Mike Warshauer. His is a classic story of apprenticeship, advancing to craftsmanship, culminating in ownership. From the 11th grade on he’s been involved in automotive repair, starting off by sweeping floors, eventually working his way up the ladder to become the lead tech and shop foreman of Rising Sun Motors in College Park, Md., before finally buying out the business with his wife Denise.
“In ’78, Nissan had fuel injection on their 280ZX,” he relates. “But when GM started doing the computer controls [in the late 80s], it changed everything for everybody. They were the first to have codes and things of that nature, where you could get scan data, diagnostics — they were way ahead of everybody on that.”
Since Rising Sun Motors now covers all makes, there are no questions when it comes to hardware; if it needs to be bought, he’ll buy it. “You can’t do it without (the right equipment),” Warshauer states. “These cars are designed to be diagnosed in a certain manner, and all of the literature you get is written for you to use that tool. If you don’t have it, it’s all smoke and mirrors; you can’t do it.”
Warshauer also reports being an early adherent of seminars. “I’d say since 1980, if a seminar came along, I went to it. I’ve even gone to the same classes two or three times, but I always pick up something that I miss. I try to get my guys to have that same attitude, because you’re not going to wake up one day and know this stuff. You can try and read it out of a book, but I find this difficult unless you have somebody there to ask questions of.”
As it turns out, ATI’s corporate headquarters are about 15 miles away in Linthicum, Md. “I was at a seminar there a couple weeks ago,” Warshauer says, “and one of the things they talked about is the first time a person comes in they’re a client, the second time they become a customer. I’d like to think that we have lots of customers; we have some who have been coming here for 30 years.”
Like many shops, one way Warshauer builds on this customer base is with a reward system. “If they refer someone to us, we will mail them a $50 coupon,” he explains. “And every time they come in they can have what we call Rising Sun bucks that are in $20 increments. We actually emboss them with a notary-style stamp so they can’t be copied. Depending on how much they spend, they get these discount coupons for their next visit. I’ve had customers come in and pay $300 to $400 worth with these coupons.”
As the name implies, College Park is home to the University of Maryland, as well as a branch of the National Archives. In nearby Greenbelt there’s the Goddard Space Flight Center, and a little further still Washington D.C. itself, so a lot of Rising Sun’s customers commute. To that end, the shop got a shuttle bus.
“We take a lot of people over to the University or to work,” Warshauer relates. “We probably go to Goddard almost every day with at least one person. Then there’s the Metro, which goes from the suburbs into D.C., so we’ll take people to the (train station) and pick them up at the end of the day. We tell customers to call us at 4 p.m. to let us know if they need the ride, because a lot of times they’ll get a ride back with a co-worker. Then we work out the schedules as far as picking them up.”
Regarding the virtual highway of the internet, “I believe I embrace it,” Warshauer says almost as a question. “I may not embrace it was well as some others, just based on time and ability, but Jeff, my service manager, is much better at it than I am. He stays on top of it, which I believe you need to be very diligent about.”
For besides their website, Rising Sun Motors also has a Facebook page and a downloadable mobile phone application, the latter of which can track repairs, post service reminders, and download discount coupons. Warshauer’s own approach to customer relations is more direct, ‘one-on-one’. “If there’s a problem, all you have to do is come and see me,” he says. “I want you to be happy. My standard question is, ‘what’s it going to take to make you happy?’ And we’ll work from there.”
That’s because Warshauer focuses on quality. “You can come up with all kinds of slogans,” he affirms, “but if you just do it right, treat people fairly, you don’t have to have a catchy phrase. We still have our original ‘we are the alternative to the dealer for your import car.’ And while you don’t necessarily have to be the cheapest guy in town, you just have to be reasonable, affordable. If there are any issues, you have to have an extremely open line of communication with the customer. We treat most of our customers like they’re our friends, and a lot of them have actually become one.”
