What IS Your Real Car Count?

What IS Your Real Car Count?

?This was written to discuss what we have learned after many years of practical application about what we think and believe is a “qualified” car count that offers a legitimate sales opportunity and what is not. ?I am absolutely not a writer but do want to share some information.

I want to challenge you to think outside of the box and please keep an open mind while you consider what most do not like: “Change”.

In the automotive industry there are many Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that need to be measured and monitored to make sure the business is preforming at its peak level of efficiency to maintain it’s needed profitability.??

One KPI I want to discuss is Car Count and how it relates to your business model. There are many different schools of thought on what the optimum car count to tech is.

Each one of the different thought processes are measured and driven by a few KPI numbers. ?So, for this topic to get where our business model needs to be we have a to know what our target Car Count is for our shop.

Without going too far off of the subject to define what is a “real” or “qualified” vehicle service, it is important for you to know your ideal Car Count number. ?

For example, the goal for our business model is 3.5 hours per vehicle and 3 cars per technician per day or 10.5 hours a day at 52.5 hours a week for each technician (3.5 X 3 = 10.5 X 5 = 52.5) this number works well for us. How you get to that hourly goal is another conversation entirely.

Your goal can and should be whatever works for your team and your business model. ?A long time ago we were below 2 hours per car and over the years modified our business model to what works for us.?So, once you know what needs to be measured and how to correctly measure it you can really start getting to where you want your team to go.

With that said, what is a “qualified vehicle” when talking about the subject of Car Count? Our business model tells us that we need 35 “qualified” vehicles in order for the team to achieve its sales and productivity goals.?Now we need to talk about what that means and why it matters??

One of our procedures says we will perform a Digital Vehicle Health Inspection (DVHI) on every qualified vehicle that is dropped off for service, as in no one is in a waiting room. ?Our experience has shown that since starting DVHI’s back in 2013 to do this task properly it takes three things.

·???????First, we need the client to be in the mindset that they want to have their vehicles current condition evaluated (Buy In). They are ready and able to drop off their vehicle for the day and are open to the idea that the vehicle may be due for service or needed repair per the MAP Standard (Motorist Assurance Program) that we believe in and use a professional guide to correctly evaluate a vehicles condition or readiness to be on the road.

?Second, we will need about 30 minutes to properly preform a preliminary inspection of 50 + points and make any additional recommendations as need, this does not include additional primary issues they are seeking your professional advice for the evaluation. ?

?Third, our service advisors /estimators need time to review the technician’s documentation of the DVHI written text and pictures and/or videos. They will also need the time to work on the client’s vehicle estimate and place it in an order of priority starting with anything the client asked to have any particular focused testing or inspections done, and that is ok as long as no other overriding immediate safety issue exist.

You and I both know there is a lot more to this and the KPI’s that go with it.

To us, the above are qualified Car Counts but what about a quick or unexpected visit to the shop?

Now one thought I want you to consider: Is every vehicle a legitimate “car count” based on these criteria??What if this is a great client that brings in this vehicle every 5,000 miles and/or twice a year, but a few hundred miles later has rolled into your shop with just a flat tire while heading to work, or a headlight bulb, or any bulb for that matter has gone out a month after its last service, or their vehicles state inspection came due out of phase of the vehicles regularly scheduled service, or etc., etc., etc. ?Will forcing this into the “norm” of a Car Count” really help you and your team correctly measure and reach your goals?

OK, here’s the good stuff and my point.

What do you do when this happens? Do you count this as a legitimate vehicle toward your desired Car Count???Taking this vehicle in will create an invoice and if you follow the conventional school of thought will add to the Car Count and change the values of all the KPI’S that it affects. This will change your numbers and if this is not a qualified vehicle could falsely lead you to believe that someone is not doing their job and/or wrongly indicate marketing may not needed (the shop does not need more vehicles), when in fact just the opposite is true.?

Let’s take our business model that calls for a goal of 35 qualified vehicles a week that we mentioned earlier.

Now let’s say that on any particular week we have 4 to 6 vehicles come in from existing clients for a flat tire or other minor problem while heading to work.?Or a new potential client that has just moved into the state with their 2-month-old vehicle with 2000 miles on the odometer.?Or one of our fleets clients that have dozens of new vehicles that are less than 6 months old and show up with 5000 miles on them for their first service. And, we also have an additional 25 qualified vehicles dropped off for a scheduled or even an unplanned DVHI on that week also. (This is very real and taken from what we see on a regular basis)

At the end of the week our KPI report will show 35 vehicles (Our target goal) when in fact we were at least 4 to 5 qualified vehicles short.

If this is a pattern, we are seeing over an extended period, it clearly tells us: we need to bring in additional vehicles for a drop off service, re-think how we are really setting up appointments, probably step up our marketing, send out a newsletter or email blast from our CRM’s or we need to convert more calls.

How about the clients with the un planed “bulb” “flat” etc. ?So, for the sake of a KPI number are you going to send them away?

I will tell you, it’s a big “NO” for us.?We will always take very good care of our clients, just like you do every day. ?We are going to serve our client as we would at any other time they are in for service. We will perform a shortened “quick” DVHI and advise the client if any safety or items of concern are found.

But we believe this is not the time or place to go into a full DVHI with an existing client or a new client, unless items of concern are spotted. That is where we will ask for approval to inspect the vehicle plus help get them in a loner, to work or home and then start a full DVHI and that will become a qualified Car Count for any sales opportunities.

?We believe that if we press too hard it could send the wrong message. It can create distrust and a “we are only trying to sell you something” feeling.?This client is also not in the mindset of “vehicle service” at this time and will not likely have the time to spend with us, or be in the right frame of mind to be “sold” any needed work. ?

When a DVHI is done correctly anything that needs attention is identified and then suggested or recommended to the client.

?In the case of a first-time client that has just dropped in and is waiting with a safety item or other service noted, we will have that conversation to ask for a drop off and complete a full DVHI to do our best to turn this into a qualified vehicle but this is an exception and not something that happens every day or week.?The client can often be “thought locked” on their busy day.

Of course, if a safety or immediate problem is noticed we can ride share them home, put them in a loaner car, shuttle them around, or they can call for a ride. But, before the client leaves, we ask for their permission for the DVHI (hopefully gaining their buy-in), and this procedure and its process is started the right way and helps move them from a non-qualified Car Count to a qualified one.

?We spent years following the teaching that every vehicle that comes in, is a sales opportunity and counts towards Car Count and Average Repair Order dollar amount (ARO) plus other KPI’S.

?We feel that the way we used to count every vehicle was wasting our time and energy trying to make the KPI numbers match what the industry standards are and make the 20% net profit at the end of it all. ?When in fact, we were doing our part to define the word insanity by doing what everyone else was doing and struggling with this over and over.?The result of this was ending up being disappointed in ourselves and at times having some coaches telling us “Were not working hard enough” when all the while it was a flawed process.

?Once we figured out what was wrong and fixed it by defining and creating our qualified Car Count everything started to change for the better. Our bank account is going up like a fighter jet in max climb, clients are writing way more 5-star reviews than ever before and telling their friends to come see us, our team is not just earning a living wage but prospering like professionals should. The list goes on but I hope you understand there are new things to learn and even if you have doubts, I invite you to just try an experiment and see if this or some version of this will work for you as it has for us. This change has allowed us to pay our team the money they are worth provide great benefits. We are even adding AC to the shop right now and not using loans to do it. ?This is real folks.

I am not selling anyone’s products; I only want our industry and the hard-working men and women working in to be successful and prosper while being able taking great care of their clients for the next 30 plus years instead of closing their doors because they went broke.

When I sat down to put my thoughts on paper, I felt it would not go over one page, but quickly found I needed to explain is better and this is much longer than I had anticipated.

We are far from experts but we have found something that is working very well for us, and if this will help just one other shop have less stress and a happier life than it was worth writing this and sharing it with you.

?In closing:

It was like having a gas gauge that is not reading right but your vehicles computer tells you you’re getting better mileage and all is fine and you believe it, so you do the opposite of what you should because you did not have good information and instead of fueling up more, you’re consistently running out of gas and you keep wondering why.??But, when you get good information and understand what is really happening, you can fix it and live a better life.

?About the author:

Craig Zale has been in the automotive industry Since 1987 and has owned and operated his business Craig’s Car Care Inc since 1996.