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Episode 16- Coralee Hubenig Master Service advisor and Coach
155 Plays2 months ago
Brand new podcast hosted by a Shop owner and a Shop owner/Technician . We dive into shop ownership and how it all began for the both of us. We will be featuring special guests every week from the automotive industry and also a few surprise guests we have lined up in the not so distant future. We want this podcast to be fun but informative about the automotive repair industry. We are not perfect in what we do but operate with integrity and have been doing so for years. Sit back and listen in for some fun banter and conversations about the automotive repair world!
Today we got to speak with Coralee about her role as a Master service advisor. We never knew there was a red seal for parts! Wow, the things you learn on here!! We had a bit of a snafoo with the episode so we will be releasing a episode 16.2 for the rest of the episode :p :p :p
Sit back and enjoy this one! Please like and subscribe! You can also follow us on Facebook @ The Shop N Tread Talk Podcast.
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Transcript
Introductions and Guest Appearance
00:00:00
Coralee Zueff
It's fine.
00:00:01
Aniz Lavji
Welcome everyone to another episode of the Shop and Tread Talk podcast. As usual, we've got Frank with his covered hair today. We don't get to see the locks.
00:00:11
Frank Wiebe
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
00:00:13
Aniz Lavji
And we've got Cora Lee from Canada, another Canadian. Cora Lee, why don't you introduce yourself? Let us know who you are, what you do, and how you got to where you are now.
00:00:29
Coralee Zueff
All right, that's a lot of questions. ill I'll start off with who I am then, and then we'll go from there. And then maybe I'll share some Canadian TV trivia with you guys too.
00:00:39
Aniz Lavji
Oh, beautiful.
00:00:39
Coralee Zueff
ah So yeah, I'm kind of trivia.
00:00:40
Frank Wiebe
I'm no good at trivia.
Role and Responsibilities of a Red Seal Technician
00:00:44
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, so Coralie Zouff, I'm generally based out of Victoria, BC, so another Canadian.
00:00:44
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:00:50
Coralee Zueff
However, I am in Texas currently traveling around with the Texas Two-Step yeah We've got Mike Cleary, who's doing some technical training. We've got Rick White, who's doing management training. And then I'm doing the service advisor stuff here. So I am a Red Seal parts technician as well as doing service advising. And when I'm not traveling all around North America doing training stuff, I manage a European import shop on Vancouver Island.
00:01:19
Aniz Lavji
That's amazing.
00:01:19
Frank Wiebe
European. Yuck.
00:01:24
Aniz Lavji
it's yeah yeah And you also have Buckaroo Bob out there too.
00:01:28
Coralee Zueff
Yes, that's right. He's currently in Rick's class down there. So it's pretty quiet here right now. He doesn't know I'm doing a podcast or maybe he's going to come crash it.
00:01:34
Frank Wiebe
Buckaroo.
00:01:37
Coralee Zueff
One of the two.
00:01:38
Aniz Lavji
Oh, Frank. oh
00:01:39
Frank Wiebe
Buckaroo, Bob, is is he the guy that is promoting the tools event?
00:01:44
Aniz Lavji
Yes.
00:01:46
Frank Wiebe
Oh, okay.
00:01:46
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:01:46
Aniz Lavji
And he, uh, and at, um, oh my gosh, already forgot. At Vision, he's wearing a bright gold jacket. i mean, you can literally spot him from, uh, from space, but, uh, that's actually the first time I met him in person. Really, really cool guy. And, uh, a lot, a lot of fun to be around, like really, really jolly.
Anticipation for the Tools Event
00:02:07
Aniz Lavji
So.
00:02:07
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, he's got a ah great personality and is an advocate for for training and making our industry better.
00:02:07
Frank Wiebe
Nice.
00:02:08
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:02:14
Frank Wiebe
Awesome. Hopefully I'll get to meet him when I'm at Tools next month. Looking forward to that.
00:02:21
Coralee Zueff
Oh, Tools is next month. That's right. Okay, we'll get to meet in person at Tools then.
00:02:24
Frank Wiebe
Oh, excellent.
00:02:25
Coralee Zueff
I got two classes there.
00:02:25
Frank Wiebe
Looking forward to it.
00:02:25
Aniz Lavji
Awesome.
00:02:26
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:02:27
Frank Wiebe
do ye if if If I hadn't taken one of yours, i my wife probably is. So I'll have to look at her roster, see what she's taking. All
00:02:35
Aniz Lavji
definitely Definitely, Frank, if if you you or your your wife is able to take Coralie's class, I would definitely recommend it. I definitely learned a few things from that for sure.
00:02:44
Frank Wiebe
right.
00:02:47
Frank Wiebe
I'll have to check. I got my roster back. i have to check, see what Margarita's roster is and see if she's in that class. If not, maybe we can switch it up and request it to make sure we get it.
00:02:58
Coralee Zueff
That's one event I'm really looking forward to.
00:02:58
Aniz Lavji
mine
00:03:00
Coralee Zueff
I've never been before. And being in the Hershey's Resort is going to be epic, I think. The whole place is going to smell like chocolate.
00:03:06
Frank Wiebe
Well, that's, I just hope it tastes like chocolate.
00:03:08
Coralee Zueff
but
00:03:08
Aniz Lavji
Great.
00:03:10
Frank Wiebe
I don't care what it smells like.
00:03:11
Coralee Zueff
with it
00:03:13
Aniz Lavji
i'm I'm sure your your rooms and everything will all be loaded with ah different Hershey's chocolates just to keep you guys going.
00:03:13
Frank Wiebe
get it.
00:03:19
Frank Wiebe
I'm hoping so.
00:03:22
Aniz Lavji
that's Is it already just a month away now for a tool?
00:03:24
Frank Wiebe
It's a at the end of April. Yep.
00:03:27
Aniz Lavji
Oh, wow.
00:03:27
Frank Wiebe
So, yeah, I guess that's a month away. Yep.
00:03:29
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, coming up fast.
00:03:29
Aniz Lavji
in
00:03:30
Coralee Zueff
My birthday's on April 29th, so good place, I guess, to be for it.
00:03:32
Aniz Lavji
There you go. This is...
00:03:35
Frank Wiebe
And we're going to be, but my my wife's birthday is April 6th, so we'll be just just before that.
00:03:35
Aniz Lavji
for
00:03:42
Aniz Lavji
This will be Frank's first time at Tools.
00:03:42
Frank Wiebe
Coming home.
00:03:45
Aniz Lavji
Coralie, have you been there before our Tools?
00:03:48
Coralee Zueff
I've never been before. No, I didn't know about it or I heard about it, but being tools, I didn't know it was for service advisors. I thought it was just for technicians. So um yeah, it was pointed out to me some months ago.
00:03:58
Aniz Lavji
Oh,
00:04:03
Aniz Lavji
it's great.
00:04:03
Frank Wiebe
Oh, nice.
00:04:04
Aniz Lavji
I think there's
00:04:05
Frank Wiebe
I don't even know how long they've been running it because this is, like I said, my first training event ever. And when we heard about this one, the only reason I convinced my wife to go is because it's at Hershey. And she's like, she like yeah, I'll go there.
00:04:18
Frank Wiebe
And so that's why we get to go. After that, I have to convince her that we're going to go to ASTA and maybe some of the other ones. But we'll see how well that one works out.
00:04:27
Coralee Zueff
Oh, excellent.
Staffing Updates and Roles
00:04:29
Aniz Lavji
I didn't
00:04:30
Coralee Zueff
Now, does your wife work in the shop as well?
00:04:30
Frank Wiebe
its it She does. She's actually our our office manager. um We just actually hired two people.
00:04:41
Frank Wiebe
They started on Monday. And so we have a part-time, a second service advisor.
00:04:43
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:04:46
Frank Wiebe
We already have one full-time service advisor and now a second part-time service advisor and plus her as an office manager. And we have three, two full-time technicians, one part-time plus myself in the shop.
00:05:00
Frank Wiebe
So there's seven of us that working in that shop right now.
00:05:03
Aniz Lavji
Sounds weird saying it, doesn't it, Frank?
00:05:05
Frank Wiebe
Damn, I was thinking about it today. I'm like, we have five employees. It's it's unreal compared.
00:05:10
Aniz Lavji
I'm looking at you saying it, and I can see you like the the wheels in your head turning. It's like, whoa, buddy.
00:05:15
Frank Wiebe
Oh my gosh.
00:05:16
Aniz Lavji
I got a lot of people now.
00:05:18
Frank Wiebe
It's it's a lot. It really is a lot. And thinking back to where we were even just in the fall, when we have, we have a full-time service advisor. He's been with us for a couple years now and we just had ah an apprentice and he was off at school ah in the trade school.
00:05:34
Frank Wiebe
And so it was and tire season and I'm like, man, I can't do it all. So Margarita jumped, came from the office. She came in the shop.
00:05:44
Frank Wiebe
We set her up with her own toolbox and she did brakes and tires all winter long. And that was just that. That's what was. We had, David in the office, the two of us in the shop, and that's how we worked right from October till Christmas.
00:06:00
Aniz Lavji
Well, she's sliding lot of tires, that's for sure.
00:06:01
Frank Wiebe
And, oh, did she ever. and And she was good at it, too.
00:06:07
Coralee Zueff
Did you guys save the tire stickers? I see people doing that in tire shops. You know, like you save them and you make the big ball after you're done with them.
00:06:11
Frank Wiebe
Mm-mm.
00:06:13
Coralee Zueff
That'll be for next time then.
00:06:15
Frank Wiebe
i have I have a rule and I tell every oh i got to tell the new guy yet i tell everybody, ah if I see one of those tire stickers stuck on one of my machines, you're automatically taking a day off without pay.
00:06:28
Frank Wiebe
End of story. I don't care. You can roll it in a ball, do whatever you want with it. I don't care, but it better not be stuck to one of my machines. i oh
00:06:37
Aniz Lavji
I just used speak to the other employees.
00:06:37
Frank Wiebe
I've worked at it.
00:06:38
Aniz Lavji
So, I mean.
00:06:40
Coralee Zueff
yeah
00:06:40
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, you can do that. I don't care, but don't stick it to a machine. That that really frustrates me. I'm like, a it's defacing it, it's devaluing it, and it just doesn't look professional. That's to me.
00:06:50
Coralee Zueff
a
00:06:51
Frank Wiebe
I want it to look professional. So that's the way I feel.
00:06:54
Coralee Zueff
Agreed. They'll never come off. You got to get some chemical to remove the sticky stuff. Not good.
00:06:59
Frank Wiebe
Exactly, right? So also the reason why my toolboxes don't have any stickers on them. I see guys with stickers all over the box, and I'm like, nope, nice, clean box.
00:07:07
Aniz Lavji
Frank, when i when I come visit your shop one of these days, I know exactly what to bring with me. And I'm going right to your toolbox, Frank.
00:07:16
Frank Wiebe
I don't know.
00:07:18
Coralee Zueff
fridge magnets that look like stickers so that you can play the game or play the joke but then it won't leave any residue
00:07:23
Frank Wiebe
Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. maybe maybe if
00:07:27
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:07:28
Frank Wiebe
the
00:07:29
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:07:30
Frank Wiebe
was
00:07:30
Coralee Zueff
that's as far as I'd go
00:07:31
Aniz Lavji
a
00:07:31
Frank Wiebe
yu
00:07:32
Aniz Lavji
Coralie, how did you, i vaguely remember your story now. How did you end up with um becoming a master service advisor?
00:07:43
Aniz Lavji
Like what led you to that?
Coralie's Journey into the Automotive World
00:07:46
Coralee Zueff
So I usually start off my story when I was like in high school. But, you know, being that we're all from Canada here, I'll maybe go a little bit back. And there's no kids listening to this, right?
00:07:57
Aniz Lavji
ah Probably not.
00:07:58
Coralee Zueff
Okay.
00:07:58
Frank Wiebe
Not right now. They're in bed already.
00:08:01
Coralee Zueff
Just checking. Just checking. So I think I have always liked cars. I remember when I was like in elementary school, I always wanted that red Power Wheels Corvette, right?
00:08:12
Aniz Lavji
I've
00:08:12
Coralee Zueff
And then at Christmas time, I got a makeup cam. So I was super duper bummed about that.
00:08:15
Aniz Lavji
never heard of it. Okay.
00:08:18
Coralee Zueff
And if you remember, there's a a show in Canada that was on in the seventies and eighties and it was called the beachcombers. Are you guys familiar with that one at all?
00:08:29
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:08:29
Aniz Lavji
Okay. never heard of it
00:08:30
Coralee Zueff
No, it was, it was on the West coast. It was filmed in a, my hometown, Gibson's BC.
00:08:35
Aniz Lavji
okay
00:08:35
Coralee Zueff
And it was about boats and beachcombing and you know, all the drama that happens on the water. But my dad at the end of the show was the stunt guy. person for that. So we'd always have boats and mechanical things in the yard as well. So I guess that's how I was kind of familiar with it and and seeing a whole bunch of different stuff.
00:08:55
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:08:55
Coralee Zueff
So fast forward from being a little kid, I didn't know what I wanted to do when I was in high school. I was thinking about going into law because I like to, you know, argue and bicker with people.
00:09:06
Coralee Zueff
But in high school, you know, I was a car enthusiast. So I was the kid who liked Dodge Which ones were you guys or did you like cars in high school?
00:09:17
Aniz Lavji
Uh, geez. I basically in in high school, I just drove whatever my dad let me drive. And, uh, we, I actually had a Isuzu rodeo for the longest time.
00:09:29
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:09:29
Coralee Zueff
Oh, interesting. Okay.
00:09:31
Frank Wiebe
i had ah I had a Ford Temple. That was what we drove.
00:09:35
Coralee Zueff
Oh, well, I think there's a difference between what we drove and what we liked.
00:09:35
Frank Wiebe
Couldn't kill that thing.
00:09:40
Frank Wiebe
no i You know what? I wasn't the car guy. Never have been, which is weird enough. Being a a mechanic my whole life, never been a car guy. I've never been like, I got to have a specific car.
00:09:51
Frank Wiebe
But if i had to if I had to have a car, I've always wanted a 79 Z28. That would yep but i would I would modernize it with a modern chassis and modern drivetrain and all that kind of stuff.
00:10:00
Aniz Lavji
There was, um, Hmm.
00:10:05
Frank Wiebe
But that's the body style.
00:10:07
Aniz Lavji
You know, my, my, my dad used to have, um, I got to drive into school once in a while.
00:10:08
Coralee Zueff
Ah, good choice.
00:10:13
Aniz Lavji
It was a, I think it was an 86 Mercedes 420 SEL. Like the one that's, you know, the big boat.
00:10:23
Coralee Zueff
Yeah.
00:10:24
Aniz Lavji
Have you seen that movie coming to America?
00:10:27
Coralee Zueff
I don't think so.
00:10:27
Frank Wiebe
I've seen the movie.
00:10:29
Aniz Lavji
You know that you know the the Mercedes that all those dignitaries they're driving around? Like huge. It's literally like a big boat.
00:10:37
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:10:37
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:10:37
Aniz Lavji
So dad had one of those.
00:10:39
Aniz Lavji
So once in a while, i'd end up having to take that to school because he had to go pick up some supplies in the SUV. But that thing was like the most comfortable car i' ever sat in my life.
00:10:53
Coralee Zueff
Coming from the European world, I'm like...
00:10:53
Aniz Lavji
And yeah, I know. or It's galore, but I think that one was pretty good for us.
00:11:02
Coralee Zueff
Oh, cool. Well, I was the Dodge kid in school. I thought those were like the coolest thing ever, you know, had the hat, the bandana and all that stuff.
00:11:08
Aniz Lavji
Oh, yeah.
00:11:08
Coralee Zueff
so So I was into cars in high school. And then I saw a poster at school for the Automotive Foundations program. So You guys know it's like our first step into being a technician.
00:11:20
Coralee Zueff
So something clicked. I was like, huh, I should take that. And even if I don't wind up being a technician for the rest of my life, I'm going to know a crap ton about cars and how to maintain it myself.
00:11:28
Frank Wiebe
At least have a knowledge of cars.
00:11:28
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:11:30
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:11:30
Coralee Zueff
isn
00:11:30
Frank Wiebe
Great idea.
00:11:30
Aniz Lavji
I don't to pull a fast one on you either, you know?
00:11:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:11:33
Frank Wiebe
okay
00:11:34
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, that's right.
00:11:36
Aniz Lavji
I mean, even like back in the day, i really didn't know much of about cars. And i mean, I can get a fast one pulled on me any day because I wouldn't know any better. So I wish I had a class like that, honestly, back in the day.
00:11:49
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, is blinker fluid real or is a cabin filter real?
00:11:54
Frank Wiebe
Blinker fluid. Definitely. I sell all that all day long.
00:11:57
Aniz Lavji
All day.
00:11:58
Coralee Zueff
Or you need to drain it out every so often, right? Like it's stuck in the lenses.
00:12:01
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, definitely. i i've got ah I've got a TikTok video where I'm actually drilling a hole in the bottom of a taillight on a Jeep and because it was filled with water.
00:12:03
Aniz Lavji
Oh,
00:12:11
Frank Wiebe
And man, did I get a lot of shit for that. People are like, oh, you're destroying the taillight.
00:12:14
Aniz Lavji
yeah.
00:12:16
Frank Wiebe
I'm like, dude, it's already destroyed.
00:12:19
Aniz Lavji
It's already done.
00:12:20
Frank Wiebe
It's already done. I'm just saving a bulb from burning out every two weeks. Man, did they bite my head off for that. But draining the...
00:12:29
Coralee Zueff
I'll do that for anything online nowadays, right?
00:12:31
Frank Wiebe
Yep. Oh, yeah.
00:12:31
Aniz Lavji
the internet.
00:12:33
Frank Wiebe
Oh, yeah.
00:12:34
Aniz Lavji
So Coralie, so you took the automotive course.
00:12:38
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, so I took the Automotive Foundations program. It was an awesome program. We did classroom in the morning. We did hands-on stuff in the shop. However, I'm five feet tall and it's kind of chilly in Canada and I like to talk.
00:12:55
Coralee Zueff
So it wasn't the perfect fit for me. So i was like, okay, I know a lot about cars. Now I'll get into selling cars because that in my mind seemed to make sense.
00:13:03
Aniz Lavji
Hey, there you go. Mm-hm.
00:13:05
Coralee Zueff
Nobody told me about service advising and a parts technician yet. So I jumped into doing that and found a great dealership to take me on and a salesperson who showed me all the ropes. And I like talking to people about the features on the car and their budget and finding them something to match.
00:13:21
Coralee Zueff
However, when people are buying a car, they don't necessarily want to hear about, you know, how accessible back in the day, things were under the hood. Like, you know, how to check the oil, where to top up the washer fluid, where their spare tire is in the jack and where the jacking points are.
00:13:36
Coralee Zueff
They didn't want to hear about that.
00:13:37
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:13:38
Coralee Zueff
And I wanted to show off my knowledge. So that's when was like, okay, this one isn't the perfect fit either.
00:13:46
Frank Wiebe
Well, you got to live and learn, right?
00:13:46
Coralee Zueff
And after that, Yeah, that's right. So it's a a trial and error kind of thing. After that, I answered an ad at Canadian Tire for a parts person and, you know, took off from there. People would come plunk random parts down on desks, not even knowing the name for them. And I knew what it was. So i was able to, you know, go find a part that was in stock, worked with their budget and boom, it was fun.
00:14:10
Aniz Lavji
Oh, that's nice.
00:14:10
Frank Wiebe
Cool.
00:14:11
Aniz Lavji
So you worked with a lot of OE+.
00:14:11
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:14:13
Aniz Lavji
plus
00:14:17
Coralee Zueff
Yes, a whole different, different grades of parts, different suppliers, different qualities.
00:14:20
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:14:23
Coralee Zueff
Mm
00:14:24
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, definitely. Nope.
00:14:26
Aniz Lavji
No, that's that's actually pretty cool coming from there because I know they...
00:14:26
Coralee Zueff
hmm.
00:14:31
Aniz Lavji
you know Everyone has their own opinions about that particular franchise, but they go through load of cars. So the experience you'd get there is very different than mom-and-pop shop or like an independent because the volume at a Canadian Tire is it's basically constant every single day. You're not getting very many slow time periods there.
00:14:55
Coralee Zueff
yeah maybe Yeah, maybe just after Christmas, then you're dealing with all the flat tires.
00:14:55
Aniz Lavji
So you're always getting time to talk to people.
00:15:01
Coralee Zueff
Or if, you know, you get snow and you hadn't had before.
00:15:06
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:15:07
Coralee Zueff
Those are the only two times you're super busy or the super slow time.
00:15:11
Aniz Lavji
And then you get the guys. Can I can i come in right now?
00:15:14
Coralee Zueff
this so
00:15:15
Frank Wiebe
Just say yes. They always say, just say yes.
00:15:18
Aniz Lavji
yeah pretty much.
00:15:19
Frank Wiebe
i don't know the Canadian Tire in my town doesn't look terribly busy. i Last time I seen it, they had two bays full of just skids of stuff because they didn't have enough work to do.
00:15:29
Coralee Zueff
Hmm.
00:15:29
Aniz Lavji
wow.
00:15:30
Frank Wiebe
But I've seen, I know what you mean, because because everyone knows when you say Canadian Tire Garage, everyone knows that they're to go.
00:15:36
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:15:37
Frank Wiebe
Right. I think that's probably a more popular garage than say Napa Auto Pro or or something like that, or or the tech net for the Car Quest.
00:15:37
Aniz Lavji
Yep. yep
00:15:46
Frank Wiebe
There's more people that would know Canadian Tire than that. so yeah It's a huge franchise and to get to work in something like that and to grow in there, that that's a great opportunity.
00:15:51
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:15:58
Frank Wiebe
I actually know a couple of people that, well, the guy that I started originally working for, he used to manage the Canadian Tire, the local Canadian Tire in town here.
00:16:11
Frank Wiebe
and
00:16:11
Aniz Lavji
okay
00:16:11
Coralee Zueff
Thank you.
00:16:12
Frank Wiebe
and And that's where he got his start. And also the guy that was the parts guy at the Chrysler dealership, him him and him and my old employer worked together at the Canadian Tire dealership.
00:16:25
Frank Wiebe
So I've heard stories about how they took an engine out while it was still hot and the gas line ripped off and it sprayed onto the exhaust manifold and then caught fire. And that's what they were doing in this dingy little basement garage at Canadian Tire many years
00:16:40
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, but I mean, that that was all on purpose so they could test out the fire extinguishers that they sell.
00:16:44
Frank Wiebe
ye yeah definitely yeah yeah yeah yeah but it sounds like it sounds like you know it's a great place to start and it's a great place to learn so anyway i mean
00:16:47
Aniz Lavji
marketing points bra Marketing ploy, marketing ploy.
00:16:50
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. For sure, yeah. And then you can advertise them that way.
00:16:53
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, exactly.
00:17:02
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, I mean, I was there 18 ago now. Yeah. was while ago.
00:17:06
Aniz Lavji
Oh, wow.
00:17:06
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. so it was a it was a while ago this is
00:17:10
Aniz Lavji
So that long ago, you're not running like any heavy duty shop management program.
Evolution from Paper to Digital in Auto Services
00:17:15
Aniz Lavji
you is it Was it a lot of paper back then? or
00:17:20
Coralee Zueff
No, we did stuff up on the computer system, but then printed off hard copies for the technicians.
00:17:20
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:17:25
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:17:27
Coralee Zueff
And sent them out into like you know the plastic folder that way.
00:17:31
Aniz Lavji
and okay
00:17:32
Frank Wiebe
moving
00:17:32
Aniz Lavji
Very different explaining automotive service to customers then as it is now.
00:17:42
Coralee Zueff
I guess we have a lot more resources now that we could use. like We didn't have... phones that could take pictures back then, i guess, but but, you know, or computer things.
00:17:54
Aniz Lavji
Customers are very more well-informed, I think, now in comparison because, again, everyone says the worst thing you can do is if you have an issue with yourself or your car, Google it, which is definitely the worst thing you can do. But Again, the information you get, even if it's 80% wrong, that 20% will give you like a little tidbit of what could be wrong. So by the time you go to get your vehicle serviced or, you know you have specific questions, you're kind of on already on the right track. Oh,
00:18:25
Coralee Zueff
I guess like people Googling, you know, using Dr.
00:18:25
Aniz Lavji
oh
00:18:25
Frank Wiebe
so
00:18:29
Coralee Zueff
Google, you search up your symptoms.
00:18:30
Aniz Lavji
yeah.
00:18:31
Coralee Zueff
I have a headache and it'll give you a whole bunch of different things. And they're like, I'm dying. It's the worst case scenario. But then you look, at people look up symptoms for their car and they're like, no, no, it's just the fuse or a teeny sensor.
00:18:37
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:18:42
Coralee Zueff
It's no big deal. They don't think, you know, generally they don't think worst case scenario, right?
00:18:47
Frank Wiebe
And those home diagnoses are gonna get even worse now with CHAT GPT.
Using AI for Vehicle Diagnostics: A Comparison
00:18:52
Frank Wiebe
using that to diagnose.
00:18:52
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:18:53
Frank Wiebe
I've seen one video, somebody was saying, oh, we're going to fully diagnose this using chat GPT. And was like, I tried it the other day. I'm like, it's just whatever you could find on Google real quick.
00:19:05
Frank Wiebe
It's not any smarter than your average Google search. And I'm like, that is not what you need to know.
00:19:08
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:19:10
Coralee Zueff
who
00:19:11
Aniz Lavji
I am no mechanic, but I am a Chad GPT mechanic and I try to give my two cents to whoever I can.
00:19:17
Frank Wiebe
okay Yeah.
00:19:19
Aniz Lavji
and and sometimes And sometimes it's like, let's stop.
00:19:20
Frank Wiebe
Well, ah let me tell you Let me tell you. Yeah, chat GPTs.
00:19:24
Coralee Zueff
Like in the class that you took at Vision, right? Like there are new ways that customers are using AI and things like that all the time.
00:19:27
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:19:32
Coralee Zueff
Like it seems like every month somebody is coming up with something new. And if we haven't heard about it yet, personally in the shop, we should still try it out. Like, so I'll tell everyone, you know, people are using it to diagnose their vehicles.
00:19:41
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:19:46
Coralee Zueff
So as service advisors, let's try it. Let's put the symptoms in when a vehicle comes in and see what it says, and then let it go to the shop and get diagnosed inclusively or tested conclusively to come up with exactly the part part that is the culprit and then compare.
00:19:51
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:19:55
Aniz Lavji
It's interesting. Yeah.
00:20:03
Coralee Zueff
So when people call us and they say, you know, chat GPT said this, then we can, um we can have statistics that we've created. It's like, you know what, chat GPT is kind of only right 35, 40, whatever the statistic is.
00:20:17
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:20:18
Coralee Zueff
And then when customers are using that, we can say, this is why we need to, and how often we found that, you know, the AI is incorrect.
00:20:27
Aniz Lavji
You have a rebuttal. i think I think you mentioned that in the class. I remember that specifically.
00:20:31
Coralee Zueff
Yeah. So it's a bit more work on our part, but better to be informed and prepared than, you know, be like a deer caught in headlights, right? Like, well, I don't know what to say about that.
00:20:43
Coralee Zueff
So coming up with ways to answer those objections or objections.
00:20:47
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, I remember...
00:20:47
Frank Wiebe
do Do you find you have a lot of customers that um do their own diagnosing and be like, oh, I don't want you to actually diagnose it. This is what I just want you to do.
00:20:59
Coralee Zueff
Hmm. Like if they have done their own testing or they've taken it somewhere else and had it diagnosed and not repaired, or if they're kind of just guessing.
00:21:13
Frank Wiebe
mostly Mostly, most people are just guessing. They're like, oh, I have this code. Like we had one today. He says, oh, I have this code.
00:21:18
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:21:19
Frank Wiebe
It had a cam crank shaft correlation code.
00:21:22
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:21:23
Frank Wiebe
And he's like, I think it needs a crank c sensor. No, he didn't even say that. He said it had a misfire and we just wanted to, but it had this in this code. And I forget exactly.
00:21:34
Frank Wiebe
But lo and behold, huh?
00:21:36
Aniz Lavji
Gas cap for sure.
00:21:38
Frank Wiebe
Gas gas?
00:21:38
Aniz Lavji
Gas cap for sure.
00:21:39
Frank Wiebe
No. Well, it was actually fuel pump, believe it or not.
00:21:43
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:21:44
Frank Wiebe
See, ChatGPT would have said that for sure.
00:21:45
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Tell him you.
00:21:47
Frank Wiebe
But it was It was just one of those things because the pump just wasn't creating enough pressure volume and the engine just ran like crap and threw all these ah weird codes.
00:21:56
Aniz Lavji
Yep. I don't know.
00:21:57
Frank Wiebe
But he was okay, but I've had customers before where they're insistent that you know the code says such and such, that such and such is a problem. And usually I can talk them into like, hey, we're going to diagnose this regardless of what you say because
00:22:11
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:22:13
Frank Wiebe
I don't really care what you say. I just need to know the symptoms. I don't know what you think is the problem and I'll figure out the problem and then we'll sell you the right part.
00:22:21
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:22:21
Frank Wiebe
But we don't have that much. I have a lot of people I see online all the time to have a lot of customers that way. We don't. and And I know we've talked about this before with now we're with Techmetric using as our DVIs and we never really have trouble selling the job to the customer.
00:22:37
Aniz Lavji
All
00:22:43
Frank Wiebe
Because I don't know, maybe I just got good customers. so So I like hearing from people who struggle with that, who have issues with customers that they say, hey, i this is what this is what I want you to do.
00:22:46
Coralee Zueff
whom
00:22:57
Frank Wiebe
or Or this is the parts that I want you to replace because I just feel like we don't have customers that are that way. For the most part, there's a few, right? But not in general.
00:23:05
Aniz Lavji
I actually had to deal with a customer, I think it was a few days ago, which I'm surprised I didn't tell you, Frank, because usually i like to tell you about these things. But um they came in with their their own diagnostic about their brain.
00:23:14
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:23:17
Coralee Zueff
you
00:23:22
Aniz Lavji
What was it? It was a it was a Tesla, actually. And they said, I need... You know, I need to get my upper control arms replaced.
00:23:33
Aniz Lavji
And I'm like, oh, okay. So what shop did you take it to? And do you have their report? I'd love to take a look at it so then i can quote you properly.
00:23:44
Aniz Lavji
Because in my opinion, if another shop has looked at it, like a reputable shop's looked at it, I can go off that quote or that diagnostic because a shop has looked at It can be like, okay, well, they looked at it. I'll quote them on the upper control.
00:24:01
Aniz Lavji
But then he sends me this whole spiel and I can smell chat GBT, you know, 72 miles away. So I was like, look, I would love to spend half an hour to 45 minutes on your car. And I can tell you because I know the car very well, what is wrong with it?
00:24:23
Aniz Lavji
But one thing I don't want to do is replace those upper control arms and then we take it for a drive or you take it for a drive and then you tell me you didn't fix the problem.
00:24:34
Aniz Lavji
You took my money.
00:24:34
Frank Wiebe
Exactly. Yeah.
00:24:36
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:24:36
Aniz Lavji
Because then I'm going to be the asshole. And then you're going to go on Google. You're going to write the one-star review. And then all I'm going to have to paste in the response is your chat GPT thing to me.
00:24:50
Aniz Lavji
So, I mean, i you know, we put the guy's car up in the air, we inspected it, and it wasn't the upper control arm. There was the lower compliance links, which was a different control arm.
00:25:00
Aniz Lavji
Lo and behold, they were about to fall out.
00:25:01
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:25:02
Aniz Lavji
We replaced them, and then that particular noise is gone. And now he's actually coming in next week because now there's a new noise. There's a creaking noise. But...
00:25:10
Frank Wiebe
if If a customer comes in and says that I had it at another shop and this is what they said to such and such to do, you know um even if they don't pay me for it, I will always double check it because exactly for that reason, I don't want to be like, hey, this shop has put such and such on and now it didn't fix it and now I have to go.
00:25:11
Aniz Lavji
vi men
00:25:29
Frank Wiebe
Because then you have to do then you have to do the job for free and that costs way more.
00:25:30
Aniz Lavji
it.
00:25:32
Aniz Lavji
Yes. Still check it, but you have to just confirm confirm what their diagnostic is.
00:25:35
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, exactly. Yep. yeah
00:25:38
Aniz Lavji
But if they come in with a you know Google printout, like I'm not even going to look at it.
00:25:44
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:25:44
Aniz Lavji
I don't even have a job.
00:25:45
Frank Wiebe
i'll even do it I'll even do it to the point where, like let's um let's say and it happens once in a while. We send a vehicle for an alignment and the alignment shop comes back and says, no, you've got a loose ball joint or whatever like that.
00:25:58
Frank Wiebe
I'll never just be like, hey, let's put a ball joint. I will check it again be like, what the heck did I miss? or Or if a customer, same customer takes it in and they say it needs such and such, I'll always check it.
00:26:10
Frank Wiebe
Maybe it needs something else too, or maybe it doesn't need that.
00:26:11
Aniz Lavji
For sure.
00:26:14
Frank Wiebe
but
00:26:14
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:26:15
Coralee Zueff
a Yeah, let them know that we're not the place.
00:26:16
Frank Wiebe
I. Yeah.
00:26:18
Coralee Zueff
And again, I think like you too, and i like I mentioned, I've on and off managed this European import shop where I live for like 12 years, now going on 12 years.
00:26:30
Coralee Zueff
And again, training the customers how we do business is
Importance of Accurate Diagnostics in Automotive Services
00:26:34
Coralee Zueff
very important. So it's very rare that i you know I get somebody in who doesn't know how we operate, right? But you still need to communicate that with them to let them know, you know we're not the place that's just gonna,
00:26:41
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:26:44
Coralee Zueff
throw parts in your car and 50% chance it will, or 50% chance it won't fix a problem, right? Then like you mentioned, you're not going to be happy with us and we're going to be disappointed. So we just want to figure out exactly what's going on with it and then replace only the part that's needed.
00:27:01
Aniz Lavji
We don't have a parts cannon, unfortunately.
00:27:03
Coralee Zueff
is
00:27:05
Frank Wiebe
They sell them on eBay.
00:27:07
Aniz Lavji
Oh, I'm sure they do. Yeah.
00:27:10
Coralee Zueff
Oh, we have a customer though. Who makes little cannons? They were actually just in like two weeks ago. And you can like pack them with um black gunpowder and poof shoot them off. So that was our fun like last week.
00:27:25
Aniz Lavji
Nice.
00:27:26
Frank Wiebe
ah There you go.
00:27:26
Coralee Zueff
So I guess we could almost label it the parts cannon. They do nothing. It just makes a big boom.
00:27:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, put put it right on the front counter and then and then when the customer says just put such and such around, you say, excuse me, and then point the parts cannon at the wall and have a list of parts and then shoot it at the wall. So this is the part we're putting on today.
00:27:46
Aniz Lavji
yeah maybe we Maybe we light it once they misdiagnose their car and they're like, nope, this is the problem. And then we replace the part it doesn't work and we go, light.
00:27:56
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, exactly.
00:27:57
Coralee Zueff
um
00:27:57
Aniz Lavji
Shall we try again?
00:28:00
Coralee Zueff
But we're not the place that's doing that. So it could be a learning curve for some people who don't have their customers trained like that. You may be saying the same thing over and over again, but you could, you know, make your social media posts based around that as well. So when people are looking you up and looking your shop up, you know, have a little video explaining why you don't do that and how you, you know, diagnose or test vehicles. i have to say,
00:28:25
Coralee Zueff
diagnose and test because some people don't like the word diagnose so
00:28:27
Aniz Lavji
Oh, yeah. Now, yeah, testing is the right word, apparently, to use instead of a diagnostic. But...
00:28:36
Coralee Zueff
yeah there's a whole bunch of different ones yeah um yes it got a bad reputation because the places doing quick scans can have it called diagnostics where it is not it's just reading the codes mm-hmm
00:28:37
Frank Wiebe
Really?
00:28:37
Aniz Lavji
Mm-hmm.
00:28:51
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, the same place you get your wipers changed, you get your engine scan for free.
00:28:56
Coralee Zueff
Actually, that's one thing I was looking forward to. I was telling them on the trip, could we like disable some sort of vehicle and I can take it into one of those places that does the quick scan and actually experience it?
00:29:06
Coralee Zueff
Because I never have. We don't really have places that do that in Canada, at least on the West Coast. There's everybody has their own little code reader, right?
00:29:13
Frank Wiebe
We don't really either.
00:29:15
Coralee Zueff
For, you know, the $100 code reader and comes in with their code, but nobody goes into a parts store and has them scan it.
00:29:15
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:29:18
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:29:23
Aniz Lavji
I don't think any knew any anyone here can do it.
00:29:23
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. I don't think we have anything like that, do we?
00:29:25
Coralee Zueff
No, we don't.
00:29:26
Aniz Lavji
No.
00:29:27
Frank Wiebe
I know you're here in the US all the time, they go into O'Reilly's and get a parts or get a scan and and they sell you parts, but I don't know of any of our parts stores that would do that.
00:29:27
Coralee Zueff
I think our...
00:29:32
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:29:38
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, I don't either on the West Coast. You guys are in Ontario. So that means no one's doing it.
00:29:41
Aniz Lavji
They'll go to AutoZone in the States and get their car scanned and then start buying cart but buy start buying parts and then see what happens.
00:29:48
Frank Wiebe
the only thing The only thing I have heard what's going on is Mr. Lu is now offering brake services, brake repairs. And and i I can't remember if they do diagnostics as well.
00:30:03
Frank Wiebe
So the question is, do they have a technician on staff or do they just...
00:30:03
Aniz Lavji
ah
00:30:07
Aniz Lavji
i love it. I'm already fixing all the cars. I love it. I think they should get more cars.
00:30:11
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:30:13
Frank Wiebe
They should advertise more.
00:30:15
Aniz Lavji
I should advertise for them. I love it. I get them all the time. i got my brakes done. I'm hearing noise. I'm where'd you go? they're like, well, I went to this particular place. I'm not going to name the place, particular place.
00:30:26
Aniz Lavji
And I'm like, okay, was it making this noise before? No. But when I left, all I heard is, and I'm like, oh yeah, let me take care of that for you.
00:30:38
Coralee Zueff
Well, that breaks my heart. I just want everybody, there's enough work for all of us, right? That, yeah.
00:30:43
Aniz Lavji
There's more cars than there are shops. So,
00:30:45
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. Yeah, for sure.
00:30:46
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:30:46
Coralee Zueff
So just fix it right the first time.
00:30:49
Frank Wiebe
And the best way that we can all ah get those cars is if we all stay within our lane of what we specialize in, what we can do. Yeah. If we if we step step out of our
00:30:57
Aniz Lavji
You don't have to be the hero and fix all the complicated stuff. you know Let the hero do hero work.
00:31:02
Frank Wiebe
step out of our bounds, yeah. Like European stuff, I don't even touch it because I just i have no interest in working on it and I want to, right? But obviously you love working or your people love working on the European stuff.
00:31:14
Frank Wiebe
And great. So if I had a European shop right next door, that'd be perfect. I would do my stuff here, they would do their stuff there.
00:31:19
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:31:21
Frank Wiebe
Everyone would be happy.
00:31:23
Coralee Zueff
And it's always nice to have like ah a neighboring shop that you have a good relationship with that you could be like, no, I don't work on this, but go see those guys. They're going to, or gals, they're going to take good care of you.
00:31:33
Aniz Lavji
You sublet it even, right? Even if you sublet it, then at least you're making a few bucks off it and farm it out. and You make a few the x amount of dollars on it and the customer is happy.
00:31:44
Aniz Lavji
It's getting good quality work from people that work it all time.
00:31:46
Coralee Zueff
Hmm.
00:31:46
Frank Wiebe
i I personally am not a fan of subletting. i I would, instead of subletting, I'll just be like, I'll direct you to this person. You go deal directly with them.
00:31:58
Frank Wiebe
And then I find that most of the time when I do that, they'll come back to me for the regular service and whatever.
00:32:04
Aniz Lavji
Yep. Yep.
00:32:04
Frank Wiebe
And that specialty stuff that I can't do or don't want to do, um they're totally happy taking it there because they know that now they've got a specialized person doing that job for them.
00:32:14
Coralee Zueff
Like transmission, we don't do internal transmission work, but we have an excellent shop and I've taken my vehicle there for transmission issues that we send it to.
00:32:14
Frank Wiebe
And mel
00:32:19
Frank Wiebe
Same, yep.
00:32:24
Coralee Zueff
So I could see like coordinating with the customer to coordinate with them would be a bit of a headache for me.
00:32:28
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:32:30
Coralee Zueff
So I'll just make it as efficient as possible and I'll, you know, wouldn't make a few bucks here, but when they bring it back for other stuff, then we can.
00:32:37
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, exactly, yep.
00:32:38
Coralee Zueff
Yeah.
00:32:39
Aniz Lavji
Beyond a transmission sublet, yeah. like I mean, I don't really send stuff out and and mark it up because it gets too complicated. you know
00:32:48
Coralee Zueff
is
00:32:48
Aniz Lavji
But a transmission, something like that, my mechanic's brother owns a shop, so we have a pretty good relationship with them. So we can easily sublet it there. And I know once the car is done, it's done.
00:33:00
Aniz Lavji
But yeah, I agree with you. Like sending it out to another shop for a specialty euro work and then there's an issue, it gets too too complicated. So yeah, you're right. Better to send it off there and get the regular stuff.
00:33:13
Coralee Zueff
I see how you have that good relationship with with family, right?
00:33:14
Frank Wiebe
Yeah,
00:33:16
Frank Wiebe
either
00:33:17
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:33:18
Frank Wiebe
I think the only thing that we regularly sublet is alignments. that's
00:33:22
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:33:22
Frank Wiebe
And I know you do alignments in-house, which is great, but we don't we don't have the room for it, probably never will.
00:33:25
Aniz Lavji
I love it.
00:33:28
Frank Wiebe
So I'm like, I'll just send that out and I'll do all the other work. But the alignments, and then every once a while comes back and says, hey, missed a baldur. I'm like, damn it, we'll try better next time.
00:33:37
Coralee Zueff
yeah the shop I met we don't do uh our tire machine won't do a certain up to a certain size of tire we also don't do tire repairs so I walk the tires next door to the tire shop and they take care of it for me.
00:33:38
Aniz Lavji
Frank, one.
00:33:49
Coralee Zueff
Plus they have awesome coffee. So I'm always super excited when I see a flat tire.
00:33:52
Aniz Lavji
Hey, that...
00:33:52
Frank Wiebe
There you go.
00:33:54
Coralee Zueff
I'm like, yes, I get to go over there and get a mocha.
00:33:57
Aniz Lavji
There you go.
00:33:58
Coralee Zueff
Except I get comments about, you know, from people passing by being like, oh, you're taking that tire out for a walk or something silly like that.
00:34:05
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, basically.
00:34:06
Coralee Zueff
Cause I'm all like just do do do do do pushing the tire down the sidewalk.
00:34:11
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:34:11
Frank Wiebe
I got too lazy pushing a tire. We built this little three wheel cart. We drag our tires back and forth with, we have a storage, a 40 foot C can that we store our tires in.
00:34:20
Aniz Lavji
No,
00:34:20
Frank Wiebe
I'm like, I ain't carrying these tires. So I made this cart and we just, we can put eight on there at a time and roll back and forth.
00:34:26
Aniz Lavji
that's the best.
00:34:27
Coralee Zueff
You have to get it patented and then I'll buy one.
00:34:28
Frank Wiebe
Oh yeah.
00:34:30
Frank Wiebe
Okay. Sounds good.
00:34:31
Aniz Lavji
ah There you
00:34:32
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:34:34
Aniz Lavji
ah So maybe you guys can trade ah the mini parts cannon, you know, 500 of those for one of Frank's creations and then let's call it even.
00:34:42
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. Sounds good.
00:34:43
Frank Wiebe
I only need one part scanning. I don't need 500 of them. One is enough. Yep. one is enough
00:34:48
Coralee Zueff
One for every team member. You got to be able to fire off your own cannons.
00:34:52
Frank Wiebe
yep
00:34:53
Aniz Lavji
That's back to vision. I was just thinking about, cause I took Seth's class as well. Seth Thornton. Oh my gosh.
00:34:59
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:35:00
Aniz Lavji
And that was a very interesting class. the kind of things that AI can do. And like he, he got us basically making a work order on our shop management system using an AI agent and basically just telling it, you know, open up this shop management program, which was already logged into and open a work order with this name for a wheel alignment. So I was like, this is not going to work. This is too crazy.
00:35:28
Aniz Lavji
I did it and then I'm watching it and it's opening up my shop management system. It's learning, figuring out where it is to open up the work order. It starts doing it. I'm like, this is wild.
00:35:42
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, I'm bummed I missed that class. I think I had a scheduling conflict, but it sounded really great.
00:35:48
Aniz Lavji
It was a pretty good class. And then we got to see your your clone in your class.
00:35:50
Coralee Zueff
Any?
00:35:55
Aniz Lavji
yeah a Yeah, she had an AI clone.
00:35:55
Coralee Zueff
Yeah.
00:35:58
Aniz Lavji
And yeah, it was it was pretty cool to see.
00:36:03
Coralee Zueff
Yeah. So again, thinking about classes for next time. coming up with some steps to be able to give everybody in the class so you can start piecing together your own, right?
00:36:14
Coralee Zueff
Because like, ah yeah, it took me a while to warm up to actually doing it, like months, maybe even years, right?
00:36:14
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:36:22
Coralee Zueff
But in the end, it kind of makes sense, especially if you're not like selling it off, that it is exactly you. And I'm thinking about, you know, people who watch videos on, you know, TikTok and stuff like that.
00:36:33
Aniz Lavji
Oh,
00:36:34
Coralee Zueff
And They watch AI videos, so why can't i use it to talk about automotive things?
00:36:41
Aniz Lavji
I want one bad.
00:36:41
Frank Wiebe
Okay.
00:36:43
Aniz Lavji
i
00:36:43
Coralee Zueff
Okay.
00:36:44
Aniz Lavji
I want, I want to get one and I'm just going to have ah a screen. When you walk into my shop, big screen with a webcam, they'll think they're talking to me. It's just the AI clone. And I'm just going to be at home in pajamas, watching Netflix. It'd be great.
00:36:59
Frank Wiebe
Be careful. That's what's going to happen soon enough and you'll have no use to be actually ah going to work at all.
00:37:06
Coralee Zueff
We'll go with it's a tool.
00:37:06
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:37:09
Coralee Zueff
It's not going to take over.
00:37:09
Frank Wiebe
Can you make an AI clone of the guy that does the wrenching?
00:37:13
Coralee Zueff
yeah
00:37:13
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:37:14
Coralee Zueff
Well, that's one thing where I was talking about a little bit too, like when when should you have the clone, right? Like, you know, an owner who's looking to step away a little bit from the business, but, you know, still wants to maintain a bit of face time kind of with the customers, you can make videos of that person.
00:37:29
Coralee Zueff
Or if there's the younger generation coming into the shop and you want to you know, get their face out there a bit more, have them make the videos on drop-off procedure and check-in and and explaining basic maintenance stuff that can be used on social media.
00:37:43
Coralee Zueff
Or like for me as a service advisor, create kind of my own brand of like how I explain things exactly.
00:37:43
Aniz Lavji
Yeah,
00:37:50
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:37:51
Aniz Lavji
yeah I think ah the way that you were explaining in that that, well, I guess I should say you or Coralie too was explaining um was very interesting and quite accurate. Like with the mannerisms, when I was listening to you talk live and then I'm watching that video, it was done very well.
00:38:13
Coralee Zueff
Thank you.
00:38:13
Aniz Lavji
But I can tell there's a lot of work put into that.
00:38:14
Coralee Zueff
Except I missed an F. I didn't have, um it wasn't all me. I had, I had a lot of help there. I could pick out the, the issues too. Like when I told it what to say, but it didn't recognize that I should have said bulbs instead of bulb.
00:38:28
Aniz Lavji
yeah. yeah
00:38:28
Coralee Zueff
so it's like, it's not perfect. There's like more tweaking that needs to be done and, and things like that. But it was, it was pretty neat. And especially like, I was wondering about the background, like, would it just be, you know, flat behind me, but there was like somebody walking and then you could see a vehicle drive in and out.
00:38:40
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:38:45
Coralee Zueff
So like you can make it as complex or as simple as you want.
00:38:45
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:38:50
Aniz Lavji
Well, for for like creators like Frank TikTok, I have TikTok as well. And even if we could, sometimes like we're extremely busy to even make videos, we could just have our AI selves do something and talk and you know just type a few commands and it makes and then we can review and like, sure, let's post it.
00:39:13
Aniz Lavji
and then there that knocks out you know today's post or something like that. Or again, if there's a lot of shops that do welcome videos. If there's a first time customer that's never been to your shop, you can just have a video Whether you want to make it yourself yourself or you have your AI agent you know do a welcome video like, hey, this is Frank and this is 3D Auto and this is what our process is.
00:39:36
Aniz Lavji
And when you come in, we're going to inspect your vehicle and we're going to find nothing wrong with it and give you a $0 bill and we're going to be on your way.
00:39:45
Frank Wiebe
ah you go
00:39:46
Aniz Lavji
right But it's things like that that really people really appreciate these these new advances now.
00:39:48
Frank Wiebe
so
00:39:48
Coralee Zueff
Hmm.
00:39:54
Frank Wiebe
and Those are the things that I have never had time to do and want to now that we have hopefully enough employees. um The guy that does our or manages our website, he's pretty big into AI and creating AI videos. And he's done a couple of little AI videos for our social media in the past, but he showed me one the other day where he just, he took a picture of a hot tub for a client.
00:40:18
Frank Wiebe
That's all he did. Just took a picture of a hot tub, I think two or three pictures. And he created this whole video of people walking up to the hot tub and looking at it.
00:40:22
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:40:27
Frank Wiebe
Like, and it was, it looks so freaking real. It was weird. And I'm like, you know what, that that's pretty good because I think I'm going to use something like that for exactly like that, like ah like a welcome video. We just redid our office.
00:40:40
Frank Wiebe
As soon as it's completely done, I want them to do a video of it, like an introduction, and welcome to our new office. and And this is how the layout is and all that kind of stuff. So I want to do that.
00:40:51
Frank Wiebe
but don't want to use I want him to use the AI portion of it just to...
00:40:51
Aniz Lavji
Oh,
00:40:55
Frank Wiebe
I mean, it's it's I don't mind doing it, but then you have to have someone sit there and video record me and stuff like that.
00:41:01
Aniz Lavji
yeah.
00:41:01
Frank Wiebe
So if he can if you can snap some pictures and do that, hey, even better.
00:41:04
Aniz Lavji
Well, you won't need Frank, because you're having a huge barbecue for the opening of your new showroom anyways, right? So, I mean, there'll be no no AI needed.
00:41:12
Frank Wiebe
That's the plan.
00:41:14
Aniz Lavji
You're going to have 200, 300 people there as it is.
00:41:15
Frank Wiebe
me might Might even have brisket if I can convince myself.
00:41:20
Coralee Zueff
Ooh, when is it?
00:41:22
Frank Wiebe
it's
00:41:22
Aniz Lavji
yeah
00:41:22
Coralee Zueff
Maybe I can make it.
00:41:23
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, well, I'm sure you could make it down.
00:41:23
Coralee Zueff
yeah
00:41:26
Frank Wiebe
It'll it'll be probably in June when it's when it's not winter out anymore.
00:41:30
Coralee Zueff
Oh, yes, that's right. Yeah, so, and then, like, to the AI, you know, you don't have to worry about your hair or getting your makeup on or the right outfit or, you know, did I have enough coffee or all those things as well.
00:41:31
Aniz Lavji
I think you're
00:41:39
Frank Wiebe
about the hair.
00:41:42
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:41:44
Aniz Lavji
afraid. I think office is basically done now, right?
00:41:45
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:41:47
Aniz Lavji
I mean, there's just little, little things that you have left to do now. Right.
00:41:50
Frank Wiebe
I have a little bit of trim left to do. and then clean up. And that's, that's a put it.
00:41:54
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:41:55
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. So it's, we're right, right there. I,
00:41:59
Aniz Lavji
No more remodeling at least for another two or three months, right?
00:42:03
Frank Wiebe
until we start expanding, then we'll see, we'll see what happens then.
00:42:05
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Well, you're gonna add another day on there for the alignment rack.
00:42:11
Frank Wiebe
That alignment rack is the last thing that I would buy, but just put it that way.
00:42:14
Aniz Lavji
Oh my God.
00:42:16
Frank Wiebe
I have, um that's why I would send the alignments to you if you weren't two hours away.
00:42:16
Aniz Lavji
I thought we were friends.
00:42:23
Aniz Lavji
Oh man.
00:42:24
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, you were.
00:42:24
Coralee Zueff
Right. And then thinking about ADAS, that's a whole other rabbit hole that you can go down and equipment that you need them. Like we're, you know, that's another one that we probably, a lot of shops don't have all the equipment for, right?
00:42:30
Aniz Lavji
a
00:42:35
Coralee Zueff
So coming up with a good, trustworthy place to send the customers to, because oftentimes they shy away from, you know, going to the dealership, right?
00:42:38
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:42:43
Aniz Lavji
Very often.
00:42:43
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, I've.
00:42:44
Aniz Lavji
I think there's only, there's a few places. In fact, the local glass shop that, um, that we deal with, I believe they've got that whole system because I think you, whatever, yeah, they need to approve program the windshield.
00:42:55
Frank Wiebe
Same here. yet
00:42:59
Aniz Lavji
So he's got two systems because i think he's got three shops now. So I know like in the back of my mind, if I ever need to get something program, I can always send it there, but it's a huge investment.
00:43:12
Aniz Lavji
It's not peanuts.
00:43:12
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, equipment and space.
00:43:14
Aniz Lavji
Yes.
00:43:15
Coralee Zueff
And training.
00:43:16
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:43:17
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:43:17
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. And i think I think for that sake, same for what electric vehicles, I don't have the space for it in my shop. I'd have to build a pretty specific bay just to service either one of those.
00:43:28
Frank Wiebe
And I'm like, I just don't have the real estate to do that. So those are the kinds of things I'll probably end up shying away from just for that sake.
00:43:34
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, electric vehicles you can do, Frank.
00:43:34
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:43:36
Aniz Lavji
don't worry about it.
00:43:37
Aniz Lavji
You have rubber real rubber boots, right?
00:43:38
Frank Wiebe
I'll do, I'll do, I'll do brakes.
00:43:39
Aniz Lavji
and're gonna
00:43:40
Frank Wiebe
I'll do brakes and suspension and tires, but yeah, we'll keep it at that.
00:43:42
Aniz Lavji
Hey, there you go.
00:43:43
Coralee Zueff
is
00:43:45
Aniz Lavji
That's all I do. I don't touch anything beyond that.
00:43:48
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, I wouldn't either. I'm too old. Too old to learn that stuff.
00:43:53
Aniz Lavji
twenty nine years old Frank. Come on
00:43:58
Frank Wiebe
My beard says differently.
00:44:01
Coralee Zueff
Can't tell from here. You're in great lighting.
00:44:03
Frank Wiebe
I do have lots of lighting in here.
00:44:04
Aniz Lavji
a
00:44:06
Frank Wiebe
I got lots of light.
00:44:09
Aniz Lavji
Coralie, you must be enjoying the the weather out in Texas
Training Insights for Service Advisors
00:44:12
Aniz Lavji
right now. Okay.
00:44:12
Coralee Zueff
Yeah, I think my hair is as well. You know, usually it's poofy when it's cold and by the ocean, but I think it's enjoying the the warmth here.
00:44:22
Aniz Lavji
um ah One question I was going to ask you is, what is one thing, since obviously you are talking with different service advisors and you know tons of people, what's one thing that you feel that service advisors are missing from?
00:44:39
Coralee Zueff
Oh, just one thing. Hmm.
00:44:41
Aniz Lavji
Well, but you can be maybe your top three that that maybe service advisors think that it's not very important, but it's a complete opposite. What would you tell a service advisor that these are the top three things that you should keep in mind when speaking to customers?
00:45:00
Coralee Zueff
Maybe I'll base it kind of with what I've talked about in training so far this week, this week with the TTST here.
00:45:08
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:45:09
Coralee Zueff
um one The first one that comes to mind is it's okay to say, i don't know, and but I do know somebody who knows the answer or I'll be able to get that answer for you rather than BSing or making something up because customers can sense that, right?
00:45:25
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:45:27
Coralee Zueff
You'd be surprised how often that happens or that people feel that they're not able to say, you know what, i'm I don't have the answer, but I'll go get it because we can't know absolutely everything.
00:45:29
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:45:29
Frank Wiebe
hundred percent hundred percent
00:45:38
Coralee Zueff
Even if we've been doing this for two decades, there are still things that we don't know. And even if we do, when the next model comes out, it's going to be something new and peculiar with a different part name or the battery's located in a different thing or a different area of the vehicle.
00:45:45
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:45:52
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:45:53
Coralee Zueff
so I'd say um that'd be the first thing.
00:45:56
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:45:57
Coralee Zueff
being It's okay to say, I don't know.
00:45:59
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:45:59
Coralee Zueff
Another one would be setting up timeframes with customers that we know that we're gonna be able to hit, right?
00:46:09
Coralee Zueff
So if a vehicle gets dropped off, it needs to be diagnosed, you know we need to order parts, we don't know all that step entails. So if we say that we're gonna be done with it in a couple hours or something like that, I always just promise what the next step is going to be.
00:46:24
Coralee Zueff
We're gonna get it in, the technician will do their testing or diagnosis, And then I will let you know exactly what the timeframe will be and price before we proceed with anything else.
00:46:24
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:46:34
Coralee Zueff
And then, you know, after they prove that I won't say, okay, we'll have it done for you by five o'clock.
00:46:34
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:46:39
Coralee Zueff
You know, we might have to order parts in. So I'll let you know when the parts arrive with a better timeframe there.
00:46:41
Aniz Lavji
Right.
00:46:45
Aniz Lavji
It's not expectations, basically.
00:46:45
Coralee Zueff
So yes, that's right. Setting expectations. So don't set them three steps in advance and then disappoint them. Set them up next step, next step, next step. Kind of like a, you know, DoorDash Uber thing where they tell you, you know, you've placed your order.
00:46:59
Coralee Zueff
The restaurant has your order. The driver's on the way there. The driver has picked it up. The driver's on the way there. So laying, yeah, the driver left it outside the door.
00:47:05
Aniz Lavji
The driver dropped it all the way.
00:47:09
Coralee Zueff
Here's a picture of it at the place like three doors down. Yeah, those kinds of things.
00:47:13
Frank Wiebe
You know, us a simple way of saying that in a very few words, a wise man once told me, he said, always under promise and over deliver.
Customer Satisfaction Strategies
00:47:23
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm.
00:47:23
Aniz Lavji
i did tell you that you're right.
00:47:23
Frank Wiebe
And then, yeah, yeah, that's where I learned it from. The guy, the guy that I worked at for, for 14 years, he was exactly the opposite. He always over promised, over promised.
00:47:33
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:47:33
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, we'll have it done by five. And I look and I'm like, there ain't no way.
00:47:37
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:47:38
Frank Wiebe
Ain't no way. Right. And always, Oh my god i got to get it done by five. Ain't no way. Right. I promise it to him. I don't care. Ain't happening. Right. So I took, I took that.
00:47:46
Aniz Lavji
I'd rather tell him it's going ready tomorrow and get it done sooner. If it happens, it happens.
00:47:50
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Yeah. And exactly. So I took that model, learn from him where he would always over promise. And I always, and I like, I'm not going to do that in my shop.
00:47:56
Coralee Zueff
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:47:59
Frank Wiebe
So when we started at our shop, I was always like, you know what, I'm going to do my best, but I really don't think it'll be done until such and such.
00:47:59
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:48:06
Frank Wiebe
And then when you're done ahead of schedule, man, they're like, oh, man, these guys are awesome, right?
00:48:11
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:48:11
Frank Wiebe
And then you get way better Google reviews because that's what it's all about it's Google reviews, right?
00:48:13
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. it's If you know it's not going done by five o'clock, then, and you know, you tell them like, look, it's three, your your car more than likely will not be done today with the brakes, but I think we should be good for tomorrow.
00:48:18
Frank Wiebe
Exactly.
00:48:27
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:48:30
Aniz Lavji
So you've already set them up that, Hey, tomorrow i'm going to get my car.
00:48:30
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:48:34
Aniz Lavji
But then when you call them at quarter to five and say, hey, all the stars aligned and everything, if you can be here by 5.15, I'll still be here. You can pick your car up. They're tickled pink.
00:48:43
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:48:44
Aniz Lavji
They're the happiest person in the world because they're like, holy crap, it's ready.
00:48:46
Frank Wiebe
And they rush over and happy to pay you. Yep.
00:48:49
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:48:49
Coralee Zueff
John or Buckaroo, Buck and Bob just got out of class.
00:48:52
Aniz Lavji
Peace!
00:48:53
Frank Wiebe
Woo hoo!
00:48:54
Coralee Zueff
Here, I'll