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Elite Worldwide Inc.

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  1. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with many of the top shop owners in America, and I have met thousands of owners who are living from day to day, and then unfortunately fail. There have been a lot of discoveries along the way, so I would like to use this article to share what I feel to be the top 7 reasons why most shops fail.

    1. Pride. There is no question that pride plays an important role in a shop owner’s success. It causes them to make sure that their shops are clean, vehicles are properly repaired, and the customers are pleased with their services. Certainly there is a place for pride, and all successful shop owners have it, but they also know when to turn it off. They turn it off by admitting to their mistakes, complimenting their employees for doing a job better than they could, and as Henry Ford did, they accept the fact that they can’t build successful businesses on their own. The shop owners who are unwilling to set their pride aside when it’s appropriate to do so, are the owners who inevitably fail.

    2. Fear. As with pride, fear also plays an important role in a shop owner’s success. The fear of not doing a good enough job for their customers, the fear of a new competitor moving into town, and the fear that comes along with investing in themselves and their employees, are all shared by the top shop owners in America. What separates them from those who fail is that they face their fears head-on, and they take the proper action to ensure their success. The shop owners who fail are paralyzed by their fears, they take no action, and then their worst nightmares come true. They lose their key employees, their car counts drop, and their profits disappear.

    3. Not realizing what their jobs are. Successful shop owners know that the best way for them to build their companies, and help their customers, is by doing what they should be doing as business owners: Setting the goals of the company, developing the plan, hiring the superstars, bringing out the best in their people, and ensuring the success of the company. Those who own failed shops typically have big hearts, but instead of doing what they should be doing, they are found under the hoods of automobiles, chasing parts and sweeping their parking lots. These are all things that need to be done, but by other people, not by the owners.

    4. Not knowing when and how to invest. Most shop owners are quick to invest in equipment, inventory, and in most cases, their marketing programs. Of course these are all investments that certainly need to be made. Beyond these types of investments, the top shop owners constantly invest in their most important assets: Themselves, and the people who work with them. Whenever I look at the financial statements of a struggling or failed auto repair shop, one thing is almost certain: There is a glaring absence of any investment in their own education, and in the training of their staff.

    5. The absence of systems. Successful shop owners have clearly defined procedures for answering every phone call, writing up their customers, inspecting vehicles, recommending and selling services, performing services, car delivery and customer follow-up. The shops that fail rarely have systems in place. I have found that their employees typically have their own ways of doing things, which is a guaranteed recipe for failure.

    6. Trying to be everything to everybody. Most shop owners try to please everyone, and that’s good. But the top shop owners realize that bringing in the wrong customers will drive down their profitability, erode morale, and wipe out their profits. They know exactly who their ideal customers are, and they target them with all of their advertising programs. The shops that fail are more interested in filling up their service bays than in bringing in the right people. While they are thinking of vehicles in the bays, the top shop owners are thinking of the right people and the right vehicles.

    7. The absence of goals. By having clearly defined goals, the top shop owners are passionate about their mission, they make better decisions, they do a far better job of hiring, they have happier customers and they put more money on their bottom line. The shop owners who fail operate their shops from week to week, they run up debt, they burn out, and they ultimately close their doors.

    In closing, if you want to build a more profitable, successful business, as I am sure you know, there are no guarantees of success. The one promise that I can make is that business, as with life, is all about choices. If you set your goals, and if you put fear and pride aside, you can build an auto repair shop that is second to none. Others have, so I know you can as well.

    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.
  2. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    As business owners, our best teachers will always be our employees and our customers. They understand many components of our businesses, and in most cases, they really do care about our success. Learning from our employees is relatively simple. All that we need to do is pay attention to their passing comments, and engage them during our employee meetings and reviews. What I would like to do with this article is provide you with a step-by-step guide that will help you do what every successful business owner does; learn from your customers.

    1. First and foremost, you need to set customer satisfaction goals, as well as minimum levels of acceptable performance. For example, your goal would be 100%, and the minimum level of acceptable performance would be set at 96%.

    2. Let your employees know how you will measure results. It’s your call, but I would encourage you to categorize any type of customer dissatisfaction as a failure, regardless of the cause. For example, if the customer says they felt the price of the repair was too high, it would be a failure because the advisor did not do an adequate job of building value in the service. Now I understand that there will be some occurrences (such as a part failure) where the employees would feel they should not be held accountable for the customer being dissatisfied. It’s those rare occurrences that cause us to set a minimum level of acceptable performance. In essence, by setting a minimum level of acceptable performance at 96%, those rare occurrences are taken into consideration.

    3. Implement a companywide reward program that is based on customer satisfaction scores, and make sure all of your employees are able to participate. This will help incentivize the team effort you need.

    4. Conclude who will be making your customer follow-up calls. Although there is tremendous relationship-building value in having your advisors follow up with their customers, the downside is that your customers may not be candid with them. Add to that, your advisors will have a conflict of interest if you are providing them with an economic incentive. I have found that the best person for making the calls is someone with the right personality, and who believes in you, your company and your people. When I was still operating shops I found that the perfect candidates were the customers that loved us, and that were looking to earn a few extra dollars a week.

    5. Conclude how you will compensate the person you hire, and where the calls will be made. Ideally you will pay your representative a flat hourly rate, ensuring that they will invest adequate time on each call. I also believe, when possible, the calls should be made from your shop. Not only will this allow your customers to see your phone number displayed on their caller ID, which adds to your professionalism, but if the customer has a question or concern, they can be transferred to your staff immediately.

    6. Conclude who you will call and when. At Elite we believe that all first-time customers, and all repair and/or warranty customers, should be called within 72 hours. Out of respect for their time, we do not endorse calling repeat customers who had simple maintenance services performed. Although these calls should never be perceived as “sales” calls, if a customer declined a major safety repair, we do encourage you to have your representative ask the customer if they have had the repair performed, to ensure their safety and well-being.

    7. Ask the right questions. I realize most dealerships, franchisees and independents ask a series of questions about the behavior of their staff, the quality of repair, promised-times, etc. At Elite we look at it differently. Our position is that you should say something as simple as, “I just wanted to follow up with you and ask; ‘How did we do?’” Our reasoning for this approach is really pretty simple. Rather than leading the customer with specific questions, it will allow you to learn what is important to your customer. If it is important enough to be at the top of their mind, then without question, it is exactly what you need to hear.

    8. Put the information to work. Share all your discoveries with your entire crew, and solicit their recommendations as to what can be done differently based on what you have learned from your customers. Not only will this allow you to build a more successful shop, but it will show your employees that you value their feedback as much as the feedback you receive from your customers.

    If you want to build a more profitable, successful business, there are two rules that will always be at the top of your list: Never put money ahead of people, and listen intently to your 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 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.

  3. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    Most service advisors fall into one of three traps with first-time customers: they’ll either avoid recommending a complete inspection, they’ll try to bundle the inspection into a service, or they’ll just inspect the vehicle without the owner’s permission. Unfortunately, all of these approaches can jeopardize the customer experience, and reflect poorly on your shop. Let’s take a look at each one…
    The service advisors who shy away from recommending a complete inspection to first-time customers are typically doing so for one of two reasons: either they’re afraid that they might find something and will have to sell the customer on that service, or they’re afraid that the customer will think that they are on the hunt for additional dollars. These are the advisors who will typically tell their technicians, “He’s a first-time customer and I don't want to scare him away, so let’s just do the oil service he brought the vehicle in for. We can catch the other things the next time he comes back.” In either case this is a disservice to the customer, and a disservice to your business. Regardless of why the service advisor is afraid to sell, your customers may very well leave and be completely unaware of the risk they are taking with their vehicles, and in some cases, with their lives. Everyone loses in this scenario.
     
    The second trap service advisors fall into is trying to “bundle” the inspection. This is when the advisor tells your customers that the oil service, or whatever they brought their vehicle in for, “includes” a complimentary safety or vehicle inspection. What these advisors don’t understand is that telling your customers that an inspection is “included”, is no different than telling them you are on the hunt for dollars. There’s no doubt about it: you lose with this approach as well.
     
    The third trap advisors fall into is saying nothing at all about an inspection, then telling your customers that while doing the oil service they also inspected other things, and discovered that those other things need attention as well. Unfortunately, your customers are now under the impression that you have been doing things to their vehicle that they haven’t authorized.
     
    What’s the secret to selling complete vehicle inspections to first-time customers? It’s really pretty simple. Since fear is the primary emotion that drives most first-time customers, the first thing you need to do is put the customer at ease. You can do this by smiling, and engaging them in a friendly dialogue about their family, work, etc., when you first meet them. It’s called building rapport. Then, just like a doctor learning about the medical history of a first-time patient, you need to learn as much as you can about the service and repair history of their vehicle. This will typically raise questions about the vehicle’s service history, which will provide you with a great opportunity to build value in your inspection.
     
    You can further build value in your inspection by painting mental pictures, and putting their fears that you’re going to “try to sell them something” to rest. One way of accomplishing this goal is to close out your presentation by saying that when they pick up their vehicle, you’ll provide them with detailed notes on anything that was discovered during the inspection.
     
    When we are discussing this subject with shop owners, or advisors, we tell them that they need to approach their customers in the same way that a good doctor would recommend a complete physical to a first-time patient. Rather than raising the anxiety of the patient, the good doctors will actually put the patient at ease by taking the time to properly build rapport. They’ll tell the patient that odds are there’s nothing they're going to discover that will be of concern, that it’s a great way to take care of our bodies, and that the physical will help the patient remain healthy for a long time. Ironically, it’s no different with your patients. Just think of the vehicle as your “patient”, and the owner as a concerned parent. If you take this approach, you have my promise: you’ll be thrilled with the results, because your sales, your customer satisfaction, and your profits will all go straight up.

    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.
  4. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    There’s no doubt that pricing is one of the most misunderstood elements of business. There’s not only a lot of bad information out there, but with these tough economic times, there’s a lot of uncertainty as well. So what I decided to do with this article is break the subject of pricing down into three components: Base pricing, price modification and measuring results.

    Base Pricing

    At Elite we believe that in all cases, your prices need to be competitive. By “competitive”, I’m not suggesting that you need to charge the same price as the shop down the street. What I am saying is that your prices need to be competitive with other service providers that deliver a level and quality of service that is comparable to yours. So take the pulse of your community to discover what other well-run shops and dealerships are charging for the more popular services and repairs.

    If you’re not competitive you’ll have a short-lived career, so don’t develop a false sense of security by telling yourself that your shop is far better than your legitimate competitor’s. Remember, in the world of business, with all due respect, your opinion doesn’t count. Your customer’s perception of value is the only thing that really matters. And for them, perception is reality.

    Price Modification

    Once you have concluded what your base pricing needs to be to ensure you’re competitive, you will have to run the numbers. When you do the math, you should be able to quickly determine if you can operate a profitable business (at your predetermined pricing structure) based on your fixed expenses, the required return on investment, your cost of goods and the potential of your facility. You should easily be able to determine the number of employees you will need, and the number of vehicles you will need to process in order to reach your financial goals.

    One option you can explore after running the numbers is to find ways to provide added value to your services that will allow you to increase your pricing. Bear in mind that your customer’s perception of added value will need to be easily recognized, and it will need to be cost justifiable, so added value items like longer warranties, premium parts, and complimentary loaner cars could come into play.

    The other point you need to consider with price modification is how often you should raise your prices. Some management companies suggest that you should systematically raise your prices every quarter, but at Elite we strongly disagree. It makes little sense to say we should automatically raise our prices just because we can. What I would encourage you to do is review your pricing once a quarter. If there are no negative changes in your economy, and no changes in your competition, you may then want to consider raising your prices. If you do, the increases should be small, unless you are correcting a major deficiency. Not only are small increases more easily acceptable in the eyes of your customers, but you will find that your service advisors will feel far more comfortable with small increases as well. Bear in mind that anytime your service advisors have a hard time buying into a price increase, they’ll have a hard time selling it.

    You also may want to consider loading the majority of your increases in your labor charges rather than your part pricing, and here’s why. In the customer’s mind, parts are parts, but when it comes to your labor charges, it’s far easier to defend because your technicians may be more skilled than the techs down the street. If you spoke to two doctors about a surgery, you would more than likely expect the price of the anesthesia to be about the same with both doctors, but if the one doctor charged more for professional services than the other, you may very well feel it’s worth it, because he or she could conceivably be a better physician. It’s no different in your business. To the consumer, parts are parts, yet the technical expertise between two techs will never be the same.

    Another good rule of thumb is to avoid falling prey to other shop owners telling you that they jacked up their prices and haven’t lost any sales at the point of sale. These are typically the same shop owners who a year later find that their customers have all but disappeared. The reality is that just because your customers authorize a service, it doesn’t mean they were sold on the job. Often times they’ll approve the service (at a price they feel is too high) just to get the repair behind them, and then they’ll never come back.

    Measuring Results

    In all cases, I would strongly encourage you to monitor the “consumer acceptance” of your pricing. First, you need to pay close attention to the sales that are lost at the point of sale and track each one. Secondly, you should do your follow-up calls, and monitor how many of those customers ultimately return. The last component you will need to monitor is your number of referral customers, both in count and as a percentage of your total leads. There’s no question that if your customers continue to return, and continue to tell their friends about you, your prices are considered acceptable.

    In closing, far too many shop owners have this ill-founded belief that their services are worth more than they really are. They jack up their prices, they make a lot of money for a few months, and then their customers disappear. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, you should do what all the well-run, ethical shops do. You should deliver great value to everyone who comes into your shop, you should never put money ahead of people, and if you do decide that it’s time to raise your prices, just be sure to do it carefully, and in a manner that will not adversely affect those priceless relationships that you have with the single most important part of your business: Your 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 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.
  5. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    In the world of auto repair and service, one thing is for certain: You are going to lose customers. They will move, no longer have a need for their automobile, turn to one of your competitors, or buy a new vehicle and then take it to the dealer for service. Accordingly, you need a consistent stream of new customers, and since you more than likely have competition in your community, you need to help those potential customers see that your shop is the right shop. The way that you accomplish this goal is by identifying who your targeted customer is, and then investing in your marketing and advertising programs, along with your customer retention programs. The question is; how much money should you be investing in those programs? Well, here are the guidelines that we share with the top shops in America.

    If you have a general repair shop, a good place to start is at 4-5% of your annual sales. If you have a transmission shop, you may find that you need to increase your budget to 6-8%. Bear in mind that your budget needs to be a percentage of your “targeted” sales, not your current sales. For example, if you are currently generating $800,000 in annual sales, but your target is $1,000,000 in sales, then your marketing budget would need to be 4-5% of $1,000,000, not $800,000.

    The second thing you should do is something that very few shops do, which is invest at least 50% of your budget into what we at Elite refer to as non-traditional advertising programs. Whereas traditional programs include media like direct mail, TV, radio and websites, non-traditional programs are comprised of media such as fund raisers, social media, car care events held at your shop, and any other advertising programs that are outside of the mainstream marketing channels typically used in your community.

    Now here is one of our best kept secrets at Elite. We have long recognized the Y Generation (born 1980 - 1990) as the emerging market. These people are not only your customers of tomorrow, but since this generation was brought up using search and social media on their Smartphones, they are often turned to by older generations that are looking for a good auto repair shop. Accordingly, we encourage all of our coaching clients to invest 50% of their non-traditional advertising budgets into programs that are specifically directed toward the Y Gen’s in their communities. We have to remember that the first to reach this emerging market will benefit the most, so why not you?

    In order to get the best return on your advertising investments, there are a number of things you should do. First of all, we encourage you to explore every opportunity to use the strength of other respected brands. For example, using names such as Valvoline, Jasper Engines & Transmissions, and AAA can enable you to build even more customer confidence in your brand. You will also need to monitor and measure the results of your advertising programs. Here’s how…

    With all first-time customers, even if they are holding your coupon, you should ask, “By the way, may I ask who referred you to us? When I was still operating my shops, I discovered that this question would send a strong message that we received a lot of referrals, which is a very good thing. In addition, we discovered that many of those customers (even those with a coupon) would respond by saying something like, “I see your ads on TV all of the time.” Since brand awareness media like TV and radio is so hard to monitor, this question would often help us obtain the answers we were looking for. We also discovered that more often than not, customers would tell us that they were referred by a friend, which indicated that while the media (coupons, ads, etc.) were the calls to action that caused them to contact us, the customers were actually sold on us due to recommendations from their friends. We would then call our customers who gave us the referrals, and thank them for their trust in us.

    In conclusion, if you want to build a base of satisfied customers, you need to know who your ideal customers are, make the right investments in the right media, monitor and measure the results, and then do an amazing job of turning those customers… into raving fans.

    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. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com
  6. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    The top shops in America realize that in order to build a successful business they will need to have team players that are self-starters, who can produce, and who will never compromise their ethics. Over the years I’ve not only been fortunate enough to hire many of our industry superstars, but I have seen hiring mistakes made every day by shop owners all across America. In order to help you with your business, I’d like to share what I believe to be the 5 most common hiring mistakes that shop owners make.

    1. They are afraid to pay top buck. In business there are a number of rules that are timeless, and one is that you get what you pay for. The reason the superstars can command top buck is pretty simple; it’s because they can produce. The techs and advisors that earn average incomes all have one thing in common; they produce average results, and average employees will never take you to the top. Every top shop owner that I have consulted with will agree that once you hire a superstar, you will quickly see that they are one of the best investments you will ever make.

    2. They are afraid to provide a respectable guarantee. Most shop owners are reluctant to give a respectable guarantee because they are afraid the new hire may not produce, and they will be stuck paying a big guarantee. Now here are two important points that they don’t understand. First of all, if they believe they are providing the potential employee with a great opportunity, then providing a respectable guarantee shows the candidate that they have confidence in their business, and in the position they are looking to fill. Secondly, most shop owners are so concerned about how much the guarantee could cost them, they completely forget that if the employee doesn’t produce, there’s a simple solution: You let them go.

    3. They use the wrong criteria when making their employment selections. Most shop owners hire techs and advisors based on their level of knowledge and industry experience. Although those are both important considerations, what’s more important is the attitude of the applicant, their aptitude and their ethics. A wise man once told me we hire people for what they know, and we fire them for who they are.

    4. They don’t look beyond the candidate. The shop owners who employ the superstars all realize that when they hire Larry they get Mary. What this means is that if the candidate has a significant other in their life, you can rest assured that they will play a role in the candidate’s decision. This is why at Elite we encourage all of our clients to ensure their compensation and incentive package has what we refer to as “go-home” benefits. Examples would be retirement programs, paid holidays and vacations, well-days, etc.

    5. They forget that the superstars will be interviewing them. The top shop owners all realize that the superstars they are interviewing will have no trouble at all finding a shop that will hire them. Accordingly, throughout the interview process the superstar will be interviewing the shop owner, and they’ll be asking themselves whether or not they would like to work at the shop. They will be evaluating you by the type of questions you ask, and the interviewing-qualification process you take them through. If at any time they feel you are hiring out of desperation, rather than ensuring it’s a great fit for everyone, one thing is for certain: They’ll walk, because what they are looking for is the opportunity to work at an ethical shop that enjoys a good reputation in the community, has team spirit, and has leadership that allows them to clearly see their future with the company.

    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. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com
  7. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    I am sure we can all agree that our industry, and society, has been going through quite a transformation. One of the changes that’s had an extraordinary impact, and will have an even bigger impact in the coming years, is transparency. Not only do today’s consumers have an expectation of transparency, but they have access to pricing information that was beyond our wildest dreams just a few short years ago.

    Just look at all the major retailers. With rare exception, you can walk into any consumer electronic store, appliance store, or in many cases even the home goods stores, and you’ll find that they not only offer price matching, but they put their price guarantees front and center. This is a growing trend, and there is no question that it comes from one source. The retailers are very well aware that their customers have something they never had in the past – access to pricing information that is literally at their fingertips. So here’s my recommendation to you as a shop owner: take a different path than your competitors. First of all, we all know that in order to operate a successful auto repair shop you need to maintain a certain level of gross profit. Accordingly, what most shop owners will do is establish gross profit margins on their parts, and they’ll typically set a different gross profit margin on their direct labor. The common numbers are 50% on parts, and 70% on labor. Combine the two together, and they get the overall gross profit they are looking for. As you can imagine, this is what they learned from their mentors, and although it worked in the past, the times have changed.

    In today’s transparent world, one of the first things customers will scrutinize is the price of the parts you have installed on their vehicles. Now we all know that well-skilled service advisors can take the focus off of the price when providing a service recommendation, and we know they can do a reasonable job in answering questions about their part prices, but no matter how skilled they are, I am sure you will agree; it’s a tough sale at best. So consider this scenario….

    There are two shops performing the same repair on identical vehicles, and each shop charges $1,000.00 for the repair. The only difference between the two jobs is that Larry’s Auto charged $500 for the parts and $500 for the labor, whereas Elite Auto Service charged $400 for the parts and $600 for the labor. If Larry’s customer discovers he could have bought the parts for substantially less, and questions the integrity of Larry’s price, then Larry is in trouble. On the other hand, by being more competitive with part pricing, Elite’s customer is comfortable with the price he paid for his parts. Now at this point I know what some of you are more than likely thinking; what if the customer questions the labor charge at Elite? If that question is going through your mind, all that you need to do is ask yourself if you’d rather defend the price you charged for the service provided by your talented technicians, or the price of your parts? For me, that’s an easy question to answer, and the best example I can give you would be the fees charged by physicians. You and I may expect the price of bandages and medicine to be the same between two doctors, but we know we’ll be paying more if we see a leading surgeon. Not only would we expect to pay more, but we’ll probably feel good knowing that we are being cared for by the best.

    In summary, in the customer’s mind parts are parts, but as we all know, those superstar techs who work with you can’t be compared to the guys down the street. This is why I strongly encourage you to ensure that your high profiled parts are competitively priced, and make up the difference in your labor charges. It will keep you competitive, and better ensure your success in the coming years.

    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. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com
  8. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Doris Barnes

    In a world where service advisors don’t want to be considered salespeople, we need to search our souls. Why is it that “selling” has become a dirty word? Why is it that we cringe at the term “sales?” It’s simple! Most service advisors do what they do each day because they care about people. To become a “salesperson”, in their mind, means to become pushy and overbearing. To most, it means that their interest must shift to one thing and one thing only… The customer’s Visa card! So, what’s the best way to overcome this misperception? First and foremost, we need to get something clear: Selling is helping people through a difficult decision making process.

    Let’s face it: Many of our customers are poor decision makers. How many times do customers come into your shop, only for you to discover that they’ve been neglecting their vehicles? In many cases, this is because a service advisor has never helped them truly understand the value of vehicle maintenance. These customers who have a pattern of making poor decisions are the ones who need our help the most! True salesmanship is always going to put the customer’s best interest ahead of everything else. If selling starts violating ethics, in my mind, it is no longer selling; it’s stealing.

    Over the years as an advisor, I discovered that in most cases, a customer’s decline in vehicle maintenance happens slowly. This gradual decline can be primarily attributed to the failures of the advisors. Rather than genuinely caring about what’s in their customers’ best interest, service advisors are acquiescing to their customers with the attitude that, “It’s the customer’s money, it’s the customer’s safety, and he can do whatever he wants”. This is the easy way out; the path of least resistance! We need to ask ourselves…is this right? What if this customer was your grandmother or your daughter? Would you just roll over and accept that they made the wrong decision? Of course not!

    So, where do we go from here? Well…service advisors need to become true salespeople. In large, sales skills come into play once you really grasp how people behave and react in a buying environment. When we sell auto repair, we have to keep in mind that we’re selling something that isn’t pleasurable for people to buy! Many times, we’re also selling an intangible. Talk about tough! We need to learn how to sell in a way that helps our customers see the true value of each service, because in order for the customer to authorize the service, the perceived value of that service needs to exceed the value of the money the customer will have to spend.

    We always need to ask ourselves, “How will the customer win by saying, ‘yes’?” This is, after all, what your customers care about most, in that they will always be thinking, “How do I benefit?”
    If we, as salespeople, can master selling benefits instead of parts and labor, then we’re one step ahead of the crowd. Let’s work together to help our customers, because they need us! After all, we are the experts… right?

    This article was contributed by Doris Barnes of Elite, a former industry-leading service advisor who is currently Elite's Director of Customer Relations, and one of the expert trainers that helps advisors through the Elite Masters Service Advisor Training Course.

  9. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    Not long ago it was easy to beat your competitors. All that you needed was more equipment, a healthy advertising budget and the ability to fix cars right the first time. Well, those days are long gone. Today, cars are being built better and require service less frequently, customers have more choices than ever before, and they are able to do a tremendous amount of research online before they even pick up the phone. Additionally, this industry is experiencing an extraordinary shortage of qualified technicians, and profit margins are being squeezed every day. To top it all off, the dealerships have their eye on one thing and one thing alone: Your customers. So the question is, during these challenging times, how can you stay ahead of your competitors?

    First and foremost, you will need to have clearly defined goals in place, and you’ll need to create a plan for reaching those goals. The right goals and an action plan will enable you to make far better business decisions, and improve productivity and profits.

    Secondly, your success will be predicated on the caliber of people that work with you. We can never forget that whenever someone buys a product, they will always remember the product, but when they buy a service, they will always remember the people that provided the service. How will the top shop owners find and hire the superstars in the coming years? In addition to having an apprentice program in place, they will create a recruiting plan that contains a well-designed compensation program, and they will market to the superstars in the same way they market to their retail customers.

    The top operators will also create marketing plans that target their ideal customers, and they will use the right media. The successful shop owners will be brand builders rather than price promoters, and they will invest at least 4-6% of their total sales into their marketing programs. They will recognize that the Y Gens and Millennials hold the key to their future, so will be investing a part of their marketing budget into campaigns specifically directed towards them.

    The successful shop owners in the coming years will constantly analyze every component of their customer process with their crew, and they’ll create policies and procedures that better ensure extraordinary service at every customer touch-point. They will also embrace the philosophy that keeping their superstars happy, motivated, well-trained and productive will depend on their employee management skills. They’ll realize that their brand is their people, so to further develop those skills they will invest in books and courses that are directed towards employee management.

    And lastly, the top shop owners in the coming years will not only know their numbers, but will know what needs to be done in order to reach each and every one of their performance goals.

    In conclusion, if you want to build a world-class shop you will need to have clearly defined goals with a written plan, and will need to know your numbers. You will also need to have a team of superstars, and a well-designed marketing plan that brings in your ideal customers. If you do these things, if you never forget the importance of the people that work with you, and if you live by the principle that you will never put money ahead of people, then you will not only stay well ahead of your competitors, but you will have a far more profitable, successful business in the coming years.

    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. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com

  10. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    With vehicles being built better than ever before, and with service intervals continually being extended, you are going to see your customers less often. This means that your service advisors have to be razor sharp when that phone rings. Although there is no silver bullet that will allow you to bring in every first-time caller, there are a number of things you can do to get more appointments. In this article, I would like to share some of the best practices we teach in our service advisor training that will bring immediate results.

    In order for your customers to buy from you, three things need to occur: They have to like you, they have to trust you, and they have to view you as a credible expert. So when your phone rings, the first thing your advisors need to sell is themselves; not the service or repair. The best way of accomplishing this goal is with a professional, courteous and upbeat greeting, such as, “Thank you for calling Elite Auto Care, this is Bob. How can I help you this morning?” Starting out by immediately thanking the customer shows appreciation, volunteering the name of your company helps assure your callers that they’ve called the right number, and providing a first name is the first step in building personal relationships with your callers. By asking how they can help, your advisors are asking a question that will allow them to control the conversation. By being upbeat and using the right tonality, their likeability goes up, and the customer’s anxiety goes down.

    The second thing your advisors will need to do is slow the conversation down so the callers don’t feel rushed. Your advisors will have to become good detectives by asking a number of questions, because when your customers are responding to the questions, it will take their focus off the price, and will help them begin feeling more comfortable with your advisors at the same time.

    When it comes to asking for the appointment, one of the best tips I can share with you is this: With rare exception, your advisors need to offer every caller a choice of appointment times, and whenever possible, one of those options should be to bring the vehicle in now. For example, “I can squeeze you in now, or would 2:15 be better for you?” When it comes to auto repair, customers love finality, which is why providing the “now” option is a powerful sales tool.

    Now here’s the absolute best-kept secret for dealing with the tough first-time callers. Every one of your advisors needs to be aware that many “price shoppers” are asking for price just to start the conversation, and beyond that, with rare exception, callers don’t know the questions they should be asking. This is why in all of our service advisor training classes we encourage the students to write down a list of the questions they think an educated caller would ask. Once they have their list completed, and committed to memory, then it’s easy for them to say something like: “Well Larry, I know price is important to you, and it should be, but if you call five different shops today, you’ll more than likely get at least five different prices. Some of the other questions you might want to ask are how long they’ve been in business, whether or not they have certified technicians and a drug-free workplace program, and you might want to have them walk you through the diagnostic processes as well. You might want to also ask them if they always explore all of the options that are available to customers when it comes to any recommended repairs, what kind of warranties they provide, and if those warranties are in writing.” Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve closed hundreds, if not thousands, of tough first-time “price shoppers” using this technique, so I know it will work for you.

    If you’re still not quite sold, then consider this: If you take my recommendations, when those price shoppers start calling other shops, you know as well as I do, they’ll more than likely ask some of the questions your advisors suggested to them. Not only will your competitors be caught off guard and struggle with the answers, but in each case, the callers will be thinking of your advisors. This is when your customers will not only realize how well your advisors handled the call, but they’ll trust your advisors, and you bet; they’ll now view them as credible experts as well.

    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. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com
  11. Elite Worldwide Inc.
    By Bob Cooper

    If you want to build a successful auto repair business, you will need to have a number of things in place, yet nothing is more important than having service advisors who can sell in a professional and ethical way. In today’s competitive environment you’re seeing vehicles less frequently, customers have greater access to information, and they have choices unlike ever before. So here’s a guide to help you hire the superstar advisors who will take your shop to the top:

    1. Look for talent. When you are looking for the superstars, never forget: talent is king. Talent is something that can’t be developed or taught, so you need to make sure that the prospects you are interviewing truly are “people people”, and that they naturally smile. Otherwise, you’ll spend years trying to develop your advisors into something that they may never become.

    2. Look for drive. Every superstar who I have met or hired has been goal-oriented, has had a positive attitude, and has been competitive, quick-witted, persuasive and driven. Similarly to talent, these are all personality traits that can’t be taught, so be sure to look closely during your interviews.

    3. Look for a track-record of success. Henry Ford once said, “Tell me what you have done, not what you can do.” At Elite we take this a step further by saying it’s not just what prospective employees have done, but more importantly, what they have accomplished in their careers. For example, the fact that someone has been an advisor for years isn’t nearly as important as the sales growth they have brought about, records they have set, etc. This is why you need to quiz them on their accomplishments. If they have been in the business for a few years, and they can’t give you any specific sales accomplishments, then there’s a good probability that there won’t be any meaningful accomplishments achieved if they work with you either.

    4. Look for a win/win attitude and ethics. Over the years I have discovered that there are basically three types of salespeople. First, there are the win/lose advisors who care about their own needs, at a cost to the customer. These are the advisors who will drive up your sales, and erode your customer base at the same time. The second category is the lose/win advisors, who are overly sympathetic, and who will give your store away in order to please each and every customer. The real superstars are the advisors who fall into the win/win category, because they have the ability to close sales, will make sure your customers are satisfied and make the right decisions, and will help you build a more profitable auto repair business. Ethics is the hardest trait to judge during the interview process, which is why we are such strong supporters of pre-employment behavioral testing.

    5. Pay close attention to their interests. Although there are always exceptions, service advisors who are looking for an hourly rate, a salary, or a big guarantee, may very well be looking for a job rather than an opportunity. On the other hand, the advisors who are interested in commission-based pay are typically self-motivated, and will help you drive up your sales.

    6. Take them for a test drive. You should hand every applicant an estimate and have them sell you a service. I have discovered over the years that if someone can’t do a good job of selling us during a role-play, they won’t be able to sell our customers either. You should also have them do a role-play where you act like a first-time caller. I can tell you from first-hand experience that I have interviewed many service advisors who aced the interview, and then miserably failed during the role-plays.

    7. Take advantage of pre-employment testing. There are a number of tests you should consider, but the three at the top of our list would be pre-employment physicals, drug screenings and behavioral assessments. At Elite we have found that the behavioral assessments are priceless in that they are inexpensive and quick, they can be taken online, and they reveal many strengths, weaknesses and propensities. In addition to revealing how well your prospective employees work under stress, and with other people, these tests can also detect irregularities in honesty, which could be an indication of questionable ethics.

    Follow these tips, and you’ll have a staff full of service advisors who drive up your sales, while always having your customers’ best interest in mind.

    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. You can learn more about Elite by visiting www.EliteWorldwide.com
  12. 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.

  13. 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.



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