Hard Shop Life

“A body in motion stays in motion; a body at rest stays at rest”.

We are in a unique time, our hosts GMan and Coach J are seeing this around the nation at every dealer they help. Companies everywhere are struggling to hire anyone, whether its porters, advisors, managers or technicians it doesn’t matter, and its not just dealers. In our industry we have always struggled to find people, but now that every company is hunting for workers the competition has risen. How do we compete? How are we supposed to overcome factors, like supply and demand, that are out of our control? GMan and Coach J talk all about what is happening with the workforce right now and ways to not only overcome it, but to come out of this strange time on top.

In this episode of the podcast, G-Man and Coach J talk to NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, and extremely successful entrepreneur, Fran Tarkenton. Playing in the NFL for 18 seasons, Fran set multiple career records and was widely regarded as one of the best to ever play the game. Shortly after his retirement he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You might know him for his “scrambling” style at quarterback, but today you are going to get a special look at the extremely successful businessman behind the hall of famer. Fran talks about his experience with the Minnesota Vikings, business, problem-solving, and why he doesn’t believe in selling. And you’ll learn why “owning the locker room” is a hugely positive factor in the performance of your team. 

 

In this episode Coach J and GMan wrap up their interview with one of the G.O.A.T.’s of the fixed operations world, David Paterson. You don’t want to miss this rare chance to get an insight into one of the most successful people in the fixed operations industry. 

In our new weekly segment we are going to talk about the books we are currently reading, and the books we think are the most important. At JDI we are constantly sending out books to people in our coaching group and consulting program because we believe you can never stop learning.  Our goal is for all our clients to have access to all the knowledge that will benefit their bottom line and improve themselves, and we want the same for everyone. So this week we are going over the JDI essential – The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential by John C. Maxwell. We make sure every leader in our programs receive this book, and so far it has been very eye opening four our clients. Listen in as we talk about what we found most important and how you can directly apply it to benefit your fix ops department.

In this episode Coach J and GMan interview one of the G.O.A.T.’s of the fixed operations world, David Paterson. He started in the industry at just 15 years old as a mechanic, and worked his way to running and building the most profitable Honda service center in the world, which is still #1 to this day. David has taken small dealerships and built them into large profitable service centers, and has molded the minds of many in the industry, including our host Coach J. You don’t want to miss this rare chance to get an insight into one of the most successful people in the fixed operations industry. 

By its definition a “tool” should help you perform a job. Hammers drive nails, wrenches turn nuts and bolts, and computers can increase productivity (sometimes). It seems that lately the tools that are sold as “the next best thing” to improve service advisors sales or technician productivity, have become “tools of torture”!

Do not take this the wrong way. No one is advocating we stand in the way of progress or revert back to hand-written RO’s. Technology is good and in many ways has made the job of a manager or employee better. It is the layering of technology that turns an otherwise helpful tool into a torture device. In today’s service drive, it’s common for an advisor to be required to log into at least 5 applications. This includes: 

DMS

Email

Texting

Appointment

Multi point inspection

Manufacture Warranty information

Valet service

Uber/Lyft

ETC…

At some point we may be asking too much of our employees. At the base level we want them to take care of our customers, offer any maintenance or repair items needed, and fix the car right the first time. How can we do that when we are managing a suite of software services! 

On this episode of Hard Shop Life Coach J and the GMan discuss what can happen and how many dollars are wasted when tools end up holding us back. 

Let’s talk about how you are getting work to your technicians. In the automotive industry this can make or break your service department’s bottom line! Keeping technicians producing is the one of the most important requirements of a service department. But are you using a dispatching system that is holding you back? Constantly we tell ourselves “other processes don’t work here” because we were told it was the “wrong or outdated” by experts, our 20 groups, or even our managers. But when it comes to dispatch it isn’t so black and white. Gman and Coach J believe the answer is in the numbers. To find what works best for each unique store we have to put aside what we think we know, and let the results provide us the answer.

Mark Twain once said, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Aside from improving your job satisfaction, can this approach actually improve your dealership KPIs? In Part 2 G-Man and Coach J talk more to our special guest, Benjamin Dykstra, about prioritizing your customer through integrity, empathy, and service and the positive impact it can have on your bottom line.

Mark Twain once said, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Aside from improving your job satisfaction, can this approach actually improve your dealership KPIs? In this episode of the podcast, G-Man and Coach J talk to our special guest, Benjamin Dykstra, about prioritizing your customer through integrity, empathy, and service and the positive impact it can have on your bottom line.

In this episode, G-Man and Coach J go deep with our return guest Doug (aka. Mr. Relentless), and discuss Your Foundation, Talent and Purpose. In order to master the drive, you must know yourself. What are your key principles? What are you naturally good at? What gets you up in the morning, and keeps you going all day? You may never think about these questions without a little outside inspiration, but what you discover will make a huge impact on your improvement, and your gross. Hear what drives G-Man and Coach J, and the unexpected source of inspiration for today’s podcast.