Bob Cooper, Author at Shop Owner Magazine - Page 2 of 11
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How To Convert An Hourly Tech To Performance-Based Pay

There are many advantages to having your technicians on a performance-based pay program (flat rate, bonuses based on productivity, etc.), rather than a fixed hourly rate. Unfortunately, many shop owners are afraid to take the leap and convert to these performance-based programs.

4 Interviewing Tips That Will Help You Hire Superstar Techs

We all know it’s getting harder and harder to find the superstar techs, but finding those stars is just the beginning. Once found, you need to interview them like a seasoned pro. Here are some interviewing tips that we share with our Elite Coaching clients.

3 Easy Ways To Drive Up Your Car Counts

If you are looking drive up your car counts, investing in the right marketing strategies and advertising programs are a good place to start. Yet, far too many shop owners fail to go back to the basics, so with this article I’d like to share some ideas for how you can increase your car counts in quick and cost-free ways.

5 Keys To Increasing Your Shop’s Service Sales

Looking to improve your service business? Here are five practices used by many of the most successful shops in America to dominate their market.

You Can’t Take Percentages To The Bank

Far too many shop owners are so determined to make a certain percentage of gross profit on each job that they lose sight of profitability, as well as customer service. I’m talking about the people who judge their success by percentages rather than dollars. These are the shop owners who are so busy trying to squeeze every last penny out of every job that they forget about the dollars being lost at the same time.

6 Tips On Generating More Repeat Business

In the world of auto repair, one thing is for certain: Every shop in your community has their eye on your customers. So in order to keep your customers, there are a number of things you will need to do. Here are 6 tips that will bring you amazing results.

The Best-Kept Secret To Generating More Referrals

As we all know, the most powerful form of advertising always has been, and always will be, word of mouth. Although every shop owner would like to believe the majority of their customers are songbirds, the reality is, they’re not. I am not suggesting that you don’t have some customers who love to sing your song, but it’s safe to say that they’re a very small percentage of your overall customer base.

Your Warranty: A Key To Your Success

First of all, you need to know your failure rate. The top shops in America have extremely low failure rates in both parts and labor. I’ve also discovered that the overwhelming majority of those failures occur within the first 90 days of service, so regardless of whether your warranties are for 90 days or for years on end, you’re going to absorb all but a few of those failures within the first 90 days.

5 Training Tips That Work

If you want to build a more profitable, successful auto repair business, here are five training tips that will help you reach your goals.

The Problem With Helping Your Techs Diagnose Vehicles

When your techs come to you to tell you they’re stumped, and you give them a recommendation, you’ll lose regardless of the outcome. If you solve the problem, you’ve sent a message to the tech that you’re more knowledgeable than they are, which is not going to build their confidence. But then it gets worse; you’ve also taught them to come to you when they’re up against a wall. This is a lose-lose situation, in that if your recommendation doesn’t solve the problem, the tech will come back to you looking for your next recommendation, because you’ve now assumed ownership of the problem.

The Best-Kept Secrets To Dealing With Sales Objections

When it comes to dealing with objections, most service advisers shut down as soon as the customer says, “It’s too much money,” or “I’d like to think it over.” There are a number of reasons why, but the single most common reason is that the advisers don’t know how to handle the objections. Here is what I have discovered to be the best-kept secrets when it comes to dealing with sales objections.

7 Tips For Handling Difficult Phone Shoppers

Today’s consumers have more choices than ever before. When it comes to choosing someone to take care of their automotive needs, they turn to their friends, family and co-workers for recommendations, they consider brands that they’ve heard of and they also search the web. Once they have a shop in mind, they may then either reach out over the web or stop by the shop, but the ­majority of your potential customers will pick up the phone and give you a call.

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