Bruce McDowell - Author Archives

Repair Orders and Invoices

Oct 23, 2019 | Blogs, Bruce McDowell - Author, Featured Article, General Interest, Shop Management

The digital age has brought about changes in the way we process our repair orders and invoices. While technological advances have made some major improvements over some of the illegible handwritten ones of the past, there are still some that are slow to change.

Amazon and eBay: Is It Us Against Them?

Sep 16, 2019 | Blogs, Bruce McDowell - Author, General Interest, Shop Management

The digital age has brought many positive advantages to our lives and our businesses. It has also brought several challenges that we must face as well. Information access can be a 2-way street. We have more access to online diagnostics, but so do our customers and our...

Farming Technicians of Tomorrow

Aug 14, 2019 | Blogs, Bruce McDowell - Author, Education, Employment and Wages, Featured Article, General Interest

Finding technicians and good employees is a hot topic. If, as a business, we are making our 5-year business plans, why are we not already looking for the employees we know we’ll need in 5 years? Where will those people come from and what type of person will they...

The Digital Shop

Jul 22, 2019 | Blogs, Bruce McDowell - Author, Featured Article, General Interest, Shop Management

At 20+ years in the industry, I have seen a lot of changes, especially in how we do business.Back in 1997 when I was at my first shop, I did have a computer and a management system, but we were still “writing tickets” on paper. The back wall of the office...

Technology Terminology

Jun 17, 2019 | Blogs, Bruce McDowell - Author, Education, Featured Article, General Interest, Shop Management

Staying up-to-date on the technology and terminology in our industry is essential. If we want to be able to properly advise our clients and be capable of explaining some of the terminology we use, then we need a thorough understanding ourselves.

Employee Development

May 20, 2019 | Blogs, Bruce McDowell - Author, Education, Employment and Wages, Featured Article, General Interest

It has long been the battle cry of owners and managers in our industry that “We can’t find good employees.” The Technician.Academy motto is “Respect is Learned”. There is also the phrase in management training that “Good leaders are...