Thanks to our Partner, NAPA Auto Care

Join the dynamic duo Uwe Kleinschmidt and Krista Eriksson of AutotechIQ! Uncover how data-driven processes are revolutionizing the automotive industry, explore the shifting landscape of customer behavior, and learn why transparency and education are essential for increasing approvals. Gain actionable insights into key aftermarket strategies, including maximizing the impact of digital vehicle inspections and employing innovative sales techniques.

Uwe Kleinschmidt, CEO, AutotechIQ

Krista Erickson, VP of Client Services and Marketing, AutotechIQ

Show Notes

• Watch Full Video Episode
• Shifting Customer Expectations (00:01:19)
• Measuring Customer Engagement (00:02:12)
• Case Study on Service Advisors (00:03:27)
• The Role of Visual Aids (00:10:11)
• Empowerment Through Information (00:11:34)
• Building Trust with Customers (00:15:39)
• Standardizing Job Names (00:16:01)
• Declined Jobs Analysis (00:17:04)
• Actionable Transparency (00:18:21)
• Creating Urgency in Customer Interactions (00:21:51)
• Marketing Strategies for Service Offers (00:22:23)
• Follow-Up on Declined Services (00:23:07)
• Effectiveness of Visual Aids (00:23:29)
• The Brittany Process (00:25:31)
• Customer Education Through Layman’s Terms (00:26:49)
• Work-Life Balance Challenges (00:29:35)
• Rebranding Technicians (00:31:35)
• Effective Communication in Service Advising (00:32:30)
• Growing the Certified Shop Network (00:34:00)
• AutoTechIQ DNA Concept (00:35:52)
• Importance of Preventative Maintenance (00:36:54)
• Technology’s Role in Customer Engagement (00:37:39)
• Redefining Service Advisor Roles (00:39:13)
• Benefits of Specialized Roles in Shops (00:40:11)
• Introduction to New Generations of Listeners (00:41:35)

Thanks to our Partner, NAPA Auto Care

Learn more about NAPA Auto Care and the benefits of being part of the NAPA family by visiting https://www.napaonline.com/en/auto-care

Connect with the Podcast:

-Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableResultsRadioPodcast/

-Join Our Virtual Toastmasters Club: https://remarkableresults.biz/toastmasters

-Join Our Private Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734687266778976

-Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/carmcapriotto

-Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmcapriotto/

-Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remarkableresultsradiopodcast/

-Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RResultsBiz

-Visit the Website: https://remarkableresults.biz/

-Join our Insider List: https://remarkableresults.biz/insider

-All books mentioned on our podcasts: https://remarkableresults.biz/books

-Our Classroom page for personal or team learning: https://remarkableresults.biz/classroom

-Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/carm

-Special episode collections: https://remarkableresults.biz/collections

The Aftermarket Radio Network: https://aftermarketradionetwork.com/

Remarkable Results Radio Podcast with Carm Capriotto: Advancing the Aftermarket by Facilitating Wisdom Through Story Telling and Open Discussion. https://remarkableresults.biz/

Diagnosing the Aftermarket A to Z with Matt Fanslow: From Diagnostics to Metallica and Mental Health, Matt Fanslow is Lifting the Hood on Life. https://mattfanslow.captivate.fm/

Business by the Numbers with Hunt Demarest: Understand the Numbers of Your Business with CPA Hunt Demarest. https://huntdemarest.captivate.fm/

The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast with Kim and Brian Walker: Marketing Experts Brian & Kim Walker Work with Shop Owners to Take it to the Next Level. https://autorepairmarketing.captivate.fm/

The Weekly Blitz with Chris Cotton: Weekly Inspiration with Business Coach Chris Cotton from AutoFix – Auto Shop Coaching. https://chriscotton.captivate.fm/

Speak Up! Effective Communication with Craig O’Neill: Develop Interpersonal and Professional Communication Skills when Speaking to Audiences of Any Size. https://craigoneill.captivate.fm/

Panelists:

• Joe Sevart from I70 Auto Service, Kansas City, MO. Previous Episodes HERE.
• Bill Connor, GM at Craig’s Car Care, Allen, TX
• Uwe Kleinschmidt, CEO/Founder from AutoVitals. Previous Episodes HERE.

Roundtable Talking Points:

• Bill Connor got into digital inspections because he wanted to shrink the number of steps his people needed to travel in order to communicate with each other. This challenges made him work very hard to implement the paperless digital shop.
  • Voice to text was a big help.
• Joe Sevart. Digital inspections benefit the customer.
  • So many reviews have commented positively on the inspection process.
• Working with a smartphone and buying on Amazon is a way of life. We are digital. Why not bring this technology and speed of access of information into the service bays?
• Comments from industry. Fifty-fifty down the middle:
  • Best thing since sliced bread. I already sold a $3,000 job using digital inspections.
  • I do not know how to hold the tablet. It is so different than paper.
• Bill Connor, did not see much pushback from his technicians. He involved them in the process and encouraged their input to keep developing the process.
• Inspection with pictures and technician’s notes becomes a baseline for failure rate. It is like X-Rays from your dentist.
• Bill Connor created a video and process to show any new tech how to use the digital inspection tool.
• Transition phase from the attitude; ‘they are watching me’ to one of ‘thank you for building consistency and increasing morale.’
• Accountability and measurement is a strong byproduct.
• Sixty-six percent of technicians finding are not sold. This is an opportunity.
• A strategy is to give have the service advisor do more advising and less busy work.
• A great service advisor takes the customer to their car and shows them the problems discovered. Digital now allows the customer to be anywhere and still see the problems via still pictures and videos.
• There is a positive word of mouth from customers who share their digital inspection report with friends. Their friends want one of those reports on their car.
• Google shared information a few years back:
  • Paraphrase: 30 times more searches happen for parts and educational content than for shops.
    • Motorists getting a second opinion and using their smartphone for searches and knowledge.
• Managing SEO Strategy is so important today and knowing what people are searching so.
• Digital inspection is a great foundation for managing your fleet customers.
• Bill Connor sets an exit schedule on his calendar to get in touch with the customer to follow up in a few days. His team checks with the customer to see that everything was done right and to their satisfaction.
• Customers are concerned about the health of their vehicles. They are not neglecting their car on purpose. So why is there an open rate on 20% on email
  • Once you have shown the customer the transparency in the transaction you can send the same richness in an email from declined work and keep engagement high.

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

This episode is brought to you by Federal-MogulMotorparts 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

Download the Remarkable Results Radio listening APP for your smart device:

Talking Points:

• We need to get together and become inter-dependent.
• Out of Many One: E pluribus Unum (Quote of Dollar Bill)
• We think along the lines why being independent is a good thing, because we’ve always considered the ‘aftermarket’ as independent vs the dealership.
• It’s a pride thing, a self-motivation thing, and an unshaken inner self-awareness that their that damned good. . . and most of them are.
• It seems to breed us not working together to lift our image, improve labor rates, access to information, share tools and equipment, etc.
• Fragmented space in automotive for tools, processes, “I need my own solution”, “Every shop is different”, “just add an option for me”.
  • 125 point of sale systems.
  • The learning curve for SA is steep, tools can’t be used to their fullest.
• Associations are great that help to bring lobbying and benefits, but they lack in membership. Why because we choose not to care because we are ‘independent’. Should we go it alone. We’ve come to learn that twenty-groups bring strength to their individual members. Associations create networking opportunities and bridges the gap of being ‘alone’.
• Other “most” important thing is the inner drive to succeed with or without anyone’s help.  To be independent also means that your method of working doesn’t revolve around a set time structure such as punching a time clock.  In other words, you do what needs to be done, and work at it until it is done.
• Why do car dealers seem to be united when they are independent business people. No one calls Peps boys independent yet they do the same thing ‘independents do’.
• Independency is a good thing. . . to some degree. If being independent means you can’t finish a repair without having help…such as the dealership with their direct contact with the manufacturer, or their latest software and protocols in regard to scanning and or flashing. Then your independence becomes your downfall.
• How do we become un-independent? Individuality and entrepreneurialism is powerful but being interdependent on each other can become a good thing.
• Being independent is a liberation and challenge and opens many doors of finding solutions, sometimes very unorthodox
• We are not apart from each other, we are a part of one another. This industry has had its fair share of self-imposed drama because hard-working automotive technicians underestimated the value of a smart-working business education. There is a way out of this hole.
• Being independent can be taken to the extreme and be anarchy, lone wolf existence, which can be a hindrance in being successful and effective.
• Figuring out solutions 100% by oneself can be tiring and doesn’t leverage others having gone through the process themselves.
• As a true independent, lawsuits with OEM car makers seem unattainable.
  • “Right of repair” topics hard to lobby.
• Fragmented space in automotive for tools, processes, “I need my own solution”, “Every shop is different”, “just add an option for me”.
• Software tool vendors hesitant to enter the market, prefer other industries.
  • Outdated technology solutions dominate.
  • Silo solutions dominate.
  • If the software tools and shop process don’t follow and leverage that trend, the independents run the risk to leave the education to somebody else and get commoditized.

Be socially involved and in touch with the show:
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

Founder and CEO of AutoVitals Uwe Kleinschmidt is a passionate visionary and is dedicated to building solutions for the independent automotive shop owner to succeed in the modern internet era.

Uwe (Oova) has spent 15+ years, prior to AutoVitals, working with automotive technology at Robert Bosch. He held a variety of positions around the globe, building software to master the transition to highly-computerized cars. Uwe is an Ironman finisher, holds a PHD in Electrical Engineering, and is the inventor of multiple patents.

Uwe brings his insights and wisdom to the interview. He share’s trends and his own personal story when he brought his family to the US. Enlightening, enjoyable and impassioned is a theme of this interview.

Here are some key ‘Talking Points’ in this episode:

• Life is too short do things that matter!
• Defining core values at AutoVitals: Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
• Uwe encourages his team to go to the ‘unknown’.
• Set obtainable goals without loss of the vision line and you’ll attain more.
• Searches for ‘timing belts’ since 2009 has tripled as searches for ‘auto repair’ has stagnated.
• From Google: Searches for Check Engine Lights and other educational searches as well as searches for parts outscores searches for individual shops by 30 times. Driven by looking for second opinions.
• Independent shops have too much un-billable time wasted.
• If you want to improve something you need to know what you want to improve.
• 66% of all recommended actions that a tech puts on an inspection are not sold to the motorist. Not enough skills or time to sell the service.
• The software industry for automotive applications has a major challenge; everyone is looking for a niche and to be the best at it. Not many look for seamless integration, although shop owners name this as #1 problem with their software.
• Total shop measurement is the next frontier such as real-time technician efficiency to avoid unprofitable work.
• The Service Advisor is the most important part of the professional service business.
• Appreciating the power and value of data.
• The new world way of selling with technology through process change and changed behavior.

AutoVitals Web Site

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