Building a Foundation to Prevent Employee Turnover [THA 461]

Craig Noel, Nicole Bennecoff, and Brad Updegraff share actionable strategies for reducing turnover and creating workplaces where employees genuinely want to stay. Their discussion focuses on hiring for culture, adapting to generational expectations around flexibility, and investing personally in the people who make the business run.

Turnover Prevention Starts in the Interview

Preventing turnover begins long before a new hire steps into the shop. The panel emphasized hiring for culture above all—seeking candidates who align with the organization’s values and want to contribute to its long-term success.

Key hiring insights:

Culture Fit Over Experience: Skills can be taught; mindset cannot.

Process Buy-In: Especially with experienced technicians, owners must clearly communicate that systems are established and expected to be followed. A growth mindset is crucial.

Onboarding & Accountability: Culture discussions start on day one. Many shops rely on a 30–60 day check-in period and a 90-day probation window to evaluate behavior, process adoption, and overall fit.

Retention Is Personal

Retention isn’t one-size-fits-all. Owners must prioritize people and culture over production, recognizing that different employees are motivated by different things.

Personalized retention strategies:

Emotional & Financial Support: Small gestures—like a quick text of appreciation or helping a young technician with a bill—can make a big difference.

Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Today’s workforce highly values family and personal time. Supporting employees during life moments becomes part of the shop’s culture.

The Collective Mindset: Including employees in the shop’s vision builds loyalty. Asking why they stay—or what might cause them to leave—helps uncover individual needs.

Meaningful recognition practices:

Use the Language of Careers: Refer to the industry as a career, not just a job or trade.

Badges of Honor: Display certifications, achievements, and bios where customers can see them, reinforcing pride and professionalism.

Internal Recognition Systems: Performance teams, quarterly newsletters, and other internal celebrations highlight personal and professional wins.

Managing Departures With Grace

Not all turnover is negative. The panel stressed that when separations happen, they should be handled with empathy, effort, and transparency.

Remaining staff notice—and appreciate—when leadership goes above and beyond before making a final decision.

Often, those who leave for “greener pastures” return, recognizing the strength of the original culture.

Preventing turnover means recognizing that every employee is a unique engine with distinct needs and motivations. The owner becomes the “maestro,” creating a workplace where communication is open, recognition is part of daily life, expectations are clear, and culture serves as the foundation.

A strong culture doesn’t just retain people—it grows them.
remarkableresults.biz/a461

People Love to Buy, They Don’t Like to Be Sold [RR 1067]

Recorded Live at ASTA 2025, Dutch Silverstein delivers a powerful reframing of how the automotive industry can approach customer interaction—shifting from high-pressure sales tactics to a relationship-first model built on the idea that ‘People Love to Buy. They Don’t Like to Be Sold.’

Advocates, Not Salespeople
Dutch’s relationship-based shop model stands in stark contrast to transactional sales environments.

No Salespeople: Dutch does not employ “salesmen,” he employs “advocates.”

Role of an Advocate: Advocates collaborate with customers to understand what they want for their vehicle and their long-term plans, then help design solutions that support those goals.

Eliminating Pressure: The shop enforces a strict “no pressure, ever” philosophy. There are no commissions, no sales quotas, no whiteboards, no competitive bonuses—removing any incentive that could create a conflict of interest.

The episode also dives into several controversial but important topics:

The need to revisit technician licensing, with Dutch arguing current standards are “window dressing.”

The flat-rate paradox, especially when contrasted with the younger generation’s desire for work-life balance rather than solely financial incentive.

Determining an optimal labor rate in a way that supports sustainability and talent retention.

The Takeaway
The conversation reinforces that effective sales—better yet, advocacy—are rooted in trust. When customers feel supported rather than sold to, they embrace their decisions with confidence. This shift from selling to serving creates a healthier, more sustainable customer experience and business model.

remarkableresults.biz/e1067

Good Debt, Bad Debt: Distinguishing Healthy Leverage from Financial Risk [THA 460]

It’s time to dig into real-world strategies for managing debt and strengthening the financial foundation of your auto repair business.

Shiju Thomas, Hotchkiss Auto Repair
Dustin Brown, Brown Auto Experts
Hunt Demarest, CPA, Paar Melis and Associates

The first big takeaway: Cash is king.
Our panel emphasizes the power of maintaining healthy cash reserves—ideally three to six months of operating expenses—to safeguard your shop against unexpected disruptions. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that cash on hand can be the difference between surviving and scrambling.

Another core theme is recognizing the difference between good debt and “bad debt.”

Good debt includes real estate and other collateral-backed loans that appreciate, add stability, and support long-term growth. Bad debt includes high-interest burdens like merchant cash advances or short-term credit card loans—products that drain cash flow fast and offer zero assets in return.

The panel also addresses a common pain point: “Why doesn’t my bank balance match my profit?”
The answer lies in understanding the cash flow statement—specifically, that principal payments don’t appear on the P&L, even though they hit your bank account hard. Their guidance: pay off high-interest debt first, but don’t erase debt so aggressively that you end up “debt-free but cash-poor.” Cash matters just as much as debt reduction.

Bottom line: Be intentional with your money. Understand your numbers. And approach debt reduction as a strategy, not a sprint.
remarkableresults.biz/a460

Rock Your Role: Creating an Experience Employees and Customers Cheer For [RR 1066]

Recorded Live at ASTA 2025, keynote speaker Jim Knight dives into leadership and organizational culture through his signature “edutainment” style—a high-energy blend of music, education, and hospitality. Knight is a professional speaker, writer, and former Head of Training and Development for over two decades at Hard Rock International, which he calls one of the “greatest cultures in the history of culture.”

Jim stresses that the most important responsibility of any leader is hiring the right person. Too often, leaders get distracted by product, pricing, or aesthetics, while the true differentiator is the human element. He recommends evaluating candidates through the Three C’s:

Competence – Can they do the job?

Character – Are they kind, respectful, and easy to work with?

Culture Fit – Do their values align with the organization?

Leaders who fail to make employees feel seen, heard, and appreciated, he warns, will continue to struggle with turnover.

remarkableresults.biz/e1066

Train the Trainer: Building an Industry Boot Camp for Automotive Educators [THA 459]

The automotive industry faces a growing crisis: as veteran trainers and educators retire, there’s no clear path for the next generation to replace them. Creating quality training is time-intensive — often taking months to develop just one class — and the personal sacrifices required have deterred many from stepping up.

This episode explores the urgent need to evolve automotive education, from rethinking long-form classes to developing shorter, high-impact sessions that better fit today’s learning styles. At the heart of the conversation is a proposed solution: an industry “Trainer Boot Camp” designed to teach aspiring educators not only technical knowledge but also the art of presentation — structure, flow, delivery, and audience engagement.

Another proposed solution is the creation of a Train the Trainers Scholarship to fund legacy educators like John Thornton and Scot Manna to design and lead this new initiative. Modeled after the WWE’s NXT Performance Center, the idea is to proactively cultivate new education “superstars” rather than waiting for them to appear on their own.

This is more than a conversation about teaching — it’s a call to action to preserve and reinvent the future of automotive education before the knowledge gap becomes irreversible.
remarkableresults.biz/a459

Helping People Do Life in Auto Repair [RR 1065]

In this fireside conversation, Joe Hanson of Gordie’s Auto and Tire shares how a clear purpose—“Helping people do life”—guides every part of the business. This mission shapes both the customer experience and the culture within the shop, ensuring the team feels supported, valued, and equipped to build meaningful careers.

Joe walks through the realities of growing the business, from navigating permits and environmental requirements to expanding fleet services and managing tire sales intentionally. Issues such as leadership team dynamics, marketing, and phone call audits are management problems—they are never permanently “fixed,” but instead require continuous coaching and management. He also emphasizes the importance of communication, setting clear expectations, and educating customers about the complexity of modern testing and ADAS calibration—not just “plugging in a scanner.”

Joe remains committed to the work for as long as it’s meaningful—and rooted in helping people, not just chasing revenue.

remarkableresults.biz/e1065

The Everyday Educator: How Leaders Reinforce Learning [THA 458]

David Boyes, CEO of Today’s Class, and Lola Schmidt, Schmidt Auto Care, explore how short, personalized, and gamified training is transforming team development in the automotive industry.

The discussion centers on how Today’s Class delivers 3–5 minute, mobile-friendly training sessions that fit seamlessly into daily shop routines, often completed right after morning huddles. This consistent “daily drip” of learning minimizes workflow disruption while fostering a culture of continuous growth.

Gamification drives engagement through points, badges, and friendly competition, sparking team conversations and collaboration. Shops like Schmidt Auto Care have seen measurable improvements in technical knowledge, such as increased proficiency in brake systems, wheel alignment, and HVAC performance.

Lola shares how her team’s enthusiasm for competition has built deeper learning habits, while David explains how the platform’s data-driven insights help shop leaders identify knowledge gaps, coach effectively, and make smarter business decisions from equipment investments to targeted, hands-on training.

The takeaway: Small, consistent, and data-informed training can create powerful results, driving engagement, improving technical skills, and strengthening both team and business performance.
remarkableresults.biz/a458

Stress, the Struggle, and the Resilience: A Guide for Leaders [RR 1064]

Stress is inevitable, but how we respond to it can make or break our leadership. In this episode, Dr. David Weiman, psychologist at Weiman Consulting, dives into the science of stress and practical strategies for managing it, especially in the fast paced world of automotive repair.

What You’ll Learn:

The fight or flight response and why modern stress feels just as intense as physical danger.

The three types of stress: Normal, Training (Eustress), and Excessive, and how recognizing them can improve decision-making.

Simple, powerful tools for recovery: micro breaks, diaphragmatic breathing, and mindful routines.

How stress affects leadership, team dynamics, and strategic thinking—and what to do about it.

Practical tips to avoid burnout, maintain energy, and enhance focus.

Dr. Weiman emphasizes that the key isn’t eliminating stress, it’s managing it effectively so you can think clearly, lead confidently, and take action.

remarkableresults.biz/e1064