[Podcast] Frank Scandura – 20 Questions in 30 Minutes [RR 595]

[carmcapriotto]

Frank Scandura, Franks European, Las Vegas, NV started working on cars as a teenager in upstate New York and moved to Las Vegas in 1988. After years of 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. Frank’s previous episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points:

1. If I had all the money in the world, what would you buy?Security for family. Becomes more important as time goes on. 3 out of 4 kids have already taken Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps- Make a monthly budget  
2. Is it easy to say 'I Don't Know.'Yes, but you have to practice. It’s okay to not know everything, simply say “I’m not sure, let me do some research and get back to you.”  
3. Do you see obstacles not as roadblocks but as opportunities?,Opportunities all the time. Anticipate roadblocks and play the “what if” game to solve the problem.  
4. Do you have a strong intuition? Do you listen to it?Yes and act on your gut feeling. Trust your inner intuition and spouse’s intuition. 
5. Your biggest learning moment?Used to let temper get the best of him and think he was the one that built business. Realized business would be nothing without the people around him. Humbling moment.    
6. What are you doing to put the Customer first in your business?Putting employees first. If you treat employees right (training, tools, expectations) they in turn treat customers right.  
7. A special strategy to build a strong reputation?Follow your morals, values and integrity. Do not tolerate anything else.  
8. Recently fired a customer? The reason?Some customers make unreasonable demands. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s how you handle them that sets you apart. Politely tell the customer “I’m sorry but this is not the right shop for you.”    
9. What impact does technology have on your business?If you’re not digitally savvy now, it might be too late. Need to capture as much data as possible. Have to have digital dispatching, reporting, inspections etc. Be ready for the changing technology in cars.   
10. What is the latest book you read? Big take-a-way“Leadershift” by John Maxwell- making those around you leaders, shift how you lead to let them become leaders.  
11. How much training per year do you get?Watches video series for Transformers Institute, John Maxwell training, reads everyday and has daily devotions. Hobby is woodworking and continues to learn about that as well. 
12. Ever had a mentor?Jim Murphy, Dan Taylor, Greg Bunch
13. Share a Gross Margin HackLearn what gross margin is first. Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth. Can’t manage what you can’t measure.   
14. Last labor rate adjustment?$30/hr since last August this year. Parts are becoming harder and harder to get margins on. Wanted to improve bonus structure and improve the bottom line.   
15. Share a car count idea?Stop going for more car count, make every car count more. Every car needs a thorough written inspection. Every discovery needs to be estimated. 100% of the estimate needs to be presented.   
16. How long ago did you update your website?Last month- complete revamp of site, chat bot 
17. The most recent update to your processes/systemConstantly updating! Only way you can successfully do that is by having communication with the team in regular meetings.  
18. Are you paperless? When did you go?6-7 years ago- saw the need for it a long time ago with streamlining technician writing in abbreviation and wrong parts got ordered.
19. Name something you tried that didn’t work?Hybrid battery rebuilding- learned that instead of needing to be the “first” for everything, can take a step back and wait before jumping in.    
20. What is your dream car? Do you own it?Don’t currently but owned it twice- mercedes high performance 2 door CLK63 AMG Convertible. Sold it in town- a new customer knew it had an oil leak that would be fixed during the first oil change, turned out it had to be pulled out to be fixed. Frank bought the car back from the owner. Sold it a year later.  

Resources:

• Thanks to Frank Scandura for his contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
• Link to the ‘BOOKS‘ page, highlighting all books discussed in the podcast library HERE. Leaders are readers.
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Learn more about PROimage and the hundreds of other benefits NAPA offers. Talk with your servicing NAPA store or visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com visit the NAPA Benefits Center, at www.napabenefitscenter.com or call the NAPA Benefits Center at 844-627-2123.

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