Winning The Game of Inches At Your Shop
By
Eric M. Twiggs
No step forward is too small. Just be sure it's taking you to the right
dream, then take more of those tiny steps.”
― Israelmore Ayivor,
― Israelmore Ayivor,
The story is told of a man who walked across the entire US
continent from coast to coast. Afterwards he was swamped by news
reporters. One of them
asked him to recap what the most difficult part of his journey was.
“Was it dealing with the desert heat? Was it rambling
through the Rocky Mountains? Was it commuting through the crowded
cities?” She asked.
His response took everyone by surprise: “it was none of those
things. The most difficult part of my trip was dealing with the sand in my
shoes.”
This man’s story proves the following point: It’s the
minor details that lead to major problems. Have you dealt with the sand in
your shoes? The following scenarios may help you to answer:
A customer leaving your shop unhappy, is a minor
detail. When she shares the experience with her ten thousand twitter
followers, it’s a major problem. Ignoring the suggestion of “always be
hiring”, is a minor detail.
Losing your best technician, without having a replacement in
mind, is a major problem. Not implementing the parts matrix is a
minor detail. Not having enough cash flow to make payroll is a major
problem.
If you have overlooked any of these minor details, you have
sand in your shoes. Most people are
looking for that one magical idea that will change everything in their
business.
The Top Shop’s on the other hand, consistently win because of
their disciplined dedication to the details. In
other words, they win the game of inches.
Are you like most people, but want to become a Top
Shop? Stay with me to learn
two strategies that will help you to
win the game of inches.
Do The
Math
Fear
based emotion is the root cause of your desire to ignore the
details. For example, the detail of making the exit appointment is
ignored because of a fear of rejection. The detail of “always be
hiring” is overlooked
because of a fear of failure.
Some
shop leaders have a fear of conflict, so they allow their technicians to
avoid the detail of documenting the digital inspections.
The
problem is that your bill collector isn’t afraid. From your collector’s
perspective, either your account is current, or its past due. Either the
funds are available or they’re not. You may be dealing with
emotion, but your vendor is dealing with simple math.
The
key is for you to replace your fear-based emotion with math. Start by
calculating your average cost per car.
Go
to the four-week average column in your portal and add up your total fixed
costs, sublet costs, your total service manager wages loaded, and total
technician wages loaded. Take that total and divide by your weekly
car count average and you will get your average cost per car.
So,
let’s say you have calculated your average cost per car to be $300.00. Knowing
this, makes it easier to explain to your service writer with a $250 average
repair order (ARO), how his failure to follow the process is hurting the
business.
You
can also use the win # drill (desired net profit + weekly fixed costs/
weekly gp%/ avg ARO) to calculate the number of cars needed to
achieve your net profit goals. This can help to take the emotion out of
improving your car count via the exit appointment.
It’s
ok, you can get mad at me, but you can’t get mad at math! Doing
the math removes the emotion from the equation, so you can focus on the
details.
Look For The 1%
I was watching an online documentary titled Tom VS. Time. This documentary
chronicles how New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady can play at an elite
level despite being 40 years of age.
It
shows Brady working with a performance coach who specializes in helping
quarterbacks improve their football throwing mechanics.
During
the interview segment, the coach was explaining the difference between the
average and the elite quarterbacks who request his services.
Here’s
what he said: “The elite quarterbacks aren’t looking to get 5% better, they
come to me to get 1% better!” Finding
the 1% will help you to win the game of inches.
The
average shop owner evaluates the quality of the training based on the quantity
of the takeaways.
The elite shop owners are just looking for the 1%.
One
hallway conversation at the Super Conference
can make you 1% better. One sentence from that book your 20 group
is reading, can make you 1% better. Changing one word you use to
present the estimate, based on what you learned in class, can make you 1%
better.
If
you’re getting 1% better every day, in time you can win the game of inches and
become the best of the best!
Conclusion
So,
there you have it. If you do the
math, and look for the 1%, you can win the game of inches. When you
become the best of the best, you will have more time to vacation at the
beach, the place where having sand in your shoes is a good thing!
Sincerely,
Eric
M. Twiggs
The
Accountability Coach
Looking
to get 1% better at presenting the estimate? Email etwiggs@autotraining.net to receive your Minor Details Checklist