Bryan Schmitt, CEO of Mobile Solutions, which teaches retailers the art and business of fabrication, presented his latest tips on managing a 12 volt retail shop.
One of his first admonitions to retailers is to hold to one’s standards. “Don’t compromise your work just because you are super busy and have a ton of customers coming up.” He cited some of the award-winning retailers at KnowledgeFest Live. “Guys like Matt Schaeffer. They don’t compromise. Whether it’s a $220 job or a $2,200 job. Don’t compromise.”
Schmitt advises to stick to $2K to $5K installs versus the $30K installs. “$3 to $5K jobs is the sweet spot,” he said, adding, jobs should take less than a week and preferably only up to a few days. “You guys know what happens to your motivation when those [cars] sit at the shop longer than a week,” he said. For larger jobs, break them up into multiple stages and have the customer come back instead of keeping his car for a month at a time.
Here are some other tips:
“Build systems, not show cars. What we mean by this is things that make sense. Show cars are not profitable.”
Time management– Do the best job you can do within the time allowed. “That’s hard to do, especially for those of us who are creative. Really try to set your time goal, charge your customer for that and execute against your time budget. As long as you are within 80 percent of that, I think you are doing well.”
Mission—”Be known as a technology leader, not a car stereo shop. I want all of us to change our industry perception. We are the leaders in all the new aftermarket technology in what can be done with HiFi audio, cameras, lighting.” He encouraged dealers to offer the highest value in craftmanship.
“Don’t worry about what your competition is charging. Do your best to run your own race and charge for it.”
Sell the excitement. Give your customers that unforgettable demo. “I hope you guys have a nice system in your own car.”
Show your craft in photos and videos. “’I was too busy,’ is not an excuse.”
Schmitt polled retailers from large stores to hobby shops and named the following top trending categories:
- audio upgrades: adding bass, amplification, DSPs.
- touch screens, especially touch screens that tie to your phone with CarPlay or Android Auto
- camera upgrades
Best practices wiring:
- solder every connection,
- heat shrink/Tesa tape
- grounds are done with Nutsert and stainless steel bolts—zinc plated Nutsert grounds are what Ferrari uses
- wire loom/TechFlex on all exterior wiring
- wire tie management
To sell your wiring, create a demo board (above) showing a couple of amplifiers with your clean wiring and another board showing your grounding. This lets you demonstrate why you charge more. You can also offer two levels of wiring. Talk about the differences.
