Is this Australia's most reliable mechanic?

The importance of great customer relationships has been highlighted in a research report by QBE. It found the top worry for the two million-plus small- and medium-sized businesses in Australia is customers suddenly walking away from them.

70 per cent of Frustaci's clients are women.

According to QBE’s Business Risk Report, the other major threats to cash flow include late payment of invoices, rising costs and clients going bankrupt.

QBE executive general manager, intermediary distribution, Jason Clarke, says he was surprised almost a third of the businesses surveyed named customer desertion as the top risk.

“But when you think about customers today and their buying habits, loyalty is a lot harder to earn and even harder to keep,” he says.

Clarke says to reduce this risk, small firms should constantly look for ways to improve, think through what could go wrong in the business and how to prevent it.

Frustaci says talking to customers during the repair process is one way to stay close and reduce flight risk.

“I take my clients through every single aspect of the repairs through the course of the day. It may entail three lengthy conversations explaining what we need to do. When they pick up the car, they get shown the old parts and we explain why we replaced them," he says.

“It’s a different approach. You go into other places and there's always a customer at the desk, red in the face yelling, 'Why didn't you call and tell me you were doing this? It didn’t have to be done now.'”

Frustaci’s bedside manner has helped the business survive through many business cycles.

“I started out in 1985 and we had a recession 12 months after I opened the business. I had a 4000 square foot workshop and an apprentice, and it was a struggle. But the recession was actually good for us because people couldn't afford to buy new cars, so they had to get their old cars repaired, which meant that I had a lot of work,” he says.

But the admin burden has grown. He says GST, handling employees’ wages, superannuation and insurance are a challenge. “Business is like walking up a down escalator,” he says.

The admin burden has grown along the way for Frustaci.
Photo: Janie Barrett

Frustaci has recently stepped away from the company to care for his mother, who is unwell. So he has brought in a business partner who has a 48 per cent share in the company to work alongside his son, Francesco. He will eventually take over his father’s 52 per cent share of the company.

“But I still go in every day at 5am and open up and greet the customers,” Frustaci snr says.

He expects environmentally friendly, self-driving cars to be the automotive industry’s future.

“Audi already has a car that meets all five protocols for a true AI vehicle," he says. "This car will wake you in the morning with an alarm. It'll open the doors. It'll drive itself out of the driveway. You can jump in the car and tell it where to go. There's no steering wheel or brake pedal. You sit in the back and go to sleep. They have that car available now.”

All the upcoming change in the automotive field thanks to new technology sounds exciting. But after 30-plus years in business, Frustaci says it’s now time to leave it to his son and business partner to navigate the road ahead. With such a loyal customer base, it will hopefully be a smooth ride.

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