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.

SOP Review and Update

• SOP – 0520 – “Top 10 Daily Operations for Making Money” by Brian Gillis

Powerpoint PDF

• 0600 – SOP – Overall People Process
• 0601 – SOP – Recruiting
• 0518 – SOP – Answering Incoming Phone Calls

Downloads

Powerpoint PDF
SOP – Recruiting (YNR_061)
SOP – Overall People Process (YNR_0600)
SOP – Answering Incoming Phone Calls (YNR_0518)

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!

Front Counter Six Series, Part 1: Thrive Not Survive

The team discusses incoming phone call scripts. Why do we do it this way? Why practice phone skills? We talk about four reasons and eight rules for answering the phone, and three types of phone calls. Proper word usage is mission critical, and we talk about why!

Quotes from Brian

• Perfect practice makes perfect
• Hearing the smile in your voice
• Motion creates emotion

Downloads

Anytime Script – Instant Close – Why Phone Skills – 8 Rules – Oil Change
Powerpoint PDF

Review parts 1 through 15 for details and thinking, then utilize the Recipe for Change.

Part 13 – Seven Step Transition Method

Need a method of managing transition? Please see the seven step process listed below, taken from Leader to Leader Institute’s Leading Transition article:

1. Describe the change and why in less than one minute
2. Make sure the details of the change are planned, detailed, and a time frame is set
3. Understand who is going to have to let go of what and when
4. Make sure people are given time to respectively let go of the past
5. Continually communicate the purpose, the picture, the plan, and the part
6. Create temporary solutions to the temporary problems
7. Articulate the new attitudes and behaviors needed to make the change

So how do these 7 steps apply to you? Great question! The next change you want to make in your business is to use these seven steps as a systemic process for making a change. Take a test drive of the seven step process. Only then you will know!

The Recipe for Change

When you’re baking a cake, there are certain ingredients that are necessary for the cake to come out as planned. You need to follow a step by step procedure. Include all portions as described, mix as indicated, then cook for the optimum time and temperature. Any variation from the recipe may cause an incomplete and utter disaster! If you don’t follow the recipe, you will not get the results you were expecting.

When you’re leading your company and staff through change, a recipe would be very helpful, so here it is:

1. You must be totally committed to the change (1 gallon)
2. It must be well defined and written (1 pint)
3. You must be willing to accept the push back and resistance (1 quart)
4. Create the WHY story to sell to sell your staff (Five Pounds)
5. Talk to them one-on-one (1 Tablespoon)
6. Give them time to adjust mentally to the change (Let Marinate 1 week)
7. Let them express their feelings (Snap-Crackle-Pop)
8. Set a rollout date for the change to occur (Cook Time 10 Days)
9. Have many training sessions before rollout (Mixing steps)
10. Establish the change as a habit (Tasting the results)

This is a quick and simple recipe for change. Follow the ingredients and steps, and see what results you will achieve. Review parts 1 through 15 for more details and thinking.

Management is the formula.

Leadership is the essential catalyst.

You are the stick that stirs the ingredients.