Mitchell 1 News

Mitchell 1’s new Canadian Customer Retention Marketing (CRM) program integrates seamlessly with over 50 different Shop Management Systems to help automotive service providers turn first-time customers into loyal, profitable customers that repeatedly come back for all of their maintenance needs.

“Mitchell 1 CRM service reminders are the first step to optimizing your valuable customer database,” said Brian Warfield, Mitchell 1 product manager. “Service-specific recommendations are pulled directly from your Shop Management System’s database and sent to your current customers as their vehicles come up for recurring maintenance.”

The personalized nature of the service reminder cards means that they won’t be regarded as junk mail, but rather an important form of communication between shops and their customers. The cards feature the customer’s name on the front of the postcard and the shop’s logo, address and phone number are prominently displayed on the inside.

Each service reminder predicts 12 recommendations with easy-to-understand service history information. Track tire rotations, air filters, coolant flushes, brake jobs, ATF, belts, hoses, etc. Actual vehicle daily kilometers are used to compute suggested shop service recommendations.

In addition, the cards include shop-defined coupons to reward customer loyalty.

“Loyal customers are the cornerstone of any solid, successful business. Maintaining your core customers is vital to ensuring that your business continues to grow and profit,” concluded Warfield.

Mitchell 1 announced today its ManagerEnterprise program is available to the automotive aftermarket. This powerful new tool is designed for shop owners to help them effectively manage their enterprises and maximize their profits. ManagerEnterprise provides central control of accounting, marketing, sales, operations and much more. To order ManagerEnterprise, call (888) 724-6742 ext. 6313.

“Whether it’s one shop or 100 shops, ManagerEnterprise puts you in the driver’s seat, allowing you to check on all of your locations remotely from your headquarters, from the road, or even from the beach.” said John Dwulet, senior product manager, Mitchell 1’s Shop Management Solutions. With ManagerEnterprise, you’re in control. This is just another example of Mitchell 1 delivering shop management solutions to help your business grow.

Built On a Solid Foundation

ManagerEnterprise includes a solid foundation of features to help users get the most out of their personnel and increase profits on every job. They include:

Point-of-Sale (POS) software designed to be used by the service advisors all day long.Enterprise reports that help measure each business by location or for the entire enterprise in real time. Microsoft SQL Server database which provides complete reliability, security and a virtually unlimited database size.Scheduling system that organizes appointments and promised job completion, and includes a time clock for technicians. Plus much more.

Franchise & Enterprise
ManagerEnterprise is multi-user software that is capable of running on multiple workstations at different locations, or even several divisions within a franchise. The Enterprise Edition is a multi-user software system that runs on any number of workstations, at any number of locations, with the setup and reporting features necessary to support multiple divisions.

Integrated Accounting & General Ledger
ManagerEnterprise offers a full-featured accounting module that’s designed to help save time and money. It includes accounts receivable, accounts payable, tax remittance, cash balance and bank register, to name a few.

Management & Financial Reporting
ManagerEnterprise’s Reports Manager feature generates management and financial reports based on a variety of applicable parameters, and all reporting periods are user-defined. All reports may be customized, printed and/or exported to other Windows programs.

Integrated Marketing
ManagerEnterprise software offers a full suite of marketing solutions to help increase car count, customer retention and customer satisfaction, while driving profit. The features include new customer thank you, service reminders, deferred repair reminders, appointment confirmation, loyalty reports and inactive reports.

Inventory Control
ManagerEnterprise includes management of inventory levels, materials selling price, warranty tracking, consignment inventory, perpetual inventory control, and the ability to transfer stock between locations.

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has announced a new member benefit that places key performance indicator (KPI) data at the fingertips of today’s shop owner. Powered by Mitchell 1, ASA’s newest Web-based member benefits ShopMeter provides national and regional averages on a number of data sets, including average repair order dollars, top 10 repair jobs, average parts sales and the most frequently serviced vehicles.

“ShopMeter will prove to be a must have tool for shops who recognize the importance of measuring and improving their productivity and financial performance.” said Ron Pyle, ASA president and chief staff executive.

The ability for ASA members to compare and contrast their shop data to regional and national averages will provide them with an immediate benchmark that can be used to assess their business plans and better determine their future.

“Key performance indicators are important to today’s shop owner because they are the cornerstone of understanding your business.” said Jon Vance, PMP, project manager, Mitchell 1. “Knowing the numbers from your shop, or the shops in your region and state’s and using those numbers to compare your business with the national averages, lets you see in an instant where you stand and whether you are beating or bucking the trend. This knowledge helps you target your business toward those jobs that produce the most value.”

KPIs are presented by geographic region, by year/make/model (YMM), or by month-to-month comparisons. Proper use of the data provided in Mitchell 1 ShopMeter allows ASA members to gauge their shop performance against that of their competition, providing a competitive edge over businesses that are not monitoring KPI data.

Designed to help today’s shop owners and managers easily access the core data necessary to assess shop volume, sales and maximize profits, ShopMeter can be accessed online through the ASA Web site, www.ASAshop.org. This product is free to all ASA regular members in good standing. Members may access the product using their six-digit member number.

To learn more about ASA’s newest benefit powered by Mitchell 1, or for more information about ASA’s other money-saving benefits, call (800) 272-7467, ext. 295; or access the electronic benefits portfolio within ASA OnDemand, which can be downloaded from www.ASAOnDemand.com.

Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHX), a local search and advertising company, today announced that Mitchell 1, a leading provider of full-service marketing and business solutions for automotive repair professionals nationwide, has selected the Marchex Digital Platform Group to provide call tracking and analytics for its suite of products and business solutions used by tens of thousands of automotive dealerships and aftermarket service providers across the United States.

“Marchex call tracking solutions provided the scalability, ease of implementation and robust call analytics that we were looking for to further enhance our Customer Retention Marketing (CRM) solutions.” said Chris Arden, Product Manager at Mitchell 1. “Our mission is to provide our customers with the best marketing solutions available, and the addition of Marchex’s call tracking and analytics enables them to track the source of their cross-media leads, measure their return on investment and maximize their marketing dollars.”

Mitchell 1 will integrate Marchex’s private label call tracking and robust call analytics into its Customer Retention Marketing products to enable dealerships and independent repair centers nationwide to measure the effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) from their online and offline marketing programs, including search engine marketing, billboards, radio and print advertising.

“Performance-based advertising, particularly in this economic climate, is a key priority for marketers from every kind of vertical.”said Ari Jacoby, President of Voice Services, Marchex Digital Platform Group. “Mitchell 1 is a leader and innovator in the automotive market and we are excited to add our call tracking and analytics to their innovative solutions and enable their tens of thousands of auto dealers and services providers across the country to measure the efficacy and ROI of their marketing campaigns.”

For more information about the Marchex Digital Platform Group, which provides local marketing solutions to national companies with local offices, storefronts or sales forces, visit www.marchex.com.

About Marchex
Marchex, Inc. (www.marchex.com) is a local search and advertising company. Marchex’s innovative advertising platform delivers search- and call-based marketing products and services for local and national advertisers. Marchex’s local search network, one of the largest online, helps consumers make better, more informed local decisions through its content-rich Web sites that reach tens of millions of unique visitors each month.

Mitchell 1 announced today the establishment of a marketing partnership with the Automotive Distribution Network as part of Mitchell 1’s ongoing effort to further extend its national network of connectivity to automotive parts suppliers. This network provides repair shop owners greater flexibility and increased efficiencies in ordering parts when they use Mitchell 1’s Manager and ManagerPlus shop management systems. As featured in Modern Tire Dealer.

The union of Mitchell 1 and the Automotive Distribution Network creates a true partnership whereby Mitchell 1 customers gain electronic access to the Automotive Distribution Network’s line of aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment and accessories. Automotive Distribution Network customers will enjoy special discounts and savings on the entire line of Mitchell 1 software products.

Mitchell 1 and Automotive Distribution Network customers will experience a streamlined Internet-based parts ordering system that dramatically reduces the estimating and invoicing time requirement, virtually eliminates the communication issues that may cause the ordering/receipt of incorrect parts, reduces related shop technician inefficiencies, and ensures that the desired profitability has been obtained on each job before it is quoted.

Customers will also benefit from the Automotive Distribution Networks’ new WebShop Virtual Inventory™, a powerful Web-based supply-chain tool that seamlessly integrates the jobber’s inventory with that of his warehouse supplier and select participating manufacturers. WebShop Virtual Inventory enables the service dealer to conduct a real-time stock check of not only the distributor’s inventory, but also that of other trading partners should the part not be in stock.

“Automotive Distribution Network customers will benefit greatly from our partnership as they will see increased productivity and shop profitability when using Mitchell 1’s Manager and ManagerPlus shop management systems for all of their parts lookup and ordering needs,” said Dan Kelley, director of strategic partnerships for Mitchell 1.”We’ve modernized and simplified the process, but have remained flexible when it comes to choosing a parts supplier.”

John Garippa of Wayland, N.Y. has been named the 2008 Educator of the Year at the North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) Conference held recently at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, Penn. Garippa is an associate professor at Alfred State College, SUNY College of Technology in Wellsville, N.Y. As featured in Tomorrow’s Technician and AfterMarketNews.com.

Each year Mitchell 1 recognizes one of the nation’s top teachers for excellence in automotive repair instruction. Garippa was presented with a check for $500 and a recognition certificate.

“Mitchell 1 is proud to join with NACAT for another year to honor those who have demonstrated a commitment to educational excellence in the automotive repair industry.” said Karen Wagner, marketing manager for Mitchell 1. “John Garippa has an outstanding reputation as an instructor and we feel he is an outstanding choice for this award. Everyone at Mitchell 1 would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to John on his achievement.”

Garippa graduated from Alfred State College’s automotive program at the top of his class in 1984. From 1984 to 1994, he was an auto and light truck technician at Elsenheimer Chevrolet in Hornell, N.Y. Garippa was a member of Chevrolet’s National Advisory Council from 1990 – 1992. He has been an automotive instructor since 1994.

Garippa has been ASE Master Certified since 1984. In addition, he is ASE Certified Advanced Level Specialist; ASE Certified Truck’s, Brakes, Steering/Suspension, HVAC; and ASE Certified Collision’s Mechanical/Electrical.

Selection criteria for the Educator of the Year award requires that a master automotive technician excel on all ASE automotive tests, including A1’s A8 (Engine Repair, Automatic Transmission/Transaxle, Manual Drive Train and Axles, Suspension and Steering, Brakes, Electrical/Electronic Systems, Heating and Air Conditioning, Engine Performance) and the L1 (Advanced Engine Performance Exam).

Mitchell 1 announces the user forum for its OnDemand5 Manager/ManagerPlus online community has received 20,000 postings from registered users. The Mitchell 1 ManagementForum allows participants to gather and exchange ideas, ask shop management questions and increase the effective usage of Manager/ManagerPlus in their shop environment. As featured in Motor Age.

“We are extremely pleased with the response that our Mitchell 1 ManagementForum has received since its inception,” said Tim McDonnell, national training manager. “Our goal for the bulletin board forum was to serve as an informative venue for customers to learn about the additional benefits of using Mitchell 1’s shop management system to help them operate their shops more profitably. Clearly, customers are taking advantage of the ManagementForum; 20,000 postings is a milestone that we are very proud of.”

The ManagementForum offers access, day or night, to tips and tricks for a productive information exchange, as well as provides useful information on how to effectively use the array of features found within Manger/ManagerPlus. In addition, customers can generate and discuss marketing and business issues, exploring new approaches for increasing the productivity and profitability of their repair shop business.

To access the ManagementForum, OnDemand5 Manager and ManagerPlus customers simply click on the forum button in the latest version of the software or visit http://www.mitchell1.com/managerredirect.

Mitchell 1 announces its Shop Management System Training Workshop events are now certified by the Automotive Management Institute (AMI). Attendees can earn 30 credits towards their Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) designation by completing one of Mitchell 1’s comprehensive, two-day events.

“AMI’s certification is a valuable industry endorsement that provides enhanced visibility, credibility and purpose to our training program, while also providing our customers with additional motivation to attend the workshops as a value to their shop’s personal business growth,” said Tim McDonnell, national training manager for Mitchell 1.

Mitchell 1’s Shop Management System Training Workshops are led by certified instructors John Dwulet, senior product manager for Mitchell 1’s management software solutions, and McDonnell, who have 24 years of combined Manager and ManagerPlus training experience.

The workshops are held in various cities across the country three to four times per year. Attendees participate in lively discussions on how to use the management system to energize their business, increase profits and boost productivity. Registration fee is $200 for a shop’s first attendee; each additional attendee is $100. The fee covers seminars, including a 200-page workbook, as well as a full breakfast and lunch each day. Participants are responsible for transportation and hotel accommodations.

The AMI catalog will list the workshops as “Unlocking the Potential: Mitchell 1 Manager/ ShopKey Shop Management Users Workshop.” Near the end of each workshop, Mitchell 1 instructors will hand out AMI Course Completion forms and those attendees who wish to pursue AMI credits should fill it out and include a $10 administration fee.

For more information or to register for one of Mitchell 1’s Management System Training Workshops, visit http://www.buymitchell1.com/form/m1users.htm.