Automotive service and repair is a $215 billion a year industry.  Change is either an obstacle or an accelerant to getting your fair share.  Or rather, your response to change is the determining factor.  Change at the local level as well as global shifts may be out of your control, but you can respond and adapt.

Lay of the Land

The…

In Part 1, we talked about how customer’s perceptions on Price, Completeness of the Repair, and Meeting Time Expectations leads to customer dissatisfaction, according to a recent Consumer Reports Annual Auto Survey.  Here, we’ll finish up the Top 5…

OK, that’s not fair.  Most people like you.  At least according to a recent Consumer ReportsAnnual Auto Survey in which 73% said that they were either completely or very satisfied with their repair shop.  I thought it interesting to look at the 5 reasons most often cited for dissatisfaction.

Before we dive in, let me give you a quote: “Truth is universal. …

Add up the number of hours you’ve spent waiting for doctors, dentists, a restaurant table, haircuts and auto service, etc.  That’s a lot of time with nothing to do.  Smart businesses try to keep you occupied while you wait – really smart businesses try to keep you occupied with something that helps them make more money and increases CSI.

I was reviewing customer…

Mom used to say, rather emphatically, “Don’t watch so much TV, you’ll ruin your eyes!”  That was back in the day of 3 channels when I would watch a ½ hour after school.  Fast forward to today when the average American spends 33 hours a week watching video on their various screens.  That’s like a full time job. 

Nielsen reports that internet video viewing is up 22%…

When I was a kid, my Dad and I would watch Robert Blake as the gritty undercover TV cop, Baretta.  I got a kick out of his cockatoo, Fred, and his CI, Rooster, but what I really loved was The Blue Ghost, Baretta’s ‘66 Impala.  On the outside it was a beat up, rusted out eyesore.  But under the hood was a raging beast ready to run down the bad guys no matter what they drove.  Thus began my affinity for sleepers.…

When my youngest was 7 she said, “I can’t remember – is it the boy or the girl peacocks that have the bright feathers.” 

“It’s the boys.  In the bird world, the boys have the fancy feathers to get the attention of the girls.  With people, girls are the ones that dress all fancy to get the boys’ attention.  Boys just need a cool car.” 

“Dad, you don’t have a cool car.” 

“Well, I’m not trying to get girls’ attention.” 

“It’s a good thing.  You’d need a convertible,…

We have a lobby set in the studio.  Over the years, we’ve had a number of service menu boards on the wall.  Our first menu boards were those with the strips that you slide into slots.  Once we did a shoot where we went online and designed our own menu board from a template, adding in services and pricing, and the company printed off our custom menu board and shipped it to…

So the sky is falling – What lands on your head is up to you.

The economic realities of today are brutal and greatly affect the service and repair industry.  When you’re out of work or underemployed, you may simply not have the cash to perform needed maintenance and repairs.  Those of us fortunate enough to have enough work all know someone who does not, and that…

Now it’s time for the Wizard – service advisor – to approach me with recommendations.  We appreciate knowledge and confidence in a service advisor.  This is not an excuse for arrogance, condescension or dismissiveness. 

This article is the third of a three part series on building trust with customers. …

In the Wizard of OZ, when Dorothy and the gang get to the gates of the Emerald City, they don’t have an easy time of getting down to business – the gatekeeper saw his job as keeping people out – not welcoming them in.  Personally, when I take my vehicles in for service, I appreciate being greeted right away, in the parking lot, at…

Who can you trust?  That’s a hard question.  In business, we all want the answer to be ME.  As we were forming AutoNetTV, one of the issues that kept coming up in our market research was trust.  Trust, or some variant, was among the top 3 concerns of every service center owner, service department manager or service advisor we interviewed. …

What’s with all this talk about social media? I’m sure it’s just a passing fad like carrier pigeons and the telegraph. Here are three reasons why you should NOT use social media.

1. I Believe in Traditional Values I’m a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. I don’t run with a fast crowd that’s always fiddling with their electronic do-dads in public. I…

A boy walking in Manhattan asked an older gentleman, “Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?”  “Yes,” the man replied, “Practice!”…