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May 14, 2026
Stop Selling and Do This Instead!
Stop Selling and Do This Instead!
00:00
35:23
Transcript
0:00
[rock music] Chris, welcome to the Fixed Ops Mastermind.
0:23
We are, uh, excited to have you here, and we're, we're going to the, to the aftermarket world. [laughs] Yeah. Where I, where I, I am, I am normally focused on the dealership world, but the aftermarket world is
0:39
just as important and probably focuses more on processes than the dealership world does. So welcome. Happy to have you here and, uh, for, for those who don't know who you are, give 'em, give 'em the CliffsNotes. Yeah.
0:53
I'm super excited to be here, Dave. Uh, I appreciate you letting me on the show. Um, so footnotes. I got started in automotive, uh, when I was just a kid.
1:03
I had a go-kart, a little White Fox, a little five horsepower Briggs & Stratton. My parents bought it for me when I was 14 years old.
1:10
Um, I decided, you know, right away I wanted to figure out how to make this thing go faster, and I was toying with it. And, um, I don't know how much you know about centrifugal clutches, but it's got,
1:23
uh, a centrifugal clutch on it. And I thought, "Well, maybe I got too much play in the throttle cable. Let me try tightening this."
1:30
And, uh, I went to start that thing with nobody in it, and it took off on its own, ran into a tree. Yeah. Uh, broke the axle. And so I towed it to a shop that was right up the street, just drug it right up the road.
1:42
Uh, independent garage, mom and pop garage, and asked them if they could help me fix it. Um, they laughed when I told them, you know, how it happened.
1:52
But at the same time, I think they were intrigued because, you know, here's a 14-year-old kid who, he's trying to figure this out. He's got some sort of mechanical, you know, uh, interest or aptitude.
2:03
And so they, you know, they asked to talk to my mom when she got off of work and, you know, before you knew it, I had a job there. And I was working for free for a while to pay for that, uh, go-kart repair.
2:12
But that turned into, uh, you know, four years, uh, uh, four... My entire high school career, I ended up working there. And the, the first lesson I got was, uh, you know, how to use a broom. Uh, I, I had to...
2:26
It took 30 days to master that apparently.
2:29
Um, so lear- learning how to be clean and take care of your work area, you know, was instilled very early and, you know, went to Ver- you know, uh, Van Sant Queen's Street, Virginia Beach. Uh, loved their program.
2:40
Uh, not that I'm trying to do a plug for them. I haven't talked to them in 20 years since I graduated, but that was, that was a great program. They had great instructors.
2:48
Uh, came out, got a job at a dealership as a technician. So I know you said you do a lot of stuff with the dealership. Uh, I never worked there in a sales capacity, but I was there for, uh,
2:58
I don't know, about a decade as a technician. Uh, branched off, went aftermarket, kinda worked my way up the chain. I've been, you know, an assistant manager, manager, district manager. Uh, was a senior district manager.
3:11
I was VP of operations, and now the director of operations for a Meineke franchise in Central PA. Yeah, that's ki- that's a long for- that's a long pedigree.
3:23
I, I coulda done that in 30 seconds, but I drew it out to a minute for you. That's all right. I like it. I like it. And, uh, it, it gives us a little insight into how you wound up here. Um- Yeah...
3:34
through, through line for, for you and I. I have always taken stuff apart, um, from, from the time I was a, a little kid. Uh, I was a technician, um, but I was not a good technician. [laughs] So- Okay...
3:52
I, I went through Ford's asset program. Um, amazing program. I wish, I wish they did more of it. I wish it was more prevalent around. It's, it's a great setup.
4:02
Um, but when, when I came out of it, I had all the skills I needed, plus the, the experience in the dealership because of the way they ran it. Um, I just could not function as a technician in that close.
4:19
Um, I was, I was much better on the outside. Uh, I was much better with helping the guy next to me try and fix something than I was at fixing what was in my own bay. Um, so kudos to you for, for [laughs] being- Yeah...
4:35
a good technician and, and lasting that long. I lasted about four years and I, I jokingly say that Ford asked me to stop working on their vehicles. [laughs] Um,
4:45
and then, uh, moved over like, like, like you did into, uh, being an advisor and, and managerial roles up through the, through the dealership. So we have very similar, similar paths there.
4:57
Um, yours took you outside the dealership. Mine was, was inside the dealership. But the- Well, in fairness, I would have loved to have done it at the dealership, but, uh, their word's not mine.
5:07
They're like, "Oh, you're too valuable. We can't take you out of the shop." And I was like- [laughs]... "You're, you're gonna have to do something or I'm gonna leave."
5:14
They're like, "You're not gonna leave, you've been here forever." And I was like, "Okay." Yeah. Well, three months later, they, you know, I went aftermarket and then kinda never turned back, so.
5:23
I, I, I wish we could say, I wish I could say the dealerships have learned their lessons since back in those days. [laughs] But we, we have not.
5:31
Well, I, I- We are actually really good at, uh, not realizing, like that somebody who wants more, you've gotta be able to give them a path to getting more. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but I, at the same time, I get it.
5:41
Like, I understand their perspective, right? Because what are, what does the data say? Like, of all the technicians in the world, some of them are really truly amazing diagnosticians, right?
5:50
I, I think that role has evolved so much in the last 20 years, but, like, how many of them have the patience to basically take, you know, an entire... Th- they've become a master at something.
6:01
They say, "Okay, well, we're gonna start over," right? Yeah. And, and then are they capable at the same time of-Learning a pr- learning a sales process, learning, you know, the, hey, the, [laughs]
6:12
I know you've got a really technical explanation to explain exactly what happened to the swash plate inside of this AC compressor, but I promise you the customer will not understand that.
6:20
So, you know, like how, how, right, are they, are they gonna be good at it? [smacks lips] And I think, you know, they looked at me like the, uh, you know, analytical nerd. They're like, "All right.
6:30
Well, you're real smart, but I, I would love to see you talk to someone and actually, you know, convince them to spend, you know, a couple hundred bucks or whatever it was to fix their car." And- Yeah...
6:39
and, uh, admittedly, I think the odds are in their favor in the sense that, um, that's a hard transition to make.
6:46
It, it, it is, it is a hard transition, but how often do we, do we make it harder because we don't provide that path to, to get there, right?
6:56
Like you, you said before we started recording, you just came back from, from some other training, right? So, so your company is giving you some other training to build up some other skills. Hundred percent, yeah.
7:07
We're, we're a huge believer in that. Yeah. Yeah. A- a- and, and so often we just don't give the path to, you know, it's you're a technician and your path goes like this all the way to retirement, right? Yeah.
7:21
And if, if you, if you want that path to go, "Oh, I wanna get into sales," there, there's no way to get there. No. There's no pathway built in. I don't, I don't think a dealership, at least, you know, not...
7:31
Now it's been a long time since I've been associated with one, but I felt like they had a really good career path to develop as a technician.
7:38
Uh, the schooling and the training that I went to as a dealer tech was, uh, unparalleled. I, uh, loved my time with that. I would never have been as good as I was if it wasn't for that.
7:48
But they did nothing for the advisors, right? They, they really didn't. Uh, they taught you how to use a point-of-sale system, maybe taught you to memorize some op codes. But like, uh,
7:59
you know, in terms of like people skills, like developing your ability to have a conversation, how to build rapport, how to generate trust, right?
8:06
How to manage your technicians, how to understand other people's goals, they don't do, they don't do any of that. Um, or at least they didn't. You know, they may now. I don't wanna, you know. It's, it, it's better.
8:16
It's better, but it is nowhere- I know... near where, where it should be. Um, a- and the, the other,
8:23
the other point of that, if we go further down the path, is developing those advisors to, to not only have those skills, but to also be prepared for what, what could be coming next, right?
8:35
If, if they, if they want to go past being an advisor, then here's the other things you need to also learn, right?
8:43
You need to, if you're gonna become an assistant manager, a service manager, a fixed ops director, th- there's other skills that you need to learn, right? You're an advisor. You're a manager of one.
8:54
[laughs] And when you become a manager, you're a manager of many, and it's a way different skill set. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So we, we... What would you, what would you say, it- going, going back to your time as a tech
9:10
and, and looking at where you are now, what are some of the things you learned from, from being a tech that, that still help you today? Um,
9:21
I think, I think probably the biggest thing is that I understand what it's like to be them. Um, it's maybe not so much the, uh, working on a car anymore.
9:29
I tried to work on my own car, uh, last week and, uh, I cut my finger and I was like, "Oh, this... That's right. This is why I don't do this." [laughs] And it wasn't like one of those injuries that, that- Huh...
9:40
like it was more like, uh, all right, you don't know what you're doing anymore. You better, uh, you got... you know, hire a professional, somebody that's not 20 years removed from the game.
9:49
But no, I, I know what it feels like, uh, to be flat rate. I know what it feels like to be chasing your tail.
9:56
Um, I know what it feels like to be inefficient, to feel like you're always waiting on an answer, or you're always waiting on parts, or you're always waiting on, you know, somebody other than yourself to tell you what to do next.
10:07
Yeah. And, um, I also know what it feels like to be on the other side of those things and how to maximize my time and, you know, figure out, you know, how to best, uh, place my efforts, uh, to maximize my workflow.
10:22
And so I feel like I'm, I can relate really well to what they're going through without telling them a bunch of my personal stories.
10:28
I just, uh, can naturally empathize with what they're talking about, and that transference factor is irreplaceable, right? Like I, I don't think you can,
10:40
if you've never done the job, under- understand what it's like, uh, or have the same level of conversation with them i- if you haven't done it, right? So I think it's immensely valuable. Immensely valuable, I would say.
10:53
Yeah. A- and the, the, the empathy that you mentioned is, is a, a, a big thing to be able to develop and, and to, to understand, understand the dimp- difference between empathy and sympathy, right? Yeah.
11:06
Like you can emph- emphasize, uh, yeah, empathize with them about what they're going through, the struggle that they're having, if they've, y- you know, they got two weeks in a row where, where their efficiency is down.
11:17
Yeah. Um, as opposed to sympathize for them, right? Because you, you can never feel bad enough to make somebody feel good, right? That, that sympathy d- is, is not gonna, not gonna help. It doesn't, it doesn't help.
11:29
But being able to... Yeah.
11:29
But being able to empathize with their situation and, and you have, coming from that world, can now help to, to hopefully get them out of that, um, and, and move them away from the struggle that they're having. Yeah.
11:44
Well, mo- most people pay their bills on a monthly basis, not a weekly basis, right? True. So one bad week isn't necessarily gonna wreck your month, but- Yeah...
11:52
um, we try to be out in front of those types of things and, uh, you know, that's, uh, that's what I love about doing it in today's technology age.
11:59
With all the tools and the resources we have out there to be able to audit someone's, you know, how they did their inspection, right? We use, we use digital health reports, so- Yeah...
12:09
I can take a look at, you know, exactly how they're writing up a car, exactly what issues they're finding, what issues they're not finding.And, uh, one of the really cool things about working here is the AI.
12:18
You know, we can look at a car and say, "Okay, well, if it's a 2009, it has 100,000 miles on it, it's this make and model. These are some of the most common things that technicians are finding.
12:27
Did you find any of those things? And if you didn't, uh, that doesn't necessarily mean that you were wrong, but maybe it should mean, well, let's take a closer look, right?
12:36
And, and make sure that we didn't miss anything."
12:38
So helping them figure out how to make more money and get closer to their goals, um, and maybe to back up a step, I would say, you know, just understanding what their goals are in the first place.
12:49
I think if I rewind the clock to when I was a technician at a dealer, if somebody had just come to me and said, "What do you want?" Right? "What do you wanna have happen- Yep... you know, this week?
13:00
Where do you wanna be at?" It would give them something to hold me accountable to because it's what I put out there. Um, and I think, uh, you know, the... I, I probably would've done more, right?
13:10
They would've got more productivity out of me, and I would've felt good about it because I was chasing something that I said I wanted.
13:17
I wasn't chasing an imaginary company budget or, you know, imaginary comp sales number that as a technician really doesn't mean anything to you.
13:25
Um, and so yeah, I've tried, tried to take a lot of those learning experiences of what it felt like to be them, okay, and say, "All right, how are we gonna do this a little bit differently?"
13:34
Maybe try to help this generation, you know, really get what they want out of this. Yeah. A- and, and that's, that's huge, uh, to, to understand what, what they want, right? As, as leaders- Sure...
13:47
it's our job to get them bought into the, the goal of the company as a whole, right?
13:54
But that, the, the, the goals for their lives need to fit inside that, into, in- inside that larger goal for the company, and they need to see how being part of this big goal here helps them achieve their goals for their lives.
14:09
And we as leaders need to understand what those goals are, because that's how we're gonna be able to, to, to continue to motivate them, uh, to, to continue toward those goals. So what, what is it,
14:25
what is it that, that... So, so let, let me draw, draw a line between aftermarket and dealership. Um- Sure... what is it that you guys are searching for in the, in the aftermarket world?
14:40
And I don't, I don't mean, I don't mean the specific repairs, right? But as far as your, your processes, uh, and, and things like that. And I just said draw a line between the two.
14:53
[laughs] I don't, I don't think there's really a line between the two. I think we're all after exactly the same, the same thing.
14:58
But, um, what, what I'm interested in is, is how you guys go about getting there, what your processes are. Yeah. I think in our minds, we wanna be a, a real alternative to the dealer. You know, one of the headaches...
15:13
And again, this is, you know, just stuff that I hear from customers that we talk to, but one of the big issues is, you know, how long they have to wait to get their car serviced.
15:21
Um, seems like some of them can be weeks to, you know, sometimes a month out to get a, an appointment. Um, it's not the probably the most convenient place to wait to have your car worked on, right? Mm-hmm.
15:33
Um, I don't think they're the quickest with turn and work around either. Yeah. And so we wanna employ the same great factory trained technicians that you can find at a dealership.
15:43
You know, people that have been through that factory training like myself. I went through factory training for Hyundai and Honda.
15:49
Um, but we wanna employ those people that have that same skill set as the dealer techs, but we wanna offer an alternative that is gonna cost a little less money, for one, um, and two, you know, hopefully provide a higher level of customer service,
16:02
you know, just by being, you know, uh, better able to schedule them, having more flexibility with what we can do and when we can do it, offering loaner vehicles to more customers, having tertiary financing options to help people that are,
16:15
you know, their, their credit's less than perfect, but they, they need to get to work every day.
16:18
They got kids that gotta go to practice or, you know, they, they've got things in their life that are, are important to them, and their car is the cornerstone or the thing that makes that possible. Yeah.
16:28
Uh, we wanna be there to provide solutions that the dealer, you know, historically has ignored, that that's not really their customer base. Um, and we wanna have great technology.
16:38
We wanna have ways to build and create trust with customers that's unparalleled, that you can't find at most places.
16:44
'Cause let's face it, I think, you know, a lot of customers are at a disadvantage because they don't know about their car, right? They know that it, it runs and drives.
16:52
They put gas in it and it goes, but they don't, uh, they don't know anything else other than that.
16:57
And so, you know, when, when you're sitting there and you're supposed to be talking to a professional about what's wrong with your car, like, what does the trust feel like in that situation?
17:07
'Cause they probably, you know, have friends or family, or if they talk to someone in the grocery store they run into about like, "Hey, how do you feel about going to the garage to get your car worked on?" Right?
17:15
There's gonna be a lot of negative energy spewed probably, right? And we wanna be a part of that solution. You know, a part of, you know, kind of changing the way that people feel about it.
17:25
I don't expect anyone to wake up in the morning and be like, "Yes, today's the day I get to go have my car worked on, and I'm gonna spend 1,000 hours to get something fixed," right?
17:33
Like that, I don't expect it to go that way, but I think it can be, "Okay, I trust them. Their price is fair. I'm gonna get an honest review of what's going on with my car. They're gonna show me pictures and notes.
17:43
I'm gonna get to hear directly from the technician about what's going on with the vehicle." Yep. And, uh, they're, they're gonna be very transparent about the whole thing from front to back.
17:52
I think, I think that's what we're trying to accomplish. Right. So, so two things that I wanna touch on on there. Yeah. So why do, why do you think the, the...
18:04
H- here's, here's where, here's where I'm, what, what I'm talking about first of all, is the length of time that it takes to get an appointment at a dealership versus at your shop, right? Yeah.
18:14
And, and so i- if we, if we look, the dealership has-A logo that is typically the type of car that's coming in to, to the, the, the shop, right? Yeah. 100%.
18:28
You, you have, you have a logo that basically says, "I'll take any kind of car." [laughs] Yeah. Right? You have a little more cars that, that can be funneled in to- Exactly...
18:37
to make appointments, but you're getting cars in and out faster. And what, what do you, what do you think is, is a reason for that, for, for that quicker turnaround? Yeah. I...
18:49
So I, I would love to just say that we're that much more efficient than them, um, but I think it's a demand, a supply and demand issue really.
18:58
I think there's a lot of consumers out there that feel like they have to go to the dealer to get stuff done. Um, and certainly in the beginning when something's under warranty, you know, it probably makes a lot of sense.
19:08
I know when you buy a vehicle today, a lot of times it'll come with a maintenance program or package that, you know, kind of incentivize you. They wanna encapsulate, they wanna capture you as a customer to be, um...
19:19
They, they want you coming back to the service department. And so I, I don't have any analytics on that, but I feel like that's a part of it, right?
19:26
I, I feel like they have a, a more encapsulated customer 'cause they're, they've got a full circular process between sales and service. We don't sell cars, right? We just fix them. Yeah.
19:36
Um, and so I feel like it's kind of a different quadrant of customer that we're after. Um, although I would love to have more dealer customers take a look at us.
19:47
I think if they went through our process, if they gave us a shot with an oil change or something like that, and they saw what it was like, uh, to be in our model and see what our digital health check looks, to see what it feels like to be on the other side of the interaction with our service advisors, they might be really surprised about how that goes.
20:03
But, um, as far as the efficiency, I think, uh, there's just a higher degree of urgency. I think what happens, um... And again, I can't-- I've never, I've never sold service at a dealer, so this is a guess.
20:17
But I feel like if your demand is super high all the time, and you're booking three weeks out- Yeah... you kind of...
20:23
I imagine that creates some sort of complex where it's like, "Well, we get to it when we get to it," right?
20:27
'Cause, you know, we've got plenty of people that wanna come see us, so, you know, if they don't like it, they can go somewhere else. And it-- that's just not a mentality that we're ever gonna embrace here.
20:36
I don't think there's a lot of aftermarketers that would embrace that mentality. We cherish the relationship with every customer.
20:42
We wanna figure out a way to keep you coming back and to win you over, and being more available, having better appointment, more flexibility.
20:49
That's some of the ways that, you know, we, we translate or show people that that's how we feel. Right. All right. Um, and, and I know that, that, that's, that, that's a, a, a question that, uh, [laughs]
21:02
i- if, if either of us knew the actual answer to that- [laughs]... question there. So, um- Yeah... that, uh, that, that was a good road to take there. And, and the second thing that you talked about is, is trust.
21:13
And so what, what is it that... What-- When I was running stores, like that was, that was a big thing, is
21:22
I w- I wanted my team to have the trust of the customer to the point where if that customer had a problem with their car on a Saturday, they weren't thinking about, "Oh, I gotta call Utopia Ford. I gotta call Chris
21:38
about my car," right? Yeah. Or somebody, they were at a cookout and somebody said, "Ah, the check engine light came on, came, came on in my car," and they would go, "Oh, I got a guy for that," right? Yeah.
21:48
Or, "I got a girl for that," right? Yeah. "You gotta, you gotta call Chris. You gotta, you gotta call Jamie about this," right?
21:53
And- So I think there- So what is it that, that you think you do with, with your teams that's, that's helping to build up the, the trust with them? And, and secondarily,
22:04
I, I hear, I hear often that one of the reasons people don't go to the dealerships and would rather go to the aftermarket is they feel they can trust the aftermarket more than the dealer. So two-folded question there.
22:18
What, what is it that you guys are doing to build up that trust? And what is it that you think makes a customer feel like the aftermarket- Yeah... is a more trusted place?
22:28
So I think, um, that's a two-pronged answer, right? Part of it is technology.
22:33
Part of it is we're gonna provide full transparency to the customer with a digital health check that's really state-of-the-art that is gonna show you top to bottom everything that's going on with your car.
22:42
And whether you have 5,000 miles or you have 150,000 miles, it's gonna w- it's standardized, right? We're not actually looking for issues. We're taking the same photos on every car every time, regardless of condition.
22:53
So that creates trust because it's not me h- trying to hunt something down or just look for things that are wrong to take a, a photograph of. Yeah. I'm gonna take the same photos every time.
23:01
Whether it's good or bad is indifferent to me. I-- This is the photo I'm gonna capture. So I think people like that because that feels like, "All right.
23:08
Well, they're, they're clearly not out to get me if they're gonna take these same things, and I'm gonna get the same report every time." So I think technology definitely helps.
23:17
Um, and then I think the second part is really the rapport aspect. Uh, customers have made it very apparent to us that they are after a relationship, uh, not a transactional type situation, right? I think they, uh...
23:29
I'm gonna mess up the verbiage here, but a relational transaction, right? They wanna be able to know and trust the people that they're doing business with.
23:38
And so we spend a lot of time as a company on training exactly how those intersec- uh, you know, those interactions should go. We literally role play and practice, uh, you know, let's do a check-in together, right?
23:50
I'm, I'll be the customer, you be the customer, and let's talk about not just building the ticket. I wanna know what the conversation's gonna sound like as we're, we're leading up to that, right?
23:59
Like, "Hey, uh, you know, how long have you had the vehicle for, Dave? Did you buy it new? How's it been for you? Does the wife drive it? Do you drive it? Do your kids go in this car? You know, what do you think of it?
24:10
You know, how many miles do you have on it? Um, have you guys always been with this brand, you know, car, this manufacturer? Pr- did you have something previous?"
24:17
Like, there's gotta be something that sparks a conversation that maybe isn't directly relevant to why you're here, but it is relevant in the sense that it's gonna help us build a relationship.
24:28
And as soon asI can tell your guard has come down some, then my, then I'm gonna feel more comfortable too. As a service advisor, I feel like I can then just be... Look, I don't have to put a show on.
24:38
I wanna be myself, you be yourself, we're gonna have an honest conversation.
24:41
And that, when people drop their car off and leave thinking that, it's im- immediately gonna increase, you know, the type of repairs that we do because, uh, they know, you know, they feel good about the people that they're doing business with, and that's, you know, 90% of the battle is, is that.
24:59
I've watched, you know, dealership service advisors, um, and not just them, I, because I don't wanna act like this is a bashing session on the dealer.
25:08
I've watched aftermarket service advisors do the whole keys, name, email, "Okay, we'll call you," and that was the, the whole interaction, and it's like, okay, well that, you know, that's not gonna work.
25:21
Like that, you need more than that. You have to have more than that. You don't even sound like you wanna be here. What makes you think they're gonna wanna spend money with you? So- Yep...
25:30
yeah, I think, I think it's those two things, and, uh, you know, really the training probably ties to, to both of them.
25:36
If I, I think training, process, accountability, knowing that there's a specific way we're gonna go about this every time with every customer, and that we're not gonna deviate from that, I think that's what sets us apart.
25:48
Um, like if I was looking for a place to work as a technician or a service advisor, and I was either new to the business or I wanted to figure out how, how to do this, or is there a place out there that does it differently than maybe where I'm at today, I, I would, I would tell you to check out what we do.
26:04
Um, I think when people see our technology, they see our process, they see our training, they see our excitement, they meet our leadership team, it feels different. It's gonna feel different. Yeah.
26:15
A- and so when you started talking about the, the, that, that trust being that a customer is gonna understand what that process is, whether, whether it's on the first visit or the 10th visit, that they get, they get the same process every time.
26:30
Um, my, my... Y- y- you said, "I'm gonna take the same pictures. Good or bad doesn't matter to me." Right? "I'm just gonna take the same pictures every time."
26:40
And my, my mind instantly went to the amusement park and that log flume ride, right? And they take a picture every time- [laughs]... in the exact same place, right? [laughs] Good or bad, whether the people's- Yeah...
26:54
faces look like, like idiots- Yeah... whether they look scared, whether they look bored, their eyes are closed. Yeah. [laughs] None of that matters.
27:01
But, but you know as an amusement park goer that every time you go on that ride, at the end of it- They're gonna, they're gonna get a picture... there's gonna be that picture there, right? Yep.
27:10
And that, that is, that is a, a trust factor, uh, that, that you, that you know that, and- Yeah... that, that's, that is a big trust piece with a, with a customer.
27:21
Like i- if, if you're never taking pictures of their tires, or have never showed them that you took pictures of their tires, and then you show them and you go, "You need tires"- Right...
27:31
what, what is a customer supposed to think? They're supposed to think, "Yeah, they were looking for that. They, they were- Yeah... they were waiting for that- Right... for that day to show me that picture." Yeah. Yeah.
27:40
Although alternatively, what if it was a picture every time, and three years ago they were at 12? Yeah. Yep. Right.
27:55
You told me six months from now when I came back we were gonna have to talk about it, right? So it's a, it's a totally different reaction. Yeah. A- and that's, and that's, that's the trust builder, right?
28:06
And that, that was one of the things that when, when those multi-point inspections, or, or you called it a digital health inspections, that when those were introduced, that was one of the things that, that, that we...
28:17
I, I was at Ford when they introduced the around the wheel, wheel program, where that, that- Yeah...
28:22
multi-point red, yellow, green came from, and that was one of the things that they stressed, was like, "This is a way for you to talk to the customer and say, 'Today it's green. A month from now it's green.'
28:35
Two months from now they come in, it's still green. Now it's yellow. It's yellow again, and you're having the conversation of, 'Look, when we get to red, you need to replace it, and it is going to cost approximately X.'"
28:47
Right? So the customer was prepared for that. They had months of time- Yep...
28:52
to, to be prepared for that, rather than walking in thinking they're getting an oil change at the place they've been getting an oil change for the last three years, and now you tell them, "Oh, by the way, you need $1,400 in tires."
29:06
Right? And they're, and they're not prepared for that. Yeah. So like what, I think what you're talking about is the difference between, you know, being in a selling type mentality or a buying type mentality.
29:17
And I think we do a really good job of putting customers in a buying type mentality because they get to track everything for themselves, and from their perspective, it feels like they are the ones that are discovering what their needs are.
29:29
They're not being pitched or told. They're discovering it along the way. And so when it's their idea, and they're the ones that are taking an investment in it, uh, it's obviously gonna change what the results are. Yeah.
29:41
I- I- absolutely. That's a, that's a, a, a great way to, a great way to, to frame it.
29:46
Um, I've never really thought of it that way, and, uh, it's, that's a, that is a great way to frame that, is, is you, you are basically making it their idea, that like they're walking in going, "I know I probably need tires today, so, you know, can just..."
30:02
Before they even look at it, "Can you, can you get me price on a couple of different, uh, brands of tires that I should look at?" 100%.
30:09
So let, let's talk a little bit about, uh, about the training that you guys just went to. What, what was, what was that, what was that for? What, what, what, uh, what was it intended to help you with?
30:22
I, that was, uh, probably some of the most amazing... [laughs] I'm trying to think how to recap that in three minutes or less, and I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do it.
30:31
Uh, but it was, it was, it was Brendan Dawson. It was Cardone Ventures, where we went to.And, uh, it's effectively four days long. Well, three, three days long, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
30:43
Um, and they, they get into everything about, um... And it, it's a, it's a how to make your business more profitable. It has... It's not necessarily geared towards automotive, it's geared towards all types of verticals.
30:54
It doesn't matter if you have a landscaping business, automotive business, you might run a bunch of doctor's offices. They just, they get in and they talk a lot about people, they talk a lot about process.
31:05
Um, they talked a lot about, like, what your infrastructure looks like and at what annual revenues and...
31:12
Are, are gonna, uh, trigger different events in your company and the way that you need to be set up for success with how many people you know in your leadership team. Yeah.
31:19
Or the different things that you're gonna run into that are obstacles based on what your revenue is.
31:24
And, uh, I, I mean, I could talk to you about individual segments in there that were super valuable, but, uh, it, it was a, it was a great... Like, some of it was like, "Oh, yeah, you know what?
31:35
We haven't done that in a while. He's right about that." Or, uh, some of it was brand new and it's like, "Wow, we never thought about something that way. Maybe we need to try some of that."
31:44
Hell, the reason I'm on your show right now is 'cause I went to that training and he said, "Oh, you gotta do more promote. If you guys are that special and what you do is really cool, put this shit out there.
31:52
Let people know about it." And it's like, all right, well, we're gonna do it.
31:56
So right now I feel like we're like, uh, the best-kept secret and nobody knows, but we're, we're gonna tell the world, you know, starting, uh, with y- your show.
32:05
[laughs] So here we- No, I, I think it's a great place to start, Chris. Let's, uh... [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Well, I, I thought so. I was like, "This is it. Let's do it."
32:13
[laughs] Um, I, I think it's really cool that, that the, the company had you go to that type of, of training, right? They didn't just- Yeah... they just send you to- Well, they-...
32:23
to a training that said, "Hey, g- you're gonna go learn how to sell more tires." Right? Yeah. Well, they went, too. The owners, the owners went. Uh- That's awesome... we all went together. Yep.
32:32
Um, five of us went out there and, uh, we, we had a blast. I think it was good team building exercise, too, right? 'Cause I can't in...
32:40
You know, I, I've been here five years, I can't remember us all being alone with each other for that long, right? Yeah.
32:46
Like, we were, we had a lot of meals together, we had a lot of conversations, and so I think it brought a lot of team alignment.
32:52
I think it brought us together, and I think we all left there, like, basically ready to conquer the world. So. Yeah. That, that's awesome. It was great. And that, that's where the real stuff happens, right?
33:01
When, when you, when you get a chance to, to move yourself back, right? And get more of that, that mountaintop view of, of the business and of things and of, of the owners, and them of, of you.
33:13
And you, and you can really start to, to see where you can... What, what levers you can move to, to really move that needle. Yeah. 100%. Very cool that they, that they did that.
33:24
All right, Chris, this has been a really great conversation. Yeah. Final thoughts. Final thoughts. Oh, man. Um, well, I think it depends, you know, what the... You know, if you're listening to this and, uh,
33:39
you're a tech or, uh, you're a manager or a sales service advisor, you're frustrated with what you're doing, um, ask yourself, you know, did any of the things we talk about today resonate with you?
33:50
And, you know, how in tune is the place that you work with, with what we're talking about? And, um, you know, if they're not, you know, get them involved in it.
34:01
Maybe see if you can get them excited or if not, you can, uh, you can DM me and we can talk about your future.
34:07
Um, and you know, if you're a customer, somebody that owns a vehicle, and, uh, you're not happy with where you're going, um, or you just feel like you deserve more as a customer, I agree with you, and I think you should, uh, DM me for that reason, and we can talk about how we're gonna take care of you.
34:21
So, um, I love automotive, I love this industry, I love the people that are in it, and, uh, you know, we're super passionate to develop the next generation of leadership and, uh, technician and, uh, we're not gonna stop.
34:35
We're gonna keep going. So there you go. Love it. Final thoughts. All right. Love it. I love it. I love it. And, uh, same, same what, what Chris just said goes for me. If you wanna DM me, go ahead and DM me. Um- [laughs]
34:47
There you go. Yeah... we are both out to, uh, to, to, to leave the industry better than we found it. Uh, Chris, thanks so much for- My pleasure...
34:54
for taking some time to join us on the FixdOps Mastermind and, uh- I loved it, Dave. Thanks for having me. It was, it was excellent.
35:01
I'm sure we will have you back 'cause, uh, you know, a half hour is, is not enough time to, to cover all the knowledge of, uh, decades that, that you have in that head, so.
35:10
[laughs] I can, I can prove the decades here with the- Yeah, I've got a couple more decades than you. [laughs] What the next decades look like, so. Yeah. Fair. Right. Everybody, we'll see you next time. All right.
35:21
Thanks, Dave. Bye.
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