When speaking in my shop I make sure I refer to my employees as "technicians" as they prefer that. As far as customers saying they are at the repair shop that is fine as long as they know how to reach us.
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Sorry, Consumers still call us "Mechanics"
Well now a days they are technicians... Reading off a scanner tool that tells them what's wrong with the car isn't a mechanic they are technicians. Mechanics are a rare breed... being able to listen or look at a vehicles problems and figuring it out. Sometimes process of elimination till it's fixed. Taking a broken part, getting a rebuild kit, and rebuilding it instead of just replacing it. Just because the customer cant afford a new part. That's what I consider a "mechanic" Its a sad thing to hear about when those bad shops take advantage of people that dont understand automobiles. Not saying that your shop is bad I'm sure your shop is awesome! But we all have heard of mechanic shops doing unnecessary work just to squeeze everything out of a customer. Shame on them! But I guess they do have a business to run and it's not easy lol. Sorry if I went a bit off topic 
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Although just because somethings can be a bit technical doesn't change who we are. We're mechanics... the term technician, to me sounds like it's someone that doesn't get dirty.
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Hey bud thanks for noticing I meant every word. It's a prideful feeling to get someone's vehicle back on the road again. Specially when it's been to two other shops that couldn't figure it out, and the customer seems to lose all hope. And no matter how you look at it it's still a much needed skilled trade to have.
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Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?
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By Joe Marconi in Joe's Blog5 commentsI recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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By Changing The Industry
The Basics of Owning An Auto Repair Shop - Balancing GP per Hour and Productivity
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By carmcapriotto
Thank you to our friends at RepairPal for providing you this episode. As shop owners we were part of RepairPal’s Certified network and you can learn more at RepairPal.com/shops.
Show Notes
Reasons Google will suspend your GBP Adding Keywords to Your Business Name Using PO boxes or virtual office addresses Using your home address for a service area business - mobile mechanics Making major changes to your information - name, address, phone number Adding Reviews - Talk about RV Masters Recent experience Spam Reviews Two businesses sharing an address - same with phone number A competitor reported you Dandy Review Removal: Negative review removal using AI They had to rebrand from ReviewVio because of all the negative reviews and complaints that they received. They over charge and under deliver. It is a 12 month contract - not monthly Writer’s Hand: WriterHand.com's Review Generator AI employs state-of-the-art natural language processing algorithms to produce high-quality reviews in a matter of seconds. The tool is designed to cater to the needs of both individual writers and businesses seeking to enhance their online presence. By simply inputting a few key details about a product, service, or experience, users can obtain well-crafted reviews that reflect a genuine customer's perspective. Embed Social: Use AI tools to help you collect more reviews, reply to reviews faster and make your reviews widget designs. New AI Optimization services: Boost Ninja: Speak on Accurate Automotive GBP Listing being suspended after adding this company to their listing - Supposed to be a Google Maps ranking system by boosting local rankings by targeting top keywords and AI Optimization to your Google listing Problem is when you talk to client’s who have hired companies like this and ask what they are actually doing - the answer is the same: “I have know idea”
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IMO, "mechanic" is only frowned upon within the auto shop. Your average consumer does not know the difference between a technician and a mechanic. A mechanic works on cars. I have a car that needs work. I need a mechanic. I'm not denigrating anyone by using a common term, mostly because I don't know the other term. I probably don't even understand that cars are hard to work on. I can't work on my car, but I bring it to a shop and they have that computer which tells you what is broken, so how hard can it be? Doesn't really matter. Customer comes in. If they don't value your service, they go out too. Otherwise, you help them fix their car. Heck, I overhear many people telling their ride-home that they are at "jafj fdkjfakj", not even knowing my proper business name.... but they are here, so my marketing worked. It only matters later when they go to recommend my business to their friends and can't get the right words.
I generally explain automotive repair in this manner: Cars are very complex. The most talented technicians want to be paid what they are worth. If you are seeking out the least expensive car repairs, you will find technicians that work for low pay. Good technicians don't work for low pay. You get what you pay for. Sometimes this resonates, sometimes it does not. Caveat Emptor.
Don't try to change the general public's language. Match their language with your advertising. Focus on your reputation. Good reputation implies that you have good "mechanics" working for you!
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