Sell Value and Not Price

Starting and running a mobile oil change business for six years taught me how to become a good salesmen. I had to learn quickly how to interact with people, build rapport, win their trust and close the deal.

I had to learn how to motivate myself to make cold calls, follow up, schedule meetings with fleet managers and figure out hot selling points that would push them to buy into our service.

Unless you are already good friends with a fleet managers of a gigantic company then you will have to do the exact same thing.

But, you must not fall into the trap that I did and many others do as well: selling on price.

Your job is not to beat Sears, Midas, Wal-Mart or Jiffy Lube. They simply have prices that you cannot compete with. They do not make any money off oil changes (even though they buy all their oil and filters in bulk) and are not trying to.

Their sole focus is to get customers in with cheap oil change prices and then sell them on more profitable additional services. The actual oil change would be what is referred to as a loss leader.

The assumption is that if you get a customer in for a $19.99 oil change you will be able to push him or her belts, transmission flushes, light bulb replacements, windshield wipers, tire rotations, breaks and so forth. How many people actual walk out of a quick lube with a $19.99 bill? Very few. Most of the time its closer to $130.

I have a buddy who is the owner of a mobile auto glass company and he tells me that his industry is no different. Many of his competitors offer "free windshield chip repair" so that they can eventually talk the customer into replacing his or her whole window for $250.

What's more is that every quick lube is doing mass volume. A Jiffy Lube on a bad day services 60 vehicles. The typical owner-operated mobile oil change van cannot come near that number.

So, you can understand why we cannot sell on price! We will always loose to the bigger guys who can offer our same service at much cheaper prices because they not only get items in bulk but they make up for slim margins by doing a large amount of volume.

Does that mean we are doomed? Do we even stand a chance? Should I just pack my bags and get a 9-5 job?

Absolutely not! You just have to change your outlook on who you are and what you provide.

You are a premium service that caters to fleets or high end individuals who value their time and want things done as seamless as possible.

Your company offers value and convenience and those two things cost more money.

Why try to beat those bigger companies on price. Not only will they surely beat you but you will not make any money. And, isn't that why we are in this business?

When talking to potential customers it is important that you talk about features and benefits. Tell them how your service will make their life easier.

Ask them what they are doing now and how they like it. Has a vehicle ever needed premature repairs because one of the employees failed to get the scheduled maintained taken care of.

Is it a royal pain to have a truck out of service for several oils to get work done it? Do they like the idea of having to pay an employee 1-2 hrs of company time to bring vehicles to the nearest quick lube?

You need to paint that mental picture to the fleet manager of him coming to work on Monday and knowing all his vehicles in the lot have been serviced and are ready to roll. Emphasize to him that once you put him on a quarterly schedule your company will come out like clockwork and make sure all the fleet cars and trucks taken care of.

Sell value, sell convenience, sell competence, sell yourself but do not sell on price.

Will they ask you about price? Yes, they will. But if the value isn't there then the price does not matter anyway.

If you have sold your service properly then charging 20-30% more than the bigger guys will not seem expensive. It will seem cheap.

Tell me that your service is personalized and tailored to meet the needs of each company you service. If something goes wrong then you will be out that day to fix it.

Have available your garage keepers insurance policy, your general liability insurance policy, your business license and references. This will make you look really legit and make it a no brainier for a fleet manager to do business with you. Put all these things in a professional binder so that you can flip to them with ease. He or she will not be expecting this and will knock their socks off.

Most people will have the impression that you are a "mickey mouse operation" doing business out of the back of an old beat up truck. That is the image they have in their mind. It was always my first goal to dispel that myth.

You may already do this but make sure you have a polo shirt with your company's logo clearly on it. Tuck your shirt in and wear a belt. Shave. Be clean cut. Do not look rough. Look business like. It might be a good idea to buy a little tool kit from Home Depot and wear it on the side of your belt. Image is everything. I know you work on cars but you do not want to show up as a greasy mechanic with dirty hands and oil all over your clothes.

Sell the image and the service. Tell them how your service will benefit them. Stay away from trying to win on price. That is foolish. That is like an American company trying to produce something that can be made 10x cheaper in China. In fact, many companies tried that and they failed.

Do not get sucked into offering $19.99 oil changes. You will barely make $6 an oil change and will be out of business before you know it.

Target fleets. They will provide you with your volume. There is not enough time in the day to go to ten different houses or parking lots and do ten different cars. You want to do multiple vehicles at one location.

There are people making over $100,000 in this business. I know one guy who is making close to $200,000 a year doing this so it is possible. Before I quit both me and my best friend John were each making $70,000 a year doing this so it is possible. But you will barely make $5,000 a year if you try to compete with Wal-Mart.

Grow Your Mobile Oil Change Business With Facebook Pages

If you own a mobile oil change and want to get more business then you need to read this post.

We have found that Facebook can be harnessed to successfully grow your mobile oil change business like you never imagined.
No matter if your goal is to get more individuals or the prized fleets you can use this social network to do it.

Take a look at the Mobile Pit Stop of Alaska Facebook page.

Its 2011 now and the people who will stay in business are the people who stay current on the latest trends and use the Internet, along with social media to its biggest advantage.


The king of social media is Facebook! Keep in mind I also do SEO (mainly in the wintertime). The last couple years I have been "Google, Google, Google" but Facebook allows you to somewhat bypass them.

If you are like me you probably were highly skeptical of the whole Myspace, Twitter, Linkedln or Facebook craze. They all seem to appear out of nowhere, consume everyone's life and then die a quick death.

And if that is so, how in the heck will Facebook help me get more customers? more fleet accounts? more companies to give me shot at helping them out?

That is exactly what I'm going to explain.

The key is to use these "trends" while they are hot. Sure they may go out of style in a couple years but in the meantime you have used it to build your clientele base.

And right now the big dog out their is Mark Zuckerberg's brainchild (assuming you all know how he is).

Here are the numbers. Facebook has 500 million users. Out of that number 132 million (the last time I checked) of those people live within the US. I did the calculations and that equals to be 42% of our population.

That's a huge section of people who are on one website.

Whats more, unlike MySpace this particular social network got pass the whole "tennie-bopper" crowd. Every age, race and social class uses it. You are just as likely to find a 65 year old with a Facebook account as you would an eighteen-year-old.

To the point, what does this mean for you? Included in the people who have Facebook accounts are business owners, fleet managers and employees are work for companies with lots of vehicles.

Whats more, many of these people have daily access to a computer and check their FB accounts several times throughout the day.

They are always on it! Many of them shouldn't be, they should be working, but they are.

You have a captive audience. You just need to find a way to catch them.

Its crucial you set up a Facebook page for your mobile oil change company. Its does not take long.

That's not the only thing. Your typical Facebook page (aka Facebook fanpage) looks plain, dull and just like a user account. Here is where you need to invest some money into your business.

Its absolutely critical to look bigger than you are. You are well aware of branding and education challenges mobile oil changes businesses face. People do not think we are legit.

You need to have a professional Facebook page with custom tabs and a custom avatar created.

Here is the Facebook page for us.

Over the past several months I have learned FBML and have started a small FB page creation business on the side. I took some specialized classes in Oregon and now have the skills to make killer Facebook pages.

I am offering these services for $495 for the first 20 mobile oil change operators who reads my blog and sends me an e-mail. This special rate is for a unique Facebook page, much like the one I made for myself. I usually charge $997 for this service so this is a huge price break and only one I am willing to do for other mobile oil change business owners like myself.

It will come with everything you see on there: a custom profile pic (aka avatar), a cool Welcome tab, a Services tab, initial Wall posts, content generation if you need it and support with your advertising.

E-mail me at info@fanpagemogul for more specifics.

You can pay via paypal. I guarantee you will be happy with the work.

After you make your page you can then advertise on Facebook. Its really cheap! $50 will get you over 100 targeted fans in your area.

You can target men or woman in your city within a certain age bracket. I promise you, fleet managers will stumble accords your Facebook page and want more information.

Even if they do not want your service now you can still market to them by writing things on your wall which will go to them. Imagine having several hundred fans around town. Everything you write about your company goes on their wall which is seen by all their friends.

Again, I am offering to make any mobile oil change their very own unique Facebook page with graphics, links to their website, videos and we can make it so that a person has to like to page to see the content.

I understand what it takes for a mobile oil change business to be successful and I am telling you if you are not using this social media tool you are missing out. If they had Facebook available back in 2004 when I first started who knows how quickly we could have grown the business. We could have surpassed radio, newspaper, television and yellow page advertising.

Send me an e-mail at info@fanpagemogul.com for a free quote. I will make the Facebook page code, install it for you and make minor updates if need be. Hurry, after the first 20 people e-mail me I am raising the price.

Here is a list of some other tabs I have made for other businesses.

This is an opportunity you want to take advantage of. I have a bunch of loyal followers and I would not post something like this if I did not believe it would work.

Most Profitable Vehicle For An Mobile Oil Change Operator

I talked about this in a previous post back in April of 2009 but its worth writing about again.

When it comes to making money off oil changes there is no vehicle I like more than those Diesel Cabovers. They are the most profitable truck you can perform an change oil change on as far as I am concerned.


No other vehicle I have come across gives me more money and less headaches for my time.

Sure, there are other much bigger vehicles that pay a lot more. But they take more time, are more difficult to work on and can be a real pain in the butt.

I have timed it and an Isuzu NPR Diesel takes me 15-20 minutes to do an oil change on. Every once and a while, when conditions are perfect, I have been able to do them in approximately 10 minutes (with two people doing multiple jobs). The reason being is that everything is easy and very accessible to get to.

I cannot praise the makers of this type of vehicle enough. Other should take note and do the same (they don't want to make their vehicles easy to work on).

All you have to do is:

1. Lift the cab up (which is the hardest part of the job as it can be heavy)
2. Unscrew the drain pan plug, which is pointing downward, and let the oil come out. It will usually be a 16 mm. Then tighten the screw
   
3. Unscrew the big round filter which will be on the right hand side of the engine. Again, very easy to get to. Pour some oil in the filter new filter and screw it back on.
4. Refill the vehicle back with fresh oil and check fluids.

I make anywhere from $60-$80 net off each one. There is no reason why you cannot do the same.

Some specifics:

• Engine holds 16 quarts of 15W-40
• Oil Filter: WIX 57521 (Napa 7521) (Cost Approx. $20)
• Newer models have no grease fitting. Older ones have two.
• Let the vehicle run for 10 minutes if its cold or the oil will take forever to drain
  

I love it when a fleet has several of these things. A smile washes over my face if I am fortunate enough to get them. No tweaking my back, no headaches and no surprises.

The gas ones are just as easy to do but they do not pay as much. You can charge a little more than you would standard passenger vehicle but not much more. They have a GM engine and will take a PO-167, PZ-48 or a PZ-5. Most gas Cabovers will take six quarts of 5W-30 but the newer ones coming out take five.

Try to find as many of these vehicles as you can. They are worth your time so actively search them out.

You want to get as many easy diesel vehicles as your possibly can so you can maximize profitability while not wearing yourself out at the same time.

Oil Change Prices for Oil Can Henrys

I am a firm believer in duplicating successful businesses and not attempting to re-invent the wheel if possible.

While the mobile oil change business serves an entirely different niche than the fixed quick lube locations they still offer the same services and therefore I would recommend you adjust your prices to meet theirs.

Who is "theirs" exactly?

The leaders in the the oil change industry.

Where I live it would be Jiffy Lube and Oil Can Henrys. I do not pay attention to anyone else. Whatever they make their prices is what I would make mine.

Here is a price list for the services of Oil Can Henrys in the Pacific Northwest. They may be slightly different depending on where you live but they will not be too far off. Keep in mind that oil change prices are based on five quarts and the oil used at this particular place is Castrol.

Conventional Oil Change $38.99
High Mileage Oil Change $58.99
Synthetic Oil Change $78.99
Synthetic Blend Oil Change $58.99

Cooling System Flush (Coolant Exchange) $89.99
Automatic Transmission Flush (up to 14 quarts) $119.00
Power Steering Flush $84.99
Engine Flush (removes gunk from your engine) $59.99

Fuel Filter Replacement $59.99 and up
Gear Box Service $49.99 (extra charge for synthetic and additives)
Cabin Air Filter $44.99 and up
Air Filter Replacement $12.99 and up
Serpentine Belt Replacement $79.99
Wiper Blade Replacement $12.99 each
Wight Bulb Replacement $7.99 and up installed
Additives and Treatments $13.99 and up

Now one think that I really like about Oil Can Henrys is that they offer a slew of packages. Customers like options and this particular fixed location offers just that. They have five "Value Packages" for a person to choose from that gives him or here a discount because he is purchasing multiple services.

For instance for $146.98 you can get the "Value Package 3." This combines a full service conventional oil change and automatic transmission flush in one price. The customer ends up saving $12 versus if he bought those services separately.

So what is my point? what am I getting at?

I am recommending that mobile oil change operators do two things.

1. Set your prices where Jiffy Lube and Oil Can Henrys set theirs. Go an get an oil change at one of these places. It will not be that expensive and see what they process is. Write down all of the prices and put your prices where theirs are. These places specialize in oil changes, have done extensive market research, and usually charge what the market will bear for these services. Do not base your prices on Wal Mart, Sears, or Midas! I view those places as something totally different altogether.
2. Offer value packages. Customers love these things. Have at least three of them. When I was at Oil Can Henrys most people picked a value package. Individuals like myself love the idea of being able to get several services taken care of at once and save money on them at the same time. Give the customer an incentive, via discounts, but you do not have to go overboard on them. Make it so that they save anywhere from $5-$20 by choosing one of your value packages.

For your mobile oil change business to succeed you need to be creative. Operators with no imagination will not stay in business for long. Nevertheless, when it comes to pricing these companies know what can be charged and you will do well to follow them closely.

Be Professional in Everything You Do

When it comes to owning a mobile oil change business it is imperative that you be professional in everything you do.

From your van, oil change stickers, clothing, and personal appearance you need to have a clean and well kept look.

Why do I harp on this so much? Its because this industry has a bad perception.

When you tell someone you have an oil change business here is what they are thinking: a grease money coming to my home or business in a truck with some oil pans on the back.

Many of my clients were worried that we were going to spill oil in their parking lot, that we were not insured, or that we were not able to handle their vehicles.

People like doing business with legitimate companies. People feel comfortable spending money with professional businesses.

You want to close a giant fleet account? If you walk into an office or company neatly dressed, your shirt tucked in, a nice portfolio of clients you already service, and your insurance information (they love it when you have this!!) then you will have a high chance of closing the deal. The key is not to look mickey mouse.

Mobile companies of any kind have a hard time of getting respect. They do not have a fancy office, no lobby, no cash register, and no offices. Its a person operating a business from a vehicle. You may have a warehouse or office but that is not what the customer sees.

If you want your mobile oil change business to be respected then you need to go out of your way to make it look like an established and respectable company. Have business cards, a nice oil change van, receipts with your logo on them (I print them out), and uniforms with your logo on it.

Branding is very difficult with mobile quick lube companies and it takes work. Jiffy Lube, Sears, Oil Can Henrys, and all the other major quick lubes not only have large signs that thousands of people pass by every day but they spend millions of dollars sponsoring race car drivers and other products.

They have become a household name not matter if they are sometimes unethical or not (some are and some are not). People feel comfortable going to them even though most quick lubes are run by a bunch of kids getting paid less than $10.00 an hour.

Be professional at all times. You want to get the large fleet accounts, charge premium prices, and have a good name in the area then act like it. Many of you are but I have seen many mobile oil change business owners operate their businesses in a very unprofessional manner.

They act like your typical "ma and pa" operation and I hate that! When you are a moms and pops operation you get mom and pops prices and customers.

The Jiffy Lube Approach to Oil Changes

To all mobile oil change business owners: this is how Jiffy Lube makes money. Copying their system in the best way you can will make you the most amount of money. Just do it in a more honest way.

An individual is driving and sees that they are 2,000 miles overdo on their oil change. They have been meaning to get it done but it has always slipped their minds. Its Saturday now and he or she is going shopping at Costco. Oh, how convenient! A Jiffy Lube is right there.

They pull in and are immediately escorted to the lobby. Nobody talks about price or what service they want, yet!

The lobby is filled with tea, cheap coffee, a soda machine, and a overhead television with usually a news channel on.

The person waits for about 10-15 minutes depending on how busy the place is. Sometimes it could be as much as 30 minutes before their name is called.

His or her name is called and they go into the bay. Now here is where money is lost or gained!

The service technician proceeds to tell the client that the car is in desperate need of the following items:

• coolant exchange
• transmission service
• air filter replacement
  
• serpentine belt replacement
• fuel filter replacement
• windshield wiper replacement
• headlights or taillights bulb replacement
• gear box or transaxle fluid replacement
• fuel injector cleaning service
• engine clean out
• cabin air filter replacement

It is his job to push one or two of those services. Sometimes he will get greedy and try to push them all yet sometimes it can backfire so he has to be careful. In half the Jiffy Lube stores the service technicians station is in the lobby. This is advantageous because with everyone watching the person does not want to look like a fool. The chances of him or her saying "yes" is greater because of "peer pressure." When the station is in the bay and nobody is around its easier for a person to say "no."

After he has either secured additional services or not the person will then be asked what oil change he or she wants. Conventional, synthetic blend, or synthetic are the options followed by the desired weight. No prices are given unless the individual asks for them. Sometimes there is a price list in the lobby and sometimes there is not.

Most people never leave Jiffy Lube or any other quick lube company without paying a $60-$120 bill. These places make little to no money off the actual oil changes. Its the additional services that allow them to make a profit.

Now what does this have to do with a mobile oil change business?

Like Jiffy Lube mobile operators need additional services as well. True, we make more money off oil changes due to having a significant less amount of overhead.

But we still need additional services. Its a part of this business. Just do not go overboard on it. Air filters and fuel filters are the easiest ones to push and make vehicles will need them.

Additionally, do not talk about price too much. If they ask tell them but do not advertise your prices all over the place. You should have standard prices and they should be based on what the market bears in your area. Some parts of the country demand less and that's just the way it goes.

Your ticket average needs to be $60 per vehicle for you to stay in business. How you really clean up is when you can have that kind of ticket average and do at least ten cars in a row. That is why mobile oil changes should just focus on fleets and not single cars or trucks.

If you are not very good at it you will have to transform yourself into a salesman. Many automotive techs are not good at talking to and conveying information to their customers. The better you are able to articulate the service you want to do to their vehicle, why it needs to be done, and the benefits they will experience to having it done the better chance they will agree to it. Also the better you look the better chance you will have. Be clean cut, nicely shaven, have your shirt tucked in, and never appear as a typical "grease monkey." Individuals feel more comfortable with the professional look. I know you are working underneath cars and that's why you should have a pair of coveralls and wear gloves when you are doing so. But when you are talking to customers you should be dresses in a polo shirt with your logo on it, some jeans or dark khakis, and a belt. Think my standards are high? I always got my customers to say yes because of it.

Why Every Mobile Oil Change Operator Should Just Do Fleets

One of the main reasons why people do not make money in the mobile oil change business is because they target the wrong kind of business. When me and my uncle started our business back in 2004 we we sold on doing ten oil changes at day at $49.99. It was a special synthetic called Oil Extreme, which to this day I think is some good stuff, and our net profit was just a little under $30 once you included not only the price of the product but fuel, paper towels, invoices, and other misc items.

If we would have stayed with that model we would have been out of business. We quickly figured out that its all about fleets. The individual customer just does not pay. You risk lawsuits, annoyances, cheap people, and tons of hassle for peanuts. Those things I just mentioned are fine when you are being well compensated for your trouble but when you go through all those things and just make $20-$40. That's small time baby stuff.

You want your mobile oil change business to be a lot like Jiffy Lube. One car or truck after the other as fast as possible. Line a row of vehicles up and get to it. If you can do at least ten in a row you are doing good. Even if you were to make just $20 off each vehicle when you can knock them out in just ten to fifteen minutes you are doing great. That's at least $80 an hour. And there are bound to be some add ons so you will easily be at the $100 an hour mark.

Personally I am a huge fan of heavy diesel vehicles for many good reasons. They pay more money and usually have more space underneath them to operate. These trucks just take more oil and larger filters. That is the only catch and because of that they are considered "harder." A newer Toyota Corolla is harder to do an oil change on than a diesel Isuzu Cabover and yet your profit is 2-3 times as much. Get a row of those vehicles and you will have a pretty nice day :)

Hopefully I have been convincing enough. Ditch the individuals. They are not worth your trouble and I have heard people being sued by them. Many times these individuals have problems with their car, either knowingly or unknowingly, and will call you out for a simple oil change. You will complete their car and then something will go wrong. Guess who they will blame: your oil change company. "It was working before you touched it," many will say. And either you will have to fight them and risk bad press or just pay for the repairs out of your own pocket. Not work $20-$30 at all!

Reviews from Oil Change Advice Readers

Sorry I have not made a post in a while. I own over twenty-five blogs and websites that I have to update on a regular basis and this blog, though I love it, makes me nothing. So unfortunately it is at the lower end of my priority totem pole at times.

I am trying to change that and plan to be spending more time on this blog I started over a year ago to inform and educated potential and future mobile oil change business owners. If I had access to a blog like this when I first started off me and my uncle would not have made the mistakes we did that really cost us. Nevertheless, we were always in the black so we did do something right.

Okay, I need everyone's help!

I am trying to get the the top of Google for "mobile oil change" and to do that I need everyone who has a blog or website to write me a review with a link to my website.

All someone has to do is read this blog and he will quickly find out that my blog is the most comprehensive and honest "mobile oil change" related website on the web and it should be the first thing people see when that term is entered in.

Your Reward for Helping

I will give a free 30 minute phone consultation to anyone who writes a review of my blog on their website. Just make sure their is a back link to my website and if you can make the anchor text "mobile change change."

With your help we can make this blog the most popular mobile change website on the net and everyone can benefit.

After you have put my link/ review on your website please e-mail me at wbarras@ewssales.com and let me know where I can find it and we can schedule your phone call.

I am offering this till the end of May 2010.

Be looking out for my next post! I was doing some reconnaissance work and went to Oil Can Henrys to get an oil change two weeks ago. It was an eye opening experience.

Here is something I already knew but now I am really sure it is true: big profits in this business are not made from oil changes!!!!

Oil Change Fleets

I know a lot of you all are struggling out there. I know how it is. The first two to three years I was in business I do not think I made a dime.

Here is an end of the year treat you might appreciate. I am going to give you a list of some fleets you might want to target. I cannot give you some of my top accounts. First, that would be suicide. My business partner John would kill me. You could open up a mobile oil change business in the same city as me and take all my customers. Good luck in dealing with the winter though. Second, some of my top accounts are not nationwide and would not help you anyway.

I am going to start with Best Buy's Geek Squad vehicles and also their Magnolia home theater install E-350 trucks.

In most cities I have been to I have noticed that they usually have several Volkswagen Jettas for their Geek Squad division, which all take synthetic by the way, and they have several E-350 install trucks for their home theater section.

I believe you have to have an account with Wheels, which is a fleet management system they use for some reason, and its a pain to deal with them. Plus, they take 10% of the gross.

To be honest this was a good account I used to have but I dropped it because I got tired of dealing with fleet management systems after I had all the business I could handle. It was just more of a pain dealing with them when I didn't need the money anymore. Now, when I get done with a job I like to submit the invoice and get a check in the mail no more than three weeks in the future. Anything more is not worth it.

The second company you may want to try is Schucks, O'Reiley, Checker, Kragen, or Murray Auto Parts, all of which are owned by CSK Auto. Each store usually have a couple Ford Ranger parts vehicle that will come due for oil changes fairly fast. They are on the road all day.

Again, for this company you are going to have to deal with a fleet management company. The one that deals with CSK is ARI Automotive. Make certain that you get the coupon from their coupon book in the glove box that corresponds with the oil change interval. It will make things go a lot faster.

The next company you want to try is Staples. Bet you never thought of these guys. I still have them today but I am going to tell you that they are a pain in the butt. They take forever to pay and can be an absolute pain to deal with. They bought out Corporate Express last June so a lot of locations have quite a few vehicles. They have mostly the Workhorse supply vehicles but also have several Isuzu Cabovers and large trucks as well. You may have to start out cheap to get them but after a while I would try to push them synthetic because they only have to get an oil change two times a year versus 3-4 which they will not end up doing and have vehicles 6,000 miles overdue. In my city there are about 12-15 vehicles and there is no more than 300,000 people who live in Anchorage so you can expect your city to have two or three times that number.

I am not going to go into details but you really want to talk to the managers of moving companies. They are going to be hard to get, and most of the time have their own maintenance department, but when you get them they are good. Be prepared to know what you are doing as far as diesels go. That is what they have.

The next company you want to try is the armored companies in your area. Most of them have the big International trucks and these vehicles are on the road from morning till night. Its nothing for these vehicles to average 6,000 miles every month. And if they go by the hours, forget about it! These armored trucks never cut off. The first couple times you do an oil change for these guys, if you can swing the account, be prepared to have employees with shotguns and handguns in their hands. Its policy. The first three times we did an oil change at their yard we had two guys stationed there with guns drawn the whole time. But its a huge pain for these companies to get their trucks in so you are providing a huge service to them.

Other than that try banks, credit unions, distribution companies (ie. fruits, vegetables, bread, ice cream, cookies, etc)

I cannot emphasize enough that you need to have a garage keepers policy of 1,000,000 aggregate and show that to a prospective client when you see them. This will put you above the rest. It will cost you $1,700 per year but you need it for yourself and its something that any legitimate company has. This is one of the first things I show when I talk to a new customer. I want him to know that I'm not a mickey mouse operation that has oil pans in my back truck. I hope nothing goes wrong but if it does I am more than covered. If you cannot afford this than you did not have enough money to start this business. Legitimate companies like to do business with other legitimate companies.

If you need to know which equipment you should start out with read a former post of mine about the best oil change equipment to purchase.

And if you need some sales advice on how to get prospective oil change customers you should definately read this. I think I outlined with fairly well.

Remember that you are selling a premium service and you do nobody a favor, including yourself, but slashing your prices to compete where you make no money. The is the number 1 mistake I see. You hurt yourself and the rest of us. How can you pay your bills on $15 oil changes.

Sure you might get a lot of customers at first but as soon as you raise your prices they will go to Sears or Midas for a $10.00 oil change (and end up getting robbed in the process I might add when they end up with a $400 brake job they did not need). Bottom feeders looking for deals with always be bottom feeders. You are looking for clients be it fleets or individual customers who do not mind paying for decent service. You get what you pay for. Don't be a joke!

You can get 100s of customers tomorrow if you charge cheap cheap oil changes but you will not be able to pay your mortgage, truck note, insurance, taxes, utility bills, accounting costs, printing fees, or yourself if you do.

On a side note I would highly recommend you invest in a waste oil furance when you get some extra cash. If you have a boiler set up you can also get get a waste oil boiler. I purchased mime from Nueraheat which is a distributor of Energy Logic waste oil burners in the northwest.

My business partner John purchased one of these and he heats his whole house for free. Even in the middle of the winter when it is -20 degrees and all of his neighbors have $350 heating bills his natural gas bill is $10.00. Not a bad investment. If you have a mobile oil change business you will most likely have an abundance of used motor oil so instead of giving it away or paying to get rid of it I would strongly recommend you turn it into free heat.

Same Business Mistakes

What is it with people. I set up this blog, give people the information, and they keep making the same mistakes.

How many times do I have to say it!

I will say it plainly.

Do not sell your service with price! I will say it again. Do not sell your service on price. This means STOP OFFERING CHEAP OIL CHANGES.

I know what oil + filter cost a person. Its will be a little bit lower or higher in some places but the average cost is $8-12. That is the range. Thats without factoring in your gas and any extra fluids. If you charge $25 for an oil change you may get a customer but you make barely $10. Are you satisfied with $10 an hour. Even if you could do four cars an hour thats $40/hr. Thats nothing. For a real business thats nothing. You can make that working for someone being an electrician.

Do not tell me that you are starting off offering promotional prices. Thats crap! Cheap customers will always be cheap customers. As soon as you raise the price from $25 to the regular price than your customers will leave you.

In the mobile oil change business barely anyone succeeds. They do not make it because usually they undercut their self. They think they are going to beat the quick lubes by charging less. Guess what? The major quick lubes are not making money off regular priced $40 dollar oil changes. They only make money when someone comes out of there with a $150 and higher bill. The oil change industry is not what you think. A lot of money is made off the back end. Its a lot like the car industry.

Only the smart people make it in this industry. True really experienced mechanics are the first to fail. I know how to do general mechanic work but I never even attempt to do it. Actually I hate mechanics. Hate cars to be honest. Isn't that ironic. But I am a businessman. I know how to run a business (I hope at least). The few people I have seen make it know less than me. Some people who made it in this business could barely open up a beer bottle let only change oil when they started. Why? Figure that part out yourself. I have given you hints and read other posts and I think I give away the answer.

Me. I know this business too well like the back of my head which is why I am freely giving away this info. I have tried my best to monetize this blog but with little success. I have 15 blogs and this one makes the least yet this one is the one I love the best. To be honest the mobile oil change business is starting to bore the hell out of me and I really want a way out. I want to try making movies. Its funny because this business was more fun when I was not making a dime than now. I make about $150-$200 per hour and I cannot stand it. Is that crazy? Sometimes I cannot get out out bed because I dread doing this. Is that crazy? The only satisfaction I get from this business is actually really knowing I'm helping some companies out and making them run smoothly though a lot of them do not appreciate it. I, or we, have caught several potential costly things at several companies and warned them to fix them before they became serious issues. I also love the relationships I have built with several people. But the business itself.....That's is why I'm trying to give you all this information. Hopefully you can reach to where I am. Its lonely at the top. I get no satisfaction making great money and my friends working at McDonalds. Really. Thats why I am genuine when I say I hope a few of you actually make money from this business. Region will determine that as well. Sorry, but its the truth. Those who live in Texas, California, Florida, ect will struggle. Competition everything a $10 oil changes on every block. Have fun.

I'm going to go work on my site about the best filled oil radiator heaters.

Oil Change Competition

Whats the first thing you need to think about when you start a mobile oil change company? Well, at this point you most likely have the van. By now, you have the most common oil filters you are going to need. Hopefully you have a professional looking uniform. Business cards are a must. Have a roll of oil change stickers ready to go. You are going to need rhino ramps if you plan to get underneath smaller vehicles. And you are going to need some type of durable mat for catching spills.

If you have all these items than you have everything you need to operate a mobile oil change business. So what next?

You are going to need customers. This is the part that many people have trouble with. And understandably so. There may not be any mobile oil change company in your area and you might think that you do not have any competition but after buying your equipment you will quickly realize that you have a lot of it. Sears, Midas, Jiffy Lube, Wal Mart, K-Mart, and Meineke Car Care are just some of the larger chains out there that you will have to compete with. They are on every corner, every major strip mall, and spend millions of dollars in advertising to get people into their bays.

And here is the other secret that you will realize about all those businesses. The majority of these chains, besides Jiffy Lube, have a model where they bait millions of unsuspecting people into their shops with cheap oil changes, and I mean cheap to the point where they actually loose money, and subsequently find tons of expensive problems (many of them unnecessary or not even there) to scare the customer.

Here are some examples of what you are up against.

Example Oil Change Competition #1

Midas starts to advertise oil changes for $10.00. Now, anyone in any oil business knows that it costs $10-$13 just with any brand name oil and filter to do an average oil change. Even if you have a national account and can get oil for a far lower price than anyone else and can do an oil change for $10 than at the minimum you are breaking even. Now what about all the overhead, insurance, utilities, and labor (biggest cost) that they have to pay. How are they going to be able to stay in business and make a profit on a $10 oil change? Impossible! But they could care less about the oil change. Truth be told Midas would loose at least $10 per customer if they just got the oil change.

Lets take a fictional person and call her Lauren and she comes to Midas to get a cheap oil change for her Honda Accord. She pulls her car in the shop and sits in the lobby sipping a cup of cheap black coffee and reads a month old magazine thinking this whole thing will take maybe 20 minutes. The service manager comes into the lobby and proceeds to tell her that while they were doing the oil change they noticed a) she needed new brakes b) her timing belt needed to be changed c) her belts were bad or d) her time circuits and flex capacitor needed to be adjusted. Keep in mind this car is just two years old so maybe the most she needed was "1.21 gigawatz" to go to the past an hour earlier to tell herself not to get duped.

She ends up leaving with a $350.00 tune-up bill or new brake pads most likely. Did she need them? Who's to say. She may have or she may not have. But the original reason she had went in was just for a $10 oil change so the system worked.

Example #2

There are some places like Wal Mart, K-Mart, Costco, or Sams Club (if these places offer oil changes) that really do not care that much about making a profit. They just want people to shop in their stores. They want people to come in for an oil change and than buy something else.

Someone comes into a Wal Mart Express for a $20.00 oil change and than they end up buying a new video game they just remembered they wanted to a new iron or $100 worth of cheap Chinese goods.

So this is what you are up against. You have an oil change business trying to make money from doing actual oil changes at a reasonable price that would allow you to make money while a lot of the top chains are using oil changes as a tool just to get customers in so they can purchase other items or more profitable high margin services.

This is the reason why you cannot build your business off price. Never sell any customer on price! You are going to need to appeal to the convenience factor and this especially works with fleets.

This is my motto "We Do Not Sell Oil Changes We Sell Convenience." That should be what you base your business model on. Drive that into fleet managers mind. You take all the guesswork from this part of their job. Every 3 months you come by in the afternoon and take care of it. They may be able to bring their truck down the road for a cheap oil change but it will never get done and they will end up paying more in the end.

Oil Change Advice For European Cars

Here is some advice for when you are doing oil changes on imported cars. This includes BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Lexus, etc. These cars are nice to do because the profit on them can be a lot better than your average vehicle and can be a pleasure to work on under the right settings. But mistakes are costly for these vehicles, parts are harder to get, and fixing a mistake can be very expensive. Keep in mind that several major quick lubes have a policy of not working on these types of vehicles just because of this.

If you do decide to do them here is what you need to do to make sure the job pays well and everything goes smooth. Keep in mind I may just have to buy one of my longtime customers since 2005, the owner of a 2003 Volkswagen Eurovan, a new oil pan because of a mistake that I may or may not have made. So I know from experience what I am talking about.

European cars call for synthetic. Its in all of their owner's manual if you check. The proper oil to put in 95% of these cars is 5W-40. These engines cram a lot of power into a small amount of engine and sludge can easily build up if you use regular oil. Europe makes their cars, unlike the US for some reason, to run on synthetic oil and if the customer does not want to pay the extra amount for this type of oil than do not do the job. They are cheap and if they cannot afford the proper oil change they should never have gotten that type of vehicle. I've only had that problem once though.

Almost all European cars come with a cartridge filter. Rarely, besides some Lexus' and Saabs, do these vehicles have your typical spin on filters. This is good and bad. Its good because you can charge extra for these special filters. Some people mark these filters up 50%. Its also good because you do not have to crawl under the vehicle to mess with the oil filter. The cartridge or canister filter is located on the top of the engine and as long as you have the right tools its easy.

These canister filters were an absolute pain until I bought the right tools to take the filter cap off. You need to go to NAPA and purchase their 3 pc Oil Filter and Canister Socket Set. Its a little kit that gives you three oil filter cap wrenches 27mm, 32mm, and 36mm that make changing the oil filter on any European car an absolute breeze (unless the canister oil filter is upside down under the vehicle like a Volkswagen Toureg).
I should warn you that although Pennzoil and Fram do make canister filters they do not always fit. In fact I have found that half the time they do not fit. They are either too big or too small no matter what the book says. Go to the dealer and buy the filter if you can. It will be more expensive but its worth it. Just charge more to cover your time and cost. I have found this to be especially true on Volkswagen vehicles.

Now here is some more crucial information about doing these vehicles. Extract the oil whenever you can. I will say it again: when doing these vehicles always, if you have the system, extract the waste oil from these vehicles to avoid messing with the drain pan plug. The plugs on these vehicles and the pan are highly sensitive. The slightest over torquing can causing stripping either to the plug or the pan. The oil pan on a lot of these vehicles are aluminum and this even compounds the problem more if something were to go wrong. You really need a torque wrench if you are going to mess with the plug, and extra cooper washers, but they are expensive and you would need many of them. The dealer has them because they work on hundreds of these cars everyday but its not worth it for an oil change business who may do 5 of these vehicles per month to buy them. So do not even mess with the drain pan plug! Do not touch it! Get the vehicle nice and hot and extract the oil.

The oil change lights on some of these vehicles are almost impossible to re set. They make them like this on purpose I believe. I have a manual that tells me how to do each one, have followed the directions to the letter, and have still found myself unable to re set some oil lights. Go figure???

I can't blame you if you do want to do these cars and I cannot blame you if you do not. Do not do these cars for cheap though. If you do not net $50-60 on these cars in your market than you are opening yourself up to a lot of liability for nothing. Doing oil changes are easy on these cars with the right tools but there are a lot of little things that can go wrong and cost you.

Oil Change Specials from Lance

I have often thought of Lance Winslow being an "authority" when it came to advice dealing with the mobile oil change business. He rarely gets it wrong. I feel that one of his most recent articles he wrote several months back hit the nail right on the head. Most people should not start this business. They are going to be in for a rude awakening when they do. There are some markets where this just will not pay. Too much competition and too many $9.99 oil change specials on every block. Do the math first! I am sorry but if you think you are going to be making money from $20 or less profit per oil change without doing 100s of them you are mistaken.
What is the Best Advice For Starting a Mobile Oil Change Business?

What is the Best Advice For Starting a Mobile Oil Change Business?
By Lance Winslow

Most people who start a mobile oil change business have a lot of misconceptions about how things actually work. They see the need and know that people want the oil change business to come to them, but what they may not understand is that logistically the mobile oil change business can be quite a nightmare for a whole lot of reasons such as:

• Stocking Filters for Different Types of Cars
• Finding Qualified Workers
• City Ordinances Against Car Maintenance on the Street
• Traffic Congestion Zapping Time
• Used Waste Oil Disposal Costs
• Long Time Between Intervals for Repeat Business
• Persnickety Customers
• Customers that Ask Too Many Question Taking Time
• Big Box Store Oil Change Discounters
• Competition Sending Out Direct Mail Lost Leaders

With all this considered and all the issues debated, the best advice might be to NOT start a mobile oil change business at all, yes, I am serious about that. However, if you are dead set on starting such a business then my best advice to you is to concentrate on the fleet vehicle customers first and foremost. These commercial accounts will save time, energy and stress and lead to better productivity and thus, higher profits.

Most of the draw backs of the mobile oil change service business model will go away if you concentrate on the fleet side of the business. Plus, the productivity and efficiency of operations will go through the roof because you can line up all the vehicles in a row and most of them will have the same motors, thus, the same type of filters. So, that is my best advice to someone who cannot be convinced to ditch the idea of starting a mobile oil change business. Please consider all this carefully and think on it.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
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Common Oil Filters

When you get started with your mobile oil change business one of the hardest parts is knowing which oil filters to have on board your truck. There are tons of oil filter sizes and trying to figure out which ones you will need will seem very daunting.

One of the most frustrating parts of this whole "mobile lube" idea is having the correct oil filter you need for jobs. It drives me crazy when I have to pack everything up and go to the auto parts store several miles away because I either a) did not have the right filter I needed or b) brought the wrong filter. You will find that this is going to happen quite often.

If you do not already you are

going to need some type of shelving units in your oil change van. Mine already came with them and so do several others if you get yours already pre-made.

Here are the filters you need to have in your vehicle. If you get the following oil filters you will be prepared to do 92% of the passenger vehicles you come across. I put them in order of popularity.

Have 8-12 of the following

PZ-42
PZ-48
PZ-45
PO-167
PZ-21
PZ-34
PZ-19
PZ-28
PZ-27
PZ-12
PZ-37
PZ-39
PZ-109
PZ-9A
PZ-58 (Only keep two of these)

Have two of each of the following

PZ-49 Powerstroke Diesel 7.3
PO-156 Powestroke Diesel 6.0
PZ-59 Duramax Diesel
PZ-47 Cummins 5.7 Diesel

If you keep your mobile oil change vans stocked with these Pennzoil filters than you will be ready for almost anything. When you upgrade to the huge diesels than that's a whole other story. There are 100s of choices when you get into that. But as far as average gas engines these numbers will work just fine. I suggest you also keep a filter book in your van at all times. I take mine out to look at it and forget to put it in sometimes.

I also suggest Pennzoil oil filters for two reasons: their yellowish color looks really nice and they have excellent brand recognition. Everyone is comfortable with that brand and they have over half the market share as far as oil and oil filters go.

The other 8% of the vehicles are imports that take canister oil filters and you will have to buy them on a case by case basis.

Your Oil Change Prices

I have heard this question a lot: "How Much Should I Charge for An Oil Change?"

There are two ways to answer that question. You have to consider two things. First whatever you do charge you need to be making $100 an hour. Second, what is the price of an oil change at Jiffy Lube.

I will attack the second consideration because I have already talked about the first one at length. I would like to say, if I have not already, that I like Jiffy Lube model. I have spoken to the owner of the Jiffy Lubes were I live, have been in them, and I love their system. They have created a great assembly line type system for oil changes. I have learned a lot by watching and copying their model and applying that to a mobile operation. Obviously it works. I figure they have to know what they are doing. If they didn't than they would not be in every city and on every block.

So what does what I just said have to do about pricing? Well, what I just said about watching Jiffy Lube applies to a lot of facets in this business but setting your prices for a typical oil change is one of them. Think about it! They know the market better than anyone. Jiffy Lube will always charge what they market will bear. They are never too low or too high. Where I live they charge $54.99 for a regular oil change. They charge $57.99 for an AWD or 4WD vehicle. I know many of you gasp when you hear that but I promise you customers were lined up, some bays 5 deep, yesterday. What does that tell me? Why should I be any lower? If anything my price for an oil change should be at least $56.99 because I am bringing the service to them!

Where you live I can promise you that Jiffy Lube will have already researched the market for you. Set your prices right where they are. Not their seasonal or at times special discounted price but there standard prices. They do the $19.99 oil changes too but only on certain days and for certain times of the day for most places.

No matter where you live I can guarantee that your prices should not be less than $35.00 for a basic oil change. If your market cannot or will not bear at least that I would suggest buying a Taco Bell or KFC franchise. I rarely see a place those two stores cannot make money in.

Do not worry about Wal Mart's prices. They cater to the people who would not use your service anyway. They do terrible service and make the customers wait for a long time on purpose. They want people to shop more. Thats the only reason they have it.

So you have the answer now. For your average price of an oil change your prices needs to be A) at Jiffy Lube's rate or higher and B) high enough where 4-5 vehicles can net your $100 per hour. Its that simple.

Mobile Oil Change Profits Going Up

Mobile Oil Change Business Advice. You want to know it so here it is.......

Today I just picked up a fleet that has six Isuzu Box Trucks. I wish they were all diesel as only one of them is but I guess I can live with that. I set it up to do on a Tuesday because that's when they are not being driven and on a three month interval. I put them into the computer and just go out and do them. I do not even call. The only way they know we were out there is if they see us or the drivers notice a brand new window sticker in the window.

Good mobile oil change business advice is hard to find these days. Its not really a new industry any longer. You have had mobile oil change operators around for the last fifteen years. Most heavy construction equipment dealerships have a mobile service they offer although its very expensive. I have found that the reason why people think mobile oil changes is some "new" service for 2009 is because most operators only last a year. This industry has a 90% failure rate I would say. It may be more.

I was actually talking to one of the managers at one of the busiest quick lubes in town and, wow, did I have an interesting conversation with him. He re-affirmed several things I already knew. We talked for thirty minutes and let me outline some things we talked about that will give you insight in the oil change business. I used to think that we were different but I have come to find out that mobile oil change businesses and fixed oil change businesses are all in the same boat.

Here are two of the many things we talked about.

Add Ons

This is the key to your profits. This is what you take home ladies and gentleman. Oil change pay for the van, building, phone line, insurance, and all the other set overhead you may have but add ons pay YOU.

Without them you will be flailing in the wind. I used to think that we did not need add-ons. We did not have the overhead as Jiffy Lube so we only pushed them if we had to. Nonsense!

You need to push air filters, wiper blades, coolant flushes, radiators flushes, injectors cleaners, and anything else you can think off to get each ticket invoice as high as you can while at the same time being ethical. I firmly believe in God and that you should not sell anything that is false or the customer truly needs. But if the vehicle calls for it or they need it you need to be able to sell it. That's business. If you are doing individuals you need to be able to average one additional service per oil change. That's our business. What do you think Jiffy Lube does? They're always pushing.

Think you are going not sell addition services and make a good living doing this. Have fun....


Don't Offer Discounts

They are a waste of time and do not breed success. The thinking is that you offer a customer a discount now, they become your customer, and then they pay full price later.

Does not work with oil change businesses. The same person who uses a coupon for that oil change today is going to find a coupon in three-four months later for another discount maybe even for less. Cheap people stay cheap.

We offered $20 oil changes at Providence Hospital and got five people (not a lot anyway). Months later when those people called and we gave them the regular price they went someplace else. I will never make that mistake again.

The people who will pay $30-$40 per oil change are out there if you want to do the individual. You will not have to get them with discounts. Let those people go to Midas or Sears and get jacked. They are going to think they are getting a cheap oil change when little do they know they will be leaving there with a $350 repair bill.

Sales Should Be Your Focus

I just closed another deal today on a fleet of several Isuzu Cabovers. It was a nice sized fleet of seven belonging to a medium sized company. I have been lazy the last couple months so I decided to start pushing sales a little bit more before the summer comes. If I was on top of my game I would be out passing put at least fifty business cards daily. I am under the assumption that you should drop as many "seeds" as you can throughout the day because you never know where one may find itself.

I remember talking to a guy about my business while I was at a pizza buffet for lunch and that guy ended up being the superintendent for a nice sized construction company several months down the road and we did all their equipment. The moral of that story is that you, and I need to remind myself of this all the time, to talk to everyone you can. You have no idea who is in what position.

Sales is just all about talking to people. Find something in common with someone. Open up a conversation about anything if the situation presents itself. I started a conversation with that guy over sports. Everyone loves sports. Then we got to talking about what we did and he told me and I told him.

You see a fleet you like go up and start talking with one of the employees who works there. Find out about the company. How many trucks do they have? Who is the boss? Is the boss a cool guy? Is he cheap? What is the company's reputation.

The object is to be talking with the manager or boss with as much information as you possibly can.

"Oh, I saw that one of the tires of your trucks looked kind of low, the license plate is FDR 306." That's the kind of stuff that will make it impossible for him to hang up the phone on you.

Write down everything. I remember the most insignificant details about everything I see. "I see you guy changed the paint on your store sign." Stuff like that.

A mobile oil change service is one of the easiest things to sale once you master how to do it. Everyone needs to get an oil change. It is not one of those items that people have an option of getting or not. The question is are they going to get it from you. There is no doubt they need it. Its all about how you are going to present it.

So this is how I picked up this fleet. I will go step by step exactly how I did it.

1. I drove into the warehouse area and saw a guy getting off the forklift. I stopped him briefly and asked him who was in charge of the fleet maintiance. He told me. I asked him if he was in there and he told him yes but he was about to leave for lunch. I left.
2. I then called the next day at around 10Am and spoke with the fleet manager. I told him that I was passing by going to a job and noticed he had several fleet vehicles. I told him what I did and then asked said in these words "and I wanted to call to see if you could use a service like this since you have several fleet vehicles." He said yes and I told him I would drop some information off around two in the afternoon since I have several oil changes to do in the area at around that time.
3. I made a packet consisting of ) our $1,000,000 insurance policy information b)current customer list c)sample pricing of oil change service.
   
4. I went their at 1:30 PM and gave him the information. I then proceeded to show him that van and all the equipment. I emphasized that we are a "Jiffy Lube for fleets" that comes "on-site." He liked it and told me he wanted all the vehicles done every three months on a Monday because that's when they are not moving.

Its that easy. Put in a little effort and you can make it happen. It was not always this easy. You have the luxury of me telling you exactly what you have to do. I had to learn all this the hard way. I made life so much harder on myself for the first two years. How am I was able to stay in business I have no idea.

Isuzu Diesel Cabovers

Here is some good advice for any mobile oil change business operator. Get your pen and paper out because the information I am about to give you is golden. It can aid you in making the $100/hr mark I was talking about and you can really get a lot of these if you follow my sales advice I wrote in another post.

Target Diesel Isuzu Cabovers. This is a common commercial vehicles for many businesses and over the last five years at least 30-40% of them have switched to diesels. I think they are called the Isuzu NPR Turbo Intercooled Box Vans as well. These vehicles pay.

The great thing about these trucks for a mobile oil change company is they are easy to service. You can perform an oil change on these diesel vehicles in twenty minutes. They usually take about 14-15 quarts of 15W-40 motor oil. When I first started doing these I would get the oil filter from NAPA but then I found out that they get all their filters from WIX and just spray paint their name on them and take off the "5" or "4" for air filters. Anyway if you have a WIX supplier, which I highly recommend, then the number is WIX 57521. If you do not have one and have to go through NAPA then the number is NAPA 7521. The air filter is easy to change on these as well but they last for minimum of two years unless you live in a very dusty place. Any cabover before 2005 will take a WIX 56506, just to let you know.

Here is what I will say about these vehicles. They cannot be taken to your nearby Wal Mart Express Lube or Midas to get an oil change because they will not have an oil filter. All the companies that have these will most likely be taking them into an Isuzu or International Dealer. You can easily charge $120. If they complain about the price explain to them that the oil filter is expensive. It does cost $20 by the way but they can easily retail for $35. Case in point you should be able to make minimum of $60 from each cabover. Thats without any add ons. If you service two in a hour then you make $120/Hr. You might be able to push wiper blades (they take 22"), a coolant flush if the truck has more than 50,000, or a rear end fluid change. I love these vehicles. They are a pleasure to work on.

I just got a call from a company that I did a sales call on three months ago. They have two of these diesel cabovers. This is where effort pays off even if you do not see the results right away. Anyway I was picking up some parts when I noticed the truck, an Isuzu, of a famous brewing company in town that I absolutely love. I followed the truck and spoke with the delivery guy driving it. He told me who to talk to. Then I went to the location and showed the fleet manager the van. He really liked the van which is why I said earlier that its always highly important to have a professional good looking oil change van and equipment. I told him the truth "I was in the area, spoke with one of your guys, and thought maybe you could use a service like this." He liked it. But he didn't need an oil change now so I gave him my card and a magnet and left. It wasn't a big fleet so I did not write it down like I should have. He called me today while I was at my computer sipping a hot cup of cofee working on my waste oil boiler blog asking if we could get his trucks this week. See how a little effort pays off.

The great thing about the mobile oil change business is while I will say time and time again how its not as easy as people think it is....its an easy sell once you get going, are established, and know what to look for. If you are able to make it you will train your eye to see vehicles that pay well for your time and vehicles that will not. Speaking of vehicles that do not Isuzu Cabovers that are gas are not nearly as profitabe unless you were to do at least five of them. They are just as easy by the way, if not more than their diesel counterparts, and take a PZ-45 oil filter and six quarts of 5W-30 or 10W-30. Just don't try and undercut the competion on these because they still are commercial vehilces and you can charge a little bit more than passenger cars. A lot of times companies who own the gas ones still take them to the dealers as well.

Mobile Oil Change Sales Advice

So we have already established where your efforts should be if you are the owner of a mobile oil change business. If you are still trying to pick up individual customers by your sixth month than you are missing the boat. You can make money off them and if you are in business to make $20 an hour than by all means go that route. Quit reading this blog and go do your thing. For the people who want to make some real money keep reading.

You need fleets. I used to be a hound and make cold calls from the yellow pages all the time. It worked some times but it was not efficient at all. I did pick up a couple which proves that any sales you do accompanied by effort will produce some fruit. Just not much. Anyway when you a driving around you need to notice fleet vehicles. Write them down. If you see a nice diesel truck that belongs to a company write down the name, phone number, and if possible the address. Write down what type of vehicle you see. Write down the license plate and the color of the truck. Write down where you saw it. If the truck is parked and you are able to talk with the driver or employee ask him who manages the fleet. What is his name. What is the name of the employee who you are talking to. What time of day is it? Find out as much information as you can. Write it all down. Save it.

Then when you get back to the office you know who to call. You are not blindly calling a company and asking "who is in charge of the fleet maintenance"?. If the guy who you need to talk to is not there do not leave a message. They will not call you back 8/10. Call him at another time like after lunch. I make sales calls between 1-3 PM. That is when I find managers are the most pleasant. After lunch! That's when I am at my best and laid back after woofing down a nice sub, chips, and drink.

If you want to be more effective go and scout the business. If you live in a big city this may be a little more time consuming. Write down what trucks they have. Do they have a maintinance department. Talk with some more employees. They will know if they send their vehicles out to get their oil changed at Jiffy Lube. That is an important question: what are they doing now for their fleet maintenance. Ask the employees if they think their company could use a mobile oil change company to service their trucks.

Ask questions. Most people love to talk. Find out as much information as possible. My business partner is the question king. I have never seen a person who loves to ask questions and drill a person as much as he does. I have listened to him for a whole hour talk to a person and maybe he made one actual statement; the rest were questions. Master the art of asking questions. You want to find out as much about the company as possible. That way when you talk to the fleet manager you know more about his operations that he does. Tell him you will drop off some information about your mobile oil change business, with your insurance information (they really really are impressed when YOU bring this up) on Wednesday when you are in the area doing another nearby fleet. Money in the bank. Information is key. I pay for information. I love information. That's the difference between calling Steve and getting a fleet and him saying "he's fine with what they're doing."

Lets have a short recap.

Target fleets. Target all fleets but especially fleets with diesels if you have the set up to do them. Do research on the company. Find out what trucks they have. Talk to some employees who work there. Find out what they are currently doing. Find out as much information as you can. Call the fleet manager. Tell him that you were talking to "one of his guys" and they mentioned "you might could use a service like this." "One of your guys" told me that you might want to have a mobile oil change service come by after hours instead of having to take all the vehicles to the quick lube or shop. $$$$$

I take donations :) I may need them for all the income taxes I have to pay this year for what our mobile oil change business did. Ouch! Uncle Sam will rape you at every corner. Thats why I try to maximize what I make because paying 22% really really sucks.

Do You Try to UnderCut the Competition

I have seen so many oil change businesses try and do this and it never works. Mobile and fixed companies. They try and undercut the competition. They send out coupons or advertise oil changes for $19.99. A guy tried to start a mobile oil change business up here advertising oil changes for $24.99. What they hell???? How does he think he is going to make a profit from $12 profit per unit. I don't know anywhere where someone can live on that. Even if he were to do ten vehicles per day that would be $120 profit. That's shit. After taxes, fuel, fix expenses, etc that $120 will be more like $80. And is there one, I mean one mobile operator that is consistently doing ten oil change every single day?? Come on, get real. I called this guy up and asked him what was he thinking? He wasn't operating in the same city as me it was in "the suburbs" 30-40 miles away so it was not a competition thing for me. I just wanted to see if this guy was retarded. And his answer was "he just wanted to get his name out there" and "build up a customer base."

Let me tell everyone something. Your business will establish some sort of "brand" for itself. Even if you run a "fly by night" operation, which most mobile oil change operators do, you will establish a name for yourself. You will known as a real business or a cheap discount business that won't be around for long. You pick. I can go out today and advertise $19.99 oil changes and pick up 100s of new customers. But guess what I have learned. Once those customers see that you are willing to work for free.....they are going to come to expect you to keep working for free. They are going to expect that $19.99 oil change all the time. And when you raise your price to your standard price they are going to go to the next guy offering $15.99 oil changes. You can pick up tons of what I like to call "bottom feeders" or people who always want the world for nothing. You can have them. I let those people go to Midas, or Sears, or someplace like that. I love hearing stories of people going in those places for a routine cheap cheap oil change and getting totally ripped off and slapped with a $350 repair bill because they needed blinker fluid and that stuff is really really expensive. Those people never learn and will always go for the cheapest product or service they can find. I do not want them. You cannot build a strong viable business off people like that. Sure you are not going to have customers that will always write you a blank check, though some actually will beleive it or not, but you need customers that are willing to pay a fair market price for good convenient service. That's a foundation.

I picked up this fleet two and a half years ago. I am not going to say their name but it was G$@#&#*# Mechanical. They had 20-30 trucks. Nice sized fleet. It took me a month to get them. I did 15 of them. The owner brought me into the office after we did them. She was complaining about the extra quart I charged them (like when a truck or SUV takes 6 or 7 quarts). She claimed that the quick lubes never charged her for the extra quarts over 5 quarts. "HUMMMM" She also said that Jiffy Lube gives her free oil changes after so many. She also said that drivers say yes to too many add ons. I could go on and on..........

I dropped that fleet like a bad habit. I got paid for what I did do never did any more work for them again. That's how I operate. I do not want cheap bottom feeders. I am not going to run a business like that. I do not work for people who nickle and dime me.

I have another fleet that I love. If something needs to be done I explain what it is and why and he 99.9% of the time tells me to "go and do it." I don't add on all the time but when I do he knows its important. He has never complained once of my prices. He sees me freezing my ass off in the middle of winter doing all his trucks and he respects that.

The few individual customers I do have are ones like the guy I just mentioned. I only kept 10 of the 100s I used to have. Guess which ones I kept?

I got off base. My point is that if you are running a mobile oil change business and you are doing cheap oil changes than you are an idiot and when you go out of business do not complain. You work for free do not expect to profit. Remember that your goal is to make $100/hr minimum. So you have to be smart and find your correct customers. Don't waste your time.