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Ep 22 - Taylor Wilson | Having Kids Was Good For His Shop?
234 Plays18 days ago
You know what's crazy? I had my once-a-month coaching call with Matt Lofton the other day, and I was actually looking forward to it! It's crazy that once you start to see results from hard work, you look forward to the hard work. Do you need accountability in your shop? Reach out to Elite Worldwide and get it today. CLICK HERE
Tekmetric is awesome. It's made my shop awesome. I could leave it there, but because it's changed my shops future, I want the same for you. Can you make your shop more awesomer than mine? Start HERE
Did you see the videos from my conversation with Carrie-Lynn with Turnkey Marketing? She said some spicy things about marketing and how many shop owners SUCK at marketing. But, she was spot on. Man, she helps my shop online. She can and will for you too. Learn more HERE
Taylor Wilson is the President of Velocity Auto Care and today he and Mike talk about how having kids changes how you run your business. If done right, for the better. Also, how has he learned to manage his shop from afar? Learn today.
00:00 "Decline in Car Count Observed"
04:31 "Just Say Yes" Critique
08:38 Morning Training for Exceptional Service
10:18 Missed Events Due to Hunting
15:19 Overcoming Focus Challenges
17:28 Complacency Led to Business Decline
22:38 "Photo Requirements Challenge Workflow"
26:08 Technicians Willing to Work Saturdays
27:23 Car Service Convenience Challenges
31:24 Adapting to Change and Accessibility
34:20 Open-Minded Business Approach
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Taylor Wilson's Business Journey
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, everybody. um Today, we're going to be doing another one of the conversations that I had in Houston at the Adams Automotive event. This is with ah Taylor Wilson from Velocity Automotive, just outside of the Galveston, Texas area.
00:00:12
Speaker
Interesting guy, ah interesting story, and some really good perspective. I hope you enjoy it.
00:00:20
Speaker
The following program features a bunch of doofuses talking about the automotive aftermarket. The stuff we, or our guests may say, do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of our peers, our sponsors, or any other associations we may have.
00:00:35
Speaker
There may be some spicy language in this show, so if you get your feelings hurt easily, you should probably just move along. So without further ado, it's time for Confessions of a Shop Owner with your host, Mike Gallen.
00:00:53
Speaker
What's up, man? How are you? Great. Great.
Business Growth and Family Influence
00:00:57
Speaker
Taylor Wilson, Velocity Auto Care. Velocity Auto Care. Yeah. right Where is your shop? My shop is in Lamarck, Texas, which most people don't know that town. It's about 45 minutes south of Houston, Texas.
00:01:10
Speaker
Okay. um close to galveson close to Galveston to Galveston live in Galveston um my shop is maybe 10 miles from home okay all right copy that and how long have you been in business uh since 2005 so this summer will make 20 years okay uh September of this summer will be 20 years all and how was 24 for you ah Uh, 24 was a record year.
00:01:36
Speaker
Every year's been a record year, thankfully for 19 consecutive years. nice Um, 24 was probably, one of my biggest growth years in the, uh, at least in recent history. You know, I had some, obviously in starting out, you'll get some big jumps, but, uh, but we kind of had been steady.
Car Count Trends and Shop Capacity
00:01:58
Speaker
And then, uh, this year I've been, or this past year I ramped things up quite a bit. So to what do you attribute that rapid faster than normal growth last year?
00:02:10
Speaker
Um, well, quite a few things. Uh,
00:02:17
Speaker
one, ah think, uh, the last several years I kind of had been coasting and, um, I say last several years, probably longer than that. We were still, you know, we're working hard. We're there, you know, trying to improve things. But I just recently had, I say recently, my first son just turned three. And it's kind of an interesting thing. You know, you have a child born, you start looking at life a little differently. You start thinking about, ah you know, providing for a family versus just, you know,
00:02:58
Speaker
living for the day yeah so that definitely shifted my perspective and you know so kind of been taken things a little more seriously and and uh... so yeah we we we definitely made some changes uh... you know that was probably where it all started you know that that new focus on you know copy yeah awesome so did you A lot of the people that I've been talking to um between our Friday night shenanigans calls and at these meetings that we go to and in like my 20 group and everything else, car count is down. And maybe total sales is up ah because they've made it up with higher ARO or higher labor rates or whatever it might be.
00:03:46
Speaker
But car count on the whole is down. And I'm hearing that from a lot of... really big kind of prominent operators, you know, in the quiet moments, they'll say, yeah, car counts down. Um, have you you experienced that at all or is it, or are you still growing in that capacity?
Strategies for Customer Retention
00:04:04
Speaker
My car counts definitely up, 2024. from 2023. twenty twenty four it was up from twenty twenty three um you know we'll see if we can continue that trend ah but yeah so it wasn't down for me so how big is your facility how many base I have seven lifts seven two post lifts two alignment machines and then four flat stalls okay so and so what's your target car count per day do you know do you have a specific number
00:04:38
Speaker
as many as possible. oh we know Yeah. So, so yeah, no, I don't really have a ah target. We try to get everything in that we can, you know? Um, I mean, our car count, I feel like for the shop, our size definitely can improve.
00:04:55
Speaker
Um, I think maybe over the last six months we've kind of averaged around 300. Uh, but you know, i think
00:05:05
Speaker
four to five hundred as a goal for me so right now you're 15 16 cars a day then give or take yep yep so there's the facility certainly has capacity for more course so there's no reason if you can if you can make the phone ring and say the right things to get people to bring their vehicles in right that's that's the idea yeah one of the things that the Adams group and in Hayes and his L are always talking about these advances Just say yes. and And on the forums, people roll their eyes at the just say yes mentality. But if you dig into it a little bit deeper, so many shops say no without saying no when they're calling. You spend all this money to get the phone to ring.
00:05:50
Speaker
And then, hey, my brakes are grinding. I'm heading to the beach. Can you help me out? We can get you next Wednesday. Yep. 100%. And it's like a badge of honor. I'm booked out two weeks. Yep. I'm so proud of you. You're booked out two weeks.
00:06:02
Speaker
And when your really good customer has brakes that are grinding, you're going to have to inconvenience her by sending her somewhere else or one of your customers you made a commitment to by putting her in front of the line.
Considering Expansion and Training
00:06:12
Speaker
Um, and so when I hear that, I'm thinking, man, just raise your rates, hire more technicians, uh, expand your capacity so that you're not booked out two weeks.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah. It's funny that you say that because, um, you know, that was kind of an aha moment for me, somebody that had been coming to me for years and saying my praises to friends and family.
00:06:37
Speaker
And that exact scenario happened. She needed breaks. She called my shop. We told her that we couldn't get to it for, wasn't two weeks, but I think it was, you know, a few days longer than she had time for. yeah She went the next day and went and got them fixed somewhere else.
00:06:55
Speaker
And I, uh, asked her and she's like, well, I called, i tried to bring it in. Y'all couldn't get to it. I'm like, man, ah break we couldn't get to a break job for a long-time customer? like This can't be the norm. It can't happen that way. So, so yeah, yeah data not taking care of your customer for two weeks is definitely not a badge of honor in my eyes. Yeah.
00:07:21
Speaker
Well, they would never cast it that way. They would say they're in such high demand, you know, their program is so good that they are booked out two weeks, right? Yeah, and I get it. I mean, if you're booked out, you're booked out. But do you just have to understand that you are not... Are you booked out because you're too cheap?
00:07:37
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, if you're booked out, there's a problem, in my opinion, you know. And, and I mean, is from a customer standpoint, there's a problem, you know. So, ah I mean, I've been that shop... over the years where just hey we have so much we can't do anything else and but uh yeah in my eyes when you're in that situation it's time to make some kind of adjustment yeah um so we've talked several times before we've weve texted and we've talked on online and that kind of thing oh what's the plan for 25 and moving forward is it continued growth in one location is it multiple locations is it um
00:08:21
Speaker
I think I still have a lot of room for improvement in this location. So, you know, we're going to keep pushing on, uh, doing the best we can, but I am, that's definitely in the back of my mind, additional locations.
Networking and Industry Learning
00:08:36
Speaker
Um, so I don't know if it'll happen in 2025, but I think towards the end of the year is my goal to start really taking that seriously.
00:08:44
Speaker
Okay. Who did you bring to class with you this weekend? I brought ah one of my service advisors, Eric. And what's he thinking so far? Well, uh,
00:08:57
Speaker
He's definitely enjoying himself. A lot of this stuff, we've talked about it. We've trained on it. So it's not a... Most of it is not groundbreaking. You know, this is... But ah it's funny how... ah I feel like the advisors... I've heard the analogy of like...
00:09:16
Speaker
you could tell your child to do something over and over again and then somebody else tells them and all a sudden they listen. It makes sense. 100%. So, uh, I think there's a little bit of that going on. i I could preach this stuff every day and then they come here and just, it's a different perspective. Same thing, man. Exact same thing.
00:09:33
Speaker
You know, we 715 every morning, the whole team sitting down and and going over the script process and our phone skills and practicing objections and overcoming them. And, talking about the concept and you know the desire to just give incredible service to these people so that it just knocks their hair back. They're so impressed with what they get.
00:09:52
Speaker
And you know they say all the right things, but then they come here and they're like oh, now I get it. Yep. that's exactly kind of oh That's exactly the response that I got. Oh, okay.
00:10:03
Speaker
Now I see what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. So... There's just something about seeing. ah something to cast the vision and try to articulate it, but seeing what execution looks like is a really good tool, right? yeah Pictures and videos on DVI sells itself, right?
00:10:23
Speaker
Bringing them here to see the concept being executed sells a lot better than just talking about it. yeah that's Yeah, that's a great analogy. And I mean, and also... Hey, everybody. I want to take a minute to tell you about the coaching organization I've been involved with for, gosh, over 20 years now.
00:10:40
Speaker
Elite. Elite worldwide, they don't give you a one size fits all solution. They tailor the coaching specifically to you and your shop. They pair you with an experienced coach who is either a current or a former shop owner, and they turn strategies into actual action and accountability and results.
00:10:58
Speaker
Whether it's improving your service advisor's sales, growing your shop, growing to multiple locations, they really have you covered. Clients of Elite really see results. Higher profits, stronger teams, a better work-life balance.
00:11:10
Speaker
If you're ready to take the next step, visit EliteWorldwide.com to schedule your discovery session. That's EliteWorldwide.com to start working on your business rather than in it.
00:11:21
Speaker
Tell them that you heard about them on Confessions of a Shop Owner so that I get a pat on the back or maybe a box of chocolates or something. That would be
Maintaining Business Focus
00:11:28
Speaker
awesome. Thanks. Seeing what's possible. Them thinking that they're already doing it as good as it can be done.
00:11:36
Speaker
you know, seeing somebody do it better. oh okay. I definitely have some. We're all creatures of ego. Right. and one of the hardest things to deal with is ah a service advisor or a technician who thinks they know everything they need to know.
00:11:50
Speaker
Uh, and they probably not going to make the cut in an organization for a long time if they don't have a heart to continue to learn and improve. Right. Yeah. Um, you take your guys to ah like technical training or sales training or anything like that no not really um ah probably should ah ah have offered to some of the guys to pay for it but ah yeah we haven't really got big into like doing a team event or going to training
00:12:22
Speaker
ah I haven't as many of the events as I'd like to go to. I miss a lot of them just out of scheduling conflicts and stuff like that. It seems like they're always, uh, well, I mean one for one thing, like fall is hunting season for me and the time that I get off, that's what I'm doing. So and that's like, I don't have any hobbies.
00:12:46
Speaker
So besides that, so what do you hunt? Uh, deer, duck, dove, deer, ah Those are kind of the big things in Texas. You ever travel anywhere for big game stuff? i know not big game. I've been to Argentina dove hunting and duck hunting a couple times. um But I'm not really that it's not really a to think of the word.
00:13:14
Speaker
or the way to say it, not really like a trophy hunter, you know? So, uh, I'm not, don't see myself going to African safari, you know, or anything like that. Don't
Owner Engagement in Operations
00:13:25
Speaker
want backpack across Alaska to shoot a grizzly. I am not interested. No, fair enough. No, it's, it's more of a weekend of fun kind of thing for me, relaxing, get out in nature type of thing more than, uh, more than the, you know, the,
00:13:41
Speaker
the trophy aspect of it. behind them So what training events have you been to? What conferences or shows have you been to? The only thing that I've been to is vision and then local stuff. Okay.
00:13:55
Speaker
Uh, have you done the Texas two step? I haven't. I've, was looking this year and was interested in doing it, but it was the same kind of thing. I don't remember what was going on. ah feel like um you know my weekends and my time just seems like it yeah fills up really quickly. So, yeah, I was looking. I was wanted to do it this year, but it just didn't work out. I had something going on.
00:14:20
Speaker
Okay. Um, what was your experience with the vision? i've I've not ever been, and I keep saying, I'm going to go next year. I'm going to go next year. And it it never works out. Uh, I enjoyed it. Um, you know, it's, it's, uh,
00:14:36
Speaker
you know, it's an overload. There's a lot going on and, you know, I'm one of, I don't know, maybe I'm, I'm kind of, I felt like, uh, probably a little bit of an overachiever or overly ambitious about signing up for this class and that class and trying to attend too much. So that was, um, you know, it's tiring to go through four straight days. Yeah.
00:15:04
Speaker
um Is it three days, four days? even know. I went for three, but I might've missed some of it. I don't know. So, Well, it's a, you know, what you got to do is you got to come to ASTA Expo.
00:15:17
Speaker
I actually was interested and that was the same thing. I don't know. It seems like my weekends just fill up, you know, have wife and a kid and it's just like all this stuff, just just all your time disappears.
00:15:30
Speaker
Obviously, i am biased, but I feel like it is the best networking and the most comfortable kind of small town feel of any training event I've ever been to.
00:15:41
Speaker
yeah know Full disclosure, I'm heavily involved in the event. Yeah, I'll try to make it next year because I had looked at it this year. I wanted to go, ah and but yeah, couldn't make it happen. But maybe I can start planning now for the next year's event.
00:15:56
Speaker
Yeah. I'll the value of the learning that happens in the lobby in the evening is as much as learning in the classes, I think. Yeah, that's kind of what I... That's that's a my take on it. I think and that I probably need a sign up for a little less stuff and just hang out a little bit more. Yeah. um You know, that's how I felt with vision. I was like, I really probably should have just...
00:16:24
Speaker
Relaxed a little bit and just kind of you know talk with peers and get it good chance to talk to people that you don't always talk to Well, I hope you'll come if you do a lot if you if you have a chance We can sneak away and go check out my shop and give you tour and that kind of thing and Yeah, fine absolutely you tell me all the shit that I'm doing wrong I don't know about that better um so ah I asked you this earlier. I said, you know, one of the things that we do is it's confessions, right?
00:16:51
Speaker
Uh, what's something that went kind of wrong recently or last year or whenever. And, and I want to hear mistakes that you've made and what you've done to overcome them so that other people can learn from that and hopefully not make the same mistake. Right.
00:17:05
Speaker
Um, you know, I make mistakes all the time, so it's, uh, uh, hard to pin something down, but, uh, I guess one thing that,
00:17:17
Speaker
I've battled with a little bit ah and, you know, I've kind of worked on rectifying is just sort of losing in focus. And, um you know, I don't I don't think that my shop is um i consider it a very average shop, but I have kind of built it up to the point where.
00:17:39
Speaker
it's easy for me to not be around and to kind of not pay attention. it just keeps on going and, you know, and, but, uh, neglecting it, uh, I feel like things start slipping, you know, and I've, I've let it slip a little bit too much and had to really,
00:18:01
Speaker
put some more focus, set, set other distractions aside and, and focus on what's going on there. You know, um, you know, people, when you let problems slide, people start getting an attitude about it and that can affect everything else. So I think that's one of the big things I've,
00:18:26
Speaker
been trying to work on is really be present, be, you know, really pay attention to what's going on what needs work, correcting things early. How much are you at the shop now?
00:18:38
Speaker
I'm at the shop every day, but just about every day, unless I'm traveling or something. So I'm, I don't want to say that I'm there open to close every day, but I'm definitely there most of every day. Uh, and you know, we're, we're really focused on growth or for focus on, um,
00:18:57
Speaker
building the business and, ah you know, I want to show these guys that I'm available to help that happen and, and, uh, support them in any way that they need. So I've tried to be be ah available and present more than ah have, you know, some years past.
00:19:15
Speaker
It's, um, it's 100% something that I've done is ah I, I get up to, I shortly after I opened my third store, I bought out my business partner. Um, I had a partner in two of the stores and I bought him out.
00:19:29
Speaker
Um, and I kind of started to rest on my laurels a little bit and believe the hype that I, you know, that I'm pretty awesome. Right. And I, uh, I thought I'd gotten to that point where it was just going to be mailbox money. You know, I just kind of come in and check the mail and cash the checks and write some checks.
00:19:47
Speaker
And it worked okay for probably 18 months. Uh, but there was just that slow grip of degradation and atrophy. And, uh, next thing you know, we have a year where we're not growing down here and start having a lot of turnover and,
00:20:06
Speaker
And I would hear in the exit interviews, know, it was better when you were here on your everyday boss, you know? And, uh, so I've definitely had to re-engage and kind of plug back into the business. Uh, it was one of the biggest mistakes I made shortly after COVID was thinking that I could just, you know, live the life and come in once
Inspection Efficiency and Staffing Challenges
00:20:26
Speaker
a week.
00:20:26
Speaker
I could not. Yeah. Yeah. I, I pretty much the exact same story with me. It's just, uh, you know,
00:20:37
Speaker
Just, yeah, just ah not a not be there, do whatever I want to do and kind of check in here and there. and And that's the exact same thing I got. Like, well, you're not here, so you don't know about this or you don't know about that. And that's like... Look, when I first opened my shop, I thought my old systems would keep up. The software that I had would continue to evolve. But as we grew the slow estimates, scattered workflow, increasing downtime, really just, it was becoming a real problem.
00:21:08
Speaker
That's why I switched to TechMetric. It's not just software. It's a complete shop management system that makes my life easier. Smart jobs, instant estimates, integrated payments, integrated financing options. I mean,
00:21:20
Speaker
It allows me to focus on the work that actually makes me money and not get bogged down in the other details. My shop's repair orders have jumped over 300% since switching to TechMetric. And when I need help, their support team responds in real time.
00:21:32
Speaker
actually was online with them asking questions just this week, and I got answers in minutes rather than having to wait for callbacks and emails days later. If your system is holding you back, it's time for a change.
00:21:43
Speaker
Tap the link in the show notes and see how TechMetric can help you move your shop forward. Yeah, I guess I'm not there. you know So it's kind of hard to argue that. So, um you know, and I think that we feel like we set things up that we shouldn't need to be there.
00:22:02
Speaker
But ah think sometimes even if you're not... really doing that much, just being present makes a difference, uh, you know, and the way that everybody acts and performs and, ah their attitude, which all of that results in things going better. So, yeah, I think, uh, you know, even if I'm not,
00:22:27
Speaker
actively in the middle of the operations that day, just being around helps. So, yeah. yeah So, um, you know, one of the things that, they teach here at, uh, auto shop answers and, and the Hayes methodology is the owner needs to be involved, literally hands on cars alongside the guys at least some of the time.
00:22:53
Speaker
you know, Todd Hayes is not out there pulling wheels very often these days. Right. um but he was for 30 plus years, right. Uh, in his different iterations of of businesses and whatnot.
00:23:06
Speaker
And Joe and Glenn are almost every day. Right. So, um, I've not been that guy at all. And I think that's one of the reasons that, uh, implementation of this concept has been slow for me is because I'm a little bit sitting, sitting up in my ivory tower.
00:23:25
Speaker
Yeah. Still, I'm, I'm just doing it at the shop rather than, and from at home or yeah whatever. Yeah. Uh, well, and, um, ah I've experienced a little bit of that myself because I i kind of would get involved.
00:23:44
Speaker
Okay, think this is going good. Our inspection process is dialed in We're you know kind of meeting our goals on how long it's taken to check out cars. And then I wouldn't do it for a month. And all of a sudden I'm like,
00:24:01
Speaker
what's going on? Like, aren't all these done? And what is your goal time per car? We try for 15 to 20 minutes. ah And, but you know, it depends.
00:24:15
Speaker
If car's a basket case, it can take a while, you know, but ah we were doing pretty good ah keeping that. And then,
00:24:26
Speaker
ah But recently, it's been an issue. so it's How many people do you have on a rack attack to try to get to 15 minutes? Normally three. Yeah.
00:24:38
Speaker
Three and... ah that's one of the issues that's been happening as we get busier, people get pulled off and now it's only two and that's, and I'm, I walk up and there's one guy doing an inspection and I'm like, this isn't going to work. going to take, so, you know, which that's as an owner, that's on me. If we need those people, I got to get those people in there. So, yeah, so that's kind of a, a pressing need for me.
00:25:08
Speaker
That's one of my goals this week is, start, try to find some people to plug in there so that we're not bottlenecking.
Operating on Saturdays: Pros and Cons
00:25:16
Speaker
They're pulling people away to keep up with other stuff. So we can't get under 20 minutes with three people. So it's like, but we also, know, it's conversation that we've been having, over Slack during the course of this meeting because, you know, the advisor who's here is an active part of the rack attack crew and every day that he goes to work. Right.
00:25:37
Speaker
And our policy includes, we want, Pictures all the way around of every vehicle. And the dash and the oil sticker and all four tires. And we're like 20-plus pictures in every DVI on stuff that's green, right? Yes.
00:25:55
Speaker
We do the same thing. We're taking a lot of... I don't know if it's as thorough, but we are definitely taking... kind of doing a full inspection report. And ah that's something that I've been on the fence about a lot because I see the value in that. Yeah.
00:26:14
Speaker
Cause you establish a baseline of how it's been over each visit. and Correct. It's a little bit of CYA. If the customer says, you know, it wasn't like that before and you have a picture of it, then it was, all the reasons that we all know to do that.
00:26:28
Speaker
Yes. But if the name of the game is find out what's wrong with the car and let the customer know as quickly as possible, then you know you're gonna if it's 30 cars a day 250 days a year and you're saving five minutes per car that's that's a lot of time that you've saved and that time that you've saved is going to pay for a couple of the one or two instance that it is not having that picture as a problem yeah yeah yeah and then you know ah the other thing is
00:27:00
Speaker
how much value does the customer see in that? Is it worth the extra time for them to feel good about that full report? Does it help in the sales process seeing a bunch of good things that don't need attention? You know, so those are all, those definitely all thoughts that I've had. And, uh, you know, our immediate solution that, um,
00:27:24
Speaker
we're going to do is We're going to have two crews running rack rack attacks simultaneously is kind of what our my plan is. We're going to see how that works out. but that's We've dabbled with that, and it we've fallen back off of it, because frankly, because I haven't hired enough people.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a, that's going to be the challenging part. I'm going to have to. So much payroll.
00:27:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. um Five days a week. Five days. We're planning on going six next month. Okay. How's the team feel about that? ah Mostly everybody is okay with it. I mean, you know, obviously I've got some guys that are,
00:28:09
Speaker
not willing to work on Saturdays and you know, that's fine, you know, but, uh, a lot of my team was open to it, you know, so didn't really, and i mean, i found that, um, the team that I bring here that see this organization and go through this course, they're like, yeah, we should be open on Saturdays when we, when we go back. Um, and the ones that haven't yet been here are like, i don't work on Saturdays. Yeah.
00:28:36
Speaker
So, yeah. But at the same time,
00:28:40
Speaker
I bet those technicians that don't want to work on Saturdays, if you gave them a $10 an hour raise, they'd probably be okay we working on Saturdays. Yeah. Some of them. Most them. Yeah. and even even my ah
Hiring Outside the Industry
00:28:52
Speaker
some of my technicians that were not willing to do it said, if you need me to fill in here or there, I'll do it. you know So I was kind of, I mean, I was, for the most part, I was pretty you know, grateful that it seemed like everybody was at least willing to contribute somewhat, you know, even if it wasn't, I'm not working every Saturday, but if you need me to fill in for someone on vacation or whatever, I'll do it. So I think, um, it seemed like everybody was pretty open to it.
00:29:27
Speaker
Uh, so I'm excited about that. It's a lot of extra days a year and, you know, we, We get that question all the time. Are you open Saturday? Are you open Saturday? You know, so if you pull your, if you pull your best customers and you say, name three things that we could do that would make you like us even more.
00:29:49
Speaker
Number one is always going to be charge less. Number two is going to be be open more. Right. And three will be a variety of different things, but it's always charge less and be open more. Yeah. Be available.
00:30:01
Speaker
Well, I'm not going charge less. So. Yeah. So here's the deal. I know how to run the front of house at a shop. I like to think that I'm a decent shop owner, but I also know that I don't know how to actually work on cars. I pay someone else who is an expert and a professional to manage that part of the business for me.
00:30:21
Speaker
You should consider doing the same thing when it comes to managing your marketing. There's a lot of different facets and a lot of different types of marketing and finding skill set and the knowledge to be an expert at all of those things while also being an expert at fixing cars or recommending and selling service or management or financials.
00:30:40
Speaker
There's just too many hats that we wear as owners. And so a lot of times it's an incredible return on investment to invest in an expert. And I recommend you invest in turnkey auto marketing.
00:30:52
Speaker
or just turnkey marketing. I've used them for years and they take a lot of the things that I'm not good at off of my plate and handle them really well so that I don't have to worry about it. I know that it's done right the first time.
00:31:05
Speaker
Give them a call, talk to them and see if you think they can be the right service provider for you. It's turnkeyautomarketing.com. You can go to their website and get a free consultation. I don't think you'll be sad you did. and Yeah, no, I mean, I think, ah you know, it's a huge thing. It's a, you know, a lot of those people work Monday through Friday. It's a pain to deal with, you know, even if it's just...
00:31:25
Speaker
ah
00:31:28
Speaker
you know, dropping a car off or picking a car up, even though we try to make an effort, you know, with drop boxes and we have lock boxes to lock keys if they want to pick it up after hours. lot of people don't want to do that. They want to talk to somebody when they drop their car off or when they pick their car up. So, um you know, I think, yeah, or, you know, being answering the phone when they call. So think ah I think it'll be good.
00:31:53
Speaker
We were open on Saturdays. I can't remember how many years ago we stopped, like maybe eight or 10 years ago we closed, but we were open, i think eight to one or eight to two.
00:32:08
Speaker
And I think that half day Saturday, it's like either do it or don't it. It kills your weekend either way. Might as well be there and, you know, make it a full day. But so my whole thing is that Saturdays,
00:32:20
Speaker
are terrible for all the reasons that we've all heard talked about. If you have a shitty inspection and sales process. Yeah. If you have a good inspection and sales process, then Saturdays are boom time.
00:32:32
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and we just had our third Saturday, uh, since we reopened and, you Revenue numbers don't really matter because they're not comparable across the way but car count has been blown out every Saturday and It's been one of the better days of the week every Saturday so far. Yeah, so I've talked to a couple of a minute I've been interviewing a few people and that are from big chains and is interesting to me when I, because obviously one of the things that I'm going to want from them is to work Saturdays and
00:33:11
Speaker
When I say, are you open to work on Saturdays? a lot of them have said, well, yeah, that's one of the busiest days. Yeah. And I'm like, well, man. They come from a dealership or a chain. They're used to working on Saturdays. They're just happy they don't have to work on Sunday. Yeah. right that's pretty much the That's pretty much what I've gotten is I don't have to work Sunday or...
00:33:31
Speaker
I still have two days off because that's our plan is still ah five days, you know, five day work week. So a lot of them are like. So I get two days off still. I'm like, yeah. and there And a lot of people are happy for that because some of them have been working six days and yeah ah know what that feels like. so Sure. um One of the things they talk about here that I think is really interesting, I'd love to hear your experience if you have any, um is hiring from outside of the industry for front of house people.
00:34:07
Speaker
Um, be that from the restaurant industry or the hotel industry or car sales, whatever. have you had any experience hiring advisors, from outside sectors?
00:34:20
Speaker
No, i haven't, but uh, do have uh, a potential hire that I'm talking to right now that is restaurant manager, but it,
00:34:34
Speaker
ah isn't totally from outside the business because she was a service advisor previously. So, uh, but I kind of like that have both experience in both areas. So, um, but I'm definitely open to it and I feel like, uh, that, um, it's maybe it's worth looking into a little bit more because,
00:35:00
Speaker
you're looking through resumes, you kind of just look for relevant experience. And ah think some of those people I need to talk to and get a feel for them rather than just skipping over resume and not even calling them. So, uh, I've definitely changed my perspective on that to, to a degree that it's like, okay, it's worth making a phone call and seeing how this person, what their personality is like.
00:35:27
Speaker
Um, Especially, ah feel like times have changed. they Access to information is a lot different than it was when I opened.
00:35:38
Speaker
i mean, my shop when I opened, Google wasn't really even a thing yet, you know? So now I feel like somebody can get up to speed a lot quicker. You know, they can research something, they can look into repair, um they can educate themselves really quickly.
00:35:57
Speaker
ah so you could probably take somebody from outside the industry and they could very quickly get a working knowledge of, you know, what they need. So, um,
00:36:08
Speaker
which previously that would have required me, you know, teaching them and telling them or somebody else, you know, really kind of, ah guiding them a lot more through that process.
00:36:19
Speaker
So for sure, I think, um, we've got, So the service manager at my big store, uh, hired him out of the restaurant industry during COVID because his restaurant closed down.
00:36:33
Speaker
Um, and he's now an absolute rock star. I didn't know squat about cars five years ago. um and he is on me to stop hiring experienced service advisors because,
00:36:47
Speaker
the ones with 20 years of experience don't want to learn anything new because they already know everything i need know. Right. Because they have a kind of a self-limiting mindset. Uh, and they just have all these bad habits. Uh, did it takes a long time to break and retrain or they won't retrain. And then you got to just start the process over
Embracing Open-mindedness in Management
00:37:05
Speaker
again. So he's going at me pretty hard about hiring from outside industries.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah. I don't disagree with that. You know, it's a,
00:37:17
Speaker
I think all of us get stuck in our ways to a certain degree, but you know, yeah, some of those guys with a lot of experience, especially if they were good at their job, you know, or, uh, you know, if they were the best advisor at their last job, it's hard to tell them, Hey, bunch of this stuff you're doing, that's not how we do it here. yeah You know, when that, whenever they feel like that's what made them successful. So think the key is to start off the conversation with,
00:37:47
Speaker
look, service a advisor, Billy, you're an idiot and everything you do is wrong. Uh, it's a great way to lead and and build, build rapport with your team.
00:37:58
Speaker
Well, you know, that's a, the funny thing about that is I don't really ever have a problem with people telling me that, you know, um, That's certainly the way that my father led me. is They tell me that I'm like, well, you might be right. tell Let me see what you got to say. Um, cause I've been proven wrong plenty of times, but, but, you know, ah think probably, uh, a good shop owner is going to try to keep an open mind about a lot of things. At least I feel like, you know, I'm always willing to listen to a perspective and,
00:38:36
Speaker
even if I don't agree with the whole thing, there might be, there's something to learn from everybody. So awesome. Well, uh, thanks for coming on, man. I really appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely.
00:38:47
Speaker
Yeah. Making you miss part of the class. I apologize for that. I've, uh, I think I pretty much know what's going on, but you know, copy. So I think I've gotten your solid commitment that you're going to be at ASDA expo this year, right?
00:39:01
Speaker
Okay. I'll give a 85%. Okay. All right. Take care, man. All right. Thanks. Thanks for listening to Confessions of a Shop Owner, where we lay it all out. The good, and the bad, and sometimes the super messed up. I'm your host, Mike Allen, here to remind you that even the pros screw it up sometimes. So why not laugh a little bit, learn a little bit, and maybe have another drink.
00:39:20
Speaker
You got a confession of your own or a topic you'd like me to cover? Or do you just want to let me know what an idiot I am? Email mike at confessionsofashopowner.com or call and leave a message. The number is 704-CONFESS.
00:39:35
Speaker
That's 704-266-3377. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, or follow. Join us on this crazy journey that is shop ownership. I'll see you on the next episode.
00:40:14
Speaker
Just...