You Can Receive Additional Business Training and Have Someone Else Pay For It!

New Scholarship from Zurich: Application Deadline is Aug. 17
The Automotive Management Institute (AMI), in conjunction with Zurich, formerly Universal Underwriters Group, has announced a new scholarship program to help automotive service professionals obtain the management education crucial for success in today’s competitive industry environment. One scholarship will be awarded to an Automotive Service Association (ASA) Mechanical Division member who strives to be, or is presently working in a management capacity.
Zurich introduced the scholarship program, called High Octane, specifically to address the educational needs of the automotive aftermarket. A leader in the automotive insurance industry, Zurich provides a range of customized products for the automotive aftermarket.
Bob Tschippert, Senior Vice President of Zurich’s Automotive Specialty Markets division is pleased to offer the High Octane scholarship program to ASA members. Tschippert states, “We at Zurich truly understand the unique needs of those in the aftermarket industry. We created our High Octane program in part to help give those in the industry an opportunity to acquire quality business management education.”
The scholarship will be applied toward the recipient’s expenses to attend the 2007 Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) in Las Vegas, Nov. 1-3. CARS is sponsored by ASA and offers an educational lineup of AMI seminars, technical training courses and industry sessions, an exhibitor showcase and the opportunity to network with other automotive service professionals.
“AMI continues to work with industry leaders to establish greater opportunities for automotive service professionals to obtain the skills necessary for their growth and success,” said AMI Executive Director Toni Slaton, AAM. “We are very pleased to be working with Zurich to offer this new scholarship opportunity.”

To be eligible for the award, the following requirements must be met:

• applicants must work in the mechanical repair industry;


• must demonstrate an interest in self-improvement through education and training;


• must own or work for a business that is an ASA member in good standing; and,


• if the applicant is not the business owner, must be recommended by the business owner.

AMI Trustees and their employees, and Zurich and its employees, are not eligible to apply.
To request a scholarship application, call AMI at (800) 272-7467, ext. 241, or fill out a scholarship application online at http://www.amionline.org/. Applications must be received by AMI on or before Aug. 17, 2007. The scholarship recipient will be notified by AMI on or before Sept. 7, 2007.

The Institute offers the Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) designation, the first business management accreditation exclusively for the automotive service professional. To date, AMI programs have attracted more than 160,000 enrollments throughout North America. AMI is a not-for-profit educational foundation. For more information about the Institute, its curriculum, or EXCEL, please contact AMI at (800) 272-7467, ext. 239, or visit the AMI Web site at http://www.amionline.org/.

Double Your Customers' Gas Mileage

Is it truly possible to double a vehicle's gas mileage without reconfiguring the engine or the vehicle? Maybe.

I recently saw this undocumented, unverified, unscientific analysis of one car owner's gas mileage improvement plan. His claim was, "I'll tell you secret ways to double your gas mileage that the gas companies don't want you to know". Of course I had to watch the video, with that sort of an introduction. After watching it, I know first-hand that some of his ideas work, but question the pure acetone.

Some of his recommendations:
1 - Make sure the vehicle tires are inflated to the correct air pressure. This is almost always the number one thief of good gas mileage. Can improve gas mileage by 1 - 5 mpg. (Note to self - check air pressure in scooter.) Consumer Federation of America says up to 25% of cars on American roads do not have properly inflated tires

2 - Check your air filter and replace if necessary. Can improve gas mileage by 1-2 mpg. CFA says this can save as much as $.28/gallon (that really depends on the cost of the gallon).

3 - Turn off your car's engine if you are idling for more than 30 seconds. I generally turn off my car whenever I'm stopped at RR tracks for more than a minute. This action invariably moves the train out of my way in 1.2 minutes. End result, I don't think I save much gas.

4 - Add pure acetone to the fuel tank. This automotive scientist added two ounces of pure acetone to a ten-gallon tank of fuel. He claims it increased his mpg by 10 mpg, going from 34 mpg to 44 mpg. Would this really work? Of course, his disclaimer was - this is highly flammable (duh!) and only use pure acetone. Has anyone ever heard of this? Who or how does one determine the correct proportions to mix? This "fix" reminds me of the crazy way some people seat truck tires on rims. Just pour a little gas or ether into the tire, toss a match in, and BOOM, watch the beads seat themselves - no fuss no muss. Only one problem - when the next person goes to remove the tire from the rim, there's potentially another BOOM, and this time it could take a person's head off. DO NOT use ether or gasoline to help seat any tire to a rim.

With gas prices rising almost hourly, this can truly be the beginning of a boom time for repair shops. Though people are talking about reducing the amount of driving they are doing, or will do, they haven't slowed down yet. They will be looking for ways to improve gas mileage, and if you market your shop well, they will beat a path to your door.

Now is a great time to develop a strategy to bring the business in. Consider a "Summer Tune-up" special, that includes a simple oil change, tire pressure check, fluid and filter check, all for a reasonable amount of $ that makes sense for you, and provides a value to your customer. If you take care of them now, they'll come back in the future for the big jobs.

Other savings ideas from the Consumer Federation of America include:

Alignments: Wheels that are properly aligned can improve gas mileage by as much as 10%.

Tune-up the Engine: A properly tuned engine can improve gas mileage by up to 4% ($.11/gallon).

Gas Cap: 17% of cars on US roads are missing gas caps. This can cost the consumer up to $.02/gallon.

Clean out the trunk: Save 1-2% for every 100 pounds you can clear out.

Drive Slower - It's tough to sell this to a customer, but if a driver reduces their speed from 70 mph to 65 mph, they will save 7%, or as much as $1.17/gallon.

Are you spotting a trend here? There is opportunity to increase your sales with existing customers, and bring in new customers. Create a simple checklist for your customers when they come in for their Summer Tuneup. It can be two-part.

Part One: List the jobs included on the tune-up: Oil change, Check air filter, check oil filter, top off fluids, check tire pressure, check wiper blades, check gas cap, check history of performed work, provide recommended future work (example: oil change in 3,000 miles, radiator flush in 5,000 miles, etc.)

Part Two: List the jobs the customer can do themselves to improve gas mileage: Empty the trunk, sign up for a lifetime wheel alignment, drive slower, reduce fast starts off the red light, ease up on the brakes.

They will thank you for the paid work you provide, and the "free advice" as well, by bringing more business your way in the future.

If it Weren't for Bad Luck, I'd Have No Luck at All

A traveling tool friend of mine sent this e-mail to me last night. It is a tale of woe from a working mom/woman's viewpoint:

hi
1) spent 4 hours at med center yesterday for my one-year-old - he was having trouble breathing and has an ear infection- he'll be fine

2) My sales rep, who was supposed to pick me up at the airport, is in the hospital because of his heart and low blood pressure but he will be fine

3) our plane had to emergency descend 800 feet to avoid crashing into another plane that was out of its airspace. I honestly thought we were crashing and was crying. The guy next to me had never flown before, and he was crying.

4) finally get to my hotel and realize I am at the wrong one - and they don't have rooms. Walk across the street to another hotel and then remember I had a box with all my sales literature shipped to the hotel that was the wrong one

5) my shoe ripped and will not endure the rest of the trip.

6) the hotel where I'm staying has no restaurant and no bar.

sorry, that was 6 things.

Let's go back to number 3. Isn't 800 feet almost the length of three football fields? Yikes! And then of course, the real heart-breaker is the ripped shoe. Well, no one said it would be easy. Fortunately, she's a tough toolgirl!

Gloom, despair, and agony are me.

Toyota Wants Your Income!

Thought you would be interested in this info From Automotive News today:

Toyota is forcing dealers to make big investments in service bays, even though some say their service areas are underused. It's part of the company's growing pains as more Toyota vehicles in operation demand more service. The number of its vehicles on the road has skyrocketed this decade, while the number of Toyota dealerships has stayed about the same. Now the company is clamping down on dealers who fail to meet long-standing guidelines prescribing how many service bays each outlet must have. Some dealers say Toyota is getting tough with stores that don't comply by shortening the length of renewed franchise agreements. Nancy Davies, vice president of retail market development at Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., says the company has become "more emphatic" about service expansion. But she says there has been "very little push-back" from dealers. And Davies says service capacity is only one factor when franchises come up for renewal.The average U.S. Toyota dealer has 23 service bays. The company expects that to grow to 30 by 2012

Are you getting your fair share of Toyota business? As Toyota ramps up to increase their market share of the service sector, you should be evaluating your market area and determine what changes you should consider as the market changes.

Congratulations! Awards presented at GAAS, 2007

R. L. Polk recognized distributors and manufacturers who improved their inventory effeciencies in 2006. Congratulations to the inventory management team at Genuine Parts, headed by Karl Wolfe, Vice President of Classification at the U.S. Automotive Parts Group Headquarters. Larry Samuelson, President, accepted the R.L Polk Award for Inventory Efficiency, Retailer/Distributor category. Genuine Parts, the largest distributor member of NAPA, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dayco Products received the same award for the Manufacturer category. Denny Welvaert, President accepted the award, which recognized Dayco's improvement in inventory efficiency. According to the presenters, Dayco improved their fill rate from 97.5% to 98.8% in 2006. Dayco is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Cornwell Tools Has Great Foresight, or do I mean Hindsight?

I tend to get the importance of foresight and hindsight confused. "In the business world, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windshield." Warren Buffet

I've stolen the content below directly from our sister blog, Brake and Front End (with the writer's full permission, so I'm not really plagiarizing. It's more like I'm out and out stealing. Well, maybe I should call it "quoting a respected source", yeah, that's the ticket).

I liked Andrew's enthusiastic review of their Brake Tool Kit (circa 1931) that can "adjust the brakes on every vehicle". He also gushes over Cornwell's website, and I thought you might be interested as well. It is very nicely done.

So, in Andrew's words, "Here is an ad from the September 1931 issue of BRAKE & FRONT END for CORNWELL Quality Tools. It is amazing that one tool kit could adjust the brakes on every vehicle.Cornwell Quality Tools was founded in 1919 by Eugene Cornwell, a skilled blacksmith operating in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. By the early 1930s the company had moved to Mogadore, Ohio, they are still there today. Check out the history page and video on their website. Cool!"

A Technician's Viewpoint

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of having dinner with a bona fide automotive technician. He had the further distinction of owning his own shop, and a Carquest store. As a result of his experience, he probably has a very well-rounded view of our industry. As we were talking that evening, I said something like, you must be a technician because you love working on cars. The resulting look that he gave me made me feel like I had a big wad of spinach in my teeth, or even worse, something unseemly hanging on my face somewhere.

"No, I do not love working on cars", he said.
Come on, isn't that the driving force behind most people who enter this business at the technician level?
"I became a technician because I realized early on that I had to make a living."

I thought that was an interesting comment, because honestly, I had the notion that the majority of techs are in the biz because they love cars first and foremost, and find that they can make money fixing them.

Joe Remke, is owner of Remke's Garage in Marengo, IL. He's been in the business for many years and supports his family with the living he makes. Check out his website and you'll understand why he is a successful technician, and a successful business owner. On his website, he has a form, a vehicle system questionaire, for the customer to complete before they even walk in his door. It asks them to describe the problem they are experiencing with their vehicle. If the vehicle is making a "noise", they list more than a dozen noises that an abused car might make, including boom, buzz, chatter, chirp, clunk, grind, rattle, roar, whine and whistle.

On his business card, he lists the various jobs that can be performed at his shop: transmissions, brakes, alignment, suspension, driveshafts, hydraulic cylinders. On the back of his card, he continues to advertise some of the things his shop does to differentiate themselves from his competitors: free loaner car, all work guaranteed, credit cards accepted, 90 days same as cash, towing and limited pickup service. There's even a spot for the customer to write down their appointment date and time.

When I think back to his comment that he knew he needed to earn a living, and I consider the information on his business card and his website, I would have to disagree with Mr. Remke. I would say, he is probably making a very good living, because he is running his shop like a business. In my mind I think of many shop owners as being former technicians who make the decision to open a shop because they can make more money. This is probably true, but just because you own a shop, there's no guarantee of profitability and growth.

Based on our discussions, and what I've seen of Mr. Remke's business card and website, he has given a lot of thought to the profitability and growth that he expects his business to generate. I would urge you to check out his website and see what nuggets you can use to improve your own business.

Somone said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I would say that imitation is sometimes the easiest way to improve your bottom line.

It's a GAAS in Chicago!

That's right, mid-May is the time for the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium, this year held in Chicago. The GAAS (as it's known) has been a huge provider of scholarship funds to students wishing to enter the aftermarket. Over the past 12 years, proceeds from the Symposium have funded more than $1.5 million worth of scholarships!

I've attended this Symposium probably 8 out of the last 12 years, and I have to admit, sometimes, the agenda has gotten a little stale. Not this year though. The first day included a presenter from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago discussing the winners and losers in a global economy. Typically, a lot of numbers and charts would put me to sleep. But his information was very good. Other presenters discussed the global aftermarket from a multinational perspective (people who actually do business outside the U.S.) and technology standards across the market. All strata of our business was represented, from the technician, shop owner, and distributor, up to the CEOs and Presidents of manufacturing companies.

I will be commenting more specifically next week, but right now I've got to catch a flight to Florida.