Wrench Turners Podcast

Dealerships have added BDCs, technician videos, digital inspections, AI, warranty processes, new software, and more administrative responsibilities.

So why does the customer experience often feel the same—or even worse?

In this Ten Mil Mastery conversation, Marshall, Josh Arnold, Brent Osmond, and Joshua Taylor compare automotive and heavy-duty service departments, examine how the service advisor role has changed, and discuss the administrative work increasingly being pushed onto technicians.

The problem may not be the technology itself.

The problem is adding tools without delivering the training, expectations, leadership, and measurement required to use them successfully.

The practical takeaway for dealers is straightforward:

Map every task your advisors and technicians perform.

Separate customer relationship work from purely administrative work.

Train each process clearly.

Measure whether the process improves communication, productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

Every new tool should make it easier for your people to care for the customer. It shouldn’t simply become another task they’re expected to manage.

What’s one process in your store that has become more complicated than it needs to be?

Leave it in the comments and join the conversation.

Subscribe for more conversations about technicians, leadership, fixed operations, and the people responsible for keeping the world moving.

Negative Pushes

Positive Pulls

God Bless

j.

Follow Brent Osmond:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-osmond-7b8302149/

Dynamic Diesel Solutions

https://www.linkedin.com/company/dynamic-diesel-solutions-canada/posts/?feedView=all

Follow Marshall Sheldon

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-sheldon-981349176/

Briggs Industrial Solutions

https://www.linkedin.com/company/briggs-industrial-solutions/

Follow Josh Arnold

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-arnold-%F0%9F%A7%B0-aa249b349/

Continental Automotive Group

https://www.linkedin.com/company/continentalautomotivegroup

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

Chapters

0:00 The advisor role changes

3:34 Should administration be separated?

5:22 More tools, worse results

6:23 Has service gone backwards?

6:55 Automotive versus heavy duty

7:37 The service mindset

8:58 Why customer trust matters

10:21 How dealers can improve

Attilio Guidetti has gone from automotive school and race-team work in Bologna to leading Ducati service operations across 15 Asia-Pacific markets. Along the way, he’s worked as a technician, service advisor, international trainer, business owner, and aftersales leader.

In this episode, we discuss why skilled technicians can still struggle inside poorly managed shops, why customer experience and profitability must work together, and why service improvement has to begin with ownership, leadership, clear expectations, and meaningful KPIs.

Attilio also shares how he learned English in three months to earn an international training opportunity, why technicians should begin developing for their next role before they feel ready, and what it actually takes to move from the workshop into management.

This conversation is for technicians, foremen, service advisors, service managers, fixed operations leaders, and shop owners who want to build stronger careers, teams, and businesses.

Subscribe to the Wrench Turners Podcast for conversations designed to help technicians live happier, healthier, more productive lives.

Negative Pushes.

Positive Pulls.

God Bless.

j.

Follow Attilio

https://www.linkedin.com/in/service-manager/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:35 The Crash That Started Everything

09:41 Racing Teams And Service

14:44 Learning English In Three Months

22:47 Building Businesses Worldwide

24:35 Joining Ducati Across Asia

33:45 Customer Satisfaction Is A Tool

38:42 Leadership Starts At The Top

47:59 Begin Before You Are Ready

52:48 Final Thoughts

Your customer doesn’t experience your dealership as service, parts, sales, and BDC.They experience one dealership.When an appointment is mishandled, a call isn’t returned, a part update never arrives, or departments blame one another, the customer doesn’t care which team caused the problem. They only know the dealership failed to solve it.In the season finale of Earned Influence Season 3, Mindy Williams, Kaylee Felio, Wendy Reeves, and Joshua Taylor discuss how service, parts, and the BDC can stop working in silos and start winning together.Wendy explains why dealerships are underusing their BDC teams. Beyond setting appointments, the BDC can support advisor overflow, missed calls, special-order parts updates, recall communication, customer retention, and relationship building.Kaylee discusses the importance of understanding the person behind the department. The parts employee who appears difficult may be managing technicians, advisors, warranty claims, inventory, and customer requests simultaneously. Sometimes the most useful question is simply, “Are you okay, and how can I help?”Mindy brings the conversation together with one clear message:“Just seeing each other as a whole rather than breaking it up into departments.”This episode covers departmental silos, internal communication, BDC utilization, employee workload, customer follow-up, cross-department relationships, and why every dealership must organize around the customer instead of its org chart.Send this episode to a service manager, parts manager, BDC manager, advisor, technician, or fixed-operations leader who wants their departments to work better together.Negative pushes. Positive pulls.God Blessj.Featuring:Wendy Reeves of BDC Angelshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-reeves/https://www.linkedin.com/company/bdcangels/Mindy Williams of Carter Myers Automotivehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mindy-williams-700b791b7/https://www.linkedin.com/company/carter-myers-automotive/Kaylee Felio of PartsEdgehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefelio/https://www.linkedin.com/company/partsedge-inc-/Hosted by Joshua TaylorListen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45ebInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/⚠️ Disclaimer:I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.Chapters00:00 Why Departments Become Silos02:18 BDC as the Glue03:14 Parts Communication Gaps03:56 Service Call Overflow05:11 Help Us Help You06:54 Helping Departments Win07:21 See the Human09:18 The Cost of Silos

Who loses if you don’t win?

That question changed how Mindy Williams thinks about leadership, responsibility, and every decision she makes. Because when a leader isn’t performing at the level their people need, the consequences rarely stop with the leader.

Employees can lose. Customers can lose. Families can lose. The business can lose. In this episode of Earned Influence Season 3, Mindy, Wendy Reeves, Kaylee Felio, and Joshua Taylor discuss the questions that changed how they lead.

Wendy explains why giving instructions isn’t enough. Leaders must verify that people actually understand what was communicated, give them opportunities to apply it, and avoid overwhelming them with information they can’t yet use.

Kaylee discusses the courage required to lead up, clearly communicate what needs to change, and move leadership conversations beyond repeatedly discussing the same problems.

The conversation also explores why leaders must see the person behind the employee, why generic questions create generic answers, and how specific follow-up questions prove that you were actually paying attention.

Good leaders don’t just provide answers.

They ask questions that create understanding, uncover what their people need, and turn conversation into action.

So, before your next important leadership decision, ask yourself:

Who loses if you don’t win?

Subscribe to The Wrench Turners Podcast and share this episode with someone responsible for leading people, whether leadership appears in their job title or not.

Negative pushes.

Positive pulls.

God Bless

j.

Featuring:

Wendy Reeves of BDC Angels

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-reeves/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bdcangels/

Mindy Williams of Carter Myers Automotive

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindy-williams-700b791b7/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/carter-myers-automotive/

Kaylee Felio of PartsEdge

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefelio/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/partsedge-inc-/

Hosted by Joshua Taylor

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Chapters

00:00 Earned Influence Returns

00:36 A Leadership Question

00:56 Verify Understanding

04:06 Listening Isn’t Enough

05:48 Learning to Lead Up

07:17 Turn Talk Into Action

11:07 Who Loses?

13:11 See Your People

14:18 Ask Specific Questions

15:27 Questions Build Trust

Parts can make or break the rhythm of a service department.

In this episode of The Wrench Turners Podcast, Shawn Parrett joins me to talk about the real life of the parts counter, how parts leaders support technicians, and why communication between parts, advisors, and the shop matters more than most dealerships admit.

Shawn has nearly 30 years in automotive parts, from wholesale parts to parts manager, and he brings a direct message for technicians, advisors, parts people, and fixed ops leaders:

Always have an answer.

We talk about obsolescence, lost sales, inventory decisions, technician trust, service advisor communication, leadership, humility, consistency, and why the best parts departments remove friction instead of creating it.

This episode is for anyone in dealership fixed operations who wants the shop, parts counter, and service drive to work better together. Shawn explains how a strong parts department helps technicians stay moving, helps advisors sell with confidence, and helps the dealership win.

Negative Pushes

Positive Pulls

God Bless

j.

Follow Shawn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-parrett-48390b79/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

Chapters

0:00 Meet Shawn Parrett

1:52 Getting Started in Automotive Parts

7:00 Humility, Drive, and Consistency

11:38 Learning Through the 2008 Recession

21:11 What Technicians Need to Know About Parts

27:46 How Parts Managers Think About Inventory

32:17 Training Green Parts People the Right Way

37:28 The Best Parts People Always Have an Answer

40:59 How Parts Helps Service Sell More Work

42:26 Shawn’s Advice for Technicians

AI can improve your writing, organize your thoughts, analyze reports, and remove hours of repetitive work.

But what happens when everyone starts sounding the same?

In Season 3, Episode 1 of Earned Influence, Wendy Reeves, Mindy Williams, Kaylee Felio, and Joshua Taylor discuss how leaders can use AI without losing their authenticity, judgment, privacy, or connection with the people they serve.

Kaylee explains why she stepped away from social media after AI-assisted content started feeling too polished and predictable. Mindy shares how she uses AI for training, reporting, KPIs, and customer follow-up while making sure the final message still sounds like her. Wendy breaks down practical dealership applications, including BDC coaching, performance reporting, data analysis, and the risks of employees entering dealership or customer information into unsecured tools.

The conversation also explores how AI can reduce administrative work, summarize overloaded inboxes, improve leadership preparation, and help technicians turn frustrating processes into prototypes that management and engineering can understand.

AI should eliminate repetition, not responsibility.

It should help organize your thoughts, not manufacture your beliefs.

And it should make you more capable without slowly teaching you to sound like everyone else.

Negative pushes.

Positive pulls.

God Bless

j.

Featuring:

Wendy Reeves of BDC Angels

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-reeves/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bdcangels/

Mindy Williams of Carter Myers Automotive

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindy-williams-700b791b7/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/carter-myers-automotive/

Kaylee Felio of PartsEdge

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefelio/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/partsedge-inc-/

Hosted by Joshua Taylor

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Chapters

00:00 Earned Influence Returns

00:53 Why Kaylee Stopped Posting

02:41 Using AI Authentically

03:36 AI Inside the Shop

05:11 Humanity Builds Trust

06:47 Wendy’s AI Workflow

09:30 Dealership AI Integration

11:51 Writing With Less

13:55 Automating Daily Work

15:26 AI Creates Opportunity

The parts department is expected to identify the right components, manage inventory, prevent obsolescence, handle warranty returns, navigate supply chains, source emergency parts, and keep technicians productive.

Yet in many dealerships, parts people are still treated like an afterthought.

Marshall, Brent Osmond, and Josh Arnold discuss what changes when parts becomes a recognized skilled trade rather than a position people are expected to learn through trial and error.

Brent explains how Canada’s Parts Technician apprenticeship can include component identification, engines, transmissions, hydraulic systems, inventory control, logistics, customs documentation, customer communication, and Red Seal certification.

The conversation then moves into the larger dealership problem: inconsistent training, limited mentorship, low professional recognition, and compensation that may not attract or retain highly capable people.

A great parts person can understand what a technician is asking for, recognize related service information, anticipate required bolts and consumables, reduce mistakes, and prevent unnecessary downtime.

The question is not whether parts people affect the repair process. They clearly do.

The question is whether dealerships are willing to train and treat them accordingly.

Subscribe for more conversations about technicians, dealership operations, leadership, training, and the people responsible for keeping the industry moving.

Negative Pushes

Positive Pulls

God Bless

j.

Follow Brent Osmond:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-osmond-7b8302149/

Dynamic Diesel Solutions

https://www.linkedin.com/company/dynamic-diesel-solutions-canada/posts/?feedView=all

Follow Marshall Sheldon

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-sheldon-981349176/

Briggs Industrial Solutions

https://www.linkedin.com/company/briggs-industrial-solutions/

Follow Josh Arnold

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-arnold-%F0%9F%A7%B0-aa249b349/

Continental Automotive Group

https://www.linkedin.com/company/continentalautomotivegroup

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

Chapters

00:00 The Parts Credentialing Debate

02:18 Inside Red Seal Training

03:44 Inventory and Obsolescence

04:30 Emergency Parts Logistics

05:58 Great Parts People

08:36 Certification, Talent, and Pay

11:11 The Missing Apprenticeship

13:03 Parts Pay Versus Technicians

In this special panel episode of Wrench Turners Podcast, we sit down with Dale Pettigrew and Nicholas Martin, two former technicians who moved into OEM technical support, to talk about what actually makes a support case easier or harder to solve.

This conversation gets into the stuff technicians deal with every day: vague repair orders, skipped diagnostic steps, intermittent concerns, “no fault found” visits, missing values, customer descriptions, communication gaps, and the pressure to fix complex problems quickly.

Dale and Nicholas explain why “all good” isn’t good enough, why exact numbers matter, why documentation can protect you years later, and why tech support isn’t there to fix the car for you. They’re there to help you build the process, ask better questions, and become stronger at diagnosing the hard stuff.

This one is for technicians, advisors, shop foremen, service managers, warranty admins, and anyone who wants to understand how to get better answers from technical support.

Negative Pushes.

Positive Pulls.

God Bless

j.

Featuring:

Dale Pettigrew

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dale-pettigrew-1532165a/

Nicholas Martin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-martin-3779b4249/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

What if you’re not stuck because you lack talent, ambition, or discipline?

What if you’re surrounded by people who cannot help you become the person you’re trying to become?

In the final episode of Earned Influence Season 2, Kathleen Long, Kelli Verdi, and Kaylee Felio share the hurdles that forced them to rethink their careers, environments, health, relationships, and definitions of success.

Kathleen explains how an outside coach and a new peer group helped her understand what she needed to change to move from the VP level into the C-suite.

Kelli discusses the importance of finding leadership that recognizes the value of having several connected skills instead of forcing someone into a narrowly defined role.

Kaylee shares why achieving her professional goals still left her questioning what came next, and how focusing on her health, children, family, and personal development became part of reaching the next level.

Joshua also shares how losing his clients and career direction during the beginning of COVID humbled him, brought him back to his faith, and helped him build a life centred around purpose, family, friendship, and service.

Sometimes you don't need to work harder.

Sometimes you need a different perspective, a healthier environment, and people who will challenge, support, and trust you.

That's Earned Influence.

Earned Influence is a roundtable series featuring women leaders in service who have earned trust the hard way through their character, actions, relationships, and results.

Subscribe for more conversations about leadership, trust, service, communication, and the people working inside the automotive industry and skilled trades.

Negative pushes.

Positive pulls.

God Bless.

j.

Featuring:

Kelli Verdi of Team MXS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelliverdi/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/team-mxs

Kathleen Long of RepairPal//Yelp

https://www.linkedin.com/in/longkathleen/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/yelp-com/

Kaylee Felio of PartsEdge

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefelio/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/partsedge-inc-/

Hosted by Joshua Taylor

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

Chapters

00:00 Perspective Changes Everything

01:22 Reaching the C-Suite

04:07 Finding the Right Environment

07:45 Kaylee’s Current Hurdle

10:18 Boring Things Create Results

11:48 The People Around You

12:18 Humbled by COVID

14:23 What Earned Influence Means

What happens when showing up online begins taking more from you than it gives back?

In Episode 3 of Earned Influence Season 2, Kaylee Felio opens an honest conversation about social media burnout. After years of consistently sharing her career, podcast, and life online, she’s reached a point where she has to ask: What am I doing, and do I still want to do it?

Kathleen Long and Kelli Verdi join Kaylee and Joshua Taylor for a candid discussion about the pressure to remain consistent, the hidden workload behind content creation, and the fear of building something you may eventually want to leave.

The conversation also explores why taking care of yourself is an act of generosity, how curiosity can restore creativity, and why your work doesn’t have to become your entire identity.

Then the discussion turns practical: capturing the conversations you’re already having, creating content without constantly manufacturing topics, and showing people what actually happens inside your business.

Because people don’t build trust by seeing only what you want them to see.

They build trust by seeing what you live.

Earned Influence is a Wrench Turners Podcast series featuring honest conversations with leaders who have earned the trust required to influence what happens next.

Subscribe for more conversations about leadership, trust, service, communication, and the people working inside the automotive industry and skilled trades.

Negative pushes.

Positive pulls.

God Bless.

j.

Featuring:

Kelli Verdi of Team MXS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelliverdi/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/team-mxs

Kathleen Long of RepairPal//Yelp

https://www.linkedin.com/in/longkathleen/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/yelp-com/

Kaylee Felio of PartsEdge

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayleefelio/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/partsedge-inc-/

Hosted by Joshua Taylor

Listen to The Wrench Turners Podcast:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScwRP0DFMtDsp83JxPhPK?si=26aeb4be65da45eb

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mrjoshuataylor/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjtaylor/

⚠️ Disclaimer:

I’m a licensed mechanic. That doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing, whether it’s fixing things or filming things. Do your own due diligence.

0:00 Social Media Burnout

0:57 What Matters Most

2:35 Consistency Becomes Pressure

5:03 The Hidden Content Workload

8:16 Give Back To Yourself

11:49 Create From Real Life

18:37 Marketing Without Constant Selling

20:48 Raw Content Builds Trust