Academy Archives

THA 069: Workshop – Service Advisor Roleplay – Part 1

Listen In On Four Different Roleplays of Service Advisor and Customer.

In this new Academy workshop format, learn as four different themed role plays are, played out for you. In each role play there is a customer, service advisor and an observer/coach who sums up in their own words what was great about the role play. The observer also suggests ways to improve.

The ‘actors’ are Lauren Giver, Service Advisor at Los Gatos Auto Service Campbell, CA, Barry Barrett, Director of Training at RLO and Clint White Shop Manager at Coopers Auto Repair Specialists in Tacoma, WA.

Access your own skills as a service advisor with this roleplay workshop. Owners, consider roleplays as a teaching strategy. Find the key takeaways from each role play at remarkableresults.biz/a069

THA 068: Why Just In Time Learning is Bad For Your Business

The Impact That Core Fundamental Training Will Have On Your Business And Career.

This power panel includes Donny Seyfer, Mark Saxonberg, Chris Chesney, Jeff Peevy and Bill Haas. They have the expertise and experience to give you a blueprint for your training strategy. From the Road To Great Technicians to the real world problem of Just In Time Learning … you can’t expect to make any money when you are learning in the service bay.

Yet there are many instances when you have to learn in the service bay because many of the problems you come across you have never seen before. And that is where core competencies come in. And the panel says, do not use Just In Time learning as an excuse not to have structured education.

We talk triage, structured training, service support resources and the importance of the Service Advisor as a critical component of getting the job done right the first time.

THA 067: Your Ideal Customer Part 2 – Training Your Team To Embrace Your Avatar

Your Ideal Customer Part 2 – Training Your People to Understand and Embrace Your Customer Avatar.

Knowing your ideal customer is an important part of a very successful business and helps define who you want as your customer. Commonly called your customer avatar, or your cardboard cut-out you are defining a customer that trusts you and are advocates for you.

These customers are least likely to stray and are most likely to recommend you because they are also advocates. You must talk to your ideal customer and find out what makes them tick.

In this episode find out the many ways you can engage your team to embrace your ideal customer. Hear from Ron Inchausti Coast Motor Werks in Irvine, CA, a multi-shop owner, Brian Weeks from [atc] Auto Center, a 3rd generation multi-shop owners from Augusta, GA and Patrick McHugh from Bimmer Rescue in Richmond, VA.

Part one is Town Hall Academy Episode 56

THA 066: Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspections

A discussion on the state of mandated periodic motor vehicle inspections.

There are only 14 states in the US that have some sort of mandated vehicle inspection. There had been almost twice that amount. There is momentum to eliminate these safety inspection programs.

The panel discusses the reason we are at such a low level and what needs to be done to help arrest additional states from phasing out any more inspection programs.

With Carm, recorded live with a studio audience is Robert L. Redding Jr., ASA Legislative representative, Joe Battista, the Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Parsons Corporation, and shop owner Sybren van der Pol, an ASE Master L1 Technician and owner of Adolf Hoepfl & Son Garage, in Houston, TX and serves on the local ASA Houston chapter Board of Directors.

Listen to find out what you can do to help bring awareness to safety inspections as all aftermarket professionals see first hand the number of unsafe vehicles traveling our roadways today.

THA 065: Your SMS Data – Who Controls It?

Do You Have Control of Your Business Intelligence Data?

Data is king. It is ok to share your data if you know who you are sharing it with? If and when you share your customer database with vendors; what do you want them to do with it and how should you expect them to treat it thereafter?

These topics and many more are covered in the lively and wide-ranging discussion and debate over data and what happens to your data once you sign an End Users License Agreement (EULA).

Guests include Karim Morsli, Winkler Automotive Service Center, Bill Nalu, Interstate Auto Care in Madison Heights, MI, Chris Cloutier, owner of Golden Rule Auto Care in Dallas, TX and president of Autotext.me and Greg Buckley, Buckley’s Personalized Auto Care in Wilmington, DE.

THA 064: Workplace Organization the 5S Method

Workplace Organization: Waste. Clutter. Standardize. Improved Efficiency.

5S came from the Japanese and the concept of Kaizen, continuous improvement. 5S is a method to improve workplace organization. The 5S’s are Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. The benefits of 5S helps you eliminate waste, and in many cases reduces your steps, minimizes injuries, and removes clutter.
Start by finding the simplest task. Perfect it and move on to the more complicated.

This panel has the expertise and experience to help you on the process of improving your workplace organization. Pat Brown retired from Cooper Tire and learned lean and took the manufacture training to translate 5S into shop management working with Twenty Groups for DSP (Dealer Strategic Planning) Twenty Group, Keith Tucker form Triple ‘T’ Tire in Dyersburg, TN and Brad & Ryan Goff from Rogers Tire in Caldwell and Meridian, ID.

Learn about 5S and how these shop owners translated the method into improve processes where they saw a measurable difference in their operation including the generation of more revenue.

THA 063: Making Business Partnerships Work

The Qualities of a Good Partnership or How to Make Partnerships Work.

Partners and brothers Vinnie and Anthony Lucido from CoAuto, Community Conscious Car Care in Reno, NV and partners Shawn Kline and Jeremy Austrum from Next Generation Auto in Baldwin, WI., share how they make their partnership work.

They share advantages and disadvantages of having a partner, the role of each partner, and the qualities of a partnership. They say that knowing each other’s communication style or DISC respects each other’s way of getting and sharing information

These partners believe that their business coach has improved the partnership. These partners also share the pitfalls or challenges that can creep into a partnership. You’ll also hear about buy-sell agreements, life insurance and work-life balance.

THA 062: Come Backs – Prevention, Reputation and the Cost

The Dreaded Come Back: The Keys To Prevention.

Comeback prevention starts at the front door. It is all about communication. Writing enough information to the technician the better he/she can handle the diagnosis.

To improve the end product and to reduce comebacks, you must build quality into the repair process. Quality control checklists at the end of the repair can only do so much. Quality, not quota, is the strategy you need to adopt to reduce comebacks. You should always be looking to improve. Your processes will drive a well-managed quality program.

The quality of parts today is in question and you need to pay attention to comebacks so your costs and reputation are managed. Tracking every comeback is a necessity if you are going to reduce your comebacks.

THA 061: Know Your Daily Sales Break Even Number

The Rule of Holes: Know When To Stop Digging

Knowing your break-even point — the point at which total cost and total revenue are equal is important to running a business. It is not just good enough to reach your daily break even, you must exceed it if you are to stay in business.

Knowing the break-even point is helpful in deciding gross margin on parts, labor rates, setting sales budgets and preparing a business plan. If you do not reach your daily break-even then there is a great chance that you had a loss of profit for the day.

This episode provides a worksheet download for calculating break-even. The numbers will come from your financial statements. Your accountant can also provide them. The key to knowing your break-even set the tone when you are reaching for your profitable sales goal. You’ll know what the minimum excepted number is without digging yourself into a hole.

THA 060: How To Get Value From Recorded Service Calls

How To Get Value From Recorded Service Calls

Listen and learn from Rena Rennebohm, service advisor coach and the Chief Training Officer of ACT Group, Keith Williamson, president of Williamson’s Repair and Tire in Bondurant, IA and service advisor Lauren Giver, from Los Gatos Auto Service in Campbell, CA.

Listening to just one side of a customer call does not do justice in improving and training your service advisor. Service advisers need quality training, no different than technicians and business owners and the recorded phone call is an important element to that training. Save good calls and go over what a good call sounds like. If your shop does not record calls, then get your shop secret shopped. You’ll be convinced.

Find one phone call that works play it over and share it with your team; you will grow your business. Recorded calls and coaching helps to convert and opens the learning to be a better communicator. A great outcome of recorded calls is the opportunity to make changes to your policies. You’ll discover what works and what doesn’t.

THA 059: Critical Daily Actions That Matter

Shop Owners Must Do’s: Daily Actions that Matter: Why Routine Matters.

We had a very deep discussion on critical daily actions that will keep your business compliant and running smoothly. You’ll walk away with a strong sense of discipline in building a daily task list that you stick with. Without proper planning and a strong checklist, that you are accountable for (or that you delegate), too many slips through the cracks and eventually crashes into your well-intentioned routine.

Bambi Crozier wife and co-owner with Neil Crozier, of Car Clinic in Lowell, AR, Mark Goldsmith Mark’s Independent Service in Chatsworth, CA and Rick White Rick is President and Lead Coach for 180BIZ bring their great insights on the importance of planning to be a strong business leader and watchdog.

THA 058: How to Become the Employer of Choice

How to Become the Employer of Choice.

Join Ryan Clo from Dubwerx in Cincinnati, Dwayne Myers from Dynamic Automotive in Frederick, MD and the Director of Training at RLO, Barry Barrett.

You have an opportunity to listen to three of your aftermarket colleagues who will share their perspective on becoming the employer of choice. We opened up some great thinking pathways to help you create and improve your position in the marketplace when it come to attacking and keeping great talent.

We talk the extreme importance of creating and having a great business culture, career ladders, putting your people front and center in your business, pay, reputation and so much more.

THA 057: Your Profit & Loss Statement. Learn it. Love it.

The Power of Strong Financial Statements

No question that knowing the value of your Profit and Loss Statement helps you grow a strong, viable and profitable company. Many shop owners have not gotten intimate enough with the value of their financial statements.

The episode with Maryann Croce from Croce Transmissions in Norwalk, CT, Mark Roberts from Schertz Auto Service in Schertz, TX and Bob Greenwood, AMAM, president of Automotive Aftermarket e-Learning Center show the power of an accurate P & L.

We also talk about the Balance Sheet and the extreme value in accurate finical statements if you are going to sell your business or buy one. Also discussed is where on the P & L is it indicated that you can afford raises and that your emotions will try to override the numbers, because they tell the real story.

THA 056: Your Ideal Customer – Defining Your Avatar

Your Idea Customer – Defining Your Avatar

Knowing your ideal customer is an important part of very successful businesses and helps define who you want as your customer. Commonly called your customer avatar, or your cardboard cut-out you are defining a customer that trusts you and are advocates for you.
These customers are least likely to stray are most likely to recommend you, because they are also advocates. You must talk to your ideal customer and find out what makes them tick.

In this episode find out the many ways you can connect with your avatar, a recommendation on how to get started and who to involve inside your company to help define who is your ideal customer. Hear from Ron Inchausti Coast Motor Werks in Irvine, CA, a multi-shop owner, Brian Weeks from [atc] Auto Center, a 3rd generation multi-shop owners from Augusta, GA and Patrick McHugh from Bimmer Rescue in Richmond, VA.

THA 055: The Importance of Back Office Operations – Part 2

The Power Center of your Business is in the Back Office PART 2

Amy Mattinat, Jacquie Walter Hower, Maryann Croce and Kim Auernheimer discuss Human Resources and Marketing. Two very important responsibilities of the CEO and back office team.

Highlights: The legal document called an employee handbook, hire slow-fire fast, know your candidate’s personality and hire for a culture fit.

Track your marketing efforts, never shoot in the dark you may not be spending your money wisely. Have a good referral program for your advocate customer and your brand’s image needs to be consistent and must match the face you put in the web and social media. This group also shares some great marketing ideas.

THA 053: Improve Communication Between the Service Advisor & Technician

Many Problems Are Found in A Lack Of Communications; Therefore Good Communications Can Prevent Come Backs.

Improving Communications Between the Service Adviser and Technician with Jude Larson from Valley Repair in Tenino, WA and also with JML Real Solutions, also Darrin Barney, Owner of Barney Brothers Off Road in Grand Junction, CO and Donnie Carter, Service Manager at Little Wolf Automotive in Waupaca, WI.

Communication is an important tenant in any service business. It is up to the service advisor to bring the ‘novel’ to the technician. Listen hard to the customer and write down the details of their issue or concern.

Technicians results are dependent on getting a good path to follow. Give them a great opportunity to succeed with clear in-depth information. Techs need to do their part and provide clear information back to the service advisor to support the recommendations they are going to provide as a value to the customer.

THA 052: Lessons I Learned When I Sold My Shop

Lessons I Learned When I Sold My Shop

Three former shop owners tell their story on selling their business. With Margie van Lierop, Formerly of Beach Cities Garage in Laguna Hills, CA; Scott ‘Gonzo’ Weaver formerly of Superior Auto Electric, Tulsa, OK (You also know Scott from Gonzo’s Tool Box) and Dave Winters formerly of Swedish Automotive in Seattle, WA, share their experience.

Among the talking points, confidentiality, transparent and normalized profit and loss statement, valuation, business broker, asset values, being a landlord and eventual tax liability, among others.

THA 051: First Moves When Opening a New Shop

Find A Blue Print Outlined For Finding Success If You Are Going To Open An Automotive Aftermarket Service Repair Shop.

There is some secret Sause shared here including a few preferred methods on how to start, setting up your spending plan, how important location is and the need to know the demographics of that local community. Is the income level such that money can be spent on vehicle service and maintenance?

We talk financial, (knowing your numbers) debt, cash flow. All very important parts of a CEO’s responsibility. May great technicians, who are unemployable, strive to start their own business because they want to do things their way. Most find out it is not an easy task. There are responsibilities beyond financial and cash flow like, marketing, the tax man, HR laws and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

This panel does a great job of explaining the challenges you’ll need to deal with, so you can find your successes sooner rather than later. It is a slow process, but success shouldn’t take years to achieve.

THA 050: Finding The Right Business Coach

Finding The Right Business Coach.

A strong group of successful service professionals credits a business coach or consultant for their success. This Academy panel is in agreement on the steps you must weigh when considering hiring a business coach or consultant.

Be prepared to put your pride on the shelf and learn how to grow your business to new heights. Let the coach Identify your problems with profit, productivity, training, marketing, pricing labor and parts among others.

Your coach will teach you how to identify your problems and show you ways to fix it yourself. Business coaches/consultants help business owners develop skills to become reliant on their own. You will also be held accountable for your goals and production.

THA 049: How to Sell Diagnostics

How To Sell Diagnostics at a Profit?

This is not an easy question to answer. Service professionals must be paid for their expertise because the cost of doing diagnostics is the most expensive service you have in your building.

It is time to move from diagnostics to testing and analyzing. Every shop needs to build a premium product around testing and analyzing. You need to be known as the ‘we can fix anything right the first time shop’. Your motto: “We have the best technicians.” Your shops testing and analyzing skills is the premium product you sell and are known for in your marketplace. No need to go anywhere else. We do the research, test, analyze and discover what is wrong. We present the solution then you decide.

Marketing this premium product requires a strong testing/analyzing process that both the service advisor and technician are totally in agreement with. The benefits allow the SA to confidently sell testing and analyzing.

The diagnostician knows that the SA will sell the value and benefits to the customer because the process dictates the work to be done. A very strong discussion and powerful take-a-ways that will arrest the black hole in your business of profitable diagnostic time.

THA 048: Grow Your Fleet Business | AMi Credit

Growth Strategy: Fleets

Fleet business can sustain your revenue during the up and down times of the year. Get started and be willing to change and adjust as you move along. These three experts agree that it may be time for you to ‘Get out of your comfort zone’ and jump into the fleet business.

Learn from Tom Palermo from Preferred Automotive Specialists in Jenkintown, PA, John Constantin from Bison Fleet Service in Buffalo, NY and Bill Nalu from Interstate Auto Care in Madison Heights, MI.

We talk how to recruit fleet customer, obvious reasons to get into fleet business, the how and the challenges of implementing and growing fleet revenue.

THA 047: Twenty-One TIPS to Get an Edge on the Competition – Part 2

Do you need a quick new idea to implement that will give you an edge?

In this Academy lesson get 21 TIPS (Part 2) 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.

THA 046: Revving Up Your Business Culture | AMi Credit

Building a strong business culture can be one of the hardest things a business owner can do yet the most rewarding.

It is one of the key principles in the business that you cannot touch. It’s the soft stuff. For many, it is tough to get your hands around it. This academy panel does a great job explaining culture and shows you many ways to implement and lead it.

The power of a strong business culture can be one of your biggest differentiators as a business and a strong reason you attract top talent.

THA 045: Installing Customers Parts – A Discussion | AMi Credit

This panel’s perspective is meant to excite a dialogue, to present ideas and concepts to support your decision or to inspire you to take a stand; one way or the other.

This topic is a worthy discussion because of the growth rate of e-commerce part availability, transparency in pricing, and ease of self-diagnosis on the internet.

At risk can be your reputation based on the quality of part being installed. You own the cause of their concern. This panel has not gotten one new great customer from ever installing parts for walk-in customers.