RR 402: Generation Z – Understanding Our Newest Employees and Customers
Generation Z – Understanding Our Newest Employees and Customers
Generation Z our newest generation born from 1990 until 1995 that are ready for the workforce and will become your customer. They are on their way to make a difference in our society and taking up leadership roles and making a difference. But how big a difference would they bring to the aftermarket industry?
Our guest Sara Fraser from Haas Performance Consulting LLC. Sara will give us the skinny on our Generation Z. One of the most interesting characteristics is they have tendencies like Baby Boomers. Here is a generation that literally grew up with technology as a given in their lives. Sara says they are independent and want a work-life-blend. She will tell you how they like to be marketed to and that you’ll need to be authentic if you want them to work for you or become a customer.
THA 097: Service Professional Loyalty: A Supplier Perspective
Service Professional Loyalty: A Supplier Perspective
On the panel is Brad Hartline, from Hyde Villa Auto Parts President and Pottsville Auto Parts in the Reading PA markets and Trevor Martin, President, Vaca Valley Auto Parts, Fairfield, CA and Mark Stabelfeldt, from Fairfax Auto Parts.
If you are a service professional you have a supplier or three and most likely have a great relationship with your number one call because they are a supply partner with and for you. A lot of your success comes from your supplier providing you the parts and service you need to keep your customers happy and coming back.
RR 376: The Undeniable Rise of Digital Vehicle Inspection (DVI)
The Indisputable Rise of Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVI)
The members of this roundtable are Chris Cloutier of Golden Rule Auto Care and Autotext.me, John Burkhauser of Bolt On Technology, and Pete Rudloff of Pete’s Garage and Flex Check Auto
The episode talks about the rise of Digital Vehicle Inspection and its importance like a smartphone to everyone. DVI is not yet the norm today but the future will require the service professional to have this tool. Since more customers want to be in control, DVI will increase the transparency with what is going on with their vehicle. DVI brings the vehicle in the bay to their home or office.
Learn how DVI will shape how business gets done.
RR 358: John Gustafson – ATC: Synchronizing the Automotive Trades
ATC: Synchronizing the Automotive Trades
John Gustafson is the president of Gustafson Brothers Automotive Repair, Huntington Beach, CA and the founder of the Auto Talent Co-Op (ATC). ATC is an independent non-profit organization whose vision is to effectively unite resources within the automotive industry, and establish clear career path standards for its users.
ATC’s Mission is to build a synchronized and accessible platform, able to unite the automotive industry. To help refill the talent pool for all automotive job-related positions. To fulfill the technician shortage, and improve technician retention and to streamline career paths, bridge technician skills gap and improve recruitment.
Your support is needed. Find links on the show notes page.
RR 356: Bruno Tabbi And The Power of a Vanity Phone Number
The Power Of A Vanity Phone Number
Bruno Tabbi is the President and Co-Founder at Ignition Toll-Free, where he focuses on premium vanity phone numbers including 1-800-MECHANIC.
Bruno says that organic marketing, through phones, is still alive and important in this day and age. We are so preoccupied with online marketing strategies that we forget that the phone call is still relevant and powerful. Managing your incoming phones is as powerful as having a solid SEO strategy for the web.
THA 071: Underutilized Shop Management Systems (SMS)
Underutilized Shop Management Systems.
The panel is all about max utilization for your SMS. You are going to learn a lot and maybe walk away with an action plan to better utilize your SMS.
Listen to Tom Ham, Automotive Management Network and shop owner of Auto Centric in Grand Rapids, MI, Scott Brown, from Diagnostic Network and shop owner of Connie & Dicks Service Center, Claremont, CA and David Roman Shop owner of Done With Care Auto Repair in Merriam, KS and Facebook Group Founder, Ask-A-Mechanic.
Among the talking points: There is a training gap on features and actual uses, cloud-based SMS is where we are heading, and it is the shop owner’s responsibility to request and get the training from your SMS supplier.
From a marketing and customer perception, when you are all digital and you come across as ‘high tech’ from counter to bays, it also puts you ahead of the pack and provides a certain level of differentiation.
RR 321: Association Membership More Important Than Ever – Round Table Vision 2018
Association Membership is Right for Today’s Business Climate.
If you are not an association member, it is time. National and statewide organizations need your membership and you need the association.
Association membership helps improve your ‘future think’ so you can align your business for tomorrow and they make it easier to run your business because you will have resources to help you.
For the majority of members, their dues cost is zero based on participation in endorsed programs. Many times the dues ROI is more than doubled and many times even a triple payback.
RR 316: Scott Brown with Diagnostic Network
Is The Industry Ready For A Diagnostician Learning Platform That Is Deeply Connected To The Industry?
Diagnostic Network, Scott Brown’s new venture, will be a learning platform and open a deep channel of communication for diagnosticians and aspiring diagnosticians while connecting the industry that provides the products, services, information and training to the marketplace.
If you earn your living in the aftermarket, and for that matter serving the motoring public, you’ll want to give this episode a serious listen as Scott unveils his plans for Diag.net that will focus on the diagnostician.
Scott shares his vision along with the industry collaboration he is building to create a very powerful repository of aftermarket intellect. Peer discussions and peer reviews will be part of this program to help refine the rich content.
There isn’t a clearly defined guideline as to the skill set you need to be competent in this industry. Scott sees the creation of the right building blocks for training and says it is time to break the mold and to improve engagement and transparency.
RR 264: Steve Ciabattoni – Credit Card Compliance
Are You In Compliance with Credit Card Regulations As It Relates to Chip Cards?
Steve Ciabattoni from 360 Payments explains the regulations for EMV, the chip cards. We also discuss contracts, processing fees and who makes the real money in credit card processing.
An important episode to help evaluate your relationship and what to look for in a processor. Steve gives a tip on the best fee structure, equipment leasing and the future of credit card processing. He also is outspoken on the link between the chip reader and your SMS.
RR 263: Jason Servidio – VP Transformers Institute
Do You Have a Sales Culture or an Automotive Culture At Your Service Counter?
Jason Servidio, Vice-President of Transformers Institute found his calling as a service advisor. He then realized his passion for teaching sales training. Today he teaches service advisors how to be at the top of their craft.
Learn about sales technics that advisors need to master, what qualities to look for when hiring a service advisor and how to measure ROI on service advisor training. Jason shares what to do when the customer says no and why marketing money is wasted if the sales counter is not great at making long-term customers out of marketing campaigns.
Jason also shares his simple yet important retention tactic. He also shares his view of the number of service advisors to technicians need to run a successful relationship building shop.
RR 246: Scott Brown from iATN
Is iATN A Staple In Your Shop? Listen to Scott Brown Tell the Story of the Humble beginnings and Future Plans Of iATN.
Scott Brown president of iATN and co-owner, with his wife, of Connie & Dick’s Service Center, keeps his finger on the pulse of the industry by staying engaged at the shop. The interview takes you back to the day before the internet when bulletin boards were a way to communicate with your peers.
iATN is keeping pace and is working on exciting plans to continue to bring value to shop owners, technicians and educators of the auto care industry.
Scott gives an insider look at the iATN mobile APP, the new ‘Review’ space and the new iATN 2.0 and much more.
RR 240: Marion Miller from Complete Marketing Resources
Have You Ever Wondered If Your Website Is Keeping Pace with The Needs Of Your Customer?
Marion Miller from Complete Marketing Resources is a website expert. Her company has received Top 10 Automotive Website honors in 2015 & 2016. She is keeping pace with changing technologies and especially with what works for consumers.
Among ten top talking points we talk about the power of your home page, the evolution of web-based search (will you be ready for this change), the value of blogging, and the top three ingredients to an award winning website.
RR 237: Rhonda Hiltbrand – News Works Marketing Group
Does Direct Mail Newsletter Marketing Work?
Join Rhonda Hiltbrand for a frank discussion on direct mail marketing. She sees a place for direct mail and especially newsletter marketing for service professionals.
Learn why direct mail is not dead and how it blends with social media. Rhonda talks marketing ROI, the tactics behind newsletters and why we are fighting clutter every day.
She says a newsletter is a platform to talk to your customer and help you stand out among the 6,000 advertising messages we are bombarded with every day.
RR 232: Dennis McCarron – On Sales
Do You Have the Technique to Close More Sales?
If you sell service or tires Dennis McCarron says, “The person who controls the sales process is the listener.” Dennis brings his passion for behavior analysis to this episode that can be titled the ‘Psychology of a Sale’. You will learn a formula to improve your selling technique.
Our customer doesn’t come in wanting to buy something. It is not about your ability to sell but how skilled you are to present the solutions. If you present a product to a customer that solves three of their needs the probability is high to close.
All aftermarket organizations are sales organizations. Dennis brings a great perspective to appreciate the sales technique. This is Dennis’s second appearance on the podcast.
RR 214: Carrie-Lynn Rodenberg from Turnkey Marketing
Did you know that it may take 12 marketing touch points with your customer or potential customers to get them you’re your door?
Carrie-Lynn Rodenberg owner of Turnkey Marketing is totally focused on the service professional.
Many service professionals do marketing and social media well. You will affirm you strategies with Carrie-Lynn. If you struggle with marketing or social media, you will find many ideas to help you get started or to help you understand how to start.
The episode contains talk on customer touch points, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linked In. We also cover organic content creation and how to optimize all your marketing channels for the greatest impact for your efforts.
RR 178: The Digital Sales Process with Jeremy O’Neal and Chris Cloutier
RR 170: Jude Larson, JML Real Solutions
How to become a sought-after business, that everyone wants to work for.
Jude Larson the president, owner and lead consultant for JML Real Solutions uses his rich experience and business success as he works with service professionals to re-engineer their businesses.
Jude shares ideas on how to become a legendary or sought-after business where top performers want to work and why company culture is precious and you need to build it and protect it. Jude also asks every client to review their business from a 30,000-foot view to gain a perspective and build the right priorities for their business.
RR 156: Kathleen Long from Repair Pal
It doesn’t take much for consumers to be disloyal to their repair shop.
Kathleen Long the VP of Customer Success and GM of the Shop Network at RepairPal shares results of their constant surveying of the automotive consumer. This episode is packed with quantifiable and conceptual strategies to improve the service professionals total customer service experience.
This data brings a perspective to what needs to be done by the service professional to accommodate the consumer’s needs and perceptions that will grow their service business.
Episode highlights include warranty, reviews, pricing, the showroom or lobby, bathrooms, loaner cars, quality vs convenience, texting, and a good bedside manner. There is something here for everyone.
RR 132: Auto Care – Industry Job Board
Learn about the largest automotive aftermarket job board in the industry. Courtney Hammer and Katy McQuiston share their insight on the value that the Job Board brings to every member of the aftermarket. As internet resume and job postings is the trend and the future, Auto Care has laid the ground work to build the biggest recruitment effort the industry has ever seen or been part of.
Discover how you can post a job and find a job specific to your needs and experience exclusively in the automotive aftermarket.
RR 120: Suzanne Hawley from Family Service Day
Suzanne Hawley is the Executive Director of Family Service Day, an award-winning ’cause marketing’ initiative for the automotive industry called Keeping Cars Kickin’. Their mission is to help businesses do well by doing good. Support for the community Family Service Day helps local shop owners and their employees get involved in supporting their community by sharing…
RR 053: Danny Sanchez from Autoshop Solutions
Danny Sanchez is owner and founder, of Autoshop Solutions and grew up spending countless hours working around his dad’s auto repair shop in California, eventually taking over and running the business himself. Autoshop Solutions started in 1998, when Danny founded Auto Web Solutions. The Internet was starting to take off, and Danny took great interest…
RR 045: Kim Walker from 5 Stones Media
RR 028: Leigh Anne Best from Brakes For Breasts
(NOTE: This episode was recorded and released in July 2015. The picture above is the presentation for the 2015 fundraising efforts. $141,868 was collected.) In 2011, Leigh Anne Best and fellow shop owner Laura Frank began the “Brakes for Breasts” fundraiser with 5 local auto shops in Ohio. In 2012, they expanded “Brakes for Breasts” to 27 shops across 17…
RR 024: Jill Trotta from Repair Pal
Jill Trotta, Director Automotive Group at RepairPal provides an in-depth discussion on the benefits and value of this shop referral site. A few of our previous podcast guests are RepairPal members and that got me curious and prompted a call to Jill for an interview. According to Jill there are 1200 participant shops in their…