Ratchet+Wrench - June 2018

06.18 STRATEGIES & INSPIRATION FOR AUTO CARE SUCCESS

REBOUND FROM UNEXPECTED TURNOVER PAGE 52

7 WAYS TO NAIL A FIRST IMPRESSION PAGE 48

TURN AN ANGRY CUSTOMER INTO A LIFELONG FAN PAGE 47

CALCULATED

GROWTH THE CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR NUMBERS AND YOUR ULTIMATE POTENTIAL PAGE 34

MARCONI :

WHY DIAGNOSTICS IS COSTING YOU MONEY PAGE 31

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“I THINK THAT THE RATCHET+WRENCH MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE WILL HAVE A LONG-LASTING IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY.” MITCH SCHNEIDER, OWNER, SCHNEIDER’S AUTO REPAIR

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06.18 VO L . 0 6 N O. 0 6

J U N E Total Rehaul Over the course of a few years, Paul Smith turned over his entire staff—and learned some valuable lessons on hiring along the way.

F E AT U R E

C A S E

34

52

60

Knowing how to monitor and improve KPIs—with information pulled from shop owners and the 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey—is key to growing your business and improving.

After taking over his father’s shop, Paul Smith realized he needed an iron-clad recruiting strategy to maximize his small town’s talent pool.

Dena Ganje has become a master at grassroots marketing, seamlessly integrating her shop into the community and building relationships.

B Y A L E X VA N A B B E M A

B Y A L E X VA N A B B E M A

YOUR GUIDE TO KPIs

S T U DY

RECRUITING IN A SMALL TOWN

R E PA I R

L I F E

MAXIMIZE YOUR COMMUNITY

SANDY CAMPBELL

B Y T R AV I S B E A N A N D A L E X VA N A B B E M A

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. COPYRIGHT ©2018 BY 10 MISSIONS MEDIA LLC. All rights reserved. Ratchet+Wrench (ISSN 2167-0056) is published monthly by 10 Missions Media, LLC, 571 Snelling Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55104. Ratchet+Wrench content may not be photocopied, reproduced or redistributed without the consent of the publisher. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTERS Send address changes to: Ratchet+Wrench, 571 Snelling Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55104.

ON THE COVER: COVER ART BY RATCHET+WRENCH STAFF

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

J U M P

S TA R T

12 ONLINE

21 BREAKDOWN

14 SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT

22 VIEWPOINT

16 AWARDS INSIGHT

25 SPEED READ

Do you charge for diagnostics?

Impact of the Supreme Court’s overtime ruling The possibility of a four-year tech degree

Aaron Stokes

Icahn sells Federal-Mogul to Tenneco

Putting customers first

17 EDITOR'S LETTER

26 SHOP VIEW

Insights from the R+W Industry Survey

V&F Auto in Agawam, Mass.

29 THE RETURN

Color Psychology V&F Auto was designed using neutral colors, like gray, to put its customers at ease.

PartsTech system

26

31 STRAIGHT TALK

Why you need to charge for diagnostics V & F AUTO

JOE MARCONI

WIRED FOR

SUCCESS

You’re wired differently and we like that. America likes that.

Visit futuretechsuccess.org and find out how your hands-on talent is the key to an amazing technical career.

When Techs Rock, America Rolls ℠ futuretechsuccess.org

8 / R + W / 0 6 .18

FUTURETECH

SUCCESS

™

T O O L B OX

59 THE BOTTOM LINE

47 SHOP ADVICE

The impact of language on leadership

Win over your most difficult customer

MITCH SCHNEIDER

48 SALES+MARKETING

66 THE FIXER

How to guarantee a solid first impression

Put culture over process A ARON STOKES

51 INDUSTRY INSIDER Solving the technician shortage RISSY SUTHERL AND

56 LEADERSHIP

Top shop owners share their favorite leadership books

THINKSTOCK

47

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OEConnection

Ratchet+Wrench Management Conference

Tech Force

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RADIO EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Bryce Evans MANAGING EDITOR Anna Zeck ASSOCIATE EDITORS Tess Collins, Travis Bean STAFF WRITERS Melissa Steinken, Alex Van Abbema, Kiley Wellendorf MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST Luke Gagnon EDITORIAL INTERN Kaylee Shields CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Joe Marconi, Mitch Schneider, Aaron Stokes, Rissy Sutherland PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR Zach Pate GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Audrey Mundstock, Leah Quinto, Fue Vang PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Lauren Coleman SALES PUBLISHER Chris Messer 651.846.9462 / cmesser@10missions.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES Alysia Nelson 651.846.9463 / anelson@10missions.com SALES MANAGER Nathan Smock 651.846.9452 / nsmock@10missions.com REGIONAL ADVERTISING SALES Mike Beltowsky 651.846.9454 / mbeltowsky@10missions.com Jenna Gale 651.846.9460 / jgale@10missions.com Melody Todd 651.846.9468 / mtodd@10missions.com CLIENT SERVICE SPECIALIST Jen George 651.846.9465 /jgeorge@10missions.com 10 MISSIONS MEDIA PRESIDENT Jay DeWitt SALES SERVICE SUPERVISOR Mariah Straub SALES SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Meghann Moore EVENT AND SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR Katie Cornet DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGIST Josh Jaskulka EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Leigh Anne Best, Mighty Auto Pro Andy Bizub, Midwest Performance Cars Greg Bunch, Aspen Auto Clinic Ryan Clo, Dubwerx Ron Haugen, Westside Auto Pros David Toole, Toole's Garage HOW TO REACH US 10 MISSIONS MEDIA 571 Snelling Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55104 tel 651.224.6207 fax 651.224.6212 web 10missions.com The annual subscription rate is $72 (U.S.A. only) for companies not qualified to receive complimentary copies of Ratchet+Wrench.

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Opinions expressed in Ratchet+Wrench are not necessarily those of 10 Missions Media, and 10 Missions Media does not accept responsibility for advertising content.

New Ratchet+Wrench Podcasts.

3 SERIES WITH NEW EPISODES EVERY MONTH.

GROW. Series hosted by industry superstar Rissy Sutherland.

Inside the processes, systems and operational strategies that have allowed the industry’s top shops to thrive.

New episode this month.

LEAD. Series hosted by shop operator Aaron Stokes.

The go-to resource for leadership lessons, philosophies and success stories. New episode this month.

INNOVATE. Series hosted by a rotating special guest each month.

An introspective look at the industry’s most pressing topics from the people who know them best. New episode this month.

LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE S E A R C H “ R AT C H E T + W R E N C H ” I N A P P S FOR APPLE AND ANDROID

AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

PODCASTS

STITCHER

POCKET CASTS 0 6 .18 / R + W / 11

ONLINE 06.18 COMMENTS, DISCUSSIONS, FEEDBACK AND MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB

FEATURED TOPIC:

HIGHLIGHTING 2018 WORLD-CLASS TECHNICIANS

—

There are an estimated 879,000 technicians in the United States, with more than 300,000 of them holding ASE certifications. Nearly 2,000 technicians have earned the status of “World-Class Technician” since its inception over 30 years ago. To earn 2018 World Class status, a technician must achieve certification in 22 specialty areas during the 2017 certification test administered by ASE. As part of a limited weekly series, Ratchet+Wrench will take a look at 2018’s World-Class Technician recipients, including a brief bio of their careers, and their thoughts on the industry. One of those stories featured a conversation with Michael Aubrey.

Find their stories on Ratchet+Wrench’s blog at ratchetandwrench.com/blog.

POLLS

PODCAST

LEAD: FOLLOWING THE CASH FLOW

—

RADIO

DO YOU CHARGE FOR DIAGNOSTICS?

—

Each Thursday, Ratchet+Wrench hosts a poll on its Facebook page in an effort to encourage shop owners to share advice and strategies that allow them to better run their businesses.

For this poll, Ratchet+Wrench asked shop owners to list how much they charge for diagnostics. In total, 360 voters left 56 comments about why they charge the amount they do and how customers respond.

According to a recent Lang Aftermarket iReport, the number of car and light truck service bays has declined over the past five years, despite an increase in total service sales.

—

ratchetandwrench.com/repairbaysdown

WEBSITE: ratchetandwrench.com

JOIN US ONLINE

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COURTESY MICHAEL AUBRY, RATCHET+WRENCH GRAPHIC

As Aaron Stokes says, cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. Properly managing the cash in your shop and building a reserve is key to giving your operations some room for error.

When managing your cash flow, Stokes says that discipline and emotional management is key, especially if you’re a newer shop owner. In this episode of Ratchet+Wrench Radio, he goes over the keys for a shop owner to manage his or her back office operations, and get the rest of the team on board with the plan.

Subscribe to Ratchet+Wrench’s podcast through Apple or Stitcher. You can also find all episodes on the RW To Go app.

YOUR NEW GO-TO TOOL. Grab hold of the new FordParts.com — anytime, anywhere from your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Chat with a live expert who can help you find parts and track orders. One tool, so many uses. FIND IT. BUY IT. AND GET BACK TO WORK.

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT / A ARON STOKES

Becoming a Better Leader

FILE PHOTO

At the 2017 Ratchet+Wrench Management Conference, Ratchet+Wrench columnist and podcast host Aaron Stokes led a closing session called “The Fixer.” The session went over his own path to being an automotive repair shop owner, and detailed how you can change your mindset to become a better leader and owner.

Every role in your shop should get an upgrade. For instance, a service writer should become a salesperson, while managers should become businesspeople.

When a manager becomes a businessperson, he or she shifts the focus of just fixing cars to making a profit.

For 2018’s RWMC, Stokes, along with Ratchet+Wrench columnists Rissy Sutherland and Brian Sump, will lead a closing session to identify and fix your operation’s biggest bottlenecks.

FAST TRACK YOUR BUSINESS The 2018 Ratchet+Wrench RW To Go app is the most efficient way to improve your business. Gain access to podcasts, videos, articles and more. All in one spot. Wherever you go.

RW TO GO-0218.indd 2

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D O IN W A A N N P LO D P R S AD O T ID O F R O A E R N S F D F R iO O EE S R

The 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Management Conference will be held Sept. 20–22 at the Westin Lombard near Chicago. News regarding registration and speakers for the 2018 conference will be announced soon.

2/20/18 3:36 PM

AWA R D S I N S I G H T

ALL-STAR NOMINEE

K AT E E M OO R E —

SERVICE MANAGER AMERICAN PRIDE AUTOMOTIVE WILLIAMSBURG, VA.

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A

Katee Moore found American Pride Automotive at just the right time. As a young, single mother in 2009, she was just beginning to drive, and was able to participate in Family Service Day at the Williamsburg, Va.–based shop, leaving with an oil change and tire rotation at no charge.

Moore stayed in contact with the owner, Charlie Marcotte, and after four years of working as a lifeguard and retail lead at the local Great Wolf Lodge, she eventually joined the team in 2013 to assist in basic recordkeeping and accounting. Since then, Moore has excelled in her duties and taken on additional roles when necessary, inspiring Marcotte to promote her to the service advisor role in 2017.

She has taken over organization of Family Service Day at American Pride Automotive, becoming a Family Service Day coach and assisting shops nationwide to host Family Service Days of their own to help single parents or military families. She also took accounting classes at a local community college in 2015, graduating in 2017 with honors.

Marcotte says that, since taking over as service advisor of American Pride’s Williamsburg location, the company’s CSI score has gone up dramatically. The shop’s Google reviews, which comprise the bulk of American Pride’s CSI score, have steadily improved from a 4.3 rating with 44 reviews to a 4.5 with over 130 reviews.

“Katee has compassion, empathy, calmness and a sense of humor, and those are character traits that cannot be taught,” Marcotte said in his nomination of Moore.

Here are the biggest lessons she’s learned to create a strong customer service atmosphere.

BE POSITIVE AND HAVE A CALM DEMEANOR. Moore says that the main key to her success as a service advisor is having a bubbly personality, and constantly being positive.

Whenever she answers the phone, Moore gives the same spiel: “It’s a beautiful day at American Pride, this is Katee. How may I help you?”

When it comes to angry or difficult 16 / R + W / 0 6 .18

customers, Moore says she’s learned from her service manager, Greg Wilson, and Marcotte about how to be calm and deal with them effectively.

“With most arguments, we won’t win them. If they see or hear that my voice has changed, then it’s just a downhill battle,” Moore says. “We truly believe that if the customer is right, or if we can make it right, we’ll try to do that.”

WORK AS A TEAM. While working as an administrative assistant, Moore became very familiar with the shop’s point-of-sale system, which eased her transition into the service advisor role.

As she was learning the ropes of becoming a service advisor, Moore reached out to the rest of the team to figure out the digital inspection process, and clarified certain terms or phrases from her technicians to clearly explain each repair to the customer.

“If I don’t know what the technician is saying, we always come together to figure it out,” Moore says.

The shop itself is a family-owned business, and Moore is married to one of the shop’s top technicians, Tyler, which makes communicating about repairs a lot easier.

Moore says that many customers are impressed and happy to learn that a husbandand-wife team are handling their repairs.

NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS! Know someone deserving of a Ratchet+Wrench All-Star Award? Nominate them today at ratchetandwrench.com/awards

FUE VANG

Exemplary Customer Service

MAKE EVERYONE FEEL COMFORTABLE. Whenever customers walk in, Moore makes sure they are offered a bottle of water or a coffee. She makes sure that every customer has a seat available, so that nobody has to stand.

“From there, we just make sure that while waiting for repairs to be done we get to know them, and get to know where they come from,” Moore says.

For kids that come into the shop, Moore makes sure to have crayons and paper ready, along with small toy cars to take home. After customers leave the shop, Moore sends them a thank-you card, inviting them to come back anytime.

EDITOR'S LETTER

Data, Data, Data and More Data HOW DO YOU MAKE SENSE OF THE NUMBERS IN YOUR BUSINESS?

NICK SPAETH

As a kid, I loved boxscores. My morning routine included grabbing the

sports section of Minneapolis’ Star Tribune and flipping directly to the “Scoreboard” page and pouring over the boxscores from games of whatever sport happened to be in season at that moment. If it was the summer, it’d be baseball—and I’d quickly scan for “Chicago (N.L.)” to find the Cubs. I tried to avoid seeing the score, though. Part of the fun for me as a kid was looking through the stats first and trying to guess how the game turned out.

Mark Grace went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, Ryne Sandberg hit two home runs, and Greg Maddux went 7 ⅓ innings without giving up a run!

Clearly, the Cubs won!

This was the early ’90s. I was almost always wrong with that guess.

This was before streaming of out-of-market games, Twitter and app updates, and even the routine of nightly highlights on ESPN. Statistics were the basis for following a team. The issue, though, which seems far more evident in today’s tech-driven world, is how much context is missed by simply looking at a boxscore. The nuances of the game—really, everything that makes sports enjoyable to watch and follow—is stripped out. And guessing an outcome based on those stats is at best an inexact science (and at worst, it’s completely pointless).

Anyway, I do have a point to this—two points, actually. The first is reiterating the last part of the previous paragraph: Making a determination based on data, without proper context, isn’t a good practice. You likely all know that, though, from operating your businesses.

The second point is directly related to our feature package this month and our 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey. In the past, we’ve published survey reports in the magazine (and sold separate, more thorough versions) that were essentially long blocks of charts and data with very little context. While our survey report that will be available for purchase later this summer will include those vast amounts of data, in creating our new approach to survey research, we’ve decided to go a different route with what we print in the magazine.

“The KPI-Tracking Guide” (p. 34) is a comprehensive look at how shop operators can utilize data to make decisions in their businesses. It’s strategy-based and focused on taking action, while still including relevant sets of data. We’ll take similar approaches with two additional feature packages that focus on leadership (August) and technology (November) later in the year. The hope is that this allows our research to become a more valuable tool to you in improving your business; that our data can help you better understand your own. In the end, it should lead to better decisions, better understanding and more wins for your business—or at least fewer losses than those ’90s Cubs teams.

BRYCE E VA NS, EDIT ORIA L DIREC T OR BE VA NS@10MISSIONS.COM

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J U M P S TA R T NEWS

SHOP VIE W

/

IDEAS

/

PEOPLE

/

TRENDS

26

BREAKDOWN VIEWPOINT SPEED READ SHOP VIEW

COURTESY OF V&F AUTO INC.

THE RETURN

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J U M P S TA R T

What the Supreme Court’s Overtime Ruling Means for Your Shop A LOOK AT THE SUPREME COURT’S OVERTIME RULING WITH SERVICE ADVISORS, AND ITS RESIDUAL EFFECT ON INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOPS

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A

THINKSTOCK

Early in April, the Supreme Court ruled in

a 5-4 decision that service advisors at dealerships are exempt due to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its overtime provisions because those workers are “salesmen primarily engaged in servicing automobiles.”

Jeffrey Brecher, principal at the Jackson Lewis office in Melville, N.Y., and head of its wage and hour practice group, says that this specific Supreme Court case exclusively targets dealerships, and independent repair shops are not subject to the ruling.

“We refer to it sometimes as the automobile dealership exemption, because it only applies to dealerships that are engaged to selling vehicles,” Brecher says.

Because the ruling only exempts service advisors at dealerships, shop owners still need to pay attention to whether or not employees are eligible for overtime pay or face paying certain employees back dues in overtime pay.

Jeff Matt, owner of six Victory Auto Service locations in Minnesota and Florida, contemplated this as soon as it was brought up to the Supreme Court. He dug further into the pay plan of his entire staff, including technicians and service advisors, to make sure he avoided any sort of liability when it came to paying his staff overtime.

“We are conforming to FLSA regardless.

We’re not going to wait and see if something else is going to change,” Matt says. “We had to just change things up so that everything did conform.”

TOP LIABILITY ISSUES Section 213(b)(10)(A) of the Supreme Court’s ruling states that service advisors are exempt from overtime payments, if they are employed by an establishment that’s primarily engaged in the business of selling vehicles to customers.

However, in regard to service advisors and overtime issues, Brecher says there is one exemption of the FLSA, which the ruling stemmed from, that repair shop owners should be aware of—Section 7i.

Under 7i, if an employee’s regular rate of pay is less than 1.5 times the minimum wage, or if less than half of their total earnings consist of commissions, he or she would be eligible for overtime pay. Since this specific law, and many laws relating to overtime can differ by state, Brecher also says that repair shops should look to see whether their state law adopts section 7i.

“The federal law establishes the floor with respect to compliance,” Brecher says. “The state can, in most instances, provide laws with greater protection with respect to the minimum wage or overtime.”

To find out whether your shop is affected by these specific state laws, shop owners should check with a local attorney or HR professional.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF As he saw these issues from the Supreme Court bubbling up over the past few months,

Matt decided he needed to focus more on his employee’s pay plans, especially the language in section 7i of the FLSA. Additionally, one service advisor working in a Florida location spoke with his attorney, and sent Matt a letter in the mail saying that he or she thought he or she was owed overtime.

“The timing of that lined up perfectly with what was going on,” Matt says. “As an owner I felt I was behind on the understanding of that and my risk.”

Over a six-month process, Matt worked with his employees, including service advisors and even technicians, to make sure they had the right pay structures in place.

Matt put something together for his employees that listed the pay classification that they would fall under, whether it be salary, commission or hourly. He also explained that employees that fell under the salary heading would need to meet the duty test, which means the majority of that employee’s duties must be mainly white collar company leadership roles.

The first thing Matt did was look at his hourly employees, who were paid hourly wages and incentives for production, but were typically scheduled 45 or more hours per week. To make sure he avoided any overtime issues, he gave his hourly employees raises, and cut their hours back so they wouldn’t feel the change. He now has a form each of his employees, new or old, signs that details employee exemptions in overtime under the FLSA. He also advises shop owners to make certain their hourly employees punch out whenever they leave the shop. Matt found that once he took a closer look a things, the same service advisor who attempted to claim overtime never actually clocked out for lunch. If you’re not keeping a close eye and measuring when your employees are in the shop, you may find liability issues.

“It’s something I think a lot of companies don’t think about,” Matt says. “You shouldn’t be lax about it at all.”

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J U M P S TA R T

Developing A Bachelor’s Degree for Technicians

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A

BACKGROUND: Jackson Hisey worked in a variety of roles in the industry before becoming manager of Nissan’s Tech Line.

Jackson Hisey has worked with Nissan in a variety of roles since 2003 on the corporate side, and before that was a Nissan master technician, which is attained through ASE master certification and a series of Nissan-led courses. Hisey is currently the manager of Nissan’s Tech Line, a call center that works with technicians at Nissan and Infiniti dealerships to fix customer vehicles and monitor quality.

Through Hisey’s experiences at Nissan, he’s seen the industry’s technician shortage firsthand, and has brainstormed a variety of ways to combat it. He believes that elevating tech certification to bachelor’s degree status would solve many of these problems.

Hisey recently discussed the idea for technicians to have a four-year degree program, which he believes would increase the appeal of the trade, and reduce parent’s opposition to their children choosing auto repair as a profession. Hisey expanded on the theory with Ratchet+Wrench.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS IDE A? The idea came to me during a technician survey feedback session. We were discussing the technician shortage and how the job was viewed as a less-than-desirable career path because most parents want their kids to get a four-year degree. I thought out loud, “Turn automotive into a career with a four-year degree program.”

I have since learned there are a handful of colleges that offer bachelor’s degrees in automotive technology. This is welcome news. However, it is not mainstream, and I imagine most employers in the automotive field have not caught up with the idea they should look for and recruit degreed candidates. When I was a field technical training instructor, I noticed, even back in 2008, that I had deeper discussions about ECM reprograms and how to navigate a Windows laptop than I did about diagnosing a misfire. So, yes, STEAM (a newer version of the STEM acronym that adds arts) is becoming a significant factor in repairing automobiles.

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IN YOUR EYES, WHAT ARE THE MAJOR BARRIERS TO GETTING YOUNG PEOPLE EXCITED ABOUT THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY? HOW WOULD INTRODUCING A FOURYEAR DEGREE IN AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR BE A SUCCESSFUL WAY TO COMBAT THAT? First, I think societal bias is a major obstacle. You can brag about being a doctor, lawyer, entomologist, or even a swine scientist, but who brags about being a mechanic?

Second, knowing how technicians are paid is another barrier to having new technicians get excited about working in the auto industry. Technicians are paid on a flat rate, which is based on a Depression-era pay system that has survived until today.

Third, the environment of most shops, although it is getting better, is a less-thanattractive place to build a career. If you have ever walked through an average automotive repair shop, then you know what I mean. The floors are usually littered with old parts, it’s noisy, usually not climate controlled, and generally “grimy.” Whenever

WITH VEHICLES BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMPLEX, WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT WOULD STUDENTS NEED TO LEARN TO COMPLETE A DEGREE LIKE THIS? As mentioned previously, STEAM is an area important for technicians to understand. There are so many opportunities in areas of study that are never touched on in basic auto class, like how to properly extract a broken stud, to how to manage a budget when making a living on flat rate or how to properly document a repair order and what is legally required for a proper repair order—getting into the customer’s rights, and your rights as a technician. I think the educators for automotive technology do an excellent job of teaching proper diagnosis, but they fall down when it comes to the myriad responsibilities surrounding a technician on a daily basis that have little to do with the actual repair.

WHAT WOULD BE THE FIRST STEPS TO IMPLEMENTING A PROGRAM LIKE THIS? WOULD IT HAVE TO BE IMPLEMENTED GRADUALLY, WITH A FEW PILOT PROGRAMS? As I mentioned earlier, there are a handful of institutions that offer four-year degrees in automotive technology, like Southern Illinois University (SIU), so I think it has been “piloted” already. My assumption is that most of the graduates of SIU don’t work in a shop; they go to work on the corporate side for manufacturers or suppliers.

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY STEPS TO ACTUALLY MAKE THIS PROCESS HAPPEN? HAS THERE BEEN ANY LEGISLATION INTRODUCED THAT WOULD LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR PROGRAMS LIKE THIS? No, and not to my knowledge. I think one way to do this would be to engage universities that are looking to increase enrollment.

In Tennessee, community college is offered to residents at no charge, so four-year colleges are looking to increase enrollments with new programs.

THINKSTOCK; COURTESY OF JACKSON HISEY

OFFERING FOUR-YEAR PROGRAMS FOR TECHNICIANS COULD MAKE AUTO REPAIR MORE APPEALING

you think about a career, you don’t think about a grimy repair shop—you think about cubicles and desks.

You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure By breaking down customers leads, Kukui helps shops figure out where to best spend its marketing budget Bryan Gossel

S

even years ago, Bryan Gossel had a website that his buddy—a graphic designer—did for his shop, BG Automotive in Fort Collins, Colo. Although it worked adequately, it wasn’t geared toward the automotive world. It also didn’t provide him with any measurable data that he could use to break down his marketing efforts. When a salesperson from Kukui came to his shop, Gossel decided to make the switch.

“The simplicity of Kukui’s platform is amazing,” Gossel says. “I’m able to look at it and within a few minutes, you have a good idea of what’s working and what’s not.”

From launching a website to analyzing results, Kukui takes its customers through the entire process. The all-in-one platform designs a customized website to fit a shop’s needs and then monitors the data through its dashboard. With this data, users can figure out where customers are coming from and because of this, where marketing dollars are best spent.

The benefits of working with Kukui.

“When we started [with Kukui] I had a few employees,” Gossel says. “I now have 11 and we’ve expanded the shop a few times.

We’ve had a lot of growth and we’re continuing to grow. They’re growing with us.”

Kukui provides data that helps shops figure out where customers come from and the best areas to invest in marketing. Users can see how many customers came in through direct mail, AdWords, organic searches, Yelp or other platforms. Kukui also tracks phone call and email capture rates. If a phone call is missed during business hours, Gossel can bring that up with his staff and figure out what the problem was or why the front desk is missing opportunities to get contact information, such as email.

Another plus, on top of creating a website, is that Kukui will help shop owners with any of their online needs. For example, Gossel wanted to start a blog, but knew he wasn’t going to be great at it, so Kukui hooked him up with a company that it works with that works on blogs that could help get him started.

Kukui’s pricing includes the full use of the platform, including websites and AdWords management, marketing analytics and a customer retention program.

Gaining a competitive edge.

“We have weekly one-on-one meetings with our sales staff and then a weekly team meeting and we share the results [from Kukui],” Gossel says.

During that time, the staff can go over what went wrong and how they can improve based on the information that is provided.

“I feel like since we’ve started [with Kukui], our customer service and answering phone calls is better,” Gossel says. “The proof is in the pudding. It pays to be able to show your staff that they’re actually improving.”

Gossel believes that most in the industry are competitive by nature, so features like Kukui ribbons that show where his shop rank in comparison to other Kukui shops in the area have been a huge motivator for his staff.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Breaking down the data.

Through pay-per-click marketing, Kukui tracks the amount of customers that are clicking on a specific ad and then tracks how many of those are being converted into customers.

Because of the data collected by Kukui, Gossel was able to see that Yelp was the No. 1 source for bringing in his customers. Because of this, he increased the amount he spent on marketing with Yelp. Whenever a potential customer goes to Yelp and clicks on BG Automotive’s site, Gossel pays for that click. However, with the huge pull that Yelp has with his customer base, it’s worth it. Gossel says that Yelp has brought in customers that generate $30,000 per month. Gossel says that he also does pay per click with Google AdWords. Gossel spends $500 per month on this and he estimates he sees a return of $15,000–$20,000.

On the flip side, for two months, BG Automotive ran ads with Bing. After analyzing the data and seeing poor results, the shop decided to stop doing them. This information has helped break down where Gossel should and shouldn’t invest his marketing dollars.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KUKUI VISIT KUKUI.COM/ADWORDS OR CALL (877) 695-6008

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J U M P S TA R T

VW CLOCK SPRING RECALL MAY HAVE FAILED A Volkswagen clock spring recall may have failed to do its job as owners continue to complain even after the vehicles were allegedly repaired, according to Car Complaints.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has expanded an investigation into the 2015 clock spring recall of 420,000 VW vehicles that could experience driver-side air bag failures.

The expanded investigation includes more than 1.2 million VW models.

Volkswagen had ordered the 2015 recall after a federal investigation into 30,000 model year 2012 Volkswagen Passat and CC vehicles with clock spring failures caused by hair and other debris that entered the steering wheel hubs.

The steering wheel clock spring is a spiral-wound flat cable that keeps the airbag powered while the steering wheel is turned. But the debris can cause a displacement of the guide loops inside the springs and the out-of-position guide loops cause tension to tear the cables.

MO. HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES ANTI-VEHICLE SAFETY INSPECTION LEGISLATION

VOLKSWAGEN MEDIA SITE

The Missouri House Transportation Committee passed House Bill (HB) 1444. If enacted, HB 1444 would repeal Missouri’s vehicle safety inspection program.

Despite testimonies in support of the Missouri safety inspection program from ASA-Midwest member Ben Steinman, the Missouri state highway patrol, AAA and other organizations at the Committee’s Feb. 7 hearing, the bill has continued to gather support in the Missouri House.

ASA continues to oppose HB 1444 and encourages all interested parties in Missouri to visit TakingTheHill.com to contact their state representatives in opposition.

ICAHN ENTERPRISES SELLS FEDERAL-MOGUL TO TENNECO Tenneco announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire FederalMogul from Icahn Enterprises L.P. for cash and stock worth about $5.4 billion.

Federal-Mogul’s products include

brake parts, wipers and chassis components. In 2008, billionaire investor Carl Icahn acquired majority control of the company through Icahn Enterprises.

Last year he acquired 100 percent of the company, and took it private.

Tenneco intends to separate the combined businesses into two independent, publicly traded companies. One company will focus on aftermarket and ride performance products, while the other will be geared toward powertrain technology.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2018, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, with the separation occurring in the second half of 2019.

FORD RECALLS 350K F-150S, EXPEDITIONS Ford is recalling 350,000 vehicles for a transmission issue that could result in the car moving after the driver has placed it in park and removed the keys, reported CNBC. Ford said it is aware of one reported accident and injury related to the issue, according to the report.

The recall applies to some 2018 Ford F-150 trucks and 2018 Expedition SUVs with a 10-speed automatic transmission, and some 2018 Ford F-650 and F-750 vehicles with 6-speed automatic transmissions.

There is a clip that locks the gear shift cable to the transmission in vehicles. In some of the affected vehicles,

this clip is not firmly in place, which could result in the car shifting into a different gear from the one the driver has chosen.

AVERAGE VEHICLE AGE IN U.S. REACHING RECORD LEVELS The average age of light vehicles on U.S. roads has changed significantly in recent years and reached record levels, auto industry analyst Jim Lang noted in his recent Aftermarket iReport. And that fact could have serious future impact on the industry.

The average age of light vehicles in the U.S. increased nearly two full years between 2007—2017, increasing to 12.1 years. And, the dramatic change in the average age of vehicles has serious implications for U.S. aftermarket product volume over the next five years or so, Lang said.

Domestic nameplate vehicles were 3.6 years higher in average age than foreign nameplate vehicles in 2017.

Lang reports that the growing difference in light vehicle age between domestic and foreign nameplates has largely been driven by the increasing share of new light truck sales captured by foreign nameplates.

The lower average age of foreign cars and light trucks will likely help to reduce the foreign vehicle share of scrappage and increase the amount of foreign vehicles in operation—an occurrence that figures to also increase foreign aftermarket product volume.

0 6 .18 / R + W / 2 5

J U M P S TA R T

V&F Auto

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF V&F AUTO

1 / LIVING ROOM FEEL IN THE LOBBY Roughly four years ago, V&F Auto purchased land near the shop to build a CARQUEST parts store.

The former parts shop was remodeled, and expanded into what became the main lobby and waiting room. The mission now is to make customers feel welcome as soon as they walk through the door with a living room feel along the main wall. This is done with a comfy couch, two loveseats, a fireplace, and a large television, where customers can watch cable programs.

1

2

2 6 / R + W / 0 6 .18

HAVE AN OUTSTANDING SHOP? Send a few photos and a brief description to submissions@ratchetandwrench.com and we might feature it here.

SHOP S TAT S

3

Owner: Frank Palange Location: Agawam, Mass.

Size: 8,200 square feet Staff Size: 23 Average Monthly Car Count: 404 Annual Revenue: $1.2 million

2 / NEUTRAL COLORS According to V&F’s vice president, Nicole Palange, the building was designed with a gray roof and siding—neutral colors that make customers feel at ease when walking into the shop. She designed the living room to have similar colors, with earth tones on the furniture. The fireplace was designed in a similar fashion, to match the earth tone theme, and provide warmth on cold New England days.

3 / COMFORTABLE COFFEE STATION V&F Auto offers a variety of cold water bottles and Keurig coffee products for its customers. As a personal touch, the shop abandoned paper and styrofoam cups, and instead offers ceramic mugs with the shop’s logo. Palange says customers are often surprised to learn they can use these cups, and are even more surprised to learn they’re allowed to take them home.

4 / SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

4

If a customer doesn’t want to get cozy on the couch, they can sit at one of the high-top tables and relax with a coffee or a snack. There’s also a small table for kids in the corner, with a mat for them to play on. Every morning, the staff starts their popcorn machine to get the aroma wafting throughout the shop.

0 6 .18 / R + W / 27

100 YEARS Driving Shop Success Since our beginnings in 1918, we’ve been serving the evolving needs of auto professionals to accelerate the vehicle repair process.

Fast forward 100 years, and we’re just getting started.

We’re looking to the future with total shop solutions to help you gain efficiency in everything you do — from estimating and vehicle repair to marketing and managing your business.

We’re glad you’re along for the ride!

repair information

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shop marketing

For more information: Call us: 800-275-4417 | Visit us: www.mitchell1.com Or find your local Mitchell 1 sales representative: www.mitchellrep.com © 2018 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Mitchell 1® is a registered trademark used herein under license.

J U M P S TA R T

SHOP RE VIE WS OF AUTO CARE PRODUCTS

PartsTech A CONNECTICUT SHOP MANAGER REVIEWS A PARTS SEARCH ENGINE AND ORDERING SYSTEM

BY TESS COLLINS

STATS Product: PartsTech Uses: Auto parts search engine and ordering system Cost: Free

The Reviewer

Website: PartsTech.com

DA NIEL GLYCK GENER A L M A N A GER COMPU T ER T UNE & L UBE MIDDLE T O W N, CONN.

THE REVIEWER: Daniel Glyck started his career in finance. After he was laid off, he switched career paths and started working at Computer Tune & Lube in Connecticut as one of its managers.

“I learned [auto service] out of curiosity and necessity,” Glyck says.

Back when there were still six locations, Glyck was the highestperforming manager. When the MSO consolidated to one location in Middletown, Conn., Glyck was selected as its general manager.

COURTESY GLYCK, PARTSTECH

THE SHOP: Computer Tune & Lube in Middletown, Conn., is a quick turnaround shop that has a staff of seven.

“One of the reasons that I think we’ve been so successful is because we’ve had the same staff for forever,” Glyck says.

Glyck says the shop is all about getting things done in the most efficient way possible for its customers, which is the main reason the shop signed on to work with PartsTech two years ago. Before Glyck started with Computer Tune & Lube, there was no Internet ordering at all. Instead, every time a part needed to be ordered, the techs spent time calling around to different vendors and being placed on hold, wasting precious time. Glyck, who had a pre-existing relationship with someone at PartsTech, encouraged the shop to make the switch.

HOW IT WORKS: Glyck says that PartsTech is the equivalent of Expedia for ordering parts. With PartsTech, users log into the search engine and can either browse the catalog or enter a search for the exact part that is needed.

PartsTech then gathers and provides information for parts, including

Training: Demonstrations available through website

distributor and price. Users can customize the search to work with preferred vendors. PartsTech currently has 20,000 parts stores and 20 shop management systems integrated into its system.

THE REVIEW: “It’s great. The thing that I love the most about it is that I can see everything,” Glyck says. “I don’t have to call six places or check six websites.”

The ability to see prices has allowed Glyck and his staff to compare prices and also see the availability and what vendor can get the part over the quickest.

Glyck says that although PartsTech is great, the only thing he would like to see changed would be to find products beyond traditional parts—like tire shine. “[PartsTech] is aware of that problem,” Glyck says. “They’re working on it.”

Glyck says that the company is easy to work with and extremely responsive to questions or suggestions.

THE ROI: “If I can get a part for a little bit less, I can pass that savings along to the consumer, ” Glyck says.

Before, Glyck says whatever place he called that had the part usually got the sale. Now, with the ability to see prices in one place, he says there can be as much as a $50 savings on the same part.

Another added benefit is the fact that Glyck and his staff no longer have to spend time calling places up and being put on hold.

Glyck estimates that PartsTech has saved him an hour per day.

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Columns

STRAIGHT TALK Joe Marconi

FREE CHECKING ENGINE LIGHT TESTING Is this still happening?

THINKSTOCK, MICHAEL HOEWELER

A first-time customer scheduled an appointment with us for his annual New

York State inspection. This inspection consists of a vehicle safety check and an OBD-II scan to make sure the monitors are complete and with no check engine light on. The vehicle was a 2008 Chevrolet Colorado. As soon as the tech started the car up, he noticed that the check engine light was on, which is an automatic failure.

My service advisor called the customer to let him know of the check engine light and to let him know that his car will fail the state inspection. The advisor asked him if he would like us to scan the computer and let him know

what tests would be needed to find out why the light was on. The customers replied, “That light has been coming on and off for almost a year.” My advisor went into more detail about the New York State inspection law and let Mr. Colorado know that after we retrieved the code, there will be a separate charge for the testing and for the repair. Mr. Colorado then said, “Hey, are you telling me you are going to charge me for finding out why the light is coming on, and for the repair? I never heard of that.

My last mechanic never charged me for any diagnostic testing. Don’t do anything. I am picking up my car.”

When Mr. Colorado came down to

Joe Marconi has more than three decades of experience in the automotive repair industry. He is the owner of Osceola Garage in Baldwin Place, N.Y., a business development coach for Elite Worldwide and co-founder of autoshopowner.com. j.marconi@eliteworldwide.com ratchetandwrench.com/marconi 0 6 .18 / R + W / 31

STR AIGHT TALK / JOE MARCONI

pick up his vehicle, he made it a point to let us know how unfair we were and how dare we charge for the check engine light testing. He also said, “And besides, don’t shops waive the testing fee if the customer does the work?”

Is this true? Do shops really do this?

Am I so naïve to think that in 2018 there are still shops out there that don’t know why they need to charge for check engine lights, performance problems, air bag lights, etc.? All the shop owners I speak to say they do charge, so who’s telling the truth?

Recently, my sister-in-law’s check engine came on in her Hyundai. A few coworkers in her office told her, “Just go to one of those parts stores where they come out into the parking lot and check your car. They’ll tell you what’s wrong, you can buy the part from them and your mechanic will install it. I do it all the time.” Is this really happening?

You say no? Well, who’s lying to me?

Look, I do know the truth. And here it is: The fact is, shops across the

country are losing a ton of money by not charging, not charging enough, or waiving the fee for diagnostic testing if the customer authorizes the repair.

Consider all the associated costs needed to test and repair these highly sophisticated cars these days: the education, equipment and information systems. It’s financially monumental. Not to mention it takes a qualified tech with the right credentials. Now, consider the associated costs with replacing front brakes and rotors on a Honda Civic.

Not much has changed in decades, right? So, tell me, why is it that so many shops charge more to hang pads and rotors than to test and analyze a complicated check engine light?

Another sad fact is that we have already done so much damage in the mind of the consumer. Too many consumers think that to test and analyze a check engine light takes nothing more than a small handheld device the size of your cell phone.

Cars are not getting any easier. And

the amount of knowledge and equipment that is needed these days has made our business so financially demanding that if we, as an industry, don’t stand together on this, we will not have the financial resources in the future to survive.

We need to explain to the customer that there will be situations, such as a check engine light, where we will need to charge for certain tests in order to know what’s causing the problem. And we need to charge enough. We need to also tell the customer that the testing fee is different from the repair fee.

It’s like going to the doctor. The doctor orders a blood test and an xray to find out what’s wrong with you.

Once he knows what’s wrong, he will prescribe the correct medication or procedure. There’s a bill for the blood tests, the x-ray, the medicine and/or the procedure. It’s no different for us.

So, let’s all be truthful about what’s going on. Let’s all work to make a difference. We owe to the industry, ourselves and the people we employ.

THE TECHNICIAN SHORTAGE W IL L N OT D E FE AT U S

autojobcentral.com

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THE KPI-TRACK GUIDE Take control of your business by monitoring the numbers that matter

BY TR AVIS BE AN AND ALE X VAN ABBEMA

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2018

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18

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Each morning, Mark Doornbos sits down at his computer, opens up the same spreadsheet, and starts plugging in the numbers for each of his four shops: total sales; gross profit on parts; hours per repair order; labor cost to gross sales; etc. He then emails those numbers off to his managers—well, most of the time, anyway. But every few weeks, he “accidentally” forgets to attach the spreadsheet, just to see if they’re paying attention.

“Trust me, they are,” Doornbos says. “They email back immediately saying, ‘Hey, you forgot the attachment!’”

That’s indicative of the culture Doornbos has built as general manager of four Dytech Auto Group locations in Michigan, which pull in an average annual revenue of $1.5 million each. Monitoring KPIs at his shops isn’t just some daily task—it’s the lifeforce of daily operations, the blood that pumps through the shops’ veins. It’s not enough to meet the industry average for Doornbos’ team. His managers want to push beyond and improve profitability year over year.

But let’s just back up for one second. Doornbos didn’t achieve an average tech efficiency of 120 percent, an overall gross profit margin of nearly 60 percent and a net profit of nearly 15 percent by simply plugging numbers into a spreadsheet—it’s the result of understanding the KPIs crucial to his business’s profitability; of setting the proper benchmarks for those measurements; of crafting a cohesive system for compiling and tracking those numbers altogether; of educating his team on why all of that is not just important, but also essential to the shop’s profitability.

That KPI mentality was reflected over and over in the inaugural 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey, sponsored by OEConnection. Of the 446 shop operators that filled out the 81-question survey, 77 percent of them claimed to track routinely track KPIs (a big increase from 68 percent in the 2017 Ratchet+Wrench Shop Performance Survey). And when asked what impact KPI measurement has on their businesses, the responses overwhelmingly told the same story: It is crucial and necessary.

If I had not started to track my numbers, I would be out of business right now.

It keeps you constantly focused on the important areas of the business so you can set goals, measure progress, and triage any problems as soon as they arise.

So Ratchet+Wrench sought out these passionate survey respondents (which included Doornbos) to find out which KPIs are essential to their success and how they get buy-in from their teams. What follows is a four-part guide for monitoring KPIs and a statistical breakdown of what numbers are driving the most profitable shops from the 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey.

The Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey is Sponsored by:

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THE K PI TR ACK ING GUIDE

PART

01

K

2018

Determine the KPIs Essential to Profitability Night and day.

That’s how Robert Ohlmann describes how much everything has turned around from where his shop started to the $1.9 million operation that exists today.

“The shop’s financials are night-and-day different from the time we did not track [KPIs] until now,” he says. “It helps me know where we are and where we need to adjust our numbers to get the results we are looking for. It helps manage employees from the front of the office into the shop.”

As a third-generation owner of Tony’s Brake & Alignment in Louisville, Ky., KPIs weren’t a “thing” when Ohlmann, at just the age of 26, took over the shop in 2006 from his father, who had only tracked billed hours since the early 1990s. Despite being armed with a productive team and a solid customer base, Ohlmann struggled for those first few years not knowing what exactly was holding his shop back— much like many of last year’s survey respondents (See Sidebar: “A World of Difference for Independents”).

That was until he learned about a KPI that has now become the No. 1 day-to-day measurement of success at his shop: productivity.

While productivity is a KPI most shop owners know about, it remains one of the least tracked, according to the 2018 Industry Survey (See Sidebar: “The Lagging KPIs”). As simple as the measurement is (hours billed divided by hours clocked), for Ohlmann, it was a foreign statistic. And understanding that productivity was a signifier of profitability was the first step he had to take toward what is now a comprehensive system for KPI tracking.

There’s no magic formula or silver bullet for knowing which KPI will start to put your shop on the right track—but the only way to find out is to start measuring, Ohlmann says. To help, Ratchet+Wrench put together a breakdown of the KPIs that are driving the most profitable shops (See Sidebar: “The Essential KPIs”).

I

The Lagging KPIs A World of Difference for Independents In last year’s Shop Performance Survey, independents lagged far behind MSOs and franchises in terms of tracking KPIs. Just 64 percent of independents did it routinely, while 96 percent of MSOs and 100 percent of franchises made it a habit. This resulted in a vast gap between indies and bigger operations when it came to profitability.

While independents are still behind in the 2018 Industry Survey, they closed the gap quite a bit. Seventy-eight percent of independents reported routinely tracking KPIs, just short of franchises (85 percent) and MSOs (90 percent). As a result, here are the percentage of independents that hit the following numbers in the 2017 and 2018 surveys, respectively.

2017 2018 Annual Revenue Above $1.5 million

33% 46%

Average Repair Order Above $400

50% 57%

Overall Gross Profit Margin Above 50%

45% 62%

Gross Profit Margin on Parts Above 50%

38% 48%

Gross Profit Margin on Labor Above 60%

55% 65%

Net Profit Margin Above 15%

65% 69%

Of the survey respondents who claimed to routinely track KPIs, there was still a fair percentage that indicated certain shop measurements are falling to the wayside. For each of the following KPIs, here are the percentage of respondents not tracking them: Gross Profit on Parts Sales: 5% Overall Gross Profit: 7% Gross Profit on Labor Sales: 11% Net Profit: 15% Technician Productivity: 16% Technician Efficiency: 18% Effective Labor Rate: 23% CSI: 48%

The Essential KPIs Of the 446 survey respondents, 43 percent reported an annual revenue of $1 million or more. Here are the KPIs those shops are most likely to track: Overall Gross Profit: 99% Gross Profit on Parts Sales: 98% Net Profit: 95% Gross Profit on Labor Sales: 95% Technician Productivity: 95% Technician Efficiency: 94% Effective Labor Rate: 87% CSI: 70%

“You cannot maintain or grow your business if you do not know where you need improvement in any area of your business. Whether it be in hiring new help, increasing car count, measuring productivity or reducing expenses. Without KPI tracking, you will not have an efficient and profitable shop.”

–Survey respondent 3 6 / R + W / 0 6 .18

PART

The Average Benchmarks

02

In the 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey, 43 percent of shops reported an annual revenue of at least $1 million. For some benchmarks to weigh your shop against, here are the ranges where most of those shops fell in each of the following KPI categories:

Determine the Proper Benchmarks No matter what KPI you’re tracking, Doornbos says to not get caught up with setting the initial benchmark—in fact, you can “pick it out of thin air,” he says.

“You just need something to motivate these guys,” Doornbos continues. “It’s not set in stone. You just need a number to start working with and build around.”

While you can start by measuring yourself against industry averages (See Sidebar: “The Average Benchmarks”), discovering which KPIs drive up profitability should start with a conversation with your team to find out what’s holding them back and where they see flaws in the system, Doornbos says. Once you nail down those holes, you can set the proper benchmarks to fill them.

When Ohlmann learned about what productivity measures and then explained it to his team, shop culture shifted. Suddenly, with a back-and-forth conversation brewing each day about productivity, the percentage started to near 80 percent, which is now the team’s goal. As technicians became aware of billing more hours and effectively utilizing their time on the floor, the numbers that seemed stubbornly stuck in place at one time—gross profit margins on labor and parts and average repair order (ARO)— started to climb.

After Ohlmann experimented and discovered productivity fueled his team, this led to an increase in efficiency and effective labor rate—which is one of the least-tracked KPIs, yet one of the biggest indicators of high profitability (See Sidebar: “A Strong Effective Labor Rate”). By measuring these numbers in relation to one another, ideal benchmarks for raising productivity crystallized.

Similarly, Dytech Auto Group (owned by Jim Dykstra, who also heads the well known Dykstra’s Auto Service chain) discovered that raising hours billed per repair order would in turn drive up the operation’s less-than-ideal ARO—this is key because, on average, many of survey respondents reported high car counts but low AROs (See Sidebar: “What’s Behind a High ARO?” p. 46).

By having those conversations with his managers, Doornbos and his team began to discover much smaller factors that needed to be measured and benchmarked, such as proficiency, digital inspection drop rate and effective labor rate. As a result, gross profit margin on parts and labor and, of course, overall sales started to climb, consistently increasing year over year since he took over as general manager to a combined $6 million today.

There are plenty of numbers, such as productivity, efficiency and gross profit percentages, that aren’t exactly affected by your region. However, you should consider your market for other numbers. Depending on your target demographics and region’s vehicle make-up, that’ll tilt the numbers one way or another. If you’re a specialty shop that targets European makes, your target ARO will be significantly different than a Ford specialty shop. So be mindful and realistic with your benchmarks, Doornbos says.

Closing Ratio: 50–59% Average Repair Order: $400–$599 Overall Gross Profit Margin: 50–59%

“Tracking KPIs helps to spot trends in your business so you can make adjustments before it’s too late.

I’ve gone from losing $2,000 per month to a net income of 7 percent.

If I had not started to track my numbers I would be out of business right now.”

–Survey respondent

Gross Profit Margin on Parts: 50–59% Gross Profit Margin on Labor: 60–69% Net Profit Margin: 10–14% Posted Labor Rate: $110 or more Effective Labor Rate: $90 or more Productivity: 80–89% Efficiency: 80–99%

A Strong Effective Labor Rate Both shop owners featured in this article credit a high effective labor rate to their standout profitability. It’s a simple calculation that tells you the actual amount of money you receive from the customer for an average hour of work. Yet, 28 percent of the 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey respondents fail to track it.

For those that do, there’s a pretty even split between shops with effective labor rates above and below a benchmark of 90 percent Percentage-wise, here are where each of those groups fell in the following categories: Effective Labor Rate Below $90 Annual Revenue Above $1 million: 37% Average Repair Order Above $400: 42% Overall Gross Profit Margin Above 50%: 41% Gross Profit Margin on Labor Sales Above 60%: 55% Posted Labor Rate Above $110: 24% Effective Labor Rate Above $90 Annual Revenue Above $1 million: 64% Average Repair Order Above $400: 68% Overall Gross Profit Above 50%: 48% Gross Profit Margin on Labor Sales Above 60%: 72% Posted Labor Rate Above $110: 66% 0 6 .18 / R + W / 37

THE K PI TR ACK ING GUIDE

K What’s Behind a High ARO? A high average repair order (ARO) is obviously a goal for which every shop should strive. But as both Robert Ohlmann and Mark Doornbos discovered, there’s a lot that goes into achieving a higher mark. For Ohlmann, owner of Tony’s Brake & Alignment, it meant closely tracking closing ratios (which now sits near 70 percent). And for Doornbos, general manager of Dytech Auto Group, it meant driving the number of billed hours per invoice (the benchmark is 2.4 hours). As a result, both shops have driven ARO above $400 for annual revenues that each exceed $1.5 million.

So, on average, what’s behind a high ARO? After comparing shops that have AROs above and below $400, here are the ranges where those two groups fell in each of the following KPI categories: ARO Below $400 Sales Closing Ratio: 70–79% Average Monthly Car Count: 300 or more Percentage of Sales Dedicated to Marketing: 1–2% Posted Labor Rate: $90–$99 Effective Labor Rate: $80–$89 Efficiency: Less than 80% Productivity: Less than 80% ARO Above $400 Sales Closing Ratio: 60–69% Average Monthly Car Count: 100–149 Percentage of Sales Dedicated to Marketing: 3–4% Posted Labor Rate: $110 or more Effective Labor Rate: $90–$99 Efficiency: 80–99% Productivity: 80–89% 3 8 / R + W / 0 6 .18

PART

P

I

2018

03 Develop a System for Tracking KPIs Once benchmarks are set, ensuring those numbers are hit is perhaps the most strenuous part, Doornbos says. Because they’re not something you check once in a while— KPIs are a daily endeavor.

While management systems, digital inspection software and accounting programs all track KPIs from different segments of the business, developing your own centralized location to manage those numbers requires time and cooperation with your team.

Both Doornbos and Ohlmann pull all of their numbers out of their management systems and QuickBooks and plug them into their own shop spreadsheets. By determining how KPIs affect one another through their employees’ performances and what benchmarks are achievable, they are able to develop graphs and equations that, over time, gauge whether their businesses are moving forward.

Doornbos has several spreadsheets that track his operation’s performance on a daily basis, including a chart he sends out each day to his service managers at each of Dytech’s four locations (See Sidebar: “A Spreadsheet for Tracking Sales Daily”).

A Spreadsheet for Tracking Sales Daily Of the factors his managers can control each day, Mark Doornbos, general manager of Dytech Auto Group, has determined that a combination of ARO (listed as “Actual Average Invoice” in his spreadsheet), car count, gross profit margin on parts and billed hours per invoice are the key factors in maximum profitability.

Maximizing all of those categories ensures the shops hit an average daily sales goal of $5,776. At the end of the month, each category is averaged, and the managers can see if they’ve hit their benchmarks and moved closer toward their quarterly sales goal. (Spreadsheet opposite)

“It’s like taking an instant pulse or blood pressure of the efficiency and production of labor in house. Are we hitting our margins? Are we off base? If you can’t measure it with key indicators, you cannot manage to improve and move forward with fix.”

–Survey respondent

PART

04 Incentivize Your Team Doornbos’ spreadsheet system bleeds into the most crucial part of KPI tracking: the reaction.

It’s one thing to know your numbers—it’s another entirely to make decisions based on those numbers. By keeping his team in the loop daily, Doornbos and his managers can have real-time conversations about any problems or issues and exchange insight and strategies to ensure benchmarks are being hit each month.

To help with hitting benchmarks, Doornbos has incentivized his team with a quarterly bonus program. As the team watches its progress day by day through the spreadsheets, it also tracks how close it gets to the monthly sales goal. If it surpasses the goal? That carries over into the following month, when the team will try to inch even closer to the quarterly sales goal.

Ohlmann sets weekly goals and bonuses for his service managers, which are based on overall sales and productivity. Through a system very similar to Doornbos’, Ohlmann creates an Excel sheet that details the manager’s bonus program and everything he or she must do to achieve bonuses for the week. The same goes for service advisors, who receive weekly bonuses based on sales, ARO, hours per repair order and overall gross profit.

His technicians, who are paid hourly, also receive weekly bonuses for hitting productivity and efficiency benchmarks. He prints out a sheet from Labor Profit Management (utilized through NAPA TRACS) for technicians so they can see how they’re performing each week and how it affects the shop’s overall profitability. “[It] shows everybody’s numbers so it’s very transparent for the technicians,” Ohlmann says.

“There seems to be plenty of training for managers so that they can try to encourage the employees under them, but little done for the worker in the trenches or front line to train them to excel.

Most people want to do a great job, [but] not all can figure out on their own how to do it.”

–Survey respondent –Survey respondent

Sales Goal $121,301 Average Invoice Goal $385

Sales Goal: $121,301 Average Invoice Goal: $385

Business Daily Sales Month Days Goal April 21 $ 5,776.00 1 2 $ 5,776.00 3 $ 5,776.00 4 $ 5,776.00 5 $ 5,776.00 6 $ 5,776.00 9 $ 5,776.00 10 $ 5,776.00 11 $ 5,776.00 12 $ 5,776.00 13 $ 5,776.00 16 $ 5,776.00 17 $ 5,776.00 18 $ 5,776.00 19 $ 5,776.00 20 $ 5,776.00 23 $ 5,776.00 24 $ 5,776.00 25 $ 5,776.00 26 $ 5,776.00 27 $ 5,776.00 30 $ 5,776.00 Month to Date

$ 121,296.00

Sales needed to reach Goal

April 2018

$ 3,686.00 $ 9,439.00 $ 6,952.00 $ 6,327.00 $ 13,422.00 $ 5,290.00 $ 2,961.00 $ 4,650.00 $ 5,016.00 $ 8,450.00 $ 5,266.00 $ 3,216.00 $ 4,759.00 $ 10,025.00 $ 14,414.00 $ 3,258.00 $ 3,356.00 $ 3,665.00 $ 7,844.00 $ 9,371.00 $ 5,733.00

Actual Average Daily Car Actual Invoice Count Goal Car Count $ 385.00 15 14 $ 368.60 16 10 $ 496.79 16 19 $ 434.50 16 16 $ 395.44 16 16 $ 362.76 16 37 $ 377.86 16 14 $ 592.20 16 5 $ 310.00 16 15 $ 627.00 16 8 $ 325.00 16 26 $ 376.14 16 14 $ 292.36 16 11 $ 366.08 16 13 $ 1,113.89 16 9 $ 514.79 16 28 $ 271.50 16 12 $ 258.15 16 13 $ 229.06 16 16 $ 1,120.57 16 7 $ 446.24 16 21 $ 637.00 16 9

Parts Quarterly Sales Billed Hours GP% Goal to Make per Invoice Actual Bonus 45.5% 2.40 $ 403,923.00 41.59% 2.07 39.83% 2.63 50.69% 3.25 52.43% 2.27 50.39% 2.36 53.50% 2.62 52.17% 3.41 35.11% 2.13 54.40% 3.94 34.42% 1.87 51.98% 2.83 12.80% 3.32 34.24% 2.74 39.60% 5.84 43.73% 2.79 48.93% 2.04 49.15% 1.92 43.53% 1.86 50.62% 5.90 45.59% 2.47 45.59% 3.58

$ 137,100.00

$

44.30%

Acutal Sales

429.78

336

319

2.94

$

Remaining 266,823.00

-$ 15,799.00 0 6 .18 / R + W / 3 9

THE

THE KPI DIFFERENCE

KPI TRACKER PROFILE

While KPI-tracking rates hit an all-time low for Ratchet+Wrench surveys in 2017, there was a return to form in the 2018 Industry Survey, with 77 percent claiming to routinely track KPIs (as opposed to 64 percent in 2017).

When looking at individual performance, there are significant differences between shops that do and not routinely track KPIs. With “routinely” being the keyword here, we can observe what happens when shop owners are aware of their business’s numbers, but do not have a uniform system for tracking the metrics. Here are the various categories where each group falls into.

THE SHOPS THAT TRACK KPIS 42%

ANNUAL REVENUE OVER $1 MILLION SALES CLOSING RATIO OVER 70%

52% 57%

AVERAGE REPAIR ORDER ABOVE $400

63%

OVERALL GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ABOVE 50%

51%

GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON PARTS ABOVE 50%

67%

GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON LABOR ABOVE 60%

THE TYPICAL SHOP

Just under 450 auto care professionals completed the inaugural Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey, and, while they were evenly dispersed across all U.S. markets, the majority of respondents followed a distinct demographic pattern that also closely aligns with our overall readership.

68%

OVERALL NET PROFIT MARGIN ABOVE 10% POSTED LABOR RATE ABOVE $110

44% 44%

EFFECTIVE LABOR RATE ABOVE $90 EFFICIENCY ABOVE 100% PRODUCTIVITY ABOVE 90%

36% 41%

THE AVERAGE SHOP SHOP TYPE

Independent repair business (85%)

THE SHOPS THAT DON’T TRACK KPIS

WORK TYPE

General repair (76%)

ANNUAL REVENUE OVER $1 MILLION

REGION SHOP SIZE

Midwest (31%)

SALES CLOSING RATIO OVER 70%

2,000–4,999 square feet (42%)

1% 66% 36%

AVERAGE REPAIR ORDER ABOVE $400

NUMBER OF LIFTS

3–4 (28%)

OVERALL GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ABOVE 50%

NUMBER OF BAYS

5–6 (27%)

GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON PARTS ABOVE 50%

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES ANNUAL REVENUE

3–4 (22%)

$1 million–$2.49 million (35%)

AVERAGE MONTHLY CAR COUNT AVERAGE REPAIR ORDER

$200–$399 (43%)

OVERALL GROSS PROFIT MARGIN NET PROFIT MARGIN 4 0 / R + W / 0 6 .18

100–149 (20%) 50–59% (38%)

10-14% (19%)

41% 32% 39%

GROSS PROFIT MARGIN ON LABOR ABOVE 60% OVERALL NET PROFIT MARGIN ABOVE 10% POSTED LABOR RATE ABOVE $110 EFFECTIVE LABOR RATE ABOVE $90 EFFICIENCY ABOVE 100% PRODUCTIVITY ABOVE 90%

16% 40%

15% 15%

54%

P

K

I

2018 WHO IS TRACKING KPIs?

The Industry Survey also observed the type of owner who does and does not routinely track KPIs, and their reasonings for doing so.

WHAT DEMOGRAPHICS ARE TRACKING KPIs? In addition to identifying the average shop participating in the survey, Ratchet+Wrench also wanted to get an idea of the type of shop operator engaged with the industry.

Here’s a breakdown of the average operator that routinely tracks KPIs.

The Average Survey Participant AGE

HOW THEY ACQUIRED BUSINESS PRE-EXISTING BUSINESS PASSED DOWN OR PURCHASED FROM FAMILY

18%

13%

LAUNCHED INDEPENDENTLY

48%

20%

23%

UNDER 20

0%

20–29

2%

30–39 40–49 50–59

39%

PRE-EXISTING BUSINESS PURCHASED FROM ANOTHER OWNER (NON-FAMILY)

60–69

23%

NOT APPLICABLE

5%

70 OR OLDER

3%

OTHER

3%

AGE THEY BECAME A SHOP OWNER UNDER 20

POSITIONS WORKED BEFORE CURRENT POSITION 1%

PORTER

9%

20–29

39%

SERVICE WRITER

37%

30–39

33%

TECHNICIAN

65%

40–49

14%

50–59

5%

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

12%

NOT APPLICABLE

8%

MANAGER

37%

NONE

11%

VENDOR

5%

GENDER MALE

95%

FEMALE

5%

HAD PARENT IN INDUSTRY YES

33%

NO

67%

YEARS IN INDUSTRY 1–9

6%

10–19

13%

20–29

20%

30–39

31%

40 OR MORE

30%

0 6 .18 / R + W / 41

WHY ARE

77% TRACKING?

QUESTION

What is the significance of measuring KPIs in today’s auto care industry, and what impact has it had on your business?

ANSWERS “It’s comparable to gauges on an instrument cluster in a vehicle. It keeps you constantly focused on the important areas of the business so you can set goals, measure progress, and triage any problems as soon as they arise.”

“Tracking KPIs has been instrumental to improving my business to the point it is now.”

“If we didn’t know our shortcomings we couldn’t fix them. Tracking KPIs has helped us sustain an average growth of 20 percent per year for the past 10 years while increasing gross profit over 20 percent and net profit 10 percent.”

“It keeps employees accountable and on track to hit goals. It has made me lots of money and time in this business, and to get great employees to work for me.”

“You need to know where you are at to know where you need to go.

The KPIs tell a story about your business and once you know how to read them you know when and where to make adjustments.”

P

K

2018 WHY ARE

23% NOT TRACKING?

QUESTION

Why don’t you regularly track KPIs? ANSWERS “I don’t have the systems to enable me to track them.”

“I try but have a hard time understanding all the numbers, what they really mean and how to improve.”

“Not needed, I am here keeping an eye on things.”

“I have stable customer base, grow by word-of-mouth, check income by endof-month sales tax report.”

“Used to but got away from it the past few years.”

“No time.”

42 / R + W / 0 6 .18

I

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GROW.

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Inside the processes, systems and operational strategies that have allowed the industry’s top shops to thrive. New episode this month.

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SANDY CAMPBELL

LE ADERSHIP

Hiring Overhaul When Paul Smith (left) lost several technicians in quick succession, he was forced to reconsider his recruiting and hiring strategy and build a new team.

CASE STUDY

52 0 6 .18 / R + W / 4 5

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T O O L B OX / S H O P A D V I C E

situation. You make your point, and then

rectify it either way. If people feel like they overpaid for something, or they didn’t get what they expected, or didn’t get a call on a specific service, of course they’re going to come in revved up. I usually ask, “What makes you feel right about this? Is splitting the cost with us something that you’re comfortable with?” Ninety to 95 percent of the time, they’ll say that’s more than fair.

There are some no-win scenarios that you’ll face. We had a guy in a few years

Dealing with a Nightmare Customer A simple, effective approach to handling a potentially combustive customer situation Ed Owen has worked as a service advisor and service director in the automotive industry for 26 years, and has co-owned Waltham, Mass.-based European Auto Solutions for 12 years.

Throughout those years, he’s spent much of his time at the front counter.

Over that time, Owen has dealt with hundreds of difficult, angry customers. The key to dealing with them, he says, is letting them vent and get all of their frustrations out before you can calmly address their concerns. Failure to do so could result in a lost customer—or an irate one who leaves a negative review online, which could live forever and be seen by countless potential customers.

Owen shares the rest of his tips for properly dealing with difficult or angry customers that find their way to your shop.

AS TOLD TO A LE X VA N A B B EM A

THINKSTOCK

The biggest thing about an irate or abusive customer is to not put your defenses up. Angry customers often say

these two words: ever since. Ever since you worked on my car, I’ve had these issues. As soon as they say “ever since,” a lot of service advisors get into a defensive mode.

That kind of logic doesn’t make sense when they’re really revved up and they want answers. All that does is build the situation and makes it harder from which to recover.

When customers come in with 20 things on their minds, you need to let them vent

and get things off their chest. It’s important to empathize with them. Once they know that you’ve heard them, then you can usually start talking some sense and logic. Then you can say, “OK, let’s get a look. What do you feel like is the solution that’s right for you?”

Once the customer gets everything out, the solution really depends on the

ago who had a car and the left front wheel broke. He told us that it broke again, and he was 100 percent guaranteed that we were going to warranty it. He towed it in, and it was obvious that it was the wrong side. I said that I really wanted to warranty it, but he was asking me to warranty something we didn’t even work on, and I didn’t find that fair. We towed it to his friend’s shop on our dime. I was waiting for him to go online and bash us, but he never did. I think he realized that the evidence was so obvious and we did something out of our way to help him out.

If he or she is clearly wrong, you don’t want to point it out directly to his or her face. We want to get to the point where the customer realizes directly what the truth is. Then we can move on from there. We can go take a look at the car, and show the customer the realistic issues here and why they’re happening. Once customers see these issues, they usually diffuse.

If we make a mistake, we own it—no questions asked. If we’re in the wrong,

we need to cover it. If someone’s upset and we’re clearly in the wrong, that’s it. You rent them a car, you give them a ride home, you take care of it on the shop. But if we’re not in the wrong and the customer thinks we’re in the wrong or there’s a misunderstanding, that’s when I’ll sometimes offer to split the cost.

If we go through this process and a customer still leaves a bad review, I

would just explain your side. If you don’t respond at all, you only get their side of the story and that’s all people are going to read. At least emphasize with their situation, and say, “From our perspective, this is how we saw things.”

0 6 .18 / R + W / 47

T O O L B OX / S A L E S + M A R K E T I N G

1

The Psychology of a First Impression One shop owner explains how to hook a customer from the moment he or she steps into your shop

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A

Jeana Babcock, co-owner of Rochester, Minn.–based Babcock Auto Care, says that designing a welcoming space has been a vital way to market to her customer base, and bring her shop’s revenue past the $2.9 million mark. In fact, Babcock says she has helped a few of her co-members with the Automotive Training Institute redesign their spaces to make them more homey and to better attract their target customers.

Babcock describes how her shop is designed to give customers a great first impression, and feel at home as soon as they walk through the doors.

1. Create an inviting entrance.

2. Make customers feel at ease.

“When customers walk into our facility, we want them to feel welcome and at ease immediately—like they are walking into their own home,” Babcock says. “This is accomplished with a pallet of warm colors, comfortable furniture, and a fireplace lounge.”

The reason those types of accents were chosen was because Babcock wanted to create a cozy space that customers would view as the antithesis of the typical auto repair shop.

The pattern on the wall was created by a local artist, which serves a dual purpose of being a 4 8 / R + W / 0 6 .18

3

conversation starter and a way to support the community in which the shop resides.

A simple, yet effective, way of establishing a good first impression is by appealing to all types of customers. Having relevant, current reading material for both men and women, 1,000-piece puzzles and cable TV shows that the shop takes its customer experience seriously and has put thought into its amenities.

3. Have a clutter-free front desk.

Babcock says that less is more when it comes to organizing your shop’s front desk.

“Simple, clutter-free workstations allow for the focus to be on the customer as they

relay their vehicle concerns to our team without unnecessary distractions,” Babcock says.

“If we do display something, we make sure it looks nice and is pertinent to our customers.”

4. Kids are welcome, too.

As a busy mom of four, Babcock knows what it’s like to take little ones on errands.

It means a lot to parents when they see a business has a dedicated space for children, which is why she created a children’s play area at the shop. Creating such an area is a way to provide peace of mind for parents, but going above and beyond and making sure the area is clean, doesn’t have broken

BABCOCK AUTOMOTIVE

A customer’s first impression begins the second he or she pulls into your shop’s parking lot. That’s why it’s crucial that you create a welcoming entrance that immediately communicates the experience your shop will provide for the customer and that it will be a non-intimidating experience. Shrubs or full flowers, welcome mats and shop logos on the windows are simple ways to quickly show that your shop is professional.

“Everyone knows how important it is to brand your business,” Babcock says. “It doesn’t have to be overdone or in your face, but it can be as simple as a branded welcome mat for customers to wipe their feet on as they enter.”

2

6 4

7 5

toys, and appeals to a variety of children’s ages again communicates that there was thought put into the area and isn’t filled with hand-me-downs.

mug instead of styrofoam cups, or freshbrewed coffee instead of from a vending machine—are meant to delight and stand out to customers.

5. Offer a warm beverage for guests.

6. Offer something for everyone.

Babcock designed an extensive coffee area that she makes sure is always clean, stocked and fresh with a variety of options.

“There is just something wonderfully welcoming about enjoying a cup of coffee (or tea or cocoa) in a ceramic mug—it feels like home,” Babcock says.

Those types of little touches—a ceramic

There is no universal type of customer, which is why creating different areas within the shop to appeal to different customer needs is an easy way to avoid turning a customer off.

If a customer does not want to be near children or prefers to read over watching TV, for example, having a separate area with hightop tables and chairs where he or she can work means the customer has an area that fits

the experience he or she is looking for, rather than becoming disgruntled.

7. Maintain a clean restroom.

Babcock says she designed the restroom to be aesthetically pleasing to customers, and makes sure her staff checks on it often to ensure its cleanliness. If customers are turned off by your restroom, she says, they’ll have a negative impression of your overall business.

“There is nothing more disgusting and unwelcoming than going into a dirty and or smelly public restroom,” Babcock says. “We believe a restroom, just like any other area of a facility, can be welcoming.”

0 6 .18 / R + W / 4 9

Capturing Your Customer’s Information In order to best serve your customers, you need to collect the necessary information Organize the Data

THINK BACK TO THE DAYS OF GENERAL STORES. Shops knew everyone’s name, and often, knew exactly what customers were going to order next.

Back then, customers felt special. Customers felt cared about.

Today’s customers have the same expectations. They expect repair shops to know them, the history of work completed on their vehicle and how they prefer to be contacted—whether through a phone call, text or email. Meanwhile, they want results quicker than ever before. It may sound like a daunting task, but doing this is simpler than it seems.

It’s time to get back to a time where a culture of “customer first” was synonymous with general repair shops. Kevin Clawson, Marketing Director at ALLDATA, Customer Satisfaction and Brett Shanaman, Vice President of Marketing, Customer Satisfaction for AutoZone, share what they’ve learned about the importance of capturing customers’ data and how it can be used to establish a trusting relationship between shop owners and their customers.

Having some sort of customer relationship management (CRM) process is key for shops. It’s necessary to have some sort of organizational process for customer communications to stay on top of appointment reminders, coupons, or other interactions.

According to Shanaman, CRM is a philosophy. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a formal system.

“It could be a ledger, an Excel file or a shop management system. It doesn’t matter how the data is organized, as long as it’s being collected and used. Make sure all of the information is in one central location and organized in a way that makes sense for your shop team and that is usable.”

That way, the customer information you’ve collected can best be leveraged to engage and retain your clients while making them feel important and appreciated.

Collect Information Immediately

Establish Trust

Even before the repair starts, gather the customer’s name, address, phone number, email and preferred method of contact.

“People are willing to share their information if they know it will benefit them,” says Shanaman.

Customers are happy to come back to shops if they know they’ll be taken care of, or if there’s a deal waiting for them. Shops have a stronger opportunity to draw customers back in when their vehicle is due for its next maintenance if they know how to best communicate with them.

Shops can start sending out service reminders once the information has been gathered. Shop management systems will send automatic reminders based on the vehicles that customers have and the service history.

“It’s challenging for anyone to keep track of service intervals, which is why customers appreciate someone looking out for them,” Clawson says. “Getting that friendly reminder puts trust back in shops.”

Drivers are thankful for that level of personalized care.

Figure Out Contact Preference In order to connect with the customer, you need to contact them the right way. It doesn’t make sense for a shop to be emailing, for example, if they never check their account, or do not prefer that mode of communication.

“We ask [shops] how they want to be communicated with. Are you OK with us calling you? Figure out the best way to reach them,” explains Clawson.

Take time when you’re gathering information to ask for his or her preferred method of contact so precious time isn’t wasted when trying to get in touch. This can be frustrating for a service writer and even more so for a driver waiting for a vehicle update.

Think Outside the Box Name and contact information will not tell you everything you want to know about your customers, but asking for much more than that can feel like a breach of privacy. Social media can tell shop owners a lot. If people like your page or follow you, you’ll have access to more information on them—such as birthdays and what their specific interests are.

Sending surveys or having a contact form on your website asking customers how you’re doing is a great way to capture more data. This technique has been extremely useful for ALLDATA in collecting feedback and client information. Shop owners can use this information to amend contact preferences, update processes and determine ways to improve.

Know Your Customers, Sell Your Services For targeted ads, such as back to school or summer travel, Facebook Ads’ targeting capabilities are a good way to find out which of your customers have kids. Looking at social media, in general, is a great way to find out more about your customers.

“Having a Facebook or LinkedIn page for your shop is a great way to capture that information. You’re not forcing a request. If they follow you they’re volunteering that information,” Clawson says.

Many shops like sending out coupons for special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries. Asking for this information may be too much for certain customers. Stress that it’s optional and explain the reasoning. When customers understand that the information will help your shop provide them with unparalleled customer service and an exceptional experience they’re more likely to open up.

Shanaman may have said it best when he explained, “General stores knew every customer in town. They knew what their customers purchased last and what they’d purchase next. That’s the model that everyone is moving toward.”

Staying diligent about collecting data and contact preferences will allow your shop to provide a true “personalized” experience for your customers.

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INDUSTRY INSIDER Rissy Sutherland

SOLVING THE TECHNICIAN SHORTAGE A look at the curriculum driving the innovative solution

FUE VANG, THINKSTOCK

Here’s the dream: I want the best A-tech

in the world. I want him to be available as soon as I place an ad. I want to pay him flat rate. I want him to have a great attitude, be fully trained, have zero comebacks, be reliable, and stay with me forever. I don’t want to offer him any benefits. Oh, and it would be great if he had his own scanner and over $100,000 in tools. Sounds easy, right?

Unfortunately, we all know that it doesn’t work that way anymore. We have an aging population of technicians with a small percentage of youth coming up through the ranks (if you look at my wish list above, I don’t blame them) and vehicles that are more complex than ever. So how can we fix that problem? My solution is to start with the heavy hitters that are working relentlessly to make it happen!

The group leading this charge is National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) with the Road to GREAT Technicians education committee members. Their objective is to figure out why we have a technician shortage, how to recruit new technicians, take the time to train these new technicians, and then communicate their findings with defined levels across the industry. I worked with two members of the board representing both sides of the topic, Jill Saunders and Donny Seyfer.

Jill Saunders is the mastermind behind curriculum development for all Toyota technicians in the U.S. You would think that the head of Toyota’s training would have enough on her plate, but Jill made it a priority to get involved with NASTF because she saw so many young people coming into the automotive world who wanted to work on cars, but eventually leaving because they didn’t see a clear career path.

Jill recruits her new technicians through Toyota’s innovative T-TEN program that is now available in vocational and technical schools across the country. The program allows students to get an associate degree,

learn to work on cars, and do an apprenticeship at their local Toyota dealership.

When students come out of the program they can change oil, perform recall work, and are ready to flag some hours.

While Jill feels that Toyota has been able to streamline the onboarding process successfully, she believes that aftermarket shops could use some assistance providing newly graduated employees with training programs, clear goals to achieve, and a systematic process to climb the ladder within their shop.

Now, let’s take a look at this topic from the view of an aftermarket shop owner instead. Donny Seyfer has one family-owned shop in Denver. His shop has nine bays, specializes in late-model and hot rod vehicles, and produces $1.1 million in revenue.

Not only does Donny manage his shop, but he has also been on the board of NASTF, ASE, ASA chairman and a technician trainer. Today, Donny is the NASTF executive officer, heading up the solution to our technician shortage and training problem.

He also created the 10-member executive board who work on the solution.

The first step was to identify a clear picture showing anyone coming into the industry where the opportunities for their future careers are, based upon their desires and skills. Then, they had to determine what students needed to know coming out of vocational schools so that the curriculums provided would be shaped by what the aftermarket needs: a technician who can do basic services and oil changes.

Next, they had to figure out how to move new hires up the ladder quickly. The goal is to move from an entry-level tech to a master technician in less than five years, because they have found that the new generation isn’t willing to stick with process for 10 years like their predecessors did. The curriculum for these schools is now being completed. They use the ASE-based

Rissy Sutherland has opened more than 400 shops in her career as the executive for nearly a dozen automotive brands and the founder of Honest-1 Auto Care. She is one of the industry's foremost experts in shop operations. sutherlandrissy@gmail.com ratchetandwrench.com/sutherland

programs to include defined objectives, streamlined onboarding, safety, shop procedures, tool and equipment use, service information, and computer skills for each level of technician. The levels are defined as apprentice, maintenance, service, repair, diagnostic, master, specialist and examiner.

I’m sure as a shop owner you are thinking, “What does all of this mean for me?”

Well, it means a whole lot. First, you will now be able to show a student, parent, community group, or any other interested party the specific pathway options available within the field. Next, you will be able to search a database of technicians to determine their skill level and continue their training at your shop. Both the aftermarket and the manufacturers will share this database in order to provide consistent definitions and allow employers to know what level employees they are hiring.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for the first time in many years about the future of this industry. This small group of heavy hitters are moving mountains that will change all of our lives. This group truly is the best of the best when it comes to the future of our industry.

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T O O L B OX / C A S E S T U DY

BUILDING AN ALL-STAR

After inheriting his father’s shop, Paul Smith knew he needed to completely rebuild his staff

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A PHOTOGRAPHY BY SANDY CAMPBELL

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TEAM IN A SMALL

Finding All Stars When Paul Smith (left) had to build a new staff, he turned to a series of simple, yet effective, keys for recruiting and retaining employees.

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T O O L B OX / C A S E S T U DY

S

oon after Paul Smith took over his father’s business, The Car Care Center, in 2014, he started dreading coming to work each day, never knowing what he would find. Comebacks and misdiagnosis on the front end of the business piled up, and Smith felt like he was always putting out some kind of fire.

Smith says that as he dealt with multiple customers angry with issues on their vehicles, he knew that the current staff in place didn’t embody the vision and growth plans he had for his shop going forward.

“My technicians could read a code and throw a part on, but as far as getting in there and diagnosing a vehicle … the vast majority of them could not do that,” Smith says.

The location of his shop, the rural town of Pegram, Tenn., has a population of roughly 2,500 people, and the town next door is the same size, so Smith knew he had a long road ahead of him to find, build and maintain his dream team.

Over the next several years, Smith went through the painstaking process of turning over his entire staff, and bringing in new blood, learning how to recruit, and building a strong company culture along the way.

THE BACKSTORY

The Car Care Center was built in 1989, and Smith spent most of his younger years running around the shop and helping out when necessary. When he graduated high school and went to college, Smith got his degree in public health and left the shop for several years. However, he says he always knew he wanted to come back.

Smith eventually returned to the business in 2002, working as a technician and slowly moving up the ranks, eventually taking the business over in 2014. He saw how the shop was managed before, and knew it could grow and generate more than the $500,000 in revenue it had at the time. Throughout his time as an owner, his dad was content with the income he made, and didn’t want to deal with the issues of growing.

Smith, however, wanted to take things in a completely new direction, and rebuild his entire team (which was generally 3–4 employees). Going forward, Smith wanted to build a staff that could thoroughly diagnose each vehicle and find bigger-ticket repairs, in turn making more money for his shop and the rest of his staff.

THE PROBLEM

With his current staff, Smith knew he had to make a change, and had to do it fast. He had to fire a service advisor and lead technician, and after his dad retired, Smith only had himself and two other employees working in the business.

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be a service writer and try to do the business things,” Smith says. “I had to bring some people on that I could trust that really cared about what they do, that were professional at what they did.”

Smith put postings on Craigslist, Indeed, Monster and his local newspaper, but these efforts didn’t yield any good candidates.

“Because of where we’re at, we have a smaller pool to pull from in our immediate area,” Smith says. “I think that was a part of why those recruitment services didn’t work very well.”

The Car Care Center sits about 15 miles from the west edge of Nashville, from where he was trying to attract talent. Nashville has a population of 1.8 million, but getting someone to drive the opposite way into the boondocks every day for work was a tall task.

Moving forward, Smith had to convince those candidates that his shop was the right place for them, and would be worth the drive every day.

THE SOLUTION

To build his team, Smith worked with three specific keys: ALWAYS NET WORK .

When you’re in a small town, everybody knows each other, and Smith says that you can find a good candidate where you least expect it.

A Snap-on salesman learned of his situation, and told Smith about a talented A-tech who just quit his job and was

Calm and Collected When running the shop floor at The Car Care Center, Paul Smith tries to always be calm in his feedback.

looking for a new position. This technician was also being recruited by a Ford dealership where his dad worked as a lead technician.

“I sat him down and told him that my job was to help him make money.

He had never been in a shop where they were concerned with that at all,” Smith says. “I think simply having a plan for what you’re doing or where you’re going is attractive to people.”

Smith followed this approach when recruiting his other employees, which included a technician from a local Sears Auto Center, who he found from previous networking efforts. One of his utility techs was actually referred to Smith through his wife’s bible study. Smith

THE AF TERMATH

THE CAR CARE CENTER Owner: Paul Smith Location: Pegram, Tenn.

Size: 3,500 square feet Staff: 5 Number of lifts: 4 Average Monthly Car Count: 120 Annual Revenue: $675,000

recommends reaching out to groups or people who you trust and who have similar values or principles, which increases the likelihood of good referrals.

OFFER COMPETITIVE PAY. Smith says he tries to stay on the upper end of technician pay, and offers to pay half of an employee’s health insurance, while giving them two weeks of vacation time. He says this pay has been a significant reason why other employees, including his now lead tech, were convinced to join his staff.

HAVE A GREAT CULTURE. As he started assembling his team, Smith made sure his shop had a great over-

all culture to make sure he retained his talented staff, and that they’d be happy to come to work every day. He says that when running the shop floor, he tries to be calm in his feedback, and makes sure that tensions aren’t raised.

“You can push without a raised voice; you can push in certain ways that are not as confrontational,” Smith says. “There are ways of doing that, pushing progress that you can do, just talking.”

To show his staff appreciation for his staff ’s work, Smith brings in lunch every once in a while. Outside of normal hours, Smith says the team occasionally goes out to dinner, attends a happy hour together, and recently, he brought the team to his family’s house for a big bonfire.

Smith has had his full team in place for over a year, and has seen positive results overall. At one point early last year, Smith realized that things in his shop were getting a little too crowded. He had two technicians, two utility techs and a service advisor, and had to let the service advisor go after realizing he didn’t quite fit his shop’s model. Smith moved the better of the two technicians into the service advisor role, and moved one of his utility techs to a technician role, making him a C-tech.

He now works with an A-tech and a C-tech, along with a strong utility tech to take on smaller jobs. He says his C-tech is picking things up quickly and is willing to learn, but, to make sure the services are done properly, he usually has them work on jobs together.

Efficiency has been up and down as his C-tech learns the ropes, but Smith says the amount of comebacks he has is down significantly with his new staff. He says the improvement of the diagnostic process is a combination of better technicians, full vehicle inspections, and a dedication to doing things correctly while getting paid to do so.

“With the staff that we have now, our diagnostic process is much much better.

I feel extremely confident when someone comes in and says, ‘Hey, here’s what’s wrong with this vehicle,’” he says.

Since taking over, Smith bumped his shop’s revenue up from $500,000 to $675,000. Smith says that his new staff, and his staff ’s attention to detail is the biggest driver of this growth.

“If someone came in for a brake job, we used to just work on that. Now we’re estimating way more than we used to be,” Smith says. “Now it’s not uncommon for us to do an estimate that’s between $3,000–$5,000 after looking at it from top to bottom.”

THE TAKEAWAY

To keep and maintain a strong staff, Smith says it’s vital to have a strong plan going forward, and create a great company culture.

“If you can create a good culture where everyone truly wants to be around each other, and you pay well, you’re going to maintain your staff a lot better than some of these other places that have a lot of turnover,” he says.

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T O O L B OX / L E A D E R S H I P

Four industry leaders share the leadership books that inspired them the most

BY A LE X VA N A B B EM A

Kevin Wolfe, owner and president of LeadersWay, says that leadership is one of

the most talked about, and most misunderstood, terms in business.

A common misunderstanding of the term “leader,” Wolfe says, is that people often view it as merely a title. In reality, being a leader requires considerable action.

“When something needs to be done, the person who stands up and takes charge is in the lead position,” Wolfe says.

“It can be anybody in the shop.”

To learn about the actionable steps you, or other growing leaders in your shop, should take, one of the best sources of informations is certainly books. Three shop owners and one consultant share the leadership books that influenced them the most in their businesses, and inspired them to be better leaders.

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The Success Principles B Y JAC K C A N F I E L D

The Reviewer: Tom Lambert, owner of

Layton, Utah-based Shadetree Automotive, which generated $2.6 million in 2017 revenue.

The Takeaway: Lambert found The Success Principles through a member of his local Business Network International (BNI) group. After reading it, he was struck by how many of the book’s principles he had already implemented in his shop, and already proved successful. He says this verified the work he put into his business already, like hiring a business coach, goal setting with clear, measurable goals, and striking a proper balance between work and life—principles that author Jack Canfield expounds on in the book.

“It’s basically a book about controlling

The Leadership Test: Will You Pass?

BY TIMOTHY R. CL ARK

The Reviewer: Kevin Wolfe, owner and pres-

ident of LeadersWay, a business coaching, culture and leadership development company.

The Takeaway: Wolfe says that The Lead-

STAFF GRAPHIC

Great Leadership Reads

your own destiny, as a lot of it is about avoiding excuses and taking responsibility for yourself,” Lambert says. “You choose if you’re going to have a positive or negative day. You can suck it up and just do it.”

The book has a heavy emphasis on setting clear financial, business and personal goals. A few months ago, Lambert started writing down the goals in these categories that were most important to him, and he now says he gets close to reaching them every time.

Lambert says that the months of January and February are typically slow for his shop, but he wants his staff to remain productive when business stalls. He bought a copy of this book to show them why the changes he made in his shop were the best options available, and he says, to increase their accountability.

looking for a leadership position.

“Finding ways to bring more value in helping people and the organization get better creates a greater and greater circle of influence,” Wolfe says.

2. Sign your name. No matter what happens, if it goes well or terribly, make sure you sign your name to it. Don’t point fingers; take responsibility for any failures or missteps.

3. Share the stage. When things go well, make sure people who are on the team get credit, as well.

4. Take the oath. When you move into a lead position, you’re committing yourself. Make sure you make all the decisions from an objective standpoint.

5. Pour your cup. Just be willing to give everything you have to other people to help them be successful.

ership Test is a great book for a young leader who wants to get better, and could potentially be in the next generation of leadership. Wolfe says it poses some striking questions for somebody looking to move into a lead position.

“More importantly, they ask the question, ‘Why would you do this? Why would you want to move into a lead position?’”

Wolfe says.

If a worker simply wants a promotion or more money, for instance, that might not be the best reason to move into a leadership position. One of the main points The Leadership Test makes, Wolfe says, is that you have to be able to ask yourself if you’re willing to take responsibility when things don’t go well.

There are five main lessons in the book that Wolfe has all of his clients examine: 1. Fill your pack. To become a leader, you have to put yourself out there, and you take on responsibility. When something needs to be done, you raise your hand, offer time and energy to get it done. This also involves building your circle of influence, which Wolfe recommends to anyone in a shop

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

BY JOHN C. MA X WELL

The Reviewer: Chris Cloutier, founder of

Autoflow, and owner of Golden Rule Auto Care in Rowlett, Texas.

The Takeaway: Cloutier has dozens of leadership books he says have influenced him as a leader, but one of his core leadership reads is The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. As the name suggests, this book lists the 21 vital laws of an effective leader, as outlined by leadership expert, speaker and author John Maxwell.

The most impactful law, he says, is the law of the lid, which says that leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. By learning more and increasing your experiences and capabilities, you end up increasing your lid, therefore increasing your effectiveness. Some shop owners, Cloutier says, might be hesitant to explore things they don’t understand, like digital inspections or new shop technology, but it can be very beneficial for your business in the long run.

“A lot of times, we don’t like getting into places that make us fear the unknown,” Cloutier says. “You’re the lid; you need to go through those dark places to take your orga-

nization through it.”

Another law that Cloutier enjoyed from the book is the law of intuition, which takes inspiration from the law of the lid. If you’ve increased your lid, and gained experiences throughout the years, you’ll be able to “trust your gut,” and make sound decisions from those past experiences and hardships.

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win B Y J O C KO W I L L I N K A N D L E I F B A B I N

The Reviewer: Terry Joy, owner of Mid-

west Auto Care & Transmission Center in Lake Station, Ind., which generated $882,000 in 2017 revenue.

The Takeaway: Joy found Extreme Ownership through his management group, Repair Shop Coach, and one of his fellow members was adamant that everyone in the group should read it. As the title suggests, Joy says Extreme Ownership is about being responsible for everything that goes on in your business, and taking ownership of your decisions.

In this book, two former Iraq War veterans describe how their time overseas shaped their leadership abilities and their sense of accountability. The book was so well-received, that the pair now coaches executives and business owners on leadership skills.

“It’s very easy to translate their stories of what happened on the battlefield in Iraq, and how it transfers over into the business world,” Joy says.

One of the main takeaways Joy says he received from the book is that, when things go well, you should put all the praise on your employees, making the successes about them and what they accomplished.

Joy says he often dishes out praise during his weekly meetings, sharing any positive reviews they received the previous week. If things are not going well, instead of putting the blame on his employees, Joy says he tries to reflect and figure out where he is falling short as a leader.

“The best leaders are not driven by ego and personal agendas,” Joy says. “They simply are focused on the mission and how best to accomplish it.”

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Columns

THE BOTTOM LINE Mitch Schneider

WORDS MATTER The impact of four key leadership words

THINKSTOCK, MICHAEL HOEWELER

There is a chapter in the book I’ve just fin-

ished writing that deals with “D words.”

I think “D words” are important. So important they found a place in the eightvolume management series I wrote and published at the beginning of this century.

The first four “D words” I discussed were desire, discipline, determination and drive.

I suggested that three of these four words are among the most essential elements of character, or the very core of who you are, and that character—an essential “C word”— is all about the choices we make when no one is looking.

Other than a couple close friends, our son, Ryan, is the only one on the planet who has seen the manuscript. He liked it! And, he forwarded a list of really excellent comments, questions and suggestions, just about all of which I incorporated. I say, “just about all,” because there was one exception. Ryan wanted to know why I felt compelled to string so many similar words in meaning together.

Specifically, he was referring to the four “D words” mentioned above.

Like all of his comments, I took what he had to say seriously. While these words are similar, there are subtle and highly nuanced differences that carry even greater meaning when they appear together.

I may not distinguish those differences in the same way everyone else might. But, I think an explanation is appropriate.

Desire, simply stated, is something you want; something you would like to possess.

Think about everyone you know. Think about the human condition. There are things we would all would like. We’ve all got desires of one kind or another, both personal and professional.

“I want to run a marathon! I’d like to become a black belt. I need to take my business to the next level: over $1 million or $2 mil-

lion in sales or more!”

The real question is, what do we do with those desires? And, the sad commentary is, most of us do nothing more than fantasize about them. Most of us are satisfied using those desires to fuel our daydreams and not much else. We’re not willing to take the next step and do the work.

For desires to be more than the stuff of daydreams, we have to sprinkle them with a little action! Discipline is important. Critical, in fact. Discipline is the mental toughness it takes to do what has to be done, even when you aren’t motivated to do it!

Of course, discipline works best when you are motivated, but, by definition, it doesn’t have to work that way.

Drive is really all about motivation. As in, “I am driven to fix my business!” Or, “I am driven to break that habit!” Certainly, there are external forces that could drive you to do something. Even something you don’t really want to do. But, for the most part, when we talk about drive, we’re talking about the fire in your belly that compels you to do whatever has to be done in order to accomplish your goals and objectives.

Like most words, determination can have more than one meaning. But, when I talk about determination, you can be pretty sure I’m talking about a firmness of purpose.

You can have desire, but without determination, discipline and drive you’ve got nothing.

You can have determination, but without desire, discipline and drive, your efforts will remain unfocused.

You can be disciplined, but without determination, drive and desire you just might find yourself wondering: disciplined to what end?

And, finally, you may find yourself driven—self-propelled toward a certain goal or

Mitch Schneider is a fourth-generation auto repair professional and the owner of Schneider’s Auto Repair in Simi Valley, Calif. He is an industry educator, author, seminar facilitator, and blogger at mitchschneidersworld.com. mitchs@schneidersauto.net ratchetandwrench.com/schneider

objective—but without desire, determination and discipline, the chances are high your journey will take longer and cost more, both physically and emotionally, than it would if all four “D words” were present and working in concert.

There is one more “D word” that should be considered here. That “D word” is dedication. And, it just may be the most powerful of all the “D words” because it speaks to a critical “P word”: passion.

Words—like the ones I’ve discussed— matter. They matter because words are the pigments used to color the canvas of our lives with success. They matter even more when used in conjunction with one of the most critical of all “L words,” leadership!

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“ ”

IF YOU CAN SET YOURSELF ASIDE AND ALSO TRY TO THINK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE, YOU’LL AUTOMATICALLY BE SUCCESSFUL.

Repair Life D E N A G A N JE MANAGER M Y ME C H A NIC

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PHOTOS BY FLEUR DE LEA PHOTOGRAPHY

A Valuable Asset As the business manager of My Mechanic, Dena Ganje has a hand in everything — ­ besides turning wrenches—at the shop.

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R E PA I R L I F E / D E N A G A N J E

In 2014, Dena Ganje made a major career pivot.

She had spent the first 23 years of her professional life in home health care, but about four years ago, she made what she says was a natural transition.

In 2014, her husband’s company, My Mechanic in Tucson, Ariz., needed someone to fill in the gaps as it continued to grow.

Ganje says she always appreciated the automotive industry and what mechanics are capable of doing. What started as working during lunch breaks and running errands after work and shuttling customers soon morphed into a full career shift, and a full-time position at My Mechanic.

She officially started as the business manager for My Mechanic later that year, a position that she says involves doing everything other than turning wrenches in the shop. Some of her responsibilities include shuttle driver, safety coordinator, HR rep, marketing director, and customer service manager.

As of late, business has picked up for the small shop, as it reached a record monthly revenue of $90,000 in March.

Through all of these roles, Ganje has learned to be flexible with her work, while spending as much time as possible meeting other people in the community, and networking with other local business owners. These grassroots efforts have helped get referrals from other businesses, and increase buzz at her business.

AS TOLD TO A LE X VA N A B B EM A

Husband-and-Wife Team What started out as a part-time gig helping her husband, Joe (right), has turned into a full-time career for Dena Ganje.

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MY MECHANIC

Operator: Joe Ganje Location: Tucson, Ariz.

A Multitasking Master Each day is slightly different for Dena Ganje. Her tasks include anything from driving the shuttle to picking up parts for the shop.

Size: 7,000–8,000 square feet Staff: 7 Average Monthly Car Count: 173 Annual Revenue: $800,000

My day starts at 8 a.m. I check that the

lobby is ready for customers and maybe shuttle a customer or two. Driving somebody could take 10 minutes or it could take an hour. But in that time, I really get a chance to get to know our customers.

When that’s done, I’ll help with some scheduling, respond to emails, and respond to reviews. Maybe I’ll end up

calling a customer or sending a thankyou card. Some mornings I’ll randomly call our customers, asking how our service is in general, or how we can improve anything.

Sometimes I’ll have to go get parts, or order any supplies but that takes a short amount of time. There’s not set

time that any of that gets done; it could be 2 p.m., or sometime in the morning.

Throughout each week, I really work on communicating with customers, and expanding our shop’s reach in

the community. The reason we get new

customers every day is that there’s a lot of buzz about what we’re doing. When our customers come in, we like to get to know them personally, what their joys are and what their causes are. We don’t rush them through the process, and don’t just park them in the lobby. They usually don’t want to be rushed out the door either.

A lot of them say, ‘Hey we have a football fundraiser, or we have a softball fundraiser. How can you help with

that?’ They ask us and we respond. We decide where this cause resonates with them and with us, weigh out our budget, and see what other fundraisers we have. Then we’ll decide whether we’ll participate.

For our local softball team, we sponsor their T-shirt making. We’ve done

food drives in the past, where we do social media blasts, and talk to people in the shop about it. For the first and sec-

ond times we did it, I would give them $5 off their next visit if they brought in a donation. At the ATI conference a couple months ago, I gathered some more ideas. When I returned that week, I went to the humane society, and let them know I wanted to support them.

This Saturday, the humane society is having a grand opening for their new location. My Mechanic will be there

to give out water bottles, maybe some raff le prizes with which we can help.

We’re also sponsoring annual gala, their largest fundraiser of the year.

We’ll sponsor by giving raff le prizes to that, as well.

From what we’ve done in the community, we get called maybe 4–5 times per week from organizations asking for help. Within a few minutes of each

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R E PA I R L I F E / D E N A G A N J E

Cold Calling Dena Ganje makes a point to randomly call customers to see how My Mechanic’s service is and if there’s any way it can improve.

something you can help with this time or letting them know it’s not a process you can help with at all.

In terms of marketing my business, one of the groundbreaking, grassroots things I do is create a flyer, and bring it to local landlords. They

create new rental packets and put our info in there, which has been huge for getting new customers. It’s just an information f lyer. You can take it to an apartment complex—give the gal or guy working at the desk a bag of cookies, gift card to Bruegger’s Bagels, something like that. Then they’ll put your f lyers in every single rental packet.

I’m not afraid to go up to people and introduce myself. I might see another

business in the neighborhood, if I haven’t seen their cars. I’ll walk in and introduce myself, maybe leave them info about what we do. I also encourage them to read our reviews online because our customers have been very generous with reviews. A lot of time, that gains us new business, by reaching out to them on a personal level. I don’t do any email, cold calling; it’s always face-to-face communication.

I always try to network. There’s a lo-

cal organization called Business Network International, or BNI, that I meet with every Tuesday to talk about what I do. With BNI, there are all different types of businesses. Maybe you can pass them a referral, by getting to know that business owner.

Then hopefully they can get to know you, and pass you a referral. It’s really about getting to know the other business and trying to support their cause.

If you can set yourself aside and also try to think about other people, you’ll automatically be successful.

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Besides these meetings, I try to have 2–3 coffee dates per week with other

business owners, talking about what I do and passing referrals onto each other.

The end of my day usually involves me driving around, picking people up

so they can get back here and pick up their car. Then I clean the coffee room, put all the coffee supplies away, and restock the lobby for the next day. I’ll try to answer a few last minute emails if needed.

We have a few other things planned for 2018 going forward. Starting today,

the plan on Mondays is to have team goal setting meetings. We talk about the workload on hand and expectations

of the staff for the week. We’ll take a look at what vehicles will be on deck, and if there’s any place we’re slacking in our customer service. Basically seeing if there’s anything we can additionally do for the wow factor.

Another goal we have for 2018 is to add health insurance for our employees. We also want to have scheduled,

quarterly company outings. We’ve been doing it before when we can figure out time. We want to do group outings where we all go bowling together, camping or riding go-karts. Last year we did these twice, but this year we want to have them every quarter as a way for the staff to get to know each other and bond.

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no PUrcHasE nEcEssarY. Purchasing does not improve your chances of winning. Open to legal residents of the 48 contiguous US and DC, age 18 or older, who are professionally employed by or owner of a company whose primary business is commercial automotive repair. Void outside the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law. Begins 12:00:01 AM ET on 12/12/17.

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Columns

THE FIXER Aaron Stokes

CULTURE. MORALE. PROFIT. Understanding the correlation is the difference between success and failure

someone from outside your company take the poll: How would your employees describe your company? What would they say about you as a leader?

Would it be, She is a great boss; she cares about me? Or would they say, This company is micromanaged. There’s no money for promotions, no room for advancement?

Would they say that you had their backs no matter what? Or would they say you’re watching the bottom line too closely to notice them?

Now, remember, I’m not saying how you actually go about leading, or what your goals and intentions are; I’m talking about the perception of your team. What do they really think and feel?

Because, at the end of the day, this is is the reality of your business. This is what defines your company’s culture.

People like to think of company culture as mission statements. That’s not culture.

Your company’s culture is what your employees see, experience and feel every day working in your operation. It’s not in writing anywhere, and maybe, even, it’s hidden—at least from you as the owner. But your employees know it, and by the way your company operates, that culture is carried out every single day through your actions and the actions of others.

And here’s the point to this all: Culture affects morale and motivation, it affects growth, and it affects your bottom line. We talk a lot about our systems and processes and everything else, but, ultimately, your business’s culture will determine its success.

Here’s an example: At the time of writing this, I just returned from a mission trip to Mexico. During that trip, I had the chance to visit the manufacturing plant of a very well known, international company. And this factory in Mexico is the company’s highest-pro6 6 / R + W / 0 6 .18

ducing facility in the world. You take a look at it, and at first glance, it’s hard to pinpoint why it is: All the company’s worldwide facilities have the same equipment and machines.

They have the same processes, systems and workflow. They have the same access to training and resources, too. So, what makes it stand out? Culture.

After speaking with the plant’s manager, I learned that the staff had started a small Bible study the year before, which slowly grew and grew to include more people. Eventually, that grew into the staff attending church together and interacting outside of the workplace. The entire team became very similarly faith-based and performance shot up.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way: This isn’t a push for faith or religion in business.

What I’m pointing out is the unifying actions and routines of the team. They developed a unique culture built on trust and community.

They started working for their teammates rather than with their teammates. They’re newly created culture boosted morale, it increased motivation and ultimately led to a culture that had each employee looking to pick up the one next to her or him. It led to a culture that allowed the operation to flourish well past its processes and systems.

People—happy, motivated people—are the difference between a business that can simply make money and a business that can thrive, grow and truly reach its potential.

So, how do you do that? Stop making so many rules.

There, I said it. I know what that phrase has you thinking: But, Aaron, we’ve been told (by you at times!) that we must have consistent systems and processes to succeed! That’s 100 percent true, and I’m not speaking contrary to that. What I’m talking about is us overdoing those to the point that we limit the ability of our team members to think creatively and work with proper mobility and freedom.

Aaron Stokes grew his business, AutoFix, into a six-shop operation that is widely regarded as one of the top repair businesses in the country. He is also the founder of Shop Fix Academy. aaron@shopfixacademy.com ratchetandwrench.com/stokes

We get obsessed with rules. Think of how many mistakes occur in your business that you instantly jump to make a process or regulation to defend against. We end up with 500 policies that prevent 500 separate onetime situations that are likely never to occur again. I’ve been guilty of this, too. And while we feel like we’re preventing fires from starting in the future, what we’re really preventing is a culture that allows employees to flourish.

We need our service advisors to have the freedom and creativity to diffuse issues at the front counter. We need our managers to have the freedom and creativity to differentiate leadership styles to reach certain employees.

We need our techs to have the freedom and creativity to solve problems.

Instead of meeting a mistake with a newly written policy thrown at the employee, teach them how to better handle the situation. Be a leader who takes the time to help others improve. Be a leader that actually carries out your vision each time. Really, just be a leader. Show them you’re a part of their life and a part of how they will improve and succeed personally. Show them that you care, and that it’s part of your culture.

The best teams are ones that are agile and creative and can adapt. Those are the teams that will get us to the next level. Those are the teams we need to build and nurture. That’s how we’ll succeed—together.

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