News: KUKUI Receives Strategic Growth Investment from SSM Partners

Key Talking Points:

• The journey to this big decision
• Record-breaking growth
• Where they are going
• Big Goal of 10,000 customers in 2020

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Your Learning Curve Never Sounded So Good

Key Talking Points:

1. Make techs a real referral source. – Technicians can really bring in a lot of referrals but they aren’t motivated enough. Do a friendly competition with an extra week off, a fully paid Cancun trip right now is $589.00   (TW)
   1. Walk around marketing. Have your business cards with you (JO)
2. The fortune is in the follow-up!  (JO)
   1. If you promise, you must call.
3. Paperless invoices and estimates. (MG)
   1. Consumers are driving this. They are demanding a different sales process.`
4. Develop the best auto repair technical team you can….in the shortest amount of time. As a shop owner, the largest ROI you can gain right now is developing your technical team. Be the shop that can diagnose and fix the car right the first time.  (JO)
   1. Comeback rate cannot exceed X%. A threshold
5. Increase your labor rate – Set the stage for everyone that you are the best and should be compensated accordingly. (JO)
   1. Know that your labor rate is covering your costs and allowing you to earn the correct dollars to cover all costs associated or margins you need to make.
6. Holiday referrals programs are great – give away Turkeys and Christmas Trees.(TW)
7. A gift drawing basket for the holidays. We did one for Easter where guests picked Easter eggs that had candy and A prize inside like a free oil service, wiper blades,  tire rotations, and air filters. (MG)
8. Utilize the words “Hassle-Free” in your warranty (JO)
   1. Use trigger words, but be sure you back it up. Put the customer first and the dollars will follow.
9. Mark uses what he calls an ‘Accountability Cards’ they’re similar to the courtesy door hangers you see in hotels when you first get into your room to tell you that everything has been checked for quality.  (MG)  DOWNLOAD Picture of the Card
10. Fire the person you know should be fired.  (JO)
    1. Don’t hold on to someone you know is not right for your team.
    2. Open a spot to find the next perfect team member.
11. Watch the local pet shelter and randomly post a pet that needs a home. This will keep folks engaged on facebook (TW)
12. Run a competition on facebook and have your customers post their pets. (TW)
13. Fresh flowers weekly on the front counter.  (MG)
    1. Women are making up the majority of Marks customers.
14. Selfie, Selfie, Selfie – Get involved in your social posts and include all staff members with customers and focus on the market you want to dominate.  (JO)
    1. Get rid of your canned post and find all the real world situations that is going on around you.
15. Meet & Greets. Invite potential guests to the shop (no appointment needed) to meet the guys, see the shop (tour), before they book an appointment for their car. (MG)
16. Give the customer what they want without having to pick up the phone.  (book now appointment, Chat with us, Text us, and pricing info online) (JO)
17. Interactive countertop displays that show how timing belts, transmissions, and brakes work. (MG)
18. Post one type of sports scores on facebook. baseball, Hockey, football. Keep it simple. Just the final score. Make yourself a resource. (TW)
19. Partnerships will be the key to future business. Strategic partnerships that will drive large volumes of business ie: RepairPal Certified Connecting with CarMax, Other strategic partnerships through your vendors. (JO)
20. Partner with 4 shops that are 9 miles to 15 miles apart. Pull your marketing dollars, do large events together. (TW)
21. Join a networking group like BNI and post on facebook about networking like Dave Toole. (TW)  (BNI is the world’s largest referral network)

BONUS

1. Host ‘How to’ classes or car care clinics at your shop on Saturdays. (MG)  Women’s Clinics and Middle School Automotive STEM Classes (CC)
2. Nice employee jackets with your company logos on them. Not the cheap ones either (MG)
3. Rewatch all 3 parts of this show. That’s 63 tips. Make 2019 your best year ever. (TW)

Todd Westerlund’s Challenge:

The first entry into Carm with 60 of the 68 tips discussed in the three parts, documented and authorized by Todd will win the $1,000 challenge.  You will need to document via pictures or screenshots 60 of the tips. List the tip and show it implemented. Send an email of your completed challenge to Carm, HERE.  You may have many of the tips already completed and you’ll just need to document them.

Resources:

Mark Goldsmith Accountability Card/Mirror Tag HERE.

Email Carm Capriotto with your challenge results HERE.

Books Page.     Leaders Are Readers

Link to 21 Tips Part One HERE.

Link to 21 Tips Part Two HERE.

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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

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

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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

Ryan Clo

Ryan Clo owner of Dubwerx in Cincinnati, OH is an eighteen-year veteran in the Automotive Service industry. He currently owns two specialized Automotive Service businesses located in Cincinnati, OH. Ryan grew his enterprise from a single customer into a multiple highly profitable business with 12 employees, 99% customer satisfaction, and he has automated his business so that his presence is not required.

Ryan currently consults for the Institute of Automotive Business Excellence providing guidance to automotive businesses including on-site evaluations, off-site coaching, business plan development, and one-on-one coaching with owners and staff. He is known at The Institute as the “Systems and Processes guy.” Ryan teaches several business management classes for the automotive industry.

For full disclosure Ryan is a client of our guest Todd Westerlund from Kukui.

Doug Grills

Doug Grills from AutoStream Car Care Center is a chain of FIVE family-owned, automotive service facilities that deliver honest and professional automotive repair and maintenance services to customers in the Greater Baltimore/Washington/Washington, DC area. Doug along with his partner Rick Levitan have been around the service station business for over 25 years and have built their reputation by offering best-in-class service to their customers.

All AutoStrem Car Care technicians are ASE Certified and the shops are AAA approved.

For full disclosure Doug is a client of Danny Sanchez from Autoshop Solutions.

Danny Sanchez

Danny Sanchez owner and founder, of Autoshop Solutions.  Danny Sanchez, grew up spending countless hours working around his dad’s auto repair shop in California, eventually taking over and running the business himself. Autoshop Solutions started in 1998, when Danny founded Auto Web Solutions. The Internet was starting to take off, and Danny took great interest in the powerful marketing benefits it could provide. As a successful shop owner himself, Danny used Auto Web Solutions to consult with other repair shops on their business and web presence.

In 2005, when Google launched AdWords and changed its search engine to favor local businesses, Danny saw a huge opportunity for the automotive industry to draw more clients from the Internet. With just a handful of clients and a few websites, Danny built the foundation of his company – quality, affordable, automotive websites and Internet marketing solutions, designed exclusively for the auto industry.

Todd Westerlund

Todd Westerlund, CEO of Kukui has been in the automotive industry for 28 years. Todd spent 15 years as an ASE Certified Smog Technician California and also spent two years at a dealership. In 2013, Todd joined Kukui, a marketing software company with a mission to improve technology for the betterment of people and businesses worldwide.

As the CEO of Kukui, Todd is consistently studying, attending business classes and consulting with shops all over the United States. Some of his duties include: keeping industry leaders informed about new technology, setting Kukui’s growth strategy including event planning, and planning industry sponsorships and partnerships.

Talking Points:

• SEO
• Mobile Friendly – Mobile First
• Is your site working to convert customers?
• Google is really your partner.
• Generating 5 star reviews is very important to get good rankings in Google.
  • You must create an exceptional experience first.
  • Asking for review gets easier.
• Review marketing.
• Google Analytics
• Long Tail Keywords vs Short Tail Keyword

Todd Westerlund has been in the automotive industry for 28 years. Todd spent 15 years as an ASE Certified Smog Technician at a shop in San Ramon, California and also spent two years at a dealership which helped him enhance his industry knowledge.

In Todd’s last 11 years, he has worked directly with independent automotive shops to enhance their marketing efforts. In 2013, Todd joined Kukui, a marketing software company with a mission to improve technology for the betterment of people and businesses worldwide.

Kukui provides businesses a custom marketing platform that integrates with each organization’s Point of Sale (POS) system. This empowers each of Kukui’s clients with quantitative data showing their return on investment, the number of new clients based on their POS system, statistics revealing their customer retention rate, and areas to improve their business through the tracking of phone calls, appointment forms, and feedback from customer reviews.

As the CEO of Kukui, Todd is consistently studying, attending business classes and consulting with shops all over the United States. Some of his duties include: keeping industry leaders informed about product enhancements, set Kukui’s growth strategy including event planning, and planning industry sponsorships and partnerships.

Just because Todd Westerlund is a technology CEO you may be thinking, ‘Carm and Todd are going to talk GEEK’. Well NAY, NAY. You are going to hear great discussions on:

How to communicate with Millennials.

Gamification.

Lifestyle marketing.

Keeping up with tech.

How to take advantage of social networks … and much more!

A very interesting episode that will not bore you with techno geek speak. You may just find out who is Todd’s favorite Star Wars Character!

Link to KuKui here.

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