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Treat your employees like human beings. Walk around the shop and touch base occasionally. Do no talk about the job or work. Take an employee out to lunch. Let them steer the conversation and don't talk about the job unless they bring it up. Don't be afraid to do little things like get water ice on hot summer days. Oh. Treat your employees like human beings.

Independent repair shops don't have the luxury of having multiple profit centers subsidize shop overhead that new car dealers do. Here are just 4 other profit streams that have nothing to do with repair or maintenance: New car sales Used car sales Paint & Body shop Detailing To me, it's simply bad business to be cheaper than the dealer. We had 13 car dealerships about a mile away from our shop. Southtowne Auto Mall We were either the same price, or higher for transmission repair, but we gave a longer warranty which added value. If we were less than the dealer, we could never remain profitable. I think about it this way: We weren't higher than the dealer; but instead, the dealer was cheaper than us for the reasons above. We ended up towing a lot of vehicles out of the dealerships along with customers dropping the vehicle off for repair. The numerous new car dealerships near us were the source of a lot of the work we did. Don't be afraid of dealerships; embrace them because they are a great source of new jobs coming into the shop. Lastly, here's the Southtowne Auto Mall's "claim to fame" they would advertise...

Joe, I appreciate the fact that you are not just looking at the Labor Rate but also the operation as a whole. I believe we are all trying to reach a desired net profit, and how we get there involves hundreds of touchpoints. I would say that raising your labor rate is not the solution to low (or no) profitability; raising that rate is only part of the equation. Over the past few years, I have seen a dangerous level of arrogance creeping into our industry, a genuine threat. To achieve the actual profit we want/deserve, we must think like a CEO of a complex business. We must measure metrics throughout the process, looking for areas to cut costs and improve efficiencies. We must also listen to all recorded phone calls and perfect our technique rather than only adding more fuel. Here's a good analogy: How would a NASCAR team fare if, to win the Cup, they were hell-bent on more horsepower as the solution rather than suspension improvements, better aerodynamics, and improved traction? I know NASCAR governs everything, so my example is terrible, but we all get the point. Don't we?

Well said! We raised our labor rate by $20 this year to $170. May not be high enough still. But my main issue that we're working to solve are the large leaks in the dam. We're correcting the labor guide to more closely reflect actual times or building contingencies into our estimate to allow for us to request more labor when needed. When communicated correctly it works. Then we are rounding up the labor. Labor guide is close sometimes and has errors or is misleading at other times. In a class today, we discussed bumping the actual labor time by 20-30%. Then he said to add 10% to the total and give everyone a loaner car or Uber. Being afraid to charge properly all the time was an expensive lesson. We're doing way better now. I feel like we are about 80-90% corrected. Also, need to keep one of my techs from doing unauthorized / unsold work too. When he gets on a roll, stop is not in his vocabulary. We're working on this too. Productivity isn't an issue for us yet as I'm staffed for where I expect to be (which is overstaffed for today). We'll be ready to manage that when it is required. I'm happy that our profitability has grown enough to allow me and my shop foreman to attend the Vision Training Conference in Kansas City. Today was the 1st of 4 days. Both of us had a great 1st day!

Joe, when I first started working with my father over 30 years ago, I wanted to hire a guy who was an ex Matco Tool man, he wanted 650 a week plus full paid benefits and 2 weeks a year vacation. My father told me it was too much, but if I thought the guy was good hire him and it was up to me to pull the difference. At the end of the first week my dad told me to give Karl an extra 100 cause he was worth it. Not only did he pull his weight, but he was one of those guys that made everyone in shop better and helped me get better help.

that sounds like a "good" experience. I don't see it as amazing. Bad communication makes for a bad experience. I think good communication makes for a good experience, but not amazing.

Good post, Joe. I would suggest a follow-up post covering the next step, the phase beyond empathy. What does the shop owner do next, how can they provide aid in various examples while not breaking the membrane between a business leader and team member. I feel many business owners naturally have empathetic responses, but also a healthy fear of "what's next" and for good reason. Mastering the next phase is where Culture is built.

That's an interesting approach; I like it. In general repair, we all strive for a 60% GP, which I believe is what you are stating. I have found that P&L statements can be very misleading; the proof lives in the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. I remember when my P&L looked great, but I never had enough cash to pay taxes on April 15th; where did it go? Going back to Joe's point: "The first step in achieving your required gross and net profit is understanding your numbers and establishing the correct labor and part margins. The next step is to find your business's inefficiencies that impact high production levels." Net profit is what we are after; it is what we need in order to grow our business. To have a great business, one that is sustainable, we are constantly refining our process and looking for intelligent opportunities.

I find it amazing that nobody specifically mentions a P&L statement. For our shop, we would look at the Profit & Loss statement to not only know our profit margin but to also calculate labor charges and markup on parts. We are a transmission shop that has only 4 numbers to tell us if our labor & parts are priced correctly. For us, it works like this... 20% of sales should be parts, 20% of sales should be labor, and 40% of sales should be overhead, leaving 20% of sales as profit. If any one of those 4 numbers is off, we either need to adjust our pricing, look at the number of warranty claims, or shop efficiency/productivity. Those 4 numbers tell me everything I need to know about our prices and profit margin. To me, it's not as complex as some shop owners make it out to be. If anything is below target, we adjust our prices accordingly, start looking at shop efficiency, or look for underpriced estimates. It's only as hard as 4 numbers and being able to rationally diagnose problems that affect our numbers. Just look at your P&L statement.

I sold my company and the land a little over a year ago. Made out good with the sale of two locations and property. However, one of the things I did (on the advice of my financial advisor) was to also fund a retirement plan over the past 25 years. Your question is valid and right on target, but you need advice from a CPA accountant and your financial advisor. For me, while the sale was good, I had to pay capital gains tax, but it wasn't that bad since the property was redeveloped in 2008, and I still had a lot of depreciation that helped reduce my tax liability. Another thing to consider is how your money will be invested. I moved my investments to more slow growth over the years as I got older and added the proceeds from the sale to this portfolio. You don't make large gains in a good market with slower growth investments, but when it turns bad, you don't lose as much. The point is that you need to sit down, do your budget for after you retire, and then determine how much your money will last with different scenarios. A good financial advisor can help with this. Only after that can you determine if the dividends will be enough. Sorry for not giving a direct answer, but I want to be honest from what I have learned.

Your spot on Joe! I do think that a new business starting out should do some sort of advertising in the local area, but after that its giving it your best in customer care and service. I do now have a couple of blogs on my websites that keep the Google people happy and attract a younger class of customer, but as you say its service with a smile all the way. Just an addon. The British government did not charge the owners of electric cars with road tax. But now they have done a U turn and this advantage to owning one has now being scrapped! well well the dream of zero emissions by 2030 is already falling apart. Here in the UK at least.

Great tips, Joe! I wish I had those tips when I was in business before I retired. The one tip the I, as well as most shop owners struggle with is "Hire the best people and have enough staff." Easier said than done. I hooked up with 3 automotive technical colleges in our region with limited success. They were Automotive Technology | Transportation Technologies | Utah Valley University Automotive Technology I still had to train the students as if they were green off the street. That part didn't bother me. What bothered me was the unrealistic expectations the student had as far as production and salary expectations. The students couldn't grasp what a major investment we were making in training them. They weren't used to working alone and having production expectations put on them. After many years, I went back to hiring out of the industry and paying above normal salaries/hourly pay to attract the best of the best.

Yeah, Joe, we had different profit levels on different parts, labors, and whole jobs. What I learned to pay attention to was the overall gross profit of the business. It was very easy for me due to learning accounting through an early SMS I invested in named Digitree out of Colorado. They were eventually bought out by Mitchell and Mitchell quit supporting the repair shop version and only supported the body shop version. Later, I eventually went to a transmission shop-only software program called TransShop 1-2-3 by Larry Kuperman. (now retired) He stole the idea from Lotus 1-2-3. I learned a lot of easy management tricks through DigitTree. At the end of the week report, I would also print (remember dot-matrix printers?) out checks for that week's sales tax and 941 tax. At the end of the month, I would pay my 941 with 4 checks. We paid sales tax quarterly and I would pay that with 12-13 checks. That kept our bank balance from looking overly inflated giving me a false sense of security. Even worse, I wouldn't spend the money on something non-essential. It simply blows me away at the number of small business owners who don't know accounting. Reminds me of a young rebuilder I hired (early 30s) who had been building transmissions for about 10 years. Depending on the year model of a certain transmission, the steel plates and friction plates were of different thicknesses. I told him to measure the old ones to know which ones to use. I then learned he couldn't read a mic. I asked him how he could go so long not being able to read a mic. He said his old boss had a digital read-out mike, dial calipers, and a dial indicator. He had never learned to read a mic the old fashion, but standard, way. That young builder reminded me of small business owners who don't know accounting nor do any in-house accounting. Many have an accountant for all of that and the P&L and balance sheets they get from their accountant are basically an obituary as to their financial picture. They are often a month, a quarter, or heaven forbid, a year old. There are plenty of ways to learn accounting. Online, books, and even YouTube can all teach standard accounting principles and practices. It's not that hard and definitely not rocket science. Even the numbering of groups of accounts is standardized. For our members who don't, I would strongly suggest bringing all accounting in-house and only using an accountant, or CPA like we did, only annually.

I agree with that. We used YouTube videos of 2-3 minutes to show people what's up. After I Email or text them the final bid, over half would either text or Email me back the "When" question which opened up for the assumptive sale. I didn't sell that way on small-ticket repairs. I think most people feel the "how much" and "when" questions are all they need to know. In the '90s and early 2000s, we were in a different market area where there was a lot of nitpicking the final estimate/invoice. I can't help but think that a lot of that was attributed to there not being any YouTube around, but also because it was a low income area. Location selection is very important, which I didn't realize until I was in my 50s.

About three months ago I did a $25/hour increase. I don't even think about it today. The price is now what it is and I will probably do another increase soon.

You are right. If and when you raise prices, make sure you believe in them and the why for. We have found when quoting every single time the cost of a check engine light, if we ourselves believe in it, then the customer knows that and realizes the value.

So true @Auto Repair Coach I think many forget that employees often spend more time at work than they do with their family, friends, and at home.

Hey Wayne I give my advisors a daily production sheet that they must turn in daily. It includes things like: 1. Follow up phone calls to past FTA's (3 Daily - must make contact) 2. Calling appointment reminders (3 Daily - Must make contact) 3. Calling last weeks customers to say thank you (3 Daily must make contact) 4. Calling customers who have Previous recommendations (3 daily must make contact) what I mean by must make contact is if they call someone and just left a message it does not count, they must actually make contact with the person for it to count. I hope this helps, this is just a few things that I include in there daily production sheet.

Exactly, saw way too many times an excellent tech was promoted to management, and that was NOT his strong suit, fixing broken things was where he excelled, not dealing with people. then we would see another good tech call it quits and leave the employment becasue of the way they were treated.

If you are on any social media you see the trend today is to move jobs. Watch and listen as they explain why, todays employee feel the only way to advance is to constantly seek out new employment, pit employer against employer and leverage the best deals. They talk constant about how employers do not value the employee, there are sights where employees go to rate the employer and share pay rates. Our trade is no different. We don't provide clear career paths, pay increase, benefits etc. Long gone are the days when employees stayed at one place for their career. They take 401k and head for the door. No easy answer, make your little part of the world the best you can and carry on.

I agree, but … I often read about “The Customer Experience,” or providing a great customer experience, or exceed customer expectations, but it stops there. I seldom read about what that means or looks like. Jt’s just “go do it.” I have my observations, but I suggest we open this up for discussion as to what that means. And I don’t like what I read recently: Easy appointments, clear explanations minus jargon, quick turnaround and the overused “fixed right the first time.” I think those are routine expectations, not great customer service.

This is so true, many will not tell the owner or person in charge of any short fall, but will tell others. I was in a Wendy's eating a lunch one day and watched a Buick pull in and park and an older fellow with his wife get out. They ordered and sat down across from me. Another fellow walked up and said to them, I see you own a Buick. Just in case you ever need body repair do not go to so and so collision shop. They are terrible and say they are Buick experts. Just wanted you to know and he proceeded to leave and get into his Buick and drive away. You have to wonder how poorly he was treated to stop just anyone and vent his frustration. Did he let the so and so shop know? don't know but that always stuck with me that bad treatment and bad work travels to areas you have no idea about as a shop owner. I always asked my customers if they were happy and if there was anything we could do to improve what they experianced. Sometimes we did get a suggestion and we took it to heart.

I totally agree with that. I hadn't thought of a great relationship as (being part of) an amazing experience, but I have to agree with you !!!

I define an amazing experience by great communication. The more I communicate with the customer, the better. The mode of communication doesn't matter. It can be through direct fact-to-face communication, a phone call, text, Email, or a video. Keep the customer informed and make sure you understand his needs. People are prone to go with what they know. Make sure you read all of Joe's blog on customer retention.

Once again, you're right. We received about 20% of our business from referrals. We received multiple comments on our website and YouTube channel because they were full of good information. I had a customer that actually wanted to watch his transmission getting rebuilt. He sent us multiple referrals. Below is a local investigative reporter, Bill Gephart, who works for a one of the local TV stations. (3:04) https://youtu.be/Loo6V7Nln-o

I agree with points #1 & #2. However, unlike #3 repeat transmission business is very difficult to predict, unless it's an annual service. Repeat business in the transmission business is usually either a warranty job as in leaks, a malfunction, or a very unlucky person with multiple vehicles. But that's just me. It's very different from the general auto repair business. In a nutshell, while I do try to make all customers feel good about the repair and communicate effectively, it's more of a transactional business model than a relationship business model because I rarely see the customer again. I can easily imagine how critical customer retention is in general auto repair, and I agree. Our business is usually (as we call it) "won & done."

I agree with you, Joe. I like the Warren Buffet quote, “The best investment you can make is in yourself.” I think the quote not only covers shop owners, but it really covers anybody who believes in continual education. During the first half of my career, I would attend technical training events. The second half of my career, all my training was sales, management, and marketing training. I feel I made the transition from a working boss to a real business person only when I started attending non-technical training. I believe non-technical training is crucial for a business owner. Think about this: For every given market area, there are shops that stay packed with work and there's also shops starving to death. Not coincidentally, there are shops that are the highest in town and shops that are the cheapest in town. The dichotomy of these two extremes can be found in EVERY market area. Based on my experience, the busiest shops also tend to be the highest in price, while the shops starving to death are normally the cheapest. Which type of shop do you want to be like? If you want to be the shop that's always loaded with work, you can't get there from here without investing in sales, management, and marketing training. Great business people and leaders aren't born, they're made with training. Proper training can help solve a multitude of challenges a shop may be going through. Take staffing for example. What top tech wants to go to work for a cheap shop that's starving itself to death? By the same token, how can a shop afford a compensation package that attracts, hires, and retains top talent? I firmly believe that a shop can attract, hire, and retain top talent only by being the very highest priced shop in their area. I don't mean being equal to the highest-priced shop, I mean BEING the sole high-priced leader. A lot of problems can be absorbed by having substantial revenue. Like providing a free rental car during a warranty repair. Or giving a customer all their money back if they are impossible to appease. And the list goes on. When it comes to running the shop, a shop owner can't afford to be a great leader with insufficient revenue. Anybody can be a boss, but not everybody can be a great leader.

I have in the past been a service advisor for a very large Cadillac dealer and I was one of 5 advisors. We all got paid the same, a flat weekly salary and then the commission. The weekly pay was barely enough to say we got a check every week, back then it was $300 per week. Maybe at that time is was good but seemed low. Commissions were paid the second week check of the month for the previous month. As I recall it was 1% for the first $10,000 is parts and labor, not including any warranty sales, 2% for the next $10,000, 3% for the next $5,000 and 4% for the next $5,000 and 5% there after for the months sales. Way back then we were each writting anywhere from $45 to 60 grand a month is sales, again not inclulding warranty or sales taxes on the repair orders. Then there was "spiffs" added if a sale incorporated any of the few items on the list that month, tire rotation & balance, transmission flush, detail cleaning and waxing. That kind of extras. It was a flat $$ figure per sale added to the commission check. Owner was very concerened we didn't sell things that were not nor even needed. No funny business to add to your checks. This was back in 1975 or so, a long time ago, but all of us advisors were pleased at that time with our incomes. Times have changed and I'm sure pay has changed upward a lot.

A while back, I posted a letter I wrote to a bad apple we once had. About 3 weeks after giving him the letter, I had to let him go because I saw no improvement. One of the best things I ever did.

It has to have been 35 years ago I worked for Avis Rent A Car and had the opportunity to attend a management class. I learned then that yes a good income was a factor in hiring and keeping employees, but this class was a workshop on building a repore with each employee, to let them know they were part of a winning team. If all the team had a goal of making our/their customers feel like they were happy to be employed with a good company it would help keep employees and customers. Looks like not much has changed. This class stuck with me through out my working career and I always made it a point to let each employee know that without them being part we could not have the great company we have.

I might also add, to attract the best; sometimes we need to clean house. When I consider my past, I can remember several periods where I had a talented technician, maybe even a leader, who was just toxic. You know the type, the one with all the wrong body language while you hold your morning huddle? Out of weakness, I allowed those rotten apples to hang on the branch way too long; after all, they were producing hours, right? A-players only work for A-players. When we allow Buzzards within our flock, we will never be able to soar with Eagles. Sorry about all the idioms 😎

Here's a good example of a shop owner biting their tongue. The most exasperated I ever got with an employee was when my tech forgot he was driving a stick shift into one of our bays. "How can somebody forget that?" you may ask. The really bad part was the customer was about to go to a family reunion and this was the only vehicle they had access to with a 5th wheel setup in the bed of the truck. Assuming it was an automatic transmission vehicle, my tech merely depressed the brake to stop forward movement. This was a 3/4-ton Dodge Ram diesel...not a chance. The clutch tore right through the brake holding power and kept going forward. It was only after the vehicle almost knocked another car off the lift did the tech think, "Oh, shit, this isn't an automatic" and depressed the clutch pedal. Heck of a time to suddenly realize you have a clutch pedal. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... here's a video worth a million words. The customer missed the family reunion and goes, "I don't like hanging around those people anyway." https://youtu.be/uavCR9f5QME

I agree with you, in too many markets it is very hard for a shop to specialize. In fact, in my town there are no strictly transmission shops anymore. The only one that even advertises "transmissions" is a general repair shop that started off as a transmission only shop and then had to expand their services. We have 3 "import specialty" shops and only one is truly import only with another having a very high percentage being "European" imports and the 3rd is now pretty much a G/R shop. In Northern Michigan Subarus are a big deal and there is a Subaru only shop but as for single make or "sister" makes like Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, etc. there are none. All others are G/R shops because that is all the local market will support. Even when the customer goes to the dealer sometimes that level of specialization isn't enough to solve their problem. Sometimes "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" comes in handy too. I had a Lexus RX come in for a "lack of power" complaint. They had taken it to two different independent repair shops and "the dealer" (I think it was actually a Toyota dealer) and no one could figure it out. It would sometimes bog down and have no power taking off and when you were coming to a stop it would sometimes act like the brakes went out. Those were the customer's explanations. I think most experienced techs will have a very good idea of the root problem. I am a one man shop and I shuttled the customer and her attendant to a nearby coffee shop in the customer vehicle. I pretty much knew the cause before we got to the coffee shop. This was a Lexus but most of the "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shops have encountered the GM trucks and their false ABS activation issues. A review of the WSS signals just like with the GM trucks proved that one of the front WSSs was slow to start a signal and early to drop to zero thus confirming the lack of power was traction control and the "brakes go out" feeling was the ABS activating. Why the dealer didn't figure it out is beyond me, but I had the entire diagnosis completed with two test drives and a brief inspection on the hoist. The customer thought I was a genius because I figured out what 3 other shops could not. All because I am a "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shop. But you are 100% correct that as a "Most Car Makes, Most Car Models" shop, I am often not as productive as I could be if I dealt with just a few highly repetitive jobs. But that is the state of the local economy, too few opportunities to specialize and survive.

You're right, 60% gross profit is what we're after, and 20% net profit. We didn't have a problem paying taxes because we included it in our overhead expenses to keep from spending it on something else. Nothing produces stress like unknowingly spending tax money on something else. We were $125/hr. on labor (2015, highest in our market area of SLC, UT) and 100% markup on transmission-related parts. Very few general repair parts could we do 100% markup. Lucky for me, my wife is an accountant and business partner. One year she "rat-holed" $125K unbeknownst to me. Another year, the state of Utah put us on monthly (not quarterly) sales tax payments because we went over the $15K quarterly threshold limit. We were experiencing explosive growth at the time. We were a very small (3K sq.ft.) shop with only 4 lifts, but we produced the most work of any transmission shop around. ($1.2M/yr.) This was mainly due to the fact we didn't do general repair like the other transmission shops did. We stuck to the big ticket repairs like transmissions, transfer cases, and differentials. Minor work to us was transmission service jobs and most leaks. The other variable was the high traffic count of our location. We were right on I-15 with a daily traffic count of 235K/day. Our front property line was only 90 feet from I-15. We didn't have a big problem with production and efficiency mainly because I was a tool and equipment junkie. One year I bought a valve reaming station for valve bodies. Everybody was concerned it would slow down shop production. Some really griped and complained loudly because it was a lot of extra work and didn't understand why I wouldn't buy valve bodies. Three months later, everybody had warmed up to the idea. Yet nobody complained when we installed an overhead ATF reel with a 50-foot hose or started buying ATF by the 330-gallon plastic totes. I paid everybody hourly so that they would have a steady income they could depend on. Everybody liked it that way, especially the employee's wives. (Happy wife, happy life.) I've since retired but occasionally miss the shop. I thought I'd never make enough to fully retire. Speaking of retirement, I'm like Joe in that I never made enough to retire with the sale of just the business ($330K). I only semi-retired. It was only after the sale of the shop's real estate ($2.3M) did I make enough to fully retire on. I first learned this from Joe and he's absolutely correct, at least that's my experience.

Great points! The key thing is to dig deeper when issues with production arise. Experienced techs are efficient; they have control over that. However, writing the job correctly and other factors play into low production. As we have all learned, productivity and efficiency are not the same.

Are you using a call tracking phone number? Call tracking is your measurement tool. Here's the one we used. https://www.convirza.com/free-trial/

We're slated to try local broadcasting within a 15-mile radius on Spectrum. Just submitted the 30 second commercial. First time using TV ads so hoping that the campaign is successful.

Joe, Great post, brother. Here's what we think of even less. That is before we retire, IF, the BIG IF, we are selling our shop to employees or anybody of the technical mindset, hook them up with a shop trainer. If I had it to over, I would have paid a trainer's fees a couple of years in advance for my purchaser. They had the money to buy the shop, but little more. They were expecting an immediate return on investment because they didn't have any money to do otherwise. Food for thought. I did sales and management training shortly after retirement and in almost every shop, I got disappointment after disappointment. The biggest disappointment was after the gig was over, the shop I was coaching went right back to doing the S.O.S. they were doing in the first place that got them in the jam to seek coaching. All, but 1, is now out of business. The one that's not out of business is only 3 miles from my house and stopping by to say HI! keeps them on track. Thank goodness it doesn't cost me a hotel and airfare. A profitable, well-run, and managed company rarely seeks consulting services. I read somewhere that a shop owner thinking about retirement was going into coaching shops. He's living in a dream world and his desire has no basis in reality. If you think owning and running an automotive shop takes commitment, you don't know what commitment is until you coach other shops. Personally, I couldn't do it. I only lasted 6 months and I had enough. I wasn't cut out for living out of a suitcase and dealing with hotels, airlines & airports on a weekly basis. I'm too old for that. 🙂

Reviews are especially important in the transmission repair industry due to the transactional nature of the business. Repeat business is usually either a warranty claim or somebody with very bad luck. The vast majority of our customers are first-time visitors and they put a lot of weight on reviews because they have nothing else to base their choice on. It's not like people have a lot of experience with transmission repairs. When we get a bad review, I simply call the customer up, recognize their concerns, apologize, and ask what I need to do to make it right. No matter what it takes to make it right, I simply do it. Only 1 time did I have to give a 100% refund although several times I had to make "price adjustments" to cover stuff like detailing their vehicle or paying to clean their driveway due to a leaker. We don't need a 5.0 Google rating; we simply just have to have a better Google rating than our competitors. We had a 4.4 average rating over a 7-year period at our location. Negative feedback is one of the best business teaching tools around.

Absolutely correct on the negative reviews, they are important. Most important is how you respond to them. Being defensive does not work! Acknowledge the person's concern and then a reasonable response depending on the circumstances. The best reply? It's the one where you have already identified the customer, contacted them, and made things right or at least done your best to do so. Then the reply starts out with: "Thank you for taking my call, it was nice speaking with you. We appreciate.... blah, blah, blah" of pleasantries if possible. Or even if the call is a disaster, it shows you took the time to call and make an effort. Speaks volumes about the company and most everyone will forget the complaint and focus on the fact that you took action. I'm probably the only one who gets e-mail or phone solicitations promising to remove negative reviews (yeah, right!). I have fun with it and ask them why in the world I would want to remove negative reviews, they are vital to the business. Throws them for a loop every time! It's fun listening to them stumble around and try to understand your response. LOL!

This is a really great reminder, and nothing short of the absolute truth! Having a balance is key. In the earlier days of my career, I was averaging 60 flights every year. You might think that's a lot (Ok you're right, it is a lot), but the reason behind that was so that I did my best to never miss a moment with my girls, so I had a lot of back-and-forth trips, East Coast back to the West Coast. I was tired, but it was worth it when I got home! I had a 3-day rule: I would never be on the road more than 3-days at a time, and I've been blessed that every company I worked for always respected that. Sure, there were times I had to break that rule on a very rare occasion, but I didn't allow myself to fall into a habit of doing it. This was always important to me, and it started when I was young. My dad (now retired) spent 40 years at GM in senior management. His work brought him to Kansas City, Detroit and Texas. Until I was in my late-teens, I saw him once, maybe twice per year. And back then there was no Facetime, so I was thrilled when I got a call from Pops on the landline! What did this experience do for me as an adult? It taught me the importance of keeping a work/life balance, understanding that "time" is the only thing you can never get back, and lastly making sure to be the best example for your family. My dad and I have a great relationship now, and he learned a hard lesson from this experience as well. C'est la vie! As I close on this comment, I will leave you with this story: It was my daughters 3rd birthday and we had it at a park. In order to get a good spot at the park, you had to be there as early as possible, so I was there at 6am. Shortly after I arrived, a man and three young kids came into the park and reserved the spot next to us. They immediately started playing on the playground, going down the slide, his kids were jumping on his back, laughing and having so much fun. This is all before 7am! I hadn't even had my cup of coffee yet. I had to compliment this guy on how active he was with his kids and I told him that I really admired the relationship he has with them (on the surface of course, I didn't know him personally). He looks to me and says, "A wise man once told me, ' do you know how kids spell LOVE?" Feeling that there was a catch to this, I paused. He says, "Kids spell LOVE, T-I-M-E". That will always stick with me.

Some solutions are so simple.

When I had my business I always said if I could live my life style I was living without a single employee I would have none of them. BUT, I knew that was not ever going to be the case, so I treated them with the most respect I could muster. I paid them more than any of the competition paid their guys and instilled in every one, that when a customer entered our building, that was their payccheck coming in. They were to treat and talk with those customers, if they were involved with them, as I did almost all the interactions, with respect. I also let them know if they for some reason were to tick off that customer it would be said our business was the problem, not that employee. Anything they did was a true reflection on our business and conversly, their payvheck. Seemed to work for the 11 years i kept that business.

I think also we are seeing the passing of the baby boomers. Boomers were taught to be tighter with a dollar by their depression era parents. The younger generation is pretty free with money.

I agree with: " Your best customers are loyal because of the value they receive from doing business with you." I arrogantly used to think I was SO good at calling customers back with the additional work needed. They said yes all the time and I thought it was me. I finally realized it was their past trusted dealings with us made everything so easy and smooth. I know they trust us with their car and their pocketbook.

I agree with you Joe. However some younger, less experienced shop owners think that way. I know I did. I used to be ignorant to job costing. What you speak of is really a mindset. Due to the way our transmission shop sold work, less than 5% would have a price objection. It's sort of a different business world when it comes to transmission repair. Before I learned about job costing and profitability, I sold all transmissions for the same price, $387.05, in the late 70s and early 80s because that's what my ex-boss did. When I started doing job costing, there were some transmissions that I was actually LOOSING MONEY on. Slowly, I started charging labor plus parts based on my costs, then a whole new world opened up to me. Imagine that; by simply doing what G/R shops have been doing forever, I finally started turning a profit. I was young and ignorant about business before that. Just today I read a news story about Amazon charging their sellers an additional inflation & fuel surcharge of 5% to the already high 15% commission on sales. That means Amazon charges sellers 20% of their gross revenue. Amazon's New 5% Surcharge I'm sure sellers' prices will soon reflect the price increase, it's inevitable. In my industry, late model transmission prices have gone through the roof. But when coupled with the 30% rise in used car prices, many are simply being forced into paying $4k-$5K and more for a transmission because that's the least costly of all alternatives. I think we should all revisit our pricing structure before inflation and fuel costs pushes us out of business.

Perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks

I didn't watch your whole video, but with what you were saying about bridgstone that is something I have done since day one of working as a mechanic. I have never ever pushed up sales and always made recommendations in order of priority. I have been working at the same shop for almost 26 years and always stay busy with many many loyal customers . I was thinking of opening my own shop, but with the way the industry is going and all the lack of laws and regulations of auto motive repair thinking that a small business now a days will be too hard to get going. Not to mention the lack of "seasoned" mechanics out there. I don't think the shop I work at has had a certified mechanic in the last 12-15 years. I have been an ase certified master for many years with my L1 , state inspection license and master emission repair license. Sometimes I think keeping up the certifications is a waste of time.. Yes I know my trade very well, but I don't think pulling a shop off is something that can be done in the dire times of the industry

I'll be there. Coming up on Thursday afternoon and staying until Saturday late. I'll be in the Babcox booth for part of the day. I'll stop by.

We learn so much from the people that have been here before us. It was a pleasure to read this Joe.