Is There a Tiger in Your Shop? By Bob Spitz Management Success!

Bob Spitz
Snr VP Business Development
Management Success!

Several years ago a shop owner from New York, a personal friend of mine, called me and began telling me about some tough employee issues, poor production, and stagnant sales.  He was working some crazy hours, said he could not take time away from the shop fearing that all would go wrong if he left.  I asked him why he felt that way.  He said the last time he took a week off the shop sales plummeted and he found himself putting out fires the first days back from his vacation.  He had gotten to the point that if he was to take another vacation he would just close down for the week and give all his employees a paid vacation.  From the way things were going it would cost him less and he would not have to deal with the aggravation. 

I told him not to make any drastic changes because I was already planning to come to New York and I would pay him a visit. 

I did not tell him when the visit was going to be so that I would get a truer picture of what was really going on.  The day I arrived I stood outside of the shop and just observed for a while; my friend did not know I was there.  Within a short period of time one of the employees stood out.  His actions were about as far away as you could get from being called “good for the business”.

I walked up to the counter where my friend was working – he was writing his own service at the time – and I asked him to introduce me to his techs.  The first two guys where personable and social.  The third one (the one I had observed) was a tiger.  I had my friend turn the shop over to his lead tech, the tiger for a while so we could go up to his house and talk.  We sat down and I rattled off a list of things this guy was doing and how he was behaving in the business.  When I was done my friend looked at me as said, “that is exactly what this guy (the tiger) is like, how did you get that out of a handshake?!”  I told my friend that even though I had never met this guy his personality traits are not new to me.  I’ve seen them in other shops I’ve worked with.  I asked him if he wanted some help straightening out this problem.  Since it seemed insurmountable to him he eagerly agreed.
It took a couple of weeks to work out a careful plan to remove this tiger from his shop because my friend was convinced he needed this guy!  The day my friend let him go he called me sounding like a schoolboy who finally got his first date.  “HE’S GONE, HE’S GONE!  I feel 10 years younger and I feel like 100 lbs has been lifted off my head!  The lights actually look brighter in the shop and the other techs are smiling and having a great time throwing out all of his junk!” The very next month the shop did more production with just two techs than it had ever done with three.

I have always found it amazing how one person in a business can hold down the whole shop.  And it always seems to be that key guy the owner feels he must have!  He’s the guy who knows his stuff, he can tackle the hard jobs, the ones that other techs shy away from, but he does it at a price. This is the guy that puts owners between a rock and a hard place.

One of the responsibilities of an owner is to create a safe and friendly work space.  People need to get along with each other and they usually do.  But you have no chance of creating a good team if you have a tiger in the mix.

Another problem with a guy like this is it makes it hard to recruit new team members.  Word gets around and techs know who is working where.  A shop also loses good, hard-working, personable guys with a tiger around.  No one wants to work with him except maybe other tigers --- Great!  Now you have two of them.

Long ago I worked in a dealership and we had two of these characters.  They tore up the production lines and made everyone’s life miserable.  The service manager did not know how to handle them and the owner ignored the problem.  Ultimately they drove off all the other good techs and then left together leaving the service department woefully undermanned.

Knowing how to read people and hire the right people the first time is a skill owners must have.  It is just too painful and costly not to know.  Having trouble in the production area?  Too many upsets and noise?  Look for the tiger—he’s the one in the bushes with fangs and claws ready to pounce on the next unsuspecting victim.

MANAGEMENT SUCCESS! How to Increase Your Profits Seminar

FIND THE BLACK HOLE IN YOUR SHOP! TAKE THE TEST!

Keeping Customers Happy, by Robert Spitz, Management Success!

Robert Spitz
Snr VP of Business Dev
Management Success!

What does it take to keep customers happy or at least satisfied enough with your service to return and maybe even refer their friends? The basic rules are simple:

1. Fix the car right the first time
2. Treat the customers fairly and with respect.

Here are some other important steps to take to make sure your customers are satisfied.

Think Like a Consumer

First, to figure out how to keep your customers happy, you have to think like a customer. Although most repair shop owners and employees are not consumers of vehicle repair services, they are consumers of other goods and services. Ask yourself what you consider good quality service. When you purchase something, what do you expect from the product and from the company that sold it to you?

Survey Your Customers

Good customer relations start with knowing what your customers need and want from your business. Have you ever surveyed your customers to find out what they really think about your business and about auto repair in general? It is deadly to operate a business without knowing for sure what your customers think and what they need and want. Simply assuming you already know can cost you a lot of money. So, go ahead and conduct some simple surveys of your customers. You might have an eye-opening experience.

Surprisingly, customer surveys conducted by Management Success! clients show that price is not the number one concern of most auto repair consumers. Their number one concern is getting the problem with their vehicle fixed completely; their number two concern is paying for unneeded parts or services.

Communication and Talking in "Customereze"

Since most of your customers know very little about their vehicles, they need to know that the auto repair business they deal with can be trusted. The key to earning their trust is consistent good service supported by good communication. This means you have to pay attention to your customer and not have your mind on forty different things when he or she is talking to you. Never assume anything! When you really listen to what your customers have to say, you are showing a high degree of care, which is high on the list of reasons people bring their vehicles to the independent shop in the first place.

Next, you have to answer questions with words that customers will be able to understand. Do not try to impress people with how much you know by using technical and industry-related jargon.

Your customer will not understand what you are talking about and will actually start to dislike you! For an example of how this works, watch a foreign language movie without subtitles and see how long it takes you to begin feeling uncomfortable.

Keep Customers Informed

There are some key points in keeping customers informed while servicing their vehicles:

1. Explain to each customer what repairs his or her vehicle needs and what your procedures are to accomplish these repairs step-by-step.
2. Make sure the customer understands what you say. Be clear about what you can do and what you cannot do.
3. Have the customer sign a written estimate and give them a copy.
4. Assure the customer that you will let them know if there will be any changes or additional work that needs to be done before you perform that additional work. Customers hate “the five o’clock surprise,” (i.e., charges for service they did not agree to). This point is extremely important, and it is law in many states.

A wise service writer makes it a regular practice to check the status of each repair job throughout the day. So when customers call for an update, the service writer can reassure them that things are under control and let them know if their vehicle is going to be finished that day or not. Remember to give the customer plenty of notice.

Do Complete Vehicle Inspections

One of the last things a shop owner wants to hear from a customer is the infamous "ever-since-ya:" "Ever since you worked on my car I have this rattle in the back!" "Ever since you worked on my car every dog in the neighborhood chases my car!" You try to explain how changing the fan belt has nothing to do with these problems, but your pleading falls on deaf ears. There is just no winning some of these arguments. Avoid the "ever-since-ya" by doing a complete vehicle inspection and then going over your findings with the customer, regardless of the problem the vehicle was initially brought in for.

Prioritize for your customer the various repairs or services the vehicle needs. This is your opportunity to be the professional you are, guiding your customer into good vehicle maintenance. It is time well spent. Your customers will notice and appreciate your care and professionalism.

Quality Assurance

Have you ever had a customer come in at the end of the day to pick up a car only to find the problem they brought it in for is still not handled? That is a “special” experience for a shop owner, especially when it is late and you are the only one there. To avoid such special moments, you must have a system in place that checks each completed vehicle against the repair order to ensure the repair has been fully completed before the customer gets there. If your shop fails to do this kind of quality assurance on the vehicles it repairs, your customers become your quality assurance department, rather than becoming loyal customers! Sometimes, quality assurance is just the simple task of walking around the vehicle to make sure there are no flat or low tires, no grease smudges, the fluid levels are correct, nothing is leaking, and, most important, that the problem the vehicle was brought in for is handled!

Going the Extra Mile

The secret to success in business is to exceed your customers' expectations. Most shops do a lot of little things for their customers that the customer is not made aware of. These are lost Public Relations opportunities for the shop. There are several effective ways to make sure your customers know about the extra things you do.

1. Tell them when you have done something extra for them.
2. Write it on the Repair Order with a 'No Charge' in the price column.
3. Create a good-looking brochure that outlines the extra special services that you provide and give one to every customer.

It really doesn't take that much to make a customer feel special and well-cared-for. Simple things like a shuttle service or fresh coffee can make a big, lasting impression. You might also be surprised at the effect friendly service with a smile has on your customers and, ultimately, on your sales figures.

Summary

Keeping customers happy is not difficult if you pay attention to the details and take the time to make sure your customers' questions and concerns are handled professionally. Above all, always strive to fix the car right the first time and to treat the customer fairly.

Good luck on your road to success!
Robert Spitz

MANAGEMENT SUCCESS! Controlling the Front Workshop

FIND THE BLACK HOLE IN YOUR SHOP! TAKE THE TEST!