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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 Joe Marconi
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By carmcapriotto
The Weekly Blitz is brought to you by our friends over at Shop Marketing Pros. If you want to take your shop to the next level, you need great marketing. Shop Marketing Pros does top-tier marketing for top-tier shops.
Click here to learn more about Top Tier Marketing by Shop Marketing Pros and schedule a demo:https://shopmarketingpros.com/chris/
Check out their podcast here: https://autorepairmarketing.captivate.fm/
If you would like to join their private Facebook group go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autorepairmarketingmastermind
The Weekly Blitz is brought to you by our friends over at Shop Marketing Pros. If you want to take your shop to the next level, you need great marketing. Shop Marketing Pros does top-tier marketing for top-tier shops.
Click here to learn more about Top Tier Marketing by Shop Marketing Pros and schedule a demo:https://shopmarketingpros.com/chris/
Check out their podcast here: https://autorepairmarketing.captivate.fm/
If you would like to join their private Facebook group go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/autorepairmarketingmastermind
In this podcast episode, Coach Chris Cotton from Auto Fix Auto Shop Coaching hosts a conversation with Coach Al and Kevin, a service manager, about the importance of team culture in an auto repair shop. They share their experiences with team-building activities like axe throwing, camping trips, and Christmas parties, emphasizing how these events enhance employee relationships and work dynamics. The discussion also covers their thoughtful approach to hiring and the necessity of appreciating staff. Coach Chris admires their methods and reflects on the value of investing in employees, while Coach Al highlights the inclusion of these practices in their hiring process to attract and retain a committed workforce.
Culture and team building exercises (00:01:00) Discussion about the importance of culture and team building exercises in the auto repair shop industry.
Creating a positive culture (00:02:50) Description of the strong chemistry and positive culture in the shop, emphasizing the importance of mutual support and camaraderie among the employees.
Hiring process and culture fit (00:03:54) Insights into the hiring process, including assessing candidates for their skills and cultural fit through interviews and observations.
Annual Christmas party and other events (00:06:02) Details about the annual Christmas party and other team-building events organized throughout the year, such as axe throwing and other outings.
Christmas party preparations and employee appreciation (00:08:00) Discussion about the process of selecting personalized gifts for employees, the budgeting for the party, and the significance of showing employee appreciation.
Appreciating employees through events (00:11:15) Explanation of the financial investment in employee appreciation events, such as the Christmas party, as a reflection of the shop's commitment to valuing and retaining great employees.
Camping trip tradition (00:16:24) Origins and evolution of the annual camping trip, including the planning process, activities, and the inclusive nature of the event for employees and their families.
Inclusive camping trip and its cost (00:19:07) Inclusion of employees' families in the camping trip and an overview of the costs associated with organizing the event.
Maintaining order during the camping trip (00:20:32) Anecdote about managing noise levels and potential disruptions during the camping trip, highlighting the challenges of organizing a large group event in a campground setting.
Camping Trip Planning (00:21:57) Discussion on the timing and survey process for the annual camping trip organized for employees.
Employee Bonding (00:23:50) Kevin emphasizes the positive impact of team-building events on employee relationships and work dynamics.
Investing in Employees (00:25:27) The importance of investing in employees and showing appreciation for their efforts is highlighted.
Recruitment Strategy (00:26:05) Incorporating team-building events into recruitment discussions to emphasize employee appreciation and engagement.
Connect with Chris:
[email protected]
Phone: 940.400.1008
www.autoshopcoaching.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
AutoFixAutoShopCoachingYoutube: https://bit.ly/3ClX0ae
#autofixautoshopcoaching #autofixbeautofixing #autoshopprofits #autoshopprofit #autoshopprofitsfirst #autoshopleadership #autoshopmanagement #autorepairshopcoaching #autorepairshopconsulting #autorepairshoptraining #autorepairshop #autorepair #serviceadvisor #serviceadvisorefficiency #autorepairshopmarketing #theweeklyblitz #autofix #shopmarketingpros #autofixautoshopcoachingbook
Click to go to the Podcast on Remarkable Results Radio
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By Joe Marconi
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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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ncautoshop
I'm using everything but the motoshop sms. We're having trouble moving from alldata to motologic. Everyone goes back to alldata and claims the don't like motologic. I think it's more they don't take the time to learn motologic. Motoskill has definitely improved....very much. I feel like the original asking price was a little steep but we've been using it and it's nice. It's doesn't cover the basic service writer training as well as I though it would but it's ok. Motorev is working, and I think the website and customer communication is great! I've liked everything about it. I will say, if your expecting the 5 to 1 guarantee and you work for car dealers or fleets that they account for those customers as "on program". So money that you would've earned anyway is accounted for as if they earned that business for you. The program seems very effective and we've been pleased!
Www.landnperformance.com
I know it needs some changes and improvements but I've not had time!
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk
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John Pearson
We were using motologic for awhile and liked it but it was missing some stuff alldata had and AllData was missing some stuff motologic had but motologic was almost always more in the labor times.
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shumsauto
I tried motologic but it didn't stick with my guys for some reason because they are so used to shopkeypro, identifix and iatn. I canceled it and signed up for motoskill. I love the amount of data they have on there and I have been doing shop owner/service writer/telephone person training and I really like it. The only draw back is that it seems almost impossible to get the techs to want to do the training also. But obviously its mot motoSkill problem.
When I was at Honda our training progress would get emailed to service director. It would be nice if motoSkill had some kind of tracking in it so the owner could see what the techs are doing
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ncautoshop
Agree! Maybe even some type of program to motivate the techs and a rep to speak with each tech instead of management.
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marista
Using Motologic - mechanics hate it. I have an issue with getting too many results when I am searching for information for techs. I was told "less is more" when searching. i.e. searching for water pump - just enter water, otherwise you get everything with water and pump. Often I give up and google it. I love it when I can find what I want and the information is great. It can just be very cumbersome to use at times.
Complained and tried to cancel and they lowered my subscription fee for a few months and encourage me to continue to experiment with it. Not sure if we will keep it or not.
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JimO
I tried MotoLogic for about 4-5 months about 1 year ago. The vehicle coverage was very poor. Good coverage on some vehicles and next to nothing on others. Nice as a second or third source of information but would never be a primary source for me unless they made tremendous improvements.
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CarER
I use MotoLogic right now and for the most part I like it. In my opinion the search is much better than AllData's, yes, it does need more coverage on some vehicles. However, they are constantly improving and I tend to like it much better than AllData. I'm currently using the Alldata SMS, but both that and the repair seem extremely outdated. In the beginning of January I will be switching to Motoshop so I'll update you guys when I do.
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leftlanecars
Using MotoShop SMS full time in our shop. It is NOT fully baked yet. Many labor times are just plain missing, and some cars don't have any labor information at all. BMW coverage is poor. Selecting separate jobs is a pain, and they force to initially select parts from the Advanced Auto catalog.. (ie. selecting a Job for Starter Replacement will force a selection of a starter from the Advance Catalog before allowing you to proceed. )
That said, they are improving the software all the time, with promised Worldpac support before end of year (though I won't hold my breath). Feel free to ask any other questions about the SMS program.
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ajnealey
Just switched to MotoLogic here. I was bundled with AllData before with Manage, Repair and Mobile for $274 a month. $170 of that was for the repair and mobile that I was barely using and was frustrated to use when I had to. Switched to MotoLogic at $99 a month. I'm a lot happier. I like how the data comes directly from the OEM. I didn't care for the way the data was laid out in AllData. But YMMV. Especially when it comes to wiring diagrams...I'm a happy customer!
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