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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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By Joe Marconi
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Marksas
I have a pretty detailed budget and budget everything from advertising, donations, employee relations (birthdays, dinners, lunches), inks, toners, janitorial, and even toilet paper. I have been doing this for years. It also looks at projected sales, tech efficiency, door rates, tech rates, training, certification test, dues, subscriptions, planned raises, effective labor rate, as well as allows me to see if we have the right amount of staff based upon tech efficiency and projected sales. I built a spreadsheet years ago and make upgrades to it yearly. I actually have my manager complete it now and I just review. We begin the process in October for the next year. We can get it completed rather quickly. We use it also to run "if, then" scenarios. Gives me the daily sales required to meet plan. It makes it much easier to sleep when you know what you need to do. Interesting aspect of it is we don't "win" every day but we typically win the year. We know we will have bad days, bad weeks and sometimes bad months. On a daily basis we win a little less than 50% of the days. The service writers see where we are everyday and weather we are on plan. It makes a difference. Start simple and grow it. As Joe says it would be hard to explain or even go through in a forum and really takes a full day at best to really understand all the variables. If you're using Quickbooks you can do a basic one in there. It's not my favorite but it could be a place to start.
Another benefit is when someone is requesting donations, advertising or any other expense, you can honestly say "it's not in the budget this year, or it''s not a financial priority at this time".
Start now as it will be the best thing you can do for your business. As the famed Peter Drucker wrote "What gets measured, gets managed"
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Marksas
To answer your question regarding benchmarks. Just run your detailed expense reports for the last year or two and you can get a good feel for what your spending in each category on average. I like to break mine down by the month. Since we pay bi-weeklly we always have two months out of the year where we have 3 pay periods so we have to adjust for that. We actual have it built into our spreadsheet so we know which months have 3 pay periods. We also project our workers comp costs as well as all of our benefits based upon number of employees. One thing to remember is it's really spending plan as Dave Ramsey would say and you won't always hit it exactly. It's a target, and if you don't have one then it's the easiest way to waste money or have leakage. It brings a level of accountability for yourself. You should also share it with someone who will question you on it and help keep you on track. I don't currently have a business coach but the budget is shared with the manager and lead tech. The right coach can be very beneficial to you and they need to bring more value than they cost. I will say I have used Elite in the past for some service writer training and have been very pleased with them. I am probably going to hire a coach (most likely from Elite) for my manager to grow him and get a prospective outside of my own.
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