June 2020

to April, and I was full of optimism going into year three, starting now. “We have to look at quarter one differently now. Fortunately, we have remained open, and customers still come in. That is a reflection perhaps of the work we have done. So I have to take some positives from that. The first three months of this financial year are going to be dented by the situation however, and by the MOT extension. Having MOTs pushed back doesn’t help, so we might see a drop of about 40%. “We have managed to trim back our outgoings. Staff-wise two are here, one is furloughed, and the other is due to start. A member of staff left just before all this happened, and I had appointed somebody, but we decided to defer his start-date so that he can remain in his old job. When we get back to normal we will have four staff, and in a year’s time I will be looking for number five. We were also about to start building work at the rear of the site. The two small workshops are going to be rebuilt, so we could move two guys out there, with a ramp each, then build a prefabricated building in the yard at the rear, put technician three in which would empty the main workshop. Phase two of the development would be to pull down the main workshop, which has been here since 1950, and replace that with a prefabricated building.” We are in a conservation area, but the building is in desperate need of updating. With three ramps up the back and four in here, we will go up to seven ramps, plus the MOT bay. That will hopefully allow us to grow over the next three to five years. We are lucky enough to have about 20 parking spaces off road, so we can cope with customer cars. We have ample space. The current situation has obviously put those plans on hold. Hopefully we will get back to those later in the year, and take the site to its maximum potential.” JUNE 2020 AFTERMARKET 43 www.aftermarketonline.net Training With higher expectations comes the need for training. “We see new things all the time now,” commented Kris. We use Haynes Pro, which allows us to source technical drawings repair times, information on vehicles perhaps we have not seen before. Diagnostics is changing all the time, so we invest a lot of money in our diagnostic equipment for monthly updates. We use Snap-on. Even online forums and videos, to see if someone else has done something, is very useful. It is so important.” The business is also a keen exponent of wheel alignment, and it has it well integrated into its daily routine: “In order to maximize your output, you’ve got to appraise everything in the time you’ve got with the car. It could be in for something different, but if you spot that it needs something else, like alignment, then it is important to offer it to the customer. What I like to do generally is let people know the honest appraisal of their vehicle, and let them know that if they don’t want it done today, then they can come back. “If pads are half-worn, rather than try and frighten them into having them done today, I’ll tell them that there is a bit of value left in them, and hope that they will come back. Likewise, if they have two tyres wearing on the edges, we’ll tell them that next time they have their tyres done, we will recommend alignment. Invariably, people like that, because they are not being pressured, and they are getting value out of their parts. They will then come back a month later, we will book it in and do the tyres and do the alignment. Not every upsell is for today. It could be in a month, or six months. I think people respond well to that.” People Approach counts, and sometimes it helps to come from outside of the bubble you work in: “People like to feel in control, they like to feel confident when they are discussing their car, even though they might not have a lot of knowledge. Personally, I didn’t start in the motor trade, so I had to learn. My background has always been in sales, mainly property and construction, over the course of the last 15 years.” He continued: “I believe in customer service, listening, building rapport, building trust, taking things stage by stage. So, when somebody asks me, or I am reporting back to them, I am not reporting back to them as a technician. I am speaking to them as a layperson that has some knowledge. Hopefully I can put it across to them in a way that means they are not bamboozled by jargon, which often puts people off. It also affects trust. Just giving them a straightforward appraisal on the phone – this is what is wrong with it – it connects this to this – it is worn, it will not last for much longer, if you don’t do something about it, it will start making a funny noise and possibly will break down. You can possibly do something about it today, or come back in a month. People like that. It is straightforward.” Plans Speaking of today, we visited in mid- April during the height of the COVID- 19 outbreak, and we asked Kris how they are dealing with the situation: “This is my third year running the garage,” he observed. “We have improved each year. I am very focused on recording data so I can forecast and measure how well we are doing, and hopefully plan ahead. This situation has obviously affected those plans. My figures run from April Above: Kris (left) and the team