Ratchet+Wrench - March 2023

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FEATURE 40 CASE STUDY

Each year, Ratchet+Wrench recognizes three auto repair shops and selects them as its Best Workplaces winners. This year’s winners were selected based on their strong culture that put people over profit.

BY CHRIS JONES

With more women trickling into auto repair shops to have vehicles serviced, it’s important for service advisors to make sure they feel welcome and heard.

BY TESS OWINGS

EDITOR’S LETTER

Sometimes being a product of your enviroment isn’t bad

BREAKDOWN

Chris Salvo of Electrified Garage talks electrification

NUMBERS

Shop owners show their average opportunity per vehicle

SHOP VIEW

Tech One Automotive Austin, Teas

STRAIGHT TALK

Study competitors, but don’t copy them

JOE MARCONI

FEATURE

The Human Element

2023 BEST WORKPLACES WINNERS

EDUCATION+TRAINING

Tips to help you network with purpose to get better results

CASE STUDY

Ways service advisors can better serve female customers

LEADERSHIP

How to know when you’re ready to hire a shop coach THE

your

EDITORIAL

CONTENT DIRECTOR

Matt Hudson EDITOR

Chris Jones

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Joe Marconi, Aaron Stokes, Nolan O’Hara, Noah Brown, and Tess Owings

PRODUCTION

SR. ART DIRECTOR

Jonathan Ricketts

ART DIRECTORS

Emme Osmonson, Molly Van Brocklin

SALES

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Ryan Hillebrand, Urb’s Garage; John Miller, Fifth Gear Automotive; Rob Choisser, Choisser Import

Auto Services; Doug Grills, AutoStream Car Care Center; Lucas Underwood, L&N Performance Auto Repair; Bruce Howes, Atlantic Motorcar Center

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“

is our go-to resource with leadership and organizational development for our team at Dynamic Automotive. There is no other publication out there that can compare to the depth of information we find valuable every day.”

-Dwayne Myers, CEO and Co-Owner, Dynamic Automotive, 4 locations in Maryland

Environment is Everything

If I were to tell you that I was a product of my environment, you may immediately think that I grew up in a challenging place that negatively impacted my behavior or colored my outlook.

For most of us, that’s our default way of judgment. We associate that phrase with a negative outcome and that doesn’t always have to be the case. e reality is, we are all part of the environment we spend the most time in, for better or worse. And in this issue, we pay tribute to three auto repair shops that have made being a product of the environment both attractive and desirable.

Every March, Ratchet+Wrench brings you its Best Workplaces winners. Within these pages, you’ll meet the owners (and some of the sta members) of three top shops—Ashland Garage, Curt’s Auto and SimplyTRUE Automotive Group. Here’s why they were chosen:

Ashland Garage, in Richmond, Virginia, owned by Nathan and Dana Roady, is our small shop winner. e team of six operates from a ve-bay, 4,000-squarefoot shop and what made Ashland Garage the best workplace for its category was its family-friendly working environments (yes, that includes pets and children) and having an intergenerational shop where techs from multiple generations collaborate and learn from one another.

Curt’s Auto Repair, in Phoenix, Arizona, owned by Curt and Kathy Rock, is our medium-sized shop winner. Its team of 15 works from within an 11-bay, 4,500-square-foot shop, and what makes Curt’s Auto the best workplace for its category is its commitment to cultivating deep relationships—customers, vendors and team members—principle-centered leadership and advancement opportunities for its people.

SimplyTRUE Automotive Group, with locations in Colorado, Georgia and Texas, is our large shop winner. Comprised of a team of 115, what makes SimplyTRUE the best workplace for its category was its family- rst culture, collaborative leadership team and focus on creating

internal leaders capable of being partners in growth and expansion. While there were many great shops from which to choose, I think you’ll enjoy learning about these three shops and how they became shops that could be honored within the pages of this issue.

While we’re on the topic of environment, you’ll nd “Easing the Intimidation” (p. 34) an insightful read. One of the focal points editorially in 2023 was to provide more content in print aimed at improving service advisors. is is one such piece. We spoke to Ray Christensen, service advisor at J&L Automotive and the 2022 AAPEX Service Advisor of the Year. Christiansen says that each year more women are managing their or their family’s auto repair at his shop. He discusses the role of service advisors in helping female customers learn about their vehicles, understand the repair process and make con dent buying decisions for themselves or their families.

On that note, how is your workplace? I hope you’re building an environment that inspires your leaders to grow more, your team to care more and your customers to refer more. Being a product of our environment can be seen in a positive light, so let’s reframe that as we seek ways to improve the quality of lives of those we work with and serve.

CHRIS JONES, EDITOR CHRISTOPHERJ@ENDEAVORB2B.COM

 

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A COMMONSENSE APPROACH TO ELECTRIFICATION

BY CHRIS JONES

There is a growing segment of EV-specific aftermarket shops with specialized skills and clientele. Electri ed Garage, the rst ground-up all-EV-based repair company, started as an alternative for Tesla service. Today, the shop is more inclusive with its EV service.

“We’re pretty agnostic and will work on any electric vehicle. We also do crazy stu like kids’ Power Wheels and hot rod those, and then we also do EV conversions as well. So, we’ll take a gasoline car and convert it to electric,” says Chris Salvo.

Salvo began his career as a technician at a BMW dealership. A friend who happened to be one of the rst technicians for Tesla in Boston, Massachusetts, reached out to Salvo and asked him to come check out something new he was working on. Liking what he saw, he stuck around.

“ ere was a big opportunity from the third-party aspect of doing things like aftermarket modi cations, customization and going back to the roots of what Tesla had originally been for service. It seemed like a

good opportunity for us to jump into that space where there wasn’t anybody else there and kind of make a name for ourselves,” says Salvo.

Converting ICEs to EVs

One of the service models at Electri ed Garage is EV conversions. During a conversion, the engine, transmission and fuel system are removed from the internal combustion engine vehicle. Considerations such as range, charging options and weight distribution are then considered, and the internal components are replaced with parts suitable for an electric vehicle.

“ ere’s a lot of things that come into play ... because you don’t have an engine anymore. All the accessories become ala carte stu , so your power steering, heat and air conditioning, those are things that have to be like standalone systems now,” he says

“And then you know, weight distribution is the other big thing. ese vehicles weren’t meant to have an extra 1,000 pounds of batteries, so we need to make sure that where we put that weight doesn’t mess with the driving dynamics of the vehicle.”

As 2035 zero-emissions legislation takes shape across many states and the question of EV a ordability continues to a ect consumers, will EV conversion be a more a ordable option than buying new or second-hand EVs? And will auto repair shops need to learn to perform conversions? Salvo says that while there are some othe-shelf conversion kits for older models, newer modeled vehicles don’t have those available and the process could be more costly for consumers.

“ ere’s a lot of engineering that has to go into that, so I would say at least initially it’s not cost e ective. Maybe once the cost of the batteries comes down, and the other components get cheaper it might be an easier pill to swallow but right now ... it’s going to be six gures to do this because there’s a tremendous amount of research and design and engineering that has to go into it,” Salvo says.

Internationally Recognized Service

Like any other job, satisfying customers make the juice worth the squeeze when working on

electric vehicles. Salvo says one of his biggest wins came when a gentleman had a Tesla he purchased towed from Mexico City to the Electri ed Garage shop in New Hampshire. Salvo and the team spent three weeks repairing the vehicle, which was deemed a total loss and got it back on the road.

“He bought a Tesla that was in an accident. He had somebody else do all the bodywork and couldn’t get it to run driver charge. We spent about three weeks with the vehicle, restoring all the high voltage systems that had been damaged, and then he sent it back to Mexico,” says Salvo.

In Mexico, Tesla re-inspected the car and reenable the supercharging, which was a big deal.

“With salvage cars as a whole, Tesla shuts o the ability for them to use that charging network. And arguably that’s the major deciding factor between Tesla and the rest of them is that infrastructure that’s there,” says Salvo.

Salvo says during repairs, parts aren’t any easier to get for electric vehicles and dealing with OEMs has been a dance.

“Supply chain is the biggest issue ... and dealing with a lot of the OEMs that are now

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getting cagey about selling high voltage components over the counter. So that scarcity is making it di cult for us to do things in an e cient manner and not have cars stuck for time waiting for parts,” Salvo says.

Getting Your Feet Wet with Electric Vehicles

For shop owners interested in getting started with electric vehicle repair, or dipping a toe into the service, Salvo says start by learning to understand how electricity works, how the systems work and how high voltage systems interact.

“It’s very similar to like, if you worked on one gasoline engine you can get your way around most others; all the components are the same, but just how they’re assembled in the vehicle might be di erent from one manufacturer to the other,” Salvo says. “Buy a car and let your techs take it apart and gure out how it works. So many people are just scared of it because of the implications of high voltage and in reality, as long as you’re smart about how you’re doing things, there’s very minimal risk to you or your people.”

Top Insurers Refuse to Cover Some Hyundai and Kia Models

Two of America’s largest insurance providers, Progressive and State Farm, refuse to cover older Hyundai and Kia models.

According to reports, the insurers say that some models of these two auto brands are too easy to steal in certain cities.

In Denver, Colorado and St. Louis, Missouri, Progressive and State Farm have stopped writing policies for these vehicles altogether.

“State Farm has temporarily stopped writing new business in some states for certain model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles because theft losses for these vehicles have increased dramatically,” the insurer told CNN. “This is a serious problem impacting our customers and the entire auto insurance industry.”

The problem stemmed from viral TikTok videos demonstrating how easily Hyundai and Kia vehicles could be broken into and stolen.

Cites Highway Loss Data Institute reports, some 2015 through 2019 Hyundai and Kia models “are roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of similar age, because many of them lack some of the basic auto theft prevention technology included in most other vehicles in those years.”

“During the past year we’ve seen theft rates for certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles more than triple and in some markets, these vehicles are almost 20 times more likely to be stolen than other vehicles,” wrote Progressive spokesman Jeff Sibel. “Given that we price our policies based on the level of risk they represent, this explosive increase in thefts in many cases makes these vehicles extremely challenging for us to insure. In response, in some geographic areas, we have increased our rates and limited our sale of new insurance policies on some of these models.”

Autoshop Solutions and Turnkey Marketing Partner Together

Two automotive marketing agencies, Autoshop Solutions and Turnkey Marketing, have announced a partnership that will allow them to offer a “comprehensive marketing solution” for auto shops, according to a recent press release.”

“We are very excited to work with Carrie-Lynn and her entire team at Turnkey Marketing,” stated Margaret Palango, Chief Executive Officer, Autoshop

Solutions. “With the combined efforts of their marketing guidance and our digital services we can now offer a robust and comprehensive marketing package.”

“Turnkey Marketing and Autoshop Solutions have partnered together to help auto repair shops have a complete marketing strategy and excellent implementation,” stated Carrie-Lynn Rodenberg, Founder of Turnkey Marketing. “We partnered with Autoshop Solutions because they are a leader in automotive aftermarket digital marketing and truly want what’s best for their clients.”

With this partnership, Autoshop Solutions and Turnkey Marketing can now provide an even more powerful marketing program for their customers. Both companies only focus on the automotive aftermarket and have the same goal of keeping those bays full!”.

Iowa Shop Fined $30K by EPA for Tampering

An auto repair shop in Sibley, Iowa, has been caught making the emissions controls in vehicles “inoperative,” KIWA radio reports, and will have to face penalties.

The shop, Turbocharged Performance LLC, disabled emissions controls by “tampering with car engines” and installing what are called “defeat devices.” This has been done at least 581 times.

“The installation of defeat devices or any illegal tampering of auto emissions controls is both a violation of federal law and a significant contributor of harmful air pollution,” said David Cozad, director of EPA Region 7’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division.

Turbocharged Performance will have to pay the EPA $30,000, as well as ensure no more defeat devices are sold and destroy any that exist.

Disabling emissions controls is not only a violation of the federal Clean Air Act but contributes to “significantly higher releases of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter,” EPA officials say, which can cause air quality to deteriorate and illness in people.

Black Hills Tire to Launch Automotive Camp for Adolescents

Black Hills Tire, owned and operated by Weston and Tenise Chapman, announced the launch of a new automotive-focused summer camp aimed at helping adolescents ages 12-15 discover the industry. Camp Drive, a two-day camp that runs from June

9-10, 2023, in Rapid City, S.D., will feature hands-on experiences and lectures where to teach campers the ins and outs of tires, brakes and alignments, with the ultimate goal of participating in a repair.

"We were inspired to create this camp because our industry is a career to be proud of. It’s constantly changing, and as long as you are a technician that likes to learn, you can always grow and be vital to the automotive field. We feel passionate about that and do whatever we can to promote that," said Tenise Chapman.

The camp will also feature guest speakers from the auto care industry and will hold pit crew challenges, where the campers will collaborate in a NASCARtype rotation.

"Our goal for the camp is to introduce the automotive industry to young women and men. We hope to create a passion in them about our industry to help grow future technicians," added Chapman.

The Chapmans hope to create a camp for older teens in the future and hope to get their local technical college involved.

"We also hope to create a camp for older kids, ages 16-18, that will be a little more in-depth and discuss how to make this industry a career," said Tenise Chapman.

Registration for Camp Drive opens April 1, 2023, and is limited to 25 attendees

Hyundai and Kia Hybrid Vehicles Recalled for Fuel Leaks

Hyundai and Kia are recalling some of their new plug-in hybrid vehicles due to a fuel leak issue, Autoblog reports.

In a defect report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Hyundai states that a manufacturing issue at one of their suppliers, the fuel tank was not properly molded at the seam, which can cause a fuel leak.

Hyundai says the defective tanks were manufactured from April 7, 2022, through April 9, 2022, and that the issue was remedied on April 10, 2022. Hyundai reports they have received “no confirmed crashes, injuries, or fire related to this condition” within the United States. The recall was issued because of three incidents in Europe.

Due to the mistake being caught and corrected, only 326 Santa Fes and 34 Sorentos were affected by the recall. Owners of recalled vehicles may expect to hear from Hyundai by the end of March with steps to obtain a tank inspection and replacement.

CAPITALIZING ON OPPORTUNITY

BY CHRIS JONES

Thanks to the thoroughness of digital video inspections, technicians can help customers leave the lot with safer vehicles by using DVI to highlight what needs attention and when. Here’s the average amount of found work shop owners reported based on data from the 2022 Ratchet+Wrench Industry Survey.

Tech One Automotive

BY CHRIS JONES

PHOTOGRAPHY BY COREY MILLER

Few shop owners can say that the space they occupy used to be owned by Tesla, but Daniel Wisian of Tech One Automotive in Austin, Texas, can. His shop campus is made of three separate buildings, one of which was leased by the electric vehicle automaker.

“When they first moved in, they outgrew it within a couple of months,” recalls Wisian, who opened the shop in 1999. “They stayed there for just about two or three years.”

It bodes well, as he works on hybrids and is planning to service ADAS and electric vehicles in the future.

“We’ve got about three techs that are very well educated on hybrids, and we will definitely be getting into ADAS soon,” Wisian says. “And we’ll eventually get into electric cars.”

Campus Tour

Wisian is in the throes of an external renovation to beautify the shop’s three buildings, starting with the repainting and landscaping of building one. One area he’s having to be most intentional about is parking. The city of Austin has an initiative aimed at improving accessibility along the street where Tech One operates. This will affect the shop’s parking.

“I’m going to hire a full-time lot attendant to move cars. We’re going to be parking on the side streets and there’s a big, empty parking lot across the street,” says Wisian.

The waiting room is also being renovated to provide more space for customers and service advisors.

“The waiting area was one big open space between the customers and the ser-

vice advisors, and we created a separate space for both of them. The new area’s got a door and will have one couch and six or eight nice chairs and a TV,” Wisian says.

That leaves his three buildings. Here’s what’s in each:

Building One: Wisian has his two lube techs and three other technicians working from the first building. “We keep it really as clean as possible just because we do have customers walking through there,” he says.

Building Two: In this building, Wisian has his Hunter alignment rack and some top-flight equipment.

Building Three: “This one is my Taj Mahal,” he says. The shop has four tall ceilings and newly added air conditioning.

TECH ONE AUTOMOTIVE

Owner: Daniel Wisian

Location:

Austin, Texas

Staff Size: 18

Shop Size: 11,000 square feet

(three buildings)

Number of Lifts/Bays: 15

Average Monthly Car Count: 675

Annual Revenue: $4.1 million

Columns STRAIGHT TALK

Joe Marconi

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT OBSESS OVER YOUR COMPETITION

It’s OK to learn from other shops, but stay on brand

After Pepsi-Cola’s aggressive marketing campaign in the early 1980s, Coca-Cola made a bold move. In April 1985, it changed its highly successful 99-year-old recipe and launched “New Coke.” What happened next became legendary, as New Coke was a flop. Consumer backlash was off the charts. Coca-Cola received over 40,000 letters and phone calls from loyal consumers expressing their disappointment. Just 79 days later, Coke brought back the original formula, renaming it “CocaCola Classic.”

is story began in 1975 when Pepsi began blind taste tests that aired on TV commercials. Random people were asked to taste unlabeled Coke and Pepsi and choose which drink they preferred. Over 50% chose Pepsi. By the early 1980s, Pepsi was gaining market share in the soft-drink market segment. is caused a tailspin of events at Coke and convinced high-level executives to believe that consumers liked Pepsi’s taste better, which was the reason for Pepsi’s market share increase. Coke could not have been more wrong. While Pepsi was increasing its market share, Coke remained No. 1 in that market and still does to this day worldwide.

Coca-Cola’s mistake was believing that the blind taste test was proof that people preferred the taste of Pepsi over Coke when the reality was that in taste tests where people knew what they were drinking, they overwhelmingly chose Coke over Pepsi.

You Versus You

In the world of business, there is only one situation where you can win time and time again. That’s when you compete against yourself. Obsessing over your competitors can be mentally and financially exhausting. It will also lead you to apply strategies that can damage your brand, which

may become obstacles to your company’s success. Does that mean you should ignore your competition altogether? No, it doesn’t. While there is value in studying your competition, focusing too much on what your competitors do may lead to copying them and making decisions that can damage your brand. It may also lead to implementing marketing strategies or making product changes that customers may not desire or even care about.

Learn and Adjust, Don’t Copy

When speaking with coaching clients, I often tell them, “Study your competition. Find out everything about them. And then don’t do anything they do.” This may seem a bit extreme, but the purpose of my statement is to reinforce that every business must define its culture, core customer base and brand position. It must also promote its own story, not someone else’s.

To be truthful, we can learn from our competition. And good competition can make your company stronger. For example, I remember years back when a major competitor across town purchased a new touchless tire machine for low-pro le and run- at tires. is led me to do my research and purchase a similar machine. But these things are “behind the scenes” attributes of our businesses. is is learning from the competition and making decisions that bene t our company, employees and customers without diluting our brand.

Stay True to Your Brand

Every business has a unique identity. That uniqueness, when properly marketed, makes us stand out. When we stand out, we get noticed. This brand identity also helps create loyal customers and builds a strong company. Use this uniqueness and build a marketing plan around it. Find out

what your customer likes most about you, and deliver that consistently, over and over. Coca-Cola lost sight of what made it successful, which was the emotional attachment its loyal customers had to the brand. ink about this: Your customers will not jump ship merely because of a clever marketing campaign by your competition. If you must obsess over something, obsess over your customers and your employees.

Joe Marconi has more than four decades of experience in the automotive repair industry. He is the former 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

Sponsored

Ashland Garage

When one-third of your waking hours are spent working on vehicles, people and environment are everything. It’s why Nathan and Dana Roady invested in creating workspaces within Ashland Garage that are aesthetically pleasing and homey by nature.

Ashland Garage, a ve-bay, 4,000-squarefoot shop north of Richmond, Virginia, embodies a rustic feel that sets an inviting mood for customers and employees alike. It’s this attention to detail that makes Ashland Garage one of Ratchet+Wrench’s 2023 Best Workplaces. In describing the aesthetic, owner Nathan says, “it’s kind of like a small-town co ee shop vibe. It’s got kind of an industrial feel to it.”

ASHLAND GARAGE

Owners: Nathan and Dana Roady

Location: Ashland, Virginia

Staff Size: 6

Shop Size (ft2) 4,000

Number of Bays 5

Average Monthly Car Count: 275

Annual Revenue: $950,000

No Egos Techs find the shop harmonious.

Closely Knit Owners Nathan and Dana Roady (center, right), entrust Kelly Lacy (left) and Jeremy Price with many of the managerial duties.

Meet the Owners

The Roadys, who purchased the shop three years ago, came into auto repair from the HVAC industry. While looking for a repair shop to help maintain their heating and air conditioning company eet, they stumbled upon Ashland Garage and decided to pursue ownership.

“We were having issues around town trying to nd good service at a good price on our schedule, so we found a local shop that had been around, I think the shop was built back in the ‘50s or ‘60s. And then it was renovated a couple of times, but it was pretty rundown when we ran across the building. It was in an operation, but kind of in disrepair,” recalls Nathan.

He and Dana took on the shop and its employees with the goal of renovating it and creating a community-oriented shop that was tight-knit, valued its sta and could run without ownership present every day. Nathan says the learning curve between industries was relatively nonexistent since the same principles transfer.

“Fixing heating and air conditioning equipment isn’t much di erent as a process than xing a vehicle. e only di erence is that people bring us their vehicles versus us sending the mechanic to someone’s home. So I think we had a really good idea on how to attack the business and how to provide the customer service that the community wants, needs and would like to have,” says Nathan, who admitted that he was a “little bit of a gearhead” himself who wrenches in his spare time.

Why They’re a Best Workplace

Ashland Garage places a high emphasis on the care and nurturing of its team members. e Roadys understand that you can’t pour from an empty cup and when the team is ful lled at home and at work, performance improves.

is can sometimes look like a member of the team bringing a child to work, having a pet in tow or taking a day to tend to family matters.

“Dana and I have three daughters. We understand the trials and tribulations that comes with raising a family,” says Nathan. “And people enjoy having the kids up at the shop. I haven’t had any complaints about the children. Kelly’s got great kids; Jimmy’s got really good kids; I bring my kids.”

Kelly Lacy, the o ce coordinator, points to this prioritization of family as meaningful for her performance.

“As a working mom, it’s an honor to be working for a family that understands that because a lot of other companies don’t. If my son is not feeling well, or if it’s a teacher workday, it’s nice to be able to have a lot of the exibility that they o er at the shop,” says Lacy.

For Jeremy Price, the service manager, it’s trust. He’s the eyes and ears for Dana and Nathan, who allow him the bandwidth to take care of the dayto-day operations with Lacy. Nathan commends Price’s leadership saying he “does a good job leading the shop in the right direction.”

“It makes me feel good; makes me feel like I’m appreciated,” Price says.

Wray Engleman, a senior technician, points to the collaborative nature of the team. With ve technicians spanning over a few generations, it could be easy to rub one another the wrong way.

We have good relationships; it’s not a cutthroat thing. If somebody needs a hand, they get a hand,” Engleman says, pointing out that learning goes both ways between younger and more seasoned techs. “Everybody wants to learn. You take your time and teach them what you can when you can.”

Nathan appropriately praises the ability of his team and understands his and Dana’s role as facilitators and Lacy, Price and Engleman’s roles as the executors as the reason for the shops’ continued success internally.

“We own a building, and we have some processes in place. But those folks, they are the business. Our customers come to see them. ey are very in uential in our community and in uential in our business decisions. ey are outstanding human beings, and we really love having them,” Nathan says.

Required Reading

The Roadys admit that running businesses make it di cult to turn pages on a regular basis, “If we had time we would,” Nathan says, joking that they should instead be writing books. Jeremy chimed in, o ering Chris Collins’s “Millionaire Service Advisor,” a book centered around how service advisors can help grow shops by valuing the customer they serve.

Curt’s Auto Repair

In our modern vernacular, we tend to speak of overcoming a di cult time as enduring a trial by re. For Curt Rock, owner of Curt’s Auto Repair, the euphemism was more literal than gurative. In 2008, while sitting in church for an evening service, the tenant in the building next to his shop interrupted Rock’s worship to notify him that his shop was on re. While the blaze consumed everything in the shop, it taught Rock a valuable lesson—take your business seriously. In the years since, Rock has built a shop in his own image, one focusing on character, integrity and sel essness.

It’s this emphasis on building a character-driven business that makes Curt’s Auto Repair, a 15-bay, 4,500-squarefoot shop in Phoenix, Arizona, one of Ratchet+Wrench’s 2023 Best Workplaces.

CURT’S AUTO REPAIR

Owners: Curt & Kathy Rock

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Staff Size: 15

Shop Size (ft2) 4,500

Number of Bays 11

Average Monthly Car Count: 206

Annual Revenue: $1.9 million

Meet the Owners

When Curt Rock’s shop burned to the ground, he chalked it up as a wake-up call. Prior to then he hadn’t reviewed or updated his insurance policy and wasn’t running his business to the best of his ability. Fortunately, the insurance company took care of the structural losses, but he had to start from scratch.

“Most of our tools were gone. We had to start over, and that’s when I got really serious about learning business,” says Rock, who is an ASE Master Certified Technician and ASE Certified Service Consultant.

Within the business are Rock; his wife Kathy, who is becoming an ASE Certi ed Service Consultant; his daughter Anna Herrera, a service advisor; and his son-in-law, Eric Newton, a shop foreman who is ASE Certi ed Master Certi ed Technician, Hybrid Certified, Advanced Level Diagnostic Specialist and a Certified Service Consultant. Rock says the future of his shop runs through Anna and Eric.

Why They’re a Best Workplace

Rock has made it his mission to build a winning culture with a focus on a four-fold facet of people-centered success he calls his inverted pyramid.

“If you draw a triangle and divide it into four parts, the top of the triangle is customers, then vendors, then employees, then principles. at’s the culture of the shop: customers are rst, vendors gotta be treated right, employees are very important and then the principles. We feel like too many businesses turn that over and put the principles on top. And that just don’t work,” Rock says.

And because customers are at the apex of the pyramid, every decision made by Curt’s Auto Repair is made with the customer in mind, starting with how they hire.

Herrera says the company begins by aligning with people whose character and business practices match their shop’s values and ethics, whether at a parts store, a dealership or another supplier.

“If there’s somebody that we ethically can connect to, and we think a lot alike on the business ethics side, then we start asking them, ‘Do you know anybody?’

at’s a channel we start when we have an opening that we’re looking to ll,” says Herrera.

ey conduct two interviews, show the candidate around the shop and get to know one another. Herrera says they’re

upfront about their values and ethics—the shop is anchored in biblical principles— and if both parties agree, the candidate is brought on board.

“We do a 90-day probation for everybody that comes on board, unless they’ve been in automotive for years, and it’s moved back to 60 days. It allows them to get their feet wet and when we review with them, we ask how they like it, and if they want to stay here. And if they choose to stay, what will make their job easier and what we can improve on?” says Herrera.

And because customers take precedence, they’re sterner when customer complaints are founded.

“Customer service is my candy stick. And of all the things we get complaints about, I will not have any be against customer service that are legit. I won’t y with that. ere’s never a time to be unkind or to be rude to somebody,” Herrera says.

And pertaining to how they train, Newton says part of having shared values is having shared integrity. ose who work at Curt’s need to be self-starters who want to grow and who capitalize on opportunities a orded them to improve so that they can take pride in their work and better serve the customer.

“If I’ve got a guy in a six-month period that’s passed up four or ve classes, it’s one of those things that I’m going to start dealing with because I gave him an opportunity to learn to grow to learn something new, and they haven’t taken it upon themselves,” says Newton.

“I don’t want anybody stagnant; you got to

be constantly growing. Our industry is changing so fast with so many di erent things. So, if you’re not willing to try to train when we’re o ering it to you, you’re not bene ting yourself and you’re not bene ting us. And so that becomes a conversation point.”

For Rock, that re has now become symbolic of his ascent from technician to entrepreneur. Like a phoenix, he resurrected his shop from the ashes and its new version was greater than its rst.

“I started it as a two-man shop and I was a technician, I wasn’t a businessman. As we grew, I made a lot of mistakes … When our shop burned to the ground, and we lost everything, I started learning management, and I took Eric along for the ride. Getting kicked that hard and having a shop burn down was the biggest growing pain that we went through. And that’s why today we handle everything so di erently. We’re a lot healthier company because of that,” says Rock.

Required Reading

For shop owners wanting to become masters at leading others, Rock recommends John Maxwell’s “Five Levels of Leadership.” “I think was one of the best I’ve ever read,” Rock says. As for Herrera, she’s a Dave Ramsey girl at heart, she admits. “I’m going to have to go with ‘EntreLeadership’.”

Encouraging Growth

A core tenets of Curts Auto Repair is a growth mindset which starts by keeping up with training.

SimplyTRUE Auto Group

SIMPLYTRUE AUTO GROUP

Owners: Ashleigh Civitello, Ryan Blair, Dave Markert and Rob Eskew

Location: Colorado, Texas and Georgia

Staff Size: 110

Shop Size (ft2)

3,000 - 20,000

Number of Bays

3-16 lifts

Average Monthly Car Count: 2,527

Annual Revenue: $24 million

There’s a saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that’s an accurate representation of Simply TRUE Automotive. Founded by four shop owners who recognized their like minds and shared goals t together like pieces to a puzzle, SimplyTRUE has auto repair shops in three states and employs 110 team members.

Meet the Owners

Co-owner Ashleigh Civitello is a second-generation shop owner, who cut her teeth at her father’s European garage in Houston, Texas.

“I started managing for him back in 2009, simply from a desperate plea of him asking if I could come on board, knowing nothing about cars,” Civitello says.

She met the other three owners—Ryan Blair, Dave Markert and Rob Eskew—while they were members of Shop Fix Academy.

“We became really fast friends and began collaborating on all parts of our business. After working together and collaborating for three to four years in early 2021, Dave Markert actually cornered us at an event and brought up the idea

that since we had such a similar vision, we should combine our e orts,” Civitello says.

e group put their heads together as to what this collaboration would look like not just for the business itself, but for the people in their charge. e idea of coming together would not only make their enterprise larger but create new opportunities for those loyal employees to advance.

“We all had key people on our team that we wanted to be able to advance with us. And when you only have one or two locations, it’s really difcult to create that opportunity. So, if we had a network of shops, we would be able to provide some true leadership opportunities for those teammates and overall, impact the industry in a positive way on a much larger scale,” Civitello says.

Each owner brings their own strengths to the table.

“Dave and Rob were (car) enthusiasts. Ryan was a technician and me a second generation owner,” says Civitello. “But we all have this commonality that we wanted to be able to create something di erent than what was currently in the marketplace. We want it to be able to treat teammates as individuals instead of a number. We want to care about our clients and how vehicles are repaired.”

Job Satisfaction SimplyTRUE focuses on maintaining a workplace where its team wants to come to work everyday.

Why They’re a Best Workplace

Besides the quality and level of service that could make any shop worthy of a Best Workplaces nod, SimplyTRUE’s commitment to the advancement and well-being of its team members is why it’s a top shop. Company retreats domestically and internationally that focus on camaraderie, family and professional development are spared no expense.

“Our company retreats begin from the shared core value of wanting to help teammates develop. We believe that time spent together outside of work, interacting with each other’s families and having this time allows us all to connect on a deeper and more personal level, which is really what it’s all about,” says Civitello.

SimplyTRUE’s 2022 retreat had the Georgia shop team on the Florida coast, while the Colorado and Texas teammates partook on ranch getaways. Each retreat also includes the immediate family members of the sta .

“ e structure of the events is a mix of family, fun and relaxation, along with some really intentional personal development. We found that these retreats reinforce that our teammates are really a part of something big.

And teammate bonding also saw a big uptick. No surprise there,” says Civitello, adding that relationship-building and memory-making trump the cost of footing the bill.

Larry Hicks, one of the company’s lead technicians and an ASE master technician for nearly four decades, says the investments made by the leaders of SimpyTrue make it a place technicians want to stay.

“I’ve had people call with bigger buckets of money, but nowhere that I would want to go work,” says Hicks. “I told one of my best friends, who I get with every Sunday morning to catch up on life and talk over co ee, what’s going on. I told him about the stu SimplyTRUE does for us—the company retreats, the get-togethers, individual things that they’ve done just for me—and he’s just blown away. He says, ‘Larry, there’s nobody out there that does that. Nobody.’ And I say, ‘You’re right. ey don’t. And, it’s phenomenal.’”

General manager and corporate trainer Samantha Andrews says the catalyst to SimplyTrue being team-focused stemmed from past growing pains the company had to overcome. Focusing on the books and being too selective in whom they employed was a detriment to early success.

“Early on, we really focused on performance and on numbers … we created this environment where we were all miserable. We were making money, but everyone hated it. And we also learned that sometimes it’s not having the best people on your team, but it’s having the right people on your team,” says Andrews. “And when we made that shift and started providing coaching and holding people accountable for what they do, that shift actually was so much better. But I de nitely would give a lot of the credit to our growth to training because that’s how we make sure everything is consistent and e cient.”

Required Reading

Andrews recommends “ e ird Door” by Alex Banayan.

“He goes around and interviews a bunch of really wealthy and successful people and nds out what’s their secret sauce. e premise of the book is if you get a no, don’t take that no, nd another way in. It’s something that I’ve taken as part of my leadersh ip. I just don’t take no for an answer.”

Founding Four

Front left to right: Rob Eskew, Dave Markert, Ryan Blair, Ashleigh Civitello

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How to Break the Ice

Tips and strategies to get the most out of conference networking events

BY NOAH BROWN

In Greek mythology, the hydra was a nineheaded snake monster that, seemingly, could not be killed. As soon as one of its heads was cut o , two more would take that one’s place.

e more someone struggled against it, the more overwhelming and daunting the task of facing it would become.

In many ways, attending industry trade shows and conferences can at rst seem like attempting to tame the hydra. Industry events are vital to networking and maximizing your business opportunities but guring out which to go to and how to make the most of your time there can get overwhelming quickly. For every one event you go to, it always seems another two pop up on your calendar.

Much like how Hercules was able to defeat the hydra by proactively cauterizing each head as he removed it, though, doing a little advanced research and coming up with a plan can make the herculean task of navigating conferences much more manageable.

“You have to have a plan,” DSB Leadership Group CEO David Brown says. “A conference cannot be deemed successful if you don’t walk away having achieved your stated goals.”

Brown has four tips he shares that, if executed,

will help slay the proverbial conference hydra and make sure your next event is a success.

Know Before You Go

It may seem very simple at rst, but Brown says planning for your time at any event is essential.

Most conferences nowadays have a designated website that will act as a one-stop shop for everything related to the event. Find the agenda and plan the time that you’ll be there. Even a basic outline of the events you want to go to every day can help you more e ciently navigate the conference.

“If you don’t know what the agenda is and who’s going to be there, you’re not going to maximize your time,” Brown says.

See if there are a couple of sessions that are a high priority for you and your shop or if there are one or two people you want to meet. Brown says this is also a great time to leverage your existing network. Do you know someone who knows that speaker or another attendee you want to meet? at’s a great way to strike up a conversation.

“Don’t be afraid to name-drop,” Brown says.

Josh Mullins, COO of Honest Wrenches in

Ankeny, Iowa, says he compiles a list of questions, things he’s struggling with and people he wants to meet for every event he goes to.

“I’m looking to learn one thing I didn’t know or make one connection I didn’t have before,” Mullins says.

Mullins asked a question about building a leadership team, something he says he had no idea how to do, to some other attendees at a conference he was at last year. at led to a “crazy conversation” and some invaluable insight into assembling the team Mullins now has.

Be Confident and Inquisitive

e automotive repair conference circle is a fairly small world—many speakers, vendors and other big names in the industry are regulars at most big-time conferences. at can make breaking onto the scene and attending your rst conference more nerve-wracking. Brown says planning can help eliminate some of those rst-time-attendee jitters.

“Nine times out of 10, nobody’s going to know that you’re nervous except for you,” he says. “If you’re con dent, others are going to want to know who you are and what you do.”

Brown says having your own “elevator pitch”

is an absolute must when going to any event. Prepare how you’re going to introduce yourself, your company and what you specialize in beforehand.

“If you can’t say your elevator pitch in 30 seconds or less, you’re going to push people away,” he says.

Entering a conference with the right mindset is also e ective at reducing anxiety at events. If you go into an event con dently and with an inquisitive attitude, it becomes easier to connect with other attendees who are there to learn, grow and make connections.

“We’re all people, we all have the same fears,” Mullins says. “Just go in there and realize that they have the same issues and questions you have.”

Brown says practicing good body language—arms not crossed, smiling, etc.—can help you present yourself as con dent and welcoming, making it easier for people to approach you.

Give Before You Receive

Conferences are two-way streets. Chances are that you’ve found a solution to a problem that someone else is dealing with. Brown says you have to acknowledge and embrace the idea of sharing as much as you can

“If you go there with a ‘gimme gimme’ mindset, it is so o -putting … for so many professionals who are there to gain as much as you are,” he says. “When you say, ‘give me,’ it feels like you’re not going to reciprocate. Go with the mindset of giving.”

Brown encourages looking for a “win-win situation.” Find situations to discuss mutual problems and solutions. It gives other people an opportunity to pause and ask you questions, which keeps the door to conversation open.

Mullins says he understands that it might be uncomfortable at rst sharing details about your processes or procedures with other people, but in the end sharing knowledge is bene cial for the industry as a whole.

“We all have cars to x. I don’t look at other shops as my competitors,” Mullins says. “If we can all operate and work together in unison, our lives are going to be easier and we’re going to do a better job of xing people’s cars.”

Brown says it can be helpful to think about sharing and gathering information at conferences like a bank account.

“You have to make more deposits to shore it up before you make any withdrawals,” he says.

Always Follow Up, and Follow Up Again

Conferences are exhausting, but Brown says it’s important to not let that natural let-down after an event pause the momentum gained while you were there.

“ e biggest mistake I see people make is not following up. If I give someone my card, I expect to hear from them,” he says. “You have to follow up, or that very exciting moment when you rst meet goes down the drain.”

It’s important to remember that everyone is

going to feel the drain following an event, too, and that they’ll need to catch up on work that was missed while they were gone. Brown says you should give them some time before reaching out.

“Don’t follow up the next day—give them some time to get back,” he says. “Wait no more than one week after you meet them and try to plan a follow-up for the following week.”

Actively Engage, Slay the Hydra

Regardless of what kind it is, Mullins says it’s critical to let yourself and your team attend conferences and to actively engage in the opportunities provided.

“ e worst thing you can do is go in and just wander around. Trade shows and events are so powerful,” Mullins says. “If you’re not letting your team be a part of these events, you’re losing out. Anytime my team wants to go, I let them go. We’re only as good as our teams.”

Brown says you won’t be able to remember a good deal of what you hear at a days-long conference but going into an event with con dence and following his tips will ensure you slay the hydra before it gets too overwhelming and make sure you come away with something amazing.

“You will hold on to that one conversation, that one connection,” Brown says. “Who knows? You might meet a friend for life.”

EASING THE INTIMIDATION

How to make your female customer base feel comfortable at your shop

BY TESS OWINGS

“What’s your husband’s phone number? I know you won’t be able to answer my questions.” Ray Christensen, service advisor at J&L Automotive, has actually heard co-workers throughout the year ask this question. Not only is this question degrading and just plain rude, it’s bad business.

It’s a sad reality but women are often treated as if they know nothing about their vehicles. is may or may not be true depending on the customer, but even if it is true, who cares? at’s why they are coming to you—for help. Christensen, who was recently named AAPEX’s Service Advisor of the Year, doesn’t stand for this. In fact, he has a rule for every woman that comes into his shop and expects

his coworkers to feel the same. Treat every woman that walks through your door like your mother or grandmother.

Backstory:

Christensen’s story is like many in the industry. He grew up helping in his father’s shop when he was little and got a job at a quick lube as soon as he turned 18. He’s worked in dealerships and independent shops and even owned his own shop for a while before coming to J&L Automotive in Alpine, Utah, in 2020.

Problem:

Ever since Christensen’s been in auto repair shops, he’s been aware women don’t feel com-

fortable taking their vehicles in to get xed.

“ ey never seem to get relaxed,” Christensen says. “You hear on TV that women get taken advantage of. e joke is, ‘If we want a good sale, we just have a woman come in.

’ at’s horrible.”

Christensen notes that 70% of his customer base is female, so it’s of the utmost importance they feel they can trust him or they’re not coming back. roughout the years, Christensen says he’s seen many instances of people talking down to women and admits that even he’s probably had a bad day or two.

“Some corrections have been needed,” Christensen says of the issue.

Solution:

At J&L, any employee that works up front or answers the phone goes through training with Christensen. For a few weeks, he brings in a female that’s important to that person so they can practice selling work to her. He admits that they laugh and nd it silly at rst, but it becomes second nature and they start picturing their mom or wife every time a customer comes in and the change is monumental.

So, how exactly should they be speaking to women? e same rules should apply to any customer and that’s the key. Remember, the woman you are speaking to may know everything there is to know about a vehicle and a man might not even know what year his vehicle is. Never stereotype and follow Christensen’s rules.

First, create an environment they feel comfortable walking into. A clean space with a few

magazines, snacks and decorations can make all the di erence, Christensen explains. en, go out of your way to be bubbly and greet them. Christensen says he always smiles, waves and thanks his customers for coming in. Make sure to create a rapport with your customer and ask them questions to get to know them outside of the work that’s going to be done on their car.

Next, explain where the vehicle is going and keep them updated on when it should be done. Once the work that needs to be done has been gured out, use visual aids to show them exactly what the issue is. J&L uses videos available through Carquest that are very illustrated. For example, if a water pump is leaking, you can pull up a video that shows this and explains the function of the water pump and why it needs to be repaired or replaced.

Aftermath:

After going through this training,Christensen says he sees a big difference in how the J&L employees interact with customers, which helps increase sales and drive in more repeat customers.

Takeaway:

For anyone that doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the way they are talking to customers, Christensen urges them to give his technique a try for 30 days.

“Give it an honest e ort. It will prove itself. You have to try,” Christensen says.

How does he know it’s working for him?

On average, he guesses a customer brings him a plate of cookies or some other thank you for how he treated them.

Teach your employees not to stereotype. You never know who you’re talking to and the power they have to make or break your business.

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Should You Hire a Coach?

If you need higher accountability, this is the way

BY NOLAN O’HARA

Kevin Oswald always knew he was going to take over his father’s service station. It starts with belief.

Oswald, owner of Oswald Service and Repair in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a third-generation shop owner. His grandfather opened their family service station in 1939, his father took it over and ran it until he retired and Oswald has overseen the family business ever since.

Despite knowing he’d one day take over the family service station, Oswald had very little exposure to business management. So, as he took over the shop when his father retired—following stints managing a pair of other shops—Oswald decided he needed some help.

He attended a conference put on by the Automotive Training Institute (ATI), and Oswald then signed up for coaching through ATI. “Before I signed up … I had no idea what KPI even stood for,” Oswald says.

It didn’t take him long to learn. As Oswald puts it, ATI helped him “graduate high school.”

“ ey were able to really open my eyes and help me look at a di erent way of managing my shop,” he says.

Collin Ettienne always had a passion for the auto industry. Ettienne, owner of RI Automotive in Tampa, Florida, opened his own shop at just 20 years old following a brief stint at a dealership after graduating from Tampa Bay Technical High School.

After years of developing his business—which did primarily performance work before beginning to dabble and dive into general repair in 2015—Ettienne found himself at the Ratchet+Wrench Management Conference in Minneapolis in 2019, where one of the speakers, Aaron Stokes of Shop Fix Academy, stood out to him.

He then found himself in one of Stokes’ classes. “All the examples he was giving, it was like struggles that I was having and resonated heavily,” Ettienne says.

“Being the owner technician and trying to

transition and understand the business side of it, that was a huge struggle for me, which I think it happens to a lot of guys who are technicians.” at journey led to Ettienne receiving coaching from Shop Fix Academy, and he hasn’t looked back since.

The Right Time

Both Oswald and Ettienne have seen their businesses reach new heights, in part, thanks to the coaching they’ve received.

But when is it the right time to hire a coach?

Well, it depends. ere isn’t a script, and it can be di erent for every shop.

And sometimes, it can be the right time and feel like the wrong time. When Ettienne rst started receiving coaching and going to seminars, he was forced to shut down his shop because he didn’t have enough people to work.

“When you think about it, it’s just gut wrenching because you’re like, ‘Man, how is this gonna work? I gotta close my shop for

two days.’ But, you know, you get through it, and you look back on it and it wasn’t that bad,” Ettienne says.

Maybe you’re an owner doing everything from repairs to the budget, or maybe you’re an owner who has it all together but is looking to take the next step to grow your business.

Maybe you nd yourself doing the same things over and over again.

“Once you get to that point where you’re starting to realize you become stagnant, and you’re doing the same things over and over and over that you think are going to change businesses, and it’s not, that’s the time when you need to sit back, take a step back and look,” Ettienne says.

Stagnation is one of many potential signs your business could be ready for coaching. Similarly, Oswald says if you nd yourself sticking to the status quo, it could be time to have someone challenge you. He says there are always things you can do better, and it’s important to look outside the box.

The Right Coach

Years of coaching from ATI helped Oswald learn the basics of business and “graduate high school.” Eventually, he was ready for college.

Oswald decided he needed a more per-

sonalized experience and began searching for something new.

“Nothing really came to me as far as: is is what I should do,” Oswald says.

But sure enough, at a seminar in Texas, Oswald found his next coach. e two bonded over a shared faith, and Oswald could tell he’d be held accountable—one of the biggest things he had been searching for.

When it comes to the search, Oswald recommends casting a wide net. ere’s no reason to tie yourself down early, and it’s OK to wait until you nd the person that ts your needs.

“Don’t just jump into the rst (place) that comes and talks to you,” Oswald says. “Talk to four or ve consulting groups. Do a little bit of investigating on it. Talk to the person.”

Oswald says his new coach is a perfect t but understands that he wouldn’t be the perfect t for everyone. Di erent owners have different needs. Ettienne understands that, too, which is why Shop Fix Academy’s process has worked so well for him.

Ettienne said they vet all their clients and pair them with a coach that suits their personality and needs. He says Shop Fix Academy’s process was simple for him, and that they do a really good job of pairing the right coaches with the right owners.

Other Considerations

Oswald says it’s important to establish your goals before seeking out coaching. You should establish a vision for your business, look 10 to 15 years down the line and have an idea of what you want to accomplish through coaching.

Ettienne notes that you need to have time to invest in the coaching process. Otherwise, you’re paying for those services without using them, and you’re not growing.

Are You Ready Yet?

While the right time to receive coaching might be di erent from one shop owner to another, both Ettienne and Oswald note there’s one sure re sign someone isn’t ready for coaching: ey’re not open-minded.

If an owner isn’t willing to be open with a coach, sharing even the embarrassing or uncomfortable aspects of business, they aren’t ready for coaching. If they’re stuck in their own ways, unwilling to accept change, they’re not ready for coaching.

Openness is fundamental to the coaching process.

“Just being transparent and being open to receiving constructive criticism, you’ll be ne,” Ettienne says.

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Duralast - The dealer service design, meets or exceeds OES fit, form, and function. Semi-Metallic or Ceramic formulations available, with OES-matched slots, chamfers, 2-layer shim, and a powder-coated backing plate for noise and vibration control. Available with Hardware, where required by OE.

Duralast Gold - Factory-matched, OEM design, fitment, and performance. Offers, application-specific, semi-met and ceramic formulations, and hardware. OEM-matched slots, chamfers, and 3-layer shims to neutralize vibrations and eliminate noise. The powder-coated backing plate provides superior rust prevention and delivers OEM fit.

Duralast Elite - Designed to outperform the OEM, with the nextgeneration ceramic, and delivers ultra-quiet, low-dust, premium braking performance. Engineered with an application-specific advanced hexagonal coating that provides an additional transfer layer, enhancing both the rotor and pad performance, vs competitors abrasive painted metal or strips. Uses Copper-Free material to meet new industry requirements for maximum noise control and stopping power. Duralast also offers specialty performance pads and rotors. Learn more or see the full selection at DuralastParts.com/brakes

*Noise free guarantee requires the purchase of any set of Duralast, Duralast Gold, Duralast Elite pads, 2 Duralast or Duralast Gold rotors and hardware (when available) on the same invoice. Guarantee covers parts and labor for 90 days.

COURTESY COMPANY

BENDPAK REINVENTS

THE TWOPOST CAR LIFT

The next generation of two-post lifts is here and they’re ready to make lifting internal combustion and electric cars, trucks and vans safer, easier and more effi cient. BendPak introduces AP Series lifts with three radical improvements to safety and productivity.

1. Swing arm design. BendPak engineers invented a streamlined new swing arm that provides the lowest profi le and maximum extension and retraction. As a result, AP Series lifts like the 10AP can more easily reach both close-in and far-out lifting points while minimizing damage to vehicle ground eff ects. And since improper vehicle spotting is a leading cause of lift accidents, the new design helps protect technicians while improving their productivity.

2. Swing arm restraints. Two-post lift arm restraints reduce the chance of arms shifting during vehicle loading and service, but the industry standard design struggles to withstand excess forces generated when a vehicle unexpectedly shifts on a lift. So BendPak developed the Automatic Swing Arm Restraint System (ASARS). This patent-pending design off ers twice as much holding grip as traditional systems to prevent dangerous, unplanned movement of the lift arms. Its 360 degrees of forged steel teeth keep the arms in place the withstand more than 2,000p pounds of side force.

3. Automatic safety lock system. This patented system ensures the safety locks/load-holding devices engage automatically while

TEXTAR IS ALL ABOUT BRAKE TECHNOLOGY.

OE approved - Aftermarket leading premium braking products

Textar delivers Premium OE braking for every current and future car parc requirement worldwide. Our braking products are precision engineered to offer maximum safety, performance, and comfort. This uncompromising approach has been the very ethos of Textar for more than 100 years. Whatever the driving conditions, Textar ensures bestin-class braking along with environmental and regulatory compliance providing total confidence.

Textar covers more vehicles than any other braking brand in the aftermarket. This is especially evident in our >99% range coverage for the European car parc. More than 1,659-disc brake pads, over 1,708 brake discs, 397 brake shoes, and 202 kits, as well as 223 brake drums, are proof that Textar offers one of the largest product portfolios for current motor vehicles.

Every Textar friction product is developed for a specific vehicle, brake system, and purpose. Working with 797 different raw materials we have created around 50,000 unique low met & NAO friction formulations, over the last three decades alone. The modern driving experience demands quieter braking – particularly for electric vehicles. Textar has a dedicated ‘Noise Vibration Harshness’ team, working with specially developed analytical and simulation tools to achieve

the lift is rising and makes releasing the locks easy as pushing a button. All structural load-holding components are housed within the lift column to provide more clear space between lifts and improve transportation and installation.

AP Series lifts off er the convenience of wide or narrow installation and their BI-METRIC swing arms enable both symmetric and asymmetric lifting from a single lift.

The 10,000-lbs. capacity 10AP, 10AP-168, 10APX and 10APX-181 are ALI Certified to meet industry safety and performance standards.

For more information:

www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/two-post-lifts/10ap

braking comfort. All are tested to meet the most demanding quality standards by our global R&D network.

With locations in Europe, USA, Brazil, Mexico, China, and Japan we are able to offer unmatched worldwide product availability through a seamless and highly automated global network. We are committed to making our friction formulations compliant with environmental and regulatory standards. We were the first to supply a copper-free high-performance friction material to the OE, 95% of Textar friction formulations are copper and antimony free. We cut waste by 50% and recycled over 4,000 tons of abrasive material in 2022. Textar is continually refining brake technology in the pursuit of excellence. Worldpac is the exclusive distributor of Textar products in North America.

Visit worldpac.com to learn more and become a customer.

Columns THE FIXER

Aaron Stokes

BREAKING DOWN GROSS PROFIT

WHY A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR NUMBERS CAN ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS

It’s the end of the month. Numbers are flying everywhere. You think you did one thing based on your shop management system, but when you get your P&L from your accountant, it turns out you did something totally different. None of the numbers make sense; they don’t add up. And now you’re frustrated. You go home and tell your spouse you don’t know if you want to keep doing this because you’re sick of riding the wave up and down before you finally decide you’re going to dive into the numbers and figure this out. This time, you’re going to fix it. And I’d like to encourage you to x it in a particular way.

Assess by Department

e best way to dive into your numbers is by department, and then by individual. If you think about it, the technicians and the parts are like the factory and they’re producing a di erent widget every single day. It’s never the same. When they’re xing an A/C component or rebuilding transmissions, it’s always a different product. en you have a sales department, service advisors, people ordering parts, customer service and management—that is all overhead. You have to make enough money through the technicians in the back to generate enough to pay for the entire o ce in the front. So, when you’re looking at your numbers and things aren’t adding up or making sense, you have to ask yourself if you’re making enough in the back to pay for the front. If there is no way to make enough back there to pay for the front, then you need to downsize the front, or the back must produce more and if so, one of the easiest ways is to make the back larger, so it can pay for the front more easily.

Help Your Customers Understand Once you get going and you start operating in this methodology with one side paying for the other, you then have to understand what you are going to say to your

customers whenever they come in and question your prices. A lot of owners aren’t going to explain it well. Using an analogy such as, “Well the steakhouse marks up the steak, so we have to mark up the parts.” Unfortunately, that analogy doesn’t always apply. Unlike a restaurant, our customers can go to O’Reilly or NAPA and get their parts. You can’t go to Cisco foods and buy food at a large discount so that comparison doesn’t work, especially when the customer is at the front counter asking why you’re selling them “$50 brakes for $100.” And since your staff isn’t equipped to say, “Well, Mr. Customer, the markup on our labor pays for our technicians and advisors, and the parts markup covers the rent, insurance on the building, utilities, benefits, overhead, etc.” You need to help your customers understand this in a simple way. When you do, it shows that your staff believes in it and understands how the back generates money to pay for the front; you start to get to a higher level of groupthink that you haven’t been at before in your company.

Make Small Changes

When you make too many changes in your company at once, and you decide you’re going to change the marketing plan, add a technician and hire a new salesperson, you’ve changed so many factors that there’s no way to know what’s impacted the business. I like to do split tests—testing one change at a time to get a result. If you make one change and get a result, you will see a breakthrough and gain facts that allow you to make good concrete decisions that create a track record of performance and pro tability. I’ll make one change, let the dust settle. Another change, let the dust settle. I realize that big doors swing on little hinges and that small changes might create a huge e ect. I’m going to let these things compile until I build some -

thing amazing. When you shoot from the hip and make too many decisions, you can nd yourself in a hole quickly.

Assess by Position

Another way to look at your numbers is by position, starting with gross profit by technician. Figure out who’s generating the most gross profit. Then take the advisors and divide your overhead by advisor and figure out who’s using the most overhead, and then the rent, etc. I continue to do this so I can figure out who is making me profitable and who is not. As I do this and have only been making one change at a time, I begin to see results. I’ve been focusing on a process, getting my team involved in solving problems and coming up with solutions. This gets my team excited to be a part of this organization, and all of this creates a place where people want to work.

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.

BRING SERVICE RECOMMENDATIONS TO LIFE

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