Working All the Angles - Transmission Digest

Working All the Angles

I’ll call him John. I don’t want to use his real name for fear of embarrassing him, but I need to tell a story about a truly great shop manager. Although I’ve met many good ones over the years there are a significantly smaller number whom I would consider great. I had one myself for about 12 years, so I know firsthand what they look like. I can also tell you that some who claim to be good managers – or their bosses claim it for them – are nothing more than service writers with a better title.

Working All the Angles 

It’s Your Business

Subject: Characteristics of an effective shop manager
Essential Reading: Shop Owner, Center Manager
Author: Terry Greenhut, Transmission Digest Business Editor

It’s Your Business

  • Subject: Characteristics of an effective shop manager
  • Essential Reading: Shop Owner, Center Manager
  • Author: Terry Greenhut, Transmission Digest Business Editor

I’ll call him John. I don’t want to use his real name for fear of embarrassing him, but I need to tell a story about a truly great shop manager. Although I’ve met many good ones over the years there are a significantly smaller number whom I would consider great. I had one myself for about 12 years, so I know firsthand what they look like. I can also tell you that some who claim to be good managers – or their bosses claim it for them – are nothing more than service writers with a better title.

Now, before anyone gets their nose out of joint and feels as if I’m picking on their abilities, understand that I believe most managers can achieve greatness if they study their profession and dedicate themselves to dealing effectively with people in all aspects of the business, working all the angles. The problem is that many managers haven’t been trained properly for all the different responsibilities they are given. For that matter, many owners haven’t, either. A good number of owners are still doing business on the basis of what their old bosses taught them a long time ago, and who knows whether that information was correct.

Most managers, at best, have taken some type of a sales training course so they can sell the work, although many still haven’t. Whether they sell it profitably is another story. I regularly run into managers who don’t know the difference between markup and gross-profit margin. But then again, I still run into owners who think that a profit is what’s left over after the bills are paid, so it’s understandable that their managers haven’t been all that well advised.

What does a great manager look like? He or she looks and acts like an owner, from the way they dress to the way they speak to customers and suppliers, to the way they get their crews to work for them; they are owners without the ownership.

I’ve observed John on a number of occasions. I’ve watched him with the customers and employees. I’ve listened to how he interacts with suppliers and with the owner of the shop. If someone asked me to lay out a profile of an excellent manager to use as a hiring guide, I would mostly use my observations of John and let them fill in the blanks.

The first thing to notice is the cleanliness of the office, the restroom and the waiting area. John sees to it every day. He makes sure the trash cans are emptied, that old newspapers and magazines are tossed, and that those left for customers to read are in good taste and have nothing to do with fixing their cars or how to run an automotive business. There are brochures and signage designed to help sell recommended services and a coffee station that is maintained constantly.

John is well maintained, too. He’s always well groomed and wears a clean uniform every day with a white logo shirt that is always tucked in and clearly indicates he is the one in charge. He doesn’t wear sneakers, and if he wears a baseball cap at all it has the business’ logo on it, not the name of the home-improvement center down the street just because it gave him a free hat. He looks like someone who commands respect and can truly help a customer.

The greeting John gives to each of his customers is designed to make them feel as if they are old friends – and some of them are, because he gets lots of repeaters; but a new customer is made to feel like that old friend as well. John’s greeting is always upbeat. He acts as though he’s excited that people are coming in to see him, unlike many managers who eyeball everyone coming through the door first, trying to figure out whether he’s an old customer with a complaint, a bill collector, someone trying to sell something or truly a customer who might spend some money. John treats them all the same. He smiles and glad-hands everybody. He doesn’t care who’s coming to see him as long as people are coming. He makes everyone feel comfortable.

From the first telephone contact to the follow-up call a couple of days after the job is completed, and on every call in between, John is totally professional. His telephone greeting is as warm and friendly as his personal one. In fact, he works harder on the telephone because he knows that he and the shop can’t be seen over the phone so he has to paint a picture of the great service customers can expect once they come in.

John extends every possible courtesy to make it easy for his customers to do business with him. He’ll have their vehicles towed in if necessary. He’ll provide transportation to and from home or work, or arrange for a rental car if need be. The wonderful quality John has is that there is never any hesitation in his voice as there is with some owners or managers who are scared to death that they might have to spend a few bucks to take extra-good care of a customer. John’s attitude simply is “whatever it takes!” He truly understands that every dime you spend on a customer is an investment that can pay a great dividend.

Every new vehicle, as well as one that hasn’t been in for a while, gets a complete inspection. That way John can recommend all the necessary services at once, to save the customer’s valuable time. At least, that’s the way John explains it, so the customers feel as if they are being treated well by having this inspection performed rather than thinking he is just checking the car to see what he can sell. When there are repairs or services to sell, John categorizes them by need so if the customer doesn’t wish to have them all performed on the spot he will know what really needs to be done and when. Then follow-up calls are made and service reminders sent to get customers back for the additional services.

Both John and the owner have studied and agreed on the shop labor rate and the parts markup. Both must feel comfortable about the prices they want to charge. A manager must believe in those numbers, because they are the basis on which every repair order will be written. If a manager doesn’t believe, he will stray from them – usually toward the low side, taking the path of least resistance and hurting the shop’s profit potential.

John makes sure to check the current price of the parts he’s going to sell. He knows that prices can change every day and wants to make sure he never loses. He also shops for the best price he can get on like-quality parts as long as the warranty and delivery time are within his requirements.

Once he has the job priced, John gives the customer a presentation that can be likened only to a great one-act play. It’s pure show business, and the more money that’s involved in the repair, the longer and more detailed the play becomes. By the time he’s finished, the customer doesn’t see any choice but to let John fix the car at the price quoted. He gets very few price objections, even though his prices are some of the highest in his area, because he has walked the customer through the entire process step by step and in a way that makes the customer believe he is going to receive good value for the money he is about to invest.

John understands that customers will pay a good price when they believe they are being well treated and are getting a good value for their money. It doesn’t have to be cheap to get them to buy. It has to be good, well explained and documented, and presented in a way that makes them believe they are receiving at least as much or more of a benefit than the shop is.

John also has done a great job of figuring out how to deal with each of the production employees. He knows whom he has to tell to do something and whom he has to ask. He sells them on working for him the same way he sells customers on buying from him.

John is one of the greats because his customers and employees love him, his suppliers bend over backward for him, and – oh, yes – his boss is crazy about him because he pays for himself and makes money for the shop. Can’t ask for much more than that!

Visit www.terrygreenhut.com.

You May Also Like

2023 Reman Suppliers and Product Matrix listing

Each year, Transmission Digest provides a listing of suppliers of remanufactured transmissions, as well as a product matrix. Both of these can be found in the images below – click on each image for a closer look.

Each year, Transmission Digest provides a listing of suppliers of remanufactured transmissions, as well as a product matrix. Both of these can be found in the images below - click on each image for a closer look.

Shop organization: Tools in a tube

Every shop has a special location. Sometimes it’s a shelf, sometimes it’s a drawer. It’s where we keep all the “tools” that come in a tube. They’re usually community property, except for the occasional extra expensive items that reside in a manager’s office. Related Articles – Shop profile: DL Transmissions has leveraged a new location

Tools-in-a-tube-feature-6.23
Shop profile: DL Transmissions has leveraged a new location into significant success

Location, location, location. It’s commonly cited as a real estate motto, but really, it’s essential for any type of business. Whether it means being in close proximity to as many customers as possible or simply being in a visible or noticeable location, it can be a key to success for a transmission repair shop. After

Shop profile: Colorado Engine has built a name for itself focusing on the whole powertrain

Colorado Engine may have “engine” in the name, but transmissions are also a key component of the business for a shop that deals with the entire powertrain. Started in 1983 as a wholesale warehouse distributor for factory remanufactured engines and transmissions, in 2000 they opened an install center, according to owner George Anderson. Related Articles

A long journey to success at New Jersey’s Wholesale Transmissions

“We’ve been family-owned since 1985,” Mike Nader says of his shop, New Jersey’s Wholesale Transmissions. Related Articles – Going the extra mile: Proving your transmission repair suspicions – Diagnosing Ford 10R60, 10R80 and 10R140 series speed sensor issues – Jatco JF613E transmission quick reference material Mike’s father started off as a multi-shop Cottman Transmission franchisee in the

profile-feature-image-1400

Other Posts

Kitting keeps us profitable: Aftermarket kit suppliers listing 2023

The kitting of transmission parts has made profitable shop operation possible. When a kit with 100 parts is necessary, a distributor has already assembled all the important components into the kit and it is typically sitting on the shelf ready to be delivered. Kitting saves time and effort for both the shop and the supplying

California’s Rohnert Park Transmissions is a multi-generational success story

Fernando Gomez’s dad got into the business after being in the Army. “It was what he always wanted to do,” Fernando says. But that wasn’t the case for Fernando at first. Related Articles – Complete the 2024 transmission shop survey for a chance to win a gift card – Hidden problems: Three tales of electrical

Solera launches Identifix Shop Manager

Solera has introduced a new comprehensive repair shop management solution, Identifix Shop Manager. Related Articles – Sonnax introduces Smart-Tech clutch kit for GM 4L series – Snap-on debuts new general service tool set  – Gray Tools introduces insulated hex bit socket set Identifix Shop Manager is a cloud-based system for repair shops of all sizes,

shop-management-tool
Doing the little things right at Habby’s Transmissions

Habby’s Transmissions started as a radiator shop. When Warren Frie bought it in 1975 (keeping the name Habby’s from the previous owner), it took until the mid-1980s until he saw an opportunity in the transmission repair market, and transformed the business. Related Articles – Transtar talks expanding distribution for 2024 – Outgrowing the walls: The

family