The Butterfly Rule

The Butterfly Rule

By

Eric M. Twiggs

"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield

I was surfing channels after watching my Redskins lose last Sunday, and stumbled across the Entertainment Network.  They were showing an interview from 1998 with actress Helen Hunt.  She had just won the Academy Award for her role in the movie "As Good As It Gets.”   The Oscar, like The ATI Top Shop award, is only given to the best of the best! 

During the interview, the reporter says the following: "Helen, you just won the Oscar! How will you decide on your next film project?"  Her response made me think of you.  She replied:  "I will choose the project that scares me the most."

Why would a successful actress, at the top of her game, seek out something that scares her?   It's because she lives by the Butterfly Rule. 

What task in your business scares you the most?  The "butterflies" you feel are a sign that what you are about to do is critical to your success.   You will not reach your potential until you do whatever you're afraid of. 

Here's where the rule comes in:  You have to do what scares you the most, because growth takes place on the other side of your butterflies.   As you read on, you will learn about two aspects of your business where this applies. 

Coaching Conversations:   

I was speaking with a service manager named "Jack", who talked non-stop about his problem employee.   This technician was coming in late, not doing courtesy checks, and failing to do the test drives. 

I asked Jack if this was costing him money, and he said YES.  I asked if this was affecting morale, and he said YES.  I asked if he had spoken to the technician about it, and there was silence!  Before I could email Verizon to complain about the dropped call, Jack spoke up.   He admitted to being nervous about having the difficult discussion. 

Is there a coaching conversation with a problem employee that you’ve been avoiding?  The queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach is confirmation of your need to have the conversation.   Your people won’t grow from the coaching session that you don't have! 

Customer Calls

 Have you ever felt uneasy with the idea of making follow up calls to customers  you haven't seen in a while, because you fear what they may tell you?  Instead of dreading the phone call, consider this: 

 According to customer service expert Ruby Legner, the average business only gets complaints from 4% of their unhappy customers. 96% of the disappointed customers don't complain.    91% of these unhappy patrons that don't complain, never come back!

The average lifetime value of an automotive customer is around $7,100.  It will be easier to make the call, if you view it as an opportunity to save a valuable relationship. 

Bad news doesn't get better with age, so the sooner you press through your fears, the better chance you have of growing your sales.   The fact that it makes you nervous, is a sign that you need to do it!

Conclusion

So there you have it.  If you apply the butterfly rule to your coaching conversations and customer calls, you increase your chances of becoming a Top Shop.  And that's "As Good As it Gets!"

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS. Does the idea of delivering a presentation to your employees, networking group, 20 group, or Rotary Club, give you the butterflies?   Email etwiggs@autotraining.net  and I will send you a PowerPoint containing 3 strategies to help you press through the butterflies and nail your next presentation!

The Easy Button

  

"Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win. Bobby Knight

The year was 2007, and I was the new District Manager for twelve shops that ranked in the bottom 10% of the company in profits.   My first visit was to the Salisbury Maryland location to meet "Dave", the service manager. 

 Here is how our conversation went:  "Dave, are you scheduling the next service for your customers?"  "No, Eric, our customers in this area don't like to be scheduled."

 "Why aren't the tech's doing the courtesy checks?”  "I tell them to do it, but they don’t believe in them."  "Dave, why are the technicians wearing sneakers instead of the safety toed boots?"   "Eric, the guys feel that the sneakers are more comfortable." 

Raising his voice, Dave asked: "show me in writing where it says I have to get my guys to exit schedule, do courtesy checks, and wear safety toed boots?" 

 I responded like any graduate of the George Zeeks School of Leadership would:   I grabbed the yellow legal pad from his desk, ripped off the first page, and wrote: YOU have to get  your guys to exit schedule, do courtesy checks, and wear the safety toed boots!   I handed him the paper and said:  "Now you have it in writing!!"

Later that day, I wondered what kept the Salisbury team from implementing the processes.  And then it hit me.  They were looking for the easy button.

Everyone working for you wants to succeed.  I'm sure your tech doesn't go home bragging to his spouse about having the most comebacks!   Since its human nature is to choose the path of least resistance, people will default to what's easy if your standards are unclear. 

So what can you do to keep your team from ignoring the processes and pushing the easy button?  As you keep reading, you will pick up two ideas to improve your team's compliance. 

Communicate Your Non Negotiables

I recall having a shop meeting where I explained in great detail how to fill out the courtesy checks and why it was a good idea.  With a smug look on his face, one of the techs asked me:  "what's in it for me to fill out the form?" 

 I responded by reminding him how he would get the benefit of continued employment at the shop!  I never had an issue with him doing courtesy checks after that, because he realized this was a non-negotiable.

When enforcing on your non-negotiables, ask your people if they believe that what you are asking for is good for the car, the company, and the customers.  Have them explain how and why all three areas will benefit.  

 It will be hard to push the easy button, after they tell you the process is helpful for the customer, company and car. 

Conduct Your One On Ones

The weekly one on ones, give you an opportunity to check in with your team member to review his execution of the non-negotiables.  I recommend creating a show me list of items he will bring to the weekly meeting. 

 For example, if following the phone process is on your list, have him show you the completed phone log for that week.  For exit appointments, he can bring the daily tracker that details who was exit scheduled. 

Having your meeting on the same day at the same time each week creates accountability.   He will be less likely to push the easy button on Monday, if he knows you will ask him about it on Wednesday at 2pm.  Your people will respect what you inspect.   

Conclusion

I communicated my non-negotiables and conducted weekly one on ones with Dave, my service manager. 

 Within a few weeks, he became one of my best managers and a solid team player who helped me enforce the processes in other locations.  If it worked for me, why not you? 

  

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

  

PS.  Looking for an easy step by step process for conducting One on One's?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net  and I will send you the 5 steps to an effective one on one!

Addition By Subtraction

Addition By Subtraction

By

Eric M. Twiggs

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great" John D Rockefeller

"Tom" had been writing service for 15 years.  He thought he knew his customers, and what they could afford.   Business was trending down for the past six months and "Greg",the shop owner, didn't know why. 

One thing he was sure of was that it had nothing to do with Tom and his performance.   Both he and Tom blamed the negative trend on the local economy.  After all, their tool guy just told them about all of the other area shops being slow. 

I decided to phone shop Tom and was "shocked"(ok, not really) to learn that he made no attempts to ask for the appointment or invite the customer to the location.    In spite of Greg's coaching and follow up, Tom failed a second phone shop the following week by not asking for the business.

Feeling the financial pressure, Greg decided to eliminate Tom's position and take over the role of service manager himself. 

You’ll never guess what happened next.  Weekly sales improved by an average of $6k, and have exceeded $20k ever since.  Several customers told Greg they were glad to see Tom go and would not have come back if he was still there!   This is classic case of addition by subtraction.

When trying to get to the next level, it's natural to think about what needs to be added to achieve your goals.  Greg's story teaches us that sometimes it's the process of elimination that leads to elevation. 

As we embark on a new year, I pose the following question:  What do you need put down in order to move up?   As you read on, you will learn about two specific areas where this applies.

  

Perspective

Do your beliefs line up with where you're trying to go?  For example, if your goal is to improve cash flow, but you don't believe in pricing properly, your perspective is the problem.   Ask any of the shop owners who made it to The Top 50, and they will confirm that their cash flow improved once they eliminated their limiting beliefs about the business. 

They raised their labor rate only to discover that the anticipated angry mob of customers carrying pitch forks, never showed up at their doors!  Feel free to contact me to ask about speaking to a shop owner experiencing similar challenges as you but achieving better results. 

Talking with someone who’s getting results,can change your perspective.  If someone else is doing it, it has to be doable! 

People

 Elite organizations view hiring as a process of elimination and NOT of inclusion.  In other words, they hire tough so they can manage easy.  Google for example, only hires .2% of the three million candidates that apply each year. 

They have a structured and rigorous selection process that includes an online application, phone screening, five on site interviews, reference checks, and several assessment tests!  Their goal is to weed out the unqualified candidates from the process, so they are left with only the "A" players.  Is your hiring a process of elimination or desperation?

The feeling of desperation will cause you to add unqualified people to your team, who will subtract your customer count.    Google can be selective because they always have applicants to choose from.  If you only recruit when you have an opening, it will be harder to adopt the elimination mindset when interviewing!

Summary

Greg's winning streak began by losing the wrong service manager.   If you are willing to lose your limiting beliefs and weed out the unqualified candidates, you too can benefit from addition by subtraction. 

Happy New Year,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS.  Are limiting beliefs adding to your frustration while subtracting from your bottom line?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send you a listing of 7 Books that will elevate your thinking in 2016!!

Where do you fit into the Car Count Marketing Matrix?

                              I think I need more Customers but where is the Silver Bullet??

Almost every business thinks that they need more customers and feel they have to scramble to get them.  Marketing ‘How To’ books are some of the best sellers on the market.  Why is this such a mystery? How can so many people believe they need help.  The question is, do you need help or are you looking for the silver bullet?  Here are just the beginning steps to help your shop.  They’re not hard but they do take time and effort to get them done properly. The temptation to skip steps can be great but it just destroys your spirit and wastes your time with inaccurate results.  If you want more and are willing to do the work, keep reading……

This is a general guideline and is open to many variations depending on your specific shop. It is, however, a great place to start and make sure you have the basics covered before you spend any time, money or energy on Marketing.  First thing, answer the following questions….

1.       What do I want?

a.      This for your shop and for you personally.  You may get a “entrepreneurial seizure” and want to add 5 bays or create a new shop.  This will help to keep you focused on the balance between your business life and your personal life. Remember that success is not measured in dollars, no matter how many times you may hear different. Everything starts with a goal.

2.      What do I need?

a.      Based on your goals, what will it take to get to that next level?  What do I have in Labor Inventory? Does my staff give 'Good Phone'?  Can they answer in a way that will bring people in? Do I need to add staff? How does this relate to fixed costs? This section is all about the math behind the business. Many people skip this stage and just go for it but without a clear plan of what they are going for. A “Win # Drill” would be a great start. Run a ‘Gap Analysis’ to see the difference between where you are and where you want to be.

3.      What do I have?

a.      Part of this has to do with staffing, Bays, Labor Inventory, etc….However. the biggest part here is what Customers do I have?   You need to start with a ‘Customer Source Report’.  What is bringing my customers in?  Am I even asking them?  Am I tracking where they are coming from? Am I getting new customers from the internet? Are they coming back? Are most of my Customers ‘Repeats”? Am I getting all of the cars in the household? It boils down to what is bring my customers in now and where do I need to focus to get more of them as fast and easy as possible. Another great point here is to do a ‘homemade’ Frequency Report.  It’s very simple but it does take time.  Find the Customers that came in, this week, 9 months ago.  Look up the history and see if they have come back and make a note of 0 visits, 1 visit,2 and 3+ visits.  This will help to let you know if you have a retention or an acquisition problem.  Combined with the source report you can see if the first visit categories are coming back for a second visit.  You will fall into the Car Count Matrix below somewhere;

High Acquisition                                       x                            High Acquisition

High retention                                            x                            Low retention

                                                                   x

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                                                                                          x

Low Acquisition                                        x                            Low Acquisition

High Retention                                           x                            Low Retention

                                                                    x

Once you have finished this, you will be ready to start putting together a marketing plan. Depending on what quadrant you find yourself, you will need a very different strategy to grow your shop!

I will follow up with the plan for each quadrant so you can have a specific plan of action!

***This is just the beginning, but it is a very good beginning. Anything else is guessing and that just doesn’t pay the bills!!!

For a video explaining more about this topic;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egNGLWzfJLQ 

The Inconvenient Truth About Your Shop

The Inconvenient Truth

By

Eric M. Twiggs

"You can't change what's going on around you until you start changing what's going on within you"  Zig Ziglar

"So you expect all of us here today, to be able to charge these unrealistic prices?"   This question was posed to the ATI Instructor by "John" while he was here for service advisors class. 

John is a service manager who's been writing service for over twenty years. He's been there, done that, and has the tee shirt to prove it!

John dominated the class conversations by sharing his wealth of knowledge relating to what can't be done in the "real world."  Everyone looked at the instructor  with curiosity, awaiting his reply to John's question.

The instructors  response changed the entire tone of the class.  He asked everyone who was currently using the parts matrix at their shops to raise their hand.   Every hand in the room went up except John's! 

He then walked over to John, looked him in the eyes and said: "You see, I'm not trying to convince everyone in the room to charge correctly. I'm trying to convince YOU to charge correctly!" 

 John slumped in his chair and remained silent for the rest of the two day session, because he was forced to confront the inconvenient truth.   

Here's the big takeaway: There's someone else getting different results while facing the same challenges as you. This truth is inconvenient because it keeps you from making excuses.   It's convenient to blame the election, the pandemic, the coach, and the holidays, for the red colors you see in your portal.  I get it. 

 But how do you explain the other shop in your area, that’s dealing with the challenges as you, having the ability to hold margins you believe to be impossible?

Now that you know the inconvenient truth, I will share two other areas of your business where this knowledge can be applied to make the most of your holiday business. 

 Car Count

I once asked a service manager why business was down.  He told me all about the pandemic,  the holidays, and how his vendors said everyone was slow.  I asked what he had done to improve business.   He mentioned making follow up calls. 

I then asked how many calls he made.  After a long and awkward pause, he replied: "less than 10."  Before blaming external factors for low car count, ask yourself the following question:" What five things have I done this week to make business better?"

For example, if you called 20 "declined service customers", posted on Google My Business, gave out your seasonal  gift  cards, visited 10 fleets, and made all of your  appointment reminder calls,  you would have work, even though your customers are Christmas shopping! 

Courtesy Checks

What was your courtesy check to car count percentage last week?  Several members are singing  the holiday blues, from the 50% section of the choir!    Let's put this in perspective: If you average 40 cars a week with a 50% courtesy check percentage, 20 cars left your building without getting checked!  

 Please don't tell me that all 20 cars were just inspected within the last 30 days.   Instead, find out who the technicians were, and why weren’t the inspections done.  I have gone through this process with several owners and we usually find its one technician who's not on the program. 

I was just speaking with a successful shop owner named "Greg".  He confirmed that the 3 members in his 20 group with the best profit results, also ranked in the top 3 in courtesy check to car count ratio!

By the way, the competitors in Greg's area were slow last week, while he had one of his best weeks of the year!  He attributes this to his increased focus on the courtesy check process.

Conclusion

So there you have it.  Owning your car count and courtesy check results will help you deal with the inconvenient truth.  You see, I’m not trying to convince everyone reading this message to change; I’m trying to convince YOU to change. 

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS.  Tired of singing the same old holiday blues?  Email  etwiggs@autotraining.net  and I will send you the 7 Best New Acquisition car count strategies that I know of!