Free Auto Repair Management Tips Blog

30-60-90 Principle

In this short clip from the May 20th, 2020 Front Counter Workshop meeting, Brian Gillis discusses a few scenarios that your automotive Service Writers might encounter. When your customers bring their vehicles in for recommended checkups at 30,000, 60,000, or 90,000 miles, Service Advisors must print out a checklist. During this regularly scheduled maintenance, it is important that both our front counter personnel and our technicians are as thorough as possible. Your car service system should always include making the right recommendations when you share the printout.

30/60/90 Maintenance Discussion

The You Net Results members taking part in the call then propose some specific services we should recommend. What if the customer objects to your recommendation after that? Perhaps your customers who have read their manuals will reject recommendations when your auto repair Service Writers make them. “The manual does not recommend checking that part at this mileage amount, so I will opt out,” they may say.

Brian then guides us on how we should all respond when such instances as these occur. These are the must have core tenets in any car service system. They will build customers’ confidence, as well as maximize your profits, guaranteed!

Put the most effective car service system to work in your auto repair shop today!

Do you and your front counter team need repair sales training that is both hands on and in real time? If your profit margins are not what you wish they were, then the answer will always be yes! Learn the car service system that runs a successful automotive repair business, as well as how to teach them to your people. We offer LIVE online meeting groups via Zoom each and every week. They are also archived on our site for you to view at your convenience. Sign up for a free strategy session today!

General Manager Clip - Coaching Groups Build Confident Leaders

Check out this clip from our members only live General Manager Process meeting, which originally met on Zoom May 12, 2020. Firstly, Brian sparks a lively roundtable discussion. Our veteran shop owners then reveal what it means to be a confident leader in an automotive repair shop environment. Each member agrees that when you regularly participate in an auto repair coaching group, it is one of the major keys to building your confidence.

Group Coaching Call Recap

Both automotive owners and general managers participated in the call. They chimed in to stress what modeling systems looks like to their employees. Thus, automotive staff members respond best when leaders are both confident and consistent.

Afterward, our auto repair coaching group reads the bullet points in the You Net Results brand script. This script exists in order to outline our focus and mission as an automotive industry company. It also ties into this clip’s theme of repair shop owners and managers who train together, as well as support each other.

Finally, Coach Brian closes with a discussion on the abstract concept of silent thieves. When you do not put the right processes in place, chaos is bound to sneak in. When that happens, then your money will inevitably run out. If you do not activate the right systems and processes, then you will eventually find yourself powerless to prevent these thieves from robbing your shop blind!

Here is a clip from our Management Process Workshop, which is available exclusively for YNR members! Our group discusses how to use the hireMAX Job Pre-Planning form. This is a great tool for hiring new recruits. In fact, Norm Bobay’s well crafted document is an essential tool for recruiting any auto repair shop team members!

Brian begins by reviewing the some  members only library content. Specifically, he takes us to Gary Gunn’s interview with Norm from our  People in Overdrive section. Alongside the video interview are a series of document links. Brian reviews the Planning Form, then quizzes our members on their search for a new Service Writer.

He points out some of the sections in the form that could help the members on the call. Our members also give great examples of “hard” and “soft” skills which are necessary for certain jobs.

So many important skills go into being effective team members in the automotive industry. A lot of them may not come to mind until you start filling out the form. When filling out the form, do not overlook factors like basic communication skills, simple math, and computer knowhow. Even if you are hiring a mechanic or technician, these are crucial.

In this clip from our People Process Workshop, the group discusses the PAHR auto repair staffing process. Learn how to find and retain the right staff for your automotive shop.

As we join the video in progress, Brian reviews a few incentives many shop owners use to entice potential employees. These include signing bonuses and flexible hours, as well as purchasing them new work boots for them annually. We may be seeking the best candidate for the job, but if we are to successfully hire them, we must sweeten the deal for them.

Call participant Nikki reviews her shop’s hiring process, from advertising the position, to interviewing, to training new hires. Every detail of each step is crucial. Our friend Joe Evans adds the important caveat that we must have a written system (SOP) for our shop’s hiring process. Anyone in the shop should be able to conduct the steps if necessary.

Retaining Staff – Creating a Positive Work Culture

Jim then speaks on the “R” in “PAHR” – retain. Every facet of your relationship with your new hire, starting with the onboarding step, is crucial to keeping them.

Joe Sevart follows up afterward, explaining the auto repair staffing culture in his shop. Every team member is part of a family. Before the second interview, he requires potential hires to review and approve his written culture guide. If they can’t commit to it fully, then they are not a good fit for his family. There is no room for a toxic personality in his garage, so Joe makes sure this requirement is met before the hire. Each employee contributes to the culture guide, and also makes decisions about benefits, equipment purchases, and more. This way, everyone feels like an important family member, and has a figurative stake in the business.

Finally, Joe explains that if he hires a technician, he does not allow them to even turn a wrench for a full week. While they are onboarding that first week, it is important to learn all they can about the business. Once they are immersed in the business culture, they are then ready to concentrate on their work.

Closing thoughts on Auto Repair Staffing

Andy Arndt then points out that it is much cheaper to retain an existing employee than to hire a new one. The auto repair staffing process is both time consuming and expensive. Invest a small amount of time listening to and mentoring each employee regularly. That way, you may save yourself a lot of headaches in the future. Who knows – you may have lost a valuable employee in the past over an issue you could have instead resolved in house.

Nevertheless, if you respect you have made a bad hire, Brian suggests looking at three factors: don’t know, can’t do (aren’t able), and don’t care. As an owner or manager, you can possibly remedy the don’t know and can’t do with additional training. If your team member can’t shake the don’t care attitude, though, they have to go.