Forced into being a pro? Thoughts?

[Less]

I'm sorry to say this, there is NO huge opportunity here. XLR i wouldn't say anything about your detailing skills, stick to your schooling and in the meantime do the installs. Find out first what a Best Buy Detail consists of. Then if it is something that you have interest in, go for it. The more these big companies can use you for they will, without your compensation. Act like you know nothing and let the GM look like an *** when this idea of his doesn't work.

I completely disagree. When you're XLR's age (how old by the way? 19? 20?), ANY experience or professional reference is going to give you an edge. Especially when you consider that Mr. XLR is going to graduate into one of the toughest job markets that we've seen in decades, ANY edge he can get will benefit him immensely.



College grads with a few years of irrelevant retail experience and a reference from a slightly higher paid supervisor are quite plentiful. However, a college grad with some experience starting an entirely new business segment with a positive and enthusiastic reference from the General Manager has a huge head start.



Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're gonna change the world and re-write the book on retail audio installs with your visionary detailing spirit. 5 years from now, it won't matter one bit. You'll have much stronger and more relevant business experience by then. However, for that first job out of college, this could potentially be a $4,000 - $7,000 annual salary swing. Seriously.



It doesn't matter if the idea flops. It doesn't matter if the GM is an idiot. It doesn't matter if you sell a single wash. All that matters is how you sell the experience in a job interview.



An experience like this, backed up by a good reference from the GM will help you sell yourself as a leader who enthusiastically embraces new ideas. Doing what sellncars advocates paints the picture of a rank and file employee who can be counted on to show up on time, and not much else.

 

[XRL]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking in regards to OCW and OS.



As far as the ONR on a DA, I was thinking that perhaps instead of using a MF soaked with ONR, you could use a non cutting pad soaked with it. I don't really think it would make for any benefit after thinking about it a little more. It'd just make a mess.



If I get some side jobs out of it, that would work out great for everyone.



BTW, I'm not that young, lol. I'm 23, going to school for electrical engineering, hopefully at some point I'll get a job that's more in line with my degree, but until then Best Buy is paying the bills.



We're about 10 minutes away from Autogeek.net, and our bay's senior and our services manager both drive right past them on their way to work. So getting products isn't a big deal.



That's the idea with the headlight restoration, a car comes in, we note that it has yellowed headlights, offer them the headlight restoration while we install their radio/speakers/whatever. The customer leaves happy with some nicer headlights, and we get a little extra margin.

 

[black03mach]

all this talk about optimum and stuff is really out there

if you want to churn profits, look into automagic they wholesale they are cheap and they get the job done.



imo if i was the gm and i wanted to maximize the profit, id do two things, buy in bulk and find ways to cut down on time spent washing, honestly on a poor surface like the majority of cars that WILL sign up for this you can get away with a spray sealant like duragloss AW, its at carquest and its cheap done deal. I think ONR you can get away with if you want to promote the "green" side of it, but I doubt people who are getting stereo installations and big screen TV's really care that much about being green.



but i agree with less: KISS = profits

 

[black03mach]

reverse the situation and see if it still makes any sense... "Man I'm paying this guy $800 to detail my car and oh wait for another $20 he'll install my alipne unit into my $100,000 car".... Umm no thanks. If it dosen't make sense for the one it shouldn't for the other.

the reason it doesn't make sense the way you said it is because anybody paying $800 for a carwash is obviously discriminant enough to know that a stereo shop does stereo installs, and a detailer does details.



these BB customers first of all are not getting high end systems put in and second of all its a carwash any person can take a sponge with water and soap and get a clean (dirt free) surface, I understand this site is for the pursuit of perfection, but perfection is determined by the person seeking it.

 

[XRL]

Well, the other side of it is that we typically end up with yearly water restrictions here in Florida. Winter comes and the rain stops, and the past few years that has meant water restrictions. But you would be surprised how many rich (or want to be rich) people will pay a little more for something that is environmentally friendly so they can brag about it.



Here's the thing, they're not concerned about maximizing the profit. They want to maybe get a little extra money out of it (most install bays are actually budgeted to lose the store money, they exist to facilitate sales of products, to elevate brand image, and to have people walk around in the store for longer and maybe buy something else, or see something else they want to buy later).

 

[Less]

Well, the other side of it is that we typically end up with yearly water restrictions here in Florida. Winter comes and the rain stops, and the past few years that has meant water restrictions. But you would be surprised how many rich (or want to be rich) people will pay a little more for something that is environmentally friendly so they can brag about it.



Here's the thing, they're not concerned about maximizing the profit. They want to maybe get a little extra money out of it (most install bays are actually budgeted to lose the store money, they exist to facilitate sales of products, to elevate brand image, and to have people walk around in the store for longer and maybe buy something else, or see something else they want to buy later).

Well ONR is an easy solution if you have water restrictions. And if you live in an area that actually has that problem, it's probably pretty easy to get your hands on that type of product.



But go back and read what you just posted. "They're not concerned about maximizing profit". Does that make a shred of sense to you? I would like to see some proof that "most install bays are budgeted to lose money". I don't really believe that, sorry, not without some proof.



Car audio installs are a little more complicated than jockeying a register, or putting DVD's on a shelf. I don't believe that Best Buy would buy the equipment, install service bays, train employees, and take on the insurance risk of working on cars just in the hopes that people will walk around the store a bit more and somehow talk themselves into buying Conway Twitty's Greatest Hits off the discount rack next to the register.



Think about, they're paying you 12 bucks an hour to take cars apart and put them back together. How can that not make money? At the Best Buy stores near me, the car audio section is tucked into a corner and if you didn't know it was there, you would never find it. It is completely dwarfed by the rest of the store's products so it's hard to believe that the actual hardware is very profitable. If the installs didn't make money, why would they even do car audio at all? They could just put some more pokemon DVD's in that space and actually make a profit.

 

[XRL]

Well ONR is an easy solution if you have water restrictions. And if you live in an area that actually has that problem, it's probably pretty easy to get your hands on that type of product.



But go back and read what you just posted. "They're not concerned about maximizing profit". Does that make a shred of sense to you? I would like to see some proof that "most install bays are budgeted to lose money". I don't really believe that, sorry, not without some proof.



Car audio installs are a little more complicated than jockeying a register, or putting DVD's on a shelf. I don't believe that Best Buy would buy the equipment, install service bays, train employees, and take on the insurance risk of working on cars just in the hopes that people will walk around the store a bit more and somehow talk themselves into buying Conway Twitty's Greatest Hits off the discount rack next to the register.



Think about, they're paying you 12 bucks an hour to take cars apart and put them back together. How can that not make money? At the Best Buy stores near me, the car audio section is tucked into a corner and if you didn't know it was there, you would never find it. It is completely dwarfed by the rest of the store's products so it's hard to believe that the actual hardware is very profitable. If the installs didn't make money, why would they even do car audio at all? They could just put some more pokemon DVD's in that space and actually make a profit.

It's hard to believe, I know. But it's true. Also, installers are required to provide their own tools, and they don't train installers, you kinda have to know what you're doing, or learn as you go along. Many installs do not cover the amount of time it takes for them to be done, while your average deck instlal at 50+ parts does, an amp install likely won't.



What you're missing is that the margin on car audio is often times north of 50%, and on accessories or install parts it's often more than 75%. So while they may lose money in terms of service dollars brought in to the bay compared to our wages, relative rent, additional costs, etc. we are "profitable" considering the sales of the gear and parts. It's actually rather absurd how small the audio departments tend to be considering how much better the margins are... but sadly the markets for audio are much smaller than they are for laptops and TVs.



My store was budgeted to lose $2000 from our install bay per year. We're actually profitable, but that's besides the point. Believe me, there's a lot of absurd things that Best Buy does that just don't make sense like this.



Interesting thing you mention about DVDs though. Many stores are removing their CD and DVD departments slowly but surely as digital media becomes more popular. There's a few stores trying this concept out already, they get basically a few little "download" station and you can upload the movies/music to your storage means. Want to buy the actual DVD? It has to be special ordered. The margins on movies and music are fairly low, and the profit is not typically there compared to the amount of inventory, work, and theft these areas have associated with them. In a few years, most local Best Buys will have only new releases, and maybe a few other popular items.

 

[Envious Eric]

back on track....



keep this about the detailing BB would like to offer and how to facilitate that happening...

 

[Less]

Again, if they could make huge margins selling just the radio, why would they give that profit back by doing an install that they know is in the red? It makes a lot more sense that they would take a beating on the equipment and make the money back doing huge-margin installs.



It doesn't make sense, and just saying that "best buy does a lot of crazy stuff" isn't going to cut it here. They're a successful business and they aren't going to comprimise that just because they think that someone might buy an extra DVD or memory card.



And even if what you're saying is true (which I don't believe it is), a $2,000 loss is NOTHING over the course of a year. When you consider alot of that is equipment depreciation and allocated overhead that's sunk anyway, the cash flow is probably immensely positive even if the paper-profits aren't.



And besides, anybody with a pulse and three brain cells could figure out how to cut costs or raise revenue enough to cover a $2000 loss over the course of the year. I doubt very highly that one of the largest retailers in the history of the world can't turn at least a small profit there.



I admit, I know absolutely nothing about car audio. But I know alot about business, finance, accounting, and sales. There is absolutely no way I'm going to believe that Best Buy has their thumbs that far up their asses.

 

[XRL]

Again, if they could make huge margins selling just the radio, why would they give that profit back by doing an install that they know is in the red? It makes a lot more sense that they would take a beating on the equipment and make the money back doing huge-margin installs.



It doesn't make sense, and just saying that "best buy does a lot of crazy stuff" isn't going to cut it here. They're a successful business and they aren't going to comprimise that just because they think that someone might buy an extra DVD or memory card.



And even if what you're saying is true (which I don't believe it is), a $2,000 loss is NOTHING over the course of a year. When you consider alot of that is equipment depreciation and allocated overhead that's sunk anyway, the cash flow is probably immensely positive even if the paper-profits aren't.



And besides, anybody with a pulse and three brain cells could figure out how to cut costs or raise revenue enough to cover a $2000 loss over the course of the year. I doubt very highly that one of the largest retailers in the history of the world can't turn at least a small profit there.



I admit, I know absolutely nothing about car audio. But I know alot about business, finance, accounting, and sales. There is absolutely no way I'm going to believe that Best Buy has their thumbs that far up their asses.

It's exactly what you said, $2000 over a year is so small it's negligible when compared to the rest of their operations. In the real scale of things, that $2000 can be made up by impulse buys from people waiting on their cars, or in other sales made because people were happy with the service they received there.



Case in point, I did a satellite radio for a lady who had previously had one installed at a competing shop. They did a terrible job, and she was very unhappy with it. My install was significantly better, and she was thrilled. She was so happy, that when her aftermarket DVD system that they installed was broken, she came to us to have it fixed instead of even going to them, and so we fixed it by installing a playstation 2 into her car so that her kids could watch DVDs and play games in the car. While we were installing it, she ordered $4000 worth of appliances and installs because she was there and was so happy about the service she had experienced with our store so far. She was also going to come back with her husband to look at home theater systems as well.



But yeah, I won't have much of an update to this until Wednesday when I go in to work. I'm going to try to get them to buy Optimum stuff. We should be able to offer a good value in services, and stay under our $600 budget with it.

 

[Less]

Well sure, $2,000 per year isn't much. But $2000 per year x sever hundred stores = lots of money.



And I don't care if it's $2,000 or two cents, if it's red ink that can be fixed, businesses will do it. Plain and simple. As I said, if they make so much money selling the equipment, why even bother with the installs? Just sell the radio and send people on their happy way, and save the two grand every year. Simple.



Your story about the woman who came back and dropped thousands of dollars on stuff because she was so happy with YOUR radio install represents the exception, not the rule. I don't think that Best Buy is going to take on the costs and liability of doing radio installs on the off chance that some yuppie with money to burn might browse through the store while she's waiting for her car and drop $5 grand on impulse buys. It just doesn't happen often enough to justify the expense.



Besides, you can't say for sure that she wouldn't have bought that stuff without the radio install. It's not like Best Buy runs on word-of-mouth advertising. If she was in the market for an appliance, chances are she was going to shop best buy no matter how good your radio install came out.



Look man, I'm sure you're a nice kid, and I want to help you implement this car wash thing and hopefully you'll take my advice on how to approach your GM and really turn this into a great opportunity for yourself. However, it's hard for me not to get frustrated with you when you say outrageous, ignorant things. Best buy doesn't care about profits? Come on man. How ridiculous is that?



You work in one isolated department, in one particular store. That is a long way from qualifying you as an expert on the structure and culture of a multi-billion dollar corporation that is bigger and smarter than you can possibly fathom. Think about it, if you got the place clocked so well, why aren't YOU the general manager?



Contrary to what you seem to believe, Best Buy doesn't just do stupid things for the sake of being stupid. Have some humility, open your eyes and ears, and try to LEARN rather than jump to insane conclusions and present them as definitive facts.



Anyway, toyataguy is right, we need to get back on topic. There is a right way to implement the car wash thing, and I think we're on the right track.