A TALE OF TWO SURVEYS

Ineed some help deciphering the results of two surveys we’ve done as an organization recently.

We surveyed jobbers for our annual CARS Annual Jobber Survey about several topics. This is designed to give the automotive service professional community insights on what jobbers, your partners, see as important trends in the industry, where they see room for improvement and how the entire relationship can be improved.

There’s a lot of good stuff in the results that you can find helpful. But I found a few head-scratchers when comparing data to a similar survey we did earlier.

The first question in this survey was about mistakes shops make. The most common one, said 36 per cent of respondents, was buying cheap parts.

On its own, this is definitely an issue. Cheap parts have many problems — quick failure rate, low margins, etc. But given the current economic climate, it makes sense to request them; people are looking to save money where they can.

But when looking at a similar survey we did just the month prior, I’m not sure what to believe. You may remember that survey — we asked you, shop owners, about your thoughts on working with jobbers, industry trends and so on. Those results were published in our sister magazine Jobber News.

A common recommendation from shops was for jobbers to offer higher-quality parts.

“Quality is of the utmost importance,” one respondent told Jobber News. “We prefer quality over all else,” said another. Another urged jobbers to dump the lower-priced options and just offer the better stuff.

But here are jobbers responding to a different survey and saying the biggest mistake they see their shop partners make is to buy cheap parts.

Try squaring that circle.

Here’s another red flag that jumped out in the survey of jobbers: Nearly three-in-10 respondents said the biggest problem they see shops making is a lack of proper business management procedures. Furthermore, nearly 80 per cent said shops aren’t taking training seriously enough. Half of jobbers reported that shops say they’re too busy. Another 29 per cent said they hear shops want to attend but they no-show events.

Yet, when shops were surveyed, they were asking for training. “More could be done with training,” one told Jobber News. Another said they try to stay ahead as a business but “it has been hard to do without proper training.”

We have jobbers on one end saying shops don’t seem to be interested in training. And we have shops saying they’re looking for more training.

Another square that is difficult to circle.

What’s clear is something is missing here. Is there enough communication on both sides? Are we collaborating or operating in silos? Do we know what each other wants? How can there be a better support system?

President & Managing Partner | Delon Rashid Head of Sales & Managing Partner | Peter Bulmer

Corporate Office 48 Lumsden Crescent, Whitby, ON, L1R 1G5

The industry appears confused; the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is

It looks like we need to get together to answer these, and more, questions.

Adam Malik Managing Editor, CARS

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR "IT’S YOUR TURN", CARS, APRIL 2023

I respect Rob's perspective on shop operation. It seems to be working for him in his area. It appears he is running his operation like his forefathers. Things have changed a lot over the years and only operations that adopt change will grow and succeed in today's market.

Operations do not have to be on a large scale in order to be profitable. As customers upgrade their vehicles so should shop owners and technicians in order to look after their needs. Training for both techs and shop owners is very important today so we don't fall behind and lose customers to shops that keep current. I personally operate my shop to stay ahead of technology and both my techs and I take training constantly to achieve success. There are many shops that operate this way.

I still enjoy being in this trade and having success in my operation which is run differently than Rob's.

Bob Ward, The Auto Guys

The automotive industry, like many trades, is filled with tradesmen turned businessmen. Some take on the role of owner well, some don’t. The interesting thing about this article is that author implies that the customer/client is better served by a business where the business owner spends little time ensuring that the business is run properly and more time in the shop/field. I have found the opposite to be true.

Taylor Wilson, reader

My grandmother, who lived to be 102, always said, "Times change and we with time." I started in the trade in 1975. I went from mechanic to shop owner — employee to business owner. So after almost 50 years I have seen the trade change immensely, from the consumers to the vehicles they drive. The only constant is change. Congratulations to Rob Nurse for continuing to operate a family business for so many years. I am sure Rob is providing a service for a certain clientele in his area. Perhaps there will always be that need. Our trade however has evolved and the only way we can encourage young people to get involved in our industry is to break away from the past.

There is a shortage of skilled labour in all trades. How do we compete against the other trades? We compete by being professional, run modern and well-equipped facilities (regardless of how many bays) and pay proper competitive wages which includes benefits and proper holidays.

An automotive service facility is a business. How you choose to run your business is your choice. To reinvest in your business to stay current, hire qualified staff and continue to train that staff, you need to manage it as any business. The training may include business management and coaching from professionals.

Independent service providers contribute to the local economy and provide an important service to the community. The importance of that service is often understated, sadly, even amongst some in the industry. Running an efficient profitable shop is hard work and something of which to be proud. Turning a trade into a profession starts with you, the readers

Bruce Eccles, Eccles Auto Service Inc

This is like saying: “Expensive restaurants just make grocery stores busier.” He offers great advice if you want to retire poor.

Scott Waddle, Precision Auto Service

I was surprised to see this article, as this opinion is an uneducated one that really has no place in a forward-thinking magazine, such as CARS

The only way we will survive in the aftermarket is to become professional businesses, with owners who either choose to work as technicians and hire educated and trained business managers or put the wrench down and educate themselves on how to effectively manage their businesses.

We are far away from providing a service that comes anywhere close to the cost of a new vehicle. I recommend running those numbers to see how wide that spread is; I have and it’s unbelievable how much money we can save our clients by maintaining their vehicles to “like new” standards. Also, I know for sure that there has been no “free ride” for any of the shop owners who have built their businesses to run without them. It takes years of education, process building, staff coaching, culture building and ongoing implementation to build a machine that works without the owner.

Ultimately, there is no point in investing your time and money (not to mention blood, sweat and tears) into something that doesn’t produce an ROI that improves your life, whether that be money to retire at an age that allows you to still enjoy the rest of your life, or time on a beach, while the business runs without you.

Erin Vaughan, Kinetic Auto Service

WHY THE AFTERMARKET IS ‘IN TROUBLE’ AS RETIREMENTS LOOM

As much as you hate to see it, it’s somewhat inevitable. From an owner’s perspective, the red tape and costs of doing business seem to grow exponentially every year, staffing is a constant battle, and cars are more of a pain in the rear end to work on with every new model year. And how can we reasonably expect to find suitable buyers when the up-and-coming generation can’t even buy houses? Besides that, most of us are barely hanging on by a bootstring in regards to finding reliable (subjective) staff, let alone savvy enough to take on the business and a mortgage.

Geoff, reader