RR 292: Technician Round Table – Part 4 – Heipp – Landry – Fanslow – Meyers
Wide Open Discussion from Three Aftermarket Technicians and One Who Left the Industry.
As usual, these guys brought their opinionated selves to the interview, yet spoke from the heart about topics they are passionate about. Some no holds barred discussion points. There are times where there is no sugar coating and that is good to embrace all sides of an issue.
Matt Fanslow, Bob Heipp, Peter Landry and Tom Myers openly discuss some very hot and touchy subjects that affect all aftermarketer’s.
Just a few of the topics we discussed, shops charging for diagnostic time, opinions on social media, a discussion on augmented reality. They discuss that techs need to help the business owner make money, and therefore owners should share in the wealth. We talk about shop owners training their top and best-vested technicians and talk pay and benefits.
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.
RR 283: Bob Rodriguez – Legacy Industry Trainer
Bob Rodriguez is a legacy aftermarket professional who spent 18 years as a technical training instructor and the training manager at Robert Bosch in Broadview IL. Bob was instrumental in finding better ways to provide training that went beyond the ‘beer and pretzels’ evening offerings by some vendors at the time’.
Bob drops a lot of names and organization he’s worked with and for. He’s worked for a number of well-known Tier 1 and aftermarket companies (including Bosch, Lincoln Technical Institute, ASE, Mopar CAP and others) and has chaired training committees for a wide-ranging group of aftermarket associations.
RR 280: Eric Svedberg and Rex Cate from Automotive Specialists
Shop Owner Shares His ‘Grow Your Own’ Technician Training Program
Eric Svedberg from Automotive Specialists in Virginia Beach, VA is in the AAPEX 17 studio with his millennial technician Rex Cate. The conversation gets deep into the recruitment of Rex (he worked at Panara), his training program, his annual review, and how Eric is integrating Rex into his business.
Now four years into the training program there are no regrets on either side. Rex says that there are many millennials like him out there looking for a chance.
RR 278: Emerging Technology – How Will the Aftermarket Prepare – Service EDU @ AAPEX17
Trends, Current Issues and Outlooks On the Future of the Service Sector
Shop owner Ryan Clo, Trainer Dave Hobbs and Diagnostician Matt Fanslow share their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges that make up the dynamic and changing aftermarket.
Don’t miss the discussion on training, business models, technician pay, business culture, specialization, and the changing role of the shop owner.
RR 275: Chris Chesney – Sr. Director Customer Training – Carquest Technical Institute
Are You Committed to Be A Lifetime Learner In The Automotive Aftermarket? Learn Why It Must Be Your Most Important Goal.
Chris Chesney is the Senior Director, Customer Training at the CARQUEST Technical Institute and explains that our great aftermarket has its best days ahead, however, the challenge is going to take many people, teams and organizations working together to formulate solutions as we prepare for the largest wave of technology and consolidation we’ve ever seen.
Chris explains that all successful technicians and shop owners know …. that you must be committed to being a lifelong learner. If not … you’re in the wrong profession.
RR 273: Technician Round Table Part 3 -Heipp – Landry -Fanslow
Wide Open Discussion from Three Aftermarket Technicians on Technician Pay, Benefits, Training and MORE!
Matt Fanslow, Bob Heipp and Peter Landry openly discuss some very hot and touchy subjects that effects all aftermarketer’s.
Besides technician pay and benefits, other talking points cover the commitment to forever training, getting paid for diagnostic time, ADAS, mandatory technician certification, their view of the technician shortage, and is there enough GOOD training available.
This discussion is not without its very strong perspectives that will challenge thinking and maybe convert an outlier.
THA 039: Eight Ways To Recruit and Build Your Team | AMi Credit
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
RR 271: Jim Morton – Aftermarket Trainer and ATC Educator
Shop Owner Turned Mobile Diagnostician and Post-Secondary Instructor Loves To Teach Our Future Technicians.
Jim Morton from Morton’s Automotive Technical Services (MATS), and educator at the Automotive Training Center (ATC) in Warminster, PA has a BIG passion for training.
Jim is a sought-after national aftermarket trainer at expos around the country including NACAT, CARS, TST Big Event, VISION KC, Automechanika, and ASA. In October 2017, he taught a diagnostics class at the ASA-PA Super Saturday event and we were able to sit for this interview.
Jim is so genuine and thankful for the opportunity to be an educator in the aftermarket and for ATC. He has impacted many students and helped professionals over the years. He is proud to have the students tell him years later that he really knows what he was talking about! Strange how that happens and better to hear it firsthand from a former student.
RR 270: Leon Anderson from Integrity Auto Care
Shop Owner Finds The Holy Grail of Shop Success: Training.
Leon Anderson from Integrity Auto in South Beloit, IL credits training and more training for his success. It wasn’t always like that. He now provides hundreds of hours a year in training for his technicians and service writer.
Catering to women and baby boomers this WIX Filters’ Driving Performance Award Winner in 2016 says he hires people for their head, heart and hands. Integrity is not just the shop’s name but it is what they practice every day.
He credits his business coach and management seminars in improving his business success. He says the DVI system helps the sales process and that written goal posters are important to Leon and his whole team.
RR 269: ASA-Pennsylvania ‘Super Saturday’ – Training Event
Business Management and Technical Training Converge at ASA-PA Super Saturday Event.
This single day event in Warminster, PA featured a technician and business owner training track for east coast aftermarket professionals. Modeled after the TST Big Event and Vision Kansas City, you’ll get a behind the scenes feel with the Chairman and co-chairmen as they talk about the need and value of continuous training.
On top of this formative interview catch, all the names that are dropped and see the show notes to find interviews from the trainers, vendors and shop owners that have their own interview on the podcast.
RR 259: Clint Dudley from Shade Tree Auto – Update
Are you taking care of your customers beyond their expectations?
The business culture at Shade Tree Automotive in Grimes, IA is the biggest factor for creating satisfied customers and team members. Owner, Clint Dudley has a brand-new building to service his customers. It was a team effort to design the building for top efficiencies.
This AAA Top Shop in Iowa has also been recognized with the 2016 Torch Award for Ethics from the US Chamber of Commerce. Clint is a disciplined goal setter and has taken his entire team to Vision in KC in March 2017.
He says hiring practices has made the difference in building his top team. Clint says we have a bright future and his new location has made him more convenient to his customer base. He doubled his tire sales in the last year.
RR 250: Dave Hobbs – Lead Technical Trainer- Delphi
Renowned Industry Trainer Says Our Technology is The Carrot at The End of The Stick To Entice Recruitment Into the Industry and to Keep Our A Techs.
Dave Hobbs, Lead Technical Trainer and Program Developer at Delphi Product & Service Solutions, has been in the aftermarket for over 30 years living his passion teaching technicians about repairing new technology.
He is on the cutting edge with ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and discussed the challenges with calibrating repaired systems. This interview covers his start in the industry, what it takes to create a training seminar and that he sees great opportunities for A techs even if they want to move to a new city, to find the right situation, and work for a top 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 245: Kate Jonasee from K-Tech in Sebastopol, CA
Do you remember when you started in business? What humble beginning did you have?
Kate Jonasee from K-Tech and Pauline’s Auto worked her way across the country after graduating from automotive technology college in upstate New York. She persisted through every opportunity to own two shops in Sebastopol, CA.
Kate says she learned something along the way from every shop she worked at and always had the goal to own her own shop, let alone two and possibly more.
Listen to the smart choices she made along the way, what her personal motivations were and how she is working to improve herself and her business.
THA 019: Where Will We Find Our Future Automotive Instructors?
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.
RR 241: Jorge Menchu – AES Wave and Instructor
Are You Learning Up To Your Maximum Potential?
Industry trainer and entrepreneur Jorge Menchu, President of AES Wave is enthusiastic about teaching our industries technicians. He is more passionate on how technicians learn. He says that the basic problem of learning is to understand the mechanics of learning.
Jorge shares his Four Levels of Learning and says if you are in control of your learning process you will learn more. He says everyone knows how to learn. If you are not struggling to learn; then you are in control of the process of learning.
THA 015: How to Improve Employee Loyalty
How to Improve Employee Loyalty and create engaged team members.
Listen to Ryan Clo, Dwayne Myers and Jude Larson talk about the power of gratitude, the importance of sharing your vision, creating a powerful work environment, the value of training for personal improvement, pay and bonus programs, mentoring and why you need to share your numbers.
THA 005: Must Attend Training Conferences
Having a strong training culture is an important discussion point in this Town Hall Academy.
There are many choices for aftermarket technical training. Technicians need to schedule a minimum one major event a year. Our panel of experts touch on the need for training policies, budgets and supporting the vendors that make these events affordable. Also discussion points on Vision Hi-Tech Training and Expo and Automechanika.
RR 230: Technician Round Table Part 2 -Heipp – Landry -Fanslow
What do Three Diagnosticians think about Silver Bullets, Critical Thinking and the Future of Diagnostics.
Bob Heipp, Peter Landry and Matt Fanslow, bring a big dose of their passion to the second technician round-table. This discussion generated talk on important and trending topics, that for these working techs, are important.
In this episode Bob, Peter and Matt expressed their feeling on technician pay, computer skills, augmented reality, and flat rate among others. There are over 20 key talking points. Invest in understanding how these three professional technicians and trainers look at the industry, especially the commitment to perpetual training and for creating a better and sustaining aftermarket.
RR 222: Dwayne Myers from Dynamic Automotive
Vice Chair of CCPN is Honored as a 2017 ASE/Autocare World Class Technician
Dwayne Myers tells his story that starts in the Army and ends with the 2017 ASE/Auto Care World Class Technician Honor. It seems that everything Dwayne Myers did in his career helped pave the way to this recognition.
A partner in the four-shop operation Dynamic Automotive in Frederick County, MD, listen to Dwayne’s message that anyone can have success. He says, “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go after the great.”
Dwayne shares some great wisdom on Dynamics commitment to training and building a team. He sees a bright future for all shop owners and provides a great piece of management wisdom: ‘Never Talk Mad’.
RR 221: Bill Greeno from Quality Automotive & Smog
An Unyielding Commitment to Customer Service is Facilitated through Communication Education.
Bill Greeno from Quality Automotive and Smog in Truckee, CA and a business consultant with a focus on leadership and management is big on communication. He and his team work hard on building strong internal communication, that he says makes huge difference in his unyielding customer service.
He also believes that having a satisfied staff is pivotal to customer service success. Having a shared vision is at the core of this. Their Vision Statement is “Your Trusted Local Auto Care.” Their service related conversations revolve around their Vision Statement and it is the launch pad for discussions regarding new ideas and/or changing a policy or procedure.
RR 218: Rick Escalambre, Educator – Trainer
We call aftermarket professionals independent and that mislabeling has a negative impact on the industry.
Rick Escalambre the 2015 Vision Educator of the Year, retired two years ago from Skyline College and is busier than ever as an adjunct professor and contract trainer.
He is an author and member of NASTF Education Committee and involved in the educators think tank at Vision KC among others.
Rick is very outspoken on licensing and having a standardized training model in post-secondary education. Among the talking points: getting involved in education, shops recruiting at the college level, and creating strong apprentice programs. This career educator will have you thinking hard about his perspectives.
RR 213: Wayne Colonna from ATSG
Did your first car hold the fate of your future career?
Wayne Colonna, President of ATSG tells an outstanding story of his first Ford 269 with a C4 Transmission. It was fate that this car and his determination to fix it would lead him to become a highly sought after trainer in the aftermarket.
He put his time in the industry and found himself working for the Automatic Transmission Service Group in 1991. By 1992 he began conducting seminars across the United States and Canada.
Wayne has published many articles and manuals, and has traveled to over 10 different countries to conduct specialized seminars in addition to a heavy travel schedule in the US. He talks about the biggest problems in the transmission industry and the trend to do more automotive repair. Wayne also has a theology degree and is a minister.
RR 211: Judi and Dana Haglin from Haglin Automotive
Husband and Wife Team Keeps Careful Watch on all Details of their Business.
Judi and Dana Haglin work together so well because they say ‘They are opposites’. Each of their own passions help drive their successful business. Haglin Automotive, a twelve bay shop in Boulder, CO, was recognized in 2015 as Motor Age Top Shop of the Year. They continue to look for ways to improve their systems and marketing that will give them a competitive advantage.
The Haglin’s are all about team and culture and share many great ideas and insights on marketing, training, and stress relief. They share their rules for finding harmony in their personal and business relationship, their core values and their top strategy to corral new customers.