Elephants Don't Bite
By Eric Twiggs
When was the last time you heard of someone getting bitten
by an elephant? As I reflect on this question I am reminded of “Mike"
and "Larry", who are former clients of mine that owned two different shops
back in 2010. At the time, they both had been with ATI for eighteen
months and averaged three thousand dollars per week in net profit.
Both had what they believed to be a good crew
consisting of a service manager and three technicians. Mike and Larry
were working ON the business and could leave their shops for extended
periods of time without the results changing.
They were both in
good health because they left the shop to go to the gym three days per
week. They both updated the portals, were current on their classes,
and available for their weekly coaching call.
The only difference between Mike and Larry was that
Mike invested one hour per week on hiring activities. Every Friday
morning at nine o'clock, Mike would refresh his Craigslist ads, review his
applicant Rolodex, and interview at least one qualified candidate. Larry
didn't see the need to advertise his openings because he was already fully
staffed.
I told Larry what
Mike was doing, but he resisted, reminding me of how loyal his people were to
him. After all, "his shop was different, and
I didn't understand."
Three months later, there weren't any noticeable differences
in performance between Mike and Larry. At the six month mark, they were
still experiencing the same results.
Twelve months later, the differences
between Mike and Larry were staggering. Mike had lost ten pounds,
increased his net profit to four thousand dollars per week, and was spending
more time away from his shop pursuing his race car passion.
Larry on the other hand, was no longer available for
my calls because he was working the service counter and turning wrenches.
He went from averaging three thousand dollars per week in net profit, to fifteen
hundred dollars. Larry was experiencing health issues related to
stress and the additional twenty pounds he gained.
Why did one hour per week of invested time make such a
difference in their results? It's because elephants don't bite!
It's not the elephants, It’s the little things that
will come back to bite you. The decision to do or ignore
these little things creates a ripple effect.
For Larry, his failure to spend one hour per week
recruiting, led to him to being caught off guard when his service manager resigned
to work for the competitor. The service manager leaving had a ripple
effect on his lead technician, who left to go work with the service
manager.
Larry being IN the business affected his profit results because
he couldn't sell like the service manager. His health declined
because he didn't have the time to go to the gym like he used to.
The failure to
invest one hour per week on hiring was the root cause of his problems. He
couldn't blame "the economy elephant” for his failures!
Mike also lost his lead tech during the same twelve month
time span. Since he had been interviewing anyway, he was able to hire a
qualified replacement within two weeks.
As it turned out, the new
tech was more productive and had a following of customers from the old shop
that followed him to Mike's location. His strong staffing levels
gave him the free time to hire a personal trainer which improved his health and
led to his weight loss.
The economy, your area, and "the
lack of good people out there", are just elephants. Please stop reading right now, grab a mirror, and ask yourself the
following question: "Have I been consistently doing the little things
that lead to long term success?"
How you answer this question
can determine where you will be one year from today! Don't
blame the elephants, because they don't bite!
