Webster Groves, Mo.--Few shop owners would disagree with the statement that being able to run an efficient shop is critical to keeping a business healthy. In good times, a lack of efficiency can eat away at hard-earned profits. In bad times, inefficient operations can spell the end of the business.
     Scott Pfitzinger has seen both. "Without a doubt, being efficient is important," said Pfitzinger, owner of Webster Groves Complete Auto Repair, a 25-year-old business he founded with his father, Jerry, in 1982. "The more efficient you are, the more profitable you can be. Not being efficient can put you out of business."
     Before relocating to the Old Orchard section of Webster Groves 11 years ago, Pfitzinger said he and his father operated their business--then named Jerry & Sons Auto Repair--for 12 years in nearby Valley Park. In that time, they were flooded out three times, including the great flood of 1993, he said.
     "Things were not going well down there; so we looked for a better location," he said.
A better location is what they found in Webster Groves, Pfitzinger said. Although their 3,000-square-foot shop is tucked away behind a McDonald's restaurant and not easily seen from busy Big Bend Boulevard, which passes through the heart of the Old Orchard District, the shop's lack of curbside visibility has not hindered its operation, he said.
     "Considering that we're hidden back here, it's great," he said. "No one can see us from the main road, which, normally, would hurt, but we've become well enough established that it's been an excellent location."
In his 11 years in Webster Groves, Pfitzinger said he has developed a strong customer base by focusing on quality service and treating his customers as though they were friends and family.
     "I could give you the names of 100 customers, and 99 of them would say they're not only our customers, they're our friends," he said. "We look at our customers as customers for the long run."
Today, Pfitzinger said he employs four technicians and an office manager. And while his father retired several years ago, turning the business over to him, he said the senior Pfitzinger can often be found working in the shop alongside the rest of the staff.
     "We do everything from your most basic tuneup and brake work to major engine overhauls," Pfitzinger said. "We can do any kind of diagnostics a customer needs. We do air-conditioning work. The only thing we really don't do is tire work. We work on foreign and American cars."
     Pfitzinger smiled when he described his shop as "one of the few places that doesn't know how to say no. We sometimes take on things we shouldn't, but we try to help everybody out." Unlike many shops today, Pfitzinger said he also accepts custom and classic-car work--with the understanding that the business is fill-in work.
     "We try not to take on too many, but sometimes in the spring it looks like we've got a street-rod show going on around here," he said. "It gets crazy, but we try to take on only one to three at any time."
     Although his business has flourished in its current location--"We haven't had a slow period in four years"--Pfitzinger said he made a major commitment to improving its efficiency when he installed a computerized shop-management system five years ago. Today, he said his Alldata computer system not only helps with his day-to-day management tasks, but it also gives his technicians access to critical repair information and technical help.
     As with most shops, when they began the business, Pfitzinger said he and his father relied on technical manuals, then, eventually, on PCs and CDs. Now with his Alldata system and its online capability, the business of his shop is thoroughly integrated.
     "I can't think of doing it any other way," he said. "First of all, it's faster. It beats digging out a book and going through the pages, trying to find information on a vehicle. It gives you what the labor time should be. It gives you the warranty time. You can break down different areas, whether it's a wiring schematic or brakes and suspension information. It also gives you a tech line. You can find bulletins and recalls. If a car has a common problem, and you haven't come across it, you can check that out, too."
Pfitzinger said his technicians also find the system useful. "They love it," he said. "Ninety percent of the time, they find what they need. If we have a problem, there's the tech line we can call."
     A further advantage is that his Alldata system is compatible with the Snap-on MODIS and Vantage diagnostic equipment his shop uses, Pfitzinger said. He describes the systems as being able to work "hand in hand."
Combined, Pfitzinger said his Alldata information system's capabilities and his diagnostic equipment provide a solid foundation for his shop. "We pretty much have everything we need to work on old and new," he said.

Educating customers
The information system can also be an asset when it comes to dealing with customers, Pfitzinger said. It can help an owner educate customers about repairs or preventive maintenance.
At times, Pfitzinger said he may overexplain something to a customer, but even when that happens, his customers usually appreciate the effort. "They feel more comfortable about what they're spending their money on," he said.
Just as shop efficiency is important, Pfitzinger said he believes that spending time with his customers is also important because many today seem less well-informed about automobiles than previous generations. Even a lot of men seldom look under the hood of a car today, he said. In many families, car care has also become the responsibility of women, he added.
"Everybody is so tied up in their own work that they don't have time. I'm amazed at the number of men who don't know how to check the oil or water levels--or don't know how to handle a dead battery."

Defining success
Asked how he would define success, Pfitzinger smiled again and suggested that his answer may sound a bit corny.
"Really and truthfully, success is still being in business for as long as we have been," he said. "I'm surviving and living nicely from the business. So are my dad and my employees. Our customers are happy with what we do. We know our customers by their first names, and we talk about our families and our dogs. I'm never going to become a millionaire, but I'm living comfortably. When we go home at night, we feel like we've treated everybody fairly."
And his bottom-line assessment of his management system?
"The more efficient you are as an owner, the more efficient your shop can be," Pfitzinger said. "I'm sure I use only a fraction of what it can do for me."