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Letter to the Editor

Seventeen Ideas for Fall

Here are some ways to boost your bottom line in 4Q 2009

There is nothing like a lingering recession to spark entrepreneurs to action. Here’s a compilation of 17 ideas we’ve heard from business owners in the industry in recent weeks as ways they’re working to trim costs, boost sales, bump up office or shop productivity or otherwise add a few dollars to the bottom line.

1. Buy a digital picture frame (5x7 or larger) to display a continual loop of messages to customers in your waiting area. You can include before- and after-repair photos, quotes from customer satisfaction surveys, information on up-sell services you offer, etc.

2. Looking for free help with the business side of your shop – your accounting and workflow analysis, for example? Score, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, a non-profit partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, offers free online business consulting thanks to working and retired business owners and executives who volunteer their time and expertise. It also offers free one-on-one and team business counseling at about 400 locations around the country. For more information, visit www.score.org.

3. UpdatePromise.com, offers a $199-per-month system (that can be tied to your shop’s management system) to automatically send periodic text message updates to customers’ cell phones or email addresses. The system can be set up to update customers every 24, 48, or 72 hours, and sends a thank you message when the job is completed.

4. The real estate slump has impacted commercial property just as it has residential. This may be a good time to renegotiate your lease, particularly if you can demonstrate your business is going through a tough period.. One commercial property agent recommends asking for short-term relief – a 25 percent rent abatement for the next six months, for example – rather than a reduction for the remainder of the lease.

5. A slow week is a great time to do some basic house-keeping to extend the life of your shop computers. Dust building up in and on computers can cause the machines to over-heat. Wipe off the machines and clear the vents – and even open up the computer cases and use canned air to carefully blow out the dust.

6. Consider if VoIP, which stands for “voice over Internet protocol,” could help cut your phone costs. With VoIP, your phone calls are essentially routed over the Internet rather than the public telephone network. That means you need a high-speed Internet connection, but there are no long-distance charges and less need for multiple phone “land-lines.” You generally can keep your same phone number(s). While it may require some investment in hardware and software, that may pay off quickly. As with all telecommunication services, there’s no shortage of variations in the VoIP packages available depending on your company’s needs. You can get started researching the options by checking the websites forAT&T (www.corp.att.com/voip/), Skype (www.skype.com/business/) or Vonage (www.vonage.com).

7. Trying to track what I-CAR training your employees have? I-CAR is rolling out a new “Training Manager” system to help companies do just that. It starts with your employees logging into their “myI-CAR” account and indicating they want their training records shared with your company. The system gives businesses and individuals the ability also to affiliate themselves with other organizations with which they have a business relationship, such as an insurer’s direct repair program.

8. A number of organizations, such as NativeEnergy (www.nativeenergy.com) or Terrapass (www.terrapass.com), have an online form that can help you estimate your shop’s “carbon footprint,” how much carbon-based pollution your business creates. Find that your company generates seven tons of carbon-based pollution? A $98 donation to NativeEnergy invests in non-fossil-fuel energy-producing projects that offset that level. You can tell your customers your business is “carbon-neutral.”

9. Want to know what kind of traffic your competitors’ websites are generating, and what are the top search terms and websites leading Internet users to those sites? Visit Compete.com and enter three websites (such as carstar.com, ABRAauto.com and SterlingAutobody.com) to get a graph comparing the sites’ traffic month by month for the past year. Not all the information Compete.com has available is free, but it can give you some ideas about what your competitors are up to online.

10. General Motors is offering a $20 VISA gift card to shops that substitute a GM parts fascia or bumper bar for a non-OEM version on a repair order or estimate; the rebate program runs through Decem-ber 2009. For more information, click on CollisionRebate _Flyer.pdf at https://www.gmpartsfastcash.com/pdfs/

11. Automaker cut-backs or dealership closings leaving you waiting for back-order parts? PartsVoice is a free OEM parts locator website offered by ADP Dealer Services (www.partsvoice.com) that allows any registered user to search for any part at dealerships around the country.

12. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is rolling out a “Search Engine Solutions” Google program across the United States, city by city. BBB-accredited businesses can subscribe to this program that links their shops to sponsored listings by the BBB on the first page of Google searches when relevant keywords have been submitted. Consumers who click on the BBB-sponsored listing are taken to a page listing all the BBB-accredited businesses for that category. The listings include contact info and links to the business' website, location on a map and its BBB reliability page. Businesses pay a monthly, flat fee for the service and there is no long-term contract.

13. Want to get a rough idea of what your business may be worth? Although no substitute for a formal valuation, BizEquity.com (wwww.bizequity.com), allows anyone to plug in some numbers about a business and get a ballpark estimate of its value. The site, its founder says, makes use of publicly-available data, and the free valuation report it produces is just a "starting point" for a business owner, "not something you can take to the bank."

14. Need a copy of the estimating guides (often referred to as “P-pages”) for the Audatex, CCC Information Services, or Mitchell International estimating systems? All three can be downloaded at no charge from the Database Enhancement Gate-way website (www.DEGweb.org), which is jointly sponsored by three national collision repairer trade groups. Just click on the “Get Educated” tab from the homepage.

15. While you’re at the DEG website, you may also want to submit a question or concern you have about a labor time or what appears to be missing or incorrect information in any of the “Big Three” estimating systems. The DEG is on pace to receive about 1,000 inquiries in 2009 about the accuracy of labor times or other estimating system information, just as it did in its first full year of operation last year. The inquiries posted can lead to changes – often just within a few days – that improve the accuracy and completeness of the estimating systems.

16. You can make some serious cuts to your electric bill by making sure all office equipment is turned off after hours and on weekends and holidays. Just leaving one computer and monitor on during those times that it is not being used can add $105 to your annual power bill. Check an Iowa State University website (http://www.fpm.iastate.edu/ utilities/energyefficiency/typ_ equip.asp) for more savings potentials by turning off equipment when the shop is closed.

17. Looking for a unique “up-sell” product to offer your customers? Wisconsin-based STRATTEC Security Corp. this year is introducing a series of locks, called BOLT, that can be programmed to open with the owner’s car or truck key. The user simply inserts the key and turns once to program the lock to that key, the company says. Initially available are a padlock and receiver lock, but a cable lock, spare tire lock and other products will follow, according to the company. Look for STRATTEC to feature the product at the 2009 Specialty Equipment Marketing Associ-ation Show in Las Vegas, November 3 through 6, or check its website (www.STRATTEClock.com).   o

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