Issue 6

Your Job is a Tough One

Most people are self centered – EGO CENTRIC. What they want counts – what you want is of no interest to them. How do you get people off of being self protective and get them to trust and look for the good?

This is not just to get people to like and trust you – it is to get the student to become more mature and trust others.

Your employee subjects must believe in you.

They may feel they have been lied to before and so trying to get them to try again may be a hard sell. It may be that the one that tried to ‘motivate’ them did it poorly, or really did try to use them.

The goal is to teach your employee how to create success by empowering them to be genuine, operating in such a way that will ATTRACT people to them. PHONY-NESS will show here.

A lie will only hold up for a little while. Don’t ever trifle with peoples trust. You are going to show your people how to meet people’s needs – not to con them.

One of the first things to do is to find candidates that will follow instruction.

Many have already developed their trends and habits by working for other neighboring shops. Trying to incorporate them into your team without changing their attitudes is difficult. Don’t let them bring somebody else’s program into your shop. You have your own.

Screen them for all the usual attributes you want but pay particular attention to co-operative friendliness and willingness to grow and learn.

Some at this point will send their people to a Dale Carnegie course (How to win friends and influence people) and that’s satisfactory, however the faith and respect they develop in the course needs to be in you, the owner. So, you train them. Having been a Carnegie instructor, I will assist you.

Always stay in control.

This is not a place where new employees bring in their own ideas try them out on the customer. This is a place where a concept is explained to the crew and then put into practice. The concept will be covered in a moment. But first let’s discuss pay structures.

Every employee feels he is worth more and that will be true once the program structure is in place and it produces fruit and meets goals.

Once the handling of a customer is adequate and the work is sold and accomplished perfectly and major effort is made to take responsibility for quality and details then efficiency is maximized, problems are minimized and profit is realized. Now much is written about pay programs.

Let us understand pay options the way the Dept of Labor outlines it. Hourly wage is a standard way of compensation and is based on a 40 hour week. Any additional time is to be compensated at hourly rate X 1.5. Salaries are acceptable providing they are also confined to 40 hours per week.

The same Overtime rule applies to salaries. Dividing the salary amount by 40 hours yields the wage per hour. Then hours over 40 are multiplied at 1.5 that rate for every hour over. But I thought salaried people were exempt from overtime. ONLY, IF the salaried employee manages 3 or more people and doesn’t do what they do.

Please remember what a salary is: it says to the employee ‘even if you do not work all 40 hours I will still pay you this amount’, but it doesn’t work the other way. Many times the employee is stuck working many overtime hours, without extra compensation, but because he/she does not know – they never collect.

If however, they find out about the law, even after leaving your employ, they can go to state or Federal Labor Board and file for back pay. I have had clients get nailed on this and it isn’t pretty.
Just pay the overtime or stagger hours so everybody works 40.

Piece work is another favorite. At the end of the pay period the hours worked in that period must be divided into earnings and minimum wage must be covered.

With piece work the employee is free to come and go as he desires even through the work day as the hourly and salaried cannot. Commissioned people are entitled to the same protection as the piece work people with minimum wage guarantees. (To be continued)

Article: Ray Hauenstein, All rights reserved

www.mastershopcoaching.com

Marshall Kelly (editor)
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ShopController Management Software
“Update”

Shop Controller Subscriptions Offer an Affordable Model for Shop Management Software

The Shop Controller crew are pleased with the results they’ve been getting with the new subscription program they recently initiated. During the recent economic recession, it became obvious that many shop owners who were just starting out or working to recover their business just couldn’t commit a large sum of money to new software, no matter how urgently they needed it.

While appreciating the many loyal customers who have purchased the Shop Controller license and continue to welcome new customers who prefer this method, they realized that another option was needed.

So Marshall Kelly decided to bite the bullet and take a big chance in offering a subscription option. This held a lot of risk for the company in the near term, but offered tremendous value to his customers, with the promise of long term stability for the company.

While still offering the full suite of Shop Controller software at the one-time license plus annual service agreement, monthly subscription pricing has also been put into place. The results have been phenomenal. According to Marshall, the new plan is an unqualified success.

Response to the subscription program has been overwhelming. Subscriptions are set up with just a one-time installation fee and then a monthly subscription charge based on the level of software the shop owner decides on. Subscriptions offer the advantages of immediate cost reduction, predictable payments, and long term savings.

The service agreement that normally requires an annual charge is included at no additional cost (except for the “Lite” version. )To make a great deal even better, subscribers don’t have to worry about system updates, both minor AND major updates.

Most software, including Shop Controller, includes minor updates in the license purchase price. Major updates on the other hand, require a full or discounted purchase. These updates are included at no additional charge with the subscription plan.

Subscription fees vary from $39 for Shop Controller Lite to $139 for the Platinum version, but the Platinum version is currently being offered at a promotional price of $99.
Call 800.898.2038 and sign up today! Download the
evaluation at www.shopcontroller.com

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ShopController has just added a new “Third Party Integration for Email Marketing” This is an awesome enhancement to our flagship product. With email marketing you can pick groups such as Lubrication, Tuneups, Brakes etc and selectively email reminders to your customers in an interval configured setting.

You will also have the ability to email Newsletters to the complete/selected list of customers with a built in email editor.

Note: The email marketing module is available by subscription) Call us for details. 800.898.2038

To join our affiliate program Go To
www.shopcontroller.com and paste link into your browser.

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Carfax Upgrade: Add license Plate and State for vehicle info, Real Time

Free upgrades to ShopController (version 8.0) – Save time and money while increasing car count.ShopController has been upgraded and now includes CARFAX® QuickVIN™ & Service Link™ applications.

These powerful tools help increase productivity in the shop and get your name in front of more customers. To activate at no cost, simply call 888-655-5362.
CARFAX® QuickVIN™

The tedious, unreliable process of recording Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) of cars you service is no longer an issue. Typing a vehicle’s license plate and state into the CARFAX QuickVIN application instantly produces the VIN.

You’ll be able to move more cars through with the ability to generate over 100 VINs per hour using this simple feature already built into ShopController.

With CARFAX QuickVIN, you won’t have to worry about technicians mistyping the VIN or handling expensive, often malfunctioning electronic scanners. Correct VINs mean more accurate part ordering and better quality of service.
CARFAX® Service Link™

Start using CARFAX Service Link – the free enhancement to your ShopController software designed to connect you with customers and keep you ahead of the competition.

Activating CARFAX Service Link means your shop’s name, location, phone number and website appear on all CARFAX® Vehicle History Reports™ that include your repair record.

This drives traffic to your website and generates more phone calls. Plus, partnering with CARFAX boosts consumer confidence and builds loyalty to your facility.

CARFAX Service Link helps keep vehicles coming back to your shop even after they change owners. Records of service from your facility may help improve vehicle value at trade-in or resale, making your repair facility more attractive to potential customers.

CARFAX Service Link lets your facility gain exposure to the millions of people who are saying,
“Show me the CARFAX.”™
Call 888-655-5362 to learn more and to activate this free upgrade(Version 8.0), courtesy of ShopController. Or call ACS at 800.898.2038
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Thank You,