to give them an estimate. 

That was a long time ago, and a lot has changed, starting with the cars. The modern car is vastly superior to the older cars and does not need the constant attention of the cars of yesteryear. (Did you know a model T Ford needed to be serviced every 100 miles?) However, the modern day car does need to be serviced! One of the problems is the new technology seems to be able to mask problems that used to have customers coming in the door. Engine lights come on, but the car seems to be running fine, until it doesn’t anymore. Then the customer gets shocked with the price to replace some component that might not have needed to be replaced prematurely if the vehicle had been maintained properly. 

It’s not that preventative maintenance is a new idea - it’s just that the vehicles run so much better than the old cars that it can lull customers into a false sense of “everything seems to be okay, I'll put it off until later” attitude.

A recent survey was done on John Q. Public and they were asked, “What do you expect out of your vehicle?” The majority of those surveyed stated, “A safe and reliable vehicle that will last a long time.” When asked, “What does it take to achieve this goal, and what does it mean to service a vehicle?” the answers varied greatly.  31% stated “maintenance”, 23% stated “change the oil”, 19% said, “keep it running”, and 15% stated “I don’t know,” and 12% stated, “fixing it.” From this, we can see that the car-driving public is fairly confused on this point. I can recall a fellow coming into a store I was running and asking how much it would be to rebuild the engine on his car. When I asked him what’s going on with the vehicle, he told me, “Oh, it’s running fine. I thought a rebuild would be good preventative maintenance.” We can see the subject of servicing a car has been a source of confusion for a long time. A service writer or adviser can no longer be an order taker. The orders are not there to take. 

It has long been my experience that there are two kinds of service writers: those that make things happen and those who wait for things to happen. Which one is on your front counter? Here are some things for you to check that might help you with this evaluation:

1.     Does your service writer check the customer’s record for previously recommended services when customers set an appointment?

2.     Does he/she suggest a service at the time of the appointment if called for?

3.     Does he/she note the miles on the vehicle when customers drop off the car and suggest the factory recommended service if the vehicle mileage indicates it’s ready for a service?

4. Does he/she call customers while the vehicle is in the shop and recommend a needed service?

5.     At the end of the day, does the service writer set a new appointment for the next needed service?

The above five points are just an example of what a good service writer should do to generate business for the shop. There are many other points that good service writers do on a daily basis. Another critical point is taking the time to educate customers on what they are driving and how to keep the vehicle in top-notch condition. They should be educated as to why they should do preventive maintenance. 

When this is done honestly and sincerely, the service writer is demonstrating care for the customer. That is what every owner is looking for - someone who will care for the customers the way the owner cares.

The ability to recruit the right people, hire the right people, and train them to do things the way an owner wants is an ability every owner needs in order to have a successful business. I invite you to see how you are doing in these areas. 

Visit www.managementsuccess.com and take the Shop Owners Free OnLine Analysis. You will get a visual graph that will show you where you are strong and where you could use some improvement in your business. I’ll even have a consultant evaluate it for you, free of charge. Do it today!  

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