Quick Management Tips from Automotive Management Network

Are new car dealers eating your lunch? Can you just take a quick look at it? You send oil change reminders to who? Check out the latest Auto Shop Monthly Management Tips from the Automotive Management Network to get inside secrets on managing your shop and increasing your bottom line.

New Car Dealers Eating Your Lunch?

Most new car dealer service departments offer a variety of specials which they change on a monthly or seasonal schedule. You should do the same. To get some ideas and to keep informed about what the dealers are offering, bookmark the service department specials page on their websites and schedule a time to check them each month. Odds are that significant research was performed to create those specials, which means that they are likely to get some decent results. Create your own version of the specials and promote them on your website and any other means that you use for marketing.

Can You Just Take A Quick Look At It?

The reasons that many shops say no is little more than a bad habit learned from people who worked in the past where customer service was not as critical as it is today. All that this potential new customer (or maybe existing good customer) usually wants is for you to show that you are interested in helping them. You do not have to diagnose and fix it on the spot. Just take a brief look and let them know what you suggest they do next. If the shop is full, take that quick look outside. Better yet, designate one bay for quick service so it can be made available in a few minutes when needed. You spend a lot of money and effort to get new customers. When they show up, make sure that you don’t send them to the shop up the street.

You Send Oil Change Reminders To Who?

Of course you send them to customers who had you change their oil. But, what about everyone else? Almost every car in your shop has an oil change sticker on it. Get the due date and mileage every time on every car. Then use that information in your software to make sure that they receive a reminder from your shop about when that next oil change is due. The point here is to do everything that you can to keep those cars out of any other auto service shop of any kind; especially the ones which tend to siphon off those simple and profitable services.