Have you ever played the game “Telephone”? You start by lining up a group. Then, you whisper a sentence into the first person’s ear. They then whisper the message to the next person. The game continues until the message gets to the final person in line, who announces out loud what sentence they heard. It is often much different from the original sentence. Quite the exercise in communication!
At You Net Results, we know this game shows what happens when messages, systems, and processes are undocumented. Just like in the game of “Telephone,” something can get lost in the telling. When you don’t write down instructions, client comments, or repair orders, this is inevitable.
Communication breakdown
In auto repair businesses, it happens like this:
The Customer tells the Service Advisor something. Time is short. The Service Advisor doesn’t write it down, but they repeat it verbally to the Technician. The Technician may also skip documenting it, so they present the Service Advisor with new information.
The Service Advisor then reports to the Customer via phone. More back and forth happens, and then the Customer picks up their vehicle. Later, the Service Advisor is surprised to read the Customer’s one-star review. Why? Communication was not clear. They lost something in the telling.
How can you avoid losing something in the telling?
Do you see how simply repeating verbal information can lose accuracy? It is obvious how the customer felt wronged. How can your team reduce miscommunication? How can they improve clarity?
The answer? Use transparent systems and processes to document all communication. Enter repair issues through DVI reports, notes in your CRM, text messages, recorded phone calls, and other exchanges. When you do, you will reduce your chance of poor reviews.
Perfect your shop’s communication chain!
At You Net Results, we dedicate hours of training to communication. Our coaching sessions help prevent mistakes and lost details. To learn more, contact us for a free consultation. Brian Gillis will discuss your business strategies and ways to improve revenue and company culture.
Check out this clip from our General Manager Process online Zoom meeting. Members can watch the whole discussion in our You Net Results members library. In this video clip, our own Brian Gillis asked a roundtable of automotive repair Owners and GM’s to list ten things that every General Manager must do well. Once our discussion was done, we had compiled a comprehensive list of duties. When you read through them all and focus on each one today, then you will truly up your game!
Tasks 1-3 for Effective General Managers
After Brian set the table for our YNR members, he called on veteran shop owner Jerry Kaminski of AutoWise Car Care. Jerry suggested thatkeeping an eye on your numbers is an imperative move. Whether you review your financial records daily or monthly, taking a regular look is key.
Next, Andy Arndt stressed how important it is to delegate tasks you can’t make time for yourself to your staff. No matter how skilled you are, you can not do it all! You must trust your staff to take some of the workload off of your already full plate. Your time is valuable! If a general manager is stuck under a car, he or she can’t handle their administrative duties.
Task Three that a general manager must do well means both finding and maintaining the right staff. Jim invoked the acronym PAHR – Prepare, Attract, Hire, Retain, which is the method we teach for staffing. Without having the right crew on hand, none of these other tasks are possible.
GM Duties 4-6
Our friend Dana stressed that good communication skills are essential in any management situation. You must stay cool under pressure, and learn the right things to say to both your staff and concerned customers. Above all else, listen!
Edward Couture then weighed in with two more tasks that every GM must master. In order to improve workflow, you must learn to manage your time well. Edward credits his time management skills with many of his own business successes over the years.
Tasks 7-8 that a General Manager Must Do Well
General Managers must get buy-in from their staff
Edward continued by saying that all managers must learn to be diplomatic. When you are managing a team of skilled automotive technicians and service advisors, conflicts will inevitably arise.
You should not show any favoritism between your children. In much the same way, you must learn to step in and resolve the disagreements between your staff, whether they are personal ones or professional ones.
It is so easy for us to get caught up in the day to day tasks going on in an automotive repair shop. If you do not reserve a block of time to work on the nuts and bolts of your business, then it is not going to happen. Go in your office for an hour and shut the door. Don’t forget to also tell your crew that you are not to be bothered for that hour.
Finally, Andy Arndt mentioned that all General Managers must motivate their teams. Remind your staff members regularly that you are working toward a common goal. Share your vision when you hold your daily and weekly team meetings. When your technicians and service writers are in tune with that vision, then your shop will run like a well oiled machine!
General Manager Task List Review
To summarize this session, Brian then surveyed our group of experienced auto repair shop Owners and General Managers. They determined the following list of ten things that every GM must do in order to succeed:
In the excerpt above from our Front Counter Workshop series, Brian discusses the concept of professional obligation in the automotive industry. We owe it to our coworkers and clients to be both honest and consistent. The members of your community, as well as your profession, talk. Word of rudeness, dishonesty, and overall unprofessionalism travels quickly.
YNR Members on the call talk about the similarities between auto repair shop staff and medical doctors. It is up to us to not only correctly diagnose a vehicle’s problems, but to also remain up front about them with their owners. Think of how you would feel as a customer if a service advisor withheld information about problems with your car because they were afraid of charging you more. Imagine if these problems caused your car to break down, and cost you even more later. You probably would not visit that shop again. You may even leave the shop a poor review online afterward. What if that review included the service advisor’s name? Surely, that would cause harm to the shop’s reputation, as well as the front counter staff.
Our professional obligation as Auto Repair Shop owners and staff
You owe it to your team to model both honesty and integrity. As Warren Buffett famously said, “It takes twenty years to build a reputation, and five minutes to ruin it.” If your staff sees you practicing what you preach, then they will get buy in from you.
When mechanic technicians, general managers, and service writers work together to perform their professional obligations, customers respond. They will reward your honesty and consistency with the one thing every automotive shop needs: return business and referrals!
Learn more about professionalism in your own auto repair shop!
Could your front counter staff use a deep dive on the concept of professional obligation? Learn the systems that run a successful automotive repair business, as well as how to teach them to your people. You Net Results offers LIVE online meeting groups every week. They are also archived on our site for you to view at your convenience. Sign up for a free strategy session!
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!
Auto repair coaching group for general managers
Would you describe yourself as a directionless shop owner or general manager? Silent thieves might just be bleeding your beloved business dry! Don’t worry, though – there is still hope for you! Learn how to master finances, daily operations, phone skills, service advisor training, as well as intangibles that only experienced pros know. Sign up for one of our auto repair coaching group today!
