Sara & Kevin Bickford Worked at Firestone for 10 years and bought the Fox River Tire & Auto

Richie & Leslie Zimmerman from Lafayette, LA, MSO, grew to three stores and sold to strategic buyer MONRO Inc.

Dennis McCarron started his career Bridgestone/Firestone working in various sales and management level positions prior to leading the national retail management training programs. Most recently, Dennis was the Executive Director of Dealer Strategic Planning Inc. (DSP 20 Group), providing coaching and consulting services to its members.

With over 25 years of experience in the tire & automotive industry, Dennis is a seasoned professional with vast tire and auto service industry experience. He is also a featured columnist for Modern Tire Dealer, “Business Insights”

Dennis continues to teach workshops around North America to tire dealers from financial acumen to behavioral selling and leadership and coaching skills. Hear Dennis’s previous episodes HERE.

Joel Zaleski started his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers before joining Monro, Inc. as the Vice President of Acquisitions and Operations Support, responsible for leading the company’s acquisition strategy and supporting the operations of Monro’s nearly 1,200 auto service and tire locations. During his time at Monro, Joel oversaw the company’s commercial and wholesale operations, as well as various corporate support functions including, pricing, customer service, facilities, and training.

Joel’s experience in leading the acquisition strategy at the tire and automotive service industry’s largest strategic buyer, Monro, Inc., gives him the credibility and expertise to represent sellers during the sale process.

Joel is a CPA and member of the International Business Brokers Association. Listen to Joel’s previous episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points:

• Kevin and Sarah BickfordWorked for Firestone for 10 years
• Bought the Fox River Tire & Auto
• Richie and Leslie ZimmermanOwned and Sold 3 Shops to Dennis McCarron
• Richie now has his Residential Contractor License to build Log Homes
• Leslie is opening a boutique Fitness GymLeslie “Operate your business like it’s your last day”
• Advice when wanting to buy a businessHave a good real estate attorney as part of the transactionHave a good relationship with your local bank
• Importance of the SBA relationship
•  Challenges new owners face with existing staffLittle changes can seem HUGE
• The power of a new trash can
•  Sell your business when it’s at its healthiestAdvice to the industry to be at your pinnacle20 Group
• Align yourself with the best of the best in the industry
•  Maximize your profit margin
•  Education and making yourself better
•  Joel ZaleskiOpportunities in deals with buyers and sellers
• Evaluation of the business for buyers
• Buy up market share
• Run your business everyday like you are going thru an auditKeep it in tip top shape
• The hard work will payoff
• Expect the unexpected
• Be prepared, do it now
•  Dennis McCarronRun the business like you are owners
• Don’t buy a business to buy a job
• Successful owners run a business, not buy a job
• Learn from people that are smarter than youYou don’t always want to be the smartest person in the room
• Be ok with not knowing something and asking how to do it
•  The value set in hiring good peopleInheriting staff is a challenge when buying a business
• A crew that can drive your culture and trust they will do that
• Letting staff members go is just part of the process, a pruning process
• Hard labor, really trying at times, but it’s worth it at the end of the day
• Be patient with own learning curveInvest time in finding great staff
• Find people you can partner with and learn from
• Figure out when you need help with
• Understand your margins to be profitable
• Rewards are significant
• Hindsight is always so clear
• Rewards are all worth while
• Align yourself with the right people
• Education is important
• Take care of your employees
• Expect the unexpected
• Stay green and growing so you can be ready and ripe!
• If you’re looking to sell, use your professionals
• Use a broker and real estate attorney
• Talk to the people that do that part of the business for a living
• Know your numbers on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis
• Know what your profitability is
• Address small issues when they come up so they don’t become big issues in the future
• Is it too late to start making that change to improve the business?

Resources:

• A special thanks to Sara & Kevin Bickford, Richie & Leslie Zimmerman, Dennis McCarron, and Joel Zaleski 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

Chris Cloutier is co-owner of Golden Rule Auto Care in Dallas Texas and CEO of Auto Tex Me. He spent many years in the software industry developing solutions for companies like Southwest Airlines, and Wyndham Intl. He’s worked for companies that understood the marriage of service and software, and have applied it in an effective way. Chris has his ASE C1: Automobile Service Consultant Certification Test (C1). He brings the business side to the business and his brother Pat brings the Braun. Chris is also a musician. Hear Chris’s previous episodes HERE.    Autotex.me website HERE.

Dennis McCarron

Dennis started his career Bridgestone/Firestone working in various sales and management level positions prior to leading the national retail management training programs. Most recently, Dennis was the Executive Director of Dealer Strategic Planning Inc. (DSP 20 Group), providing coaching and consulting services to its members.

With over 25 years of experience in the tire & automotive industry, Dennis is a seasoned professional with vast tire and auto service industry experience. He is also a featured columnist for Modern Tire Dealer, “Business Insights”

Dennis continues to teach workshops around North America to tire dealers from financial acumen to behavioral selling and leadership and coaching skills. Hear Dennis’s previous episodes HERE.

Talking Points:

• “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” ― G. Michael Hopf 
• We are in hard times and it should create hard and smart people.
• We need to think about the future and cash reserves
• Many businesses that were on the brink of closure will find this pandemic their end
• We are living in a history class
• We’ve gotten away from saving money. We are living paycheck to paycheck and for businesses, a zero cash position will not help the business sustain
• Chris was having a great first quarter vs 2019
• The economy will slow down
• Tell your people that times are uncertain.Communicate with your people and customers
• Have plans for short, medium and long term
• Money needs to keep coming in
• If it stops employment cannot be sustained
• Don’t panic
• Use your logic mind to make decisions not your anxious or emotional mind
• Know your numbers. This is the time to know your numbers and how to adjust them. 
• Review all expenses and categorize or prioritize them. Necessary and not necessary
• Closing can help preserve cash to help you re-start to inject business with cas
• Offer your customers a touchless experience, text to pay, DVI reports. Customers may not want to spend money, especially with layoffs
• You’ve got to set up stages of plans. It may get worse than better. PLANS NEED TO BE FLUID
• We need to have a one month, two month, three month plan. Maybe even longerCreate a ‘What If’ scenario on a spreadsheet
• It should change often depending on sales and the condition of the marketplace and government-mandated rules
• Pay attention to your business and the marketplace
• On average a typical shop is only putting 3¢ of every dollar sold into net profit.
• Every $1 of expense cut goes into net profitLook at every line item
• Talk to your landlord
• Your biggest asset is your employees. Cut other costs and your people lastHours or positions must be the last to be cut
• “I give my employees too many chances. I love my employees.” Gary Vaynerchuk 
• Create a video with your smartphone that shows the precautions you are doing
• Offer a touchless transaction
• Assure your customer that you are protecting them and your team
• You are an essential service. Tell them
• You have power as a small business owner to change

CDC.Gov/coronavirus/

Resources:

• Thanks to Chris Cloutier and Dennis McCarron for their contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
• Link to the ‘BOOKS‘ page highlighting all books discussed in the podcast library HERE. Leaders are readers.
• Listen for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spreaker, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Podchaser and many more. Mobile Listening APP’s HERE
• Find every podcast episode HERE.
• Every episode segmented by Series HERE.
• Key Word Search HERE.
• Love what we do? Buy Carm a cup of coffee HERE.

Be socially involved and in touch with the show:

Facebook   Twitter   Linked In   Email

Join the Ecosystem – Subscribe to the INSIDER NEWSLETTER HERE.

Buy Carm a Cup of Coffee 

NAPA AutoCare’s recent partnership with CarVantage gives your AutoCare Center an easy way to take advantage of telematics, increasing customer retention and boosting customer spend. You provide customers with a CarVantage sensor that plugs into their vehicle and connects via Bluetooth to their smartphone. Then you set up automated marketing campaigns that target customers based on their vehicle’s next maintenance interval, for example, or whenever a check engine light is detected. That gives customers peace of mind and the best experience in the market. They also love CarVantage because it’s free to them. A special offer only for NAPA AutoCare Centers lets you give CarVantage a try at a very affordable price. And it includes free sensors. Other plans and enhancements are also available.

Learn more about CarVantage and the hundreds of other benefits NAPA offers. Talk with your servicing NAPA store or visit www. NAPAAutoCare.com

Mike Davidson is from Parkway Automotive in Little Rock, Arkansas, been in the industry for more than 30 years and a business owner for over 18. Mike is an AMI graduate, an ASE Master Technician, he belongs and contributes to Elite Worldwide and was recognized as the Arkansas NAPA/ASE tech of the year seven years in a row.  He’s been doing radio and TV over the last fifteen years talking ‘service’ in Little Rock. Mike helped start the Little Rock chapter of ASA and is currently an officer. Look for Mike’s other episode HERE.

Link to Episode 466, In-depth on Wage and Hour and discussion on his Wage and Hour Book HERE.

Key Talking Points:

• Shop owners can get audited by the Department of Labor
• Wage and Hour issues are very real and must be understood
• Mike sites information from an article from Dennis McCarron showing the types of penalties from non-compliance to wage and hour laws. He shares the numbers: $342,926, $306,000, $174,400, $76,000
• Careful with your own interpretation of wage and hour exemptions.
• Keeping your costs down can happen in other ways than in shortcuts on how and what you pay your people
• Mike wrote a book on wage and hour compliance. 
• Listen podcast 466 in detail on wage and hour with Mike. Link above.

• A special thanks to Mike Davidson for his contribution to the aftermarket.
• Books mentioned in the content library HERE
• Mike Davidson Episode 466 HERE
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.
• Email Carm HERE.

Be socially involved and in touch with the show:
Facebook   Twitter   Linked In   Email    Events   Instagram   Speaking

Subscribe to a free mobile listening app HERE.

Love what we do? Love what you hear? Buy Carm a cup of java. He loves his coffee.

This episode is brought to you by FlexCheck Auto Digital Vehicle Inspection Software.

Savvy shop owners use vehicle inspections to find additional work on a vehicle that the vehicle owner may not know is needed. The most successful shop owners fully inspect every car, every time. It benefits the vehicle owner more than the shop because most vehicle owners want their autos to be reliable.

FlexCheck Auto takes the power of a shop’s inspection process and puts it in the palm of your technician’s hand so that pictures, video, and vehicle specific notes about a vehicle’s condition can be shared quickly with vehicle owners. It improves technician efficiency in the bays, service writer efficiency at the counter, increases average repair order and builds trust with vehicle owners.

Today’s vehicle owners want to receive their vehicles health status electronically, this makes FlexCheck Auto the most transparent way to do sell auto repair. Try it for free for 30 days! Go to FlexCheckAuto.com to learn more.



Are you ready to sell your business? Do you know how to prepare? Is it a buyers market or a seller’s market? Do you understand some of the financial principles that drive a transaction? About 50% of you will be impacted by this discussion in the near future.

We cover a large swatch of ground as we talk about the incredible opportunity for sellers as the industry consolidates, getting your financials right, processes, leases and the all-important EBITDA number.  

The Panel:

Norm Gaither

Norm started his brokering and consulting business in 1984 and is well known in the industry. For 35 years he has helped tire & automotive service dealers vastly improve their profitability.  During this time, he has helped countless tire dealers realize their dreams in taking control and correctly profit from fixing their business, and ultimately selling their company. Norm is the founder of Dealer Strategic Planning, Inc (DSP 20 Group), the industry’s first tire-focused 20 Group, that he sold to Bobit Business Media, publisher of Modern Tire Dealer in 2015 and was elected into the Tire Dealers Hall of Fame in 2017 for his contributions to the industry.

Norm is a Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) and a member of the International Business Brokers Association.

Dennis McCarron

Dennis started his career Bridgestone/Firestone working in various sales and management level positions prior to leading the national retail management training programs.  Most recently, Dennis was the Executive Director of Dealer Strategic Planning Inc. (DSP 20 Group), providing coaching and consulting services to its members.

With over 25 years of experience in the tire & automotive industry,  Dennis is a seasoned professional with vast tire and auto service industry experience.  He is also a featured columnist for Modern Tire Dealer, “Business Insights”

Dennis continues to teach workshops around North America to tire dealers from financial acumen to behavioral selling and leadership and coaching skills.

Joel Zaleski

Joel started his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers before joining Monro, Inc. as the Vice President of Acquisitions and Operations Support, responsible for leading the company’s acquisition strategy and supporting the operations of Monro’s nearly 1,200 auto service and tire locations.  During his time at Monro, Joel oversaw the company’s commercial and wholesale operations, as well as various corporate support functions including, pricing, customer service, facilities, and training.

Joel’s experience in leading the acquisition strategy at the tire and automotive service industry’s largest strategic buyer, Monro, Inc., gives him the credibility and expertise to represent sellers during the sale process.

Joel is a CPA and member of the International Business Brokers Association.

Jeff Pohlman

Jeff started working at his father’s business, J & J Tire Company, at age 16 as a janitor in the tire warehouse. Eventually moved up to other positions within the warehouse until he was sent to a retail location at the age of 20 starting as a tire changer before moving into sales. By 21, Jeff had been promoted to store manager and ran a retail location for the next 7 years. In the meantime, his father sold his company and he stayed with the new owners until his father’s non compete expired. His dad would open a Goodyear service center and Jeff left to run that location for him.

Jeff left his employment to open his first location in 1990 at the age of 30 and would soon open a second location in 1992 and a 3rd in 1993.  For the next 25 years, Jeff would open new locations, closed two locations, until he netted 5 locations that he eventually sold to Monro inc.

Jeff’s dad still has the Goodyear location and shows up to work 6 days a week at the age of 93. My brother Alan is the manager of the location and another brother, Eric, would have his own very successful location that he sold to Jeff’s son Ryan as he was selling his locations.

Key Talking Points:

•  Consolidation opportunities are the biggest they’ve ever been
  • A seller’s market
  • A great time to sell your business
• It is incumbent on the seller to get their house in order. Speaking to a consultant at least two years out will benefit the transaction
• Consolidators are buying market share. Multishop owners are more attractive because they are dealing with just one owner.
  • A buyer can leverage synergies quicker
• Type of buyers:
  • Local
  • Regional
  • National
• Growing from one to two or two to three are big challenges to the shop owners. Key ingredients:
  • People
  • Processes/systems
• Multishop owners are more attractive to consolidators
• Big buyers need to acquire to buy share
• Earnings Before Income Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA)
  • The determines the ‘Free Cash Flow’ in the business
  • Looked at as the primary measure of the value of your business
  • Buyers will pay a multiplier of EBITA. Certain industries have a multiplier range
  • A single store multiple can be in the range of 3 -4.
  • Multistore multiple  from 3 – 5 up to 7-10 depending on the eagerness of the buyer 
  • The Multiple includes the assets and a minimal inventory
• Some CPAs may not know how to evaluate an automotive service business
• Selling assets is not a great plan. EBITDA is the best way.
  • Therefore a profitable bottom line is your best offense in a transaction
  • What the market will pay is also an important factor 
• Selling a family member has a different set of dynamics
• Selling to an employee
  • You may need to retain the risk of the business
    • If they fail, you are back in business
  • Need a down payment
    • Can be worked out over time
  • Can involve SBA
  • You can sell the business for more with an outside buyer
•  Getting your Profit and Loss (P & L) statement ‘right’
  • Get your cash sales and any rebates recorded
    • It is not extra spend money
    • For every dollar you put in from any cash sales go directly to the bottom line
  • Business owners have perks that are on the P & L
    • There are some legitimate expenses that provide benefit to the business
    • For a new owner, they will not value those expenses and can be added back to the overall earnings of the business
    • There are some that are not and need to be normalized out of the statement or exposed when calculating the business value
    • Be prepared to talk about these perks with the buyer so they know what will be non-recurring expenses when they acquire the business.
    • Some expenses can be excessive and may be scrutinized if they are added into EBITDA
• Buyers look at a business where the owner is not the center of the wheel.
  • The business cannot be owner-centric
  • Process and procedures allow the business to run without the owner
  • If the owner has not let his people run it, the business could dive into a black hole with a new owner because the owner had been the face of the business
  • Can you take off two weeks and have your business run
• Many buyers are looking for general repair facilities
  • They may worry that a nice business may not fit into their operating model
  • It is harder to find a buyer for a nice facility (Euro)
• Lease or owner-occupied are not factors in the evaluation of the business
  • Owner the building brings long term income as the landlord
  • Buying your building/real-estate should be a goal
    • Forgo your toys and buy your land
  • You can make more money off of real estate than your business
• We are in times of tumultuous change
  • You need to stop and formulate a plan short term or long range on your options.

Cardinal Brokers Website HERE

Resources:

• A special thanks to Norm Gaither, Dennis McCarron, Joel Zaleski and Jeff Pohlman for their contribution to the aftermarket.
• Books Page HERE
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.

Carm and Grandson Donovan. Also:

• Moon landing 50th anniversary. Where were you? Do you remember? Just imagine the tech advances in the last 60 years
• Web-A-Thon for Brakes For Breats coming next Wednesday, July 24th. (First Ever Web-A-Thon from Carm)
• Have a vacation planned? Spend time to recharge. Listen to the Town Hall Academy epiosde on this topic with Jon Bockman, Gerry Frank, and Jim Hayes HERE.
• Timely discussion on ‘Valuing and Positioning Your Business For Sale”. Panel is Norm Gaithe, Dennis McCarron, Joel Zaleski and Jeff Pohlman. Released July 18, ’19. Listen HERE.

WATCH VIDEO HERE



Dennis McCarron, formerly Bridgestone’s National Management Instructor, joined Dealer Strategic Planning, Inc. (DSP) as a group facilitator and is now Executive Director.  This is Dennis’s second appearance on the podcast.

He passionately studies behavior analysis and teaches sales. His experience includes 8 years managing retail stores for Bridgestone and 10 years designing, instructing and facilitating Bridgestone’s management courses.  This development training covered the company’s 2,200 retail locations.

I asked Dennis to come back in part two to share his sales philosophy. The talking points below will outline all the great wisdom that Dennis shared. He stresses technique over style.

At DSP, Dennis and his team help independent aftermarket dealers manage the financial, branding, and human resource aspects of running a business. Listen to Dennis’s previous episodes HERE.

Maryann Croce of Croce Transmissions in Norwalk, CT was opened in 1999. Maryann was a banker turned business owner. Tony was technician turned shop owner.  A big transition on their parts and that extensive wisdom makes Maryann the perfect guest on the Academy series.

Their 4 bays, 4 techs, and one service advisor shop is successful because as husband and wife Maryanne and Tony work at their roles and have abundant trust in each other.

Maryann is also a member of Women in Auto Care and owns smallbizvantage.com. Hear Maryann in her previous episodes HERE.

Tom Lambert, Automotive Manager at Shadetree Automotive. Tom Lambert got his start right at home.  His dad and uncles always had projects going on in the home garage.  During the summer vacation, his dad would have Tom remove engines from the vehicles that were being sent to the local machine shop for rebuilding.

He signed up for business management at a local community college and attended night classes and sometimes would have to go back to the shop and finish up jobs.

The business continued to grow. By 2007, the operation was doing over 1 million in sales.  By 2013, they were doing over 2 million in sales. This was such fast growth but they never seemed to get ahead financially. Even the financial management classes helped a bit, but they never truly got a great grasp of their finances.  They were too busy working countless hours in the business to keep up with demand instead of taking a step back to figure the business out.

In the past three and a half years, Tom and his dad have made strategic adjustments in the business.  They are now a $2.5 million dollar a year shop with 10% annual growth and profitability. They continue to improve every day.  Tom says he has the best team and a strong culture. In January 2017 Tom bought his dad completely out of the business.

Tom struggled for many years because he had lost the passion for the auto industry.  After receiving all the guidance and coaching over the past few years, he is rejuvenated and has more passion than ever and is currently doing everything he can to pay it forward to other local shop owners. Tom’s previous episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points:

Maryann Croce

Mindset – Micro Managing is the enemy of leadership. It’s that simple. Leadership is about empowering others and micromanaging discourages them.

1. Why we micromanage – It’s Fear-based.
   1. Fear of not being viewed as an expert. There is a disconnect from the work. You’re in new territory with new responsibilities. Many are not sure of their role and goal.
   2. Fear of losing control- You now depend on others to complete tasks that you use to do. Others may be keeping up and you no longer are.
   3. Fear believing no one will care as much as you or your brand is on the line. – This comes from not setting clear expectations and goals.

2. What micromanaging looks like. (People don’t intend to micromanage. It sneaks up slowly.)
   1. Continued questioning of people and making suggestions after you gave them a task or assignment.
   2. Blaming others when things go wrong. Accountability starts with leaders
   3. Throwing people under the bus in front of others. Setting people up for failure.

3. How do we stop – Build new skill sets. Focus on the items that will next level the business. Messaging, Relationships, and Financials.
   1. Learn your role and goal as a leader owner/manager and focus on those areas. Mission Vision and Purpose. MVP Strategy is your new focus.
   2. Set clear expectations and communicate with your team. Get their input and value it. Trust your team.
   3. Support your team’s decisions. Give them the resources and training needed to succeed.

Dennis McCarron

1. Learn that clones of you don’t work for you.  As long as the end result is attained ethically, there are many ways to reach the finish line.  Different people look at the world in different ways and see different paths.
2. Be unrelenting on results and high standards.  But the employees solve the problems, not the manager.  This is often overlooked or ignored due to it’s perceived “takes too long” aspect of discussing/testing/solving nature – but the catch is if there is a manager who has all the solutions and employees are never involved, the buy-in is zero, which means effort is zero, and EVERYTHING takes too long.
3. Failure is ok.  If it doesn’t burn the shop down or cost a million dollars, making mistakes is ok.  The key is to analyze, learn, and not repeat. This is not contradictory to #2.
4. Mission and Vision Statement.  In emergencies/firefighting, where people have to act quickly and decisively, if there isn’t a compelling M/V statement, employees will rely on gut instinct.  With a compelling M/V employees use that to shape decisions. In the aftermath, micromanagers will grill and interrogate employees and tell them everything they did wrong, and usually, it’s the managers/owners fault for not having a great M/V.  If there was a great one, the post-incident conversation is easy. “Did you honor the M/V?” If you did, let’s discuss how it could be better next time. If you didn’t, ok, now we have a disciplinary conversation.
5. The woodpecker story. Remove them from your world, your business. They are saboteurs. Owners always regret they didn’t make the decision against a woodpecker in their business.

Tom Lambert

1. Set clear goals and expectations.
2. Have clear systems and processes.   Clearly documented and discussed
3. Manage the results.  (numbers)
4. Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Doesn’t matter if someone does something different than you as long as they get the result.  

Bonus form Maryann Croce

Top reasons why people leave a job are at the hand of the owner/leader.

1. Relationship with the Boss. Their boss doesn’t listen to their ideas.
2. Bored and Unchallenged by the Work Itself. No trust to take on new challenges/responsibilities or training.
3. Relationships with Coworkers​​. The lack of a good company culture and they don’t believe the company is stable or secure.

Let go of the ego and put what is best for the company first.  – Team and customers.

Resources:

• A special thanks to Dennis McCarron, Maryann Croce, and Tom Lambert, for their contribution to the aftermarket.
• Books Page HERE
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.

Facebook Twitter Linked In Email

This episode is brought to you by Jasper Engines & Transmissions. When a car’s engine or transmission fails, it’s not the end of the road. A remanufactured drivetrain product from Jasper Engines & Transmissions will give your car a new lease on life. JASPER has over 2000 Associates, three manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers, and 45 branch offices across the country. They’re all working to produce, transport and deliver the perfect product. That’s what they do best… keep customers happy. Visit jasperengines.com

RepairPal. Many of our industry’s high-quality shops have gone through an evaluation with an independent automotive team to ensure their techs are trained, they use the right tools, and their customers are happy. In fact, over 2,200 repair shops have met these requirements, have become RepairPal Certified and are getting new customers every month.

Why has the number of RepairPal Certified shops grown so much? These shops are proud to have passed the certification and value the new customers they’re getting, both from the 5 million monthly visitors to RepairPal.com and their partnerships with CarMax and USAA. Certified shops can cancel at any time, so RepairPal works hard to produce value for them. Learn more at repairpal.com/shops to learn more.



Your Learning Curve Never Sounded So Good

The Panel:

Dennis McCarron, formerly Bridgestone’s National Management Instructor, joined Dealer Strategic Planning, Inc. (DSP) as a group facilitator and is now Executive Director.  This is Dennis’s second appearance on the podcast.

He passionately studies behavior analysis and teaches sales. His experience includes 8 years managing retail stores for Bridgestone and 10 years designing, instructing and facilitating Bridgestone’s management courses.  This development training covered the company’s 2,200 retail locations.

I asked Dennis to come back in part two to share his sales philosophy. The talking points below will outline all the great wisdom that Dennis shared. He stresses technique over style.

At DSP, Dennis and his team help independent aftermarket dealers manage the financial, branding, and human resource aspects of running a business. Listen to Dennis’s previous episodes HERE.

Justin Glasgow from Performance Tire & Wheel in Topeka, KD, earned a full scholarship to play football for the University of Kansas in 1995.

During his time at KU, he was selected Captain of the team in his senior year.  In 1999, Justin earned a degree in Sports Administration and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. Football ended for Justin a few months after I graduated from KU. Growing up, he had always worked on and off for his father at Performance Tire & Wheel.  His first professional job was with the Boston Beer Company. Most people know the Boston Beer Company as the purveyors of Samuel Adams and Twisted Tea. The Boston Beer Company allowed me my first chance to cut my teeth in sales and good service.

In 2003, Justin re-joined his father at Performance Tire & Wheel. The company evolved from gas stations that were opened in 1946. His father bought Performance Tire & Wheel in 1990 after the gas stations were consolidated down to two tire stores. In 2013, Justin bought Performance Tire & Wheel from my father and am now the third owner of the corporation. Justin is also the current president of the Mid-America Tire Dealers Association as well.

Darren McLea of McLea’s Tire and Automotive in Santa Rosa, CA, grew up in the tire and automotive industry working for his dad, Les, and uncle, Rick.  Starting as a “clean up kid” at age 13 working summer breaks and after school. Darren has worked every position within the family business including and is currently running the day to day business as Vice President and Director of Operations.

Darren graduated from SDSU in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and a minor in Political Science.  While his schooling and degree would suggest him taking a different career path, the urge and desire to work with his dad and uncle was too strong.  

While away at college, he also realized a new passion…sales and customer service.  He worked at Circuit City selling TV’s and components. He was really good at it and his sales were at the top for part-time employees. He realized that he had a way of connecting with the customers. His true enjoyment came from customers coming back and asking for Darren by name.  He took that as the highest compliment. He was hooked on customer service.

All these experiences led to Darren saying that he can’t imagine doing anything else with his professional life. He really has the opportunity to do it all in this industry and he can’t imagine doing anything else.  Darren is married to his wife, Lisa, and together they have two sons and a daughter, Darren II, Nicholas, and Marie. Listen to Darren’s previous episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points:

• You must prioritize your life, your responsibilities and your tasks.
• We do busy things just to be busy.
  • Mindless things like being the IT guy when you have an IT person.
  • Paint the wall because you feel like you get it done.
• Owners and managers have no finish line.
  • The gratification of finishing disappears.
  • It is easy to put off tough management and leadership stuff and go back to what is easy and mundane.
• Darren has a low tech way to prioritize. A paper to-do list.
  • The phone is always ringing or texting or buzzing.
    • You get dragged into the smartphone like a squirrel looking for his next nut.
  • The daily list will carry over to next day on tasks that were not done.
• You have no personal firewall.
  • We are easily reachable.
  • However, we need to delegate some of the tasks and people who are wanting to get some of your bandwidth.
• Get into work early and review your day and prioritize the critical task.
• Time management quadrant from Steven Covey.
• We are still learning how the medium of email works.
  • It was never intended to be an immediate way to get in touch with people.
  • We are info junkies because we’ll spend 1-hour reading mindless emails.
    • We want to know the best new ‘game changer’.
• When clients reach out they are looking to make a decision on repairs/purchase within 72 hours. You’ve got to respond in a timely manner.
  • Customer emails must have priority.
• Carve your time out to manage personal priorities.
  • You need to focus on what is important.
  • You may have to forgive social media time.
• You must know your key priorities as a CEO
• You need to make yourself unavailable to your people. Close your door. When it is closed it send a message to solve your own problems.
• Create a culture of solving problems.
  • What would Darren (insert your name) do?
• You should have four questions to ask your people to solve their own problems.
  • They will go through the critical thinking process. They will solve their own problems.
  • Justin Glasgow holy trinity. His three questions:
    • Is it good for the customer?
    • Is it good for the company?
    • Is it good for the car?
    • Bonus idea from Robert Henderson:
      • Does it match our core values?
• Cell phone policy can improve productivity in the shop.
• Learn to say no can improve your productivity.
  • There is a right way to say no.
  • If you say yes to something you are never going to do you are prolonging the inevitable.
• You must define your mission, vision, and values.
  • You’ll be able to apply your values to every decision you make. Decisions get easier to make.
• Working on continual improvements in processes and procedures will improve overall company productivity. You must consider the disciplines of lean. Go HERE for podcasts on lean.  
  • Never create processes or procedures on your own. Involve your people and your buying will improve because your team was involved.
• Digital tools will improve efficiency
  • Texting can create almost instant communication with your customer.
  • DVI, Pictures
  • Ideas for DVI pictures put a new part next to a worn part like an air filter or disc brake pad.
• Dennis talks about slowing down the customer inbound process to not create a land mind. If the customer cannot communicate with you-you’ll need to come up with a plan or stop and do it right now.
• Consider batching your projects. Seeing reps; consider Tuesdays are the day for reps. This tightens up your planning efforts.
• Finishing projects that matter gives you a great feeling of accomplishment.
• Frank Sinatra said if you eat a frog first thing in the morning the rest of the day is great.
• Steven Covey talks about Rocks. See Books Page for 7 Habits.

Resources:

• Dennis McCarron Dealer Strategic Planning Website
• Performance Tire & Wheel Website
• McClea’s Tire and Automotive Website
• Episodes with Time Management discussion points HERE.
• Episodes with Lean discussion points HERE.
• Books Page HERE
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.
• A special thanks to Dennis McCarron, Darren McLea and Justin Glasgow.

Facebook   Twitter    Linked In    Email

This episode is brought to you by Jasper Engines & Transmissions. When a car’s engine or transmission fails, it’s not the end of the road. A remanufactured drivetrain product from Jasper Engines & Transmissions will give your car a new lease on life. JASPER has over 2000 Associates, three manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers, and 45 branch offices across the country. They’re all working to produce, transport and deliver the perfect product. That’s what they do best… keep customers happy. Visit jasperengines.com

Dennis McCarron, formerly Bridgestone’s National Management Instructor, joined Dealer Strategic Planning, Inc. (DSP) as a group facilitator and is now Executive Director.  This is Dennis’s second appearance on the podcast.

He passionately studies behavior analysis and teaches sales. His experience includes 8 years managing retail stores for Bridgestone and 10 years designing, instructing and facilitating Bridgestone’s management courses.  This development training covered the company’s 2,200 retail locations.

I asked Dennis to come back in part two to share his sales philosophy. The talking points below will outline all the great wisdom that Dennis shared. He stresses technique over style. Listen to Dennis’s previous episodes HERE.

Talking points:

• The person who controls the sales process is the listener.
• He actually learned something in college he could apply in the business world.
• Technique over style is the key to being a great sales person.
• The Hero Syndrome.
• When the customer talks, you are learning.
• When the salesperson talks you are talking about what you already know.
• Figure out how you learn, not how you teach it.
• Our industry is called a ‘Push Product – Negative Sales Environment’
• Only one pull product in the industry- Michelin or possibly Mobil 1 or Quaker.
• Our customer doesn’t come in wanting to buy something.
• If you can sell in the automotive world, you will be a rock star at retail stores like Best Buy or Ikea.
• Most customers start out as suspicious. We need to move them into a prospect.
• Our goal is to move the customer to be a potential buyer.
• We need to get our ‘Buyer’ to say yes to recommendations.
• A ‘Loyal Customer’ is when they come back again.
• Customers will drive by a dozen competitors to go to your place even if they have a minimal relationship. That is the importance of relationships
• It is not about your ability to sell but how skilled you are to present the solutions.
• You’ve got to expand your skill set. You can’t be selling like you were in the eighties. The millennials are becoming your biggest customer base. They are more educated than ever before.
• Sales people that satisfy needs listen until they get the whole customer story.
• “You cannot warm up hostility”; read people so you understand their situation.
• When you get a NO it means:
  • I don’t understand.
  • I don’t have proof of what you said.
  • I don’t have the need based on time and money.
  • I don’t see the value.
• Lifetime value of a customer’s family business over 15 years is $100K
• If you present a product to a customer that solves three of their needs the probability is high to close.
• When do you offer financing?
• A very simple approach: Just present what the customer said they wanted.

DSP Website

Be socially involved and in touch with the show:
Facebook   Twitter   Linked In   Email

This episode is brought to you by Federal-Mogul Motorparts and Garage Gurus. With brands like Moog, Felpro, Wagner Brake, Champion, Sealed Power, FP Diesel and more, they’re the parts techs trust.  For serious technical training and support – online, onsite and on-demand – Garage Gurus is everything you need to know. Find out more at fmmotorparts.com  and fmgaragegurus.com

Dennis McCarron, formerly Bridgestone’s National Management Instructor, joined Dealer Strategic Planning, Inc. (DSP) as a group facilitator and is now Executive Director.

His experience includes 8 years managing retail stores for Bridgestone and 10 years designing, instructing and facilitating Bridgestone’s management courses.  This development training covered the company’s 2,200 retail locations.

At DSP, Dennis and his team help independent aftermarket dealers manage the financial, branding, and human resource aspects of running a business. Listen to Dennis’s previous episodes HERE.

Talking Points:

• Company started by Norm Gaithier.
• The most influential part of a 20 group is peer to peer accountability. Peer Pressure and pride is the motivator.
  • Twenty Group peers help you along the way. If they can grow their profit you can to.
• Admitting you are wrong is a very powerful leadership trait.
• Managing payroll is the most difficult thing to do for service professionals.
• What happens with payroll when there is a downturn or the business isn’t there.
• Too many shops are getting their P&L 60 days after the month end. Tough to make changes that could have prevented a drain on cash reserves.
• Cash reserves are not there to continually support the business on a day to day basis. It will run out.
• Talent Gap
• The Millennial Nonsense (worth the price of admission)

DSP Website

Be socially involved and in touch with the show:
Facebook   Twitter   Linked In   Email

This episode is brought to you by Federal-Mogul Motorparts and Garage Gurus. With brands like Moog, Felpro, Wagner Brake, Champion, Sealed Power, FP Diesel and more, they’re the parts techs trust.  For serious technical training and support – online, onsite and on-demand – Garage Gurus is everything you need to know. Find out more at fmmotorparts.com  and fmgaragegurus.com