Dealers across the country are making preparations to deal with what is expected to be a stellar remote start season in terms of demand, but a challenging one in terms of labor.
It’s a challenge every year, to match remote start installs with manpower in the bay. But this year, it may be even more of a problem. According to interviews with dozens of dealers, the shortage of installers has grown increasingly pressing.
Six-store chain Car Tunes Stereo Center of Detroit, sells between 5,000 and 6,000 remote starts a year. Owner Mark Constaintakis expects the installer shortage to crimp the season more than in the past. He has 16 installers but he’s short two so he’s expecting “a modest decline in sales.” The plan is to boost margins and profits by increasing the price of a bypass module by $10 and of a keyless entry option by $5. Trunk pop is going from $25 up to $40 to shore up .
Sound FX, RI said it will rely more heavily on plug and play T-harnesses that add about $40 to the cost of a remote start but that enable an easier install. “The staff changes from year to year. I have two green techs. They are learning, so how do I do as many remote starters as I did in the past? The answer is T-harnesses,” said Mark D’Elia VP Operations.
Tip Top Customs, Chicago doesn’t have a single installer at all at the moment. Owner Sean Davis is now the only employee and he is handling all the installs himself. His lead tech decided to quit in June after 18 years of installing to move to another field. Davis has gone through a couple of “pretty green guys” who didn’t work out. “Last year I had two installers during the season and we had trouble keeping up. I can’t even handle the phones,” he said. We’re feeling Davis’ pain so if you happen to be an amazing, available installer, you can email [email protected].
One of the leading expediters in the Northeast, Auto Action Group, it’s looking for installers. “We’re certainly starting to feel that sting, especially in our Philly market. We’ve had trouble acquiring capable installers,” said Jared Cohen. Auto Action has 5 locations in NY, NJ and PA and does business with over 500 car dealers.
Cartronix owner Eric Carter is well staffed at the moment but he said, “I know a lot of the other shops have only one guy and some don’t have any installers.” He said the easiest way to find installers to ask enthusiast customers if they might be interested in starting a career as a tech and start letting them shadow an installer.
By the way, if you are looking to beef up your remote start business, one way is through the Coats for Kids program, which is especially helpful in bringing in customers off the phone. “Our remote start prices are higher than a lot of other stores, so when you tell a client on the phone if you donate a coat you get $25 off and help kids stay warm, they say, ‘Okay, I’ll go with you guys.’” Last year was Cartronix’ donated 400 coats, in its fifth year of running the program
A teachable moment, maybe even something good for all… If one believes in the laws of supply & demand we might experience the following as a result of an installer shortage;
One: Installers will be able to command a higher wage
Two: Higher wages increase the cost to the retailer
Three: The installer raises the price of a remote starter which at least maintains margin
Four: If all of the claims in the article are true about sales quantities of the remote starters then price elasticity should not be severe indicating that higher prices to consumers will not have a significant negative impact on sales
Five: If that is true perhaps the installer wages will stay at the higher level, improving the willingness of talented people to stay in or be more attracted to the install profession
Six: Higher quality installers if merchandised properly add value to the products and services available to sell to consumers
Seven: Retailers will be able to command higher prices for all of the installed product categories because of the added value created by superior installers
Eight: Consumers will have improved experiences at brick & mortar installing specialty retailers
Nine: Consumers will share their improved experiences with their friends, creating more consumer traffic with high expectations
TEN: Brick & mortar installing specialty retailers will meet the higher consumer expectations…
…and as the use and application instructions on the hair shampoo bottle implore; WASH. RINSE. REPEAT.
Maybe we can manage this “crisis” in such a way as value is added for all in the supply chain.
Ray Windsor
949-228-2153
I was having the same problem. Ads everywhere looking for installers but no luck. Finally, I called my distributor and explained to him that if he put a little pressure on the companies that they deal with to have a training for new installers then I would buy all my remote starters from him. It worked. I sent my son and 6 other installers are getting trained from scratch ….. Guys, if remote start companies are not willing to train your employees from scratch, then stop selling their products. I’ve been talking to DEI for years to train new employees at our own expense but no luck. After 15 years from selling their products now they are history in my shop. Hello Voxx, code alarm and Flashlogic.