NOLN - July 2024

THE PLACE TO BE

LUBES ACQUIRED SINCE JANUARY 2014, AND COUNTING! Valvoline™ is seeking single and/or multiple locations performing 7500+ oil changes per year.

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Chris Jones

EDITOR Hanna Bubser

ASSISTANT EDITOR Kacey Frederick

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Adam Tatum, Scott Hempy, Carol Badaracco Padgett

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Lenny Saucier, DIRECTOR OF RETAIL TRAINING, FULLSPEED AUTOMOTIVE

Pete Frey, OPERATOR, TAKE 5 OIL CHANGE

Adam Tatum, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, VIRGINIA GROUP

Bill Floyd, OPERATOR, LUCAS OIL CENTERS

SALES

PUBLISHER Greg Smith gsmith@endeavorb2b.com

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Andrew Johnson ajohnson@endeavorb2b.com

ASSOCIATE SALES DIRECTOR Mattie Gorman-Greuel mgorman@endeavorb2b.com

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Cortni Jones cjones@endeavorb2b.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Diane Braden dbraden@endeavorb2b.com

Marianne Dyal mdyal@endeavorb2b.com

Chad Hjellming chjellming@endeavorb2b.com

Lisa Mend lmend@endeavorb2b.com

Martha Severson mseverson@endeavorb2b.com

Kyle Shaw kshaw@endeavorb2b.com

Sean Thornton sthornton@endeavorb2b.com

ART AND PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR Rhonda Cousin

PRODUCTION MANAGER Mariah Straub

AD SERVICES MANAGER Jen George

ENDEAVOR BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC

CEO Chris Ferrell

PRESIDENT June Griffin

COO Patrick Rains

CRO Paul Andrews

CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER Jacquie Niemiec

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL OFFICER Tracy Kane

EVP ENDEAVOR BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Paul Mattioli

EVP TRANSPORTATION Kylie Hirko

VICE PRESIDENT–VEHICLE REPAIR GROUP Chris Messer

Send letters to news@noln.net Endeavor Business Media does not accept responsibility for advertising content.

Mike Mouch owned other businesses before running a quick lube, allowing him to bring valuable experience into his role as shop owner.

Going the Extra Mile

Mike Mouch and his Michigan-based shop, Conrad’s Quick Lube and Car Wash.

KACEY FREDERICK

QUICK HITS

COLUMNS

BRONCO LUBE IS JIFFY LUBE’S FRANCHISEE OF THE YEAR

Bronco Lube, a South Carolina-based Jiff y Lube franchisee, has been awarded the 2023 Jiff y Lube Franchisee of the Year title. Bronco Lube has 10 locations in upstate South Carolina as well as five in the central area of the state.

Owner Chad Weisbeck spoke with NOLN about what the Franchisee of the Year award means to Bronco Lube, as well as what it’s like to lead an awardwinning franchise.

Weisbeck understands the elbow grease required to make an impact. He says in mid-2021, Bronco Lube had about six locations. Hit the fast-forward button, and Bronco Lube has added four locations just in the past year—and the 15th store for the franchise was opened in March 2024.

Weisbeck describes this growth

that Bronco Lube has historically experienced as adding just one or two locations into the mix at a time, instead of the growth in larger “chunks” that some companies experience.

Hard work is not without its challenges, but for Weisbeck, getting recognized with an award such as this one allows room for reflection on what’s been accomplished.

“There’s that moment of going ...‘Wow, the work that we put in does pay off,’” Weisbeck says. “And those are the moments when you’re recognized, or an award like this that you say, ‘Hey, all the hard work, the determination, the dedication that our team puts in’ ... and so I’m probably most proud for our team that we were able to accomplish such a coveted award and such a great recognition.”

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This story has been edited for brevity. To read it in full and listen to its accompanying episode of The NOLN Podcast, scan the QR code.

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ON SOLID GROUND

The strength of your shop starts with its foundation—literally.

We’re talking about physical building structures. Of course, your shop is more than its four walls. The work that your team does inside and the connections made with customers are important. But shop structure is important too, and each operator has a different approach.

In the 2024 NOLN Operator Survey, we asked respondents about this topic. Did you acquire your shop? Is it a new building? Or maybe you came about it a different way. Here’s where the shops of survey respondents stand.

For the majority of your shops, did you acquire or build new?

THE INVESTOR STANDPOINT

Understanding elements of the quick lube industry that are of interest to investors

BY HANNA BUBSER

FOR NOLN READERS, IT’S always all eyes on quick lube—and every person who has a dedicated interest in this industry has their own stake in the game. This notion also extends to investors.

Steven Shemesh is an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, which is part of the Royal Bank of Canada. He works specifically in equity research.

“Basically, it’s my job to be the expert on a specific subset of companies, and I tend to focus on consumer in general with a skew towards retail,” Shemesh says.

“It’s our job to really assess the financial well-being of these companies and help guide investors who are clients,” Shemesh says. “We help advise them on ... positioning for this specific subset of stocks.”

This includes markets from Walmart and Target to Wayfair and Chewy. Naturally, automotive is in this mix as well, including auto parts and auto services—the likes of Valvoline, Driven Brands, and CarMax.

Shemesh says a lot of time is dedicated to understanding what is going on from an industry level—providing perspective on the direction of companies from a top line (sales and revenue) viewpoint to a profitability viewpoint. To provide some context and how it applies to quick lube, Shemesh spoke with NOLN about a few key topics.

The Electric Element

When it comes to electric vehicle penetration and its potential impact on the quick lube market, Shemesh explains how investors are learning and doing the math on EVs. RBC has an EV model that they update, which currently approximates about 8% of vehicles sold as electric.

“There’s a big difference, though, between the amount of vehicles being sold and what the car parc actually looks like,” Shemesh says.

Shemesh says, for example, if you were assume that by 2020, 60% of vehicles sold are electric, (which he says feels like a stretch, as the infrastructure may not be there for that growth) and 100% by 2040, the car parc would see a shift from majority ICE to EV around the year 2045. But that’s not the end of the equation.

“The core customer for a Take 5 or a Valvoline is going to be driving a vehicle that’s between 5 and 15 years old,” Shemesh continues. “So, you take that math of 2045 when that starts to top and you apply, conservatively, maybe another seven years to that—you’re looking at really 2050 before you start to see a material impact to demand.”

Then, look at that shift from the investor perspective.

“From an investor standpoint, I think the multiples maybe start to get affected a little bit before that if EV demand starts to ramp up pretty quickly, but from a pure quick lube demand standpoint, I think most

people are starting to understand that it’s going to be a significant amount of time until that actually starts to affect the P&L of a company,” Shemesh says.

Real Estate Reality

Physical buildings are factors of consideration as well. Shemesh mentions pits as an example of difference depending upon which quick lube banner you are looking at. Additionally, the bays play a role.

Shemesh says RBC tends to see a consistent trend of two-to-three bays per quick lube facility, which can sometimes be accredited to the fact that many quick lubes exist in confined real estate scenarios such as the parking lot of a strip mall.

“Now, you can get creative in what that looks like and have two-to-three longer bays,” Shemesh says. “And, for instance, if you have three bays that are two cars deep, you can basically fit five cars in at any given time and still allow for every vehicle in there to exit if you leave that middle front open.”

Shemesh says that’s an area many players are looking into, as well as how it all ties back to electric vehicles.

“I think another one interesting debate here, is at some point, electric vehicle demand is going to increase, and quick lube players are going to have to find ways to be helpful and do preventative maintenance on electric vehicles,” he says.

This may involve a longer type of maintenance for providers who are more used to quick 15-minute oil change increments—meaning something like two bays may end up being the “less attractive” avenue, according to Shemesh.

“We’ve heard from some people in the industry that they don’t want a building with two bays because eventually services are going to take a little bit longer and if you only have

two bays and one of them is clogged up for an hour, that significantly reduces the amount of time—the amount of vehicles that you can service per day,” he says.

Additional Areas

Investors want to know where quick lube customers are coming from. Shemesh points to a compelling data point that most quick lube shops get their volume of customers from an eight to 10-minute radius of their location.

It’s not a matter of only having one service provider per geographical area—Shemesh says there is a potential for there to be, for example, two providers in a city that can still see 50 to 100 vehicles per day at their locations.

There is also an investor focus on where same-store sales growth is coming from, Shemesh notes. Is it the switch from conventional to synthetic blend or full synthetic? Is it additional services such as windshield wipers and cabin filters? Or is it consistent list price increases? These are questions worth pondering.

“So, obviously oil changes ... they’re not a new concept,” Shemesh says. “There’s a finite amount to go around and right now everyone is getting their oil changed somewhere. So, where are these quick lube players going to actually be growing transactions from? Where are they going to be gaining share from? Is it from other quick lube players? Is it from dealerships? Is it from tire and repair shops? So, I think that’s a big focus for a lot of folks right now.”

VERY CHERRY CAR WASH

PAMA RECOGNIZES AWARD WINNERS AT IFLEX 2024

The Preventative Automotive Maintenance Association gave out multiple awards at the PAMA President’s Reception, which was held on May 12 as part of iFLEX 2024. Each winner was a surprise up until the moment they were announced. This year’s honorees include:

• Vendor of the Year: Federated Insurance

• Advocate of the Year: Justin Cialella, Victory Lane Quick Oil Change

• Up & Coming: Donavon Cabell, Lucas Oil Centers

• Operator of the Year: Jason Lyon, AutoLube Express

• Distinguished Service: Mark Bochnowski, Oil Changers

iFLEX ran May 13 through May 15 in Nashville, Tennessee. NOLN attended the show. Photos and coverage from the PAMA education sessions at iFLEX and photos from the trade show floor can be found at noln.net. Type “iFLEX 2024” into the search bar.

JIFFY LUBE FRANCHISEE CELEBRATES OPENING OF 100TH LOCATION

A Jiffy Lube franchisee has achieved a new milestone with the opening of a new location in Valdosta, Georgia, according to a press release.

Located at 4189 Bemiss Road, the new shop is operated by Stonebriar Auto Services, LLC, and marks the opening of its 100th location.

Though the Jiffy Lube brand has 63 stores across Georgia, Stonebriar’s recent opening will be the first Jiffy Lube in the town of Valdosta.

“We are thrilled to be part of the Valdosta community,” said Steve Isom, executive vice president of Stonebriar. “Jiffy Lube not only cares

about cars, we care about our customers and are excited to introduce the residents of Valdosta to the Jiffy Lube experience.”

STUDY: AVERAGE VEHICLE AGE CONTINUES TO RISE, BRINGING OPPORTUNITY FOR AFTERMARKET

Recent data from S&P Global Mobility reveals that the average age of vehicles in the U.S. has only continued to grow, according to a press release. 2024 has seen a new record set in average vehicle age, growing to 12.6 years—an increase of two months from 2023.

According to Todd Campau, aftermarket practice lead at S&P Global Mobility, vehicles aged between 6 and 14 years are most likely to seek out aftermarket service, making the continued rising of the average age a good sign for aftermarket businesses.

Vehicles in this age range current account for almost 38% of vehicles, with that number expected to rise to 40% through 2028.

In the next five years, cars 14 years and older are expected to make up 70% or more of current vehicles in operation.

The total number of vehicles in operation increased by 2 million in 2024, but is a group being increasingly comprised of older vehicles.

In 2019, vehicles newer than 6 years made up 98 million of vehicles in operation, but that number has since dropped to less than 90 million.

Vehicles in this age range aren’t expected to return to 2019 numbers until 2028, S&P predicts.

The data also examined vehicle scrappage rates, which is the number of cars that were removed from the active vehicle population.

January 2024’s scrappage rate of 4.6% has changed little from that of last year, which reported 4.5%.

MIDAS MAKES DONATION TO FLORIDA VETERAN SUPPORT GROUP FOR MILITARY APPRECIATION MONTH

Midas made a donation to an organization supporting veterans in Florida in honor of Military Appreciation Month, according to a news release.

May was Military Appreciation Month, and Midas made a $1,500 donation to United Way of Palm Beach County’s MISSION UNITED initiative.

Palm Beach County—where Midas parent company TBC Corporation is based—is home to over 73,000 veterans. MISSION UNITED works to provide guidance to employment services, education, legal assistance, health care, affordable housing support, and other resources for veterans in the area.

SOCIETY OF TRIBOLOGISTS AND LUBRICATION ENGINEERS NAMES NEW PRESIDENT

The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers has announced Jack McKenna of Sea-Land Chemical Co. as its 2024-2025 president, according to a press release.

Having been with Sea-Land Chemical for 27 years, McKenna has served in a variety of different roles, and currently works as vice president of corporate accounts for the company.

In 2005, McKenna was a chair of the STLE Chicago Section, and has remained an active member of the executive committee for over two decades. He also sat as a board member for STLE from 2009 through 2015 in sections affairs, the audit committee, and strategic planning.

Effective May 21, 2024, McKenna will begin a one-year term as

president of STLE, serving as the organization’s principal executive officer and the chair of its board of directors.

Other additions to the STLE executive committee for the 20242025 term will include President Kevin Delaney of Vanderbilt Chemicals Co.; Secretary Steffen Bots of LUBESERV; Treasurer Dr. William B. Anderson of Afton Chemical Corp.; Immediate Past President Dr. Hong Liang of Texas A&M University; and STLE Executive Director Rebecca Lintow.

“STLE is such a diverse community, and my plan is to engage with all parts in the coming year and learn what we can do to make our shared experience even better,” stated McKenna. “My hope is to reinvigorate local section activities and increase

knowledge about and participation in the Scholarship and Investments for the Future Fund (SIFF).”

USED VEHICLE INVENTORY ON THE RISE FOLLOWING UNDERWHELMING TAX REFUND SEASON

A recent Cox Automotive analysis of data from vAuto Live Market shows an increase in used vehicle inventory following an unimpressive tax refund season.

The beginning of May saw a total of 2.27 million vehicles in supply at franchised and independent dealerships nationwide. It’s a 6% increase from last year, and a number that’s grown from the 2.22 million vehicles reported this past April.

The used vehicle day supply was

46 at the beginning of May; one day more than last month. This number is based on the estimated daily retail sales rate of the most recent 30-day period—which in this case saw more than a 7% increase in used vehicle sales from last year.

Though used vehicle prices in 2024 are comparably lower to that of last year, they’ve been gradually increasing each month.

The market for used vehicles under $15,000 is an ever-shrinking one, with dealerships typically having 36 days of supplies worth—22% less than every other price range.

When looking at regions, the South currently has the lowest days’ supply of used vehicles.

The top five used vehicle brands of May were Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

With vehicles being sold for 9% under the average listing price for all vehicles sold, these brands made up 49% of used vehicles sold in May.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE DEMAND WILL INCREASE IN SECOND HALF OF DECADE, STUDY SUGGESTS

A recent study from Cox Automotive suggests that there will be a spike in those looking to purchase an electric vehicle within the next few years.

Cox’s 2024 Path to EV Adoption Study showed that nearly half of those currently looking to buy a vehicle are not considering an EV–but that may soon change.

As improvements in technology and charging infrastructure

progress, 54% of those currently not considering EVs–referred to as “Skeptics” in the study–will become EV “Considerers” within the next three to five years.

Within the next ten years, the study suggests, 80% of current EV Skeptics will transition into becoming Considerers.

Current EV skeptics cite a desire for technological improvements in areas including range, battery life, and reliability to be made before they consider EVs.

For current Considerers, they cite high prices as the biggest barrier to purchasing an EV–for Skeptics, their biggest issue is a lack of charging stations.

Between 2026 and 2028, the study predicts 79% of those shopping for both new and used cars will be

considering an EV, and that by 2033, 90% of consumers will be looking to purchase one.

Though there’s been a recent slump in EV demand, the study claims it isn’t indicative of a trend dying out, but rather is reflective of market dynamics changing with EV sales entering a new phase of development.

“While we’ve seen EV sales growth slow and consideration dip, we believe this is part of a normal growth curve and not the end of the story,” stated Cox Automotive Vice President of Research and Market Intelligence, Isabelle Helms. “With more infrastructure, education, and technological innovation and improvements, we believe electric vehicle sales will continue to grow in the long term.”

QUICK LUBE Q&A: SEAN NGUYEN OF SHELL LUBRICANTS

Sean Nguyen, Pennzoil technical specialist at Shell Lubricants, highlights an informed approach to vehicle lubrication

BY NOLN STAFF REPORTERS

VEHICLE LUBRICANTS ARE TOP-OF-MIND for any quick lube shop owner, as well as the rest of the automotive aftermarket. Certainly shop owners are wellversed in this topic, but there are many details to consider when it comes to using these lubricants and educating the customer about them.

For this Quick Lube Q&A, NOLN spoke with Sean Nguyen, who is a Pennzoil technical specialist at Shell Lubricants. Nguyen explained the importance of lubricants from his Pennzoil perspective—from storage to customer knowledge, trends, and routine and seasonal maintenance.

NOLN: Sean, can you explain your job at Shell? What does your work entail?

Sean Nguyen: I wear quite a few hats in my role as a Pennzoil technical specialist at Shell, but specifically, I am a lubricant chemist by trade. With more than 24 years dedicated to studying lubricants including greases, asphalt,

and engine oils, my experiences have been fun.

NOLN: In general, what kind of information is important for shop owners to relay to customers concerning vehicle lubricants?

Sean Nguyen: It’s crucial to emphasize the importance of routine maintenance and the utilization of the appropriate lubricants, such as Pennzoil products, for customers aiming to extend the lifespan of their vehicles.

This involves conducting regular service checks during both the winter and summer, ensuring the right fluids are topped off, and using the specific fluids/ lubricants designed for their particular vehicle model.

NOLN: Quick maintenance shops see cars come through their bays all year long. As the seasons change, so do some service opportunities. What can shop teams do to help their customers understand seasonal maintenance?

Sean Nguyen: Many shops only see their customers for a quick oil change, but this is an ideal time to conduct swift 10-point service inspections.

NOLN: What is helpful for shop teams to understand about the consumer perspective of vehicle lubrication?

Sean Nguyen: In many cases, consumers are not aware of the correct lubricants to use for their vehicles— they may think “oil is oil” and all products should perform the same.

When advising customers on the importance of regular oil changes, it is critical to emphasize utilizing the correct type of motor oil.

It’s important for customers to be aware that the type of motor oil their vehicle needs is usually determined by the vehicle’s manufacturer. This information can often be found directly in the owner’s manual for the vehicle or Pennzoil’s Technical Information Center at 1-800-BEST-OIL (237-8645).

Store owners can highlight the benefits of selecting the appropriate motor oil, which not only extends the engine’s life but also offers enhanced protection.

This is particularly true when customers choose a Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic Motor Oil, known for maximizing engine protection.

This time should be used to inform customers about the necessity of seasonal maintenance, including the replacement of wiper blades, the replenishment of coolants, the changing washer fluids suitable for extreme temperatures, and the adjustment of tire air pressure to enhance fuel efficiency. These types of service inspections can significantly contribute to establishing trust with the customer.

NOLN: In the summer, hot temperatures can take a toll on people and vehicles alike. What are some things to note about using and storing vehicle lubricants during the summer season?

Sean Nguyen: To ensure lubricants are stored correctly, it is recommended to keep them in their original packaging to prevent any misidentification. Additionally, store these products in a location protected from environmental exposure to prevent contamination by dust and water.

It’s also important to regularly rotate your stock, ensuring that all lubricants are used within 48 months of their manufacturing date to maintain their effectiveness and quality.

NOLN: How can shop owners set themselves up for success when prepping for the preventative maintenance needs of the next season—in this case, the fall?

Sean Nguyen: Begin the process early by informing your customers through those 10-point inspections.

For example, provide them with a clear, color-coded indicator—green, yellow, or red—to help them understand when items require replacement or servicing.

Position yourself as a trusted advisor rather than just a salesperson. This approach, I believe, will encourage customers to come back for more visits.

NOLN: What are some strategies shop owners can take to stay informed on vehicle lubrication news and updates?

Sean Nguyen: Maintain a strong relationship with your brand and lubricant sales representatives. At Pennzoil, our sales representatives place a significant focus on providing industry trends and market insights, aiming to support the development and profitability of our partners. Communicate your requirements to your sales representative to find out how they can assist you.

NOLN: Are there any trends that you are following in terms of vehicle lubrication?

Sean Nguyen: We see that consumers are keeping their vehicles longer. This means they need products that will aid in extending the life of their vehicles. So, high mileage engine oils will be important. For vehicles that are relatively new but have already covered a significant distance, we suggest using Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage Full Synthetic Motor Oil.

As the intervals between oil changes continue to extend, it’s worth noting that many consumers often neglect to check their vehicle’s fluid levels. So, it’s beneficial to advise them to bring their vehicles in for a fluid level inspection and top-off every 2,0003,000 miles.

This not only enables the shop to identify any necessary additional services but also assists in maintaining the customer’s vehicle, fostering brand loyalty, and ensuring they come back for future services or repairs.

Selling Store Atmosphere

Taking the temperature of your shop’s environment

team about your desired temperature of your store is the equivalent of setting the temperature on the thermostat in your home. On a hot day, the temperature will begin to creep up, but your thermostat will adjust and bring the temperature down.

Scott Hempy leads the team at Oilstop Drive-Thru Oil Change and Happy’s Drive-Thru Car Wash. Oilstop and Happy’s are rapidly growing their footprint of oil change and express car wash locations across the West Coast, combining convenience with an outstanding emphasis on guest experience.

Prior to Oilstop & Happy’s, Scott was the founder and CEO at Filld, a SaaSbased software solution for last-mile oil and gas delivery companies. He was recognized as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2016 for starting Filld.

@0ILSTOPINC.COM

THE ATMOSPHERE OF A RETAIL ESTABLISHment is immediately noticeable to a guest when they enter. We have all walked into a restaurant that is mostly empty and quiet where the staff doesn’t acknowledge your arrival. You might even have had the reaction, “Are they open?” Compare that to the experience of walking into your local favorite spot, which is bustling with energy and where the team acknowledges your arrival, greeting you warmly by name. These are two very different retail atmospheres.

At Oilstop, we call this “store atmosphere.” The store atmosphere is a palpable reflection of the environment we’ve created for our guests to enter. A good store atmosphere is vital to creating an environment where you can welcome guests, serve them, and provide an experience that will cause them to return. Creating the recipe for a positive store atmosphere involves two key ingredients.

The first ingredient to create a positive store atmosphere is se ing the “temperature of the store.” The temperature of a store is the energy of your store and team. In the quiet and empty restaurant described above, the store’s temperature is low. The team is quiet, tired, non-responsive, and not engaging. This low temperature doesn’t create a positive environment for guests to feel welcomed.

However, a high temperature isn’t necessarily a great experience either. When the team’s temperature is too high it can cause an environment where the team appears stressed, chaotic, and frenetic. This high temp can cause mistakes to be made and guests to feel rushed. A crowded Costco at peak time is a good example of the temperature being too hot. Entering an overcrowded Costco is more stressful than welcoming.

Identifying the right temperature for your store is an important step for guiding your team to set the temperature for the store. The right temperature for your store will vary depending on what type of environment you want to create. The best temperature for a library is different from the best temperature for a bustling beer hall.

Deciding and communicating with your

Once you’ve clearly communicated the expected temperature of your store to your team, on a busy day when things begin to get stressful, rushed and frenetic, your leaders will notice and slow things down. On a quiet day, the leaders in your store can help bring the team’s energy up. At Oilstop, we train our store managers to help set the store temperature to best create an environment of hospitality and efficiency.

The second tenant to create a positive store atmosphere is having good language in your store. Compare a shop where the team is angry at one another, cursing, and not communicating well to a burger counter where the cashier calls out the order to the cook who repeats it back and immediately fires up the grill.

Strong bay calls from a lube tech to a service writer help communicate thoroughness or a sense of urgency to guests. When a good waiter arrives at your table and communicates the daily specials with ease and confidence, it increases your confidence in how those specials might taste. If the waiter can’t remember the specials, are you really going to trust it’s the best option on the menu?

Clearly training the language of your store to your team will help control the store atmosphere. This takes intentionality in deciding what kind of store atmosphere you want to create. Some quick lubes might opt for loud boisterous bay calls, while others might focus on calm confidence in their presentations to guests.

At Oilstop we have opted for loud and positive bay calls in our stores to create an atmosphere of urgency, excitement, and confidence. But we don’t want our techs to loudly yell certain things out. For example, “I just stripped the drain plug thread,” isn’t something we want called out loudly to the bay. Continue reading at https://www.noln.net/33037995/ scott-hempy

An Industry

Exploring the familial connection to quick maintenance

By Hanna Bubser

with Roots

Like Father, Like Son Blair and Jordan Hill of Pro Lube in Rigby, Idaho.

Some family trees have branches that extend to include more than just people. Look at the top of the tree and you may just find a family shop that ties everyone together.

These shops can leave a lasting impression. But why is the familial connection so strong in automotive specifically? How does it shape the work that’s being done in the industry each day? NOLN looked at two family-oriented examples to find out.

GENERATIONAL APPEAL

Pro Lube in Rigby, Idaho, is a shop built from old growth. Blair Hill, who has been working in the oil and lube industry since the 1990s, started Pro Lube in 2019 after managing another shop for many years.

But Pro Lube wasn’t a solo venture. Blair and his son Jordan, who is the shop’s operations manager, have built the business together.

Jordan originally started working alongside his father when he was 14 years old. It’s no surprise that he started young, as he grew up on the family’s three-generation farm watching his father and grandfather work on machinery.

Pair that with the work his father was doing managing a shop at the time, and the automotive industry connection was inevitable.

“From a young age, at the time I was 6 and 7 (years old), I remember tearing carburetors apart on snowmobiles and dirt bikes and taking old parts off of old dead machines and throwing them on one that worked,” Jordan Hill says.

Hill has had three jobs in his life—and at 28 years old, he says he knows this industry is where he’s meant to be.

“To me, this is home,” Hill says. “This is what I do and what I enjoy.”

Serving the small community of Rigby is fulfilling for Hill, as his father’s established career in the industry has allowed Pro Lube to see entire families of customers come through its bays.

“We changed grandpa’s oil and now his kids and ... his grandkids are our customers,” Hill says. “So, we’ve gotten to know a lot of our returning customer base for generations.”

Hill says customers appreciate the family dynamic of the shop. When they come for an oil change, it’s not just an oil change. It’s an opportunity to make a personal connection and check in with one another.

COURTESY OF JORDAN HILL

“We’re building friendships and catching up on old memories,” Hill says.

Hill learned about the importance of genuine customer service by watching his father interact with people—and those aren’t the only relationships that are strong. Hill says he and his father simply work well together.

“Our dynamic and our relationship is really awesome,” Hill says. “A lot of times, you hear of family businesses that don’t work out—the father/son relationship thing doesn’t really work. Luckily, in our situation it’s awesome. Him and I are both like-minded (and) have the same drive, motivation, (and) the same end goal.”

Their working relationship is part of what motivates customers to return. Hill says customers will drive from outside of the Rigby area to get their oil changed, not because there isn’t anything closer to them, but because of the way they’re treated at Pro Lube—like family.

“If you need help or you’re in trouble, the first people you’re going to go to (are) your family. You’re not going to run to some total stranger and ask for help,” Hill says. “You’re going to go to somebody that you know that you trust; somebody that you can confide in.”

The Pro Lube priority is to have customers leave the shop with a smile on their face, says Hill. Establishing trust is a big part of this approach.

“When our customers come in here, they know they’re getting taken care of. They know that they’re getting a quality service,” Hill says. “They know that if they leave our shop, they can go on a 2,000-mile road trip without a hiccup—and that’s what we want. That whole aspect right there, that’s our goal. That’s what we strive for.”

The emphasis on relationship building is part of what helped inspire Hill to dedicate himself to the quick lube industry long-term. He says taking care of people and their cars while hearing their stories is part of who he is as a person and is what he wants to spend his time doing.

“That really sparked a desire within myself to stay in this industry and keep building that dream that my dad instilled in me from a young age,” Hill says.

A saying often conveyed at Pro Lube is that you shear a sheep 1,000 times but you can only skin a sheep once— and Hill’s not in the game of skinning sheep.

“Those family values of doing an honest job and those kinds of things are what keeps you in business and what builds a business,” Hill says.

People don’t want to feel like a number, Hill says— they want to feel important. He describes the feeling he has after a busy day at the shop when every customer leaves happy and they tell other people about their great experience.

Word-of-mouth marketing is a major consideration at

Pro Lube. Hill says it’s as either “your biggest advertisement or your biggest downfall.” That’s why it’s an honor in his eyes to be recommended by others.

“To have somebody trust you and appreciate you enough to refer their friends and family to you is more rewarding than anything,” Hill says.

Ultimately, it all ties back to that family atmosphere and having a service-forward mindset. Investing effort into customers by treating them like family means they’ll do the same in return.

“If you’re focused on those family values and doing a great job ... the community will take care of you,” Hill says.

THE HEART OF IT

Scott Accardo has a deeply rooted connection to SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service, where he currently serves as the vice president of operations.

It started in the 1980s during Accardo’s childhood in Louisiana. His father opened the very first SpeeDee franchise location. Early exposure to the SpeeDee model allowed Accardo to learn and gain shop skill sets.

“You name it, I did it,” Accardo says of the tasks he performed. “My dad always told me that you’ll never move up in the company until you master the one below you.”

Accardo started on courtesy—washing windows, vacuuming, and the like. From there, he moved to the pit. Then he went under the hood. Eventually, he became ASE certified.

Growing up in the shop environment, Accardo witnessed all the ins and outs of the automotive aftermarket, which, like any other industry, has its ups and downs.

“One thing I’ll say is, it’s not ... always perfect. It’s not always the easiest job to do. So, there are a lot of challenges in there,” Accardo says. “And it was stressful at times.”

His father didn’t shy away from showing the “not-so-good times,” like when the shop would have a bad week but still had payroll to make. Accardo says seeing this helped show how the bad and good can go together.

Shop life also helped build his people skills by learning how to talk to customers from an early age. His father also encouraged him to take the Dale Carnegie Training

The word 'care' goes a long way, especially in today's industry.

–SCOTT ACCARDO, VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, SPEEDEE OIL CHANGE & AUTO SERVICE

Course, which revolves around themes of professional development and public speaking. Accardo graduated with 100% a endance, and it helped boost his confidence even more.

“If you’re not interested in talking to the consumers, this is not the job for you, because we want to be out there talking to the customers,” Accardo says.

What started as one shop turned into three locations under his family’s purview—and the day eventually came when a manager position opened. Accardo says he’ll never forget when his father approached him with the job offer.

“And of course, me being me, I always want to learn something new,” Accardo says. “So, I jumped into the position in a second—wanting to do it. So, then I was managing the store.”

As time went on, Accardo says his father would step away from tasks around the shop and allow Accardo to step into them. Accardo took over the operational side and his sister did the books until she le the business.

“I’ve pre y much done every single job that’s in a quick lube because I would never expect anyone to do something in the store that I hadn’t done before,” Accardo says. “And I’m a big believer on that.”

Jumping in to do any task is something that Accardo says goes a long way. He says when employees see their bosses in the pit, greeting the customer, and spending all day in the shop, they have an increased inspiration of dedication to the business.

This type of dedication is something Accardo himself held onto, even when he went to college and received a degree in criminology. He says he felt a “tug” to rejoin the family business. It was something he truly wanted to return to, despite exploring the possibilities of a different career.

Two major things pulled him back in: one being the desire to continue working with his family, and the other being the strong customer base. He paid special a ention to cultivating lasting customer relationships.

“My goal was for the customer to not just ask for me, but ask for anybody that was employed there,” Accardo says. “And that was a huge success that I did at the store, was ge ing those customers to come in and say, ‘Where’s Sco ? Where’s Mike? Where are these individuals? Oh, they’re off today? OK, I’ll come back tomorrow.’”

Accardo learned from his father not to be afraid to be a “tester,” as he puts it. His father would try new ideas at the shop and learn from how well each approach worked.

“So, that was a huge experience in my life, knowing to step outside the box and take those chances,” Accardo

whenever a new location would open, he’d call up his father and tell him the news.

“He was so proud of growing the SpeeDee name, that it just made me proud of what I did,” Accardo says. “And my dad was a huge supporter of whatever I did, but growing the SpeeDee system was something that we really took to our hearts because we had been doing it since the beginning.”

Accardo says spending a career in a shop se ing has been rewarding. He’s formed meaningful bonds with customers and seen other franchisees succeed firsthand— just like his father did.

“The word ‘care’ goes a long way, especially in today’s industry, because when the franchisee is at the store and the customers can talk to them, they know that they’re there—they’re watching over their business, they care for their customers, and they’re there to solve any problem if they were to have one right then and there," Accardo says. Accardo has used what he refers to as GEMS (Greeting Enhancement Mechanisms) to cultivate this bond. He introduces himself and talks to people as a friend— o entimes bringing up topics of conversation that have nothing to do with the work performed on the vehicle. It makes a difference.

Accardo says family-owned shops can find success with longtime customers because when they see a family running a business, they feel a connection—and “a family member wants to deal with a family.”

His family-first experience with the industry not only formed some of his experiences growing up, but also led to a fruitful career with the SpeeDee name— learning, growing, and making it his own while remaining connected to how he got there.

“I’ve always wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted to show others what I was capable of accomplishing,” Accardo says. “Anything that was put in front of me—I didn’t run from it, I spearheaded it. And I wanted to make sure that I could either solve the problem or learn from the mistakes.”

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G theing Extra Mile

After suffering through an injury and selling his racetrack business, Mike Mouch of Conrad’s Quick Lube and Car Wash had more he needed to do

By Kacey Frederick

Some people just can’t quit. For Mike Mouch, since leaving high school he has found himself owning businesses: From landscaping to a racetrack to a quick lube shop, Mouch has proved himself as a household name within Lake Odessa, Michigan.

After suffering an injury and having to sell his previous business, Mouch found himself yet again running another operation—this time, a local quick lube shop, sold to him by the widow of the recently deceased owner.

Mouch was entrusted to take the business and uphold its reputation in the community, and not only would he uphold it but lift it to new heights.

THE FINAL LAP

Though Mouch has a history of working around cars, he wasn’t initially involved with auto care. He owned a local racetrack for nearly two decades, hosting around 2,000 to 3,000 people each week.

With food, auto parts, and souvenirs for sale, the racetrack became a burgeoning place of activity for Lake Odessa: a town so tiny it doesn’t have one stoplight within it. As the racetrack grew in popularity, Mouch became familiar with other local business owners and established himself as a part of the community.

Mouch’s foray into the quick lube field began with an injury forcing him away from the racetrack. A fall

caused him to injure his back and shatter his ribs, and for a while, it was unclear if he would be able to ever walk again.

Not only that, but Mouch was simultaneously dealing with the recent death of his father. It all became too much for him to handle, and he finally decided to sell the racetrack to an individual who had long been eager to buy it. Mouch completed the sale while lying in a hospital bed.

‘THE HAIR SALON OF OIL CHANGE’

It wasn’t long before Mouch would find himself drawn yet again to owning a business. Just as he was

Business-Centered

getting healed up to the point where he could walk around, he decided to visit the local farm supply store when he overheard that the owner of an auto shop in town, Cobb’s Quick Lube, had passed away.

First opened in 2002, Mouch was familiar with the business as they had sponsored his racetrack for a time, even having their own VIP viewing box. He got in touch with the owner’s wife, and when she mentioned that she would be selling Cobb’s, Mouch expressed interest.

His relationships with the community and experience as a business owner have undoubtedly been helpful for Mouch, but one of the greatest assets he gained with the

shop was the previous owner’s son staying on as manager.

Though Mouch was familiar with the process of ordering parts and supplies, the original owner’s son provided him with insight into the companies and brands he would be working with and the specific needs of the business he now runs.

great-grandfather, who all three had the middle name Conrad.

“The best asset I could have had, honestly,” says Mouch. “He’s a good teacher, trainer, and he’s young and he’s a go-getter.”

After taking over the shop, Mouch decided to change its name from Cobb’s to Conrad’s, in memory of his father, grandfather, and

One of Mouch’s biggest motivations for taking over the business was his passion for community involvement, and it was something he didn’t hesitate to integrate into Conrad’s Quick Lube and Car Wash. He would occasionally set up an enclosed barbecue trailer that offered smoked wings, briskets, and sandwiches.

STEVE WHITE, WHITE’S PHOTOGRAPHY

Mike Mouch owns Conrad’s Quick Lube and Car Wash in Lake Odessa, Michigan, where he used to run a racetrack.

Shared Space

“Our town only has McDonald’s and a Dairy Queen, there’s not a whole lot to eat here,” Mouch explains. “We were cooking homemade smoked mac and cheese, and briskets, and pulled pork, so we were selling like 125 meals roughly a day.”

While Mouch can often be found in the shop working with his techs, he’s commonly in front building relationships with customers.

He views it as one of the most essential parts of building a business that people remember and are invested in.

“I’m kind of like the local, older guy coffee shop, I guess; like the hair salon of oil change,” says Mouch, laughing.

Though Lake Odessa is a small town, Conrad’s Quick Lube and Car Wash is in a good area, giving it a lot of potential to be the sort of social hub Mouch describes. Indeed, he derives genuine

satisfaction from having a sort of fellowship with his customers, and it’s something he finds easy—but he credits having a wonderful team with that.

FELLOWSHIP OF THE SHOP

Mouch doesn’t get overwhelmed often. Having owned businesses since graduating from high school helped him, as well as inheriting the previous owner’s son as a manager— but without a reliable crew, that all becomes moot.

Though he realizes he’s the owner and boss of the shop, Mouch rarely has to remind his crew of this. They know what they need to do, and if they don’t, the relationship they have with Mouch encourages open communication.

Each week, the staff attend meetings to discuss thoughts or concerns they have about anything happening in the shop. If there’s something they aren’t

understanding or a problem they’re having, Mouch is receptive and works with them to find a solution.

When hiring techs, it’s important to Mouch that they not only are capa ble but fit in with the shop’s culture. He’s more than willing to hire a tech with little technical training but a great work ethic—the latter is much harder to teach to someone.

Respect and communication in Mouch’s shop is a two-way street. From chatting with customers to throwing a pigskin around outside with his techs during downtime, being immersed in his community and connecting with others energizes him too much for him to feel drained.

“I feel like you’re only as good as what the people around you are,” Mouch says. “So, surround yourself with good people, and you’ll be fine, and want to go to work every day, and not expect anything for free, and enjoy what you do.”

Mike Mouch hires those with technical ability and who fit well with the shop culture at his Michigan quick lube and car wash.

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STRATEGIC NETWORKING: THE ULTIMATE POWER MOVE

Building your network in a way that works for you

BY CAROL BADARACCO PADGETT

WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORDS “MEETING” OR “CONFERence,” do you get the urge to jump into the bay, shut your office door, or simply drive away? If so, you may want to stop, because attendance at select meetings and conferences can actually help your business thrive.

“Look at strategic networking at industry events and conferences as a source that can expose you to best practices in your field and valuable new technologies,” says David Suk Brown, president of DSB Leadership Group, an Austin, Texas-based company that offers leadership training and executive coaching.

Perhaps best of all, networking gives owners an opportunity to engage with other leaders in their field, so nobody has to make the drive solo.

Get Out and Talk Shop

Small shop owners oftentimes make the mistake of trying to operate their quick lube businesses in a silo, Brown observes.

“There’s this sense of, ‘I’ve got to build the business and grow it, and I don’t have time for networking and meeting other people,’” he notes.

But when that’s your mindset, you’re missing out on the chance to learn from other leaders, to compare and contrast ideas, share resources, and build friendships and a support network.

“Networking at industry events gives owners a chance to focus on systems that are working and on repeatable business,” Brown notes. “Maybe you only have time to be a part of one group or organization’s networking event, but it’s worth it.”

He adds, “In fact, you must network to survive in this day and age.”

Here are just a few of the areas where a business can get a tune up from its owner’s networking efforts: improved ROI, reliable intelligence on CRM options, for instance, and important referrals that will pay off when you least expect.

“It’s about meeting the right people, those who can introduce you to people who can help you,” Brown notes. “You might meet the right coach or the right vendor to support your growth.”

Map Out Your Route to Success

If an owner wants to reap the benefits of networking, however, they have to do more than simply show up.

As Brown puts it, “People tend to forget that they have to prepare and plan for success. When I teach conferences and talk about networking, I ask people, ‘What do you want to get?’”

Maybe you want to meet two-to-three people who will become part of your business network. Or maybe there will be a speaker or a company at a conference that you respect and would like to talk with. Or perhaps you need to figure out what industry trends you’ll need to adapt to in order to be successful.

Whatever it is, Brown notes, “Set a goal before you go, and it will help you keep on track.”

What about owners who are introverts?

“Remember that nine out of 10 people don’t even know you’re nervous,” Brown says from his experience coaching business leaders.

If you’re more comfortable keeping your hands busy and at work, Brown suggests using simple grounding techniques that can help you feel a bit more in your comfort zone: “Grounding techniques like putting your hands together and doing a light squeeze can remind you you’re here and with other leaders who are looking for the same things as you. Other techniques include incorporating breathing exercises and integrating personalized affirmation statements.”

He adds, “Most of my clients are introverted, and I also tell them to find a way to decompress after a networking event.”

Make Community Connections

Brown says that when he goes into his local pizza shop, he’ll look at the walls to see if they’re supporting the community, such as their schools or the little league.

“It makes you feel like they care,” he says of businesses in his Texas community who display what they’re doing in the community. “You have to engage with the community and show you care enough to help them do well—and then you’ll do well, too. It’s brand awareness, and it generates word-ofmouth and referrals.” Continue reading at noln.net.

RUNNING A SUPER-FIT BUSINESS

How to cross-train employees for success

BY CAROL BADARACCO PADGETT

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUNNING A SHOP THAT idles or accelerates often boils down to people. Your employees, to be exact—your relationship with them, and their level of commitment.

Once you achieve buy-in, you’ll be left with the most loyal and dedicated of the pack. And you can put them pretty much anywhere, in line with their skills and personalities—according to two successful owners—and see positive results.

How can you achieve this feat of cross-training employees for success? Here are four smart steps.

No. 1

Get to know your people

Nestor Gutierrez is the owner of Rancho Express Lube in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and a 2023 NOLN Best Workplaces winner. He says he has learned a key tenet from successful business owners over the years—one he

has taken to heart. That tenet is that top-notch shops will consistently display committed employees.

“When your team shows up motivated and knows their purpose, it puts your business on a whole different level, and you are unstoppable,” Gutierrez states.

The Rancho Express Lube owner gets to know his team—their needs and strengths—very well by holding bi-monthly meetings with each person he hires.

“I do one-on-ones to get to know them personally,” he describes, through a process he calls PPF. “We talk about anything going on in their lives that I can help them with, professional, personal, and financial.”

Once Gutierrez has insight into his team members’ lives, he says he can help them if they’re willing to put in the work.

“They must have their own goals, or they won’t buy into yours,” he notes. “Then when you really help them out and they see results, you will see loyalty in return.”

For Brian Ross, owner of Crystal River Fast Lube & Repair in Crystal River, Florida, regular meetings are also essential in getting to know the whole team. These meetings are also a great opportunity to let employees see what makes you tick as an owner.

“We have monthly meetings to discuss how to talk to the customer,” he says of cross-training his team, many of whom will eventually come face-toface with car owners, whether or not that’s part of their day-to-day roles at the shop.

When it comes to finding out if an employee you intend to put at the front desk is truly up for the task, Ross observes them in action. “For a courtesy position, as a greeter, you can tell in the first couple of weeks if somebody will be good up there. We have one guy who’s an excellent technician, for example, but who will always stay in the pit.”

No. 2

Evaluate team members’ unique personalities

When it comes to letting his team’s natural personalities shine, Ross found a versatile diamond in the rough among his team at Crystal River Fast Lube & Repair: Jackie, a female tech. “Hiring her is the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” he states.

“Her customer service abilities are beyond even mine,” Ross says. “People look for Jackie when they come in. And if things get messy and people are being tough, she likes to deal with them.”

For Gutierrez, finding people’s strengths is accomplished by administering a Tony Robbins (business coach, author, and speaker) personality assessment test. Robbins’ version of the test is a modern interpretation of personality analysis based on DiSC, which stands for dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness.

“From the DiSC test’s results, you can see strengths that line up with what you want the employee to do,” he says. “I did a test, too.”

From there, Gutierrez can determine

who’s likely to be a good fit for a particular role and for multiple functions, perhaps.

No. 3

Create a rock-solid shop culture

Gutierrez keeps his business culture in top shape by remaining in regular contact with his employees at set intervals throughout each week.

“People won’t be committed to what they’re not used to,” he reasons. “But if you say, ‘Mondays and Fridays we’ll meet at this time,’ for instance, it becomes normal to them.”

Gutierrez holds his mandatory meetings at Rancho Express Lube each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and he focuses on sales growth.

“We focus on honest sales with the customer,” he emphasizes. He will identify his top two salespeople and have them bring along two more to train in the area of sales skills.

From there, each Friday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Gutierrez’s employees know to expect a business-wide end of week meeting.

“Friday meetings start with three positives—what we did good that week. Then we get into improvements we

need to make and how we can do things better,” he says.

He adds that all throughout the week he and his team are writing things down that they’ll share in the meetings. For example, if a customer didn’t buy something that was recommended, they’ll jot down why. And the answer to that question can help the shop provide even better service next time, the owner finds.

For Ross’ shop, team culture involves him being on the floor and in the trenches with his employees—who then get a real-time glimpse into the cross-business abilities of their leader.

“I’m the owner and the manager and I’m involved day to day,” he notes. This is an organic way in which he is visible working alongside his staff—working both lube and repair—and dealing with customers, as well.

From this vantage, Ross and his team are “all in” on what customers need and what it takes to run Crystal River Quick Lube and Repair in the best manner possible.

No. 4

Make sure employees understand the mission Employees need training, cross-training, and they need to understand the targets and goals a shop owner wants to hit.

For Ross, that looks like sharing invaluable resources and articles he finds with his employees. “I have some articles from NOLN that we use as guidelines,” he states.

Gutierrez’s approach to training looks like this: “On the technician side, my mechanics train three times each week, which ties into our three times per week sales training.” He relies on videos as well as training for specific certifications, he says, to keep his team up to date on what’s new and trending that affects his express lube business.

Big-picture, Gutierrez says, “If only the owner knows the target (for growth), it’s hard for employees to hit it.”

He adds, “I can give employees more money and help them reach the goals they desire by giving them an idea of how much we have to sell to be able to do this … it helps them understand.”

Gutierrez actually talks to his employees about where the shop is sitting financially and how much will be left over after payroll, taxes, and other bills. And this is how they shoot together for a specific target.

“I paint that picture for them, and they see the traction and the progress,” he describes. For both owners, the result of their business’s cross-training efforts is to create a healthy, profitable business where each highly qualified employee sees themselves as a crucial team player—in any position they play.

CREATE AN ECOSYSTEM OF SUCCESS

The real-life relationship between employee dynamics and shop success

BY CAROL BADARACCO PADGETT

NUMBERS DON’T LIE. IF A quick lube or repair shop’s employees aren’t working well together, the bottom line takes a hit.

How can an owner keep their business from getting punched?

Cultivate an ecosystem of success, says David Rogers, chief operations manager of Keller Bros. in Littleton, Colorado, an 11-bay repair shop that includes four lube bays, in business since 1974.

Clearly, Rogers’ formula—created alongside owner Terry Keller—works.

“In 1999, Keller Bros. was selected for the National Excellence Award,” Rogers says.

Motor Age Magazine also named Keller Bros. to its list of Top 10 Auto Repair Shops in the U.S. in 2009. The

same year, the business was a top three finalist for the Better Business Bureau’s BBB Torch Award for ethics.

And today, the shop has spawned multiple successful auto industry businesses.

The Backstory

“Years ago, the fire marshal forced us to put up a firewall in our bays,” says Rogers. “Theoretically, all this did was add a wall and a door that split the bays into two, but in reality it created a rift in the team.”

Divided by the physical barrier, the shop’s techs started calling each other “East Siders” or “West Siders.”

And essentially, the two camps stopped working well together and helping each other out.

“This meant my lube bay was cut off

from half of my A-techs,” Rogers says. “Ultimately, I overcame the situation by creating games that rewarded techs for being as helpful as possible to all employees. But that experience has stuck with me ever since.”

The Challenge

While few businesses will come across a literal barrier to good employee business relations, other obstacles will arise. And even at Keller Bros., that proved to be the case.

Trust was a major factor that Rogers learned must be present between employees for a shop to run well.

“If technicians don’t trust the advisors to properly advise customers, they will pencil-whip inspections,” Rogers notes. “And when advisors don’t trust the

COURTESY OF DAVID ROGERS

Beyond the Shop Walls

David Rogers and Terry Keller have

recommendations, techs are making, they won’t educate the customer about everything the tech found.”

To remedy the distrust among ranks, the COO found that it was not enough to rely on intuition and instinct, which he calls “the secret sauce.”

“If you’re not already measuring your team’s performance, setting clear and realistic benchmarks, and monitoring the team’s progress every day, then you’re operating on intuition and instinct,” Rogers states. Intuition and instinct, however,

are a recipe that requires constant tending by an owner or manager, which is not sustainable, he found. Because the moment you take your eyes off employee dynamics and performance, things can start to slide backward again.

The Takeaway

Rogers learned that the best way to keep a watchful eye on employee dynamics at Keller Bros. was through measurement.

“Measurement shows me how frequently my top techs refer work to

the lube bay and vice versa,” he says. “It shows me how my technicians are performing compared to one another, compared to the average technician on (shop management software), and compared to top technicians across the country.”

At Keller Bros., measurement became a critical key to unlocking incentive-based pay plans for employees.

“When a pay plan is built by an expert and designed to create behaviors that grow the shop, it means that the owner no longer has to be the

COURTESY

secret sauce to ensure the culture is healthy and the shop is a productive and efficient environment,” Rogers explains. “Because now the employees have an incentive for creating that environment themselves.”

He also notes that pay plans don’t work in a vacuum: shops must set up marketing plans that draw in high-quality customers so that employees’ incentive pay plans have a chance to work.

“When the marketing you’re using is attracting customers who get angry when you advise them, that situation isn’t sustainable,” Rogers states. “The team will get discouraged that they can’t hit their goals and the whole shop environment will suffer.”

Circling back to good marketing, Rogers has learned throughout his years of operating Keller Bros. that marketing promises have to be fulfilled when a customer walks into your shop.

“Which means all these steps—the measurement, the incentives, the marketing—all depend on the people that you hire, the image your shop projects, and the culture you encourage,” he notes.

To make sure that the steps are working in alignment, Rogers

recommends that owners ask themselves: Does your team understand what makes your shop different? Are they committed to that vision? And have you created an environment where everyone—the owner included—is honest and accountable?

The Aftermath

Today, Keller Bros. is in its 50th year of operation.

Years ago, when the company received its National Excellence Award, it was the springboard for Rogers and Keller to found Auto Profit Masters, a company that provides auto industry business owners with coaching, consulting, and teaching on all the things that lead to happy, productive employees and a healthy business.

“We resolved on day one that we would never teach or consult based on theory, but rather on the direct experience we had and continue to have while running a shop,” Rogers says.

This same mission led the two men to develop a shop management system, as well, called Shop4D, built with the same procedures and processes they use to successfully manage Keller Bros.

Another company, Automated

Marketing Group, also sprang from the Keller Bros. executives.

“Our first coaching clients asked for a recommendation for who they should use for their marketing,” Rogers notes, “and we went on a national search to find somebody we could trust.”

When they couldn’t find a marketing group that fully understood auto repair customers, Keller and Rogers offered to do the marketing themselves, using the same approach that worked at Keller Bros.

In each of their businesses, Rogers says the two men have a goal of helping other shops create an ecosystem of success.

“The reason why Terry and I are still working together 27 years later … is our shared belief that shop owners and shop employees deserve better.” A sustainable business, he reasons, can reap the same results he has seen at Keller Bros, where everyone is taken care of—the owner’s family, the employees’ families, and the community around the shop.

“At Keller Bros. our employees know we’re more than just four walls and a door on Dry Creek Road, and our mission is more than just fixing cars,” Rogers says.

Each year,

National Oil and Lube News compiles this list to highlight top brands in the field— organizations that shape the quick lube industry today. The list represents a diverse group of automotive professionals and businesses that work every day to keep vehicles on the road. The number listed with each brand is representative of store location totals, according to correspondence with company representatives or as listed on brand websites. Some reported numbers are inclusive of U.S. stores only, while others may include international locations. Please note that this data was compiled by NOLN during the spring of 2024, meaning that some numbers may be subject to change.

Industry Moves

Sharing a snapshot of some growth-related news from brands

• In January 2024, Oil Changers introduced Breeze Autocare, a holding company for Oil Changers, The Wash Shop, and Oil Changers + Repair brands.

• In February 2024, Valvoline Inc. celebrated the 1,000th franchise-operated location for the VIOC and Great Canadian Oil Change brands. The VIOC store is located in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is operated by Quality Automotive Services, LLC.

• In March 2024, FullSpeed Automotive introduced a nationwide franchising opportunity for its brand Kwik Kar Oil Change & Auto Care. FullSpeed acquired the Texas-based Kwik Kar in 2022. The FullSpeed family of brands also includes Grease Monkey and SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service

• Take 5 Oil Change’s 1,000th store location was opened in December 2023 in Fort Pierce, Florida. It’s operated by franchisee Purple Square Group. Just a few months prior in October 2023, Take 5’s 300th franchise-operated location was opened by Toxaway Automotive Group in Decatur, Georgia.

• In September

Brothers 10 Minute

of

Digging Out of The Hole

What you can do when you have operational issues

I GUESS THAT MY TAGLINE MIGHT BE A li le broad, but it’s by design. This will be the first of a few entries that you will see regarding this topic.

your property and if you do not, you have a lease. So, you will have to fight to earn new customers and keep the ones that you have.

Adam Tatum is director of operations for the Virginia Group, a Jiffy Lube franchisee with 11 locations.

He has over a decade of experience in the industry with a proven track record of building customer counts and sales, as well as using innovative ways to bring a new look to the automotive field for both the customer and the employee. Performance comes from growing your business through people.

This first one will focus on the store location itself and any outside influence on your business. It is not always the wrong management team or the wrong team that holds us back. Sometimes, unfortunately, it is just changes out of your control that are digging you deeper into a hole.

Let’s just check out the data: In 2023, the oil change market was a $10.8 billion dollar market. The size of the industry increased by nearly 3% and over the last few years, it has grown over 5% on average between 2018 and 2023.

But do you want to know what did not increase like that in the last five years? The automobile sales industry. This means that there are more locations out there for options and less new cars on the road. Much of this is due to the expansion efforts of franchise oil change businesses such as Jiffy Lube, Valvoline, Take 5, Strickland Brothers, and more.

So, here you are, an oil change business operator. Your business has been a staple in your location for 10 years. As the world changed, so did your area. You may not be on the prime street or traffic pa ern anymore. Maybe the mall has changed locations during your time and other businesses have followed. But here you are, the option for the surrounding area for their maintenance needs.

It is maybe a li le slower sometimes—which happens when less people are frequenting your roadway—but it’s manageable. In comes a competitor to the area. They scouted out the best location on the best road with the best traffic pa ern. They are where everything else moved to when they le your area.

Now, your business is drying up and it is not anything that you caused. People are looking for quick options and one-stop shops. They want to go to one place and get things done. It is the next generation of consumers.

So, what can you do to grab your slice of the pie back? It is not like you can just close your doors and move to another spot. You likely own

What you will find when watching how the competitor operates is that they will come in with discounts to start. You will see a large marketing push in your area in digital and print media and even geofencing your location to offer discounts to potential customers of yours. You will lose some.

In the end, the generation today is less brand loyal and more inclined to check out a discount or a shiny new building. So, you will have to get through the initial launch to really make an impact hit back in your favor.

You have multiple advertising options at your disposal at this point. We all know the major ones, like Google marketing, keyword searches, etc. But those cost money, and you will have to spend some, but let us examine some other options.

Remember that you have always been there. These invaders are new to the area and the “community.” How many of you get the call for a coupon code on the high school or local youth sports discount card? They generally only put one oil change place on the card. Make sure that it is you. You can set the discount code as well, allowing you to match what the competition is doing.

Secondly, get into the community arts. How many of you get the chance to sponsor a 5K or to buy the uniforms for the county team? Do it. Those parents and grandparents are drivers. They will appreciate your funding of the team.

Finally, a good marketing ploy involves billboards. Find one that is near your competitor and post it up in the traffic line. Keep the a ention on your business and not the shiny new toy.

There is a way to rebuild your customer counts. Above, we discussed a few things that you could do on the marketing side a er a competitor comes in or when you are not on the right side of town any longer.

There are things that we did not discuss, but that might be for another time. Continue reading at https://www.noln.net/11462623/ adam-tatum PHOTO: LUCAS MOORE

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