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Elite Worldwide Inc.

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Blog Entries posted by Elite Worldwide Inc.

  1. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Do your customers ever tell your advisors that they're unable to being their vehicle in today? Top sales trainer Jen Monclus explains how to handle this common sales objection.
    For additional help generating higher sales and happier customers, learn more about Elite's industry acclaimed Masters Service Advisor Training Program: https://www.eliteworldwide.com/automotive-service-advisor-training.html
  3. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Industry leading shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Gene Morrill shares an easy-to-apply tip that has helped his shop improve customer satisfaction and retention.
     
    For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Gene through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360
  4. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Ron Haugen shares how your service advisors should handle the age old sales objection "I can buy the part online for less"
    For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Ron through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360
  5. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    When your techs come to you to tell you they’re stumped, and you give them a recommendation, you’ll lose regardless of the outcome. If you solve the problem, you’ve sent a message to the tech that you’re more knowledgeable than they are, which is not going to build their confidence. But then it gets worse; you’ve also taught them to come to you when they're up against a wall. This is a lose-lose situation, in that if your recommendation doesn’t solve the problem, the tech will come back to you looking for your next recommendation, because you’ve now assumed ownership of the problem. 

    As a business owner, you need to invest your time working on the business, not working on cars or solving problems for your techs. The answer is a lot easier than you may think. The first thing you need to do is create a system for solving technical problems in your shop. Once you have the system outlined, you’ll need to meet with all your techs and tell them something like this: 
    “Guys, I realize you all know we each have a job here at Elite Auto Service. Mine is to set the goals of the company, hire remarkable people like you, and to provide you with a lot of opportunities. Your job is to accurately diagnose the vehicles, and then get our customers back on the road just as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I’ve been spending way too much time helping you do your job, which means that I don’t have the time needed to do my job to the best of my ability.”

    “So what I’ve done is put together a system that you guys can use to solve technical problems without my help. Here’s how it’s going to work: If you get stumped with any diagnosis or repair, the first thing you’ll need to do is ask one another for any ideas. If no one in the shop has a quick answer, I want you to go to the second step, which is checking our Mitchell Repair service. If you can’t find the answer there, I want you to go to the third step, which is to call our technical support line. Now, if for whatever reason, you still can’t come up with the answer, it’s time to go to step number four, which is to post online.  If you still can’t find the answer, then it’s time for step five: Partner up with another one of our techs and commit to resolving the issue together, because you know as well as I do, there’s a good chance the answer is right under your nose, and sometimes all we need is a second set of eyes. At this point you’ll need to hit the reset button, and start at the very beginning by re-confirming the customer’s complaint, and then going through this entire problem solving system one more time.”  

    “Now if for whatever reason you still can’t solve the problem, then you’re more than welcome to come see me to ask if I can help. But if you do, bear in mind that I’m going to ask you what you have done to solve the problem so far, and I’m going to have an expectation that you’re going to tell me you’ve followed each and every one of these steps.”

    “So here’s what I’m going to do next: I’m going to put each of these steps down on a piece of paper, and pass out copies to each of you. Then we’re going to have another meeting so I can learn what you think we need to add, subtract or change on our list. As soon as it’s finalized, I’m going to give each of you a copy, and I’ll have an expectation that you’ll use it. If you do, I am confident you’ll be able to solve problems a lot more quickly, you’ll flag more hours, and I’ll be able to do what I need to do: Invest my time in finding ways to provide you with all of the opportunities you’ll need.”  

    In closing, I know there is no one single problem solving system that will work for every shop, but hopefully this information will give you the start you need to solve the age-old problem of your techs relying on you, when all they need is a simple system they can follow.
    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.
  6. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Elite Business Development Coach and past superstar shop owner Kevin Vaught shares where both your overall payroll, and your service advisor payroll should land as a percentage of your shop's sales: 
     
    For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a top shop owner like Kevin to reach your shop's goals. 
  9. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    1.  When first-time customers approach your facility they’ll typically be anxious, so anything you can do to reduce their anxiety will help them be more receptive to your recommendations. On your entry doors, or in a prominent location they’ll easily see, you should have clear indications of your professional affiliations, and any financing options you offer. 
    2. Inside the customer waiting area, rather than having cluttered walls and giving your customers sensory overload, you will be far better served by having your Mission Statement prominently displayed. This will give your customers good insight regarding the type of people they will be working with. For decades we here at Elite have argued that people do business with people, not with businesses, so anything you can do to humanize your company will help put your customers at ease.
    In addition to posting your Mission Statement, another great way of humanizing your business is by creating a 10x12 plaque for each of your employees, and putting a photo of the employee in the upper left corner. To the right of the photo, you can list their credentials, certifications, awards, etc. Across the bottom, you can include a brief bio of the employee that addresses their personal life (“Jim is a native of San Diego, has a wonderful wife, three children, and two Golden Retrievers. On the weekends Jim loves to go biking, and camping with his family”). You’ll find that not only will these plaques help your employees feel appreciated, but your service advisors can use them as sales tools when they are telling a customer who will be servicing their vehicle.
    3. At Elite we have always preferred service kiosks (stations) rather than counters. Not only do counters and desks serve as barriers between your advisors and their customers, but your advisors need to come from behind the counter to greet the customer. Kiosks also allow your advisors to stand next to their customers when looking at the computer screen. Again, putting your customers further at ease.
    4. The clocks, newspapers and current event magazines need to go. The clocks will have your customers timing you and your techs, and the newspapers and current event magazines are filled with both negative news and the ads of your competitors. Instead, you should have magazines that address sports, hobbies, home & gardens and entertainment. You should also have point of sale literature that explains the value of vehicle maintenance, other services you offer, etc. Lastly, you need to have magazines and books for your small “future” customers, as well as self-contained toys that can keep those kids occupied when mom and dad are busy with you. Wi-Fi? Cellular phones are quickly replacing the need for Wi-Fi, but if your core customer base has a strong need for it, you should consider making it available.
    5. You need to have fresh coffee available all day long, along with bottles of cold water and soda.  When I still had shops we would offer our customers a cold drink, and it would always be on us. It’s your call, but I feel it’s a small price to pay for the relationship that you can and will develop. 
    6. In addition to having signs on the outside of your building, you need to have prominent signs in your waiting area that reflect your professional affiliations, state that you accept all major credit cards, and communicate that you provide financing options, if applicable. I have learned over the years that when customers are under stress, they can easily forget that credit card that they have tucked away for emergencies. You’ll be surprised when you see the relief on their faces after seeing the signs. 
    7. Your customers do not have an expectation that the furniture in your waiting area will be top of the line, but they do have an expectation that it will be well maintained and clean. Over the years customer panels have told us that if shop owners don’t care enough about their own furniture to keep it clean and presentable, then why would they care about their customers’ automobiles? Lost sales are guaranteed.
    8. Lastly, your waiting room needs to have smiling, well-groomed employees that greet your customers as soon as they arrive.  No matter how clean and well-appointed your waiting area is, it’s the people who work with you that will have the greatest impact on your customers’ decisions, guaranteed. 
    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.
  10. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    In this quick video tip superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Ron Haugen reveals a profit center that very few shop owners are taking advantage of.
     
    For additional help building a more successful shop, learn how you can work 1-on-1 with a top shop owner like Ron through Elite Top Shop 360.
  11. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Greg Skolnik shares a tip on how to provide your employees with a detailed outline of all their benefits.
    For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Greg through Elite Top Shop 360:One on One Coaching
  13. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Nick Sallas shares a tip on how to handle upset customers in your shop, and turn them into satisfied ones!
     
    For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Nick through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360
  14. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    In this quick video superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach James Stephenson shares a tip on hiring great techs that has worked wonders for his award winning shop.
     
    For additional help hiring the right techs, learn how you can join an online shop owner peer group led by an industry leading shop owner like James through Elite's all-new service: Elite Synergy Groups
  15. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
     
    We all know that there are many things you can do when it comes to customer retention. Follow-up calls, sending out service reminder notices, ongoing advertising campaigns that keep your name at the top of the customer’s mind, and scheduling the next visit at the time of car delivery are just a few. Yet there are some timeless rules that are often forgotten. During these competitive times I feel I can best help you by reminding you of the 6 most important rules when it comes to customer retention.
     
    Rule #1. Create a principle-centered culture. All great companies realize that getting to the top, and staying at the top, is dependent on having a culture that is based on principles. As a business owner you need to ensure that you have a clearly defined Mission Statement, you need to share it with all of your employees, and you need to constantly keep it at the forefront of their minds. Remember, your “goals” are what you are going to accomplish, whereas your Mission Statement is what you will be doing along the way. For example, a Mission Statement could read, “It is the mission of Elite Auto Service to deliver extraordinary service to our customers and opportunity to our employees, while never compromising our ethics or our responsibility to society.”
     
    Rule #2. Offer and deliver a good value. I am not suggesting that you be the lowest priced, or the highest priced in your community. What I am suggesting is that you deliver a good value in return for the money you charge. Companies that charge more than they should just because they can typically discover that their profits will go up in the short term, but that they lose their customer base at the same time. Great companies are competitive, not greedy, and that is why they become, and remain, great companies.
     
    Rule #3. Hire the Superstars. The success of your company, and your ability to retain customers over the years, will be dependent on the people who work with you. As I am sure you will agree, just being good is no longer good enough, so you need to have employees who truly are superstars. I can only hope you bear in mind that whenever someone buys a product, they will always remember the product, but whenever they buy a service, they will always remember the people providing the service. Simply put, your customers’ impression of your business will only be as positive as their impression of the people who work with you.
     
    Rule #4. Provide consistency in the experience. Great companies such as McDonald’s, Starbucks and Nordstrom all understand the importance of consistency in service. With any of these companies, before you step into their stores you already have an expectation of what the experience will be. The top shops understand this rule, and that is why they have clearly defined procedures for everything they do, from handling the first-time caller, through car delivery. When customers feel there is no consistency in service, they will typically look for an alternative service provider.
     
    Rule #5. Deliver on your promises. Hopefully you can see how this rule ties into your Mission Statement. If you want your customers to continue to return, then make sure that all of your employees choose their words carefully when they are making a commitment to your customers, and then ensure they move the earth to deliver on those promises.
     
    Rule #6. Never put money ahead of people. All world-class business owners understand that money is the result of doing the right things for the right reasons. When you embrace this rule you will also discover why the world-class businesses will never take their customers for granted. They understand that it’s the trust their customers have in them and their people that is priceless, not their credit cards.
     
    In closing, there are a number of things you can do to improve your customer retention, but the one promise I can make you is this: These 6 rules are timeless ones, and if you apply them to your business, you will not only see more repeat customers, but unlike your competitors, you will be building a business that will last for generations to come.
     
    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.
     
  16. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Jim Butitta shares a critical employee management tip that will help shop owners build the culture needed to attract the top techs and service advisors: 
    Visit the Elite website to learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Jim to reach your shop's goals: https://www.eliteworldwide.com/one-on-one-coaching.html
  17. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    1. Invest in your most valuable asset: The people who work with you.
    You will need to embrace the fact that every one of your employees undergoes constant training, regardless of whether or not you provide it. Every time a technician diagnoses a vehicle or performs a repair, there is some form of learning taking place. The same is true with your advisors, as they are constantly learning through their exchanges with your customers. Ironically, while many shop owners believe they are saving money by not providing professional training, there is an extraordinary cost to this type of “on the job” training. Your techs learn through their costly misdiagnoses, low productivity and failed repairs. Your advisors learn through costly lost first-time callers, lost sales, and lost customers. By not providing professional training you will inevitably lose employee morale, sales, customers and profits, so rather than having your employees learn in the most costly way, you need to invest in training for all of your employees.
    At Elite we understand that every shop owner will have a different take on who should be paying for the training, but as a general rule, we feel it is the responsibility of the shop owner to do so. We also realize that some shop owners are fearful that if they pay for the training they may lose the employee and the money will be wasted, but the answer to that concern is simple –
    “The only thing worse than training an employee and having them leave, is not training them and having them stay.”
    2. Ensure everyone is properly trained.
    Mandated training is not a new concept. In the U.S. medical doctors and attorneys are required to take continuing education courses for one simple reason; to enable them to take better care of their patients and their clients. We should take the same approach. Only you know how much training your employees will need each year, and it certainly needs to be based on their job, their skill level and their experience. Yet as a starting point I would strongly recommend that you require all of your technicians to complete at least 48 hours of professional “company approved” training each year, and your advisors should complete at least 12 hours each year. The successful completion of the required training each year should be a condition in place for ongoing employment.
    3. Provide training that will help your employees with a number of skill sets.
    Rather than limiting each employee’s training to their specific job, you should consider offering optional courses that will help them in other aspects of their life and career. Some examples would be financial management courses, and personal development courses such as those offered by Dale Carnegie Training. By helping them develop as people, you will be creating better employees.
    4. Practice what you preach.
    As a shop owner, each year you need to participate in ongoing training as well. Your training should include business and employee management courses, marketing courses, and leadership courses. I would also recommended participating in personal development courses, which will set a good example for all of your employees.
    In closing, having a good ongoing training program in place, practicing what you preach as a shop owner, and living by the principle of never putting money ahead of people will help you take your shop to the top.
    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.
  18. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Clearly one of the keys to success in building an auto repair shop is having your entire staff working together as a team. The question is, how do you create an environment that fosters team spirit? Here are six easy steps that will not only help you create team spirit, but will help you build a more profitable, successful auto repair business at the same time.

    Step #1. Know your responsibilities. Team spirit will always start with you: the business owner. As an owner, it is your responsibility to set the goals of the company, to create the plan, to hire the superstars, to bring out the best in your people, and to ensure the success of the company. By having clearly defined goals for your company, it will not only keep you focused and motivated, but will help keep your entire team focused and motivated as well.

    Step #2. Define your mission. Please don’t confuse your mission with your goals. Your “goals” are your objectives, whereas your “mission” is the reason for your goals. Over the years I have discovered that when the people who work with me understand the mission of our company, they are far more committed to the goals. A Mission Statement for an auto repair shop may read something like this: “It is the mission of Elite Auto Service to provide extraordinary service to our customers, a safe and enjoyable workplace for our employees, and an ethical environment that creates opportunity for all.” Once you have defined your Mission Statement, you should share it with your entire team, post it in your customer waiting area, and incorporate it into the communications you have with your employees. If you haven’t drafted one yet, you may want to consider input from your entire team.

    Step #3. Hire the stars. Here at Elite we strongly believe that business owners need to hire for attitude, aptitude and ethics. As I am sure you will agree, you will have a hard time creating team spirit if you have employees who don’t truly enjoy what they are doing, and who are not 100% committed to customer satisfaction.

    Step #4. Have the right compensation programs in place. You need to have compensation programs that at least in part are based on overall shop productivity, otherwise everyone will focus on their own success rather than the common goals. You should also avoid having your employees compete against one another. Although some management companies encourage shop owners to do so (to the point of posting the billable hours of each tech), we feel otherwise. If you have your employees compete against one another, you’ll inevitably have one winner, and the rest will view themselves as losers. As you can imagine, after a few weeks you will notice an erosion of morale, and that your employees have little interest in helping one another. What you should do is have each employee compete against themselves by setting individual productivity goals that are based on their experience, their skill levels, and the opportunities that you provide to them. This way they can all be winners.

    Step #5. In order to create team spirit you need to provide consistent communication. At Elite we encourage all of our coaching clients to perform one-on-ones with each employee, where they can learn about their goals. We also encourage our clients to have regularly scheduled employee meetings where they discuss the goals of the company, the Mission Statement, and any positive comments from their customers that will support the Mission Statement and fuel team spirit.

    Step #6. As business owners, we need to feed the hearts of our employees. The more you catch your people doing things right and the more you give them positive reinforcement and praise, the happier they will be. Combine this with clearly defined goals, a well-defined Mission Statement that your employees can embrace, the right incentives, and consistent communication, and you will then have my promise: Not only will you be creating team spirit, but you will be building a more successful auto repair 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.

  19. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    When you start to see a pattern in behavioral issues; such as a tech, manager or service advisor coming in late, here are the things you need to consider: 1) If you don't nip it in the bud it will get worse. 2) Employees need to be responsible for their own behavior. 3) Your employees need to know why you have specific policies in place. So the next time an employee starts to develop a pattern of bad behavior, such as coming in late, call them into a private environment and ask them why they were late. When they have given you their explanation, say something like this...

    “Mike, you've been late four times now this month, and let me tell you what my concerns are. First of all, if you're not here at 7:30am, the first thought that goes through my mind is that you or someone in your family might be sick or injured.  My second thought is that your car may have broken down, or you may have been in an accident, and I start to wonder if I should send Larry or Frank out to look for you. To complicate things even further, when you're not here on time, and I'm standing at the service counter, I don't know what to tell customers who ask me when their car's going to be ready. Additionally, I just can't find it in myself to expect everyone else here at Elite Auto Service to be here on time when you're not. Now I know old habits are hard to break, so the next time you're late, I'll ask you why, but it really isn't going to matter because that one's going to be on me. The second time you're late, again I'll ask you why, and that one's going to be on me as well. But if you're late a third time, for whatever reason, it's going to be a difficult day for me, because I'm going to have to give you your final paycheck.”

    “Mike, I think the world of you, and I would love to be able to work with you for the rest of my life. You're a star, and I don't want to see our relationship end, so please don't put me in a position where I have to let you go. Do we have an understanding?"

    Now here's why this approach is so effective. First of all, many employees will think, “Gee, what's a few minutes?" They'll tell themselves they often work through breaks, stay late, etc., so you can see how easy it is for them to think you're not only nitpicking, but you're being quite unfair. That's why it's critically important that you let them know it's not the couple of minutes that you're concerned about, but that you’re worried about their well-being, your customers and your other employees.

    I have also discovered over the years that the keepers will typically apologize, and the behavioral issue goes away. The people who won't be with you very long will typically either ask you “What period of time are you talking about?" for the three strikes, (which tells us they already imagine they'll be late), or they'll make a point to show up each day just minutes before the time they're supposed to be at work.
    This Elite Three Strikes system takes away all of the excuses and makes the employee responsible for his or her own behavior. Just remember, when you make a promise, you have to keep it, so be ready to hand that employee their final paycheck if the behavior continues.
    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.
  20. 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.

  22. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper
    Regardless of whether you have one or twenty employees, your productivity and profits will both go up if all your employees work together as a team. If you feel that’s not the case in your shop, or if you would like to ensure that you are covering all the bases, I hope that this checklist can help. 
        Hire the right people 
    At Elite we look for people that have the right attitude, the right aptitude and the right ethics. I am sure you will agree that in order to cultivate a team spirit, everyone on your team will need to have these three traits. Not only should you have discussions with your key employees about your hiring intentions, but you need to have them involved in the interviewing and decision-making process as well. They will be working with the new hire every day, so if nothing else, you owe them the opportunity to give their input.
        Educate every new hire on the things that are most important
    During their orientation, you need to educate them on the goals of your company, your Mission Statement, and the culture of your company.  Ideally you’ll not only have a Mission Statement, but you will have the new hire memorize it as well (Not familiar with Mission Statements? See ours on the Elite site). 
        View your entire organization as a family rather than a company 
    Simply put, you should recognize the birthdays of all of your employees, their family happenings, etc. The more you can instill a feeling of family in your employees, the stronger your shop’s team spirit will be.
        Have regularly scheduled team meetings 
    In addition to reviewing your policies, procedures, etc., at your meetings, you need to review your mission and culture as well. This constant reminder will help foster the common cause teamwork you are looking for.
      
        Provide ongoing education 
    In addition to job-related education, you need to provide your employees with ongoing education that fosters your culture and team spirit. At Elite, every new-hire is required to read How to Win Friends and Influence People, and as a team we read (and review) books like John Maxwell’s Ethics 101 and Attitude 101.
        Perform regularly scheduled employee reviews 
    These reviews not only provide you with the opportunity to praise each employee for their team efforts, but you can ask them for their suggestions on how to further improve the team spirit within your company. If you’ve hired the right people, you can rest assured they will provide you with the answers you are looking for.
        Create team incentives 
    Although every employee needs to be compensated for their own productivity, you need to have team incentives in place. In addition to incentives for overall shop productivity, you should consider incentives for 5-star reviews that reflect their team efforts.
        Do away with hierarchies  
    I feel that in today’s world we no longer need hierarchies, which is why no one works “for” me at Elite; everyone works “with” me as a team. This does not mean everyone isn’t accountable, because they are. It just means that I view everyone in our family at Elite as being incredibly important to our mission. I have found over the years that when people know that you care about them, and when they realize just how much you value their role and contributions, they will then move mountains for you.
    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.
  23. 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.
  24. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Every shop owner has a number of important responsibilities. First and foremost, they are responsible for setting the goals of the company and hiring the right people. They are also responsible for creating the plan, managing their employees and ensuring the success of the company. But there’s another major responsibility that every shop owner has, and that’s to bring ethics into every decision making process, and to let their moral compass guide them. This checklist is certainly not meant to be a complete list of all ethical considerations, but I feel this will give you a good starter-list to consider, and hopefully review with all of your employees.

    1. Setting Customer Expectations. We are the professionals in all cases, so at the very first point of contact we have an ethical responsibility to set clear expectations for each and every customer. These expectations need to address the services that will be performed, the benefits of those services, the time they will take, and the cost of those services.

    2. Performing Complete and Accurate Vehicle Inspections. In all cases, inspection services need to be clearly explained to the customer, and they need to be completed in professional manner that meets with industry standards. With the understanding that the customer’s safety is in our hands, beyond any operational reasons, we have an ethical responsibility to complete such services so we can better protect our customers. This means inspecting all the relative vehicle components, the customer’s hard copies of service receipts, and any vehicle history that is stored in our customer databases. All discoveries and recommendations need to then be documented in an easy-to-understand and legible manner for the customer to review.

    3. Disclosing all Discoveries. The customers that turn to us for services and repairs depend on our honesty. There is an unspoken expectation that we will disclose all of our discoveries at all times, and do so in a manner that allows our customers to feel comfortable, and under no pressure whatsoever to authorize any additional services.

    4. Selling Additional Services. As professionals, we need to ensure that each and every service recommendation is presented in a professional and customer-centric way that follows your company’s sales procedures. The sale should start by confirming the customer’s initial concerns, and then prioritizing the additional services in a way that builds customer confidence, and stimulates a conversation about the recommendations. In all cases we need to explain the benefits of the recommended services, and provide the customer with a copy of the estimate if they elect to not authorize the recommended services. As service providers, our moral compass should direct us to treat the customer as though they are family, and in doing so, we need to view the sales process as helping the customer make the right decision, rather than looking at the dollars and cents that are associated with the sale.

    5. The Morality of Pricing. As business owners we need to live by a number of rules when it comes to pricing our services, yet the most important rule states that we need to treat people the way they should be treated. At Elite we certainly understand that no two shops will ever be exactly alike, and there are many things that need to be considered when establishing your pricing, yet one thing we tell every single coaching client is that there is always a point where pricing moves beyond generating a reasonable profit, and to the point of greed. One of our mantras at Elite is, “Just because you can charge more, doesn’t mean you should charge more.” Simply put, you can never put money ahead of people.

    6. The Morality of Employee Equality. This is a subject in itself, so I will just give you one example of employee equality. Here at Elite we certainly understand that most shop owners have pay plans in place that they have developed, in many cases, over many years. This often leads to them having techs in their shops on different pay plans, and earning different incomes. Rather than taking this approach, you should have a pay plan in place that is transparent, and allows every tech to see what they can earn based on their ASE Certifications, their productivity, and the quality of their work. By taking this approach, every tech will be working off the same pay plan matrix, and your moral compass will tell you that you’re being fair to all.

    7. General Decision Making. As business owners we are constantly making decisions throughout the day, and while in most cases they are not too difficult to make, we inevitably run into those decisions that are a little tougher than others. In many cases, those difficult decisions involve two things; people and money. To ensure we make the right call when faced with these difficult decisions, all that we need to do is ask ourselves, “What’s the right thing to do?”, rather than, “What’s best for us?” For years here at Elite we have used my “Grandmother technique” whenever we are faced with these difficult decisions. We simply ask ourselves, “What would our grandmothers say?”, and by the time we are done with that exercise, we inevitably feel good about our decision because it was made based on ethics; not dollars and cents.

    8. Never Lose Faith in Ethics. By embracing the value of ethics, and consciously bringing them into your life, a number of things will inevitably occur. First of all, the superstars that you would like to have working with you, will want to work with you. Secondly, not only will you feel good about your decisions, but the people that work with you will feel good about them also. And finally, if you never put money ahead of people, if you consciously bring ethics into your decision making process, and if you never lose faith in your moral compass, you will be serving as a role model for all of the people that work with you, and you will be building a really great business based on principles that have withstood the test of time.

    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. You can contact Bob at [email protected], or at 800-204-3548.

  25. 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.


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