Bill Thompson, President of IMR.INC brings to the podcast a recent release of the United States household perception of the trades, focusing on the automotive career path. Find out who recommends our industry to young people as a career path, the perception of the automotive industry, and more.

Bill Thompson, President of IMR Inc. Listen to Bill’s previous episodes HERE

Watch Full Video Episode HERE

Key Talking Points

• Research once every quarter since 2020, talk to 25,000 households about their perception of the trades in the United States on the auto industry
• Roughly 46% of parents are talking about college as an option, 33% of the children were seriously considering that as an option. About 30% of those same children thought about entering the workforce immediately. Disconnect with parents and children. More kids prefer to entering the workforce immediately than go to community college or trade school
• How are the trades perceived? 18% are talking about career options with their child. 65% of the households would recommend the trades as a career option.
• Parent advocates for the trades- Rural America has the highest likelihood to recommend at 62% recommendation rate. Urban is next to 52.2, and then suburban 42%. 
• The people that are least likely to recommend the trades are people with a four year college degree 
• Are we even willing to recommend ourselves?
• The education path to becoming an automotive technician is unclear, 
• Career opportunities for women are abundant. But women themselves do not believe that there are opportunities for themselves
• The general perception- working as an automotive technician is a job, not a viable career. The good news is only 17% of people agree that it’s a job and not a career, 44% disagree. 
• automotiveresearch.com

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Learn more about NAPA AutoCare and the benefits of being part of the NAPA family by visiting www.NAPAAutoCare.com

Key Talking Points

• Age of vehicle fleets- average 12 years
• Electric vehicle registration- a big jump from 2017 to 2018 with stair-step increases. 2020 is 255K
• The volume of EV in operations will hit 1 million in 2021
• Service opportunities- 50-60% dealership share
• 82% of EV owners are the original owners vs 54% of gas vehicles 
• 70% of EV first time buyers have income over $100k
• Charging challenges- stations in the garage or outside if don’t have a garage   
• EV challenges- are the right vehicles being built? 75% of new vehicles are light truck body styles. Truck registrations growing rapidly 
• 67% of independent repair shops indicate a portion of their business is from servicing electric vehicles.  
• 85% of independent shops are 7 bays or less- small shops aren’t  seeing many EV’s
• Shops located in the West (11.2%) have nearly double the percentage of business from HEVs than shops located in the Midwest (6.2%).
• Of the shops that service EVs and HEVs, 69.9% do not market or advertise that their shop is capable of servicing EVs and HEVs. 
• Amongst all independent repair shops, 27.5% have invested in tools/equipment to service EVs/HEVs and 30.5% have invested in training for their technicians on EV and HEV service/repair.
• 40.0% of shops believe the increasing number of EVs and HEVs on the road will impact their business over the next two years; 38.7% do not; while 21.4% don’t know.
• Of the 38.7% that do not believe the increasing number of EVs and HEVs on the road will impact their business in the next two years, 55.1% believe it’ll take 10 years or longer to see an impact; 13.4% believe it will never impact their business.

• A special thanks to Todd Campau and Bill Thompson for their contribution to the aftermarket.

• Books Page HERE
• Listen to all Remarkable Results Radio, For The Record and Town Hall Academy episodes.

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This episode is brought to you by Shop-Ware Shop Management. It’s time to run your business at its fullest potential with the industry’s leading technology. Shop-Ware Shop Management will increase your efficiency with lightning-fast workflows, help your staff capture more sales every day, and create very happy customers who promote your business. Shops running Shop-Ware have More Time and generate More Profit—join them! Schedule a free live demonstration and find out how 30 minutes can transform your shop at getshopware.com

This episode is brought to you by Shop Marketing Pros. Your guides are Kim and Brian Walker with a rich history as shop owners and industry veterans. When someone searches for a shop, who are they finding? Your competitors? It should be you! The good people over at Shop Marketing Pros know how to drive website traffic and make Google work for you! www.shopmarketingpros.com

• • Bill Thompson from IMR, Inc. with special survey data on Private Label Parts. His company is Automotive Research .com
  • Greg Ritter from Ritters Auto Repair in Kinmundy, IL. Small Town. Great Shop!
  • Trivia. When was the AMC Gremlin released?
  • Your Fortune of the week

Dorman gives people greater freedom to fix vehicles by constantly developing new repair solutions that put owners and technicians first.  By always innovating, Dorman has led the way in growing the aftermarket.  Here you will see a few examples of a Dorman OE Fix.  An OE FIX is a Dorman repair solution you can’t get from the original equipment manufacturer. It means they found a situation where they believe the OEM wasn’t giving repair professionals what they wanted, so we fixed it.  Everything Dorman does is centered around providing customer value, both in the quality of products, and the creativity of solutions. Our engineers and designers go out of their way to save repair technicians time and save vehicle owners money.  Want to really go under the hood? Take the Dorman Virtual Tour at www.DormanProducts.com/Tour

Greg Skolnik is the owner of Motor Works, Inc. in Rockville, MD.  He is certified as a Master Automobile Technician and holds the prestigious L-1 advanced engine performance and emission analysis certification. Greg also received his (AMAM) degree from the Automotive Management Institute. Greg has a four day work week and has been doing pre-scheduling for years. He is also a part-time coach for Elite World Wide. Listen to Greg’s previous episodes HERE.

Bill Thompson is the President of IMR Inc. Founded in 1975, IMR conducts syndicated and proprietary market research studies that focus on the automotive industry including the automotive aftermarket, heavy-duty, and fleet segments. Since Bill joined IMR in 2003, the company has expanded its research portfolio and service offerings to provide a wide range of strategic and tactical solutions that provide insight into your most pressing questions. With a focus on industry trends, consumer and repair shop purchasing behavior, channel trends, and many other important metrics, IMR’s research provides insight into your market that can bring you closer to your customers, distribution channels, and market opportunities. Listen to Bill’s previous episodes HERE.

Craig Noel, Owner of 4 location Sun Automotive Springfield, OR. Craig graduated from Lane Community College in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Repair and quickly went to work. He worked for Ford as a Senior Master Technician and then working my way up through the ranks as Team Lead, Service Advisor, Assistant Service Manager.

He has also built ground up Street Rods/Show Cars for over 30 years as a hobby. He was “headhunted” by the original owner of Sun Automotive in 2011 and became GM at that time. As of January 1st 2017, he is the proud owner of Sun Automotive. Craig was also on the Academy discussion on 250K Maintenance Program.

Key Talking Points

• IMR Charts How worried are you about being exposed to Covid-19 by taking your car to a repair shop?
• If a vehicle in your household needed repair today would you research reviews for vehicle repair shops?
• If a vehicle in your household needed repair today would you choose a repair shop that offers a ‘Touchless’ customer experience?
• If a vehicle in your household needed repair today would you take advantage of a financing option for a major repair?
• If a vehicle in your household needed repair today would you accept an appointment in the future for your vehicle’s next scheduled maintenance? 
• Schedule in advance like you do the dentistPencil them in on a certain date
• Follow up a week or two prior to confirm
• Sell it as ‘you want to make sure the right technician is here to accommodate the repairs or maintenance needed for this appointment’
• Get the customers conditioned to this process
•  What if the customer says noWhy be penny wise pound foolish with your car
• Explain to them why it’s important
• Extend the life of the car/investment
• Scheduling ahead is a piece of mind for the customer
• How do we go about doing this?What are the processes in place here?
• Create a ‘canned jobs’ services sheets
• Create a series of processes by your front office
• We are in the relationship business
• At the beginning, you might get some pushback, but eventually, your customers will ask you about scheduling the next appointment
• Offer a credit for pre-scheduling appointments
•  Phone rings and service advisor needs to spend 10 minutes booking an appointment vs the pre-scheduling appointmentsProactive internal and external communication
• Imagine the freed-up time you get with clients
• Move from a reactive shop to an action focus
• Move the process forward
• Offer a limited loaner car and you want them to be able to get one
• Final ThoughtsBill ThompsonOut of 26K households questioned, 59.7% of them say that they would accept an appointment in the future
• Craig NoelFocus on the relational part of what our responsibilities to help the customer are all about
• It’s all about being proactive
• Greg SkolnikThe end result of this is, we will have trained our clients that we have our stuff together vs the guy down the street

Resources:

• A special thanks to Bill Thompson, Craig Noel, and Greg Skolnik for their contribution to the aftermarket.
• Books Page HERE
• Listen to all Remarkable Results Radio, For The Record and Town Hall Academy episodes.

Facebook   Twitter   Linked In   Email

Mobile Listening APP’s HERE

Join the Ecosystem – Subscribe to the INSIDER NEWSLETTER HERE.

Buy Carm a Cup of Coffee 

This episode is brought to you by Shop-Ware Shop Management. It’s time to run your business at its fullest potential with the industry’s leading technology. Shop-Ware Shop Management will increase your efficiency with lightning-fast workflows, help your staff capture more sales every day, and create very happy customers who promote your business. Shops running Shop-Ware have More Time and generate More Profit—join them! Schedule a free live demonstration and find out how 30 minutes can transform your shop at getshopware.com

This episode is brought to you buy Shop Marketing Pros. Your guides are Kim and Brian Walker with a rich history as shop owners and industry veterans. When someone searches for a shop, who are they finding? Your competitors? It should be you! The good people over at Shop Marketing Pros know how to drive website traffic and make Google work for you! www.shopmarketingpros.com

Panel:

Brett Beachler, is Vice President of Beachlers Vehicle Care and Repair, Peoria, IL. Brett has been in the automotive industry for 30+ years and is third generation family. He started in the family business at about age 13 maintaining the business property.

Brett graduated from Bradley University with a bachelor of science in business. He departed the family business to work in the corporate world for four years. His Dad, Terry, asked Brett to re-join the family business. Since that time, Brett has not looked back and has enjoyed almost every minute of his time in the family business. Listen to Brett’s previous episodes HERE.

Bill Thompson is the President of IMR Inc. Founded in 1975, IMR conducts syndicated and proprietary market research studies that focus on the automotive industry including the automotive aftermarket, heavy duty and fleet segments. Since Bill joined IMR in 2003, the company has expanded its research portfolio and service offerings to provide a wide range of strategic and tactical solutions that provide insight into your most pressing questions. With a focus on industry trends, consumer and repair shop purchasing behavior, channel trends and many other important metrics, IMR’s research provides insight into your market that can bring you closer to your customers, distribution channels and market opportunities. Listen to Bill’s previous episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points:

• The percent of vehicles on the road that were delaying maintenance, in 2016, there was about
• According to IMR research, delayed maintenance hit a peak in early August 2020 at 30% and started to drop. Bill believes it will normalize to the norm of 17-18% as the year progresses.This was a direct reason for Covid-19
• Brett says the advisors always need to be in the education mode. You always need to explain ’why’ the consumer will benefit from a repair or maintenance.
• IMR does a weekly survey with consumers to compile this information
• The trend is up regarding people who are looking at reviews before deciding on a shop.
• Consumers are also looking for a ‘touchless’ customer experience
• In Brett does not have his customers making a big deal about touchless and masks. He says his smaller town, he believes, does not make this a large factor in doing business with him.The stats prove out that geographically
• Financing Options for Major Costly Repair data is at 40% showing that consumers do want options to help them to keep their vehicle safe and reliable.
• In a recent week, IMR survey showed, 60% of consumers are willing to take a future appointment for their next service/repair.
• Brett is doing ‘permission’ calling their customer in the future.Your advisors need to be asking questions on the ‘long game’ of your customer’s car.
• They call and set appointment vs setting the appointment such as in a dentist office or hair salon
• If we schedule our next dental appointment or hair cut/color why would we not want to schedule our next vehicle service?
• Too many people say that they will trade their car in so they don’t need to service or maintain what they haveShow them the numbers and they may just realize the cost of money, energy and time to buy a newer vehicle
• See Brett’s previous episode here on his strategy: https://remarkableresults.biz/town-hall-academy/a020/
• He buys a 4-year-old car, keeps it until it reaches 250,000 miles.
• With the data in the survey, Brett believes he should start to book a future appointment since 60% of consumers are willing to accept. Consider the trust factor as you ask a customer to set future appointments
• Government (2020) reimbursement is at 57.5 cents per mile (https://bit.ly/35vAI6a)Brett has verified the number and that is a critical number to understand that vehicle ownership is not all gas and repairs

Resources:

• A special thanks to Bill Thompson, Brett Beachler, and Craig Noel for their contribution to the aftermarket.
• Books Page HERE
• Listen to all Remarkable Results Radio, For The Record and Town Hall Academy episodes.

Facebook   Twitter   Linked In   Email

Mobile Listening APP’s HERE

Join the Ecosystem – Subscribe to the INSIDER NEWSLETTER HERE.

Buy Carm a Cup of Coffee 

This episode is brought to you by Shop-Ware Shop Management. It’s time to run your business at its fullest potential with the industry’s leading technology. Shop-Ware Shop Management will increase your efficiency with lightning-fast workflows, help your staff capture more sales every day, and create very happy customers who promote your business. Shops running Shop-Ware have More Time and generate More Profit—join them! Schedule a free live demonstration and find out how 30 minutes can transform your shop at getshopware.com

This episode is brought to you buy Shop Marketing Pros. Your guides are Kim and Brian Walker with a rich history as shop owners and industry veterans. When someone searches for a shop, who are they finding? Your competitors? It should be you! The good people over at Shop Marketing Pros know how to drive website traffic and make Google work for you! www.shopmarketingpros.com

With Bill Thompson, CEO
IMR Inc.
Automotive Research.com

Survey data:

• How frequently have you experienced a disruption in getting parts for the vehicles you service?
• When you had a disruption in getting the parts you needed, how frequently did you purchase parts from new or different parts suppliers (suppliers new to the shop)?
• During this time, when purchasing parts, how frequently have you switched from your regular or preferred brands of parts to alternative brands?