How Big Is Your Playbook?

How Big Is Your Playbook?

By

Eric M. Twiggs

  

 "Success is only another form of failure if we forget what our priorities should be." Harry Lloyd

If Google existed back 1996, and you “googled” the term loser, an image of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football helmet and logo would appear!  Fans were so embarrassed about the state of the organization, they would show up to the games wearing grocery bags on their head. 

To make matters worse, an unproven National Football League(NFL) assistant coach named Tony Dungy  just accepted their offer to become the head coach.   

Dungy had a reserved and soft spoken demeanor.  His specialty was defense, but unlike his coaching contemporaries, he had a small playbook with only a handful of plays.  His philosophy was to keep things simple by focusing on the basic habits his players needed to execute on every play. 

He had presented this philosophy to four other teams prior to getting the Tampa job, and they each passed on hiring him.  Obviously, the Buccaneers were making a big mistake by hiring Dungy, right? 

Wrong!  Dungy transformed the Buccaneers into one of the league’s winningest teams.  He then took this same philosophy to the Indianapolis Colts who went on to win the Super bowl! 

Why was this simple strategy so successful?  I’ll let coach Dungy tell you himself: “Champions don’t do extraordinary things, they do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react.”

We tend to place a high value on the extraordinary while dismissing the ordinary.  For example, I work with a shop owner who sends me detailed spreadsheets, outlining all her innovative ideas to improve car count.  When I mystery shopped her, the phone rang ten times and the service advisor made no effort to invite the customer to the location. 

Then there’s the owner who has done an in-depth study, of his ideal client, in the targeted demographic, to improve sales. But when I conducted a random repair order audit on his location, I couldn’t find a single courtesy check!  Both shop leaders have a playbook that’s too big.

Stay with me to learn about two areas of your business where having a small playbook can lead to getting a bigger paycheck. 

Car Count

Have you ever wondered why you’re gaining a significant number of new customers, but your car count result in the portal doesn’t improve?  Allow me to explain by using the door as a metaphor. 

New customers who see your sign, find you on the internet, or respond to your marketing piece, come in through the front door. 

If these same customers don’t return in the next twelve months, they have exited via the back-door.  The best way to simplify your car count playbook, is to make closing the backdoor your priority. 

All great car count coaches use a simple play known as the visit frequency report.  This report will tell you what percentage of your customers only made one visit during the last twelve months, and how many of your customers are “cheating” on you.  The average one time visit frequency percentage for ATI shops is around 45%.

Let’s say you run the visit frequency play and your result is 65%.  This means your back-door is wide open, and the focus should be on why you’re losing customers.  Did they die, move away, or are they unhappy because of their last visit?

Once you’re able to answer these questions, you can take the next steps to closing the back door and improving your car count.  If you are interested in ordering this report, email etwiggs@autotraining.net, and I will get you access. 

Hiring  

Have you ever had had an opening in your organization that went unfilled for longer than thirty days?  When I’ve asked shop leaders in this situation what they believed the root cause to be, I received the following replies:

“There aren’t any good people in my area.”; “I can’t afford to pay for health benefits.”; “Other shops pay higher wages than I do.”; “My ad isn’t attractive enough.”; “I blame the millennials!”  These perceived barriers can motivate you to engage in extraordinary efforts until you find the right person.    

Here’s a news flash from the Twiggs Broadcasting Network:   The fundamental hiring habit that will keep you from having prolonged openings is to (let’s say it together) Always Be Hiring!    The most basic strategy that will help you accomplish this is to set a monthly goal for how many people you plan to interview, no matter how well staffed you are.

For example, Top 25 Shop Owners Mark and Donna Meade, have committed to interviewing a minimum of three people per month, no matter how they’re staffed. 

 In twelve months, they will have interviewed thirty-six people.  Chances are, out of thirty-six candidates, at least five would be potential “A” players in the pipeline.  How many people are you committed to interviewing each month?

Conclusion

Tony Dungy is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of his commitment to the basics.  Working your visit frequency report, and interviewing whether you have an opening or not, are examples of the simple strategies that lead to success.    How big is your playbook?

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS:  I have an Interview Tracker that will help you document and follow up with people you interview throughout the year.  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send it to you.