Here are observations of the OE market from the perspective of a company with 9,000+ product installations in the Aftermarket.  Both the OE and the Aftermarket have strengths and weaknesses in their approach to automotive service and repairs.  Our article is on page 38 of Fixed Ops.  …

“Doctor, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”

“Certainly, Joan.  Please, lie down on the couch.  Now what’s disturbing you?”

“I keep having this dream.  I don’t understand it.”

“Go on.”

“Well it’s kind of fuzzy, but it has something to do with CSI.”

“Interesting.  New York?  Las Vegas? . . . Miami?”

“No, it’s not like…

Screens are everywhere.  And there is content everywhere:  The big questions you need to ask in your service operation are “How many of those screens do I own? and  How much of that content is mine?”

Check out our article in the January – February 2013 issue of Fixed Ops magazine.  …

When I was in 1^st grade my Dad took me on a Father and Son campout sponsored by our church.  It was late spring at Lake Tahoe – cold, gray and drizzly.  I spent a lot of time warming by the fire.  We did take a spin on a speed boat but no one would let me drive.  So when one of the dads broke out some boxing gloves and drew a ring in the sand, I was thinking this…

In the service lane, which reigns supreme: Logic or Emotion.  Check out our article in the November-December 2012 issue of Fixed Ops.  Click here for a digital version.  See you on Page 30.

Lance Boldt is Vice President and…

With the median vehicle age exceeding 10 years, the automotive technology on which repair operations must be competent on a daily basis spans more than 20 years.  This is especially daunting when you look at the rocket ship trajectory of near-term developments.  Add in all makes and models and you've really got a challenge.

This reality dictates that your financial…

We rented an RV for fall break.  We had a great four-day weekend – with the exception of driving the RV.  The shocks were completely shot.  I’d say it wallowed like a pig in mud, but I think mud has more damping power than those shocks did.  The 600 highway miles were a white knuckle experience.  Bumps sent the coach bobbing and sudden blasts of wind completely…

I don’t think I've ever met someone who says they immediately say “Yes” to all their service advisors’ recommendations.  I've definitely talked with some who always say “No”.  Most of us listen and make a decision.  It’s how we come to those responses and decisions that’s so very interesting.

It’s been said that we all make decisions emotionally and then use logic to…

19 years old, walking down Huron Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2,100 miles from home, I watched the wad of chewing gum I had just spit out arc into the street; and realized that my momma had lied to me.  As a littler shaver she told me toalways spit my gum into the street to “strengthen the tires of the cars that run over it”.  For well over a decade I…

When our oldest son was about three, my wife and I told him we would paint his room any color he wanted.  His top two choices were a medium blue and yellow.  Not just any yellow, but yellow like Play-Doh yellow.  He settled on the yellow.  Frankly, I couldn’t imagine that any of us would want to live with that color for too long and that I would end up repainting soon.  So I…

It’s not what you think . . . this is about customer retention.  My mom was recently telling my kids that my kindergarten teacher expressed concern about me because I was always playing with the girls.  Here's my side of the story.  There were two distinct play areas in the kindergarten room: the boys’ side and the girls’ side.  Boys had cars and planes and blocks and tools…

Fixed Ops lessons for marketing tires from the financial services world:

About 35% of policy owners shop their car insurance in a given year.  Less than half will actually switch.  That puts customer retention in the mid 80% range.   When an insurance agent also writes a second line of coverage (home owners, renters, etc.), his client retention improves by…

OK – you don’t TRY to prevent preventive maintenance, but occasionally you may get in the way.  An illustrative story first: on July 3 someone poked their head in the door of our management meeting and told me my wife called and said that the mountain behind our house was on fire.  That was about 3 o’clock.  I was home 20 minutes later.  The fire had started around 2:15 at a…

American Fork, Utah – July 2012  AutoNetTV announces its new Digital Menu Board for application in all segments of the automotive service and repair industry.

Digital Menu Boards are replacing standard menu boards in many industries and are valued for their ability to display menu items in a visually appealing manner.  Digital menu board applications are demonstrated to lift sales, enhance the professional image of the business and reduce clutter…

When my Dad was about the age of my youngest, he was homeless, walking down the middle of a city street, the buildings on both sides burning so fiercely that the asphalt was melted, sticking to his shoes and those of his parents and younger brothers.  Bodies were piled on the sides of the road like stacks of firewood.  The day before had been Hitler’s birthday and the…

When a customer comes through the door we are implicitly asking him or her “How much for your business?” – How much trust, service, convenience?  How much VALUE does it take to earn your business?  

My friend who owns a 6-bay shop was telling me that business is great.  While he is always keeping his eye on improving the bottom line, he said that the only way they…

Or, how 3D models and animations helped us solve a sticky customer request.

We’re always seeking feedback from our customers and they respond very positively.  Over the years we’ve incorporated suggestions for new service topics for our video library.  We’ve also gotten a lot of suggestions along the lines of “things I wish my customers knew”: things like how…

80% of motor vehicle accidents are preceded by 3 seconds of distraction.  3 seconds: that’s less time than it takes to read the last sentence.  Last week Myra Blanco from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute presented some of the break-through safety research they are doing to the Automotive Communication Council in…

A few months ago I asked a shop owner and master technician to review an article for our website content product.  The topic was “Deciphering the Menu Board”.  The idea of the article is that there are many items on a menu board, and not all of them are familiar to all consumers.  “What’s involved with a transmission service?”  “Do I have a differential?”  The article gives…

Today, while you read this, a 14-year old boy is lying on his bed in the cancer ward of a children’s hospital, struggling to breathe after vomiting for the umpteenth time this morning; his throat, mouth and lips burning with ulcers from the chemo.  Today he’ll be humbled a dozen times as his father and nurses change his clothes and bedding because he’s too weak to get up to…