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Let’s talk about auto repair ethics. Picture this: you’re an auto repair service advisor. You present a necessary service to a customer. They tell you that they can’t afford it. Do you let them go without fixing the issue, potentially risking more harm to their vehicle? What about the other issues you haven’t gotten to writing up for them yet?

Automotive Service Writers have a professional obligation to tell customers about needed repairs, just like doctors are obligated to tell patients about illnesses they may not know about. In this video, Brian talks with shop owners in our You Net Results group about that obligation. Don’t let your worries about your client’s money troubles get in the way of your ethics. Word gets around!

What Are Your Auto Repair Ethics?

Brian started this clip by stressing the importance of personal integrity. Professional behavior is important to any auto repair employee, since you want to keep your prospects open with other shops. Nobody wants to hire a Technician or Service Writer with a bad reputation from other shops.

Karen defines auto repair ethics as being 100% honest with customers. When we practice this, we win their loyalty for life.

Bryce adds that all staff members, especially mechanics, should only use polite language. Whether you realize it or not, your customers are listening.

Jared’s bottom line on auto repair ethics? We should always provide our clients with safe, reliable vehicles.

Brian then brought the discussion home. He reminded us of our obligation to share all vehicle problems with customers. Even when clients mention money problems, we still need to let them know what is wrong. A doctor would not withhold their test results from patients, so we must be thorough, too.

Learn More – Get Your FREE Strategy Session

Does your auto repair shop lack direction? Perhaps your business plan has stalled out, and you need an experienced automotive industry coach to help you. Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with Brian? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

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• Page 1 – PARP Exercise
• Page 2 – Notes page
• Page 3 – Notes page
• Page 4 – Notes page
• Page 5 – ECM Exercise
• Page 6 – Why Role Play
• Page 7 – Tell the Tale
• Page 8 – One Thing Exercise page 1
• Page 9 – One Thing Exercise page 2
• Page 10 – Full System Isolate Script
• Page 11 – PMI Sheet
• Page 12 – Additional Concerns Presentation Script page 1
• Page 13 – Additional Concerns Presentation Script page 2
• Page 14 – Gut Punch page 1
• Page 15 – Gut Punch page 2
• Page 16 – Feedback

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All About PARP PDF

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SOP Formation and Review

WOIT Discussion and Notes Formation and Review

0615-4 – SOP – Unit 4: Counter Communication Skills

• To establish and define what ingredients go into creating our Recipe for Counter Communication Skills and what it looks like, feels like, taste like and smells like in our auto repair business
• To help everyone understand how it all blends together in our Recipe for CCS.

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Are you feeling crushed under the weight of running your business? You’re not alone. Many auto repair Owners and General Managers wonder why running their businesses is so hard. But not all of them. What strategy is in play to create their success?

Strategy – Big Picture Planning

We often hear the mantra, “Work Smarter Not Harder.” What does that mean? Let’s talk about Strategy versus Tactics for a bit. Understanding the difference between them is critical to your business’s success.

Strategy is looking at the big picture planning you need to do before diving into the tactics. If your spouse wants you to build her dream house, you don’t just run to Home Depot and purchase a pile of bricks. If you HAD a pile of bricks laying around in the backyard, would you then start laying them out? No. You would end up with a disappointing mess, as well as an unhappy spouse. Not good.

When you want to build your dream house, there are specific steps you need to take before beginning the build process. First, you need to purchase the land and survey the land. Next, you will meet with an architect and draw out the plans. Then, meet with the builders, acquire the permits, and make sure there is money in the bank to pay for it all. That’s called strategy.

Tactics – Laying the Foundation

After all that, THEN you can begin laying the foundation. You’ll be counting the number of bricks you’ll need, setting up the framing, installing the infrastructure, hiring the electrician, and so on. That’s tactics.

If you try building that dream home without strategy or tactics, you’re screwed. It doesn’t matter how good the architect and builder are. Without strategy and tactics, you get stuck with analysis paralysis! You wonder why that dang house has become such a money pit.

How Do Strategy and Tactics Apply to Your Auto Repair Business? 

Well, if you want to build your ideal company, then you need to put together your strategy. Once your business plan and marketing strategies are mapped out, you need to employ the tactics that will get you there.

Fortunately, You Net Results has the experience to walk you through both the strategy and tactics you’ll need to get your business to the next million dollars in annual revenue. It’s not an overnight project. It takes a lot of work. However, it’s a solid plan that will help you reach your goals, as long as you implement and take action.

At You Net Results, we facilitate coaching groups for auto repair shop owners. Together, we  can all reach a turnaround point. You will emerge from the experience of moving from a business owner to a confident business leader. Thus, you will eliminate the obstacles that hold you back. 

Are you ready? Let’s do this. 

To find out more, contact us for a complimentary consultation. Brian Gillis will discuss your business strategies and find ways to improve your annual revenue and company culture.

If you are looking to expand your team and grow your business, you must put your systems and processes in place, so new hires can learn them. Otherwise, you’re in for a surprise with people winning stupid prizes by playing stupid people games.

What?! Yes, that’s right. Let me explain.

How many times have you hired someone who you thought was a promising candidate? Someone who interviewed well, passed your criteria, and looked like a winner on paper. Then, you hired that individual and found later that they were poor performers. Or worse, you thought they were just plain stupid.

Do you really think they were stupid? Seriously, after all that vetting, do you think you hired someone dumb? I would argue that you didn’t hire a foolish person. Instead, you had non-existent or poorly defined systems and procedures in place — if there was any documentation at all — and that “stupid” person was thrown into the fire with no procedural support system. 

After all, we don’t hire dumb folks. Instead, we have lacking systems and processes that make them look stupid and force them to underperform. 

In short, it’s not their fault. It’s ours. We failed them because no one is inherently stupid. But too many business owners don’t recognize this, and they continue pretending. They’re winning stupid prizes by playing stupid people games. Here’s what I’m talking about:

Nicole Mason on Unsplash

Stupid people…or stupid business practices?

I was talking with a shop owner recently. During the course of our conversation, he told me everyone he hired was stupid, and they never did what he told them to do. I asked him who hired them? There was silence on the phone. Was it the owner or the people? What prize do you think he won?

Quite frankly, it’s a stupid way to run a business.

Let’s rid ourselves of this “stupid” label and take a different approach.

If you were to build a house and laid the foundation before meeting with the architect, you have on your hands a failed and expensive home-building process. Your systems and processes dictate your success, and we have seen too many small business owners jump into action without having a solid plan called systems and processes in place. That is why Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs are critical to the success of any business.

McDonald’s and other major fast-food chains have learned how to streamline SOPs in such a way that the average 16-year-old high school student can train in one or two days and become highly productive within their first week of employment. 

So here’s the question: What is preventing you from hiring intelligent and talented people who prove to you over time that they are worthy? What’s stopping your new hires from reaching success is your lack of Standard Operating Procedures guiding them steadily toward that success.

Let us help you solve your systems problems!

If you are genuinely searching for a streamlined system that will help your employees win, your business grow, and will lower your stress level, and you need to adapt well-thought-out systems and processes. When you work with You Net Results, we will take you through proven systems and techniques that will help your business grow. Our strategies help shop owners reach their next million dollars in revenue and help their company culture thrive as well.

Who do you know that could benefit from well-documented, seamless systems and processes? If you know anyone who could benefit, including yourself, please schedule a consultation with You Net Results. After all, great intentions don’t pay the bills. If you are willing to invest in yourself and your team, you are on the right track in avoiding stupid people games that waste your time and money.

At You Net Results, we dedicate many training hours to business systems. Our classes and coaching sessions address how to reduce mistakes and prevent lost details. To find out more, contact us for a complimentary consultation. Brian Gillis will discuss your business strategies and find ways to improve your annual revenue and company culture.

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Series Booklet PDF

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Series Booklet PDF

Are you selling all of the jobs you possibly can? Can your customers see the passion you have for servicing their vehicles? A Sense of Urgency (SOU) can really make the difference in creating lifetime customers.

Learning a Sense of Urgency for Customer Service

Whether you’re a Service Advisor working front of house, or a Mechanic working in the back, a sense of urgency is key.

Brian opens up this segment with an analogy about walking into a local restaurant. Their staff instantly bowls you over by bending over backward to serve you. The host or hostess greets you with a smile and quickly directs you to an open table. Your Waiter rushes to your seats to take your order. How do you think that affects your buying mood? Aren’t you more likely to start with an appetizer or order a dessert afterward?

It should come as no surprise to you that many auto repair clients become repeat customers because of how friendly a shop’s staff are. When front counter staff are quick to greet you politely and take a genuine interest in you and your vehicle, you are more likely to want to come back.

Brian provided evidence of this by using an example of one of his Service Advisors at the shop he once owned in Georgia. Since this employee demonstrated a sense of urgency, as well as an eager to please attitude, it made a huge impression on his clients. They even remembered him years later!

There’s no reason why this can’t work for your shop! When you encourage the traits of friendliness and speedy service in your Service Writers, Managers, and Technicians, everybody wins.

Learn more about customer service – get your FREE Strategy Session

Did you enjoy this clip on Sense of Urgency? Why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with Brian? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

How much can we influence buying mood when we increase customer comfort? From our members only Clear Counter Communications Series, here’s some great advice for your Service Writers on how to make customers feel at home. If you really want to make auto repair sales, then you need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and do whatever it takes to make them feel comfortable in your shop.

Customer comfort factors: restaurant analogies

Brian opens up with an analogy about restaurant service. You made plans with a friend to meet for lunch at a local taco restaurant. You show up, walk inside, and you have to wait to be seated. The staff seems to be ignoring you! When the host finally shows up to seat you 2-3 minutes later,  they don’t even apologize for making you wait! In this environment, how likely are you to spend extra money on cocktails or dessert after your meal?

In much the same way, you must make the effort to get acquainted with customers when they walk in the door. Engage with them by making small talk, or even complimenting them. Nobody likes having to spend extra money for repairs. Beginning the process with a friendly Service Advisor will make it less painful. You’ll be surprised when you start getting more “YES” answers, just from implementing this simple step.

Could you increase customer comfort in this situation?

Influencing your customers’ buying mood through personal connection

Many customers have made buying decisions before they’ve even walked in the door. Like it or not, factors outside your control may have influenced them negatively toward paying for necessary service. As a front counter worker, you will be the first person clients see when they walk in the door. Can you go above and beyond to break the ice?

Ready to take it to the next level? Get Your FREE Strategy Session!

Did that clip about customer comfort strike a chord with you? Why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with Brian? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!