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RevXtreme 1 · 12-20-2009, 08:06 PM

I have never been to his shop, but I understand he has 1 lift? (correct me if I'm mistaken)And is also a one or two man shop. If he does not have someone answering the phone then I suspect he is under a car or in the shop wrenching. Neither allows for a tech to answer calls as everytime you need to get a call, you have to crawl out, or set down, or anything else that ends up delaying the job your trying to finish. Customer DO need to be kept updated so what I usually do is set aside 2 hrs a day to return calls & messages. Now for me it is easier as we have 7 employees including dedicated sales staff....but customers still get lost in the cracks as we only have 2 lines in and if both are in use the phone system does not give the caller a busy signal...it just rings forever. Were working on this as well but it is part of our lease & we cannot change it.

The other way I try is when I get home (usually work 10 plus hour day's) I spend a few hours on the computer answering dozens of PM's & emails, and also try to contribute to threads and help with guidance and sharing knowledge.

Junk knows as Greg & I and 1/2 dozen other shops all get along and call each other when we are stuck or just want another opinion. That is a plus (sort of a non-official tuners network) since we all try to get along. Unfortunately there are those few shops or tuners that spend a good amount of their time slamming or backstabbing others so that is another time wasting factor to be considered as it is not always effective to ignore them.

And trying to get qualified help (not just a GM tech, but a true performance expert) is near impossible. I have spent $10's of thousands on hireing different techs with great resumes, just to find they are great parts changers at a dealership, but not worth a dang in this specialized market we all work in. On top of that, we usually have come-backs from the tech we let go & since we stand behind what we do that is costly as well. We are ALWAYS looking for that qualifed tech to add to our staff, the one that wants to be a part & put the same pride & care we do into their work....but they are far & few between so I suspect Chris has had the same trouble finding a tech to put out work to his level.

All else aside, the customer is key and in the corvette/exotic world this group tends to be a bit eccentric & have large easy to bruise ego's so a good shop MUST find a way to keep in touch with his customers. It is just a difficult balancing act to keep everyone happy AND be productive. If I took every call & answered every message that came in I would get very little done and then everyone gets upset. On top of that this is the Holiday season and it makes things all the more difficult. Parts are delayed or lost more than any other time of year and everyone wants "my car done first!".

My advice is follow Shadow's suggestions and hopefully Chris can get back to people more promptly in the future, but it is harder to do than all our suggestions make it seem.

Good luck to all & please all try to be more easy going & understanding as no good comes out of public bickering for ALL involved.

12-20-2009, 08:06 PM	#15
RevXtreme 1 www.revxtreme.com Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Bradenton Posts: 1,171 Name : Tracy Lewis	I have never been to his shop, but I understand he has 1 lift? (correct me if I'm mistaken)And is also a one or two man shop. If he does not have someone answering the phone then I suspect he is under a car or in the shop wrenching. Neither allows for a tech to answer calls as everytime you need to get a call, you have to crawl out, or set down, or anything else that ends up delaying the job your trying to finish. Customer DO need to be kept updated so what I usually do is set aside 2 hrs a day to return calls & messages. Now for me it is easier as we have 7 employees including dedicated sales staff....but customers still get lost in the cracks as we only have 2 lines in and if both are in use the phone system does not give the caller a busy signal...it just rings forever. Were working on this as well but it is part of our lease & we cannot change it. The other way I try is when I get home (usually work 10 plus hour day's) I spend a few hours on the computer answering dozens of PM's & emails, and also try to contribute to threads and help with guidance and sharing knowledge. Junk knows as Greg & I and 1/2 dozen other shops all get along and call each other when we are stuck or just want another opinion. That is a plus (sort of a non-official tuners network) since we all try to get along. Unfortunately there are those few shops or tuners that spend a good amount of their time slamming or backstabbing others so that is another time wasting factor to be considered as it is not always effective to ignore them. And trying to get qualified help (not just a GM tech, but a true performance expert) is near impossible. I have spent $10's of thousands on hireing different techs with great resumes, just to find they are great parts changers at a dealership, but not worth a dang in this specialized market we all work in. On top of that, we usually have come-backs from the tech we let go & since we stand behind what we do that is costly as well. We are ALWAYS looking for that qualifed tech to add to our staff, the one that wants to be a part & put the same pride & care we do into their work....but they are far & few between so I suspect Chris has had the same trouble finding a tech to put out work to his level. All else aside, the customer is key and in the corvette/exotic world this group tends to be a bit eccentric & have large easy to bruise ego's so a good shop MUST find a way to keep in touch with his customers. It is just a difficult balancing act to keep everyone happy AND be productive. If I took every call & answered every message that came in I would get very little done and then everyone gets upset. On top of that this is the Holiday season and it makes things all the more difficult. Parts are delayed or lost more than any other time of year and everyone wants "my car done first!". My advice is follow Shadow's suggestions and hopefully Chris can get back to people more promptly in the future, but it is harder to do than all our suggestions make it seem. Good luck to all & please all try to be more easy going & understanding as no good comes out of public bickering for ALL involved. __________________ Tech Support for most anything.