Lube Talk
(Continued)

Scotti Lee
Lee is operator of Oil Change Express in New Castle, Delaware.

Q: What do you track on your end-of-month reports, and how does this information help you run your business?

A: With today’s economy the way it is, you cannot wait until the end of the month to see where your business is going. You really have to watch things daily. Being in a small business, if I see a cash trend that can make extra bucks, then I go for it. Sales and the type of products are very important.

Q: How do you plan to cope with the introduction of GM’s dexos motor oil in the coming year?

A: dexos will not (be factory fill) until halfway through the 2011 model year. The first engines to receive dexos will be the Eco-Tec four cylinder 2.0L, 2.2L and 2.4L, as well as the six cylinder 3.0L and 3.6L engines. Of course, Government Motors could change their minds, also.

Initially, dexos will start out in bottles only. Then, at a later date, it will move to bulk. I figure it will be about a year before anyone will need bulk tanks.

The strong rumor that I have heard is that there will be an oil blend that can be used for dexos/GF-5.

Brad Phillips
Phillips operates a three-bay Valvoline Express Care in Lubbock, Texas.

Q: What do you track on your end-of-month reports, and how does this information help you run your business?

A: Our (computer system) really provides you with a great deal of information in the end-of-month reports. Every month I take information from those reports and keep a stat sheet. On that stat sheet, I track gross sales, state inspection sales, car count, ticket average, ticket average over base, transmission services, radiator flushes, fuel injection services, power steering flushes, brake flushes and tire rotations.

In addition to those stats, I track fuel filters, percentage of (house oil) sold, percentage of premium oil sold and average gross sales per day. We also track air filters sold and percentage, cabin filters sold and percentage, and we calculate what percent of our customer purchased each service we offer. I also keep a close eye on our pop and pour additives sold.

We plug a lot of these numbers into a spreadsheet that helps us see the data at a glance. I look at our traffic report as well.

All of this information helps us in many ways. By monitoring our (house motor oil) sales and premium oil sales, we can monitor the performance of our greeter and whether he is using the “best, better, good.” Our greeter also offers tire rotations, so tracking that number helps you monitor the job he is doing as well.

With over 11 years of stats available, we always know when our busy months are and what months will be slower.

By tracking the number of services we perform each month we can evaluate whether our technicians are performing their service reviews. We use a service review to educate the customer about maintenance and why you should do it. Since we look at our technicians’ productivity weekly and monthly, we can tell in an instant if they need more training and in what areas they may be struggling in.

We have percentage goals for every category in our shop, and we know what percentage of our customers should be purchasing each product and service we offer. We have checks in place to make sure everyone is doing their job, and tracking air and cabin filter percentages enables us to judge if those checks are working. By tracking car count and ticket average we can decide if we are still moving forward as planned. I use information from the traffic report to write my schedule and keep labor as low as possible.

I had someone tell me years ago that “you can’t measure what you don’t track.” We try to track everything so we can constantly measure ourselves. As is the case with many different areas in life, if you aren’t moving forward you are going backwards.

Q: How do you plan to cope with the introduction of GM’s dexos motor oil in the coming year?

A: In the coming months we will continue to educate ourselves on the specifics of dexos. Not surprisingly, there is not a lot of information out there about dexos right now.

At this point, I believe we will cope with it much like we do the Volkswagen oils. When a customer enters our store in any model of VW made after 1998, we explain to them about the VW specs and their requirement to use synthetic oils. If they do not want to use the proper synthetic oil, then we make them sign a waiver.

I am sure that these oil changes with dexos will be a little pricey, but that comes with buying a GM car that is factory filled with this oil.

That is one of the exciting things about the lube business — it is constantly changing and you must change with it or be left behind.

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