Question: Service Mgr/Quick Lane Manager

[bsilcox]

Good Morning Everyone in Forum World;

I need some HELP and a Questions answered?

In one of our Locations we have a very Hybrid Ford Store with a Quick Lane integrated into the Service Drive. We have a Quick Lane Writter that writes all Quick Service up to 27K after that he must turn it over to a Senior Advisor. All of the Advisors dispatch all of their own work into the shop we run with no groups, group leaders, teams, team leaders. The Quick Service Team of Techncians head count normally 15-18 techs all on flat rate. I have one person in this shop that acts as a Service Manager when needed, Shop Foreman when needed, Quick Lane Manager normally and controls the flow of work into the Quci Service Team. We Honor Appointments but do not require them. We have a 49 minute time guarantee for a Mini Maintenance Service which includes an LOF, 4 tire rotation, Lane Ranger inspections, Courtesy Inspection and a vehicle wash. All of the Senior Techs work on their own with only the Senior Advisors dispatching to them. Just a little background mu real question is How Do We Pay The Person I have acting as a Service Manager, Quick Lane Manager, Shop Foreman???
Currently on a base salary per pay period and commission on gross profit of labr and parts on the Quick Service Team Only???
Please Help and Advise??
Thanks;


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Bob Silcox

[RKing]

Clarification needed
You have one advisor for 15-18 quick service techs?

[slapenta]

Bob-

This is a great post and you present an excellent question?

I would like to help you and offer recommendations, but I need clarification before I can weigh in.

1. Is this the only person, at this location charged with the responsibility and financial performance of the service department and the Quick Lane department?

2. What reasons do you have for wanting to change this persons current pay plan?

3. What is the compensation arrangement for your Quick Lane writer?

Steve LaPenta

[bsilcox]

Thanks for the request for more information. The person I am asking about has multiple job requirements including asking as a Service Drive Manager, Help with dispatch in the shop for Quick Service Only and acts as a Shop Foreman for the Quick Service Team of 15-18 Techs. The one dedicated Quick Service Advisor writes everything under 27500K in miles everything else goes to a Senior Advisor. The Quick Service Manager does not write repair orders. The balance of the 5 advisors will also write into the Quick Service Team also. All of the advisors are required to dispatch all of their own work. The Senior Techs get work from everybody but there is no second person in the dispatch loop. We take appointments but do not require an appointment for any type of work Customer Paid or Warranty Work. Walk-Ins are Welcome. We currently do not have a back-log of work and turn vehicles quick! The vehicles coming in the drive are pre-inspected by what we call a (Land Ranger) with the advisor completing the Walk-A-Round. Then the vehicle will go into the Quick Service Team for a complete inspection and tire rotation. The advisor will then decide where the vehicle is to be repaired in the Quick Service Team or the Main Shop. The Person I am talking about is a very intergal link in the Service Process and we want to pay him accordingly. I am trying to come up with a small base with the focus on sales of parts and service in the Quick Service Team and Lube Bays. I hope this gives you the info you need?

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Bob Silcox

[slapenta]

Bob,

I apologize for the delay.

Constructing a well-designed compensation plan plays a major role in guiding employee behavior and desired business results.

>Current pay plan: Currently on a base salary per pay period commission on gross profit of labor and parts on the Quick Service Team Only???

Its been my experiences that commission based pay plans dont support the long-term development of the employee attitudes and job performance. This type of pay plan within a Fast Lube or Quick Service Center tends to create an environment of every man for himself and survival-of-the-fittest.

>Pay plan objective: I am trying to come up with a small base with the focus on sales of parts and service in the Quick Service Team and Lube Bays.

Fast Lube/Express Pay Plan Characteristics:

Fast Lube and Express Service models do not behave very well when applying tradition service department metrics and historically fail to meet their long-term business objectives.

Any approach to improving Fast Lube or Quick Service center performance should be based on the premise of WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE

A small base salary is a good characteristic to keep building on. A few other characteristics you may consider adding to your performance based pay plan with respect to measurement are:

Car counts
Repair order ticket average (parts and labor dollars)
Establishing sales targets and incentives for maintenance items sold

These performance measurements are absolutes and contribute to the profitability of any Fast Lube and Quick Service business model. Designing your pay plan with these measurements in mind will put the control for compensation right where it belongswith the service drive manager.

A closer examination of your objective in your second post -- focus on sales of parts and service in the Quick Service Team and Lube Bays.

At first glance, I suspect that your request for a new pay plan may driven by a deeper concerns such as:

The Quick Service Team vehicle inspection process may be cursory rather than detailed
The vehicle inspection process is detailed, but the service advisor needs to improve sales closing ratio.

If you decide to move your pay plan in this direction, this information will be helpful to the design of the your plan.

Please let me know if I can help to provide you with further information on this subject.

Your thoughts and keep up the good work!

Steve LaPenta

[sp7128]

Does your dealer/store believe in cse/csi indexes, and do you use them as a review for an opportunity to improve, or just another PO'ed customer that you could never make happy?

[This message has been edited by sp7128 (edited 09-15-2009).]