Become A Better Communicator By Learning The Power Of Observable Human Behavior.

Kim Auernheimer, Shari Pheasant and Jeremy O’Neal bring their wealth of knowledge using the DISC profiles in their businesses. You need to understand that DISC is an evaluation of your four basic behaviors. There is a science element to our discussion but don’t let that get in the way of this very powerful communication tool.

The value of knowing your DISC and how to discover your customers or co-workers behavior traits and then communicate in their basic way is the power of this lesson. Once you know them the world is your oyster because you can now start to converse with them in their language, not yours.

The Power of Performing a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats) Review of Your Business.

Join Maryann Croce, Greg Bunch and Murray Voth for a wide-open discussion on the power and value doing a SWOT on your business. These three aftermarket professionals know the worth and outcome of a well-done SWOT.

Involve your team, assign priorities to the outcome and create a timeline to do the things discovered in this exercise. You are creating a strategic plan to best prepare your company for doing business in today’s market and into the future.

Go to the show notes page for this Academy episode #40 to download support tools.

When was the last time you actively recruited qualified candidates to fill your bench strength?

Kevin Vaught, Business Development Coach from Elite Worldwide, Ryan Blair from Blair Automotive and Robert Sexton from First Tire and Automotive bring their strategies, tactics and ideas to the discussion.

We cover networking, building your pipeline of qualified candidates, and your people as recruiters. They all agree that recruiting is a long game that needs daily attention. You must invest the time.

We talk about marketing efforts and being involved in secondary and post-secondary education. Many more great ideas and gems of wisdom from the Academy panel who make recruiting a ‘must do’ piece of their responsibility to their companies

Are you viewing your client and their car as one?

There are too many disruptions in the industry that drives big reasons to hold strong relations with your customer. Understanding your customer and their vehicle as ‘one life condition’ is the foundation of this Academy discussion.

Jeremy O’Neal, Greg Buckley and Jason Malo discuss the power of moving from transactional to ‘relationship holding values’.

They say future technology will minimize the number of calls that come in the shop, therefore, you cannot see the vehicle without seeing the customer. It must be personal.

There are plenty of cars to repair, and you must maximize your staff’s training and extract their intelligence to move your business to new heights and even into other markets. They conclude that the culture of the shop creates the clients.

Multiple Labor Rates Can Make A Shop Competitive Depending On Jobs. It Is Easy To Set Up Parts Matrixes On Your SMS.

A big fear in our industry is we fear someone questioning our price. We need to be proud of why and what we do. We must understand the value we do for our customer.

Understanding how parts matrix’s work in your SMS and understanding the strategy behind it will improve your parts margins overnight. Also, parts pricing transparency in the industry may change parts margins in the future.

Become the CEO of your company and you’ll start to see the differences in your sales, costs and profits when you pay attention to what the CEO must do for the company.

Is Tradition Preventing Shop Owners From Buying Technician Tools? FACT: Shop Owners Are Already Paying For Their Employee Tools, And At A Super Inflated Premium With A Ton Of Interest To Boot.

This Academy panel feels that making employees supply tools is an outdated tradition, based on poor understanding of economics and is commonplace for all the wrong reasons.

We cover a lot of ground including the debt load carried by technicians, tool truck time, improved retention and loyalty. We talk side work, and how to approach starting this new strategy. The panel agrees it takes more than just money to retain top talent.

When the shop provides all the specialty tools you need to have them cataloged so everyone knows where they are located to prevent wasted time finding them. In the end, what is in the best interest for your shop will guide how you tackle this.

The Strength of Supplier Loyalty is Based in Relationships and Providing the Needs of the Service Professional.

This team of service professionals shared their views on supplier loyalty and how their first call supplier has earned that position. Bill Nalu, John Bridgwater and John Eppstein bring their insights as shop owners to the discussion.

Having a strong first call relationship is earned by the supplier. The panel discusses trust, part quality, service, warranty, and training as all incumbent reasons they support their supplier.

If you want Work Life Balance, first, you must BELIEVE that it’s possible. Once you believe that it’s possible, you must DECIDE that is what you want and set your INTENTION to make it so.

Become an expert at work-life balance by making it a habit, planning for it. You’ve heard many of the principles in this episode but you may have never heard them in an unfiltered way from your industry peers.

Make the choice what you are going to be. Be the master of your business. Be the master of your family when you are with them.

Learn about ‘The Competition You Don’t See Coming: What Will It Take To Own Your Own Customers”. There are big changes happening … are you prepared?

What’s ahead in the ever-changing aftermarket will have a big impact on your business if you are not prepared. If you have a strong network, are well read and keep your finger on the pulse of the industry; you may have an inkling what your business will look like in the next 5 to 10 years. To affirm this or to hear from our industries leadership Listen hard to this discussion.

This Academy has a special impact as we talk about the ASA-CARS event at AAPEX2017 in November 2017.

Is it time to get involved in an industry wide fundraiser where 100% of the monies raised go to research on a breast cancer vaccine?

Yes you have many philanthropic commitments in your community and you are so very proud of your efforts, but consider this is an industry program started as a total grass roots program by aftermarket service professionals and as a total volunteer effort with 100% of funds the raised going to breast cancer vaccine research.

Communications is the driving foundation of what meetings are about.

Many superior take-a-ways in this Academy lesson. If you are contemplating holding meetings or are holding them and you want to check in on other strategies, this is the perfect seminar.

Your team must know how important their presence is in a meeting. Meetings can help you innovate and stay in touch with the needs of your people and you can share the needs of the company.

Also, innovation requires you need to stick stuff up on the wall and meetings is a great place to make that happen. Always remember to never hog the meeting. Share the wealth. Everyone talks. Many different styles from a casual to formal agendas. Always remember the meeting is for your people.

Is Your Labor Rate Keeping Up with Inflation and Your Cost Doing Business?

A tough subject to discuss, however many great ideas shared on the mechanics of setting a labor rate, but most importantly being valued and getting paid for all that you know and do for your customer.

The correct labor is a big factor in profitability among other critical measures in a service business. Learn from the discussion.

Individuality and entrepreneurialism is commanding but being inter-dependency can become a powerful positive force.

Independence is a strength, however being Interdependent on each other can benefit the entire industry.

Being independent seems to breed us not working together to lift our image, improve labor rates, access to information, grow our people, share knowledge, tools and equipment.

Do you need a quick new idea that will give you an edge on your competition?

In this Academy lesson get 21 TIPS that have been implemented before to help give you an edge over the competition. These are some very simple ideas that have been collected from successful service professionals in the industry.

Implementation will be the big payoff. If you listen to learn just one thing and do not implement you will not benefit from this listen.

What would you do differently if you knew you could never fire anyone?

Hiring the right team member continues the culture and team dynamic in your business. Hiring the wrong person can crash your culture and create friction in your team.

You need to hire slow and fire fast and hire for attitude, not aptitude; because we usually fire for attitude.

This team of aftermarket professionals brings their experience along with great advice on how to hire smart and for the long term.

Are your Performance Reviews Creating the Best Behaviors from Your Team?

Performance reviews for many business owners never get done. There are many reasons why not and this episode tackles them head on and the best way to get them done.

There is great wisdom from the Academy panel like the review starts at the interview, that reviews need to be used to create personal performance goals, reviews is a formal way to be sure accountability sticks, and your core values are the key points to apply all behavior against.

There are over 20 key talking points that will help you in your process or get you started on the right path. The panel agrees that becoming a better leader will be key to using performance reviews to grow your business culture with performance reviews

Are You Getting Things Done? Do You Find it a Challenge to Finish Tasks?

Listen to three of your industry peers as they discuss their perspective on what it takes to accomplish their tasks and goals. You’ll hear about creating a theme day, tactics to get more done, time wasters, and a suggestion that if you try to do too many things you don’t do any of them well.

We all struggle with this in this time challenged, too much to do world. This episode will help you find methods and ideas to make you more productive.

Are Your Succession Plans Solid? Are You Ready To Leave Your Business To The Next Generation?

Bob Ward from Wardden LLC and former shop owner Russel Andrew bring a few building blocks of succession to the Academy. The message is strong: you need to start NOW to plan on getting your business to succeed without you.

Seventy percent of business owners in the next 20 years will depart their business in many different ways if there is no planning. They must nurture and retain their key leaders and motivate them.

Owners struggle emotionally about leaving their business; because they started with nothing and there is a big attachment to their successes over the years. Owners must think about the joy of leaving their business and seeing their legacy to continue.

Customers need to see and understand the data on how they can save enormous money if they kept their car for 12 years.

We keep our largest investment for many years so why not our cars. This panel had a great discussion on the pros of helping your customer extend the life of their vehicles. The numbers are key and when you can show the ROI or savings to your customer they start to understand.

We know the benefits so it is your job to engage and show the customer how you can help extend the life of their vehicle and engage them in a disciplined maintenance program at your shop.

Are you prepared for a disaster?

Business interrupters come in many forms. Natural, environment, death of owner, spouse or partner, surgery, accident, illness or even loss of a key employee.

This Academy lesson discusses: why you should plan, do you need a formalized approach, do you have plans for a normal business operation that can be followed and who makes the decisions.
It is said that business interrupters will happen (Not if but when). Will you be prepared?

Where Will We Find Our Future Automotive Instructors?

This all-star panel tackled this problem head on. Where will the experience at the educator level come from when you need certain certifications. Will working technicians consider this as a career move and invest in the time and money to meet the teaching certification standards.

We may drive experienced and knowledgeable people away because of the needed certifications, pay and admin requirements. This topic is as important to discuss as the technician shortage.

Please have this discussion, with administrators, at the local college and high school level.

Why Great Quality Controls Matters for Customer Retention and Shop Reputation.

A top lesson from three aftermarket colleagues who understand the value and need for a great quality control process. They leave no doubt why you need to adopt and improve your quality controls.
Tough love discussion that covers the importance of measuring your QC to help reduce mistakes (we are human we all make them) and how QC brings accountability to your overall processes. Investing in your QC program is as good as getting a five start on-line review. If you don’t you may be wiping up a two-star review.

Most shops do a great job fixing cars. That is not good enough anymore. Many more great take-a-ways that will fill up a yellow pad.

What is Your Knowledge Quotient on the Connected Car?

ASA held an important industry event in May 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. Is was the ASA Connected CARS program. Presentations from Delphi, ETI, GM, Mahle, and Bosch highlighted the event as the future of ADAS and Autonomous Vehicles (AV) was discussed.

The Academy panel includes event organizer Donny Seyfer, shop owners Peter Rudloff, Craig O’Neill and technician Dave Wagner. Listen to your colleagues perspective on their take-a-ways from Connected CARS Detroit and how they see the opportunities shaping up the future of the aftermarket.

What Happens When The Phone Rings?

Are you prepared with a clear mind and a clear and confident message? A big moment of truth with your customers is that interaction with the phone call.

Set yourself up to make a strong impact with every phone call. Focus, don’t multi-task, and practice your script and prepare to solve your customers’ problem.