Now that air conditioning repair season is upon us, many shop owners are facing the challenge of high labor costs associated with replacing leaking underhood metal lines. If you’re among those who are looking for ways to solve the AC line replacement problem – without the time and money that’s usually tied into it – line splice repair kits are the answer.

Gone are the days when an entire AC line needs to be replaced. Line splice repair kits allow shop technicians to remove only the damaged section and splice the line back together.  What’s more, it can be done in ten minutes flat, which means saving time and money for your shop – and for your customers.

Not all line splice repair kits are created equal. WURTH’s new Line Splice™ range is available in SAE and metric sizes, and is engineered to maintain the approximate diameter of the aluminum tubing, so gas flow won’t be compromised.

This specially engineered system is also designed for specific fitting for AC (as opposed to a standard compression fitting), and the seal sleeve has nearly 8 times more sealing surface area than a regular O-Ring does.  Equally important, the self-adjusting, anti-vibration tension ring resists vibration leaks for permanent leak-free repairs.

For more information on WURTH Line Splice™ or other air conditioning system accessories, call 800-987-8487 or visit www.wurthusa.com.

One of the newest ways that many auto shop owners are bringing in new business is through advertising on group discount websites. These websites, such as Groupon.com, LivingSocial.com or BuyWithMe.com offer daily discounts to a huge database of local users in your area.

How They Work

Group Discount sites operate in several areas across the country. Once you’ve figured out what kind of offer you can realistically make and still make money (like a discounted oil change or radiator flush), you will sit down with a rep from the website and run through numbers to make sure you’re being realistic. Before your campaign is run, you will also set a minimum and maximum number of deals to be sold. The minimum number should be your tipping point or how many you need to sell to make it worth it for your business.

Groupon and sites like it don’t take upfront fees when you set up a deal with them. But they do take a percentage of the sale, so you really have to be aware of the numbers to make sure that you don’t lose money.

What They Can do For Your Business

The whole idea behind these online group discount sites is the potential to get lots of new people walking through your door to take advantage of your deal. While this is great, it’s important to realize that these new customers are doing so at a greatly discounted rate. So to make an impact on your business long term, you need people to return after their initial discounted visit. You can accomplish this quite a few ways, but collecting Email addresses or offering them a second coupon when they come in may spur them to come back again.

In addition to the influx of customers who buy these deals and visit your shop, these sites also offer serious exposure for your business. Your daily deal is sent out to a huge database of users who like to receive the daily deal by email, as well as through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. So even people who don’t end up purchasing your deal are being exposed to your company in an email they look forward to and open every day.

Many auto shops have had great success doing these types of campaigns. If you set the price of your deal well and really take care of the customers who come in, the sky’s the limit on the amount of new customers you can bring in with promotions like these.

If you’re still using regular aerosol cans in your auto shops and facilities, you’re missing out on a chance to save a lot of money and seriously cut down on your carbon footprint by switching to refillable spray bottles.

Why refillable spray bottles? Because they allow you to pay far less for product, save space, and there’s less disposal – not to mention cutting back on the greenhouse gases emitted by aerosols.

You can see the savings if you compare traditional aerosol cans to their refillable counterparts. Say, for example your shop uses 1,800 14 oz. cans annually at $2.29 a can. In a year, you would have spent $4122 on 197 gallons of liquid aerosol. But if you were to purchase 10 refillable bottles at $45 each and bulk 55 gallon drums at $599 each, that same amount of product would have only cost you $2595.

Refillable spray bottles are also earth-friendly. The amount of aerosol auto products dumped into landfills each year is immeasurable, considering a single shop could use hundreds or even thousands per year. Not to mention the damage caused by carbon dioxide, propane and butane, which are greenhouses gases commonly used in aerosol propellants.

There are two basic types of refillable spray bottles. The first is a metal bottle that sprays your product using compressed air.  The second is a plastic bottle that you hand pump. Although they’re both an improvement over regular aerosol cans, systems like the WURTH REFILLomat offer the best of both worlds. You get the look, feel, and pressure of an aerosol can for a lot less money, with no dangerous propellants.

REFILLomat looks like an ordinary aerosol can, but gets refilled with a tool that charges the “can” with 400ml of product (active ingredient), and propellant (compressed air) in 7 seconds flat. The best part is there are no cans to dispose of when you need more product – you simply re-fill the can.

For more information on REFILLomat or other green auto shop products, visit www.wurthusa.com.

WURTH USA is proud to announce this year’s online March Madness Contest Winners:

	Grand Prize Winner/WURTH Tool System C7 Rolling Toolcart Al Palmer-Palmers Automotive Boonton, NJ
	Second Place Winner/Greenline Sample Kit Donn Fotta-Bennet Jaguar Allentown, PA
	Third Place Winner/Garmin Nuvi GPS Joe Nassimos-Pierce Auto Parts Bouckville, NY

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Consumers these days are becoming increasingly aware of their carbon footprints, and many want to do business with shops who are taking their environmental responsibilities seriously. In one of our recent posts, 5 Tips Towards a Green Auto Shop, we covered simple ways to become more ecologically friendly. This goes beyond just recycling parts, which is usually the first thing that comes to mind. Other ways a shop can go green include eliminating the use of lead wheel weights, using more efficient lighting, and managing fluids responsibly and efficiently. The easiest way to illustrate to your customers that you run your shop with a green thumb is to become Green-Certified.

Green certification provides customers with an assurance they are dealing with a company that is ecologically responsible in its processes and the products that are used. The Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair (CCAR) provides a Greenlink Shop recognition program. To earn “GreenLink Shop” status, certain environmental, health and safety standards must be met.

There are also many local certification programs that allow auto shop owners to prove that they are meeting ecological standards and best practices, such as the Arizona Green Business Automotive Program, the Los Angeles Green Business Certification Program, and the New Jersey Green Automotive Repair Program. Check with your local government offices to find a program near you.

One of the requirements of green certification is that you use green products. WURTH USA offers a full range of green auto shop products that meet the certification of the EcoLogo program, which is North America’s most respected environmental standard and certification mark.

There is also a wide range of earth-friendly janitorial products including carpet cleaners, degreasers and many other general purpose cleaners available from WURTH USA. These products not only can help the environment, they can also improve your bottom line.

A full list of WURTH USA products can be found here: http://www.wurthusa.com/project/en/leftnavi/products/products.html

Other References and Resources

CCAR Greenlink

http://www.ccar-greenlink.org/

Lead Free Wheels.org

http://www.leadfreewheels.org/

WURTH Greenline

http://www.wurthgreenline.com/

Precision Body & Paint is making a big difference in their local Oregon community by helping those who are less fortunate. All of the technicians and employees at the factory-certified collision repair service volunteered their time to repair two totaled vehicles donated by State Farm for two needy families.

These families are selected by two local charities, the YMCA and Volunteers of America for the Recycled Rides program. Recycled Rides, a nationwide community service project run by the National Auto Body Council (NABC), gives members the opportunity to give back to their local communities through repairing and donating recycled vehicles to those in need.

Precision Body & Paint took it a step further by collecting cash donations and purchasing complete assortments of new household items and furniture to fill the vehicles that were given to the selected families at their Beaverton location in December, 2010.

WURTH was proud to support the program through the donation of cutting wheels, grinding discs, seam sealers and an assortment of retainer clips, hardware and other body shop supplies.

About Precision Body & Paint

Voted the #1 Collision Business in 2009 and the #1 Finest Collision Repair Shop by Fender Bender in 2008, Precision Body & Paint has been providing high-quality collision repair services at their Oregon location in Beaverton for 36 years and have expanded to a second location in Bend in 2010.

They are the only Audi Certified repair shop in the state of Oregon, and their technicians undergo extensive training to ensure that all repairs meet Audi’s standards. Other certifications include all Volkswagen, Volvo, and Toyota vehicles, and their technicians continue to complete rigorous training and inspections with these manufactures to ensure that all repairs are done in accordance with safety standards.

Their mission is to provide consistent quality, fair-pricing and unsurpassed customer service, and they have a fleet of 25 free loaner cars for their customers. In an effort to give back to their local community, they partner with various local charities in addition to Recycled Rides, and participate in events for the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Hillsboro School district schools, the City of Beaverton Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce. They’re also a proud sponsor of Glencoe High School Athletics and are I-Car Gold certified.

The Precision Body & Paint facilities also do their part to be environmentally friendly and only utilize water born paint, in addition to recycling used antifreeze, Freon, motor oil, paint thinners and other waste materials.

Which WURTH products are their favorites? “Number One would be the NON-SAG Seam Sealer”, stated Customer Service Manager Julie Nimmo, “But we use a lot of WURTH products – Fix All, hardware, bulbs, Self-Etch Primer, Cavity Wax, Rubber Care and Rost Off would just name a few.”

You can find them on their Facebook fan page, and on their website at  http://www.precisionfirst.com/

An insurance trade group is challenging the constitutionality of the Rhode Island “Anti-Steering Act”, which states that an insurance company cannot recommend a particular auto repair or auto body shop after an accident.

According to the state’s 1997 Anti-Steering Act, “The insured or claimant shall be promptly informed by the insurer of his or her free choice in the selection of an auto body repair shop. Once the insured or claimant has advised the insurer that an auto body repair shop has been selected, the insurer may not recommend that a different auto body repair shop be selected to repair the automobile.”

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), which represents over 1,000 insurance companies, believes that when the insurance company is limited and isn’t able to give their customers information they want and need, it violates the 14th amendment and interferes with “commercial free speech.”  They also claim that the ban “interferes with the ability of the insurer not only to communicate with claimants generally, but also to communicate with their customers regarding repair options and benefits that they have paid for through insurance premiums, thereby unconstitutionally prohibiting truthful commercial speech related to a lawful activity.”

Whether the Anti-Steering Act will be retained or not remains to be seen.  A solution that would prevent insurance companies from limiting consumers free choices of repair shops that would also give them the ability to get accurate information from their insurance companies when they need it has not been determined.

Other References and Resources

Courthouse News

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/03/09/34763.htm   

RI Insurance Bulletin Number 2004-2

http://www.dbr.state.ri.us/documents/news/insurance/InsuranceBulletin2004-2.pdf

In one of our recent posts, Nine Ways to Keep Your Customers Coming Back, we covered the basics in establishing customer loyalty. Clean reception area, friendly staff, great service… all things that can make your shop stand out in your community. And all things that create the positive experience that keeps customers coming back for more (not to mention telling their friends to come along, too).

If you’re an auto service or repair shop owner, you know that the way customers perceive your business is key to building solid relationships and beating out the competition. Creating a positive customer experience is just as important as providing the quality repairs your customers expect. These days, the customer experience doesn’t end when the car drives away from the shop. In fact, in some cases it doesn’t even begin when they get to the shop. Successful shop owners know that more and more, the customer experience begins here. Online. With limited time and resources, one of the simplest ways to provide the service and convenience your customers expect is by having a website. Even if it’s just one page (though more would be better), having a presence on the world wide web will provide you with more opportunities for enhancing your local exposure to a larger customer base.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans go online to research products and services they are considering purchasing, according to a survey released in September, 2010 by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. That’s up from 49 percent in 2004. Keep in mind, that’s 58 percent of AMERICANS. Not Internet users. That’s nearly 180 MILLION people, based on 2010 census numbers.  If you don’t have a website, that’s a huge, untapped audience that you may be missing out on.

An effective website doesn’t have to cost a fortune these days . GoDaddy.com (the site Danica Patrick made famous) is offering domain names for as little as $12 a year. Throw in the hosting costs, which can be as little as $36 a year, and you could make a significant impact on your customer base for as little as $50 a year.  And most shop owners find that they get their return on investment quickly, since websites keep you engaged with your customers and double as an effective way to advertise your business and generate more clients.They don’t have to be a huge, daily undertaking, either. Even if you simply put up a few pages containing key information about your business, you’re way ahead of the game.

Nowadays, customers live in a world where they can turn to the internet for information, to make decisions, to do their banking, or to make purchases. Imagine the image your shop would have if your customers could book their service appointments online, view frequently asked questions, or print out coupons for their next visit.

Here are just a few ways you can put your website to work for your auto shop:

·         Collect Emails from your website for people to subscribe to newsletters or service reminders

·         Engage your customers with special service discounts or holiday promotions

·         Enable more new customers to find you when they’re searching for a service shop in your area on the internet (this provides more opportunities than you may think – more on this in a future blog post)

·         Retain a professional image and be able to communicate with your customers online

·         Process requests right away by including a service request form on your website

·         Save money on printing and postage costs by using your website as a catalog for your services

·         Allow your customers to download invoices or service estimates

·         If you sell products at your shop, you can offer them online

·         Set up email addresses specific to your web domain name to further strengthen your shop’s image

·         Gather important information by using online forms and surveys

Even if you incorporate just three, two or… even none of these suggestions – simply having an online presence can cost you little and offer you significant returns. See you online!

Additional Resources and References

Pew Internet Research – Online Product Research

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Online-Product-Research.aspx

Wikipedia – 2010 Census

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_Census

If you run an auto body shop or an auto repair shop, you know that inventory management can be a daunting task at times. But managing inventory wisely is essential to profitability, especially when it comes to collision repair. It can be difficult to receive payment from your insurance partners if everything isn’t documented on your invoices, which is why small parts can make a big difference in the long run.

If you’re wondering how much of a difference small parts can make, take the number of vehicles repaired in your shop each month, and multiply that by the average cost of supply items that generally don’t get documented, like body clips, fasteners, connectors or chemicals.

Here’s an example. If your shop repairs 30 vehicles a month, and the average cost of your small supply items per vehicle are $40, including them on your invoices means an extra $1,200 in monthly profit. Multiply that by 12 and you’ve got an additional $14,400 in profit for the year.

Are you thinking that this sounds good in theory, but would never work with the inventory nightmare you’ve got on your hands? Cleaning up this mess isn’t as hard as you think. You can easily get a handle on inventory control without making more work for everyone by using an inventory management system that tracks billable parts, and generates itemized invoices for you to provide to your customers and insurance partners.

An inventory management system includes a scanner, a clip assortment and front office software. It has the ability to track parts from the time they come into the shop, through the time they’re in the technician’s hands, and when the vehicle leaves the shop. Now you’ve got improved inventory control and you always have what you need on hand.

Using a system like this also allows you to monitor the products and tools your technicians are using to repair damaged vehicles. You can see which parts technicians use to complete orders, track the tool usage by each technician, and easily spot potential problems. Shops utilizing this technology have been able to save over $20,000 annually or more.

Using an inventory management system like WURTH SIS  allows your technicians to scan WURTH products, and products from other vendors required for vehicle repair. Tracking all of your billable parts, like adhesives, pads, detailing supplies, paints, fasteners, wiper blades, drill bits, bulbs, fluids and tire valves, is your key to higher profits.

Getting an inventory management system like SIS started is easy. Your WURTH representative will come in, re-organize your cabinets, install everything, and regularly maintain the system. There’s also a support line for questions or immediate needs.

So, if you’re looking to boost your profits this year, an inventory management system is a win-win for you and your customers. It will allow you to make money, reduce loss and really get a handle on how your billable items and tools are being used.

For more information on inventory management systems or WURTH SIS, call 800-987-8487, or visit www.wurthsis.com.

And a Look at Today’s Non-Lead Wheel Weight Alternatives

It’s an undeniable sign of the times. Going green is gaining more popularity every day, and many auto service and collision repair shops are making strides towards becoming environmentally friendly – for the earth and for their businesses. In the auto service industry, there are many easy ways to keep a green shop. But some of the most dangerous things to our environment are the little things we may not always think about, like lead wheel weights. You may still use them or have them in your storage bins. Your customers may never think about them, or may not even know they have lead wheel weights. But many auto industry professionals know the reality – they represent one of the largest unregulated uses of lead in consumer products today.

So, how large is it? Let’s consider some rough numbers. If there are more than 200 million vehicles on the nation’s roadways, AND 16 million new autos are produced annually in the United States, AND many of these vehicles have an average of 4.5 ounces of lead clipped to their tires, there’s no denying that these little wheel weights are becoming a big problem, especially when they get loose and fall off of their vehicles. Then they’re in the environment, often getting washed into storm systems, getting mixed in with waterways, and contaminating our drinking water. Or they’re gathered up during street cleaning processes and dumped in landfills.

So, what’s being done? In response to many years of calls for regulations for lead wheel weights, the EPA has launched the National Lead Free Wheel Weight Initiative which is designed to educate people and get them to voluntarily move to lead alterative wheel weights. A few states already have legislation in place banning lead wheel weights entirely. California is one of them, and had estimated up to 500,000 pounds of lead introduced from lost lead wheel weights. These types of lead weights have also been banned in the EU since 2005.

Currently the EPA’s program is only voluntary, but it is strongly urging every auto shop that is using lead wheel weights to make the change to alternative metal weights. The EPA has been working with manufacturers and received commitments from many big name companies to make the switch in their factories.

So, what can you do? Consider making the change for your shop. Alternative wheel weights are being made out of steel and zinc, and offer the same quality as the traditional lead weights without sacrificing retention and corrosion resistance. As more people begin to take notice, you may find that your customers will start requesting alternatives to lead.

Steel Wheel Weights

Steel wheel weights are considered to be a great alternative to lead. They’re biodegradable, and their technology is improving every day. Nowadays, they have the same functionality, appearance and fit characteristics as the conventional ones. They’re designed and produced for cars with steel or alloy wheels, and their coating protects against corrosion.

But not all steel wheel weights are created equal – there are varying levels of quality out there. For OEM quality wheel weights, take a look at WURTH USA’s Greenline. They have a full line of steel wheel weights that include features such as rounded clip ends for scratchless installation, a superior coating for corrosion resistance, and an exact fit to rim contours for the best retention.

If you prefer adhesive wheel weights on a roll to peel off the amount you need, WURTH USA wheel weights have powder-coated surfaces and dark adhesive tape that can withstand temperatures up to 356 degrees. If you’re thinking of trying them out, there’s a sale on non-lead wheel weight starter packages going on through January 31st.

Why Coated Wheel Weights Are Worth It

Yes, coated wheel weights are more expensive. But if your customers consider the total cost over time, and factor in the cost of replacing rusted and corroded rims from the oxidation of dissimilar metals, it may end up being cheaper to make the investment in the long run.

Wheel Weight Recycling

Many of your aftermarket suppliers provide wheel weight recycling programs. Ask your WURTH USA sales representative about it. Most auto shop managers who take advantage of WURTH USA’s wheel weight recycling service see increased shop productivity and reduced downtime, because the reps take care of inventory restocking, labeling and organization in addition to recycling used wheel weights. If you want to keep your wheel balancing equipment free of discarded weights, and ensure that used product doesn’t get reinstalled on one of your customer’s vehicles, this is program is definitely worth looking into.

So, if you’re looking for more ways to go green in 2011 and you haven’t already made these changes, using lead-free wheel weights is another easy to make your shop more environmentally friendly.

For more information on lead-free wheel weights and wheel weight recycling programs, call 800-987-8487, or visit http://www.wurthgreenline.com.

Additional References and Resources

National Lead Free Wheel Weight Initiative (NLFWWI)

http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastemin/nlfwwi.htm

Lead-Free Wheels.Org

http://www.leadfreewheels.org

Lead-Free States

http://www.wurthgreenline.com/wheel%20weight%20states.html

Wiki Answers

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_cars_are_currently_in_the_US