Setting Your Smog Check Prices

Find the Right Location to Set the Best Price

The smog check industry is a local market, so if a shop 10 miles away from you charges a lot less it doesn't matter so much. However it matters more now with the advent of the Internet. These days, if a customer has not visited your shop before they will more than likely price compare and check reviews before visiting a shop. Because of this, a shop located some distance away from you can compete for your customers. That said location is still the strongest driver for price and sales volume. You should look at these factors when evaluating a shops location:

• How close is the nearest competitor? If you have a shop nearby it will be hard to avoid matching their price.
• Is area nearby the shop very affluent? More affluent areas are less likely to have vehicles that are old enough to require a smog check.
• Is area nearby the shop in the lower economic range? Less affluent neighborhoods will have more vehicles to test, but they will be more price senstive and tend to go to the shop with the lowest price.
• Is the shop located on a busy street or nearby a shopping area? The more vehicles that pass by your location, the more likely they see and visit your shop.
• What are the zoning restrictions for the area? Some cities have very restrictive rules on signage and other advertising.
• How easy is it to access the location? If people find it hard to turn into the location or find parking when they are there it is not good.
• What have been the past prices and smog check volumes? Verify the shops sales volume. Verify the income and prices. If the shop has paper work orders spot check them and ask to see the business checking account. Compare the credit card volumes to the bank posting to look for differences.
• Are there nearby automotive dealers, companies with fleets, government organizations or auto shops which are not smog shops. Many smog shops perform smog checks for local businesses.

Are you a retail shop or a business to business shop?

Some smog shops make a very good living by smog checking vehicles which are being purchase by a nearby car dealer. Others smog state, city or other local government vehicles. If the current owner is not doing business with these entities, check the area and see if these businesess are interested in doing business with you. These type of arrangements tend to be discounted and high volume. If possible you should track sales by these customers. If they don't bring you enough business then the price you extend may not be worth the discount. You should have a way to create an invoice for past smog checks on a monthly basis quickly and easily.

How computerized work orders can help you track your shop revenue

Demand Advantage the company bringing you smogshopforsale.com provides a web based work order system specifically for the smog test industry - Smog Advantage. Smog Advantage has many reports that can help you track your shops revenue quickly and easily for any where you have a browser and an internet connection. Below are some of the reporting features:

• End of day report that totals the smog checks for the day. The tests are broken down by test result: pass,fail and abort. Revenue is summed by payment type allowing you to quickly verify your shops revenue.
• Detailed revenue report by work order which is exportable to excel. Using this report you can import the data in to many accounting packages.
• Technician commission report. You can set a commission rate for each tech and then run their commissions for the day.
• Run any report for a single day, week, partial month, month up to 90 days.
• Less than paper work orders.

The Surprising Secret About Smog Check Prices

"I can get it for less down the street". Anyone who has been in business has heard a prospective customer say this before. The irony is that in a recent survey of smog check customers, price was not the most important item in their decision to chose a specific smog check business. To the right you can see the priorities of smog check customers when they are deciding to chose a location

• Convenience.
• Speed.
• Price.

So, as a business owner your goal is to convince the customer that your convenience and speed justifies the price.

What is Convenience?

What many owners and people looking to buy a smog shop consider convenience is "how easy is it to get to the smog shop". Clearly it is that but it is also more than that. For example:

• How easy is it to contact the shop? Can I call up and ask a question and get a polite answer.
• When I get to the shop, how easy is it for me to get my vehicle smog checked? Is there someone outside to greet me, are there signs telling me what to do?
• Is there a place where I can wait while my vehicle is being smog checked? Is it comfortable and quiet? Is it clean?
• How friendly and professional are the staff? Does the technician speak to me in a nice manner?

When buying a smog shop, look at the facility. If it has the ability to have a comforable waiting area, but the current owner has not laid out the shop to take advantage of that, then you may have an opportunity to grow the shop revenue by making these changes. If the location does not have an area, you might be able to put up a shaded area using a tent or other temporary structure. If you can make changes of these types you will be more likely to be able to justify a higher price to the customer.

Many of the ways in which a customer can find convenience at your location are related to how your business is run and how professional your staff is. A poorly run business with unprofessional staff can destroy the advantages presented by the location. Smog Advantage has features that help you monitor your staff and streamline your operation to bring convenience to your customers.