Employees

38 minutes ago, Joe Marconi said:

At the same time, we are seeing more and more automotive graduates from schools like Universal Technical Institute and Lincoln Tech.  So where are they? 

It's time we start a movement to become involved in our community, schools, and technical schools.  If we can't find them, we need to grow them.

One thing I have noticed is work expectations, you get the young one's out of UTI or LTI they come get a job and think they should be getting top pay like the guy that is fully certified and has many many years of experience under his or her  belt.. They don't seem to understand that what they learned is the basis for getting their foot in the door. Once they see how much more there is to learn and how little they make compared to the seasoned ones they get discouraged.  I have seen many guys come through the shop and quit after a very short time because of pay that the thought they would make..  I always tell them it is like building a house on a concrete slab.. what you learned in school, was that concrete slab being laid with the roughed in plumbing. NOW you have to build that house on that slab.  Sure you sell that slab by it's self you can get some money for it but if you sell the completed house you will get a lot more.

I also don't think there is a good focus on the cars of today in school ( I could be wrong) . Not enough knowledge is given on diagnostics (electrical) things, which we all know is what our cars are now a days .. a bunch of rolling modules all communicating with one another to make things work. Just as cars now a days talk along two lines of communication take it all in, filter what they need and discard the rest as junk, unfortunately that is also what it has come to as far as hiring mechanics (techs)

One thing I have noticed is work expectations, you get the young one's out of UTI or LTI they come get a job and think they should be getting top pay like the guy that is fully certified and has many many years of experience under his or her  belt.. They don't seem to understand that what they learned is the basis for getting their foot in the door. Once they see how much more there is to learn and how little they make compared to the seasoned ones they get discouraged.  I have seen many guys come through the shop and quit after a very short time because of pay that the thought they would make..  I always tell them it is like building a house on a concrete slab.. what you learned in school, was that concrete slab being laid with the roughed in plumbing. NOW you have to build that house on that slab.  Sure you sell that slab by it's self you can get some money for it but if you sell the completed house you will get a lot more.
I also don't think there is a good focus on the cars of today in school ( I could be wrong) . Not enough knowledge is given on diagnostics (electrical) things, which we all know is what our cars are now a days .. a bunch of rolling modules all communicating with one another to make things work. Just as cars now a days talk along two lines of communication take it all in, filter what they need and discard the rest as junk, unfortunately that is also what it has come to as far as hiring mechanics (techs)

On 9/3/2017 at 7:47 AM, ncautoshop said:

What frustrates me the most is we've been offering good money! But a lot of the candidates want a guarantee of $xxx.xx - I've learned a lesson with this, I can't guarantee anything if they aren't productive! They still receive a living wage but demanding a guarantee of $900+ a week, and they can't generate that in revenue, I can't afford to do that!
 

This is where our industry is so screwed up! FLAT RATE!!! All the industry guru's who want to put techs on flat rate because they cant teach and we cant learn how to properly motivate our technicians. Asking for a guarantee of 46k per year to show up is not out of line (for a journeyman) and if you cant afford to guarantee a quality tech that you need more help than a tech can give you. Offering $30-$40 a hour flat rate is great. IF you have the work, IF a tech gets truly paid for all they do..they will make a great living. I don't know of many who would turn down an actual dollar rate per hour and still give you an honest days effort if properly motivated.

Everyone talks about how they offer good money. What isn't really discussed is how many techs are underpaid because their owner/advisor does not charge properly, gives stuff away or just plain expects someone to work for free. Discussions on this board about we pay our techs .2 for an oil change.....there is not a single person here who could pull a car in, give it a decent visual inspection, set air pressure in tires, adjust fluids, change oil and filter and back the car out in 12 minutes. Ain't happening and should not be an expectation. However there are techs getting .2 flat rate to do this with the caveat that what they find they will get to do if sold. OH YEAH...and car count. It should not be a techs concern if you can provide enough quality car count. Somewhere somehow as owners we've been taught if we're not getting paid they shouldn't either......that's a bunch of BS. IMO.

We need to learn how to properly charge for our services, charge for all of our services and pay our people better than living wages based on the skills they have. There should be no journeyman plumber who makes more than their tech counterpart. (i'm not picking on plumbers).

This is where our industry is so screwed up! FLAT RATE!!! All the industry guru's who want to put techs on flat rate because they cant teach and we cant learn how to properly motivate our technicians. Asking for a guarantee of 46k per year to show up is not out of line (for a journeyman) and if you cant afford to guarantee a quality tech that you need more help than a tech can give you. Offering $30-$40 a hour flat rate is great. IF you have the work, IF a tech gets truly paid for all they do..they will make a great living. I don't know of many who would turn down an actual dollar rate per hour and still give you an honest days effort if properly motivated.
Everyone talks about how they offer good money. What isn't really discussed is how many techs are underpaid because their owner/advisor does not charge properly, gives stuff away or just plain expects someone to work for free. Discussions on this board about we pay our techs .2 for an oil change.....there is not a single person here who could pull a car in, give it a decent visual inspection, set air pressure in tires, adjust fluids, change oil and filter and back the car out in 12 minutes. Ain't happening and should not be an expectation. However there are techs getting .2 flat rate to do this with the caveat that what they find they will get to do if sold. OH YEAH...and car count. It should not be a techs concern if you can provide enough quality car count. Somewhere somehow as owners we've been taught if we're not getting paid they shouldn't either......that's a bunch of BS. IMO.
We need to learn how to properly charge for our services, charge for all of our services and pay our people better than living wages based on the skills they have. There should be no journeyman plumber who makes more than their tech counterpart. (i'm not picking on plumbers).
 
 

39 minutes ago, ncautoshop said:

 I don't have any issue AT ALL with someone making $50,000+ - =

 

if a technician expects $50,000 a year but isn't willing or capable complete the work in front 

 

The problem now is, we're offering techs half of our billable rate before tax -,

 

I've got a parking lot full 5 days a week and a schedual full 5 weeks out and can't seem to find experienced technicians that want to work.
 

4 things I'll respond to. A top tech should be making 80k plus per year easily.

If a tech isnt willing fire them. If they aren't capable train them and/or pay them accordingly. If they aren't capable I would question the title "Technician"

Raise your billable rate, techs should make 30% of labor billed.

The only reason you have parking lot full and people who are willing to wait 5 weeks for service is YOUR TOO CHEAP or you are the ONLY choice. People do not wait 5 weeks for car service where I am from. If I run more than 3-4 days behind we lose opportunities.

I am not picking on you or putting you down. I am trying to help. The last line about 5 weeks is your key. You need to charge more period.

Maybe so, there's only dealerships charging more so I hate to go up much more! While you guys are at $100+ our highest dealer is $85. We're currently at $75.00, and maybe I should go up but I don't want to price myself out of our market. 7 of 10 shops here are 45-55 an hour.

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Ok, I looked up bowing Rock NC....you cant find techs because you're in the middle of nowhere...BUT

You have a 5 week backlog!!!!!! Charge more.....if the shops that charged 45-55 were worth anything you would not have 5 weeks of backlog.

Ok, I looked up bowing Rock NC....you cant find techs because you're in the middle of nowhere...BUT
 
You have a 5 week backlog!!!!!! Charge more.....if the shops that charged 45-55 were worth anything you would not have 5 weeks of backlog.

2 hours ago, Wheelingauto said:

. A top tech should be making 80k plus per year easily.

I would love to make that... sign me up 😜

I would love to make that... sign me up 

I honestly can't see the issue with flat rate as long as the writer and tech are working to ensure that proper times are estimated and calling customers for additional time approvals. It seems like a win win for everyone

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9 minutes ago, ncautoshop said:

That's something like $48.40 an hour after taxes and uniforms. 40 hours a week. If that technician efficiency and productivity were down for a week that would be uncomfortable to say the least lol

Im game if someone wants to take a chance on me LOL 😂

Im game if someone wants to take a chance on me LOL 

Are you hiring? I guess I could show up if you'll give me that!

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20 hours ago, ncautoshop said:

Maybe so, there's only dealerships charging more so I hate to go up much more! While you guys are at $100+ our highest dealer is $85. We're currently at $75.00, and maybe I should go up but I don't want to price myself out of our market. 7 of 10 shops here are 45-55 an hour.

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For God's sake, raise your rates man. A lot, like 10 or 20 an hour. 3 things will happen.

#1 You'll lose some customers. Not necessarily a bad thing as the one's you lose will be the bottom feeders 

#2 Losing those customers means you'll have less of a backlog which will make the remaining customers happy. I'd love to be back to a week or two backlog.

#3 You're going to make a lot more money.

BTW, I haven't hired a tech in 23 years. He's still here as well as one I hired in 1983. Had one retire last year that was with me since 1979. I pay a base for 44 hours of $966 whether a customer walks in the door or not, or $35/ hour per billed hour whichever is higher. Also uniforms, 3 weeks paid vacation and 10k a year to offset their health insurance costs. The only problem on the horizon is that they will probably retire in the next 10 years.

For God's sake, raise your rates man. A lot, like 10 or 20 an hour. 3 things will happen.

#1 You'll lose some customers. Not necessarily a bad thing as the one's you lose will be the bottom feeders 

#2 Losing those customers means you'll have less of a backlog which will make the remaining customers happy. I'd love to be back to a week or two backlog.

#3 You're going to make a lot more money.

BTW, I haven't hired a tech in 23 years. He's still here as well as one I hired in 1983. Had one retire last year that was with me since 1979. I pay a base for 44 hours of $966 whether a customer walks in the door or not, or $35/ hour per billed hour whichever is higher. Also uniforms, 3 weeks paid vacation and 10k a year to offset their health insurance costs. The only problem on the horizon is that they will probably retire in the next 10 years.

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My top tech has $1250 a wk guarantee, plus $32 an hr for every hr over 45 hrs. He's only missed going over 45 hrs twice in the last 1.5 yrs he's been here. He's woth every penny he gets. I had to do the guarantee to get him, and very glad I did. All 4 of my techs have a different pay plan based on who they are, their skill level, and what it took to hire them. Sometimes you just have to have an open mind about how to pay.

I agree that we can't attract people into this business if we don't pay enough, and we can't pay enough unless we charge enough. Our labor rates need to compare to plumbers and electricians and other professions in our area. Also, I've seen that many shop owners who work in their shop don't have a good view of their actual profitability, since a good part of their profit comes from their own labor. GP and net profit should be calculated as if the owner was paying someone else to do that work, then see how profitable they are and raise prices accordingly.

I struggled for 6 yrs getting this shop going. I finally figured out how to solve my lack of profitability problem...charge more! I also told every tool truck driver and every parts rep and anyone who would listen that I paid the highest tech wage in town. All 3 of my A techs came to me looking for a job. I consider myself very fortunate, but I also kept putting it out there.