Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 11- Aniz and Frank talk shop and all the different changes they have implemented to help workflow
108 Plays4 months ago
Brand new podcast hosted by a Shop owner and a Shop owner/Technician . Aniz and Frank get in to some nitty gritty details of shop workflow. Owning a shop is no joke but there are some golden nuggets to take away in this episode!
Follow us on Facebook! Search The Shop N Tread Talk Podcast!
Don't miss this episode!
Sit back and enjoy this one!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Promotion
00:00:01
Aniz Lavji
Welcome everyone to another exciting episode of the Shop and Tread Talk podcast. As usual, we've got Frank with us. Thank you for joining us from wherever you are. just want to remind you, you can find us on Facebook if you search on there for the Shop and Tread Talk podcast.
00:00:19
Aniz Lavji
Please like, follow, tell your friends, tell your mother, tell your dad, sister, brother, relative, your cousins, even the cousins you don't like, just tell them anyways.
00:00:26
Frank Wiebe
Even your cousins.
00:00:30
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, definitely.
00:00:32
Aniz Lavji
Um, yeah, we just wanted to jump on a podcast.
Early Recording and Schedule Challenges
00:00:36
Aniz Lavji
Uh, we're actually doing this right now at six, 10 in the morning. Uh, Frank's been so busy rolling around the money.
00:00:44
Aniz Lavji
He hasn't had time to, uh, no, no, we, we both just been super busy.
00:00:47
Frank Wiebe
don't think that's true.
00:00:50
Aniz Lavji
So we, uh, we wanted to make sure we took the time early this morning to, uh, to get an episode in, um, I just wanted to maybe talk about a few things that ah we haven't talked about in a while.
Shop Renovations and Office Relocation
00:01:07
Aniz Lavji
Frank has started some renovations in his shop now, and I think that's pretty cool.
00:01:12
Frank Wiebe
Oh my gosh.
00:01:13
Aniz Lavji
hes He's actually got part of his office in his garage right now, Frank.
00:01:20
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, that's been that's been a challenge. We had to decide what we were going to do. um We needed to do replace the floor in our office.
00:01:31
Frank Wiebe
and ah And then we decided well while we were at it, we might as well make a few other changes that we wanted to with the front counter and stuff like that.
00:01:40
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:01:41
Frank Wiebe
So then we looked at it and be like, well, how are we going to do this? Like it's the office, like it's the main part of it. So it's, we, we thought, well, we could go and rent a portable office trailer or something like that.
00:01:55
Aniz Lavji
Yep. That's what i thought you were going to actually.
00:01:55
Frank Wiebe
And Well, I mean, we talked about it and we looked at it and we and we ah looked at the cost of what it would take to rent one of those. And then we looked it and we like, you know, okay, well, like January, February is our slow season, right? Okay. Like we're going to be slow anyway. We thought, well, we got three bays. We're usually fairly slow.
00:02:14
Frank Wiebe
um So we decided that we would sacrifice one bay and turn it into a temporary office. Well, man, if that hasn't backfired on us just because we've been swamped, like the the two bays have just been full, full.
00:02:30
Frank Wiebe
full like And I don't know.
00:02:31
Aniz Lavji
Stop doing such good work, Frank. Like, you people want to come back to you or something? i don't know why.
00:02:36
Frank Wiebe
It's all this honesty stuff. Like I'm kind of getting sick of it. I think I'm going to start ripping people off now.
00:02:42
Aniz Lavji
I mean, you know, if if only you would just be the the typical mechanic and, you know, not do things right.
00:02:42
Frank Wiebe
But...
00:02:47
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:02:49
Aniz Lavji
But unfortunately or fortunately, you're doing things right and people want to come in and see you.
00:02:52
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, that's just... It seems that way. So, yeah, it's been it's been a bit of a challenge. And and I hired a ton of it out um because I was like, ah
00:03:08
Frank Wiebe
I can't do it all by myself. and And that was kind of the plan because, you know, I love doing that kind of work as well. And the plan was to do a lot of that myself because if we were going to be slow anyway, well, why not?
00:03:19
Frank Wiebe
But
Improving Customer Experience and Workflow
00:03:20
Aniz Lavji
Definitely Steve.
00:03:20
Frank Wiebe
now it's been...
00:03:22
Frank Wiebe
so It's kind of dragging along but we're in the painting stage now and and then trim so we're just about ready to move back in. so I think in another um probably week or so we're going to be at least moving the majority of it back in and then just doing the final touches.
00:03:40
Frank Wiebe
So in another by two weeks then we'll be done and then we'll be back in regular business.
00:03:43
Aniz Lavji
Hi.
00:03:46
Aniz Lavji
I think you'll appreciate it a lot more considering like you and Marguerite have done quite a bit in there. I mean, I know you sent me a picture. She's up there painting and like, it's, it's not easy working a full day and then you're, you know, <unk> remodeling at the same time.
00:03:58
Frank Wiebe
no it's Yeah. and it's And it's going to be real good because we we we changed how the layout is of of our customer service area. Like it was always garbage. I hated the way that it was set up.
00:04:15
Frank Wiebe
Like we had this this little area that I don't know, you could, ah we basically, we had four chairs in there and then it was full. And now we're going to have ah equivalent of six chairs plus at least two stools in front of the counter.
00:04:23
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:04:29
Frank Wiebe
So not that we want customers sitting there waiting, but just and there is when there is a waiter and somebody else walks in, it's not like your butt's right in their face.
00:04:32
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:04:38
Frank Wiebe
You know, they're actually going to have room to breathe and and and just the whole setup is going to be much more aesthetically pleasing.
00:04:44
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:04:44
Frank Wiebe
al um
00:04:45
Aniz Lavji
You have two butts in the face now.
00:04:46
Frank Wiebe
yeah and and The whole workflow is going to set up a lot better because we're going to have two two office stations. Margarita is going to be the main interaction with the customer and David is going to be the more service advisor parts.
00:05:03
Frank Wiebe
and and Just the way that it's going to flow all in there, it's gonna it's going to work much better. and I think customers are going to appreciate it more.
00:05:11
Aniz Lavji
I think, Frank, you're you're looking at things a little differently.
00:05:11
Frank Wiebe
um
00:05:15
Aniz Lavji
i can definitely tell even since the first time we talked, you know going back a while now, but I can definitely tell you're you're looking at the shop differently.
00:05:25
Aniz Lavji
You're looking at the way customer interaction is different when they walk in and like For me, like I can definitely see a difference. like You're looking at how you can service the customer the best and just make the experience, you know, when they walk into the three d auto, they're like, Oh man, okay.
00:05:38
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:05:44
Aniz Lavji
Like this is definitely someplace that I want to bring my car. i want to bring my car, have a service here. and not just because Frank, you know, gets all printed up for me every single day, but you know, that this place, they really appreciate me coming in and,
00:06:03
Aniz Lavji
bringing my service, my business and my vehicle to this particular establishment. So I can definitely tell that you've taken some steps to ensure that this is not just something you're doing. So you and Margarita can hang out and watch TV in the front.
00:06:19
Aniz Lavji
You know, this is something you guys have really poured out.
00:06:20
Frank Wiebe
No, definitely not.
00:06:24
Aniz Lavji
blood, sweat, and maybe two or three tears into it. And, you know, that's awesome. i My hat goes off to you because a lot of people would just literally write a check and have someone else do it. But you guys have put in a ton of work, man.
00:06:38
Aniz Lavji
From the pictures that I've
00:06:38
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, but definitely. No, and I thank you. appreciate that because I'm always about like, i want to I want to support other other trades and we have a lot of trades that come through and and do business with us. and we and We gave a lot of the work to those trades, if not even with
Adapting to New Software and Communication Tools
00:06:54
Frank Wiebe
this project, but some in the past. and ah but i'm I'm a huge fan of of making it go around like like Hey, you know what?
00:07:04
Frank Wiebe
Concrete. I don't know how to do concrete. So, you know, we we had to do some concrete work at the shop at times. And and so so we we we hire those kind of contractors that
00:07:16
Aniz Lavji
What that?
00:07:17
Frank Wiebe
oh bring their vehicles to us. and And I appreciate that. And I know they appreciate that too. um But yeah, as far as... I've got all kinds of noise going.
00:07:28
Aniz Lavji
was that
00:07:29
Frank Wiebe
I just got noise everywhere today.
00:07:40
Frank Wiebe
It's too early in the morning. I'd have to edit that little clip out.
00:07:44
Aniz Lavji
Oh, that's okay. we we We don't edit much out because you know what? At the end of the day, i see things like this happen and it actually makes the the podcast even more interesting.
00:07:55
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, more real. Yeah, what you're saying about about seeing things in a little different area light, I guess. But definitely over listening to some of the training ah podcasts that we've that we've done and and even having Eric on our podcast a while back, you know his big thing is it's all about the customer experience.
00:08:16
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:08:16
Frank Wiebe
And that's a big deal. like um When customers feel like like they're important and they're welcome and all that kind of stuff, it makes a big difference. It really does.
00:08:27
Aniz Lavji
Eric from Detroit.
00:08:27
Frank Wiebe
And that's right. Yeah. And ah so... I've really been thinking about that and what can we do um to make that so much better. And of course, part of it is that we switched over with Techmetric and ah yeah, well, don't tell my wife that she doesn't woo yet.
00:08:42
Aniz Lavji
Woo.
00:08:47
Frank Wiebe
So, but
00:08:48
Aniz Lavji
Oh, just tell Margarita, just keep messaging me and I'll fix everything.
00:08:53
Frank Wiebe
well, I wish you could.
00:08:53
Aniz Lavji
It's the greatest software ever made by human or maybe partly by AI, but it's the best.
00:08:54
Frank Wiebe
And,
00:09:00
Frank Wiebe
Well, see, and here's the thing. and And if our listeners are those that are using Typemetric, if you could, you know, send me a message or whatever. We'd love to talk to you on someone who doesn't send all of their information to a bookkeeper, if you know what i mean.
00:09:17
Frank Wiebe
so So, we do in-house bookkeeping. My wife is a registered bookkeeper. But TechMetric and bookkeeping, they don't like to talk to each other. and And the way that they do talk to each other, it makes a big kerfuffled mess on the bookkeeping side of it.
00:09:31
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:09:31
Frank Wiebe
And so she's been trying to figure out a ah ah very ah streamlined way to do this. And she's like, no one ever talks, like she has yet to talk to a bookkeeper who ah does the bookkeeping for TechMetric side.
00:09:51
Frank Wiebe
And if there's a better way to do it than what we're doing, we'd be great. But right now what we're doing is basically we've got TechMetric doing over here and we're not letting it port over to QuickBooks.
00:10:01
Frank Wiebe
We're porting it over manually into QuickBooks. So basically we double entering everything so that it, um yeah.
00:10:08
Aniz Lavji
No work.
00:10:09
Frank Wiebe
And it's just the way that the reports work for the end of the year for your QuickBooks. um
00:10:17
Frank Wiebe
Basically, I guess so that our accountant, and I don't follow this too much, but it has to do with what the accountant sees at the end of the year and stuff like that.
00:10:27
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:10:29
Frank Wiebe
Anyway, so if somebody does have information on that, that'd be great.
00:10:32
Aniz Lavji
Frank, I would... um I would post in that ASOG group, that auto shop owners group
00:10:42
Aniz Lavji
on Facebook. If you post on there, i guarantee you someone has had the same issue.
00:10:50
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, quite likely.
00:10:50
Aniz Lavji
And I guarantee you someone's figured out or has a solution to that because, you know, like, I don't know how much how many people in the industry started off with QuickBooks, even using it as a point of sale like I did.
00:11:03
Aniz Lavji
And like you had QuickBooks, which, I mean, there's still a lot of people that still use it for accounting and everything.
00:11:03
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:11:08
Aniz Lavji
So there has to be someone out there that's used it and got Techmetric and QuickBooks to talk and, you know, have a good marriage there.
00:11:16
Frank Wiebe
Well, I mean, yeah, and I mean, they do talk, but they don't talk well. Like like only it the what basically Techmetric does is it it makes a group of this information and a group of this information and spits it over to here.
00:11:32
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:11:32
Frank Wiebe
well Whereas QuickBooks has this group, this group, this group, this group, this group to break it down better. And that's that's what she's saying is the problem is that it's only grouping here and here. and not doing breaking it down into every individual category.
00:11:47
Aniz Lavji
What this sounds like is Techmetric and QuickBooks need a marriage counselor.
00:11:47
Frank Wiebe
I guess
00:11:51
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:11:52
Frank Wiebe
what my wife says is if I was, she says she says, I'm going to hire somebody to make a program that's going to integrate Techmetric and QuickBooks and ProDemand all into one and make one program out of everything so that all of them talk together perfectly.
00:12:10
Frank Wiebe
And I'm like,
00:12:10
Aniz Lavji
So she can do that because Techmetric allows integrations with so many different, like, you well, you know, with MotoVisuals and there's so many different ones on there.
00:12:17
Frank Wiebe
And yeah, so
00:12:20
Aniz Lavji
So that's definitely something she can do. And if you go on their website, yeah.
00:12:22
Frank Wiebe
yeah, it just it would just take somebody that, you know, a programmer to be able to do that and to understand what you need off of each one. And I'm sure it's possible, but like I understand why Techmetric did what they did and and this is we're focusing on this section of it, right?
00:12:38
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:12:39
Frank Wiebe
We're not an accounting software, we're a shop management software. So I understand that, right? But why don't those two get together, have lunch and be like, hey, you know what?
00:12:50
Frank Wiebe
If we do this and this, instead of having this back office thing in between, because now I don't know again, but frankly, from what my wife is saying, that it's just kerfuffled mess.
00:12:56
Aniz Lavji
so
00:13:02
Frank Wiebe
And she's just like, i I don't want Like, I think we had one week of where ah back office actually reported to QuickBooks and it took her two weeks to fix everything and and and rewrite everything in QuickBooks the way that she needed it so that her books would look proper.
00:13:21
Frank Wiebe
So, don't know.
00:13:21
Aniz Lavji
You know, other thing is you guys are you essentially learning TechMetric as you guys are busy too, right?
00:13:27
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:13:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Well, that's, and that was the other reason why we started Techmetric in January.
00:13:34
Aniz Lavji
and And again, that's a good thing.
00:13:36
Frank Wiebe
and We wanted to be slow to learn it.
00:13:37
Aniz Lavji
It's a good thing. Because if you're if you're slow in learning it, then you get frustrated. You're like, well, I'm um'm you know spending X amount of dollars and we're slow and now I'm learning it. Okay, fine, I've learned it, but then there's no business.
00:13:52
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:13:52
Aniz Lavji
So now you guys are busy as can be trying to learn as you go along. And then you've got QuickBooks kerfuffle going on. So it can definitely be frustrating to to do that.
00:14:04
Aniz Lavji
And then again, when do you spend the time to actually try and fix it while you're at work? So then now you're probably thinking about it after work, right? So it's, I can definitely appreciate That's gotta be really tough, man.
00:14:13
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, and
00:14:17
Frank Wiebe
yeah and i i i like I think I like the way Techmetric is set up. like I'm getting used to, ah A, I had to get used to using a phone and having the phone in my hand or or near me all the time because I was always like the phone is sitting over by the toolbox. I didn't carry it with me. Well, now it's like you go out to get a car. But instead of having the paper you know and then I just put the mileage in or whatever that way.
00:14:43
Frank Wiebe
still a few things I would change with it to make it a little bit easier.
00:14:43
Aniz Lavji
But
00:14:46
Frank Wiebe
We're learning now, like, okay, if i if i use ah let's say I use a certain bulb, where do I write that note so that it goes to the service manager? Because I think the whole idea of TechMetric is to,
00:15:01
Frank Wiebe
um
00:15:04
Frank Wiebe
it seems to cut off the communication between the tech and the service manager. Like it used to be always I would have the paper invoice and or work order and I would go up and I would write that one thing down and I would hand it to him and I would send this and this and this and this.
00:15:17
Frank Wiebe
But now it's all supposed to be sent digitally, right?
00:15:17
Aniz Lavji
Mm-hmm.
00:15:20
Frank Wiebe
And it seems like their idea is that to minimize that communication, which in my opinion is is a really bad thing because it should you should always want to communicate text to service managers.
00:15:32
Frank Wiebe
And i understand in some huge shops they hate each other, but in our shop we love each other. you know, because we're we're nice people. but
00:15:39
Aniz Lavji
But Frank, you're the so I'll rebuttal on that is I think the communication actually completely different is we communicate 100 times more now.
00:15:51
Frank Wiebe
Really? Yeah.
00:15:52
Aniz Lavji
So there's two things. What we what we do is we have a group chat for one with everyone that works at the shop. Everyone works at the shop. We have one WhatsApp group.
00:16:04
Aniz Lavji
So that's helped a lot. So if there's something that like, you know, we need to take a picture of something, maybe we need a license plate number and everyone's busy. We just need to get a license plate number so we can get the vehicle in.
00:16:16
Aniz Lavji
one of the guys will snap a picture quickly and they'll put in there, you know, 2018 Hyundai Sonata, bam, snaps a picture.
00:16:23
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:16:24
Aniz Lavji
So that's sent over. So we automatically know when that vehicle, you know, the customer's up there, we've already got the license plate. We can just enter that in and that's done.
00:16:34
Aniz Lavji
So I've kind of got the guys trained that if I don't have that license plate number quickly, I can't open a work order for you. And you guys are going to be standing there doing nothing.
00:16:47
Aniz Lavji
And then I'm going to call back there and be like, why are you guys standing around doing nothing when there's a car? So that process, like they know that I'm going to get upset if I don't have that license plate number and I don't have it attached to a customer and the customer is waiting because every minute that customer waits,
00:17:05
Aniz Lavji
That's another minute that we don't have the car on the hoist. There's another minute we haven't done inspection. And that's another minute that's going to come off, you know, when we're trying to sell ethically on the DVI, whatever it needs, right? So the longer it takes for them to get that inspection and, you know, Mr. Custer, you need XXXXX, the longer it takes, the chance of them approving it's going to go down for sure.
00:17:31
Aniz Lavji
So we actually have the WhatsApp group. We also, another thing i don't know if you know is on the inspection itself, or sorry, on Techmetric, you can go into notes. Have you seen that?
00:17:44
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:17:45
Aniz Lavji
Oh, repair order notes. So we type in there as well.
00:17:47
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:17:48
Aniz Lavji
And when we save it, obviously in the back, the text can see all that too.
00:17:53
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. So that's the one thing that we've we've been trying to figure out exactly where to write those notes. um And I kind of found that the easiest way for me to write it and for the service writer to see it is um when it initially comes in for either where the customer concern is, you can if you write notes in there, pops up real easy.
00:18:12
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, exactly.
00:18:14
Frank Wiebe
um Or if you if you do, when you do the DVI and you write notes in the DVI, but unless you're doing like a 50 point inspection on the DVI,
00:18:15
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:18:22
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:18:23
Frank Wiebe
i mean it's not looking for like i noticed on the 18 point inspection it wasn't looking for wiper blades and i'm like why in the heck is it wiper blades not on here like that's such an important thing so i've we've been we've been modifying our 18 point inspection but i'm like
00:18:29
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:18:39
Aniz Lavji
But you also want to make sure on the DBI, you don't write too much for each thing because that'll also scare the customer off.
00:18:45
Frank Wiebe
yeah yeah exactly yeah
00:18:47
Aniz Lavji
Like even they need front brakes and you got a whole paragraph because I've seen some people do it. They'll put a whole paragraph and then that customer's like, oh my God, my car is a disaster. You know what?
00:18:56
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:18:57
Aniz Lavji
Forget it. I'm just going sell it.
00:18:58
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Yeah. And and I mean more like if I'm going to use like, let's say i use a wiper blade and, and well, if it comes in and, and, and you're just like, wow, this wiper blades fall enough. You put a wiper blade on, if it isn't added in as a part later on, right. Or then you, or if you use a bulb, like you use a one 94 bulb, where do you put in that uses a one 94 bulb, that kind of thing. So that's what we've been trying to figure out. and it's been either like i say either in the customer notes or if you write a technician note. But I'm i'm always i'm always leery of like If I put it in a note, I know it pops up in the background of of the screen on the computer, but I want it to pop up in the front. I want so that when when you open up their ah RO again, it's right there in your face that I used the torch or I used a can of brake clean or something like that so that you can see it right there.
00:19:51
Aniz Lavji
But so if if you use the, if you use the can of break clean, you want to be able to let your service writer know that you use that, right?
00:19:51
Frank Wiebe
that would be ah That would be a really handy section.
00:20:00
Frank Wiebe
And that's just it, yeah.
00:20:02
Aniz Lavji
So if you, for example, you have a computer in the garage,
Shop Supplies Management and Environmental Concerns
00:20:08
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:20:09
Aniz Lavji
okay, and you have a computer that David's using Service Writer, okay, download WhatsApp for business or WhatsApp on your computers, both of them, okay?
00:20:14
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:20:24
Aniz Lavji
You have your WhatsApp hooked up in the garage, David has WhatsApp on the computer in the office, right?
00:20:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:20:32
Aniz Lavji
So you're in the middle of working on the Lamborghini and you need to use that brake clean. You use the brake clean. You use this, this, this. You've got WhatsApp open on the computer.
00:20:43
Aniz Lavji
You have your chat open. Hey, David, brake clean, enter, bail. So you can quickly sign that, but it then it's right on his screen.
00:20:47
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, see, I get what you're seeing there.
00:20:52
Aniz Lavji
And there's no gap of communication because you can set the process that before you finish making that repair order for this vehicle, the chat's open.
00:20:52
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:21:05
Aniz Lavji
If you've got dual screens and that chat's always open on the left screen or the right screen, there's no reason why he wouldn't see unless you didn't write or tell him. then that's on you.
00:21:15
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Okay.
00:21:17
Aniz Lavji
But if you have that chat open, then he's like, okay, great. You know, Frank used a thing of Rayclean. Let me make sure i add that on. That's one way.
00:21:25
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, like I get that. And and and what what my point in that is, okay, now the the thing is then you've got so many different platforms that you're using, right?
00:21:35
Aniz Lavji
Yes.
00:21:35
Frank Wiebe
It'd be really nice if there was a section that said like in TechMetric right here that says notes or or extra parts used or anything else that when I write it in there, it flags the front and and it says, hey, you need to pay attention to this.
00:21:53
Frank Wiebe
And they read it off and it's like, oh there's a kind of break clean.
00:21:57
Aniz Lavji
Frank, you could just add the the can of break clean with your login.
00:22:01
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, I know I can.
00:22:03
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, right? Like if you – yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:03
Frank Wiebe
i'myning up I'm thinking of my technicians, I'm thinking of of something like that. And that part to me, there's something missing there. There's there's that part missing because right i would on a work order, I would just write it down, circle it this is or you have a section there that says this is the extra parts I use. Boom, here it is right in his face. right That needs to be a note section that's right in your face.
00:22:25
Frank Wiebe
like Even after customer concern, technician concern,
00:22:28
Aniz Lavji
Yeah,
00:22:28
Frank Wiebe
notes, extra parts used, extra something other that wasn't on there. Boom, boom, boom, write it down. Right. So then it was never missed. And that's, I think something that I'm sure a lot of shops are finding that, ah, crap, I forgot to bill for that one liter of coolant.
00:22:43
Frank Wiebe
Oh man, I forgot to bill for that half a jug of brake fluid.
00:22:45
Aniz Lavji
yeah yeah, I've done it too, yeah.
00:22:46
Frank Wiebe
Right. and And that's what I'm saying. So, so there's a lot of, uh, free stuff that's given away because there's no place there to write it down.
00:22:57
Aniz Lavji
What about
00:22:57
Frank Wiebe
That's one of my biggest issues, right?
00:22:58
Aniz Lavji
What about shop supplies? Like what do you charge for shop supplies?
00:23:02
Frank Wiebe
We kind of have a few different ones set up depending on what we're doing. If we're doing a brake job, we have a certain amount. If we do an exhaust repair or or manifolds or something like that, it's a certain amount.
00:23:12
Frank Wiebe
Oil change, of course, has its own little ah fees, but um we kind of have certain ones set up. So if a certain job is done, it's automatically attached, but then that doesn't cover if you do something extra, right?
00:23:27
Frank Wiebe
Like all of a sudden you're doing a job and all sudden you needed five bolts or or six screws or 10 body clips or something like that. You pull these covers off to do an oil change and every body clip breaks.
00:23:34
Aniz Lavji
Yeah,
00:23:37
Frank Wiebe
Now you need 10 body clips. Here's a little note section, 10 body clips for undercover. boom You know what I'm saying? Like those kinds of stuff, there isn't a good place to put that unless someone could show me better, but there isn't a good place to put that.
00:23:51
Frank Wiebe
And it gets missed a lot. And that's one of the things I'm really working on.
00:23:54
Aniz Lavji
You could add, maybe add something like that as a canned job, which will be a quick, a quick, too quick process too, right?
00:23:59
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:04
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, you could add a canned job, but then in the can, what, I guess then you write notes in the canned job type of deal, but then what do you add that to every single invoice?
00:24:12
Aniz Lavji
I mean, we like we have a standard amount which you know that we charge shop supplies on. We charge shop supplies on basically every repair order other than oil changes, which I need to change that because there are certain you know miscellaneous things that you know we have to put on there.
00:24:21
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:24:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, well for oil changes you do you do like an environmental fee because you have to pay to get rid of your oil and you have to get get rid of your filters.
00:24:38
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, yeah. so we're going to be adding...
00:24:40
Frank Wiebe
right so
00:24:41
Aniz Lavji
We're going be adding that and and doing some changes on that front.
00:24:43
Frank Wiebe
I mean, you you don't pay to get rid of your filters, but you pay ah an environmental fee when you buy the filters and you pay an environmental fee when you buy the oil. So essentially you're paying to get rid of it because that goes back, back, back.
00:24:56
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:24:56
Frank Wiebe
Speaking on that, I heard yesterday that the tire use, tire recycling is having a problem. Is that something that you've heard of?
00:25:08
Aniz Lavji
It's... So... Knock on wood, I have had zero issues with my my tires getting picked up. um I mean, it could be because I always put six to seven dozen Tim Horton donuts on top of the tires, you know, when I know they're coming in. No. But I've honestly had no issues with tire pickup.
00:25:30
Aniz Lavji
I'm also the guy that's really good about not calling them when I've got like overflowing, you know, 190 tires.
00:25:36
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. yeah you
00:25:38
Aniz Lavji
I'm like, oh, by the way, do you mind coming to pick this up like right now?
00:25:41
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:42
Aniz Lavji
I kind of text the guy and I'm like, hey, I'm i'm at 40 tires, I'm at 50 tires.
00:25:42
Frank Wiebe
So.
00:25:46
Aniz Lavji
But I never push them because I know that I want to make sure they're happy. And if if I start bugging them all the time that, you know hey, man, i'm I'm getting overloaded, what are you doing?
00:25:52
Frank Wiebe
Okay.
00:25:58
Aniz Lavji
Then I'm going to lose them.
00:25:59
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. I heard this from ah a shop in the next town over and he was saying that, that they're having that the whole recycling program is having an issue. Now, our whole recycling program in Ontario is having an an issue. I don't know if you got the notice, but in Malahide Township, they no longer pick up paper recycling or recycling in general from businesses.
00:26:22
Aniz Lavji
Huh.
00:26:23
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:26:24
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:26:24
Frank Wiebe
So if you're if you're a commercial property outside of town in our township, You don't pick it. Apparently this is an Ontario thing. This is a new, the way that Ontario now makes the the supplier responsible for the recycling of the product, blah, blah, blah, that garbage.
00:26:41
Frank Wiebe
So now I get a ton of cardboard. What am I going to do with it anyway? So it's probably going end up getting burnt or in a garbage somewhere.
00:26:52
Frank Wiebe
But anyways,
00:26:52
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, yeah, what are you supposed to do with it?
00:26:54
Frank Wiebe
What am I supposed to do with it? Sometimes I take it home in a big box and they take it from my house, no problem, but I can't put my huge bins out at the at the house. So I'm going to end up with a ton of cardboard.
00:27:02
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:27:03
Frank Wiebe
And if anybody wants cardboard, you know, for cat scratch something like that, let me know. I got lots. You can have it.
00:27:08
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, seriously.
00:27:09
Frank Wiebe
But back to the tire thing, I heard that they're having an issue. I don't know, maybe it's an issue with recyclers because like the ones that pick up tires at our shop, they've I think we've gone through like three different or maybe even four different recyclers in the last six years.
00:27:26
Frank Wiebe
I mean, that's a lot of change. every Every time you call and they're like, oh, it's time to pick up. and it's like, oh, we don't we don't service that area anymore. um We had that issue now with plastic jugs.
00:27:38
Frank Wiebe
We had this one company that we were dealing with for like four years and then it switched to another company, no big deal. Now we were full of plastic jugs again. We call and they're like, oh, we don't service that area anymore.
00:27:49
Frank Wiebe
You got to call this other company.
00:27:50
Aniz Lavji
Service changes, man.
00:27:50
Frank Wiebe
listen
00:27:51
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:27:52
Frank Wiebe
This other company, it's just like, I don't know if they're too busy or whatever, but we've been calling them for like three weeks and no reply, no nothing. so Again, what am I going to do with these plastic jugs? They're overflowing. They got to get out of my way.
00:28:05
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:28:05
Frank Wiebe
You're probably going end in the landfill as much as I hate it. I'm a huge advocate for recycling. I hate stuff going in the landfill.
00:28:10
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:28:11
Frank Wiebe
What am I going to do? i got I got nothing I can do with this thing. But if anyone makes biodiesel, I've got plastic jugs.
00:28:15
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, it's unfortunate.
00:28:18
Frank Wiebe
Come and see me.
00:28:20
Aniz Lavji
It's unfortunate that you know we're really we're trying to do the right thing.
00:28:20
Frank Wiebe
um
00:28:23
Aniz Lavji
and like For us on on Fridays, our pickup for recycling, and you know our we have everything on right on Bridgeport. We got like three or four big recycling bins and they're completely jam-packed of brake part boxes and rotor boxes and M&Ms and Skittles.
00:28:40
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, thanks exactly. Yeah. Now imagine if all of a sudden they said, Hey, we're not picking that up from your shop anymore. What would you do?
00:28:49
Aniz Lavji
I would put them in a truck and no, I'd drop them off to you.
00:28:50
Frank Wiebe
Burn bin?
00:28:53
Aniz Lavji
Cause you love collecting it all. You were just said yourself. So
00:28:55
Frank Wiebe
Well, I actually, and that's an option for me. I can drop them off. I can, I can load up all the cardboard into my truck.
00:29:00
Aniz Lavji
yeah. No, why should you do that?
00:29:01
Frank Wiebe
I can drive.
00:29:02
Aniz Lavji
We're paying for, you know, the, the service.
00:29:03
Frank Wiebe
Exactly. Exactly. so So in the letter, it said that you could load it up, you could take it and I think to use St. Thomas to your recyclers, which is only like a 14 minute drive. It's not that far, but now what's their working hours? The same as mine.
00:29:19
Frank Wiebe
So how the heck am I ever going to leave my shop, drive s St.
00:29:19
Aniz Lavji
yeah come
00:29:22
Frank Wiebe
Thomas to drop off the recycling that I'm already paying for with my taxes you to drop off the recycling?
00:29:27
Aniz Lavji
But that's a one-hour process for you to do that, right, Frank?
00:29:29
Frank Wiebe
It is every time. Yeah, it is because i' would have to stop at Starbucks for my wife.
00:29:30
Aniz Lavji
and And think about it. you
00:29:36
Frank Wiebe
And there's a whole story there. Let me tell you that one day.
00:29:40
Aniz Lavji
It's not Starbucks. It's five bucks. Get it right.
00:29:43
Frank Wiebe
No, it's seven bucks.
00:29:45
Aniz Lavji
so Yeah, seven.
00:29:46
Frank Wiebe
It's $7.73 every time.
00:29:46
Aniz Lavji
Well, i I made my own here so this morning.
00:29:50
Frank Wiebe
I made my own too, but I drank it at night. So...
00:29:55
Aniz Lavji
No, but you know yeah going back to what you're saying is that process of you going to take the recycling and loading up your your truck and dropping it off, and that's it's at least an hour.
00:30:07
Aniz Lavji
But you don't i know I know you don't even have that hour.
00:30:07
Frank Wiebe
It is. Yeah.
00:30:12
Frank Wiebe
No.
00:30:12
Aniz Lavji
You haven't even had that hour to record.
00:30:15
Frank Wiebe
What? Yeah. Well, ah you know, and ah and a good example of that is when I first started the shop, I was like all my scrap that I had, and you know, my scrap rotors and all that stuff. And I thought, you know what? i'm going to, I'm just going to save it up.
00:30:26
Frank Wiebe
I had a little trailer. i'm going to save it up. And then I'm like, Hey, they're making me money.
00:30:28
Aniz Lavji
Just like you do with all them Chevy Cruises outside.
00:30:34
Frank Wiebe
I'm selling parts left and right off of those things.
00:30:36
Aniz Lavji
I know.
00:30:37
Frank Wiebe
But then I was like, hey, we're going to – I'm going to take the scrap in myself. Well, the first time, i i like three months, I had this trailer full of scrap, and I hook it to my truck, and I drag it to St.
00:30:48
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:30:48
Frank Wiebe
Thomas, and it was $70. And I'm like, I just spent three months or four months worth of saving up scrap.
00:30:54
Aniz Lavji
wait the time.
00:30:59
Frank Wiebe
Well, it was like almost two hours by the time I got there and back for $70. And I'm like, no.
00:31:05
Aniz Lavji
You made $35 an hour minus gas.
00:31:05
Frank Wiebe
So now I just – Yeah, well, I can make a lot more that if I do a brake job, right? or order or
00:31:13
Aniz Lavji
So your gross profit per hour. No, I'm just kidding.
00:31:15
Frank Wiebe
yeah So now I just call up, there's a local guy that that picks up scrap. That's what he does. That's his that's his whole business, right? He doesn't pay you nothing for it.
00:31:22
Aniz Lavji
yeah
00:31:24
Frank Wiebe
I mean, i get for rotors, I got guys that pay me rotors and and converters and stuff like that, right? But for the regular scrap, he'll just come and pick it up and off it goes. I have a bin out back.
00:31:34
Frank Wiebe
I fill it up. I call him up. I say, or he actually just comes on a schedule. And it it makes him money. It saves me a ton of time and I don't have to worry about it.
00:31:43
Aniz Lavji
What about aluminum?
00:31:43
Frank Wiebe
And at least then it's properly than recycled.
00:31:44
Aniz Lavji
You don't give them the aluminum, do you?
00:31:47
Frank Wiebe
I don't have much, but no, I have three separate bins. I have a bin for rotors for cast and I have a bin for aluminum and have a bin for for regular scrap. so he gets the regular scrap, the aluminum and the rotors and the batteries and any catalytic converters.
00:32:02
Frank Wiebe
um I have, there's other guys that come around and they buy that kind of stuff, right? So, and what are we,
00:32:07
Aniz Lavji
The aluminum's big money, Frank.
00:32:10
Frank Wiebe
For what little I have, like even my radiators and stuff like that, usually I get like between $3 and $8 for an ah aluminum rad.
00:32:10
Aniz Lavji
that
00:32:19
Aniz Lavji
Frank, I think had video somewhere. I took a truckload, like my pickup truckload of aluminum rims.
00:32:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:32:31
Aniz Lavji
And I have to check the receipt. I think I got like eight, nine hundred bucks.
00:32:37
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. So if you do a lot of rims, it's one thing, right? I don't do a lot of aluminum rims, right? But when I've had them in the past, they vary between $15 and $20 per rim, right?
00:32:49
Frank Wiebe
So if you had a set of four, you'd get a hundred bucks.
00:32:50
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:52
Frank Wiebe
So yeah, it can be it can be good money if you...
00:32:52
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:32:55
Frank Wiebe
What?
00:32:55
Aniz Lavji
That's something like if I were you, i would i would load those suckers into a trailer and and hang on to those for for a rainy day.
00:33:02
Frank Wiebe
Well, I get paid for those, right? Like if I have aluminum rims, I throw them in an aluminum bin and when Buddy comes to buy it, right, he buys and pays me for those.
00:33:09
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, yeah.
00:33:11
Frank Wiebe
Maybe not as much as if I loaded them up and took them in myself.
00:33:15
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, that's worth your time, in my opinion.
00:33:15
Frank Wiebe
But again, but again for for you maybe, because you would do a lot more rims than I would, I maybe would have, if I had a lot, it'd be 10 rims a year, right?
00:33:18
Aniz Lavji
if you've got If you've got the rims.
00:33:24
Aniz Lavji
Yeah,
00:33:29
Aniz Lavji
Oh yeah, okay, then it's not worth it.
00:33:30
Frank Wiebe
So where am I going to store 10 rims a year to take them in. i don't have the i don't have the real estate for that. So I have a bin, I throw them in there.
00:33:37
Aniz Lavji
That makes sense.
00:33:38
Frank Wiebe
It just goes every time. Right. So yeah, I like that. I like i like having stuff organized for recycling, like behind my shops and customers don't see this. I have those three bins for for my metal recycling.
00:33:53
Frank Wiebe
Then I have the two bins, one for the plastic recycling, one for oil filters. And then I have two ah cubes, a thousand liter cubes, one for used oil and one for used coolant.
00:33:59
Aniz Lavji
Yep. Yep.
00:34:05
Frank Wiebe
And when ah any of those are all full, right? I just called a proper supplier or vendor, I guess, and say, Hey, come, come get my used oil, come get my use coolant, whatever. Right. So it's all disposed of properly, which to me is that's something like years and years ago,
00:34:25
Frank Wiebe
Like when I started in the business, we had, basically we had, there was a, had a huge used oil furnace tank.
00:34:35
Frank Wiebe
That's what, that's what we were using at that shop. It was like 5,000 liters.
00:34:38
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:34:40
Frank Wiebe
And that's what he put his used oil in and just dumped in and it would get pumped out.
00:34:43
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:34:45
Frank Wiebe
And I'm like, man, this is so nice.
00:34:46
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:34:47
Frank Wiebe
And then they started with these other programs for plastic jugs and the paper and stuff like that.
00:34:51
Aniz Lavji
Oh, yeah.
00:34:52
Frank Wiebe
And I was just, I got right on board with that. I'm like a huge advocate for that. So every shop that I've always worked at, it's always been like, we got to recycle. We got to recycle.
00:35:01
Aniz Lavji
It's got to be disposed of properly, right?
00:35:03
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, absolutely. But
00:35:05
Aniz Lavji
Other thing is like, you know, you also don't want to dispose it improperly because then it gets into the soil, gets into land and that's not good for anybody.
00:35:14
Frank Wiebe
exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:18
Aniz Lavji
No, that's, I can tell like the different processes you've had. I'm sure you've refined them over the years and everything, but it just makes your life easier.
00:35:24
Frank Wiebe
Hey, if you are, you make it easier, make it better and and just keep on going. Like it just, yeah, you can't, you can't just be content with, Oh, this is good enough.
00:35:35
Frank Wiebe
Like somebody once told me, if you're here, you have the opportunity to be here. Once you're here, and you can always, and if you're always going strive, why you got to be able to see what I'm doing.
00:35:40
Aniz Lavji
There you go. Your hand has to go higher, Frank. Your hand has to go higher. They're way up.
00:35:48
Frank Wiebe
But if you can always strive for something better, whether it's in,
00:35:48
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:35:52
Frank Wiebe
in recycling or in customer service or in um the product that you offer.
00:35:58
Aniz Lavji
yep
00:35:58
Frank Wiebe
yeah Get the better product, get it for the customer. don't don't Don't buy the cheap parts and be like, oh, it's good enough for the customer. No, that's that's not good enough. You have to go to the next step. You have to to the next step. right Always find the best that you can do and the best that you can be um in your in your business, in your personal life, in your in your interaction with people.
00:36:21
Frank Wiebe
um
00:36:21
Aniz Lavji
that That reminds me, um don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure i was listening to Rick White.
Choosing Quality Over Cost in Auto Parts
00:36:30
Aniz Lavji
Shout out to Rick White if you're listening, a really good trainer.
00:36:33
Aniz Lavji
um I'm pretty sure it was him, but i think he was telling a story back in the day where it it was working somewhere and the guy across the street put up a sign that said, you know, $280 break a break job And I guess the guy that Rick was working for, again, just assuming me I'm pretty sure it was Rick, but the guy he was working for said, man, you know, he put up a sign. There's a 280 brakes and rotors installed.
00:37:04
Aniz Lavji
So he's like, oh, you know what? Don't worry. I'll take care of this. So he gets a sign and you know he he goes and writes on it. We fix $280 brake jobs. And he put it up front.
00:37:17
Frank Wiebe
That'd be awesome.
00:37:18
Aniz Lavji
That was one of the smartest thing I've ever heard. and It's true. I mean, you see these guys and we've got a, there's a guy locally that I've seen $180 brake job. what that is, mean, you a 2018 Corolla and can find 18 $22 rotors and you can get $23 pads and you're going to make 130, 140 bucks, but
00:37:29
Frank Wiebe
Oh, wow.
00:37:36
Aniz Lavji
fine eighteen or twenty two dollars rotors and you can get some twenty three dollars pads and you're still gonna make a hundred and thirty hundred and forty bucks but What kind of a brake job is? You're not getting any clips of those pads.
00:37:51
Aniz Lavji
Those rotors are going to be, you know, far below even economy rotors.
00:37:54
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Cheap white box stuff. that
00:37:57
Aniz Lavji
The guy's going to come back after two three months and hear a noise and complain about it.
00:37:57
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. they
00:38:02
Aniz Lavji
Like, what is the point?
00:38:04
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, no, I'm, and that's one thing that we're big on, like brakes, they can't make any noise. They can't, like, if we have any issue with the parts that we supply, we're right at the supplier and we're like, hey, and they take care of us. Like we had, we had this one other supplier. He's like, you really should try our brakes. We've got this line. It's, it's a really good line.
00:38:27
Frank Wiebe
So I said to Margarita, so what, like, he really wants us to try them and I'm okay trying something for the first time.
00:38:31
Aniz Lavji
yep
00:38:33
Frank Wiebe
And her her car does need new brakes right now. And I said, she's like, nope, you are not putting those on. youre this I'm only putting CarQuest brakes on my car. So I'm like, okay, fine. I'll put them on my truck. I had to put new rear brakes on my truck.
00:38:47
Frank Wiebe
Well, that was a mistake.
00:38:48
Aniz Lavji
You mean you get time to work on your own vehicle, Frank?
00:38:51
Frank Wiebe
I don't. I pay my guy to do it because don't have time.
00:38:54
Aniz Lavji
but Don't tell your customers, they're gonna be like, oh, Frank must be doing really well now if he has time to work on his own vehicle.
00:38:56
Frank Wiebe
Oh, man.
00:38:59
Frank Wiebe
No, I don't. I mean, I could if I wanted to work till midnight. But ah so anyway, we put rear brakes, pads and rotors from this other supplier on and it was fine for a while.
00:39:11
Frank Wiebe
I mean, they work fine. But every time I backed out of the drive, it's like squeal.
00:39:15
Aniz Lavji
Yep. Yep.
00:39:17
Frank Wiebe
So I call him up and he said, oh, man, you're the first guy ever to say that those pads squeal.
00:39:21
Aniz Lavji
Oh yeah.
00:39:22
Frank Wiebe
OK, I'll send you another set. OK, send me another set. was good for a couple of weeks. I'll say, whee. I call him up. He's like, well, I've never heard anyone say that before. so what are you going to said, oh, there's nothing I can do. I'm like, okay. I took the pads off. I threw them in the garbage.
00:39:38
Frank Wiebe
I ordered CarQuest Gold pads. And it's been three weeks now. No squeal. And I'm like, it's just... um it's it's it's it's The evidence is there. So I'm like, we just stick with the supplier that we know has good parts. They treat us really, really good.
00:39:57
Frank Wiebe
And we don't have customers come back and saying, hey, my brakes squeal. Hey, my rotor is, my rim is is really dusty and stuff like that.
00:40:00
Aniz Lavji
Good on you, Frank.
00:40:05
Frank Wiebe
We just found this one product that we really love and our supplier stands behind it And that's what we sell to our customer because I use myself as a guinea pig for the other stuff.
00:40:19
Frank Wiebe
And I'm like, I will not use it. I don't care.
00:40:22
Aniz Lavji
Well, you did the right thing.
00:40:22
Frank Wiebe
You can promise me the world.
00:40:23
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:40:24
Frank Wiebe
And yeah, so I don't ever do that kind of stuff and try it on a customer's vehicle. Be like, you know what, we're going to, we're trying this new supplier.
00:40:30
Aniz Lavji
No way.
00:40:32
Frank Wiebe
Let me know what you think, but I'm still going to charge you full price for it.
00:40:36
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Well, imagine, yeah.
00:40:37
Frank Wiebe
Right.
00:40:37
Aniz Lavji
Imagine if you did put it on a customer's car and they had to come back. That guy's not coming back to you ever again. He's going to say, this guy's putting on crap.
00:40:42
Frank Wiebe
dlan if If I didn't have my own vehicle to do it on and I and i wanted to try this on a customer's car, they'd be get a free brake job. It would be 100%. Look, I want to try this new product.
00:40:54
Frank Wiebe
Are you willing to be my guinea pig?
00:40:54
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:40:56
Frank Wiebe
If so, no cost to you. I just want to try this because I want to know if I can sell this product.
00:40:58
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:41:01
Frank Wiebe
And if it turns out be garbage like this was, then at least we know. Then when the brake job is done properly, I mean, Would you bill them then or would you give it to them free then for their pain and suffering? I don't know.
00:41:15
Frank Wiebe
however Dude, you got to get switched over.
00:41:16
Aniz Lavji
We've been having a lot of issues with brakes lately. I know you usually use everything from CarQuest, right? Mostly.
00:41:22
Frank Wiebe
Get away from race. No. No. please
00:41:25
Aniz Lavji
don't die let not Let's not say any names or any suppliers, but ah you know my
00:41:31
Frank Wiebe
no
00:41:32
Aniz Lavji
my issue I've been having is the backing plate. you know Sometimes there's not enough glue on them or whatever the hell it is.
00:41:39
Frank Wiebe
Oh, let me tell you about that.
00:41:40
Aniz Lavji
and then And then you start hearing the clickety clackety and then you get pissed off customers.
00:41:41
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Mm-hmm. hundred percent. No,
00:41:45
Aniz Lavji
And then end up bringing the car in and I look for the greatest and mightiest pad I can find. I don't care how much it is and I throw it on. And yes, it'll take care of the customer.
00:41:55
Frank Wiebe
from exactly.
00:41:57
Aniz Lavji
But what did I lose?
00:41:59
Frank Wiebe
And from that supplier that you're using and they have what, probably like 30 different, different brands of pads that you can buy.
00:42:05
Aniz Lavji
And I only use from the certain supplier, I only use the premium ones on there.
00:42:06
Frank Wiebe
Right.
00:42:11
Frank Wiebe
yeah ah You know what?
00:42:11
Aniz Lavji
And
00:42:13
Frank Wiebe
Do yourself a favor. Just try the pads that I use. i that And that is one of the things that I love about them. if Maybe today, I just did a break job yesterday.
00:42:24
Frank Wiebe
If I do a break job today, I'll send you a picture of the backing plate that's on there.
00:42:28
Aniz Lavji
do it.
00:42:28
Frank Wiebe
And and it's it's a phenomenal technology that they've had. um they They used to have...
00:42:34
Aniz Lavji
I want that backing plate on there with fricking gorilla glue, man, because.
00:42:37
Frank Wiebe
Oh no, <unk> I've never had a single backing plate come loose on this pads that I use now.
00:42:38
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:42:43
Frank Wiebe
And and just the way that there's like ah some of the very premium backing plates, they have like almost like a felt backing plate, like a pad felt on the side of it.
00:42:49
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:51
Frank Wiebe
This has got like ah like a hybrid technology between steel and felt or something like it. i don't know. It's really good. I just have no issues. I mean, a few there's some defective parts in there but over the past six years that we've been using this product um i guess maybe five years that we've been only using this product.
00:43:13
Frank Wiebe
I think I could probably count on one hand how many times I've actually had a defective pad and it's been something like there's a hard spot in the pad or something like that.
00:43:18
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:43:21
Frank Wiebe
The one time we had, and it was on my brother's truck, where the pad had a hard spot in it and wore groove in the rotor. So we call them up and they're like, sure, no problem.
00:43:28
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:43:30
Frank Wiebe
Send us new pads, new rotors, done. Just like that.
00:43:33
Aniz Lavji
But you had to send them an original work order and then a $0 work order for the work that you did for the customer and all that, or?
00:43:41
Frank Wiebe
I forget exactly how their process is, but I think you do. Yeah, I think you have to for warranty sake, I think so. Yeah. But.
00:43:52
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, we've we've just gotten to the point where if I'm doing a brake job and my mechanic sees a certain supplier's pads, he looks at me, he's like, putting these on, I'm like, yeah, i this this is the premium stuff.
00:43:53
Frank Wiebe
Mm
00:44:08
Frank Wiebe
hmm.
00:44:09
Aniz Lavji
And you know like we shouldn't have to second guess we're putting these pads on.
00:44:12
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:44:13
Aniz Lavji
and then yeah sometimes what will happen is yeah I'll say, you know what, yeah, you're right. I'll i'll not use those and then I'll tell the customer, look, I'm going to put these other pads on, which are more money, and I'll just eat the difference because I 100% know that I'm putting this particular pad on.
00:44:32
Aniz Lavji
It's done.
00:44:33
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:44:33
Aniz Lavji
So I'm trying to put on ah a very good pad at a very good price, but but then it it just ends up biting me you know three, four months later.
00:44:33
Frank Wiebe
we we
00:44:36
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Well, you know,
00:44:43
Frank Wiebe
All right, so I'll get pushy like you did with Techmetric. I'm going to get pushy and be like, look, you need to switch to this product. ah it's There's no question. like it's it We never have a situation where it's like, well,
00:44:54
Frank Wiebe
you know, we could sell you this pad or this pad or this pad. We have one pad that we know works. We know it works and it works on, on all the light duty stuff, passenger vehicles.
00:45:05
Frank Wiebe
It also works on the heavy duty truck. So like they have, it's their, their gold line, but then they have a platinum line, but it's kind of garbage.
00:45:12
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:45:15
Frank Wiebe
Like if there's something not right about it. So we just, all those, even those heavy duty trucks, we dropped them down to the, not a single complaint of ah of a customer at all. I just did a truck yesterday, ah three quarter ton Chevy, ah pads front and rear.
00:45:30
Frank Wiebe
And the customer will be very happy with the brakes. And he tows a trailer, does that's a concrete guy. And he tows a trailer with it all time and he will have no issues with it because it's been proven over and over again that this product works.
00:45:46
Frank Wiebe
And so I'm very confident when I sell this product, customer do you need pads?
00:45:50
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, yeah.
00:45:51
Frank Wiebe
This is the pad, end of story. right we don't We don't have different tiers of pads because we know that the reason we don't sell these is for this reason. We don't sell these for this reason. This works every time we sell you this, this is what it is.
00:46:08
Frank Wiebe
And we've had some customers be like, well, could you do a different pad? We had one customer, he insisted he wanted ah dealer parts. Hey, whatever.
00:46:18
Frank Wiebe
If you, if you insist, you must have OE parts. But then he's like, Oh, I got quoted aftermarket parts and dealer parts, but this was cheaper aftermarket and this was cheaper from the dealer.
00:46:31
Frank Wiebe
So now he wanted a concoction of all of it And it was like, no, I'm sorry.
00:46:34
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, no.
00:46:36
Frank Wiebe
We're just not going to do that anymore. Like, like,
00:46:38
Aniz Lavji
I can understand when people want to use dealer parts and I'll go out and say it. There's nothing wrong with putting on dealer parts.
00:46:46
Frank Wiebe
Oh, I like the lead parts.
00:46:46
Aniz Lavji
i I personally, when it comes to brakes and rotors, depending on the vehicle, i probably would look aftermarket.
00:46:47
Frank Wiebe
They're great. Yeah.
00:46:52
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:46:55
Aniz Lavji
But, you know, if you're looking for a mass airflow sensor or something like that, the the first call is going to be to the dealer because it's it's different.
00:47:00
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. 100%.
00:47:03
Aniz Lavji
You're you're not going to get the same results as throwing on aftermarket mass airflow, especially if it's a Nissan.
00:47:03
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. hundred percent
00:47:09
Aniz Lavji
And if ah if Jeff from the Jada mechanic listens to this, he's probably going to be nodding his head up and down. Yup.
00:47:16
Frank Wiebe
yeah Yeah, exactly. no When you get certain parts like that, you can't have aftermarket. I remember years ago, and and and Jeff would remember this because he worked at at the Dodge dealer and and back in the day of the old caravans.
00:47:28
Aniz Lavji
Yep. Yep.
00:47:30
Frank Wiebe
But if you were going to change an EGR valve on the old Chrysler 33 or something like that, and they were famous for going bad, like every other one that came in needed an EGR valve.
00:47:42
Frank Wiebe
you did not dare put an aftermarket EGR valve on. Like it it will actually caused significant problems beyond what the original concern was putting an aftermarket EGR valve on. So every time one of those came in, you just called up the local dealer, say, Hey, Larry, I need an EGR valve.
00:48:00
Frank Wiebe
And he would look up and I think there was two or three different part numbers that you could get depending on what year was in. You put it on, problem solved.
00:48:06
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:48:09
Frank Wiebe
But
00:48:09
Aniz Lavji
Well, that all goes with experience, right?
00:48:10
Frank Wiebe
Oh yeah. Yeah. But that was, that was a, that was a good one. It was like, there was no diagnosing needed on that one anymore. You knew it had this code and it was 400 and something.
00:48:21
Frank Wiebe
I think I remember these years ago and you had this code testing over done. You knew this EGR was bad because it had internal failures, but anyways, that was a good one.
00:48:33
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:48:33
Frank Wiebe
Oh, we parts on that one. And, and sometimes it is only parts only and, But other times the aftermarket has an upgrade to the OE parts.
00:48:38
Aniz Lavji
you know what's an
00:48:42
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:48:43
Aniz Lavji
you know it's an interesting one this is going back uh maybe two or three years um we used to get a lot of Hyundai Sonatas coming in and, and those vehicles, it's quite a few different Hyundais. They have issues with their rear view camera. You know, sometimes you'll, you'll bring it in, you put the car in reverse and then bam, you know, there's the big black screen there. There's nothing.
00:49:09
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, exactly.
00:49:10
Aniz Lavji
But the camera, if you call Hyundai for that camera, that camera is $975.
00:49:21
Aniz Lavji
I've been ordering them on, I hate to say it, on Amazon for $110.
00:49:27
Aniz Lavji
ah hundred and ten And yes, it's not the same quality and same this, but I don't know anyone that's going to spend $1,000 for a camera and then pay me you know X amount of dollars to install it, right?
00:49:29
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:49:42
Frank Wiebe
Well, and sometimes I would, because say like my F-150, their rear cameras would sometimes go bad. And on ah not on my truck, but on a customer's truck. And he wanted an aftermarket because he's the same thing. He's like, I don't want the OE.
00:49:57
Frank Wiebe
And ah it was the the it was so terrible that I took it out. And he's like, he's like i can't I can't even see anything like that wasn't clear enough, right?
00:50:09
Frank Wiebe
But in that case, like if mine ever goes bad, I would i would put an OE one in it.
00:50:12
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:50:14
Frank Wiebe
um If in the wiring harness on those things, same thing, right? And it actually OE makes a wiring harness for that because they they break because a tailgate opens closes. But but yeah you know what?
00:50:23
Aniz Lavji
Oh, for sure.
00:50:25
Frank Wiebe
It's all about the customer, right? Some customers are just like, hey, I'd i'd rather just live without the camera or hey you know what? Budget is what a budget is. I can't do it. Other customers like,
00:50:35
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:50:37
Frank Wiebe
I gotta be able to see, right?
00:50:39
Aniz Lavji
We've done so many of the the cheapies that that we know the quality it's going to be, and it's good.
00:50:39
Frank Wiebe
I gotta to see what's behind me, right? So,
00:50:44
Aniz Lavji
It's not like it's blurry or anything.
00:50:44
Frank Wiebe
yeah.
00:50:46
Aniz Lavji
It's actually pretty decent for the price. So like i you know if if it wasn't, I'd tell them, hey, you know what?
00:50:48
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:50:52
Aniz Lavji
This is going to work, but that pylon behind you may it look like a banana, but you'll have you'll see something.
00:50:58
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. ah No, and there's, yeah, there's definitely aftermarket parts that that are are definitely acceptable. And like I say, sometimes even better than the OE parts. So, yeah, so you got, you just gotta, to you just gotta to learn what works and and what doesn't work.
Community Learning and Future Plans
00:51:15
Frank Wiebe
And then the stuff that doesn't work, you just weed it out and never do it again.
00:51:19
Aniz Lavji
You don't know what you don't know.
00:51:19
Frank Wiebe
And
00:51:20
Aniz Lavji
So my my plan,
00:51:20
Frank Wiebe
Exactly. Yeah. Unless we have these kinds of situations where we can talk about it and we can help each other out and be like, hey, we know that this product works or I know that this product doesn't work.
00:51:25
Aniz Lavji
yeah, exactly.
00:51:31
Frank Wiebe
And then, hey, you learn from my experience. so And we help each other out that way because that's what we are as a community, right?
00:51:35
Aniz Lavji
Well, today, Frank, I promise today i will be calling CarQuest and I will be getting set up. I actually have an account with them from our previous location when we were on King Street.
00:51:49
Aniz Lavji
So I'm going to call the guy, talk to the rep and get set up in and try it out because, yeah, like I don't need that headache about breaking.
00:51:58
Frank Wiebe
I would, ah you know what, let me get you a name for the ah corporate manager for this area.
00:52:07
Aniz Lavji
Yep. Yep.
00:52:08
Frank Wiebe
I met him on the weekend or last week, but I forget his name and I could get his contact. And if you would contact him and you would drop my name, and think he would come and see it pretty quick. So
00:52:22
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, yeah. Just text me that ah later on.
00:52:25
Frank Wiebe
I will do that.
00:52:26
Aniz Lavji
But Frank, ah so much for our quick half an hour podcast here.
00:52:30
Frank Wiebe
Yes, yeah, you got her.
00:52:31
Aniz Lavji
if seven in the morning now. But as always, Frank, thanks for joining the podcast this morning.
00:52:39
Frank Wiebe
God, man, it was a pleasure.
00:52:40
Aniz Lavji
And this is great.
00:52:40
Frank Wiebe
It was great.
00:52:42
Aniz Lavji
Hopefully we will get together again soon and in person. i don't I know we've been so busy. We haven't had a chance to hang out person yet. But let's make that happen too.
00:52:49
Frank Wiebe
Nope. It's got to happen soon. You got her.
00:52:53
Aniz Lavji
Thanks everyone for joining us again.
00:52:55
Frank Wiebe
Thank you.
00:52:56
Aniz Lavji
Please reach out to us on social media. We're both on Facebook. We're both on Tik TOK. If you go on Facebook, just look up the shop and tread talk podcast and drop us a comment, subscribe, like, we really appreciate it.
00:53:13
Aniz Lavji
And until next time. Thank you.
00:53:17
Frank Wiebe
Have a good one.