“What You Expect”

(This is a follow on blog post from a previous post titled “Crunching Your Service Numbers.”)

This is part of the daily “Must Do” list for every Service Manager. You cannot go through the day without checking progress. To do so would be a sure recipe for disaster. Just ask the Captain on any ship or the Pilot of any airplane. They will not start the engines without a plan much less leave the harbor or take off from the airport.

As a Service Manager, you need to do the same.

There are several Daily Checks the Service Manager must make.

As a refresher, here are the Daily 5 mentioned in a previous post.

1.The Service Advisors HPRO from the day previous. (Hours Per Repair Order)
2.The Service Advisors EFL from the day previous. (Effective Labor Rate)
3.The Service Advisors Labor Gross Profit Margin from the day previous
4.The Service Advisors Parts Gross Profit Margin from the day previous.
5.The Service Departments overall results in HPRO, EFL, Labor and Parts GPM tracking for the month.
And here are 5 more.

1.The Technicians Total Flag Hours.
2.The Technicians Productivity. (Flag Hours vs Clock Hours)
3.The Technicians ASR Ratio to Number of Repair Orders.
4.The Technicians Comeback Ratio.
5.The Technicians overall Monthly Tracking for Hours Produced, Productivity, ASR and Comeback Ratio.
Here are the standards.

1.Total Technician Flag Hours. An efficient, trained Technician should, at a minimum, flag the same amount of labor time as they are clocked in. This means if they are clocked in for 8 hours, they should flag 8 hours of Labor Sales. Anything less than that is reason to investigate.

2.Technician Productivity is the amount of Flagged Hours compared to the amount of Clock Hours. If the Technician clocked in for 8 hours and flagged 8 hours of Labor Sales that would mean they are 100% Productive. If they clocked in for 8 hours and flagged 10 hours of Labor Sales that would be 125% Productive. (A note regarding Production and Efficiency. It is better to look the Technician as a “Producer” rather than measure Efficiency. At the end of the month, you won’t be able to deposit Efficiency.) In a Domestic Store this number should be between 110-130% and an Import Store this should be between 120-130%.

3.Technician Additional Service Requests to Number of Repair Orders. If your Technician is completing an Multipoint Inspection on every RO, and they are not the Used Car or Pre-Delivery Technician (or any other “Specialty Technician”), then the Ratio should be between 60-80%. If it is less than that on a consistent basis, the Technician will need to be instructed on conducting a proper vehicle Inspection. Remember, the vehicle is what it is. If it leaks, it leaks. If it is broken, it’s broken. If it is worn out, it’s worn out. There is never a need to write down on an MPI anything other than what is actually and physically wrong with the vehicle.

4.The Technicians Comeback Ratio. This is a standard that many Shops and Managers have as a moving target based on the Technician they are reviewing. There must be a bottom line number that applys to everyone. The Standard is 10% or less. And 10% is a lot if you are the SA or the Manager dealing with the upset Customer who had to comeback. Additionally, many shops do not accurately track this. The Standard is that the Customer is returning to the Repair Facility for a repair to the vehicle that has been previously diagnosed and repaired by either replacing a part or making an adjustment, repairing any component, completing a service or any other service or repair in which the Service Advisor and the Technician advised a Customer to have a repair, adjustment or service completed.

5.The Monthly Tracking for Hours Produced, Productivity, ASR and Comeback Ratio are numbers the Service manager should be looking at Daily and comparing them to months previous. It will help identify trends before they become problems. It also is an excellent tool to Counsel and Praise Technicians and Service Advisors.
Add these to the previous Daily 5 and you should be on track to get “What You Expect.”

Want to hear more about the “numbers” and where your Dealership stacks up? Send an email to lbuchholz@dealerprotraining.com or call 888-553-0100 for more information. You can also view us at www.youtube.com/dealerprofixedops or www.facebook.com.