Hard Shop Life

Today we brought you something very unique for the first Advisor interview of the Season! In this episode, Coach J and The GMan interview Superstar Advisor Bree. Bree is not only a brand new advisor (starting mid 2021) with no existing clientele, and no prior training; but she is new to the dealership life entirely! Regardless of this in just a few months into her new job, she was the top advisor at her store and won the national competition JDI Coaching holds for FORD stores. All while learning the ropes of the advisor role. She’s raw, she’s talented, and has a “NO HOLDS BARRED” mentality to win her customer’s trust and win the game.

So, how did she come in and beat out veterans in the industry, as tough as it is, and as quickly as she did? Listen up and learn how she quickly rose to the top.

“The territory is not the map”. What you can see is not all that is there. So many of us in the industry don’t have someone to show us what we don’t know, and it’s very difficult to visualize what you can’t see. But when your back is up against the wall, your GM is breathing down your neck, we have to adapt and make ourselves a little uncomfortable to push our department forward. In order to push forward and keep growing our profits and as leaders, and employees, we need a Vision for the future. Vision requires a shift in mindset, we have to believe in, and execute on something we didn’t think was possible. In our Season 4 opener, GMan and Coach J talk about how to lift your lid, and share experience they’ve had in the field. 

Why is ELR (Effective Labor Rate) such an important topic everyday in Service Departments across the country? Well, ELR is how we make sure that we are holding gross and charging the correct value for our services, but more importantly that we aren’t just giving away our factory trained technicians time for cheap. Think of it this way, a doctor is always going to charge the same high rate for a visit (whether it’s insurance paying or you) and that wont change because doctors are an extremely valuable and very limited resource. And with less and less people choosing our industry for their career every year, service technicians are becoming an even more valuable resource than ever before. So why don’t we think of ourselves in the same way? Well in this episode, Coach J and The GMan go deep on the topic of ELR and price, and share their frustrations on the issue.

Why is ELR (Effective Labor Rate) such an important topic everyday in Service Departments across the country? Well, ELR is how we make sure that we are holding gross and charging the correct value for our services, but more importantly that we aren’t just giving away our factory trained technicians time for cheap. Think of it this way, a doctor is always going to charge the same high rate for a visit (whether it’s insurance paying or you) and that wont change because doctors are an extremely valuable and very limited resource. And with less and less people choosing our industry for their career every year, service technicians are becoming an even more valuable resource than ever before. So why don’t we think of ourselves in the same way? Well in this episode, Coach J and The GMan go deep on the topic of ELR and price, and share their frustrations on the issue.

In this episode, Coach J and The GMan have on Fixed Ops Director Luis Romano to update and discuss their on-going “David vs Goliath” project. In part 1 they talked about how you go about launching this huge undertaking. Now Luis and our hosts discuss how the project is going almost 60 days in, and how to keep the momentum going through the fatigue, and the roadblocks. Listen in to find out if they have already hit their first goals and how they have gotten to where they are now. Also as an added plus, Luis tells you how he has managed to hire 9 techs in just two months.

In this episode, Coach J and The GMan interview Superstar Advisor Ron Connor. Ron gives us insight on what it’s like to not only be a top tier advisor, but also a leader in the drive. He believes confidence is one of the most important attributes for an advisor to have because without it, the customer will almost never have faith in you. There’s much more Ron talks about that, as an advisor (or even a manager), you’ll really want to hear from him.

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan

Leaders in Service Departments across the nation can struggle to lead their teams to success. Not because they don’t know how to do their jobs or how fixed ops works as a whole, but because they believe they can’t understand what they haven’t experienced. Sounds strange, I know, but very few Service Managers, and even more Fixed Ops Directors, haven’t had the opportunity to experience the struggles or desires of every position they manage. Now, it definitely is not necessary or sometimes even possible to work every position in service. But most managers will struggle to lead someone they don’t completely understand, or even feel unqualified to lead someone when they haven’t done their job. For any manager starting out this is a very real obstacle, but to be a truly successful leader you have to learn how to connect with the beliefs and positions of Advisors and Technicians alike, no matter which side you came from. Today’s episode GMan and Coach J dive into the issue of how to transform yourself into a leader. How to take the Technician (or Advisor) from yourself and become a leader of both.

Recently Coach J had an experience with Tesla (specifically the service department) that wasn’t exactly what he expected, nor would you expect of an ultra-modern company like Tesla. In this episode, Coach J and the GMan talk about this experience, and about how service departments can make or break a car brand. They also talk about the one big thing Tesla is lacking in their service departments, hint: it’s something we, in the car business, do wrong all the time. Listen in to learn what it is, and why Coach J was even in a Tesla service department to begin with… 

In this episode, we have yet another Superstar Advisor, Tony Vincent! He will go to any extent to help and provide his customers with the best service he possibly can. However, when he found himself fixing cars in the drive, he realized he may have gone too far with his stellar service, and didn’t have enough time to be an Advisor. Tony had to find his happy medium of taking care of his customers, while also leaving enough time for himself to sell. He also gives his tip on ONE of the top 3 traits every advisor needs.

Many of us know what it’s like to be handed “the keys” to the store, and then sent off to run the show. It can be an incredibly daunting task. How does one man take on a project infinitely bigger than just himself? Well, this episode GMan and Coach J have on our return guest Luis Romano to talk about what it’s like to be in a true David vs. Goliath situation. He has taken on the mission of being the Fixed Ops Director at a true Goliath of a dealership, and was given just 90 days to turn it around. Luis talks about what made him decide to take on this job, and what it takes to implement and optimize all new processes, and systems, in a dealership of this magnitude. He also let’s us in on the one thing you can’t let happen when your turning a store around. Listen in and stay tuned for more episodes on this project that is happening right now!