Transcript
Aniz Lavji: All right, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Shop and Tread Talk podcast. I just wanted to mention, you can find us on YouTube and Facebook. Just search for... The Shopping Treadtop Podcast.
Aniz Lavji: Follow us, leave a comment, really appreciate it. As usual, I shouldn't say always because we did an episode. alone, both of us, for the past two. So we got Frank with us.
Aniz Lavji: And Frank, why don't you introduce our guest today?
Frank Wiebe: Today we got a good friend of mine. Can I say good friend? I think so. He's a real good guy and he's a friend.
Cameron Richards: I think we're. We're probably friends before this life, you know? We just... caught up a little bit late.
Frank Wiebe: I think so So my good friend Cameron. We met recently in. Minneapolis. at a at a coaching event.
Frank Wiebe: And anyways, Cameron is from the great state of Montana. I think that's a really beautiful state by the looks of it. Um... Runs a performance shop out there. so you want to introduce yourself a little bit and tell us a little bit about your Shop and what you do and then we'll get into having a conversation for the next hour or so.
Cameron Richards: Yeah, so I... um I've grown up around the automotive industry. My old man was a body man. when I was a kid. which I always kind of felt like was a rip -off because I wanted to be the mechanic. I didn't really care what things looked like. I just wanted to go fast.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: and uh
Cameron Richards: Yeah, so i he was a service writer for 29 years at the ford local Ford dealership. And bebopped in and out of... Obviously that. pretty much grew up in those stores and wasn't.
Cameron Richards: much of a mechanic. Had a kind of a cool experience when I was a I think a middle schooler. We were riding the school bus home. and i noticed that there was a boy next to me that kept trying to uh Stick his hands down the pants of these girls next to us right and the girls obviously weren't having it And I had been taught to respect women, so. I removed him from the seat and then I sat between him and them. Like I put them on the window side and sat between them and just kept them separated.
Cameron Richards: did thinking of it just was taught to respect girls right and when um later that night. There's a knock on the door. And my mom came and she's like, hey, there's a man here to see you. It's like, okay.
Cameron Richards: So I went and... the There's a man standing at the door, and he said, hey, I'm the the father of those girls.
Frank Wiebe: No.
Cameron Richards: on the bus and i remember being like scared out of my mind right because i was like
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Man, I really hope like. You know which boy I am. Right.
Frank Wiebe: ah
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Because somebody's getting pounded.
Aniz Lavji: but
Frank Wiebe: what yeah
Cameron Richards: Anyway, he just said.
Frank Wiebe: They picked the wrong one over the lineup.
Cameron Richards: Right. So he just said, I want you to know I'll never forget you. Like, I'll never forget what you did for me and like for my girls. And i didn't I didn't think much of it, right, because we were just taught to respect girls. all the time.
Cameron Richards: And then fast forward.
Aniz Lavji: Mm -hmm.
Cameron Richards: I've been married.
Aniz Lavji: again
Cameron Richards: I don't know, like... got married in December of 10, so this would have been like March, April of... 11. standing in my parents' driveway and... That guy.
Cameron Richards: that dad who i obviously end up getting to know a little bit as I grew up. um He had two Camaros. He had a 67 SS and he had a 69. uh sitting in his garage you know and i was always like tinkering around like helping him put exhaust on and Went for a ride with him when I was a teenager And I remember like he grabbed, I think it was second or third in the orange car in the 67 in it.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: Shifted so hard it like blew the glove box open and everything fell out on my feet And I remember just being like. this is what i want like this is my this is what i want in life right So anyway, long story short, fast forward to I'm 23.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: He stops by. He's like, hey. Remember that pink car, which was a 69 Camaro? He's like... um I'll make you a deal. He's like you Keep it. And you build it. He's like, you can have it. He said, you sell it.
Frank Wiebe: Oh wow.
Cameron Richards: He said, I get half. And I was like... Dude, i I just got married like three months ago.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: right like i have no money i have no garage like But. deal, right? Like whatever. So we drug it home. uh Told my wife, like, hey. you know It's a great car. It's timeless. like We'll just build it over time.
Cameron Richards: And, you know, like three months later it was running.
Aniz Lavji: yeah
Cameron Richards: so anyway built that car and then really enjoyed teaching myself how to do it i couldn't afford anybody so i just self -taught Did a... 354 speed it lasted about two months and i blew it up And then I was like, man, there's got to be a better way. so started kind of reading into ls swaps couldn't afford it so i did an lt six speed swap bought a 95 camaro swap the drivetrain over drove the piss out of that car for a couple years sold it to start my business and The rest is history.
Aniz Lavji: Did you give the other guy half?
Cameron Richards: just been building hot rods and Now we have a... So we're probably like the biggest independent. repair General Repair.
Cameron Richards: Shop in the region now And then we have a hot rod side that I'm kind of phasing down.
Aniz Lavji: Oh yeah.
Cameron Richards: just because it's It's not as profitable as repair. Right.
Frank Wiebe: Oh, yeah.
Cameron Richards: If I didn't have the repair side, i would I'd be full bore.
Aniz Lavji: Right.
Cameron Richards: hot rod to duck till i die but having both it it makes kind of more sense to really run the grassroots side of our business, which is the general repair side. And then we do we do some fun projects on the side just to keep everybody chippy.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah. That's good.
Frank Wiebe: Well, you got to fund your own projects too, right? So that's one way to do it
Cameron Richards: Kind of. You just got to stay, you got to do enough just to be dangerous, right? We do one or two a year. and Just to let people know we can still do it. Still make some pretty rowdy stuff, so.
Aniz Lavji: How big is your shop? camera
Frank Wiebe: yeah That's good. It's good that have some people out there are doing it.
Cameron Richards: So the building's about 12 ,000 square. Got 11 hoists. Five full -time techs. A writer plus myself. So we do.
Cameron Richards: I think we do about 150. Cars a month right now.
Aniz Lavji: That's great.
Cameron Richards: And we're a diesel gas shop, so we're kind of split between trucks. trucks and cars. and Do mostly domestics and JDM. Don't really touch the Euro stuff much. do some occasional side by side work, snowmobile performance.
Aniz Lavji: All right.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: We worked on boats. I mean, like... performance stuff, right? Exhaust and stuff like that. but Yeah. Just kind of whatever whatever customers need, we decide whether or not we want to get involved.
Aniz Lavji: keeps It keeps it interesting for sure.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: That's cool. so Do you have any any plans of...
Cameron Richards: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: you know
Aniz Lavji: opening up ah another location or this is pretty much taking up all your time at the moment
Cameron Richards: uh right now so we kind of like frank we got started with uh some coaching just because we We're putting in the time. The business itself is 31 years old. um We've owned it for... nine or ten years -ish.
Cameron Richards: and
Aniz Lavji: Okay.
Cameron Richards: Um, We're putting in the time, but it's just like. I kind of felt like it should be better. Right?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: As far as like the amount of effort that was going in, the amount of money that was being spent.
Aniz Lavji: yep
Cameron Richards: So we kind of went through and... found some areas that we were lacking some some inefficiencies that we could tighten up on and Same thing. like we kind of our goal like with our shop is Um...
Cameron Richards: I want to be the place where like. customers and technicians want to come.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: Right. So it's like I think in the past. In the industry, there's a shortage of technicians.
Aniz Lavji: 100%.
Cameron Richards: But I would say, like, there's a shortage of quality technicians. There's tons of guys that'll work.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, yeah
Cameron Richards: But as far as like meeting standards, right like we have a very specific standard. set that we Consider like this is our minimum So like... It's hard. It's hard to work at my shop, right? We've interviewed.
Cameron Richards: I don't know, 14 or 15, 16 techs in the last year, a year and a half. I think we've hired Three. Four. Just because like we have certain standards that we expect.
Frank Wiebe: wow
Cameron Richards: at work and also out of work. like I'm very proud of my guys I mean, like they serve, they volunteer. Right. Like. They're genuine good guys. They're not alcoholics.
Cameron Richards: i mean like they have families they go home to or they're working on having families and you know they're working on buying houses and Being established not just being you know the traditional drunk
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: mechanic that bounces shop to shop and hates his life and So I'm super proud of, I mean like. you know I would I defend every one of them to the end. just because like they're good dudes they try they care about customers Last Friday. Two minutes until close.
Cameron Richards: a woman comes in distress she was at the local local lube shop and they told her her car was dead she's not going to make it home she's got to drive 80 miles You know, and it's like, sorry, I can't help you. Like we're closed. And two seconds later, I look out, and my diesel tech is out there laying underneath a Dodge Journey.
Cameron Richards: trying to figure out how to help this woman get home, right? It's like he had no skin in the game. He wasn't being paid to be there. It was Friday. I mean, he was you know on his own time.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: and This is like makes me proud to call those guys employees and friends that I work with. So.
Aniz Lavji: No, that's great. It's a great culture.
Cameron Richards: But to answer your question, sorry, that was roundabout drawn out. ah We bought some acreage. We're planning on building a new shop. We were slept scheduled to build it this year.
Cameron Richards: And then we didn't really love the whole Warner and thing. Steel costs went up quite a bit. And then... We just... i don't know The bid came back from the GC that was just a little bit. more than we wanted to spend at the time and timeline wasn't quite lining up so We just pump the brakes and...
Cameron Richards: renewed our lease and you know, just working on making the business run efficiently and kind of doing.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: doing the new shop when when we so feel like it's comfortable and it works and we're not. forcing a bad move for the shop.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, that's fair.
Frank Wiebe: you have Everything comes in a time, right? The expansion always has to come when...
Cameron Richards: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: When it's... when it's
Aniz Lavji: oh
Frank Wiebe: valuable and what it's about. Valid. if you If you do it at the wrong time, all you're going to do is kick yourself in the foot and you're just going to end up being like either.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Aniz Lavji: Stress yourself out.
Frank Wiebe: overwhelmed or or underworked or...
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: underperformance and all that kind of stuff. Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Yeah. yeah no that's kind of how we feel too we feel like Everything happens for a reason. and I feel like we do we do our part to be. good in the community and good to our customers, good to our employees. and we feel like we'll know kind of when it's the time to jump and we're ready to go we just Kind of waiting for that little push.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, well, that's...
Cameron Richards: Psst.
Frank Wiebe: I hear you there.
Aniz Lavji: Good man.
Frank Wiebe: we're We're all kind of in that situation, right? like I know if i if I had a chance to... jump into a bigger shop. Sure be thinking about doing it for sure.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Bye. Would it be the right time?
Cameron Richards: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: That's that's all up in the air. At that point.
Cameron Richards: It's kind of funny, though. we've been We've been kicking it around because we were gung -ho on growth, growth, growth. We have been for the last four years. and Every year that's gone by, every fiscal year, we've pushed the ceiling of what the business can do. and Which is great.
Cameron Richards: Um. But now we're kind of like sitting looking. We're going. Do we really want to be that big? Right. i mean like obviously everybody wants to be that big but
Frank Wiebe: No.
Cameron Richards: You know being that big has its own set of headaches
Frank Wiebe: It very much does, yep.
Cameron Richards: So.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: We're kind of trying to find the sweet spot and determine like what we want to be when we grow up kind of a thing. because we've already
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: essentially tripled what the business was. Three years ago.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Um. but now we're kind of trying to look at and go okay like what's what's sustainable right like what's healthy
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, you also want to you also don't want to overextend yourself.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, you get to a point where you lose that personal touch when you get to be too big Have too many touches.
Cameron Richards: Right. Yep, we don't want to lose that. We like we love our culture. We love our customers. We don't want to get too big that to where people become numbers on a page because that's... part of why we're all in my shop.
Cameron Richards: you know. I came from corporate sales for six years. and My service writer. came from the dealership for 10 years and You know, it's like we're very much. Everybody's very much vested in the mom and pop feel.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: knowing our customers by name. Right. Like... knowing their kids and what they do and what they like. and So.
Aniz Lavji: that means a lot to the customers right when they walk in and as you see that
Frank Wiebe: Definitely having that kind of a relationship with your your customers it is extremely Oh yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Sorry, I think there's a lag here so we may be talking over each other.
Cameron Richards: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: You know, there's a lot of coaching out there that talks about that you shouldn't. I mean...
Aniz Lavji: Okay.
Frank Wiebe: Yes.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, you're lagging pretty hard in these right now.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: i don't know if it must be your wi -fi or something but yeah i was gonna say that there's uh There's a lot of coaching that talks about one way they say definitely. Um, you know, just everything by the book numbers numbers numbers numbers numbers and then the next one says exactly like you said oh you need to know your employees you need to know their their names you know to know that the kids what church they go to that kind of like you need to know all that kind of stuff
Cameron Richards: Right.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: And. there's I think there's a fine line between both, right? Like you can't get too personally involved with your customers because if you do. then... it's It's harder to draw that line, but here's where our business is and here's where our relationship is.
Frank Wiebe: I found that. For sure, on both sides, right? but then if you just get to the point where like you don't even know their name they're just ah they're just you know their vehicle and that's it that's really hard too, because then if...
Frank Wiebe: If you ever see him out in the grocery store, it's like... Ah, Mr. Jones or something like that. Right. And and and then it's really awkward and weird as well. And then you can't even have a conversation with them.
Cameron Richards: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: So. <unk>ve I've seen it go both ways.
Aniz Lavji: And knowing your people.
Frank Wiebe: right
Aniz Lavji: Important for sure.
Frank Wiebe: but
Aniz Lavji: I'm going to move myself here.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, knowing your...
Frank Wiebe: Are you going to get into a better Wi -Fi area than me?
Aniz Lavji: knowing doing Oh yeah, going back to my dungeon. But yeah, knowing...
Cameron Richards: Got to get next to the next to the booster.
Aniz Lavji: a Yeah. Knowing your customers and... kind of what they're looking for when they walk through the door. and you know knowing their name.
Aniz Lavji: Their kids, I mean, 100 % of what you're saying is bang on. i mean that That means everything to a lot of customers. That's for sure.
Cameron Richards: It's one of those things, too, where we always talk about... You know for the most part like People's biggest fears or biggest stresses are their home.
Cameron Richards: their vehicle, Their job. Right. and like their faith for the most part. I mean, their family, if they have it.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: But like people can kind of be boiled down into like one of those five things as far as like what they're worried about. like what they're stressing on.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: Probably the two biggest investments most people have is like or the three it'd be like their home their vehicle and like their debt.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Cameron Richards: Um.
Aniz Lavji: I agree.
Cameron Richards: you know so like it's It's hard. being one of those three things. And. Genuinely like being an independent. It's interesting. I grew up in a dealership mentality where everybody hated the dealer. I mean, I still...
Cameron Richards: do, right? like you'll buy a new truck and I don't know what it is in Canada, but in the US, you spend $110 ,000 on a truck. And it doesn't perform like.
Aniz Lavji: Easy.
Cameron Richards: People are pissed.
Frank Wiebe: Yo, yo.
Cameron Richards: And I have to go see this guy, and I don't want to go see him.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: And I don't want to deal with Ford. Like I have to right Versus like being in the independent, like. People are still pissed. but they choose to come to us. for whatever reason.
Cameron Richards: Right. Either they trust us.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: the pricing's good the timeline's good normally it's one of those three things Um. but it's like for the most part you know they're We're just there to help. mitigate that bad day.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: And people are genuinely. They just don't like BS. It's kind of been my approach.
Aniz Lavji: No.
Cameron Richards: I just go straight at stuff And like people respect that. right Even if it sucks, even if it's bad news. I'd rather be the one to tell him and give them an answer. and then be like here's our options that i see you know You decide what's best for you and your family and your budget.
Cameron Richards: and we go from there Right. And like. I think a lot of people respect that because they're just so they're so used to smoke and mirrors in today's society, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: You can't get a straight answer. You don't know what your price is going to be because... There's all these hidden fees. and All these contracts and blah, blah, blah, no matter what you do, right? Versus like I think people just want to know they want the information and then they're the ones that make the decision what's best
Aniz Lavji: Yeah, exactly
Aniz Lavji: Just be straight.
Cameron Richards: um Like that's kind of been our approach.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: We just. Give them the facts, whether it's good or bad. Amen.
Aniz Lavji: mm -hmm
Cameron Richards: let them Let them make the best decision. Go from there. right
Aniz Lavji: Reputation you goes a long way.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, because you're never really selling them. A job. They're buying the job from you.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: Yep. Yeah, and if you can, as long as you give them those options, you say, hey, we've got this and this and this option.
Cameron Richards: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: And they choose that option, whichever one works for them. then then they feel like they're in control. And it's when they're not we're not in there feeling pushed.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: so a lot of times like you said about people don't want to go to a dealer very often their push, you have to do this and this and this and this. Whereas like what you and I and Aniz, what we do is we like.
Frank Wiebe: These are your options. which one would you like to go with we recommend this
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: But if you don't choose it, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: like You can't force them to do anything. They're buying your service.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: So once they choose to buy that from you. Then they make that commitment. And now it's all of a sudden a completely different game than being like. You have to buy this and you have to buy that.
Cameron Richards: Well, and how many times do mechanics? get pigeoned as right like or you're just upselling.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Right. Like that's what I grew up with.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Like.
Frank Wiebe: Always.
Cameron Richards: you know mechanics are just upselling. and It's like I don't I don't... genuinely I feel like we're not an upsell shop, right? Like we probably leave money on the table for things that we should sell.
Cameron Richards: but like for the most part we've been known as a repair shop for a long time and we're trying to like change the paradigm of our business where We're educating our customers more about doing maintenance. Like...
Cameron Richards: A little bit of regular preventative maintenance goes a long ways on vehicles, on your health, on your teeth.
Aniz Lavji: yep
Frank Wiebe: oh no
Cameron Richards: I mean, like on tons of stuff, right?
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Cameron Richards: versus waiting until... You don't feel good. Then you go to the doctor and they're like, well, you have four cavities and two of which require root canals. It's like, wow.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: That sucks. It's like, yeah, but if you were to brush your teeth a little bit.
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Cameron Richards: Right? Or not eating as much sugar. Yep.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Might not be in the situation. So it's kind of the same thing. like we just feel like we're educating our customers like hey you know like Do you have to fix your valve cover leak today? No? You should, because it's f leaking.
Cameron Richards: And it's only going to get worse, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: but it's 100 % your call. And like, we're good with either one.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: All you can do is suggest.
Cameron Richards: So tell us what you want us to do.
Aniz Lavji: and
Cameron Richards: and We have 14 other people that are waiting. for voice space so
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Cameron Richards: Let us know.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, but if the car if the car comes in for you've got... You've got a starter not working or and you've got the valve cover leaking. I mean, hey, let's put a starter in it today.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: and You know your valve cover is leaking. Let's address that at another time.
Cameron Richards: Sure.
Frank Wiebe: Right.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Right and and a lot of times you if you get if you approach it like that if you would just go in and say hey Oh you brought it in for a starter. And. You need this and this and this and this. and We got to do all of this. They're like, whoa.
Frank Wiebe: I might just scrap.
Cameron Richards: Is it even worth putting money into it? You're like, yes.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. But then then very often they'll be like. I think I'm just gonna scrap the car. I'm not gonna fix anything at all.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Aniz Lavji: and
Frank Wiebe: so sometimes But if you say, hey, look, let's do the starter today and get you back on the road, get you going.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: Here's a list of other things that you should really consider. we could do on this kind of a timeline. I find when we sell stuff like that.
Cameron Richards: Great.
Frank Wiebe: We sell way more stuff than if we're just like. All of this needs to be done. Right. We had we had a car come in for a safety check and we're like. This is the list. I mean for a safety check.
Frank Wiebe: It's one thing you need it. You need to have this to get it your transfer paperwork.
Aniz Lavji: No choice.
Frank Wiebe: But they're like. It was. No. So we're just going to end up. scrapping the car and I'm like No choice, but if they if it was already their car and they had already... like it was Licensing on the road. We could have done this and this.
Frank Wiebe: And we would have sold it. And then later on, we could do this and this and we would have sold that too. I guarantee it.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: But because it was... Boom. they're just freaked out and they're like oh no we're not going to do anything at all
Cameron Richards: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: End. I think I see that a ton and I get that. I understand that. Right. Like you said, if we went. to the dentist and he said well It's going to cost you $10 ,000 to fix your teeth right now.
Frank Wiebe: Could we do one right now for $2 ,000?
Cameron Richards: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And you're going to come back and do another one, right? like Or you just have to do all of them, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah. I think we we're all like that, right? Some things you just have to do and other things you can always separate and get done later.
Aniz Lavji: you
Frank Wiebe: And I think as long as we can consider that customers need that.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: And as a repair shop, customers need, sometimes they need that, right? they're like okay yeah we can fix this today we can Wait with this. We sell a lot more work that way
Aniz Lavji: i I mean, usually if we can just.
Frank Wiebe: But like I said, sometimes we leave money on the table, but it's for the reason of Now we can we can get it going again. Thank you. Thanks for watching.
Aniz Lavji: if we If we can try and ah address the... the customers you know main concern when they when they come in.
Frank Wiebe: Go ahead.
Cameron Richards: umm just hanging I'm hanging on you, Anees.
Aniz Lavji: then...
Cameron Richards: I'm hanging on you.
Aniz Lavji: If we can... to address the customer's need. when they come in they're concerned when they come in and make sure that by the end of the repair that that one particular item they came in for is...
Aniz Lavji: corrected is taken care of because that's the reason they came in. And if there are other items that they do need, you know we... let them know like hey this is what your vehicle requires to be safe.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Whether you want to do it or not, that's up to you. but our job as a responsible repair shop. is to let you know that hey your vehicle barely has any pads left your left front lower control arm, the ball joints about to fall out.
Aniz Lavji: It's up to you to keep your vehicle safe. We are we are here to address... your concerns. If you want to fix it, we are more than happy to take care of it. But if not, just make sure you understand.
Aniz Lavji: that these are safety concerns and we're here for you when you're ready. And I kind of try and go with that approach sometimes as well.
Cameron Richards: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: You have to sometimes.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah. Sorry, this leg is really bad.
Frank Wiebe: especially Especially when... like some of the some of the repair orders that you share with me like especially on those customers with those Tesla. Oh, it's terrible.
Frank Wiebe: Yep. I was going to say those some of those repair orders with those Teslas. I can't believe that people spend that kind of money. on just their everyday driving vehicle at one shot. Like it's just unreal.
Frank Wiebe: Coming from a small town like I do. i don't I don't understand. you got it You're in a city. I don't know how you're. You're not close to the city, are you, Cameron? you're You're out in the rural somewhere.
Cameron Richards: or Now we're we're one of the bigger metro areas in Montana We're probably like... sixty seventy thousand
Frank Wiebe: Oh really?
Cameron Richards: but we do I mean like i feel like a lot of it's knowing your customer and knowing their needs too because
Aniz Lavji: true
Cameron Richards: you like I have a lot of customers that... depend on their trucks. to go to work. So it's like every day that truck is sitting. Yeah, they're losing. Two, three, four, five thousand dollars.
Cameron Richards: um you know so it's like they don't necessarily want to fix stuff but it's kind of more out of necessity like They need it turned so that they can go back to work and they can get their guys back to going, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, I do that same thing like if I if I have a
Aniz Lavji: well
Frank Wiebe: For example, today I've got a caravan. This is an older gentleman, and he just putts around with it. and it Needs a transmission. But I had another guy. uh heating and cooling guy Um...
Frank Wiebe: Van got towed in. Probably needed a starter while it did need a starter. so Which one am I going to bring in first? Well, I'm going to bring that. heating and cooling in first
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: yeah Get his starter put in. and get him back on the road there's more work that need to be done but right now we got it running It's out the door. It's gone. He's going to bring it back. Some later this week or next week for the rest of the stuff But at least this way.
Frank Wiebe: Now he's back on the road working. And I've always looked at it that way. Like if I've got a fleet. customers that have a fleet. um i always I've always told them, I said, we're going to do our very best to get you.
Frank Wiebe: to have downtime one day. like We have to do annual inspections on commercial vehicles, trucks and trailers. And so every year they have to have an inspection. and Most of the time they'll need some brakes or steering suspension or whatever And I always tell them.
Frank Wiebe: We try to do a one -day turnaround you drop it off at night in the morning. We get it in We try to have it. ready by the end of the day so the next day you can go back to work because I know that that's what's making you money.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: Right. And as long as I can continue to do that and customers. understand that. you know, it makes them feel like, hey, they're important. And it's not to say that the other customers aren't important.
Frank Wiebe: But I always look at it this way. he's like are Are you using this vehicle? As your. one and only source of income or are using this vehicle and you have to get to work and there's no other way for you to get to work, right?
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: So that I'll... I'll very often look at that and prioritize. Who gets in the door? like three bay shop sometimes that gets really difficult you got something set on the hoist you're waiting for an hour for parts right or a couple hours
Cameron Richards: Good.
Frank Wiebe: It makes it difficult. So we always try to prioritize. like Who needs their vehicle? the most if We're... Busy right now. We're so so it's not a problem like that But when we do that.
Frank Wiebe: I think that they appreciate that. I hope that they do anyway. I would if I was in their shoes, right? I would appreciate that. I can get in and out. so that's that's I feel that's very important to give customers that kind of a...
Frank Wiebe: Um, understanding that we We know that this means a lot to you. We know that you need this. And we're going to get you. through as quick as possible.
Cameron Richards: Do you ever call? So you said I hope that they do. Do you ever call your commercials and ask them how you're doing?
Frank Wiebe: I don't. Um... Yeah. You know what? And that's something that we have not really implemented yet as far as. um
Frank Wiebe: Calling customers and being like hey How did everything go? Like that's something that we've been we've been taught and have. yet to implement and be like, you know ah three days or a week after the repairs on how's how's everything going or how's your vehicle doing how can we do this We have one guy, one commercial.
Frank Wiebe: fleet that we have. all right First of all, get a hold of the guy is almost impossible. All of a sudden, his vehicle will just show up and get dropped off.
Cameron Richards: Sure.
Frank Wiebe: And it's like, oh. Did we do that one? he You know, dropped it off, no appointment, no nothing. But we know that the reason it's there is because it needs something like.
Cameron Richards: Yeah, it's bad
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, it needs to be done.
Aniz Lavji: right away
Frank Wiebe: Great. Um, But yeah, that's that's a great point because... just Just call him up and talk to him. Actually, this this guy that we were having trouble getting a hold of, him I said the other day.
Cameron Richards: I...
Frank Wiebe: uh my my service writer was texting with them and i said Hey, ask him when he can go out for wings. I'd love to go out for wings with him. just ah Just a chat and say, hey, what's up, right? i think I think that's important too.
Aniz Lavji: Very important.
Frank Wiebe: Feels like a relief.
Cameron Richards: i called my ah I called my top. my top 10 at the end of last year. And honestly, I... I... I should... I don't know why I don't do it more it was great i mean it was like great talking to these guys and it was like hey like You know, what can we do better? and
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Cameron Richards: what do we do well and like what do you appreciate like you know what i mean is there anything else we could do better and I mean the feedback is worth You know? It's priceless. mean It's just like...
Cameron Richards: Helps us sharpen the sword. It helps us be better. better providers of service. um
Frank Wiebe: Yeah.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Cameron Richards: You know, and like it was.
Frank Wiebe: I get that.
Cameron Richards: It was really it was really good. so Plus, it's nice hearing you're doing a good job. you know like a lot of times they leave and You don't see him for a couple of months and you're just like. Huh. That was really stressful and it sucked while it was here.
Cameron Richards: But I'm glad we got him out, right?
Frank Wiebe: Yep.
Cameron Richards: So it's kind of nice hearing him be like, hey, like, thanks a lot.
Aniz Lavji: The feedback's important.
Cameron Richards: like we you know we've had some commercial counselors like hey we look at you just like a valued member of our team our own company like we have to have you so Yeah, like... thank you for helping us be successful at our jobs it's like You're absolutely welcome. Right.
Frank Wiebe: Yeah, I get that. i I had a customer actually call. not that long ago they called back and they said hey i just want to let you know Everything is great. You did a good job and everything. I'm like.
Frank Wiebe: Wow. that's so like We don't get that. We never get that in our trade.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Frank Wiebe: in our industry. and And just to have that. So so I guess. Once we start implementing the calls, like if we're going to call our customer to follow up on them and and get that feedback.
Frank Wiebe: i think so I think so too. I think you're right. thatd Make. a huge difference on how we can perform. What we do. And. And yeah, was was there something that didn't go well?
Cameron Richards: Right
Frank Wiebe: Every once in a while, there's always something. We had we had one today.
Cameron Richards: Sure.
Frank Wiebe: we had to uh an oil change that went bad we An oil ring on an oil filter was bad and it was leaking oil.
Aniz Lavji: Oh, jeez.
Frank Wiebe: You know what? It happens, right? but i talked to the customer explained what happened And he was chill. He says, you know what? That happens. That's cool. We fixed it up.
Frank Wiebe: Everything's good. Get them back on the road. But.
Aniz Lavji: Yep.
Frank Wiebe: If... We would have. If everything would have been perfect. We would never know. We'd never hear nothing.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Aniz Lavji: Things happen.
Cameron Richards: hopefully learn from it and get better.
Frank Wiebe: Well, and that's that's what we do every day is is we always figure out a way to. Become better. every mistake that Every mistake that we make. is a stepping stone in the learning.
Frank Wiebe: how to do better. Every. I always say that. everything I learned about business I've learned from the places that I've worked at whether it's how to do business or how not to do business.
Cameron Richards: Right.
Aniz Lavji: Yeah.
Frank Wiebe: And.
Frank Wiebe: That's like... Our stepping stone is our experience that we've had.
Frank Wiebe: Say if you worked on the truck in and It's like. Wow, I'll never do it that way again. I found a much easier way to do something And the next time something comes in, it's like, oh. Well, I already know I'm not going to do it this way.
Frank Wiebe: And. So you learn from that.
Aniz Lavji: Sorry, my connection my connection's horrible here and we're lagging like crazy.
Frank Wiebe: Heh heh. Yeah. Totally. so um Cameron, back to your...
Aniz Lavji: Okay.
Frank Wiebe: It's...
Cameron Richards: it's because you're It's because you're in Antarctica, man.
Frank Wiebe: It's unreal.
Cameron Richards: You're on your you're on a service trip.
Aniz Lavji: Must be, yeah. 100%, yeah.
Frank Wiebe: Maybe you're on the flight with your wife.
Cameron Richards: There you go.
Frank Wiebe: All right.
Aniz Lavji: I'd rather be on a flight with my wife.
Frank Wiebe: you've never You've never had... You've never had a connection this bad before. I don't understand.
Cameron Richards: It's because I'm here. I just have that effect My father -in -law says that I have too much energy Like when I walk in the room. I throw off electrical equipment.
Frank Wiebe: Is that what it is?
Aniz Lavji: That could be it.
Cameron Richards: Apparently. Sorry, Anise.
Aniz Lavji: No, it's okay things happen
Frank Wiebe: i'm reading I'm reading the book right now, The Energy Bus. Maybe you wrote it, Cameron. Maybe that's what it is.
Cameron Richards: i think that I think I was the case study. Yeah, one of them.
Frank Wiebe: ah
Frank Wiebe: Oh, that's cool.
Aniz Lavji: man
Frank Wiebe: of So you're saying that you're only... you're dialing down the performance side of it. so Are you building anything right now?
Cameron Richards: What are we doing right now? So we just got done with a 69L Camino. For a local guy. uh we did uh Mitchell's performance and tuning, 408. Local engine builder out of Billings, Montana.
Cameron Richards: Done a lot of lot of kind of. custom one -off Stuff with him, so he built us 408 stroker we're a pro charger dealers we did a d1x Um...
Cameron Richards: Will Morgan did some wicked Custom fab. We did a... custom intercooler on that car. So it's it was an original 69. SS, big block.
Cameron Richards: automatic Customer wanted it. Um, wanted 600 horsepower and wanted to switch to a manual so I'm kind of an LS freak. It's what I like. It's what I've learned. So anyway, we...
Cameron Richards: We did the stroker 408 with the pro charger. Um. Had a custom intercooler built So that it all fits kind of under the original radiator cowl.
