How To Create A Winning Expectation

How To Create A Winning Expectation

By

Eric M. Twiggs

 “How do you go from where you are to where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And you have to be willing to work for it.”  Jim Valvano

The NCAA College Basketball tournament is known as “March Madness.”  In this win or go home playoff, the dream of every player is to win the national championship game. 

Young “ballers” grow up watching the tournament with the dream of hitting the game winning shot that propels their team to victory.  Coaches dream of being carried off the court in victory on the shoulders of their players. 

When a team wins the big game, tradition dictates that every player takes a turn cutting down the nets.  Coach Jim Valvano, who coached at North Carolina State back in the 1980’s, had an interesting twist on this tradition.

When “Coach V” arrived at North Carolina State in 1980, he inherited a program that was mediocre at best.  Yet, during his first speech to his new team, he dared to declare: “We will win the national championship!”  This seemed ridiculous, since the team had failed to even qualify for the tournament round during the previous five years!  

Coach V was so sure that he ended each of his teams practice sessions the same way: He grabbed a ladder and had each player take a turn cutting down the nets. Sounds crazy right? 

What’s the point of having a mediocre team practice cutting down the championship nets?   Here’s the point: In 1983 The North Carolina State Wolfpack shocked the world by winning the national championship game! 

After the game, the players took turns cutting down the nets.  Several of them mentioned during post-game interviews that climbing the ladder to cut down the nets felt like déjà vu!   They had done it so many times in practice, they expected it to happen!

Coach V gave his players a picture of what was possible.  He created a winning expectation. What are you doing to create a winning expectation?  I have two suggestions that I will share. 

    Write Your Goals Down Every Day

I was watching an interview recently with Pamela Valvano, the wife of Coach V.  She said that before she took his sports coats to the dry cleaners, she had to remove these 3X5 cards from the pockets.  If she dropped off five coats, she would have to remove five cards beforehand. 

She went on to reveal that he used these cards to write his goals down every day.   Item #1 on each card was “I am a national champion.”

In his book “Be Obsessed Or Be Average,” Grant Cardone describes the habit of writing your goals down daily this way: “Anything worth doing is worth doing every day.”  A goal that isn’t written down is merely a wish. 

Writing it down puts your subconscious mind to work at attracting ideas, resources, and people that line up with what you want.   The key to creating a winning expectation is to write your goals in the present tense as if you already have what you desire.

Want a 30% net profit to sales ratio?  Then write “I average 30% in net profit” every day. Want to rank in the Top 12 in the Top Shop Race?  Then write “I am a Top 12 Shop Owner” every day. 

 Want a shop where profit doesn’t depend on your presence? Then write “I am the absentee owner of a successful shop” every day.  If you can view it, you can do it.  By writing your goals down every day, you will “view it”, and therefore create a winning expectation. 

Put In The Work

Let’s do some math: Three frogs are sitting on a log.  One decides to hop away.  How many frogs are left? Here’s the answer:  ALL THREE!   The one frog only decided to jump.  It failed to put in the work of jumping so its situation never changed!

You can write your goals down every day, create your vision board, and you can rub the magical genie lamp!  If you don’t commit to putting in the work, you’ll end up like the frog on the log.  

It should be noted that Coach V’s teams practiced cutting down the nets AFTER they practiced playing basketball!  It was the combination of visualizing what they wanted along with putting in the work that made their dreams a reality.  Since they had prepared to win, they expected to win. 

You can write down the words “I am a top 12 shop owner” every day.  If you never adjust your pricing, look for personnel, or meet with your people, you can’t expect to win because you haven’t put in the work! 

Summary

So there you have it.  If you commit to writing your goals down every day, and then putting in the work, you will create a winning expectation.  It’s time to grab that ladder, because you’re about to shock the world! 

                                                                                                                                                                                

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS.  How are you doing with the goals you set in January 2017?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send you a 2017 Goal Progress Form, to help you create a winning expectation! 

              

How To Avoid Your Default Future

How To Avoid Your Default Future

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.”

“Bill, why are we running these employment ads?” Asked “Susan”.  “We are fully staffed with a great crew. This is a waste of time and money.”  Susan posed a valid question since their shop has a reputation of retaining great people, and is known for being the place to purchase automotive service in their town. 

Bill is the owner and Susan, his wife, handles the administrative functions of their thriving location.  If you Googled the term “Top Shop” a picture of Bill and Susan would appear!   Susan couldn’t understand why Bill would always interview a minimum of six people per month, when he didn’t have any open positions. 

One fateful week in April, everything changed.  They decided to terminate “Mark” their ‘B’ Technician, because of several comebacks and his recent attendance issues.   “Jane”, their service writer, gave notice because her husband accepted a job out of state and they were relocating.

“Jack”, the ‘A’ technician, told Bill he was leaving to pursue his dream of become a full-time day trader.  So, in a seven-day time span, Bill lost three out of his seven employees! 

How would your business be impacted if you lost three people in seven days?   Bill’s story teaches us that even the best of the best can experience unexpected turnover.   Not being prepared for this possibility can lead you to your default future. 

I can’t imagine that a shop owner would write a vision statement for their business that reads: “My vision is to have a business where the profits depend on my presence.”  NO!  This is the future that is arrived at by default. 

The default future is the place you end up when you decide not to make the necessary changes in a specific area.   For example, deciding not to invest in proactive recruiting efforts can cause you to end up working IN the business instead of On your dreams. 

So, what can you do to avoid this default future?   Stay with me and I will explain.

Establish A Monthly Interview Goal

One of our members was telling me about an exercise that was done during his recent 20 Group meeting.   The shop owners were divided into five groups and asked to describe the most pressing issue in their business and what they were doing to address it. 

Each subgroup would report their findings back to the main group.  There was only one issue, that came up in all five groups:  Finding and hiring good people.  Here is the big takeaway:  If finding people is the biggest problem, then looking for prospects, should be your biggest priority. 

I recommend establishing the minimum number of candidates that you will interview each month regardless of your staffing levels. Setting a goal for the number of interviews will force you to put the necessary number of feelers out, so that you have candidates to talk to.  

Let’s say you set a goal to interview three candidates every month.  You will be inspired to refresh your ad, when you notice that you are struggling to find three people to interview.

I conducted and informal survey of a sampling of my members, asking them how many candidates they interviewed during the month of April.  Three shop owners reported interviewing four or more people.  All three also reported hiring at least one ‘A’ player during this time frame.  Establishing a monthly interview goal makes a difference!

Tweak Your Approach

I was speaking with a shop owner named “Ronald” who told me that he had an ad running for a technician that wasn’t getting any responses.  He ran the same ad week after week until finally he decided to change things up. 

He changed the title of the ad while leaving the rest of the copy the same.  The new title was changed to read as follows: “Automotive Technician with pay up to $30.00 per hour.”   This ad generated seven responses and resulted in him hiring a great technician.  Ronald changed his result by tweaking his approach.

What are you doing to tweak your approach?  If you are running an ad that’s not getting responses, it’s time to change the ad.  If prospective employees are ignoring your “Now Hiring” sign, that’s a sign that it’s time to change the sign! 

If the internet hiring sites (craigslist, indeed, zip recruiter, etc.) aren’t generating candidates for you, it’s time to utilize social media.  If none of the previously mentioned ideas are working, it may be time to consider investing in a professional recruiting service.

It’s been said that continuing to do the same things and expecting different results will lead to a default future! (OK, I’m the one who said it!)  Tweaking your approach will get you to the future you have designed for yourself.

Conclusion

I am happy to report that Bill avoided the default future.  Since he was always hiring anyway, he could fill all three openings with candidates he had already interviewed. 

Since he established a minimum interview goal and tweaked his approach, he can work ON instead of IN his business.  If you take these steps, you will arrive at the destination you planned for instead of ending up in the default future!

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS.  Looking to tweak your ad but don’t know where to begin?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send you two hiring ads that have been attracting ‘A’ players!

The Secret To Increasing Revenue While Lowering Resistance

The Secret To Increasing Revenue While Lowering Resistance

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“When presenting estimates, don’t factor in your estimation of what the customer can afford”

“Mark,” a service manager of a Baltimore area shop, has an interesting customer service habit.  When his customers arrive to the shop, he goes out to the vehicle with them and they visit the car together.

Since the shop records all incoming and outgoing calls, I was curious to hear how this behavior impacted his conversations with the customers when he called them back to present the estimate. On one call, a customer named “Rick” made it clear that he didn’t want to invest in his Dodge Nitro.

Mark began the call by highlighting the positive conditions of the courtesy check findings and by complimenting Rick on how well he had maintained the vehicle. Next, Mark mentioned the movement found in the ball joint.

Rick interrupted him mid-sentence by stating: “I’m getting rid of the car, I just want to pass inspection.” Mark proceeded to present the need for new wheel bearings due to the noise coming from his current component.

Rick replied: “I’m getting rid of the car, I just want to pass inspection!” Despite this resistance, Mark continued by making the customer aware of the fact that his battery hold down was missing. Rick’s response may surprise you: “I’m getting rid of the car, I just want to pass inspection!”

To my surprise, Mark dared to make the following statement: “Your total investment including parts, labor and taxes is $993, and we can have this done for you today.” And then there was a moment of silence! The next person to talk was Rick, and here’s what he said: “Oh OK. Go ahead and do it!”

How was Mark able to overcome the resistance that Rick was communicating and get approval for the sale? Stay with me to learn the secret to increasing revenues while lowering resistance.

Visit The Car

Are you a travel agent or a tour guide?  To answer this question, think about the last major vacation trip you took.  The travel agent gave you the information about your journey, handed you the brochures, presented the facts, and ended the conversation by saying: “it’s great to meet you, enjoy your trip.”

The tour guide was different.  When you arrived at your designated tour, she handed you the brochures and presented the facts.  But here’s where she differed from the travel agent.  She said, “It’s great to meet you, now get in and let’s go!”   Which of the two was more believable?

You probably chose the tour guide since the two of you experienced the same things at the same time.  The travel agent just told you about the white-water river, but the tour guide was in the raft with you experiencing the waves! 

You could question the facts with the travel agent, but your argument “wouldn’t hold water” with the tour guide! 

If you fail to visit the car with the customer, you are like the travel agent.   Your customers are just hearing the facts in an impersonal way. 

When you visit the car with the customer, you both are experiencing the same things at the same time. For example, you can stand at the counter like a travel agent, and tell me about replacing my tires, but if we are both at the car and see the steel coming out in the tread, your gain instant credibility.   

Since Mark was a tour guide, he had credibility with Rick and could overcome his resistance.

Speak Their Language

In his audio book “The Power of Ambition”, Jim Rhon sums up what it takes to increase your revenue while lowering resistance, when he says: “You should always start with where people are before you try to take them to where you want them to go.”  

Here’s the Twiggs translation: Speak your customer’s language.  The language they speak, depends on their buying personality. 

At ATI, we teach the following five buying personalities: Performance, Fear, Simple & Easy, Basic Transportation, and Quality.   Visiting the car like a tour guide, gives you more of an opportunity to determine what language they speak.  It’s harder for a travel agent to learn the native language of a place he hasn’t been!

For example, a customer who has the basic transportation personality, will say: “I just want to get from A to B and avoid another car payment!”

When presenting the estimate to someone with this personality, you could say “Investing in this service will help you get from A to B and avoid another car payment!” 

People are more resistant to what you say, than what they say.  You won’t know what they say until you go out to the car and learn their language. 

Summary

Mark could overcome Rick’s resistance because he visited the car, and spoke his language.  When Rick came to the shop, Mark went out to the car with him and established a rapport. 

When Mark, presented the findings to Rick he used many of the same words that Rick told him when they were at the vehicle.   If you commit to these steps, you can increase your revenues while lowering resistance.

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS:  Don’t know what to do when you go out to the car with the customer?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send you a “visit to the car video” that demonstrates the process. 

How To Succeed As An Expensive Shop

How To Succeed As An Expensive Shop

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“Value is more expensive than price.” 
― Toba Beta,

Are you the most expensive shop in town?   This question reminds me of an ATI podcast interview I recently listened to.  Ryan Kuhnle, owner of East End Automotive, located in a small Pennsylvania town, was being interviewed by Coach Geoff Berman on the topic of the customer experience.

To gain best practices, Ryan reported taking an “outside the box” approach.  He visited the most expensive, high-end dealership in his market.  What Ryan discovered, was surprising. 

Ryan has a friend who works there who gave him a tour of the facility.  As they walked, he noticed that the service bays and floors were clean and organized.  No surprises there.  Next, he noticed that they washed every car they serviced. Again, not surprising.

He then observed that the waiting room was clean, had a cappuccino machine, and a charger for customers to charge their mobile phones.  Nice touch, but not over the top.  The visit took an interesting turn when Ryan’s friend showed him the CSI survey reports.   

Ryan and his friend reviewed the customer comments and stumbled across the following surprise:  The most expensive shop in town didn’t have a single complaint about price!   Even in a small town, the customers had no problems paying a higher price. 

The reason they can charge what they charge is because they have adopted Jim Rohn’s  definition of success: “They do the ordinary things extraordinarily well.” 

I know what you’re thinking: “My customers are different. They won’t pay for better service in my area.”  This limiting belief poses two challenges: 1) Your costs of doing business are always increasing. 2) No matter what you believe, the bills are still due.   

In all my years of running shops, I have never had a bill collector call me and say: “Eric, we heard that your customers are different so we won’t charge you this month!”  So, these challenges make delivering value at an extraordinary level, a great business decision.    

Stay with me to learn about two focus areas that will help you succeed as an expensive shop. 

Make It Personal

I was recently speaking with Bud Wildman, owner of Precision Auto, and member of the 2016 ATI Top 12.   One of his customers left an internet review that reads as follows: “After leaving this shop, all I can say is wow, wow, wow!”   

As I inquired further, he concluded that the key was to make it personal. “How are you making it personal?” I asked.   He went on to explain the details of the program he has in place that was mentioned at the Super Conference.

Many of his transactions begin with his customers being picked up by his shuttle driver.  The driver, the technicians, and the service advisors, each have wireless walkie talkies to enhance their communication levels. 

The shuttle driver gets the name of the customer and communicates it via the walkie talkies, to the writer at the desk.  When the customer gets to the shop, the writer says, “Good morning Mrs._______, how may I serve you?”    

Are you more likely to read a mass email that’s sent to hundreds of different addresses, or one that is personally addressed to you?  You probably chose the second option because the experience that’s personal is more valuable. 

Just calling the customer by name is an ordinary thing.  Using the walkie talkies, helps Bud and his team to execute this in an extraordinary way, and makes the experience personal.   When was the last time a customer said “wow” after leaving your shop? 

Exceed Their Expectations

I have a habit of reading internet reviews for different businesses.  When reviewing those for airline companies, I have never seen a raving 5-star review that read: “The plane didn’t crash, I arrived on time, and they didn’t lose my luggage!” 

The reason you will never see this type of review is because customers don’t rave about an experience they expect to receive.  They expect to land in one piece along with their luggage.   

Southwest Airlines, is an example of an airline that exceeds expectations.  Here is a review from one of their raving fans: 

“They went to the most ultimate extreme by presenting my fiance' and I an entire bottle of our favorite champagne once they heard we had just gotten engaged!”

Just like Southwest, you can create raving fans by moving beyond what’s expected.

Your customer expects to get a computer-generated thank you card after getting their car worked on.  A handwritten thank you note would exceed their expectations. 

Your new customer expects for someone to greet her when she comes in. Giving her a welcome tour, putting her in a loaner car, and then leaving her with a parting gift, would exceed her expectations. These are each examples of ordinary things delivered in an extraordinary way! 

Summary

Because of the experience, the customers at the high-end dealer mentioned earlier, didn’t think to question the price.  If you commit to making it personal and exceeding their expectations, you will succeed as an expensive shop.     

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS:  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net to receive a new customer intake procedure that will help you make it personal and exceed their expectations! 

    

How To Retain The "A" Players You Recruit

 How To Retain The "A" Players You Recruit

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.”  William James

What can you do to keep “A” players from leaving you?   As I ponder this question, I’m reminded of an experience I had back in December here at ATI.  Our office is in a suburb of Baltimore MD.  Thus, my fellow coaches and colleagues root for the Baltimore Ravens football team.

Our office could be considered “Ravens Nation”, because of all the cups, computers, and cubicles that are loaded with the team’s paraphernalia.  

Everyone supports the local team.  Everyone except for me.   I happen to be a Washington Redskins Fan.  As you prepare your jokes,please know that my choice of football teams is a topic for another day!

One morning, right before the Christmas holiday, I noticed that my co-workers each had a gift-wrapped package from upper management on their desk.  Inside the containers were calendars for the 2017 year.

Now these weren’t your ordinary calendars.  They had calendars with the Baltimore Ravens helmets and logos on the front.  There was a gift on my desk as well. 

As I opened it, I was shocked to see that mine was different from the others.   I received a calendar as a Christmas gift.   But mine was a Washington Redskins calendar.  Later, I found out that one of my fellow coaches who is an avid hunter, received a calendar with a hunting rifle on it!   So, what does this have to do with you keeping “A” players?

Here’s the big takeaway: Recognition that is personal, is also memorable.   Someone took the time to consider my personal interests, and thus, I’m still talking about it three months later! 

Have you taken the time to consider the personal interests of your people?   Keep reading to learn two strategies to keep your “A” players from leaving you. 

Recognize The Power Of Vision

Back in June, I was speaking with a shop owner named “Trish.”  She mentioned that she had a goal for her shop to be recognized as the ATI Shop of the year at the next Super Conference. 

When I told her that I planned to attend, she made the following statement: “I will see you on the victory stage.”  She had a vision of where she wanted to be. 

Nine months later, Trish Cleveland, and her husband Eddie, owners of Robe Mans Auto, were recognized on the victory stage as the Shop of The Year at the Super Conference!   This encounter confirmed the fact that you must recognize the power of vision.  In other words, if you can view it, you can do it!

What is the vision that your employees have for themselves? Getting them do a vision board, is a great way to find out. If your people have visibility to their personal goals, it increases the likelihood of achievement.  

I recommend having them use one the free vision board apps that can be downloaded to a smart phone or tablet. 

They can download and label pictures that represent what they want out of life.  Their vision boards will give you insight to their personal interests.   You will then be positioned to tailor your recognition program according to what THEY want, instead of what you always do.

Review Their Vision Boards

To show that you recognize the power of vision, you've conducted a team meeting, telling everyone to do a vision board.  The following week, you had a second meeting and confirmed that everyone did their vision board like you asked.   Your job is done, and you can check that box, right?  Not so fast!

Following up with your people, on their progress is the step that’s often missed.  According to a study that was reported in Forbes Magazine, people who merely thought about their goals and how to achieve them succeeded less than 50% of the time. 

Those who communicated regular progress updates to another person, reported succeeding 75% of the time.   In other words, your people are more likely to achieve their rewards, if you review their vision boards.

The late Zig Ziglar said best when he said, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”  

Want to keep your great general manager?  Keep asking her how she’s doing with her goal to buy that home.  Want your best technician to stay?  Stay focused on asking him about the muscle car he has pictured on his poster.

Imagine if you worked for someone who checked in with you every 30 days and asked you about your goals.  Then, because of their follow-up, you achieved a major life accomplishment that was on your vision board. 

How likely would you be to leave them to work for their competitor?   Your employees would feel the same way about you if you helped them. 

Summary

So, there you have it.  Recognizing the power of vision and reviewing their vision boards, can keep your “A” players from leaving you.   Hopefully, the upper management of my favorite football team has pictures of the end zone and of the Super Bowl on their vision boards!

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

Looking to motivate your “A” players, but don’t know where to start?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net to receive the 26 Reasons That People Buy Anything.  (Including your message)