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Elite Worldwide Inc.

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Blog Entries posted by Elite Worldwide Inc.

  1. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    You don’t have to be in the auto repair business long before a customer asks you if they can supply their own parts. Although there is no one technique that will work in every case, here’s one approach you may want to consider.

    First of all, you’ll need to bear in mind that a customer is making this request because they feel it’s a legitimate one. They are simply trying to save as much money as they can, which is perfectly normal. With rare exception, these customers are unaware that you need to make a profit on your parts to stay in business.

    The reasoning for not installing a customer-supplied part is really pretty simple: It’s not in their best interest, because if that part fails, the responsibility will be on them. They’ll not only be responsible for the part that failed, but for all the ensuing labor costs, their loss of time when their vehicle is down for the second repair, etc. So rather than telling them something that makes them feel cheap or uncomfortable, the next time a customer asks if they can supply their own parts, you may want to say something like this…

    “Well, Mr. Kost, I appreciate your interest in helping, because it’s very kind of you to offer. Unfortunately, here at Elite Auto we’re unable to install customer-supplied parts, and here’s why: The very moment we install any part on your vehicle we become responsible, not just for that part, but for a lot more. If that part were to fail while it’s under warranty, we’re responsible for removing it, paying a tech to determine why it failed so it doesn’t happen again, buying a replacement part and having it delivered to us, and then installing it. We’re also responsible for any towing that may be required, and for any other parts that would be damaged due to its failure. And when you think about it, Mr. Kost, this is the way it should be, and it’s why we have so many loyal customers that send their friends to us. It’s our job to solve problems, and then stand behind our solutions."

    "On the other hand, if we were to install a part that wasn’t one of ours, then we wouldn’t be responsible for it, or anything that may occur if it were to fail. I have to tell you, I’d much rather tell a customer that we’re unable to install a part they’d like to provide, than tell them we just installed their part, it failed, and now it’s their problem, not ours. Now here’s the good news for you: If we do the repair, I can have you back on the road by ___o’clock, and you’ll have the peace of mind in knowing that you have safe, dependable transportation, and the entire repair, including all the parts and labor, will be backed up with our full ____ year _____mile written warranty. All that I need is your go ahead, and I can get Mike started on it right away.”

    This technique won’t work with every customer, because there is no one technique that will. The good news is, it will work with the kind of people that you would like to have as your customers.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  2. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Anyone who has been selling service for any length of time will agree that there are two kinds of customers. The first is the customer who has a history of making good decisions, not just with auto repair, but with most decisions. And then we have the other kind of customer: the kind of person who more often than not makes the wrong decisions.

    Let’s use maintenance service as an example. When you’re dealing with a relatively intelligent person who understands the value of maintenance, all they need is information presented in a way that builds value in the service. You have then done your job, and if they decide not to buy after you’ve addressed their concerns, they may very well have a legitimate reason for postponing the service.

    On the other hand, if you have a customer who has a history of making poor decisions, such as constantly putting off maintenance that has led to costly repairs, then it’s time to step up to the plate and help them with the decision. It’s professional, it’s ethical, and it’s treating people the way they should be treated. Here’s an example…

    Years ago I had a young customer who had just lost his job. He was the proud father of a newborn, and his vehicle needed major repairs. When he told me he wanted to fix his car as cheaply as possible, I shifted from vehicle repairs to discussing the more important things he needed to consider. Now that he was a new father, the baby’s safety, in regard to vehicles, was dependent on him. He also needed a dependable vehicle so he could find and keep the new job he desperately needed, and since he was strapped for cash, it would be a mistake to put himself in a position where he would be running the risk of having to fix his car twice. You know what? He agreed, and the way I won had nothing to do with money. I won by helping him make a difficult decision that was good for him and for his family. We can never forget, selling is helping people make the right decisions. Not fixing cars.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  3. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    There was a time in our industry when shop owners were the only ones who knew the cost of their parts. Additionally, the amount they charged for their repairs and services was typically not public knowledge. If customers wanted to know how much it would cost to perform a specific repair, they had limited options; they would have to either call for an estimate, or visit a repair facility. The service advisor would then page through a catalog, find the price, and then share that price with the customer. As we all know, times have changed, and after decades of confidentiality in pricing, technology has now done more than just change how we diagnose and fix automobiles; it’s actually made pricing transparent. The days of holding your prices close to your chest are not only gone, but if you continue to follow that age-old policy, you’ll more than likely struggle in the coming years.
    As we all know, the web has dramatically changed how you operate your business. It’s changed how you market, how you communicate with your customers, how you order parts, and how you diagnose and fix automobiles. Yet the one thing most repair shop owners are reluctant to accept is that unlike in the past, pricing on every conceivable repair and service is now available within moments online. Now we all know that those prices found online can be as incorrect as often as they are correct, but the reality is this: as we move forward, more people are going to be turning to the web, not just for finding the right repair facility, but for a range in pricing as well.  It’s currently happening in every other industry, so there is no reason to believe that it won’t become even more commonplace in our industry as well. Here are the things I am going to encourage you to consider…
    First of all, you should accept the fact that an increasing number of your first-time visitors will have either already searched the web for a range in pricing, or they will do so within minutes after you provide them with an estimate. In many cases, they will do their price comparisons with their Smartphones, and they’ll do it while they are still at your facility.
    This brings me to the second point that I am going to hope you consider, which I refer to as integrity in pricing. With the ease of access that consumers now have to pricing information, in the coming years the top shops will be competitive in pricing, and they will be proud of the value delivered. Now before I go any further, I am not suggesting that a shop can’t charge more than its competitors do, but if the prices they charge are viewed as out of line with other well run facilities, there is no question: they’ll lose their customers, and their reputation, both at the same time. The proof is in every other industry, because history has shown us that no matter how good the hotel, airline or restaurant may be, if their customers don’t feel that the pricing is comparable to similar service providers, those companies never survive. 
    So here are my recommendations for those of you who want to grow more profitable, successful businesses in the coming years. Start doing what your potential customers are already doing, and survey your legitimate competitors. I’m referring to facilities that offer services and benefits that are comparable to yours. Secondly, ensure you are competitive with your prices. This doesn’t mean you can’t charge more, but you have to be comparable, and you have to believe in the value delivered. 
    Finally, I am not suggesting that you should quickly provide a price to every price shopper, or that you should provide a price before you have built value in the service. What I am suggesting is that you need to embrace the fact that your customers are no different than you and me. They have access to pricing info 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they not only expect transparency, but they demand it. There is no question: transparency in pricing is now a mandate, not an option, for every shop owner, worldwide.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. To learn more about Elite, visit www.EliteWorldwide.com.
  4. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    Over the years I have had the pleasure of watching hundreds of shop owners go to the top, and truly become industry leaders. I have also seen thousands of shop owners that struggle from day to day until they finally either try to find someone that is willing to take over their business at any price, or they simply close their doors and walk away. There are many reasons why shops fail, including lack of business skills and the unwillingness to reach out for help before it’s too late, but there is one silent killer that I have seen take even the best shops down. It preys on every small business owner, and if not caught early enough, inevitably puts them out of business. The good news is; if you are aware of it, you can not only side-step it, but you can turn a good business into a really great business at the same time.

    Some shop owners started their careers as technicians, and others are simply entrepreneurs, but interestingly enough, all shop owners have a number of things in common when they first open their shops. They are excited about what they will be building, and they are filled with passion and energy. They secure a location and equipment, they hire a tech or two, and they get the word out in their communities that they are now open for business. These are the guys and gals that work six to seven days a week, and they happily put in the long hours, because they are making their dreams come true and building a business they can be proud of.

    But then Father Time steps in, and these entrepreneurial shop owners find that they are no longer building their businesses. Instead, they are dealing with customers, ordering parts, working on cars and putting out fires. Unbeknownst to them, they have transitioned from being an entrepreneur to being a manager, and find themselves managing repair orders, managing checkbooks and managing people. Not only are these tasks uninspiring, but they are the furthest things from the role of an entrepreneur. This is when the excitement and challenge of building a business transforms into a job, and burnout sets in. If this sounds like a place where you reside, or if you feel it’s a place you are headed toward, then I have some good news for you: Not only is there hope, but the bright future you envisioned when you opened your shop can still be yours.

    The first thing you will need to do is take a good, hard look at where you are with your business, and then set some long-term business goals that will get you excited again. I have counseled hundreds, if not thousands, of shop owners on this process, and after seeing the results first-hand I can tell you with confidence that taking this step will not only have a dramatic impact on your business, but it will have a life-changing impact on you as a person. When you set those long-term goals that are 3 to 10 years out, you will find that you are invigorated again, and you will reignite that entrepreneur inside of you.

    In closing, all successful businesses are aware of this silent killer, so they never stop growing. I can promise you that ensuring you always have a vision and clearly defined goals will keep that spark of passion alive in you, it will give you a sense of purpose, it will inspire your employees, and it will keep you well ahead of your competitors.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com.

  5. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Over the last 22 years I've been amazed to discover just how many shop owners are lost when it comes to knowing and understanding “the numbers". In order to build a successful auto repair shop, you are going to need to know two sets of numbers: Your “financial" benchmarks, and your “operational" benchmarks. Without a clear understanding of these benchmarks, it becomes quite challenging for shop owners to pinpoint where they are falling short of their goals, and where improvements need to be made. Far too many times I've seen shop owners finally start monitoring these numbers closely, and quickly realize that for years they haven't been charging enough for parts, have been overpaying their employees, have been operating inefficiently, etc. There's no doubt about it: a clear understanding of your shop's financial and operational benchmarks is critical to effective auto shop management.

    Since your part cost is one of your largest expenses, it's something you need to monitor continuously. At Elite, our top clients spend no more than 52% of the dollars they bring in through their part sales, on part cost. This means that if they bring in $40,000 in part sales by the end of the month, the cost of those parts should not exceed $20,800 ($40,000 in part sales X 52% = $20,800 part cost.) If you find you are spending more than 52% of your part sales on part cost, then you need to take a good hard look at how you price your parts, any parts that are being replaced at no charge, your warranty failures, purchasing habits, and the possibility of theft.

    When it comes to your direct labor (the cost of your techs), the top shops we work with spend no more than 35% of the dollars they bring in through labor sales, on technician pay. This means that if they bring in $40,000 in labor sales by the end of the month, their technician payroll does not exceed $14,000 ($40,000 in labor sales X 35% = $14,000 labor cost).

    You also need to pay close attention to the cost of your service advisors, and here at Elite, we like to see that number at no more than 8% of your total part and labor sales. For example, if your shop generates $80,000 in monthly auto repair sales, your advisors should not be costing you more than $6,400.00 ($80,000 total sales X 8% target = $6,400 advisor cost).

    You'll need to watch your “operational" benchmarks very closely as well. One key indicator is your labor hours per repair order, and our top clients consistently generate at least 2.5 hours of labor sales with their average repair order. If you are not seeing 2.5 hours per repair order at your shop, you need to review your vehicle inspection process, what's being recommended to your customers, and the declined services.

    As a shop owner you also need to pay close attention to your technicians' “efficiency" rate. This is a powerful key indicator that will show you just how good your techs are at getting the work done in a fast and effective way. It's easy to discover your efficiency rate by simply dividing the hours you billed for the repair, by the amount of time it took your tech to complete the job. For example, if you bill a customer 2 hours, and your tech gets the job done in 1½ hours, they would be 133% efficient (120 minutes billed/90 minutes to complete the job = 1.33, which is 133% efficient). The top shops are typically operating at an overall efficiency rate of 125+%. There are a number of things that can bring down the efficiency of the technicians in your shop, including a lack of experience, the lack of proper technical training, and one of the biggest culprits, the wrong compensation programs.

    And then lastly, after you pay all your expenses, there's the money that is left over for you. In business we call that profit, and the top shops will typically earn a profit of 15 - 20% of sales. So if your shop is generating $80,000 in monthly sales, in most cases, you should be able to earn $12,000 - $16,000 per month in taxable income. The good news is, if you know your numbers, and if you never put money ahead of people, you should be able to generate these profits in a professional and ethical way.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while having a positive impact on their employees, customers and communities. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com.


  6. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Doris Barnes of Elite

    We can all agree that generating happy customers is critical to the success of your shop. Below you’ll find 5 tips that are going to help you do just that. Apply them, and you’ll be pleased to see the positive results that come from making just a few simple changes!

    1. Find as many things in common with your customers as possible. Think about your closest friends for a minute. Why do you connect? You connect with them because of the things you share in common, right? As sales professionals, we need to get really good at finding common ground with our customers. When I was an advisor, I would always use conversation starters that were dear to my heart. I love my family, so would bring up the customer’s family at the first available opportunity. Be very careful, however, not to choose a subject that you know nothing about, or that you feel no passion for. For example, if you don’t love kids, it’s not a good idea to start taking about their kids. Your customers will always pick up on flattery vs. true intent.

    2. Listen intently to your customers and take notes. When asking your customers questions at the beginning of the sales process, make sure to listen intently and make mental notes that you can convert into actual written notes. The points and concerns that your customers vocalize are the ones that truly matter to them. So when you call your customers back with information on their vehicle inspection, it is wise to bring up their concerns immediately, before ANYTHING else is mentioned. For example, start the conversation with something like, “Mr. Jones, before I go any further, I know that the most important things we need to address are your brake squeak, and getting your car back to you by 4:00 so that you can pick up your son from practice. Is that right?” We win big when we truly listen to what is important to our customers, and when our customers realize that we genuinely care about their needs and concerns.

    3. Do personal follow-up calls the day after delivery. As an advisor, I would call my customers the day after they picked up their vehicles to make sure that every part of their experience met with their expectations. I realize that you may not be able to do this with every customer, but you should make a habit of reaching out to as many as time allows. You may want to start by just contacting 5 per day, and working up from there. Before starting on your follow-up calls, make notes about any small or large customer issues that you are aware of, and of course, call these customers first. The more personal the service experience, the better! After all, people do business with people, not with businesses.

    4. Follow through with promises…always! It is so important to follow through 100% of the time. I know that we all get busy, but in a world where our success is dependent on customer satisfaction, we need to establish trust. If you tell a customer that you will call them at a certain time, deliver on that promise. If you tell them that you will wash their wheels and windows…deliver. Once your customers see that you always follow through, they will undoubtedly admire your character. An even better tactic is to make a habit of under promising and over delivering! If that wheel and window wash job is the expectation, deliver the car with the interior sparkling clean as well! Big bonus points!

    5. Always set expectations for customer follow up. One thing’s for certain: This will have a huge impact on your level of customer satisfaction. Time and time again I’ve seen advisors get into trouble with this. Our customers’ time is valuable, and if we recognize this, we will hit a home run every time. When I was an advisor, I would be sure to tell each customer something like, “Mr. Jones, you have my promise: I will call you the very instant I have news for you. I wouldn’t bother calling any sooner because I will not have any answers. I can assure you, however, that if you need your vehicle by 5:00, I will make that happen.” This conversation does two things: It frees up your time by helping you avoid repeat phone calls, and lets your customers know what they can expect from you.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to read this article. I truly hope that you are able to apply these tips to improve your CSI scores, and generate happy customers each and every time.

    This article was written by Doris Barnes, Elite's Director of Customer Relations, who is also one of the industry leading sales trainers that helps service advisors through Elite's Masters Service Advisor Training Program.

  7. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    If you are looking to drive up your profits, you need to ensure you have service advisors that have the right attitude, aptitude and ethics. They will need to have the natural talent to sell, they will need to be well trained, and they will need to have the proper support systems in place. And lastly, you will need to have the right compensation and incentive plan in place to help your advisors excel. Here are some tips you can use to drive up your sales, profits and customer satisfaction scores, all at the same time.

    1. In drafting any pay program, the first question you should always ask yourself is what are you looking to accomplish? With service advisors, you should be looking for them to generate three things: sales, gross profits and happy customers. This is why at Elite we encourage our coaching clients to implement pay programs that only reward their advisors when all three objectives are met. For example, the advisor can earn a graduated commission on sales, but in order to be eligible for the added income, they will need to meet minimum requirements for gross profit and customer satisfaction scores. With a program like this in place, with each sale the advisor will work toward ensuring that it is profitable, and that the customer is pleased. Compensation programs for advisors that only address sales without considering gross profit and CSI requirements are set up to fail because the shop typically encounters much higher expenses, and lower CSI scores. Remember, the behavior we get is the behavior we reward.

    2. If you have more than one advisor at your shop, you have a number of options for how you can compensate them. Many shop owners will put each advisor on their own commission program, but unfortunately, this leads to an unhealthy type of competitiveness, and there is no incentive in place for them to help one another. This is why we recommend a shared commission whenever there are multiple advisors, especially when they have to cover for one another. If you have a more experienced and more productive advisor working with a less experienced and less productive advisor, you can easily adjust by either giving the more productive advisor a larger percentage of the shared commission, or you can provide them with a base pay that is supplemented by the sales commissions they will earn. These pooled commissions incentivize the teamwork you need to grow a successful auto repair shop.

    3. One of my best-kept secrets is implementing daily car count goals and daily sales goals. If your monthly sales goal breaks down into a daily goal of $4,000, and if your ARO is $400, you would need to bring in 10 cars a day. When your advisors come to work in the morning they can write the amount of $4,000 on a note pad, and next to that dollar amount they can write the number 10. As soon as they write up the first repair order that day they would strike a line though the 10, and write “9” (the new, revised goal) underneath. As soon as they sold the first job that day they would strike a line through the $4,000, and write the new revised sales goal underneath. If you apply this procedure to your company you will be amazed at how it will help keep your advisors focused on the vehicles they need to generate the sales, and the sales they need to reach their goals.

    When I first applied this procedure to the shops I owned, our sales went straight up. If you don’t have clearly defined car count and sales goals in place, your advisor may go home tired, and they may say they were busy, but there is no way they can say they were “successful” when the definition of daily success has not been established. On the other hand, if you have these goals in place, then you can reward your advisors at the end of the day by congratulating them on reaching the goals, and letting them know how much you appreciate them being a part of your company. That in itself is a reward they all need, and one that money just can’t buy. It’s called recognition, and you have my promise - it’s a reward that every superstar needs.


    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  8. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Now that we are coming into the holiday season, there are a number of things you can do to drive up productivity, sales, customer satisfaction and profits. Each one of the below tips worked wonders for me when I was still in the auto repair business, and they are still effective today for many of our coaching clients, so I know they can work for you as well.

    1. End of Year Performance Bonuses – All that you need to do is set a sales goal for the end of the year, and then tell your entire staff that if the goal is reached by December 31st, they will be entitled to a really nice bonus. You can also tell your techs that if they reach certain productivity goals, you will give them a predetermined amount of credit that they can use on their favorite tool truck.

    2. Schedule a Holiday Season Charity Drive – Pick a charity (or cause) that is close to your heart, and that will reach the hearts of your ideal customers. Examples would be the US Marine Corps Toy for Tots campaign, food for the homeless, and fundraisers for life-threatening illnesses, local humane societies and the Wounded Warriors Foundation. By raising money for these types of organizations you’ll not only be helping a worthy cause, but you will be connecting with people who may very well be your ideal customers. In my case, we took out full-page ads in local publications notifying our community that we were collecting toys for battered children who were in protected safe houses, and the stream of donors who came through our doors was overwhelming. Nowhere in the ads was there any promotion of our company or services. It was all about the battered children, and how others could help by simply dropping off the much-needed toys.

    3. Send the right greeting cards – Identify your top customers, and then rather than sending them one of the typical pre-printed holiday season cards, send them a nice boutique card with a hand-written message inside. All that you will need to do is go to a local card shop that sells really nice cards that are blank inside, and then find the cards that best reflect the holiday season. Then write a short, handwritten message inside that comes from your heart. You have my promise; your cards will be absolute standouts that will send a powerful message to your customers that you really do care about them.

    4. Make those phone calls – As we all know, there are certain customers in every business that rise well above all others. You should make a list of those people, and then call them to personally wish them a happy holiday season.

    5. Place a ribbon on each computer screen - The reason I did this at the shops I owned was to remind my advisors to wish each and every customer a happy holiday at the point of car delivery. I’m not suggesting a quick “Happy Holidays”, but rather am recommending that your advisors take a minute to pass on a heart-felt message to their customers, and then ask those customers to pass the message on to their families as well.

    6. Gifts to key customers – I am not recommending that you give gifts to everyone, but to those customers who are particularly special in many ways. In those cases, you may want to give them a beautiful book that contains images of wildlife, nature, etc. along with a personalized message from you written inside.

    7. Give to those who serve – Whether it be to the police and fire departments, or to the doctors and nurses who work in the hospital ICU’s during the holiday season, by giving those who serve a beautiful gift basket of fruit, candies, etc., you will be rewarding those who have earned it through their service, while sending a powerful message about the type of person you are.

    If you apply these tips to your business, you have my promise; not only will your sales, customer satisfaction scores and profits go up, but you will be separating yourself from your competitors in ways that will help you build a more profitable, successful business for years to come.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  9. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    I have found over the years that despite all their good intentions, there are 5 mistakes that most shop owners make not just sometimes, but every single day. The first mistake comes the very moment they walk through their door.

    1. They forget to say two simple words. We all have tough days, and as business owners we have many of the same challenges our employees have. Yet when we come to work, we need to put all of our troubles aside, and smile. We’ve all heard that before, right? But what most shop owners fail to do is walk up to each employee, and while they still have that smile on their face, say; “Good morning!” Regardless of the size of your shop, you should greet every employee in the same heartfelt way you would if you just had one employee. Remember, it’s our responsibility to keep our employees inspired, it’s not their responsibility to inspire us.

    2. They forget Job #1. In order to grow a successful business, you need to have clearly defined goals. This is why the most successful shop owners not only have their goals in place, but they break them down into monthly, weekly and daily goals. They then share those goals with all the relative employees, so that every day their advisors know their daily car count and sales goals, and their technicians know their daily efficiency goals.

    3. They forget to catch their employees doing things right. Most shop owners catch their employees making mistakes, but unfortunately, they fail to catch them when they are doing things right. Regardless of whether it’s saying something as simple as, “Great job, Mike!”, or taking an employee aside to give them a heartfelt thank you for what they have just done, it’s critical to the success of every business. By praising positive performance at the time it occurs you’re reinforcing the behavior, and improving morale. As we all know, when morale improves, so does productivity.

    4. They help… in the wrong ways. It’s the role of a shop owner to help their employees do their job well, but not to do their job for them. If a shop owner has a technical background, and one of their technicians runs into a problem, they will often jump in to help. Although their intentions are good, there is a better approach that’s used by our top clients at Elite. Simply put, they will lead their employees to the answer, rather than providing it to them. If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, yet if you teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. It’s no different in business.

    5. They try to be everything to everybody. Most shop owners have big hearts, and they want to help as many people as they can. Yet what they fail to realize is that they can never be everything to everybody. The top shop owners realize the people that want to supply their own parts, as well as the people that are looking for a discount or the lowest price, are more than likely not their customers. So while most shop owners try to be everything to everybody each and every day, the successful owners understand the value of telling some people that unfortunately, they’re unable to help them with their particular needs.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.

  10. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    In the world of auto repair, one thing is for certain: Every shop in your community has their eye on your customers. So in order to keep your customers, there are a number of things you will need to do. Here are 6 tips that will bring you amazing results:

    #1. Make sure that you deliver on the customer’s expectations, and whenever possible, that you exceed those expectations. Simply put, fix the car right the first time, make the experience as pleasant as possible, help your customers see the value in your services, and over-deliver at every opportunity.

    #2. At the point of car delivery, go well beyond what your competitors do. You need to resell the customer on their decision, assure them that their problem has been solved, and review their repair order in detail. During the “sales process” you need to put the focus on the benefits of the service rather than the price, but at time of car delivery you need to ensure that they understand what they bought, and how much they paid for the services. You then need to offer them the opportunity to inspect their old parts (or return their old parts back to them), review the warranty, discuss anything they will need to monitor or do once they leave, schedule their next appointment, and thank them for their trust in you.

    #3. When scheduling the next appointment, rather than asking when they would like to schedule it, be presumptive and tentatively set the date and time for them. If and when they tell you they are unsure if they will be available on that date, just tell them “No worries, Mr. Butitta. We’ll be sending you a reminder card the week before, and we’ll give you a reminder call as well. If you need to reschedule, it’ll be no problem at all - we can simply reschedule the appointment for you at that time. The benefit of doing it this way is that there’s nothing you’ll need to remember, because we’ll remember for you.”

    #4. Sell the benefits of the next service at the time of car delivery. Rather than just telling the customer that they’ll be due for a cooling system service in 6 months, help them see the value by explaining how that service will save them money, time, etc. If they feel the only reason to return is because you told them they need to, you’ll see far fewer returning customers, because they will feel they will be spending money, and getting little, if anything, in return.

    #5. Build relationships. Regardless of how well you build value in their next visit, customers will be far more prone to returning to your shop if they feel there is someone there they will enjoy seeing again. Remember the Elite rule: When people buy a product, they will always remember the product, but when they buy a service, they will always remember the people that provided the service.

    #6. Stay in touch. Beyond a customer follow-up program, you need to ensure your customers are exposed to your brand on a continual basis. This means you need to invest in your brand building campaigns, and be integrated into your community in every way that you can.

    In closing, all the reward programs and slick marketing gimmicks will always pale in comparison to one simple business philosophy: Provide a great service at a competitive price, build relationships with every customer, and live by the principle of never putting money ahead of people.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  11. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Looking to improve your service business? Here are 5 practices used by many of the most successful shops in America to dominate their market.

    #1. Generating New Customers
    The top shops realize that auto repair and service is a community-based business. With that said, I advise shops to invest at least 50% of their advertising budgets into non-traditional marketing campaigns. This includes involvement in charitable events, fundraisers, car care clinics and social media campaigns. They also realize that the Y and Z Generations are emerging markets, so they will typically invest at least 50% of their non-traditional marketing dollars into campaigns that directly target these demographics. Time and time again I’ve seen the implementation of this grass roots marketing strategy help shop owners achieve considerable gains in their market share, even when operating on a limited budget.

    #2. The Right Service Advisors and the Right Training
    We have found that the top shops embrace our philosophy that when it comes to recruiting, you need to hire for attitude, aptitude, talent and ethics, rather than for product knowledge. They understand that people do business with people, not with companies, so they consciously hire advisors that have remarkable people skills. They’ll also place a heavy emphasis on properly training these advisors upon hiring them, and will have them participate in service advisor sales courses at least once a year. In order to constantly improve their skills, a good percentage of the top service advisors use small digital voice recorders to record their own sales presentations. This way they can self-critique, discover their own weaknesses, and then adjust accordingly.

    #3. Bringing in More First-Time Callers
    The top advisors recognize that the first and most important step is to sell each first-time caller on their credibility as an advisor; not the shop or service. This is why they prefer to take the incoming calls, rather than having them screened by a receptionist or call center. Secondly, they understand that the overwhelming majority of first-time callers that ask for a price do so in order to start a conversation, not necessarily because they are price shoppers. By having this awareness, these advisors don’t fall prey to prejudging or prequalifying the callers, as most of their competitors do. Lastly, the top advisors in America know that one guaranteed way of driving up car counts, and sales, is by providing their customers with the option to bring their vehicle in now, rather than solely offering a future appointment. This is why shops should staff in a way that allows them to at least perform an inspection for a customer that did not have an appointment. Top advisors realize that if they are able to meet the caller face-to-face, they will have a far greater probability of turning them into a customer for life.

    #4. Closing More Service Sales
    There are a number of things we encourage shops to do in order to generate good, ethical sales. Yet where the top shops really shine is in their ability to build strong personal relationships with their customers. They do this by consciously engaging their customers when they first come into the shop, asking several fact-finding questions, and selling the benefits of the service rather than parts and labor. These advisors also realize that although people don’t like to be sold, they love to buy, so whenever possible they’ll offer their customers a choice in services. We have found that when advisors are able to offer options, not only does it allow the customer to feel more in control of their purchasing decision, but it leads to substantially higher ARO’s and higher CSI scores. By following these easy-to-implement procedures, many advisors are able to close over 75% of the services and repairs that have been recommended by their technicians, while still maintaining extraordinarily high CSI scores.

    #5. Car Delivery
    The top shops understand that their customers are going to judge them far more by what happens after the sale than by what happens during the sale, so here is what they will do... First of all, with rare exception, the car delivery process is handled entirely by the advisor. When the customer comes in to pick up their vehicle, the first thing the advisor will do is resell them on the service they chose. This in itself will immediately help quell any buyer’s remorse the customer may have. They will then review the paperwork with the customer, they’ll ask the customer if they have any questions, and they’ll offer the inspection or return of any replaced parts. They will also instruct the customer on how to better care for the service or repair that they just purchased. They will then process the repair order, they’ll use their sales skills to help the customer see the value in scheduling their next appointment while they are still at the service counter, and then they will ask the customer the two questions every customer loves to hear: “Do you have any questions for me?”, and “Is there anything else I can help you with?” These questions not only allow the customer to clear their mind of any lingering questions or concerns they have, but also send a strong message that the advisor genuinely cares about the customer as an individual.

    Before the customer leaves, the top advisors will say something along the lines of, “Tom, before you leave, there’s one other thing I’d like to say. I know there are a lot of well-run shops in the neighborhood, so I just wanted to say thanks so much for your trust in us.” When an advisor says this to a customer, three things will inevitably happen... First of all, it will send a message that the advisor is well aware that the customer has choices, and that in itself sends a strong message of appreciation.

    Secondly, and on a more personal note, the reason I have spent years encouraging business owners and sales staff to thank people for their trust rather than their business, is because decades ago I discovered that if I were to thank someone for their business, in reality all that I’d be doing is thanking them for the economic exchange. Yet what I find to be priceless isn’t the money a customer is passing on to us. What’s truly priceless, is their trust in us. So by thanking a customer for their trust, what we are really doing is reminding them that they made a decision based on their trust in us, not on price, or on convenience.

    And then lastly, and most importantly, a statement such as the one I just shared with you will resonate with the customer, and if it comes from an advisor’s heart, it will resonate beyond just a day or two, but for years to come.

    The way all great companies are built is by delivering extraordinary service to each and every customer. It’s a simple principle, and one that without question is followed by the top shops in America.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  12. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    When it comes to setting your long-term goals, you need to make sure that they all align with your core beliefs and that they are challenging enough to inspire you. As the leader of your company, it’s your job to inspire your entire team, and I’m sure you will agree that you can’t inspire others if you are not inspired yourself.

    With the changes in automotive technology, and the explosive growth in onboard vehicle infotainment systems, you can rest assured that vehicles will offer you many opportunities in the coming years.

    When setting your short-term goals, don't make the mistake of making them unrealistic, as so many do. In a business environment the purpose of short-term goals should be to bring out the best in people, and inspire them to think differently at the same time. Accordingly, they should be just out of reach but not out of sight. Studies carried out at Harvard University have indicated that short-term goals need to be reached only 50 percent of the time for them to effectively change the way we think, and if they are reached more frequently than 80 percent of the time, they are not challenging enough.

    Finally, whenever possible, you should break your annual goals down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals. When your technicians and service advisors go to work each day, they should know precisely what needs to be accomplished by the end of the day in order to view their performance as a success.

    If you haven’t already done so, now is the time for you to solidify your 2017 goals, and to revisit your long-term goals as well. I realize that many of you may not have taken this step yet, so here's a starter list of 20 categories you may want to consider:

    Goal-setting checklist:

    1. Long-term growth goals, which may include diversification into other product or service lines, expansion, or additional facilities
    2. Long-term real estate goals that may include acquisition or mortgage reduction
    3. An annual sales goal that includes the financial growth of your business
    4. Monthly and quarterly sales goals that are seasonally adjusted
    5. Marketing goals that include the acquisition of both new customers and market share
    6. 5-star review goals
    7. Average repair order goals that are predicated on complete, ethical vehicle inspections
    8. Car count goals that are predicated on your annual sales and annual repair order goals
    9. Gross profit goals
    10. Productivity and efficiency goals for your technicians
    11. Closing-ratio goals for your service advisors
    12. Customer satisfaction goals
    13. Customer retention goals
    14. Personal referral goals
    15. Operating expense goals that are predicated on past performance and projected budgets
    16. Income goals
    17. Debt reduction goals
    18. Goals that are relative to any exit plan or succession strategy
    19. Career development goals
    20. Personal development goals

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.

  13. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper of Elite

    Over the years I have seen hundreds, if not thousands of shop owners do irreparable damage to their businesses. This damage occurs when they are mesmerized by the management trainers or consultants who tell them that they can solve all of their problems by raising their prices. At first they are pleasantly surprised to hear that their services are worth more than they are presently charging, because it plays to their ego. They are also told that they have nothing to worry about, because none of their customers will complain. They then jack up their prices and are pleasantly surprised when they discover, as they were told, that not one of their customers objected to the new pricing.

    Over the next few months profits typically swell, and the shop owners smile all the way to the bank. Then, unfortunately, in far more cases than you would imagine, 9 to 12 months later these shop owners find that all of their good customers are gone, and the reason is pretty simple: Rather than complain, their good customers just take their business elsewhere. So before you listen to the pied pipers who tell you that you can solve all of your problems by jacking up your prices, I wanted to share a different strategy with you. It’s one that I used to grow some really great shops, so I know it will work wonders for you, too.

    First of all, any price increase should be small and incremental. You will find that small increases will not only be considered acceptable by most of your good customers, but they will allow you to monitor your customer’s acceptance. When you move forward with this approach, you need to monitor your lost sales at the point of sale to ensure there is no appreciable increase.

    Secondly, you will need to perform your customer follow-up calls to keep your finger on the pulse of your customers, and to enable you to detect any early signs of price resistance.

    Lastly, you need to monitor your percentages of repeat customers and referrals. I have discovered over the years that there is only one true judge of pricing, and it’s our customers, so if a customer continues to return to your shop, and if they continue to recommend their family and friends to you, then it’s safe to say that they are comfortable with your pricing.

    How often you revisit your pricing is subjective, too, but I would encourage you to do it at least two times a year. Another benefit of small incremental price increases is that they will allow your advisors to feel comfortable with the new pricing. This is critical to your success as a business owner, because as we all know, if your advisors feel uncomfortable with your pricing, it will be hard for them to put their hearts into every sale as they should.

    Lastly, in the coming years you will need to make some decisions regarding the gross profit margins you make in both your part sales and your labor sales. With today’s technology, and your customers’ access to information, customers are going to be quick to compare prices. Given the choice of the two, I would much rather defend a higher labor rate than a high part price, and here’s why: Regardless of how skilled your advisors are, when they are trying to defend why they charged a higher price for that alternator than the price the customer found online, it’s going to be a tough sale, because in the customer’s mind, a part is a part. Yet if your labor rate is the highest in town, that’s something your advisors should be able to easily defend because your technicians aren’t just technicians; your technicians are superstars.

    In closing, I would be the last one to say you should or shouldn’t raise your prices, but what I can say is this: If you just listen to the pied pipers, they will scare off your customers and put you out of business. On the other hand, if you implement small and incremental increases, and if you monitor and measure customer acceptance, then you will be on the road to building a more profitable, successful business.


    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  14. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    In today's competitive environment you need to make the most of every opportunity that you have at your disposal to generate more sales. Follow these 5 tips to convert more first-time callers into happy customers.

    1. While your competitors are trying to sell their first-time callers on the repair, you need to take a different approach, and sell them on you. If the caller doesn’t believe you’re the right person to help them, then regardless of whether or not they believe the repairs need to be done, they’ll go somewhere else.

    How do you sell a first-time caller on you? It’s not that difficult. The first thing you’ll need to do is assure you have the right attitude, because that alone will put a smile on your face, and customers prefer to be engaged with people that enjoy helping people. When you pick up the phone you’ll need to immediately provide your name to begin the rapport building process, you’ll need to ask a lot of questions, you’ll need to be a great listener, and you’ll need to make a point of being courteous at all times. Remember, the reason they’re calling you is because another shop has failed with them in the past. This is why they’re anxious, and it’s why selling the customer on you needs to be your first priority.

    2. There’s no doubt about it; people love to buy, but they hate to be sold. One way of providing a first-time caller with options is by giving them a choice in appointment times. When people are offered choices they feel as though they are in control, and that’s when it becomes much easier for them to say “yes”. So rather than asking a caller; “Would you like to bring your vehicle in at 9:00?” you should ask, “Would you like to bring your vehicle in at 9:00, or would 11:00 be better for you?” Whenever possible, you should provide your customers with options when your are giving your service & repair recommendations as well (Service A, or Service B with a premium warranty, for example).

    3. Don’t be offended when a caller asks you for a price. Far too many service advisors think that these callers are nothing more than price shoppers, when in the majority of cases, this assumption is far from the truth. The reason most customers will ask for a price is to get the conversation started. Since they don’t know what questions they should be asking, they feel that if they ask for a price, most sales people will start talking. When someone asks you for a price you need to be understanding, compassionate and professional.

    4. When you’re providing a price on any repair or service, it’s a cardinal rule that you always need to build interest and value first. For example, if a caller asks how much an oil service will cost, rather than just giving them a price, you should say something like, “Well, an oil service on your Camry, which includes ____,____,____ and ___ is only $____, and I can have that service done for you today. As a matter of fact, I can squeeze you in now, or would 2:00pm be better for you?” Remember; always build interest and value before you give a price.

    5. Now here’s one of the best kept secrets that we teach all of our service advisor training students: simply put, you can never put money ahead of people. If you sell from your heart, and if you apply these tips I’ve shared with you, then your sales, your CSI scores and your profits will all go straight up.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  15. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Far too many shop owners hire service advisors who they feel are good at what they do, and then prefer to “get out of their way and let them do their thing.” Unfortunately, that’s a mistake. Now I am not suggesting that you need to micromanage your advisors, or any of your employees. However, over the years I have employed many of the top advisors in America, and through our service advisor training courses I have had the opportunity to meet hundreds of the industry superstars, so I can tell you from first-hand experience that if you want to turn your advisors into superstars, then it’s no different from grooming world class racehorses. They unquestionably need proper care and attention. So here are some tips that you can use as a guide to help you turn your advisors into superstars.

    1. Make sure you have the right people on your team. When it comes to service advisors, as with all of your employees, you need to look for attitude, aptitude and ethics. If they are missing any of the three, you and your company are going to struggle. You also need to make sure that they have the natural talent to sell. Please don’t confuse talent with skill, which is a learned behavior. Talent is the natural ability to do things exceptionally well. The talents I look for in service advisors are the natural ability to engage people in a conversation, quick-wittedness, and a natural smile. Provide people who have these talents with the training and guidance they need to develop the necessary skills, and they can take you and your business right to the top.

    2. Set clear expectations. Obviously you need to have clearly defined monthly performance goals, but beyond that, you need to break those goals down into weekly and daily sales and car count goals. This way your service advisors will know exactly what they need to accomplish by the end of the day in order to view their performance as a success. As with managing any employee, you also need to have clearly defined minimum levels of acceptable performance in place, with deadlines.

    3. For advisors to excel, they need to work in an environment that has clearly defined inspection processes in place. These processes should include vehicle inspection procedures, and the documentation of all discoveries. Your advisors should also be required to accurately estimate all of the discovered services, and fully disclose all discoveries to your customers. Any failure in this regard will cost you in lost automotive repair sales, vehicle failures, and ultimately, in damage to the reputation of your business. This is why clearly defined inspection processes are an absolute must.

    4. Make sure that you are providing your advisors with the right tools. They need a robust repair shop management software program, feature-rich warranties that they can use as sales tools, point-of-sale items they can use to get your customers visually involved (such as fluid samples), and third party financing options. They also need techs that can produce, daily goal sheets to track their performance throughout the day, and digital voice recorders so they can critique their own sales presentations. In addition, they need to have quick-reference guides that list the benefits of your most common services. This way, your advisors can review the guide prior to presenting their recommendations to your customers. For example, under the “maintenance” heading you would list: protects the vehicle warranty, prevents costly breakdowns, maximizes fuel economy, maximizes the resale value of the vehicle, etc.

    5. Service advisors need to have their performances monitored and measured, and they need consistent feedback. At Elite we recommend that owners (or managers) perform a repair order review with their advisors at least once a week. The purpose of the review should be to analyze the declined sales, and have a dialogue about what could have been done differently to close the sales. As a manager, you should also use this time as an opportunity to reinforce your commitment to ethics and customer satisfaction.

    6. As is true of all professionals, advisors need ongoing training. In order to stay at the top of their game, they should be sharpening their skills with a sales course at least once a year.

    Most importantly, as a shop owner (or manager) you need to make a point of feeding the hearts of your service advisors. By catching them doing things right and providing them with the appropriate praise and recognition, you will be creating happier advisors who are more determined to help you and your company reach your goals.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  16. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    If there is one thing most shop owners have in common, it’s that they have big hearts. They typically start their careers as technicians, and as soon as they have their very own shops, they want to help as many people as they can. To achieve this goal, they network through their family and friends, and do everything in their power to get the word out into their communities. And then the inevitable happens; they wake up one morning, and decide it’s finally time to advertise. With little or no education in this field, they typically use whatever media they find to be available at the time. It could be their local newspaper, direct mail offerings they are familiar with, or something that is currently the buzz in their community, such as Groupon. Unfortunately, in most cases these choices not only turn out to be bad business decisions, but the most costly marketing decisions they ever make. Here’s why…

    First of all, although blanket advertising campaigns will typically bring in some new customers, in far too many cases they turn out to be the wrong customers. These are the people that are just looking for the lowest price, can’t afford the recommended services, or have little or no interest in preventative services. Yet the list gets even longer, because these wrong customers also commonly have unrealistic expectations, and will never return because they will always be on the hunt for a lower price. We also know that the wrong customers will typically consume more of your time, will spend substantially less money during each visit, will drive down profitability, and will bring far more stress into the lives of you and your employees. When you consider all the costs in totality, it becomes quite apparent that the cost a shop owner pays for bringing in the wrong customers really is extraordinary. The good news is, there is another path you can take to filling up your service bays.

    You can never be everything to everybody, so your first step is to identify who your ideal customers are. These are the people that drive the types of vehicles you would like to service, have the financial wherewithal to pay for the services, and see the value in preventative services. Even if you specialize in a certain make of vehicle, you will still need to identify your ideal customers. You’ll need to conclude their approximate age, their gender, their approximate income, etc., and once completed, you will need to discover where they spend their time. For example, you may find that your ideal customers spend their time at school activities, in houses of worship, or at local sporting events.

    Secondly, you will need to build your marketing and advertising strategies around your ideal customers, so you will need determine the media you can use to most effectively reach them. Furthermore, I recommend limiting your advertising campaigns to media that will specifically reach those customers. For example, if you discover that your ideal customer is a 30-45 year-old mom, you would want to use media that is directed toward youth activities and schools, along with other media that would specifically target those ladies.

    Finally, you will need to create consistent messaging that resonates with your ideal customers, so that the customer feels you are speaking directly to them. If you are targeting the 30-45 year-old moms in your community, you may want to include pictures of children, and focus your messaging on the importance of safety, since this would resonate with them. Tailoring your advertising messages to your targeted customers will lead to a better response, and a higher return on investment.

    By taking this approach, you will not only save a tremendous amount of money by not spending your hard-earned dollars bringing in customers you wish you hadn’t, but you will be working towards what every shop owner longs for; the ideal customer standing on the other side of your service counter. Your sales and profit will go up, and you will be able to develop a brand and reputation that is second to none in your community.

    The good news is that it’s never too late, because I am pleased to say that over the years we have helped hundreds of shops through the process. While your competitors are struggling with all the wrong customers, you will be saving a fortune, building a more profitable shop, and having the pleasure of dealing with customers that are an absolute joy.

    If you are still not sure whether this marketing strategy will work, you may want to look at Apple and Starbucks. I am sure you will agree that both companies know who their ideal customers are, use the appropriate media to reach them, and their messaging speaks directly to them.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.

  17. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper of Elite

    Without question, it is getting harder and harder to find the really great technicians. We just need to bear in mind that they’re out there, and that they’re more than likely relatively happy where they are. So how do you reach these superstars? Well, you may want to consider what your competitors would never dream of doing, and offer a referral reward that gets the attention of everyone in our industry who resides in your community.

    Most shop owners will try offering a referral incentive. These shop owners go to a number of their vendors and tell them that if they refer a tech, and that tech ends up being hired, they’ll give them a check for $100 or so. About a month later these shop owners will typically conclude that since they didn’t receive any referrals, incentives like this don’t work. What they often fail to realize is the reason the vendors didn’t send any leads to them is pretty simple; it’s because $100 wasn’t a powerful enough incentive.

    I am unsure what the lotteries are like in your particular state, but here in California we have a weekly lottery, and when the pot is around twenty million dollars or so, not many people seem to be interested in buying a lottery ticket. But as soon as that pot reaches one hundred million, people stand in long lines to buy the tickets. What I find comical is that this behavior suggests that twenty million isn’t enough of an incentive, but as soon as the pot reaches the one hundred million mark, well, in their mind’s eye, now we are talking real money! This same phenomena affects your vendors.

    So, the secret? Make your vendors an offer that will grab their attention, and put sending referrals to you at the forefront of their minds. I can tell you from first-hand experience that when I was in the auto repair business, I found this approach to be extremely effective. This is why when any Elite client is struggling to find great technicians, we will often encourage them to offer a reward of $4,000 - $5,000, not $100. There is a magic number in every vendor’s mind that will get their attention, and when they realize they can earn enough money to buy that boat they’ve wanted for so long by doing nothing more than sending a really good tech your way, your offer will become very attractive.

    Now before I go any further, I suspect I know what some of you may be thinking: With this approach you could spend $4,000 just to meet a tech, or to hire someone who turns out to be the wrong employee. So tell your industry contacts that if they send a tech your way, and if you hire that tech, you will give them a check for $2,000 on the very first day of that tech’s employment. If the tech is still with you at the conclusion of their 90-day probation period, you will then pay them the remaining $2,000. I also suspect that some of you are thinking that $4,000-$5,000 is a lot of money to give up, but when you consider what that superstar will produce for you, within a matter of a few months you will be telling yourself that the incentive was one of the best investments you’ve ever made.

    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  18. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    We all know it’s getting harder and harder to find the superstar techs, but finding those stars is just the beginning. Once found, you need to interview them like a seasoned pro. Here are some interviewing tips that we share with our Elite Coaching clients: 
    #1. Impress the applicant with your professionalism.  When you are interviewing a real superstar, they will be interviewing you at the same time, so you need to really wow them. One way is by being well prepared, and ensuring you have a well-thought-out list of questions that you will ask. In compiling your list, ensure you ask questions about their goals, their interests, and what they feel the hallmarks of a good employer are. The more they realize that you are interested in them, their family, their success and their opinions, the more interest they will have in working with you. 
    #2. The superstars look for opportunities, not jobs. There is no question that the superstars can easily find jobs. As a matter of fact, with rare exception they already have one, and have little interest in moving from one to another. On the other hand, the superstars are always looking to advance their lives and careers. This is why you need to not only offer them an opportunity, but you will need to spell it out in very clear terms. Let them know that they’ll not only have some wonderful growth and income opportunities, but they will be a part of a vibrant, growing company that will be good for the industry, and community, for years to come. 
    #3. Have a key employee participate in your second or third interview. This will allow you to obtain a number of insights from your employee, will send a powerful message to the applicant that you value the opinion of your employees, and will let the applicant know that you want to ensure they are a great fit; not only for the position, but as a part of your entire team. 
    #4. At the conclusion of the second or third interview, ask if you can meet with them again, along with any spouse (partner, better-half, etc.) they may have.  By asking to meet the applicant’s spouse you are sending a powerful message that you care about the family members of all of your employees. Not only will this meeting allow you to learn a lot more about the applicant (and their family), but you will have the opportunity to make a positive impact on someone that will have a strong influence on the applicant’s decision. You should also have a package ready to provide them that contains general information on your compensation and incentive program, your Mission Statement, your team and your company’s accomplishments. This way they will have something concrete to review at home, rather than trying to recall what they may remember from your conversations. If you do your job correctly, you can rest assured that on their drive home the spouse will more than likely be selling the applicant on two things:  You, and the opportunity you are offering. 
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. To learn more about Elite, visit www.EliteWorldwide.com.
     
  19. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    If you want to generate more repeat business, then there are a number of things you will need to do. You’ll need to deliver an extraordinary value, exceed your customers’ expectations at every touch point, and stay in touch with your customers after the sale. Over the years I have discovered that most service advisors have the right intent, and make their best effort to do all of these things. They want to do a good job, and they know that a part of their job is to help their customers see the value in their services. This is why they work hard at building value in their company and services when speaking with first-time callers. It’s also why they’ll build interest and value in their service recommendations, with the hope that their customers will agree with their recommendations, authorize the services, and then ultimately return.
    The top advisors in America not only understand this, but they’ll always put a strong focus on the benefits of their recommended services, rather than on the parts and labor. For example, when discussing the benefits of a brake service, they’ll tell their customers that they’ll have smoother and more responsive pedal operation, quieter braking, faster stopping and the peace of mind that they’ll have good, safe, and dependable transportation.

    Yet where almost all advisors fail, is at the point of car delivery. We have discovered that this is where they’ll do a good job of reselling the customer on the services that were performed, and they’ll certainly schedule the customer’s next visit, but what they fail to do is this: They don’t discuss the benefits of the next service.

    Here’s an example we can all relate to. You go to the dentist for a toothache, and they discover that you need a crown. The dentist then tells you that you have two options, and explains the benefits of each.  You like what you hear, and you make your choice based on the benefits that were shared with you. Then before you leave, the dentist tells you that you’ll be due for a checkup and cleaning in six months, and they schedule you in. Will you return in six months? Well, you might, especially if the dentist met all of your expectations.
    But when that reminder card finally shows up in your mailbox, you may hesitate for one simple reason: None of us enjoy going to the dentist, and the dentist didn’t explain the benefits of the checkup and cleaning during your last visit. If they had told you how this visit could save you money, help prevent other painful problems, and reduce the amount of time you’ll ultimately spend with your dentist, you would more than likely be more willing to return. I can only hope you agree that it’s no different with your business. If you want to see more return business, then do this…

    At the time of car delivery, take just a minute or two to explain the benefits of the customer’s next service. For example, rather than just telling your customers that they’ll be due for their next scheduled service in six months, say something like this… “As I mentioned to you earlier, Doris, your next service is going to be a maintenance service, and it’ll be due in six months. Now the good news is, that service is going to help you squeeze every mile out of every gallon of gasoline, it’s going to help you maintain your warranty and protect the value of your vehicle, and it’s going to help you save time and money by preventing costly breakdowns.”

    Although I can’t guarantee that your customers are going to return if you do what I am recommending at the time of car delivery, there is one guarantee that I can make you: If you take just a minute to explain the benefits of the next service to your customers, there is a strong probability that they’ll want to come back. On the other hand, if the only reason for them to return is because you sent them a reminder card telling them that they need to come in for nothing more than to spend money with you and to be without their vehicles for a day, then you’ve given them a really good reason to toss the reminder card… and not come in.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. To learn more about Elite, visit www.EliteWorldwide.com.
  20. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    There are a number of changes that are occurring in our industry, and there is no question, some of them will have a profound, long-term impact. To name just two, automobiles are being built better, and as we all know, service intervals are constantly being extended by the manufacturers. Although this is all good for consumers, better-built vehicles means they’ll need fewer repairs, and extended service intervals means you’ll be seeing your existing customers less frequently in the coming years. The way most shop owners are dealing with this evolution is by trying to convince all of their customers that they need to bring their vehicles in more frequently than the manufacturer recommends. They tell them that their oil needs to be changed more frequently, and that it’s a good policy to have their vehicles inspected every 3,000-5,000 miles. Although I agree with the reasoning, these shop owners are fighting an uphill battle since one of the many reasons people buy new vehicles is because they really like the idea of extended service intervals. So rather than trying to fight this trend, as your competitors do, I encourage you to understand it, and rather than trying to sell each and every customer on the value of coming in more frequently, I encourage you to take a different approach.
    First of all, as in any business, you should explore every opportunity to provide additional services to your customers. They already trust you and your recommendations, so services such as door ding removals, tire installations, glass repair services, cabin air duct cleaning services, and detailing services are good examples of other services you can offer. Not only will services that enhance vehicle appearance or customer comfort put smiles on the faces of your customers, but at the same time these services will increase your ARO, which will help offset the fewer number of times you’ll see your customers throughout the year.

    The second thing you will need to do is ensure that your service advisors are very well trained. Any services that are not authorized during a visit will more than likely be lost sales, because it may be six months or longer before you see that particular customer again. By then, your service recommendations will either be forgotten, viewed as unimportant by the customer, or if they experienced a subsequent failure, they may very well have it repaired somewhere else. Worse yet, if it’s a safety item that you discover, and if it’s not repaired during their initial visit, the customer will be at an even greater risk. There is no question that the age-old expression, “We’ll take care of that the next time you’re in” is going to vanish from our industry.
    Lastly, with the understanding that you will be seeing the majority of your customers less frequently as time goes on, in order to keep your service bays filled you will need to ensure that you have a well-constructed marketing plan in place that will bring in the right kind of customers. To stay ahead of your competitors you need to invest at least 50% of your advertising budget into non-traditional advertising programs, and you should allocate at least half of your non-traditional advertising budget towards programs that are directed to what I refer to as the “emerging market”; the Y Gens and Millennials . These are the people that were born between 1980 and 2004, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are the future of your business.
    In summary, I encourage you to avoid fighting the evolution of automobiles or trying to sell your customers on a service schedule that they have little or no interest in buying. Instead, look for other ways you can help them when you do see them, by providing additional services. If the services you offer are cosmetic in nature, or if they provide added comfort to the customer in any way, all the better. You will need to have talented, well-trained advisors, you’ll need well-constructed programs in place that will keep your name in front of your customers, and there is no doubt,  you’ll need to have a marketing plan in place that will bring in even more… of the right kind of customers.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. To learn more about Elite, visit www.EliteWorldwide.com.
  21. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    When car counts aren’t what they need to be, most shop owners will pump more money into their auto repair marketing efforts. But before you invest one more dime in your marketing campaigns, you should first make sure that you’re doing a good job of converting your current leads into customers. At Elite, we’ve discovered that the number of phone leads lost by most shops is staggering. They’re lost by not having enough staff available to properly handle the calls, by having poorly trained receptionists or service advisors, by having service advisors who are content with either their workload or their income, etc.  Needless to say, putting more money into your marketing is not going to fix these problems.
    The solution is simple.  Make sure you have clearly defined car count goals, and hold your advisors accountable for reaching them. You should ensure they keep a simple log that shows why they feel they lost each lead. The log options should include: The caller didn’t have the vehicle, they didn’t have the time to bring the vehicle in, they were price shopping, and they were not the decision maker. At the end of the day, discuss these lost leads with your staff, and decide on the appropriate course of action.
    Lastly, don’t overlook the value of having a couple of friends call in as mystery shoppers, and recording their conversations. So before you spend one more dime on marketing, let’s make sure you’re not losing those priceless leads that you already have.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers one-on-one coaching from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. 
  22. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    A few years ago I had the opportunity to interview over forty people for a panel of customers that I moderated. My intent was to discover what drives their decisions in choosing an auto repair shop, and how they make their purchasing decisions. I spent well over an hour with many of these prospective panelists so walked away with some truly surprising and noteworthy insights, but the most profound discovery was that we as an industry have an expectation of loyalty from our customers, when in reality customers have no sense of loyalty to us.
    Now please don’t misunderstand me: I am not suggesting that we shouldn’t work hard to gain the customer’s trust, meet with their expectations, and do what we need to do to turn them into repeat customers. What I am suggesting is that shop owners should never just assume that their customers are loyal, and should instead have the mindset that they need to earn the customer’s trust and business with each and every visit.
     Loyalty, in its truest sense, is something that should be held in the highest regard, and reserved for our patriotism to our country, our commitments to our friends and family, and to the elements of our lives where we have a genuine sense of indebtedness and moral obligation. But our customers? No matter how great our service is or how much we care about them, in reality they owe us nothing, so there should be no sense of moral obligation on their part.
    This isn’t a viewpoint that I arrived at on my own, but by listening closely to your customers. Throughout the interview process I discovered that they feel absolutely no responsibility to return to your shop for additional repairs or services, which is why I’m sure many of you have found that your customers will zip into fast lubes for oil services rather than coming back to you.
    Now before you let your feelings get hurt, let’s look at another example. Let’s say that you have a local grocery store that you like, and visit on a regular basis. Even though that grocery store offers a wide selection of bread, you may very well go to a local bakery. You may feel that the bread at the bakery is better, that it’s still fresh by the time you get home, or that it just provides a better value in some way. Regardless of why you go to the local bakery, I suspect you wouldn’t feel as if you’re doing something wrong by buying the bread at the bakery instead of the grocery store, right? If that’s the case, do you think the grocery store owner should feel offended by your absence of loyalty, or should view your decision as a practical one? If he does the latter, he has two options: accept the fact that you’ll purchase your bread elsewhere, or learn what he needs to do differently to improve your bread purchasing experience so that you purchase your bakery items while still at his grocery store.
    Ladies and gentlemen, your business is no different. While I’m sure you have a few customers who can truly be considered “loyal”, if you develop the mindset that your customers should return to you out of loyalty, rather than looking for every opportunity to improve the customer experience, and truly earn their business with every single visit, then you will only be scratching the surface of your shop’s potential.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses.
  23. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    Many years ago I read an article that featured an interview with Herb Kelleher, the co-founder of Southwest Airlines. In the article he stated that he and his mother (who was a Harvard graduate) would often debate who was more important: He argued that it was the employees of a company, and his mom argued that it was the customers. With all due respect, I would argue; why does it need to be one or the other? From my point of view, this debate is like having two children and being asked which one we love the most, because both your customers and your employees are equally important.  Since it is becoming increasingly difficult to find and hire the superstars, I would like to use this article to help you continue earning the trust of your employees, who at Elite we refer to as our internal customers.
    Putting first things first, as business owners we need to recognize that our internal customers are much like our external customers. In your case, your external customers come to you with transportation problems that you solve, and they then pay you with their hard-earned money.  Your internal customers come to you with needs as well. They have needs like being able to save enough money to buy a home, or having the funds available that they’ll need to educate their children. Simply put, you provide them with the right opportunities, and you help them fulfill those needs. In return, they pay you with their work efforts, and their contributions towards your success. 
    So the question is; what can you do to keep the stars you have, not just for a few years, but for the length of their working careers? Although there is no formula that will guarantee results, there are a number of things you can do to keep your stars as your stars.  
    First and most importantly, never forget this cardinal rule of managing people: We have to keep the hearts of our employees, because once we lose their hearts, their minds will follow. I actually coined this rule long ago, and have lived by it for decades.  Now here is how you can implement it…
    With every superstar who works with you, you need to look beyond the employee component of your relationship, and you need to consider them as a person, just like you. This means that you need to truly care about your employees as people, and the things that are important to them need to become important to you. Once they realize that you really do care about them and their families, as well as their goals, they will then care about you, and the goals of your company.  Secondly, you need to be a great listener, you need to pay close attention to their suggestions, and you need to always thank them for their input.
    I have also learned that you need to be a shoulder your employees can lean on. By being sympathetic to their personal struggles, you will find that if you have the right people, they will not take your sympathy for granted, but they will go to the ends of the earth for you.  You need to let them know that you recognize their talents and strengths, and you need to give them praise for jobs that are well done. Beyond that, you have to show them the humility that all employees look for. This means you will need to set your pride aside to let them know that they are much more gifted than you in many ways, you’ll need to be able to admit to your mistakes, and you’ll need to be able to give heartfelt apologies at the appropriate times. Lastly, if you plan on keeping their hearts, you will need to constantly share your vision of the future, and paint a clear path to their success in the coming years.
    Over the years I have discovered that people don’t leave companies. They never have, and they never will. People leave people, not companies. If you’d like to continue earning the trust and confidence of your employees, then I would encourage you to apply the principles that I have shared with you. If you do, then I will make you a promise: Beyond being a great role model for your employees, the morale of your employees will go up, your shop’s productivity will go up, and any employee turnover problems you have… will disappear.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. You learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com
  24. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Jen Monclus
     1. Make sure your advisors schedule car deliveries with first-time customers whenever possible (The point is to try). If an exact time won't work, provide the customer with a window of time. This is considered an 'active delivery', and will allow your advisors to spend a few minutes with each new customer to personally thank them, go over the paper work and sell them on the next visit.
    2. Ensure you have backup in place so that your advisors are able to take the time needed for an effective vehicle delivery. This is your last chance to make an impression on your customers, so make sure they don't feel your advisors are too busy for them, or that their business is not valued. Backup must be in place to ensure your advisors have enough time to "wow" each customer.
    3. Have your advisors resell the service by telling the customer that they made a really smart decision. Telling the customer that they made a great choice will help reduce buyer's remorse, will reduce their anxiety, and will help your advisors build trust with the customer.
    4. Make sure your advisors talk to your customers about the next steps they will need to take. Your advisors should review the service that was authorized and any post service instructions or maintenance brochures, then build value in the customer's next visit by explaining the benefits. Make sure your advisors schedule the next appointment in your calendar while the customer is still onsite.
    5. Have your advisors provide each customer with their business card, and thank the customer for their trust. A heartfelt "thank you" and handshake are the finishing touches on a successful vehicle delivery.
    This tip was provided by Jen Monclus, one the industry's top sales trainers that heads up Elite's Masters Service Advisor Training Program.
  25. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    In building a successful auto repair business, most shop owners feel that what they need to do sell is more parts and more labor. Although both of those items are a part of your business model, one thing is for certain: your customers don’t look forward to buying either of the two, at any price. Yet thousands of shop owners are having sleepless nights trying to find ways to squeeze more money out of their part and labor sales.
    While I was still operating auto repair shops I was intrigued by the fact that while my customers had little, if any, interest in the parts and labor they were buying, they were quite interested in the warranty we provided on our repairs. In essence, what they wanted more than anything else was the peace of mind in knowing they would have good, dependable transportation, and that they wouldn’t have to worry about paying again if the repair were to fail.  It was at that very time I realized that what I needed to sell more than anything else was peace of mind. I then did a tremendous amount of homework on the insurance industry, and it didn’t take me long to realize that they are all in the business of selling risk.
    The way they win is by factoring the inevitable losses into their premiums. As an example, for every 1,000 people they provide life insurance to, a certain number will inevitably die during the insured period, but if they choose the right customers, and charge the right amount, they’ll have plenty of money to cover those few predicted deaths. Next I evaluated the probabilities of different types of part failures, and the kind of customers I wanted in my shop.  I quickly discovered I could take the repairs that had the lowest probability of failing within five years, price them out as optional services, and completely change the way I was operating my business.
    First of all, most of our failures would typically occur within 30 days, so regardless of whether I offered a longer warranty or not, I would be covering that repair. I also discovered that if the repair failed shortly outside of our standard warranty, we would cover the cost for the purpose of customer satisfaction. With this understanding, it became obvious to me that the only additional risk I would be taking would be for any failures that occurred beyond the term of our standard warranty, yet within the time outlined in our extended warranty. In my case, on our targeted repairs we offered lifetime warranties that were non-transferable. Now here is the best part: I discovered that no matter how much someone loves their automobile at the time of repair, odds are that they ‘ll no longer own the car three years later due to lifestyle changes, tempting car sale ads, etc. So my exposure (risk) was more limited than you’d imagine.
    Now let’s talk about profit, and happy customers. Imagine if you were to offer your customer a standard master cylinder for $XXX dollars (with a one year warranty), and at the same time you offered them the option of a premium master cylinder (with a five year warranty) for a small additional amount. If they elect to go with the part that carries the longer warranty, then all those added dollars fall right to the bottom line. When done in the right way, the added profits will dwarf the few additional repairs you will have to perform. If you do the math, not only will you will be amazed at how profitable this can be, but as icing on the cake, the customers that choose to invest in the services that carry the longer warranties will be thrilled with the peace of mind you are providing them with.
    If this isn’t all reason enough, consider that Harvard Review reported on a study of what occurs when people are provided with options in a sales environment. They discovered that when test groups were offered one DVD player (Brand A), only 10% would buy. When they added a second player to choose from, 32% purchased brand A, and 34% purchased brand B. The lesson?  People love choices, so offering them the option of a repair with a longer warranty is one that many of your customers will love, and it will put more money on your bottom line at the same time.
    Note: Many states view offering different warranties as offering insurance, which requires a license. By offering different parts and services in each of your options, you’ll be good to go.
    Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite, a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. You learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com


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