July/August 2018

I went to scope out the competition recently, quite literally. Competition is the name of the game, and I want to play the game with all the vehicle repairers in my local area, as our dear departed Brucie might have sung, had he been a garage owner instead of a light entertaiment legend. It was his loss really, as it's a fine life although you do get less catchy songs to sing to the punters in our profit-generation- through-repairs game. I'm sorry, I lost the thread there. As I was saying before my mind wandered off to Saturday night TV of yore, I like to think of myself as in competiton with all those in this business, be they fellow independents, fast-fitters, or franchised dealers. I might not be able to offer all the refinements of 'Glass & Steel Motors' up the road, or match the fixed price madness on display down at 'Boys in Blue,' but I think we more than hold our own. To strike the balance we have to be able to offer high-level services at a competitive price point, and that means being able to do quite a lot in an efficient manner. This means investment in key equipment, and in making sure you have a good process. More on this later. On the kit side, I recently bought in a new oscilloscope to help us with our diagnostic jobs. Part of keeping up to date with our competition is knowing what they are actually doing. With this in mind I have pretty good relations with the workshop managers at our most local franchised dealer, as well as with the fast fitters and the other garages. You'd be surprised but they don't always groan "it's Arthur again back to pick our brains!" No, not always. Anyroad, in a spirit of professional courtesy we tend to talk to each other about how we run our little empires, about attracting customers and about processes that run day-to-day. I was thinking about a new scope for a while, but wanted to see how other businesses are using these within the tool mix of the garage. Obviously we had such equipment and were using it on a regular basis, but it is useful to see how others are working with it. What I found was that for the more profitable workshops it was a highly useful tool, one that really helped the diagnostic process. In the end, process is everything. The tooling helps – they are tools after all – but it is the process that really makes you your money. Now, I'm not one to tell you what to think (why do I suddenly hear coughing?) but get your process right, and have the right kit to see it through and you'll go far. Alright, yes I do tend to share my opinion, but I don't have all the time in the world, so my advice would be seek out training and advice to help you make the most of what you do. Then you can compete with anyone in your area and beyond. www.aftermarketonline.net Competition is the name of the game 66 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2018 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net