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Marketing Before It Is Too Late
With high gasoline prices and a struggling economy many automotive shops are
struggling to keep the bays full. With gas prices hovering in the $4.00 per
gallon range many consumers have changed their buying habits. How do we get past
these tough times?
The key to any change in business is to react with better service, an
advertising/marketing plan and even some new services offered. One thing history
has taught us is ”If you do nothing to change your business expect nothing as a
result”. Is the message of what products and services you offer very clear to
your customers? If your customers do not know all of what you offer they may end
up at a competitor for services they were not aware you provided. Marketing and
advertising is something that needs to be done all year long, not just at the
slow times. If you wait until the slow times to market and advertise, chances
are the results will be poor. Most successful automotive shops spend 3-8% of the
gross sales on marketing and advertising.
A shop has to have a program in place for attracting new customers as the pool
of customers at a business is constantly changing because of these factors:
customers move away, customers die and customers just get mad at you or your
shop. For these reasons it is necessary to constantly recruit new customers.
Most shops get new customers via word of mouth. If this is true for your shop
capitalize on it. If you do nothing more then give each good customer a couple
of business cards and actually ask for business, you will get new business.
Welcome Wagons and Marriage Mailers–These are other actions a shop can take to
get new customers. Find out who is new to your community by joining the Welcome
Wagon program that most town councils or chambers of commerce have. Contact one
of the marriage mailer companies and get your coupon in with other businesses in
your area. This cuts way down on the cost and they work. This is another area
that takes an in-depth knowledge of design. An owner needs to know the
components of a good ad otherwise a lot of money can be wasted on bad ads and
coupons that do not work. But you need to know how to track what works in your
market. Some actions work well in one part of the country and fall flat in other
areas.
Marketing is a vast subject and there are a lot of things you can do. The
problem most shops have is the time to get these things in place. This is where
professional help can make a big difference. The cost of professional help is a
drop in the bucket when compared to the amount of money that is wasted on
advertising that does not work, or worse; an empty parking lot.
The IGO Convention in September is a good source for management training. IGO
unit meetings are also a great place to network with successful professionals.
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here
“Leaning Fuel System”
Continuing on in the theme of last month’s column of common failure code calls
to the IGONC hotline, this month will highlight P0171 Fuel System Lean Bank 1
and P0174 Fuel System Lean Bank 2. As fuel system components age or otherwise
change over the life of the vehicle, the adaptive fuel strategy learns
deviations from stoichiometry while running in closed loop fuel. These learned
corrections are stored in memory as long term fuel trim corrections. As
components continue to change beyond normal limits or if a malfunction occurs,
the long term fuel trim values will reach a calibratable rich or lean limit
where the adaptive fuel strategy is no longer allowed to compensate for
additional fuel system changes. Long term fuel trim corrections at their limits,
in conjunction with a calibratable deviation in short term fuel trim, indicate a
rich or lean fuel system malfunction. It is important to remember that the
actual fuel trim will be the opposite of the DTC. A system too lean, DTC P0171
will mean the ECM is making a rich correction.
As the LTFT trim reaches the calibrated limit for correction, fuel strategy is
no longer allowed to compensate for additional fuel system changes. Long term
fuel trim corrections at their limits, in conjunction with a calibratable
deviation in short term fuel trim, indicate a rich or lean fuel system
malfunction. Typically the threshold to set the code is LTFT greater than 25%
and STFT greater than 5%. Simply put the oxygen sensor is reading lean or rich;
PCM has tried to adjust the fuel delivery accordingly and has reached the
correction limit and has not seen a corresponding change in the oxygen sensor. A
fuel system monitor DTC such as P0171 or P0174 does not mean the fuel system
itself is at fault, but that there is a condition that is driving the fuel trim
out of range. It could be a symptom of the root cause of the problem.
On some vehicles the intake manifold gaskets are the root cause of the problem,
in TSB 3-16-1 for Ford Windstar with the 3.8L engine. The cause of the
P0171/P0174 can be leaking vacuum connection to the fuel pressure regulator
and/or leaking isolator bolts/port gaskets between the lower to upper intake.
MAF sensors on Ford products are also a known cause of P0171 & P0174. This is
addressed in Ford TSB 98-23-10 that covers most Ford products from 1990-1999
equipped with a MAF. In many cases the BARO reading will be incorrect; this is
an inferred reading based off the MAF reading. Do not forget to clear the keep a
live memory on these vehicles when replacing the faulty MAF.
To diagnose the cause of a P0171/P0174, don’t overlook the basic checks.
P0171/P0174 could easily be set by a lack of fuel pressure or volume. Once the
fuel delivery has been verified, check the induction system to ensure there are
no leaks, as well as analyzing the MAF readings. Ensure the oxygen sensor is
functioning properly. Keep in mind other not as obvious causes of the code, such
as use of E85 or contaminated fuel. As always consult the service information
for the vehicle to ensure there are no TSBs for the code.
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here
We’re Having A “HEAT WAVE”
During the summer months, heat can substantial effect your employees health,
work ethic, and attitude. In addition, a heat stroke can substantially effect
your workers compensation.
Provide plenty of water and require your employees to drink the water.
Some of the sports drinks are excellent at replenishing the loss of
electrolytes.
Encourage your employees to eat light lunches.
Provide fans for your employees.
Some of the polar cool devices are excellent in lowering the overall temperature
in the shop.
Check on your employees during the day and see how they are handling the heat.
Warning signs of heat stroke: dizziness, nausea, confusion, and skin redness.
Finally, attitude and patience is the most important factor during the heat.
Heat tends to raise tempers and stress our levels of tolerance. Being
understanding and patient with your employees is key to working together.
Hurricane Season Is Here Again
Each year June 1st marks the beginning of hurricane season. With weather
forecaster calling for an active hurricane season for the Atlantic, planning
ahead is probably the best approach.
Our insurance carriers usually restrict our agency from binding any coverage
when hurricane watches and warnings are issued by the National Weather Service.
These restrictions normally keep the binding limitation in effect until the
watches and warnings have been rescinded for 72 hours.
Don’t wait until the last minute to get prepared or call us because it could be
too late for us to bind coverage.
Finally, purchasing emergency supplies are a necessity for readiness.
If you would like to learn more, give us a call at IGO Insurance 1-800-243-1560
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here
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