Part 41 (2/2)

When a battery comes in the three parts are given the same number to identify them when they have been torn apart. The number may be written in the ”No.” s.p.a.ce shown on each part, or the numbers may be stamped on the card. The record should not be made out as soon as a customer comes in, but after the battery has been examined and tested and the necessary work determined. Put the customer's name on parts 2 and 3. Record the address, telephone, etc., in the proper s.p.a.ces on part 3. Having determined by test and inspection what is to be done, fill out the ”WORKCOSTS” table on part 3, putting a check mark in the first column to indicate the work to be done and the material needed.

Figure up the cost while the customer waits, if this is possible.

Explain the costs to the customer, and have him sign Contract No. 1.

If you do this there can never be any argument about the bill you hand the customer later If the customer cannot wait, or if he is well known to you and you know lie will not question your bill, have him sign Contract No. 2. In either case, the terms printed on the back of the card authorize the repairman to make whatever repairs he finds to be necessary, and bind the customer to pay for them. Find out whether the customer will call, whether you are to deliver the battery, or whether you are to s.h.i.+p it, and put a check mark in the proper s.p.a.ce at the right of the ”WORK-COSTS” table. Mark the battery with the chalk whose color is indicated, and you will know how to dispose of the battery when the repairs are completed.

Fill out the claim check and give it to the customer, tearing it off along the perforated lines. Fill out the battery tag, indicating after ”Instructions” just what is to be done.

[Fig. 183 Front & Back of the Battery Service Card]

Make a sketch of the top of the battery in the s.p.a.ce provided, dip the tag in the paraffine dip pot (see page 182) and tack the card on the battery. File part 3 in a standard 5 by 8 card index file. To the right of the ”WORK-COSTS” table are s.p.a.ces for entering the date on which the work is completed, the date the customer is notified and the date the battery goes out. These dates are useful in keeping a record of the job. When the job is finished and the rental comes in, enter the costs in the ”COSTS” table, and note the date the bill was paid, in the s.p.a.ce marked ”PAID.”

[Fig. 184 Rental battery card to be tied on car of customer]

File all the 5 by 8 cards (Part 3) in alphabetical order in a ”dead”

ticket file, in either alphabetical or numerical order. With this file you can build up an excellent mailing list of your customers. You can note how many new customers you are securing and how many customers are not coming back. The latter information is very valuable, as it enables you to find out what customers have quit, and you can go after them to get their repair business again.

When a rental is put on a card, the card shown in Fig. 184 may be tied to the car where it is easily seen. This will serve as a reminder to the customer and will help advertise your shop to those who ride in the car.

Each rental battery should have a number painted on it in large white letters, or should have attached to it at all times a lead tag on which is stamped a number to identify the battery. To keep a record of the rental batteries, a card or sheet similar to that shown in Fig.

185 may be used. Each time the rental is put on a car, a record is made of this fact on the card. Each rental battery has its own card, and reference to this card will show at once where the battery is.

Each card thus gives a record of the battery. The number of the rental is also written on the Stock Card shown in Fig. 183, but the purpose of putting the number on these cards is merely to make sure that the battery is returned when the customer's battery is replaced on the car and to be able to figure out the rental cost quickly and add it to the time and material costs in repairing the customer's battery.

The Record Card shown in Fig. 183 does not help you locate any particular rental battery. For instance, suppose that rental battery No. 896 is out and you wish to know who is using it. You may, of course, look over the ”Battery Tags” which are tied to the batteries which are being repaired in the shop, or you may examine the file containing the record cards, but this would take too much time. But if you refer to the rental file you can determine immediately where rental battery No. 896 is, since the cards in this file should be arranged numerically.

The rack on which rental batteries are placed should have a tag bearing the same number as the rental battery tacked to the shelf below the place provided for the battery. Each rental battery should always be placed in the same place on the shelf. You can then tell at a glance which batteries are out.

A good plan, and one which will save s.p.a.ce, is to write the number of the rental battery on the customer's claim check, and when repairs on his own battery are completed, to set his battery in the place provided on the rental rack for the rental which he is using. When he comes in for his battery, you can tell at a glance whether his battery is ready by looking at the place where the rental he is using is normally placed on the rental rack. If a battery is there you will know that it is his battery, and that it is ready for him.

[Fig. 185 Rental Battery Stock Card]

You could, of course, look through the batteries on the ”Ready Rack,”

but this would take more time, since the numbers of the batteries on this rack will always be different, and you would have to look through all the batteries on the ”Ready Rack” before you would be able to tell whether any particular battery were ready. By putting a customer's battery in place of the rental he is using, you will have only one place to look at in order to know whether his battery is ready.

CHAPTER 13.

BUSINESS METHODS.

Success in this day and age cannot be attained without a well thought-out plan of action. There is no business which does not demand some sort of system of management. The smallest business must have it, and will go to ruin without it. Hence every battery service station proprietor should see to it that his affairs are systematized -- arranged according to a carefully studied method. Most men look upon ”red-tape” with contempt and in the sense of a mere monotonous and meaningless routine, it merits all the contempt poured upon it. Hard, fast and iron-clad rules, which cease to be a means, and become an end, prove a hindrance rather than a help. But an intelligent method, which adapts itself to the needs of the business, is one of the most powerful instruments of business. The battery man who despises it will never do anything well. It does not matter how clever he is, how good a workman he is, how complete his knowledge of batteries, if he attempts to run his business without a plan, he will eventually come to grief.

Purchasing Methods.

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