Most people just take the vehicles to the dealers and let the next in line take care. You come in for some computer work on the vehicle but how do you know that it doesn't end up in the hands of the guy who specializes in oil changes? The answer is that you don't. Remember when you were growing up in a small town how your father always took the car to the local mechanic? He did so because he thought he was the best, or the ideal mechanic.
To be the ideal mechanic in these times you need to be well versed in what you do. You can't just be the brakeman or an air conditioner specialist. The dealerships are closing and the trend is heading back to the independent mechanic. So you can't be specializing in just one thing. You need to make sure that you can handle anything that comes along and that you can do it in a great manner.
Granted, there will be areas that you will be better at than others, but to be the one who gets the majority of the work and the one people come back to and recommend to other friends, you need to be consistent. Pricing may not be the issue at all. You might be a little higher than the guy down the street but if a customer comes in with a problem and you manage to solve it in a reasonable amount of time for a good price they will be back to you the next time they need something done.
Being the ideal mechanic doesn't end there though. You have to be good at handling the PR for your business and treat people nicely. You have to be able to manage the accounts receivable and accounts payable in an efficient and timely manner. You truly have to wear all the hats or make sure that you get in assistants who are capable of doing things the way that you would do yourself.
The way to be the ideal mechanic can be summed up in two words and those words are “common sense”. If it doesn't seem like the right way to handle the situation it is most likely not the right way to handle it. There may be times when you lose a little on a particular job, but the customer service you give on it, being pleasant and doing the right thing, will pay you back ten fold down the line. By giving such services, you will have a nice client list and they will definitely refer your services to their friends and families.