Town Hall Academy - Archive

By Carm Capriotto, AAPBusiness

Town Hall Academy - Archive episodes

August 03, 2017THA 026: Succession Planning – The Next Generation Entrepreneurs
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Bob Ward, President of Wardden LLC, Bob began his business career at a franchised car dealership, overcoming obstacles to learn and earn the required skills to become Controller, General Manager and then, minority owner of Tacoma Dodge in Washington.
A native of Seattle, Bob serves as a financial advisor and consultant to small business owners throughout the United States. He believes that your business should always be ready for expansion or sale, you should get paid for what you built and, when you decide to leave it, your company should continue to prosper. He believes in a Perpetual Business where there is Value, Continuity and Legacy. Wardden LLC Website
Russell Andrew started working at the local gas stations at 14yr old. He bought his first business at 22yr old, youngest ARCO dealer ever at the time. He went on to buy a second ARCO station 5 years later. At 30 years he old sold the first station, converted the second one to a ‘C’ store and bought a closed/boarded up gas station a few miles away and ran an auto repair garage business out of it. In 1986, he sold the Arco AM/PM, tore down the old Texaco building and built a small retail center on the property which he still owns today.
It gets better … he moved a few hundred miles north to Paso Robles, CA. In 1988 Russell rented a 4,000 sqft building and put all his stored auto equip in it and opened Paso Robles Auto Repair. He ran it for 28 years, and In January 2015 he turned the business over to his successor. He now works for the business doing all the bookkeeping and administration duties from his home office, part time 20/30 hrs month. He shares his succession process with you.
Talking Points:
We must understand our objective about retirement or succession. Focused on the end goal you can plan for it.
Every business will be sold or liquidated. With a little bit of foresight and some energy and time on their side, they can create a great plan for succession.
70% of business owners in the next 20 years will depart their business in many different ways if there is no planning.
Retire on your own terms.
Owners have an essential conversation with the key members of their staff. Listen to Bob Ward’s way to do this. The answers help you in your business planning.
Your people make the business. We must nurture our key leaders retain and motivate them.
There are many ways to structure a deal considering tax consideration and estate planning.
Bob talks about ‘Ownership Culture’. All people in the business are working in the same direction. Not all can own but can be ‘owners’ in practice with the correct compensation and incentives.
The sad truth about survivorship; it is all about planning.
Find the date in the future and work backward.
Liquidation is a poor choice all assets at auction value.
The best plan is to improve the financial strength of the company, document all processes, improve systems, improve your hiring and strength of your people.
All of this points to continuity or as Bob Ward says ‘Perpetual Business’
A business that is always ready for sale or expansion opportunities.
Owner has the foresight and commitment developing their people
“It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed”. Harvey Firestone

Prepare someone to be the quarterback of the business.
Bob is seeing most deals done with internal candidates.
Do they have money? (Small pool of candidates)
The pool lies inside. You know their tendencies, you can trust, you’ve been developing.
Develop your people’s talent and potential succession candidate.

How are you going to leave your business? Start the process.
If you’ve identified one or more candidates how are you going to advance their skills and get them financially involved?
No matter your age consider retaining your key people to attain their goals so you can reach your goals.

An average to complete an agreement about one year.
Family succession. Parents will take things for granted that their children will come into the business, therefore, nothing gets decided. Children can be discouraged if no dialogue about succession.
Without a succession plan, shuttering the business is the fallback option, you would have cost to close that you must think about.
Owners struggle emotionally about leaving their business. They started with nothing and there is a big attachment to their successes over the year. Must think about the joy of thinking about leaving your legacy.
Bob Ward Cell Phone 206-304-7723

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This episode is brought to you by Jasper Engines & Transmissions. When a car’s engine or transmission fails, it’s not the end of the road. A remanufactured drivetrain product from Jasper Engines & Transmissions will give your car a new lease on life. JASPER has over 2000 Associates, three manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers and 45 branch offices across the country. They’re all working to produce, transport and deliver the perfect product. That’s what they do best… keep customers happy. Visit jasperengines.com
51 min
July 30, 2017THA 020: How To Sell 250K Mile Maintenance & Save Your Customers Thousands
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Pete Rudloff is a national automotive instructor/advisor, nationally published technical writer and owner of Pete’s Garage Inc. in Newark, DE. Pete has a passion for training and created the Delaware training Group to bring technicians together in an environment that fosters learning. Pete’s Garage has a reputation as friend to the general auto repair shops with local shops calling themselves customers. Pete’s Garage is known for fixing difficult to fix cars and has grown more into a diagnostic destination than a maintenance shop. Pete had been featured in episode 123, 226 and Academy 018.
Brett Beachler has been in the automotive industry for 30+ years and is the third generation at Beachlers Vehicle Care & Repair in Peoria, IL. At age 16, he officially joined the family business pumping gas at their Amoco gas station portion of the business. Brett is passionate on this subject. He understands the value of maintenance form cost per mile. He has created a spreadsheet that shows his customer the difference between buying every four years to driving for 12.5 years.Brett Beachler recently published a book on vehicle care & repair. Listen to Brett’ episodes here.
Craig Noel, Owner of 3 location Sun Automotive Springfield, OR. Craig graduated from Lane Community College in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Repair and quickly went to work. He worked for Ford as a Senior Master Technician and then working my way up through the ranks as Team Lead, Service Advisor, Assistant Service Manager.He has also built ground up Street Rods/Show Cars for over 30 years as a hobby. He was “head hunted” by the original owner of Sun Automotive in 2011 and became GM at that time. As of January 1st 2017, he is the proud owner of Sun Automotive. This is Craig Noel’s first appearance on Remarkable Results Radio.

Talking Points:
You can get to 100,00 easily today with minimal maintenance.
People will buy a new car. We need used cars in the marketplace and in 5 years that new car will be in our bays.
Spread sheet to show the amount of saving to keep a vehicle for 250K. It is a cost per mile savings model.
There is an “Emotional” aspect of the situation and how each person decides based emotion first (86% of the time) vs. facts.
What is interesting is making the disconnect from the emotion and reconnecting with the financial facts.

We must become educators of our children as to how to appreciate and take care of a vehicle today.
There is no love of the automobile today. The love of a vehicle is diapering. It is transportation.
Car enthusiasts don’t care about cost per mile.
The person who values the vehicle as transportation cares about cost per mile.
Leasing is as bad as ownership. It all comes down to cost per mile. The car dealer has it figured out. If you can afford it then do it.
Except that most people will think they will have a car payment for the rest of their life. Financially it will kick your butt and you need to look at the numbers.
It becomes more about engaging with your customer and getting their buy in on the savings so they become a partner in their vehicle repair. It becomes easy to write the check for maintenance service as the vehicle mileage grows.

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49 min
July 26, 2017THA 025: Disaster Planning and Preparedness
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Maylan Newton is president and CEO of ESI seminars for the past 20 years. Maylan travels the country, sharing with his audiences, the keys to being successful in the automotive repair industry today. Maylan combines his real-world experience as a shop owner, technician, and service advisor with profit building take-a-ways in a humorous and engaging manner that only Maylan can deliver. Maylan had his own real-world experience when he had a stroke while riding his motorcycle. He was incapacitated for a period and has now dedicated time to share his almost catastrophic event and what it taught him. We discussed his accident and how he and his business survived in episode 140. With over 40 years of automotive industry experience, Maylan Newton has literally been there and done that. Maylan hails from Simi Valley, CA and has shared his wisdom in episodes 108, 140 and in Academy episode 14.
Doug McLeod has worked in the Emergency Management and Business Continuity Planning fields for the past 21 years. He was responsible for the corporate level emergency planning for a large electric utility for 11 years, dealing with preparedness for many types of natural and human caused disasters including earthquakes, windstorms, floods, accidents, terrorism, fires, and succession planning. For the past 10 years, he has provided advice, assistance and training to government agencies, utilities, and businesses to better prepare them to respond to and survive many types of disasters. He is a member of and certified as an Associate Business Continuity Professional with the Disaster Recovery Institute Canada, and a Board Member of the Emergency Preparedness for Industry and Commerce Council in British Columbia.
Doug Callaghan, CEO Vic’s Service Centre in Wainright, Alberta Canada is the winner of the 2016 Auto Care Association ACE (Automotive Career and Education) award. Doug shares his story of transformation, recognized by Auto Care, that earned him this recognition.
Doug made a significant decision in early 2015 when he took how his business was operating and threw it all in the garbage. He started from scratch. Everything. He says, “a lot of owners that ask for the help and invest in the outside training yet fail to provide the leader ship to make those ideas and plans become reality, I was not going to let that happen. I wanted to see an increase in our net profit and a better life for myself and my team”. He continues that commitment today. Doug has experience working with disaster plans with the Credit Union Board that he chairs.
Talking Points:
It’s not IF but WHEN you’ll need a plan.
You need to start the conversation with the most important people in your life.
Write down everything you know that will be important to the person taking over.
Who you do business with, where you bank, who signs the checks, password, alarm codes, keys, etc.
More detail than you would even imagine you need to document.

A well-documented process and system in place are required for continuation of the business.
Who will be in charge of making what decisions?
The little things can create a logjam for continuation.
How do we keep our customer base and control the message?
All business that have loses after a disaster only 25% survive. Source: Insurance Institute for Home Safety.
The tough talk needs to happen and a plan created
A general plan is important no matter what type of disaster could impact the business.
Review your insurance, your wills, your buy-sell agreements, your finances and your banking. Involve your business advisors to understand your planning process and get their perspective.
The effort is worth it to create continuity in the business.

Computer Data Back-Up. Off-site or in the cloud.
Three types of preparedness plans.
Catastrophic failure of the Building.
Catastrophic loss of the Owner.
Catastrophic loss of Leadership.

There is a big impact on the families from any catastrophic failures.
Too many companies not in a strong financial position. Get your financial house in order. A strong net profit shows a new owner and or an internal successor to the business.
Many legal issues to consider with capital gains and probate.

Embrace the future and Embrace reality many things can happen.

Download discussed in the Academy provided by Maylan Newton from ESI HERE.

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This episode is brought to you by Jasper Engines & Transmissions. When a car’s engine or transmission fails, it’s not the end of the road. A remanufactured drivetrain product from Jasper Engines & Transmissions will give your car a new lease on life. JASPER has over 2000 Associates, three manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers and 45 branch offices across the country. They’re all working to produce, transport and deliver the perfect product. That’s what they do best… keep customers happy. Visit jasperengines.com
41 min
July 24, 2017THA 019: Where Will We Find Our Future Automotive Instructors?
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Professor Scott Norman an instructor and the program coordinator for the four-year bachelor’s program in Automotive Technology at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. He has also been a Technical Training Instructor with Chrysler Corporation. He is also Chairman of the National Automotive Service Technology Committee for Skills USA. Listen to Scott in our episode on his role at Pittsburg State 152 and with his role at Skills USA and WorldSkills in episode 164.
We also have Rick Escalambre. Although he is a retired instructor at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA, after 31 years Rick shows no signs of slowing down and continues to teach in an adjunct role. He is also a contract trainer throughout the industry. Rick is on the Vision Educator Think Tank and can always be counted on to make some important and profound contributions to the forum. Hear Rick in his own episode 218.
Ryan Kooiman the Director of Training at Standard Motor Products. When he joined Standard Motor Products he was a Technician Training Developer. Previously he was the lead tech/driveability specialist at a 20-bay independent shop in Michigan. Ryan oversees the operations of the SMP Corporate Training Center in Irving, TX; and oversees the operations and development of the Pro Training group. Hear Rick in his own episode 98 and in the ASE Test Uncovered episode 122.
Tim Dwyer is an automotive education specialist at ConsuLab, a manufacturer, and provider of automotive training aids. After 25 years of ownership, he sold his business Superwrench Import Auto in Tulsa, OK to pursue a teaching career at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology. There he helped start and instruct the Pro-Tech Automotive Internship program for 12 years. Hear Rick in his own episode 184.

Talking points:
Most instructors have migrated from industry.
Not many current students of automotive technology consider a career as an instructor.
The technician shortage predicates an instructor shortage in the future.
Scott Norman is asked all the time if he can help find instructors for other schools.
Retiring instructors need replacements. There are not many in the pipeline; therefore some programs are shutting down.
An instructor automotive technology challenges:
Pay
Certifications: Meeting education requirements.

There are aftermarket opportunities for trainers as suggested by Ryan Kooiman.
Becoming a full-time automotive instructor is a viable career path for working technicians.
As an instructor, you are not handed a script. You need to create your own lessons.
You may have the technical ability but also need presentation skills.
Mentoring and finding the future leaders/instructors will be necessary.

There is more to engaging students than just having the experience.
You can learn to teach … your experience is the valuable asset.
Teaching is a definite career change. The subject matter is the same but the job description is totally different.
The money is a big factor in the teacher role. They will want to take a pay cut to become an educator. There are benefits. Days not as long. Time off in Summer.

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55 min
July 19, 2017THA 024: Quality Controls – Why it Matters for Retention & Reputation
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:

Chris Cloutier Is co-owner of Golden Rule Auto Care in Dallas Texas. He spent many years in the software industry developing solutions for companies like Southwest Airlines, and Wyndham Intl. He’s worked for companies that understood the marriage of service and software, and have applied it in an effective way. Chris has his ASE C1: Automobile Service Consultant Certification Test (C1). He brings the business side to the business and his brother Pat brings the Braun. Chris is also a musician. Hear Chris in episodes 178 and 186.
Frank Scandura from Franks European in Las Vegas, NV started working on cars as a teenager in upstate New York and moved to Las Vegas in 1988. After years writing service for Mercedes, he opened Frank’s European service in 2001 and grew to a 12,000-square foot, 10 bay shop in the northwest part of Las Vegas, not far from the famous Strip! He has 15 team members and is partnered with his wife Deborah. From his first immersion, in the business, pumping gas at 15 years old in Orange County New York, to writing service at a Mercedes dealer in Las Vegas Frank Scandura shares his business acumen and offers insights and trends on leadership as a business coach. Hear Frank in episode 163.
Joe Hanson is the manager of his father’s business, Gordie’s Garage. Since he can remember he was either sweeping floors, running for parts or working in the shop and for the past 10 years or so managing all the operations. Joe has attended Management Success, NAPA training, Lawrence Tech University and most recently he is a member of the RLO 20 Group 13. He has earned his ASE C1: Automobile Service Consultant Certification. Under his father’s leadership he has seen what it really takes to make a business like this work. You can hear Joe on the podcast in episodes 177, Academy ‘Resolutions’ episode #2 , episode 226 direct from the ASA Connected Cars and the 200th retrospective.
Talking points:
QC is all about the customer.
You cannot manage what you cannot measure.
A good QC process brings accountability to your overall processes
Your business culture needs to be right to be sure everyone find deficiencies in your processes.
Invest in your reputation against any negative ononlineeview.
As Toyota does they celebrate when they find deficiencies.
It is not about trusting your technicians it is about catching us humans making mistakes and that is OK.
There is always time to do QC.
Frank’s QC person has a technician background.
You build up a bank account of trust with your customer.
QC is so important with your first-time customer.
Concierge Service: Town Hall Academy: worth the listen HERE.
It takes 5 – 7 minutes to walk around the car.
It takes 12 – 15 minutes for a drive.
Chris C has a 12% QC rate. (Issues they find)
Frank QC’s every single car no matter what the work that was done.
Most shops do a great job fixing cars. Not good enough anymore.
We need to be different and do things above and beyond expectations of the customer.
Setting yourself apart. Go above and beyond.

Frank suggests a book ‘Checklist Manifesto’ About the medical world.
Frank: There is a moral component to treat our customers as family.
Give your customer the option to step up or step out of the work that needs to get done.

QC can be applied to all areas of the business. Birth to death of ticket.
Quality checking the quality of the interaction with the customer.
Parts procurement.
Vehicle Delivery.

QC starts with the leader
What level of quality do want to have

You have to have a certain level of love in your business entity. The basis in your heart.
QC needs a quality process. Get your team involved.
Define goals and metrics.
Hold your team accountable for the quality level you need to run a reputable business.

Quality Control Worksheet offered by Chris Cloutier HERE.

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This episode is brought to you by Jasper Engines & Transmissions. When a car’s engine or transmission fails, it’s not the end of the road. A remanufactured drivetrain product from Jasper Engines & Transmissions will give your car a new lease on life. JASPER has over 2000 Associates, three manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers and 45 branch offices across the country. They’re all working to produce, transport and deliver the perfect product. That’s what they do best… keep customers happy. Visit jasperengines.com
49 min
July 19, 2017THA 018: ASA Connected CARS Detroit May 2017
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Donny Seyfer is a second-generation repair shop owner and ASE Master Technician. An active industry educator Donny is past chairman of the Automotive Service Association and works nationally to help repair shops with IT and service information utilization. Donny also was the ASA event organizer. Donny is also a member of the board of trustees of NATEF and a trustee of AMi. Hear Donny Seyfer in episode 30 (ASA) and 33 and recently on a Town Hall Academy on Lean Processes.
Pete Rudloff is a technician, national automotive instructor/advisor, a nationally published technical writer and owner of Pete’s Garage Inc. in Newark, DE. Pete has a passion for training and created the Delaware training Group to bring technicians together in an environment that fosters learning. Pete’s Garage has a reputation as friend to the general auto repair shops with more than 40 local shops calling themselves customers. Pete’s Garage is known for fixing difficult to fix cars and has grown more into a diagnostic destination than a maintenance shop. Hear Pete in episodes 123.
Craig O’Neill initially began college seeking a degree in history however set aside his full-time education, to join the family business. Craig committed himself to scaling the 3rd generation business, O’Neill’s Transmission & Service. An ASE certified technician and service consultant, he is excited about the technological advances the industry is seeing. Craig is committed to elevating the professional image of the automotive service community, and consistently looking for ways communicate with bright young people regarding the opportunities that exist in our automotive service profession. This is Craigs first appearance on the Remarkable Results Radio Podcast.
Dave Wagner is a technician working at Savage Automotive Technologies in Northeast Philadelphia. There he has continued his education in our great industry. Dave is an ASE CMAT, L1, L2, L3, the Assistant Coordinator Delaware Training Group and an EV/Hybrid tech. Dave started as so many techs did changing oil at his uncle’s shop on weekends when he was 12 years old. He started the professional side of his career as a tech in dealerships in 1996. Dave is currently working with a mentor to become an instructor to help teach and motivate others to want to learn what this industry has to offer.
Talking Points:
Consumer education must go hand in hand with technician education
These systems are very robust with lots of engineering behind them. The systems will generally alert you when something is not working right.
The real challenges lay in the hands of shop owners and managers to provide the tools and equipment… also the business model.. to thrive during these changes.
The single biggest take-a-way is that this technology will not doom the auto repair trade, there is no timer counting down our demise.
There is a finite time that we will be doing calibrations that require fixtures and a smaller window where this will be a bonafide profit center.
Most ADAS systems are very robust. This really is proven less by the CARS conference and more by the fact that many shops are not seeing major ADAS related systems with organic problems.
ADAS systems are easy to diagnose, they are as close to self-diagnosing modules as we have ever seen. With only a small bit of training and a good understanding of electricity, shops will find these systems are easy to diagnose and profitable.

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43 min
July 17, 2017THA 017: What Happens When The Phone Rings
Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Rena Rennebohm Automotive Business Coach, ACT. When not gardening or cooking Rena is working her chosen trade, Coaching Service Advisors across the country.
With over a decade of Service Advisor experience, from the independent side of the business to the dealership side and back, Rena has seen and dealt with just about anything and everything! And after becoming proficient as a Service Advisor, she moved to the Coaching & Training side of the automotive industry. Her experience in Coaching and Training Service Advisors has allowed many, many facilities to not only build their total sales exponentially, it has helped build a stronger NET profits as well.
Rena in episode 91 Women’s Board Compilation
Barry Barrett is an authority on sales and selling. He is the Director of Training for RLO. Barry’s sales and training capabilities operate at full capacity in his dual roles as the lead salesperson and service manager trainer.
During Barry’s career as a Service Manager and top salesperson, he honed his talents in communicating with people.
Barry is tireless in his pursuit of excellence in the automotive industry and in all that he does. His passion for providing tools to train owners and their teams to the next level is unlimited. Barry is a Ziglar Legacy Certified Coach TODAY Episode 220 with Tom Zigler.
Barry has supported the podcast in episodes: 130, the 200th Retrospective, 208 Business Coaches Round Table and THA: Resolutions. Barry was also with Tom Ziglar in episode 220.
Doug Grills from AutoStream Car Care Center is a chain of FIVE family-owned, automotive service facilities that deliver honest and professional automotive repair and maintenance services to customers in the Greater Baltimore/Washington, DC area. Doug along with his partner Rick Levitan has been around the service station business for over 25 years and have built their reputation by offering best-in-class service to their customers.
All AutoStrem Car Care technicians are ASE Certified and the shops are AAA approved.
Doug was with me in his own episode #115 and on the ‘Your Website’ Academy.
Talking Points:
The heavy lifting begins when the phone rings.
It need not be transactional.
This starts the relationship.

Focus before you pick up the phone.
STOP what you are doing. You cannot multi-task when you answer the phone.
Put a mirror on the phone. Look at the best version of you before you answer.
Listen, solve problems.
You are in the pain management business.

Scripts (Call Guide or A Professional Presentation)..
Practice what you do when you pick up the phone.
All professionals practice. Athletes, Singers etc.

What separates high performance if people are willing to practice.

You need to set yourself up to have a positive call with the customer.
Never bad news only good news.

Questions allow you to gather important information.
The value of call recording.
It is the customers’ worldview. Their perspective. You need to ask questions.
People know all about you by doing research before they call.
Moments of truth (Doug Grills)
When the customer interacts with the company is a moment of truth.
It happens many times with your customer and your company.
The customer will make a judgment with each interaction.
The inbound phone call is the most important moment of truth.

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53 min
July 12, 2017THA 023: Social Media – How To Strategies
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Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Carrie-Lynn Rodenberg, is owner of Turnkey Marketing that exists to help shops effectively communicate to your community, customers, and potential customers the good work you do. Your repair shop can be known as the trusted, “go-to” shop in your area. Their work provides cutting edge marketing that actually works and increases car count. You can hear Carrie-Lynn in episode 214
Greg Buckley is the CEO of the 50 + year young Buckley Personalized Auto Care in Wilmington, DE. He’s a member of ASA, an ATI Coach, a member of the Delaware Automotive Service Professionals, past member of the NAPA advisory board council, is vice-president of NAPA business development group, and is involved as an advisory board member of Kukui, along with AutoVitals. Hear Greg’s previous episodes HERE. (We covered Social Media in 54 & 155)
Ron Haugen owns Westside Auto Pros in Des Moines, Iowa. Ron is an ASE Master Technician, has his AAM certification and is an AMI Certified instructor. Ron is Co-Chair of Vision, Hi-Tech Training and Expo, President of the Des Moines ASA chapter. You can hear Ron is episode 107, 204 and on Academy 003, 004, 014.
Talking Points:
Facebook is becoming more search.
You need to be active in social media and have a strategy.
Look at Facebook like King/Queen at Homecoming (Ron Haugen)
Facebook is just like that. The most popular in the school is what creams to the top.

You do not want canned content.
“Back in the day the full service gas islands were the social media of the day.” Greg Buckley
Greg Buckley practices the five “E’s”: Educate, Engage, Entertain, Entice and Elevate.
You want engagement. You need a personality so people can relate to you.
We are not a machine.

Best time for a business to be in front of your client base: every day.
You need to be involved even if you use a company to support your social media efforts.
It must be personalized and only you can provide the story and picture.
Someone in the shop who can take one picture a day to send a picture to the person who may be managing your social efforts.

Involve your team to find photos and stories for content.
It needs to become culture in your business to find the photo and story so your social world can be engaged.
Use Social Media to bond with your customer.
You can post 5 engagements for the week in less than an hour on a Monday morning.
Facebook is the most intelligent marketing platforms; ever.
Don’t be afraid to buy a Facebook ‘Like’ (Ron Haugen)
Run a ‘Facebook Like Campaign’. Pay a community group X amount of dollars per like in short amount of time.

Facebook Ads are a replacement for direct mail.
It is a very powerful tool because you can get into finite detail in selecting who sees your ad. Facebook knows a lot about your customer.

You want to be known before a prospect comes in the door. Use your Social Media strategy to accomplish that .
Facebook Ads is an untapped resource.
What about Twitter, Instagram and Google Plus?
Website may become obsolete in the future as Google and Facebook ramp up their strategy to keep the user on their site.
Google Plus is coming back
#1 goal is to build out with social and grow it.

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This episode is brought to you by Jasper Engines & Transmissions. When a car’s engine or transmission fails, it’s not the end of the road. A remanufactured drivetrain product from Jasper Engines & Transmissions will give your car a new lease on life. JASPER has over 2000 Associates, three manufacturing facilities, two distribution centers and 45 branch offices across the country. They’re all working to produce, transport and deliver the perfect product. That’s what they do best… keep customers happy. Visit jasperengines.com
56 min
July 06, 2017THA 016: Lean Processes – Relentlessly Work On Eliminating Waste
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Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Donny Seyfer is a second-generation repair shop owner and ASE Master Technician. An active industry educator Donny is past chairman of the Automotive Service Association and works nationally to help repair shops with IT and service information utilization.
Donny is also a member of the board of trustees of NATEF and a trustee of AMi. Hear Donny is episode 30 (ASA), 33 and on ASA Connected Cars Detroit.
Brad Pellman first started working in the automotive industry at the age of 15 and over his career has held a wide variety of jobs at both dealerships and independent repair shops. In 1995 this dream of owning his own shop became a reality when he opened up Pellman’s Automotive in Boulder, CO with his wife, Lisa.
Brad is ASE master certified and AAM designated as well. He is currently on the Board of Directors for ASE and ASA Colorado, with past board involvement with CCPN and the TECHNET Automotive Council. He has had the added privilege of being designated as one of the Motor Age Top shops in the country. And hopes to continue to raise the awareness and importance of Independent automotive repair across the country.
He is implementing LEAN at this shop.
Jeremy O’Neal is President and lead sales trainer for Advisorfix, began his career as a Service Adviser and quickly moved into Service Management at the dealership level for VW, Audi, and Porsche. His strong customer satisfaction scores and ability to increase sales consistently placed him in the top 3% of Service Advisers across the nation.
Jeremy also owns an independent auto repair shop. With a passion for helping others Jeremy started coaching Service Advisers in 2007. Since that time Jeremy has logged more than 16,112 hours of high performance coaching sessions with his clients. Listen to Jeremy in Episode 124, Round-table in episode 178, the Service Professional Round Table, the Digital Sales Process, and on the 200th retrospective and and Academy session on Concierge Service.
Talking Points:
Application of LEAN is not exactly like manufacturing. In the repair shop you DO 5s. Many LEAN coaches don’t like to make 5S an event but in our environment, it is the only way I have seen to get 5S rolling in the shop. Minimize tech activity outside of their work bay.
Organize parking based on status of repair.
Benefits of hiring alternative staff for cleaning needs throughout the shop.
Organize and enforce placement of equipment throughout the shop space.
Correct technician matched to every job when possible, play to their strengths.
Lean Behavior is a skill that can be trained.
Story of an oil filter that cost a shop $48.00 to get from the parts room.
Lean Leadership from the bottom up, even your shuttle driver needs to understand Lean and create the right behavior.

Lean production.com Website
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47 min
July 06, 2017THA 015: How to Improve Employee Loyalty
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Learn from your industry peers in a round-table forum. Get new ideas, perspectives, trends, insights, best-practices and expertise from aftermarket professionals.
Watch like a DOCUMENTARY … Learn like a SEMINAR.
Helping automotive aftermarket professionals improve; one lesson at a time.
Academy Panel:
Dwayne Myers With Dynamic Automotive, This MSO group was selected top 10 automotive shop in 2014 from Motor Age and has just opened their 4th shop. Dwayne invests time in the industry with the Auto Care Association and serving on the education committee with CCPN (Car Care Professional Network). Dwayne was recently honored as one of only 17 outstanding individuals that qualified for the prestigious 2017 World Class Technician Award presented by The Auto Care Association and ASE.
Dwayne was on episode 2, 3 and 4 with his partners Jose Bueso and Lee Forman and A Round Table on Technician Training in Episode 59, and on a Supplier Needs Roundtable (118). Listen to episode 222 with Dwyane as we talk about his 2017 World Class Technician honor and more.
Ryan Clo
Ryan Clo owner of Dubwerx in Cincinnati, OH is an eighteen-year veteran in the Automotive Service industry. He is a multi shop owner. Ryan grew his enterprise from a single customer into a multiple highly profitable business with 12 employees, 99% customer satisfaction, and he has automated his business that gives him time to consult.
Ryan consults for the Institute of Automotive Business Excellence providing guidance to automotive businesses including on-site evaluations, off-site coaching, business plan development, and one-on-one coaching with owners and staff. He is known at The Institute as the “Systems and Processes guy.” Ryan teaches several business management classes for the automotive industry. Listen to Ryan also in E092 and Town Hall on Websites)
Jude Larson
Jude Larson is the president, owner and lead consultant for JML Real Solutions. He is a frequent speaker and trainer at industry events. Jude has vast business experience including being a highly successful service advisor, the owner and operator of a hybrid on-line and print marketing company, a top performer in the financial industry, and a record setting career in retail management. Jude uses his rich experience and business success as he consults, trains and coaches results focused solutions with clients. He recently became a shop owner. Listen to Jude in episode 170.
Talking Points:
People want to work for a progressive company (New and changing)
Do you know your Why? Share your purpose.
Do your people know.
Why are you here and in business?
Share your vision with your people.

Share your numbers.
A clear idea where you are at and the expectations.

Working hard does not mean making money. Working smart does.
The more you develop your people the better for the business.
They will care about the customers more.
When you empower your group, you would be amazed where they can take you.

The work-space is critical.
Well lit, windows.
Front of house needs updates.
People want to work at forward thinking shop.
Artwork on the wall vs. advertisements.
Are uniforms nice or plan?
Environment
Kitchen, training area, lockers, games

Company culture
All that you do contributes to the whole environment.

The power of gratitude.
Take care of your team is as important as taking care of your customers maybe even more important.
Take care of your people they will take care of your customer.

There has been backward thinking that the customer comes first.
Don’t leapfrog over your employees, make them first. They will make the customer first.
Focus on the employee they will focus on the customer.

A rookie is nothing less than part of the team.
When change happens, you may lose people. That may not be a bad thing.
Shop meetings can be an important time to engage and empower your team.
Focus on appreciation and give everyone a voice.
Mistakes are an opportunity to learn.

Performance plus commission pay programs work.
Good pay and bonus plans must be easy to understand and realistic.
You need to pay good money for good talent.

There are also import things you can do for your team such as training and venues like Vision, Automechanika and AAPEX. Take your team out for a great dinner while at these venues.
Mentoring is important for employee loyalty.
We all need help.
Some are more receptive than others.
Check your ego at the door.

Create a learning environment with a book club. The learning extends to home life.

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49 min

About Town Hall Academy - Archive

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Single-subject Town Hall Format from a panel of aftermarket professionals sharing their knowledge and best practices. The ‘Academy’ is a learning summit for the automotive aftermarket professional.

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