How To Get Recognized On Stage As A Top Shop

How To Get Recognized On Stage As A Top Shop

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“Success leaves clues, and if you sow the same seeds, you’ll reap the same rewards,” Brad Thor

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

What do the shops who made the Top 12 at the ATI Super Conference have in common?  I pondered this question over the weekend as I visited “Joe’s Hardware Store” looking for a special drill to complete a home project. 

 After several minutes of searching I approached the counter to ask “Joe” the store owner for help.    Joe was the face of the business.   Each customer who came in would yell out “hey Joe!”   

Whenever the phone rang, Joe answered it.   When customers had questions, Joe answered them.  When the patrons were ready to pay, guess who invoiced them? That’s right, it was Joe!    There was one small problem:  He was too busy working IN the business to help me with my bother.  After about 30 minutes, I decided to leave Joe’s Hardware Store and opted for Home Depot instead. 

At Home Depot, I was greeted by a greeter as soon as I walked in.  I asked him where the drills were and he directed me to the tools department.  When I arrived at the tools department, there was a gentleman in an orange vest sitting at the desk.  He handed me the drill I was looking for and I was on my way.

Here’s what’s interesting:  I have no idea who the owner of Home Depot is!    All I know is that my problem was resolved in a matter of minutes.   Now I know what you’re thinking: “Cute story Coach, but what does this have to do with my goal of making the ATI Top 12?”

Well, Home Depot and The Top 12 Shops have a business model that’s different from Joe’s.  

Joe’s Hardware store has a relational business model where the business is built around Joe and his relationships with the customers.  Home Depot & The Top shops, have a franchise business model that’s built around systems and processes that can be duplicated.      

Which business model do you have?  If you answered relational, but aspire to become a top shop, this next sentence can be a game changer for you:  Build your business model based on where you want to be, NOT on where you are today.  

 If where you want to be, is on stage at the Super Conference getting your plaque, the franchise model is the way to go.    So, what can you do to begin your journey to the top 12?  Keep reading to learn two simple steps that can get you recognized on stage:

Search for the Right Service Manager

Once again, I know what you’re thinking: “But Eric, I can’t afford to pay the right service manager.” As you wrestle with this limiting belief, I’m reminded of a conversation I had several years ago with “Sam” a service manager in South Florida. 

 He was averaging $12,000 per week in sales and a $384 Average Repair Order(ARO).  When the shop owner “Rita” and I agreed to raise his benchmark for ARO to $432, Sam protested: “You don’t understand, it can’t be done! We have an older clientele that’s on a fixed income. My area is different.”

Sam decided to leave the shop to work for a local engine distributor.  Rita has a habit of posting employment ads even when she’s was fully staffed, so as Sam was leaving she came across “Jack’s” resume. She hired Jack and you’ll never guess what happened next.

With the same older clientele that’s on a fixed income, Jack has averaged $19,200 per week in sales with a $540 ARO.  Here’s the big idea:  The right service manager can pay for himself.   

Searching for the right service manager, was Rita’s first step towards building her model based on where she wanted to be.

It’s no coincidence that all 12 of the 2016 Top Shops have a strong service manager in place who has freed up the owner to work ON instead of IN the business.   If you find that your results are declining while your time working IN the business is increasing, you may have a service manager problem.  For more information on this, please re read my previous blog post on the topic.

Establish Written Processes

On the third episode of the ATI podcast Driving Change, former Top 12 shop owner Dave Erb was being interviewed.  I refer to him as a former shop owner because he has successfully sold four shops and currently collects rental income from each building as the landlord. 

During the interview, I was surprised to hear that when Dave first joined ATI, he was a struggling shop owner who worked IN and not ON his business.  Like Joe from the hardware store, Dave was the face of his business who did everything himself.  As I listened to the podcast, I wondered how he could progress to where he is today. 

Dave started by searching for the right service manager.  While he was searching, he established written processes for everything he did and for each service his technicians performed. 

Once he hired and trained the right service manager, he opened the 2^nd location and repeated the process.  This franchise model worked so well that Dave was no longer needed at his locations for them to be profitable. In other words, the profits were not dependent on his presence.

Do your profits depend on your presence?  How long can you leave your location, without the ability to pay the bills going with you?  If you didn’t like your answers to my questions, that means it’s time to search for the right service manager and establish written processes.   

Summary

So, there you have it.  When Bryan Stasch evaluates for the Top Shops to decide who makes the cut, working ON the business and having written processes are weighted heavily in the scoring criteria.  Bryan recognizes that these items are the nuts and bolts required to run a top shop! 

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

Are you interested in finding the right service manager, but don’t know where to look?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net to receive an updated listing of the hiring sites that have led to successful hires! 

How To Practice Like A Champion

How To Practice Like A Champion

By

Eric M. Twiggs

“Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent.”

So, there I was, watching game three of The National Basketball Association(NBA) Finals.  The Cleveland Cavaliers were leading the Golden State Warriors by two points with less than one minute left to play, and Golden State has possession of the ball.   

Normally in this situation, the team with the ball calls a timeout to regroup.  With the clock, close to zero and the game on the line, they usually slow things down to draw up the winning play.  Apparently, Kevin Durant didn’t get the memo!

Durant, the Warriors best player, dribbled the ball up the court ahead of his teammates.  He stopped twenty-six feet away from the basket to attempt a three-point shot. If he misses, his team loses the game and he shoulders the blame. 

 Since he had moved the ball beyond his teammates, there was no one under the basket to get the rebound.  Durant pulls up for the shot and SWISH!!!  He makes it, and the Warriors win!!  Two games later, they would win the NBA championship.  As a Cleveland fan, I was not a happy camper.

“What a fluke!” I yelled at the screen. “He’s such a lucky guy!” But my opinion changed after watching his postgame interview with the sideline reporter.   She asked him: “Can you tell us how you walked so confidently into that three-point shot being down with the game on the line?” His response: “All I was looking at was the bottom of the net. I’ve been working on that shot my entire life!”   

Champions are handed the trophy in prime time, but they become a champion in their downtime.   Durant practiced in private, so he could walk into the high pressure public moment with confidence. 

Can you walk into that high-pressure moment of the exit appointment with confidence?  Have you been working on presenting fluid exchanges your entire life?  When the phone rings, are you looking at the bottom of the net…profit line?

If you answered NO to any of my questions, it’s time to learn how to practice like a champion.  Keep reading to learn two strategies to make this happen. 

Create Random Role Plays

Watching Kevin Durant reminded me of an old interview I saw with basketball legend Michael Jordan.   Jordan had this uncanny ability to lead his teams to victory even when they were behind late in games. 

I thought this ability was a gift that he was born with. I thought he was just lucky.  I thought wrong.   During the interview, Jordan explained that during practice sessions, the players were divided into two teams. 

If the team he was on built up a big lead, the session was stopped.  Jordan was then switched to the losing team and had to practice leading that team to victory.    This random role play during his downtime, let to his success in prime time! 

So how can you use this idea of random role plays at your shop? First, pick a specific aspect of your business where your advisor struggles to execute.  Let’s use the brake fluid exchange for this example. 

Next, create a random vehicle, like a 2010 Ford Fusion.   From there, you approach your advisor during their downtime and have them present you a brake fluid exchange.   If they can consistently execute the random role plays, they will approach your actual customers with confidence. 

Focus On Repetition

I was at the gym recently and noticed the personal trainer had six pack abs.  Feeling inspired, I asked him to share his ab exercise routine with me, so that I too could get a “six pack”.  Later that day, I worked his ab program by doing sit ups and crunches for over an hour. 

When I looked at my stomach, I noticed that I still didn’t have a six pack!   I felt bad until I spoke with the trainer and he gave me the details of his routine.   He had been doing that same routine three times a week for the past four years.  While I was expecting instant results, he was focused on repetition. 

During a recent Success Magazine interview, noted author Simon Sinek, described this as the difference between repetition and intensity.

According to Sinek, you’re focused on intensity when you perform the behavior one time in an intense manner, with the expectation of an immediate payoff. When you focus on repetition, you realize that you must repeat the right actions over time to practice like a champion. 

Having your writer role play one brake fluid exchange, won’t make her a champion. You won’t become the master of the one on one meeting after conducting one session.  One intense day of making thank you calls, won’t make you a champion of car count.      Champions in any arena possess the capacity to repeat the same routine over and over until they achieve mastery. 

Summary

So, there you have it.  Creating random role plays, and focusing on repetition, will position you to practice like a champion.  By doing this you will look at a green bottom line on your portal and see “nothing but net!” 

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS.  Want to practice the service process, but don’t know where to start?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net to receive a step by step Automotive Service Process video.

What About About Your Legacy?

What About About Your Legacy?

By

Eric M. Twiggs

  

“We are faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.  We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

After many months of struggle, “Mark” was finally turning the corner.  The year was 2012 and he was the owner of a Midas in the Midwest.  Making payroll wasn’t a problem, and he was no longer consumed with the concept of cost cutting. 

Mark believed that time was on his side and confident of the direction things were moving in.  There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it wasn’t an oncoming train!  I was looking forward to our upcoming Monday morning coaching call.

I called the shop and “Steve” his service advisor answered.   I greeted Steve and asked for Mark.  There was silence on the line.  I asked Steve again to find Mark for me.  Once again, there was no reply from Steve. 

In a loud tone of frustration, I asked “Hello, Steve can you get Mark on the phone?”  To which he replied “No Eric, Mark won’t be coming to the phone.  On Saturday, he suffered a massive heart attack and passed away!”  

This threw Mark’s family and employees for a loop.  His wife took over the business and struggled with the day to day operations. 

The following questions kept coming up: “Who did Mark call for building & equipment maintenance?”, “How and when do the employees get paid?” “Where do I find the bank account passwords?”

Since Marked worked IN instead of ON the business, he handled these tasks himself.  As a result, all the information was in his head and not on paper. Within a year, the family decided to close the shop.   This was not the legacy that Mark intended to leave.

Dictionary.com defines a legacy as anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.   In his hit play “Hamilton”, Playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda describes a legacy this way: “Its planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” 

Here’s what you should know about your legacy:  Your decisions today, will impact your family & employees tomorrow.   

What about your legacy?  Keep reading to learn about the two decisions you need to make to ensure you leave the legacy you intend to leave. 

Decide On Your Replacement

Over the past eight years I’ve met shop owners who have achieved consistently good results.  I have also met those who have achieved great results and made the ATI Top 12 on a regular basis.  In most cases, the good and great performers have had a similar level of “know how”, when it came to fixing cars and running the business.

So, what separates the great from the good you ask? There are two factors: 1. The great have a bias towards taking action.(for more details, read my previous blog post)  2. They have a strong 2^nd in command, who can produce exceptional results with or without them being there!   As a shop owner, you won’t experience true greatness, until you decide on your replacement.

Mark was starting to achieve good results at his shop, but he never decided on a replacement.  As a result, there wasn’t anyone to maintain the momentum after his passing.  His decision not to hire a 2^nd in command impacted his family and his employees.   

Have you decided on your replacement?  The first step in the process is to build a job description based on the tasks and duties you would expect this individual to perform. 

Second, you would look at your current employees to determine if anyone meets the qualifications.  Lastly, I recommend reviewing a current wonderlic personality test for the candidate you are considering. 

Decide To Create a Succession Plan

A recent study, known as The Legacy Project, was conducted by Dr. Karl Pillemer at Cornell University.  He surveyed over 1200 senior citizens living in an assisted living community.  He asked them to reflect on what the biggest regret of their life was. 

You may be surprised by what they recorded as the number one answer:   The amount of time they wasted worrying about the future.   By creating a succession plan, you can minimize the amount of time you spend worrying about those worst-case scenarios. 

When you have a solid plan, you can fearlessly face the future.  As we have seen from the opening story, just having a plan in your head, isn’t enough. The key is to create a written plan that gets communicated to your family members, 2^nd in command, estate attorney, accountant, 20 group members, and your ATI coach.  

For more information on how to create your plan, I invite you to attend the ATI Shop Owners Part 5 course on Succession Planning.  You can also consult with your Coach. 

Summary

If Mark had decided on his replacement, and created a succession plan, he would have left a different legacy.    Are you happy with the seeds you’re planting today for the garden of tomorrow?   Sounds like you have some decisions to make.

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach
www.autotraining.net

PS.  Want to create a succession plan but don’t know where to start?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send you my succession planning resource kit. 

   

The Uncomfortable Truth About Hiring

The Uncomfortable Truth About Hiring

 

By

 

Eric M. Twiggs

 

 

 

“Every experience in your life is being orchestrated to teach you something you need to know to move forward.” –Brian Tracy

 

“Jeff”, a shop owner in Southern California, was stuck working IN the business.  Since HE was the service manager, He couldn’t attend his son’s soccer games.  It was so bad, that when his wife would take little Jeff Jr.to the games, men were asking her out on dates. 

They thought she was a single parent, because Jeff was never with her!  But everything was about to change because he had finally found “Bob” the service manager candidate he had been looking for. 

Bob had responded to Jeff’s craigslist ad and passed the face to face interview with flying colors. He arrived on time wearing a sharp suit.   Bob took the wonderlic personality test, and scored as an ideal fit for the role. 

Bob even took the time to write Jeff a hand written thank you note, thanking him for the opportunity to interview.  The final step of the process was for Jeff to check Bob’s references.  Based on how things were going, Jeff saw this as a mere formality.  

Jeff called   Bob’s former Boss and here’s how the call went: {Jeff} “So Bob worked for you from January of 2008 to May of 2012?” {Boss}:” YES”  {Jeff} “Good! Bob tells me that he was your service manager for that entire time.” {Boss} Yes. {Jeff} “Great! Knowing what you know today, would you rehire Bob?”  {Boss} ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! 

He went on for the next fifteen minutes talking about all the customer complaints he had to clean up after Bob left him without giving notice.   How was Jeff so wrong about Bob?  It’s because he ignored the uncomfortable truth about hiring.

And here it is: When evaluating a candidate, their past performance is the strongest predictor of future behavior.  I have found this to be true based on having conducted more than one thousand interviews over the past twenty years. 

During that time, I have noticed that most of the “job hoppers” I hired, ended up hopping jobs on me.   The candidates who said bad things about their former bosses, eventually said bad things about me.  By asking better questions, both Jeff and I would have made better decisions. 

So, what questions can you ask during the interview to get to the uncomfortable truth?  I will explain as you read on.

 

 

 

Tell Me More?

 

I was recently interviewing a candidate who told me that he left his most recent shop because there was a change in ownership.  I replied: Tell me more?  He then told me that the owner wanted to bring in someone younger to work with the customers.  I replied: tell me more? Next, he did what Bryan Stasch refers to as turning states evidence!  

He said the new owner terminated him for failing to meet his sales quotas, but he felt the real reason was his age!   By asking for more information, we moved from “a change in ownership” to the uncomfortable truth about his performance.    

During the interview, you will get to the truth faster if you commit to talking 20% of the time and allowing the candidate to talk 80%.  Low performers tend to talk in generalities, with the goal of hiding previous performance issues.  When you ask: “tell me more?”, they will feel compelled to provide the specifics you are seeking. 
 
  

What Will She Say WHEN I Ask?

 

In their book Who, The A Method of Hiring, Geoff Smart and Randy Street mention that the average hiring mistake can costs a company up to 12 times the salary of the individual, when you factor in the following costs:  Compensation, benefits, training, severance pay, lost customers, and lost opportunities. 

To help overcome this expensive mistake, Smart and Street provide a listing of excellent interview questions to help the reader.   There is one question that is very effective.

They recommend asking the candidate about their previous supervisor’s opinion of their performance as follows:  First, you ask the candidate for the name of their previous supervisor.  Let’s say her name is “Lisa.” Next, you would ask: “WHEN (not if) I call Lisa, what will she say WHEN I ask her to rate your overall performance on a scale of 1-10?” 

Adding the word WHEN sends the message that you’re going to check the reference. Knowing that you will verify whatever they say, can motivate them to provide an honest response.   The 1-10 question will get you a specific answer regarding their past performance.

According to Smart and Street, scores below an 8 should be considered as red flags.  Asking this question about multiple references will give you a clearer picture of the prospect.

  

Summary

 I am happy to report that Jeff learned from this experience, and started using the earlier mentioned questions during his interviews.  He eventually hired a strong service manager, who has freed him up to attend his sons Soccer games. 

If you commit to asking the right questions, listening to the answers, and hiring the right people, will you be STUCK working IN your business?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!   

  

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

 

PS.  For a complete list of the latest interview questions that will get you to the uncomfortable truth, email etwiggs@autotraining.net and I will send them. 

 

The Fastest Way To Increase Your Pay

The Fastest Way To Increase Your Pay

By

Eric M. Twiggs

 “So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key” The Eagles

It was the year 2000 and “Andrew” was working as a part time pizza delivery person in Naples Florida. Every other Friday, he would deliver a lunch time order to Auto Europa, the local auto repair facility.  Over time, Andrew and “Scott”, the shop owner, became friends. 

One fateful Friday, Scott was summonsed to appear in court and had to leave the shop. He noticed that this particular Friday was his busiest Friday ever. 

(By the way, how do your customers know to show up when you’re the most shorthanded?)  When Andrew arrived with his typical pizza order, Scott greeted him with an unusual request.

“Andrew, I have to leave right now!  Can you answer the phones for the next few hours while I’m gone? I’ll give you a free oil change for helping me out.” To which Andrew replied: “Sure Scott no problem.  I’ll do my best.”

Later that day Scott returned to the shop expecting the worst.  What he found caught him by surprise.  Andrew had scheduled three appointments for the following week and converted one of the incoming calls into a $1,500 sale!  Scott was so impressed that he hired Andrew to be his full time service advisor.   

Andrew was promoted from part time pizza delivery to full time service writing. By doing a great job on the phones, Andrew found a way to increase his pay!  

There are two lessons that can be learned from this story:  1. Remember to ask your local pizza delivery person if he’s ever considered a career in automotive.   2. Being great over the phone is the fastest way to increase your pay!  

Today we will focus on being great over the phones!  Stay on the line and you will learn the two keys to increasing your pay. 

Understand The Math

I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that according to a recent Experian Automotive report, 68% of all customers call an automotive repair facility first before visiting. 

The bad news is that based on the results of the random phone shops conducted by Randy Somers in his service advisor classes, only 4% of the service advisors offer to make the customer an appointment.

To put this math in perspective, for every 100 advisors in North America, only 4 are answering the phones correctly. (4/100=4%) 

If you understand the math, you will see that being great on the phone can give you a competitive advantage, and increase your pay.  Let’s suppose you have a $450 ARO and by following the ATI phone script, you invite one additional customer per day to your shop. 

That would work out to $2,250 per week of additional revenue ($450 X 5) and over the course of 52 weeks, you would pick up $117,000. ($2,250 x 52) Understanding the math will inspire you to improve your focus on the phones, and ultimately increase your pay. 

Record and Review Your Calls

In his best-selling book Outliers, The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell addresses the following question: “What separates the top performers from the rest of the pack?”  Through his research, Gladwell discovered that the top performers in any arena engage in “deliberate practice.”

Deliberate practice is when you perform a task, get feedback on what you did wrong, and then perform the task again the correct way.  He concludes that consistent deliberate practice is required to become a world class performer.

Are you a world class performer when it comes to the phones?  Recording and reviewing your calls can move you in that direction.  Listening to how your service advisor is executing the script and then providing corrective feedback is the key.

It’s a bad thing to be a part of the 96% of shops in North America that aren’t inviting the customers to visit.  It’s even worse to be in this group, and not know that you’re in this group!  Recording and reviewing your calls will solve this problem, and put you on the path to becoming world class. 

Summary

So, whatever became of Andrew the pizza guy?  Today Andrew Farrar is the Owner of Auto Europa in Naples Florida.  His focus on answering the phones correctly, changed the trajectory of his career!  Once you understand the math, and record and review your calls, you can increase your slice of the pie as well! 

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS. Email etwiggs@autotraining.net to receive a recording of what a great phone call sounds like!