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.
Showing posts with label Jiffy Lube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jiffy Lube. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
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:
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.
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
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.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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.
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.
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