Elite Worldwide Inc.

We're eager to do whatever we can to help shop owners sort through the challenges that have come along with the Coronavirus, so have decided to host a complimentary webinar this Thursday (3/19) from 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM Pacific Time. During this special session industry leaders Bob Cooper and Kevin Vaught will be sharing some tips on what you can do to protect your employees, your customers and your business. Join us and you will learn... - What to tell your customers and why - How to better protect your employees and your customers - How to maintain your car counts & sales during these difficult times - How to better control your expenses - How to ensure you are able to weather any financial storm Seating is limited, so click on the following registration link to reserve your spot today: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6233489164748174347

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Greg Skolnik shares a tip on managing payroll and staying prepared in case of emergencies. For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Greg through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Nick Sallas shares a tip on how to handle upset customers in your shop, and turn them into satisfied ones! For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Nick through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development coach Rudi Rudloff explains the critical difference between “training” and “coaching” your auto repair shop’s employees. For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Rudi through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Rudi Rudloff shares a tip on technician training that is not only remarkably effective, but cost-free for your auto repair business. For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Rudi through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Rudi Rudloff shares why giving back during the holiday season is a win for people in need, for your community and for your auto repair business. For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Ron through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach James Stephenson shares a tip on finding & hiring service advisors that has worked wonders for his award winning auto repair business. For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn more about Elite’s new affordable and convenient online peer groups for shop owners: Top Shop 360

Industry leading shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Gene Morrill shares an easy-to-apply tip that has helped his shop improve customer satisfaction and retention. For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Gene through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Ron Haugen shares how your service advisors should handle the age old sales objection "I can buy the part online for less" For additional help building a more successful auto repair business, learn how you can team up with a superstar shop owner like Ron through Elite Top Shop 360: Top Shop 360

Elite's AMI accredited Online High Impact Course, sponsored by Jasper Engines & Transmissions, starts October 16th! This industry acclaimed online service advisor training course is delivered by 2019 Ratchet & Wrench All-Star Award winner Jen Monclus, and has been proven to generate both happier customers and higher sales. Here are a few of the topics that will be covered: - Selling multiple repairs & big ticket items - Selling diagnostic testing & maintenance - Building powerful relationships in 60 seconds - Overcoming the most challenging sales objections - Generating more repeat and referral business - Presenting service recommendations in a way that makes customers want to buy - Note: Course will come with a workbook, homework assignments and testing to ensure accountability and lasting results It's only $179 to enroll, and seating is limited, so call 800-204-3548 or visit our Online High Impact page to secure your advisor's spot today!

In this quick video superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach James Stephenson shares a tip on hiring great techs that has worked wonders for his award winning shop. For additional help hiring the right techs, learn how you can join an online shop owner peer group led by an industry leading shop owner like James through Elite's all-new service: Elite Synergy Groups

In this quick video tip superstar shop owner and Elite Business Development Coach Ron Haugen reveals a profit center that very few shop owners are taking advantage of. For additional help building a more successful shop, learn how you can work 1-on-1 with a top shop owner like Ron through Elite Top Shop 360.

Our team at Elite is excited to announce that we're now offering online peer groups for shop owners through an all-new service: Elite Synergy Groups. Our Synergy Groups have been designed to help shop owners access the guidance, support and motivation that peer groups deliver, but exclusively in an online environment with no travel required. Shop owners who become members will be able to attend regular face-to-face web meetings with the other members in their group, and have open discussions where they can learn what’s working well for other shop owners throughout the country. Elite will also provide group members with a platform to communicate outside of the face-to-face meetings so that the shop owners in each group will have more opportunities to build relationships, and create a culture where each group member is truly invested in the success of their fellow shop owners. Every group will be led by a shop owner with an extraordinary track record of success (who is also an Elite Business Development Coach), and each web meeting will include a presentation from the group leader on recruiting, marketing, sales, shop management or whatever the group votes is in their best interest. Group members will also have access to a group Resource Center, where every month we’ll be adding new videos, webinars, guides and training content that will help you build a more successful auto repair business. The first group will have its first meeting on Oct 10th, and as a special promotion, Elite is offering a $50 discount for all shop owners who enroll in the inaugural group. There is no contract with this service, so if you ever feel the group is not meeting with your expectations, you're free to discontinue at any time. Call 800-204-3548 or visit our Synergy Group web page to reserve our spot today!

Let’s say you’re looking to hire a superstar technician. You find one who has a proven track record of success, and put them through a well-constructed interview process. You decide that the person sitting in front of you is the perfect fit, and you make them a formal job offer in hopes that they will agree to join your team. They agree, and for the first time in a while you’re able to sleep throughout the night, because you know you’ve done your due diligence, and have finally found the top tech you’ve so desperately been needing. All good so far, right? Your new hire comes to work on Monday, and you’re off to a great start. And then…. it happens. Within the first few weeks you start to get the sinking feeling that you may have hired the wrong person. There’s no question that they can fix cars the right way, and they do it quickly. They also show up every day on time, and they keep their workplace clean. The problem is, they don’t follow your procedures very well. Your key employees are telling you that the new guy seems to complain quite a bit about meaningless things, and they’re sad to report that he’s not very social either. You start to hope that he’ll either “adjust or come around”, or that he’s just dealing with some personal issues that will soon pass. But after a month or two you reach the inevitable conclusion – this guy doesn’t like to follow rules, he has an attitude that doesn’t fit well in your shop, and your other employees are not very pleased that he’s working with you. After many sleepless nights, you decide to let him go, and you start the process all over again. Unfortunately, many shop owners live in this world of high employee turnover, or end up telling themselves that they’d rather keep someone who’s not a good fit than run the risk of simply swapping out one bad employee for another. If this sounds all too familiar to you, then consider this: The trap most shop owners fall into is they hire people for what they know, and they end up firing them… for who they are. To put it another way, shop owners often hire people for their skills, and they fire them for their behavior. So, the best-kept secret to hiring superstar techs and advisors? It’s going a step beyond learning about their skills and experience, and learning more about who they are as a person. As someone who has grown some of the most successful shops in America, I’ve learned over the years that in order to hire top employees that my entire team will really enjoy working with, I have to pay very close attention to their personalities and behaviors during the interview process. I do that to this day with Elite, and it’s been one of the most important keys to my hiring success. However, I also know that my perception of someone’s personality will only take me so far, so I have every applicant complete a 45-minute online behavioral assessment before the first interview. Here’s why. An assessment can tell us whether an applicant has the propensity to follow rules, how social they are, their level of optimism, how open they are to constructive feedback, and a whole lot more. Not only do these assessments help us conclude whether the applicant is even someone we should interview, but they also give us direction on where we should dig deeper, and the questions we should ask during the interviews. For example, if the assessment suggests they are not very social, then you know you need to ask questions about how they worked with others in the past so you can discover if there were personality conflicts, ego issues, etc. If the assessment suggests they have a propensity to ignore rules and procedures, you can ask them specific questions about how they inspected and repaired cars, and how they interacted with the advisors. So here’s what I’m going to ask you to do. First, think about the people you’ve fired. Hopefully it hasn’t been many, but I suspect you will discover that with rare exception, the reason you fired them had little to do with their skills, but was because of who they were as a person or how they behaved. Secondly, I’m going to ask that you accept the fact that there are many behaviors (and propensities) that will show up on behavioral assessments that you or I would never be able to detect during an interview, no matter how thorough we may be. And lastly, consider that if you do the math, hiring the wrong person is going to cost you at least $5,000. If you now agree that you need to dig deep and learn more about who the person really is before you hire them, you need to do what Fortune 500 companies and the top shop owners in America do, and have every applicant complete a behavioral assessment before the first interview. There are many companies that provide such services, such as Predictive Index, Berke, and Myers-Briggs, to name a few. We use Berke, and have been quite pleased. If you do begin assessing the people you may hire, then you have my promise: You’ll have a much higher probability of hiring the techs and advisors that your other employees will enjoy working with, they’ll follow your rules, and you’ll be able to go to sleep at night knowing you have an incredible team…of superstars. “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 the industry’s #1 peer group of 90 successful shop owners, training and coaching from top shop owners, service advisor training, along with online and in-class sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can contact Elite at [email protected], or by calling 800-204-3548." View full article

Elite’s industry acclaimed Online Phone Skills Training, sponsored by Jasper Engines & Transmissions, has been proven to not only help shops bring in more new customers, but do so in a way that demonstrates your professionalism, your ethics, and shows your customers and callers that you truly care about them. Here are just a few of the topics that will be covered during the three 45-minute modules (Weds, 7/17 through Weds, 7/31): - Winning the confidence of those difficult first-time callers - Effectively handling tough, persistent price shoppers - Handling the most common and most difficult sales objections - Understanding your callers and their emotional minds - Using several proven techniques and tips to close more repair and service sales - Converting your priceless callers into rock-solid appointments It's only $179 to enroll, and availability is limited, so visit or Online Phone Skills page to learn more or reserve your seat today: https://www.eliteworldwide.com/phone-skills-training-for-auto-repair-shops.html

If you’re running (or have run) a world class auto repair shop, and would like to spend as little as 4-5 hours per week giving back to the industry that has given you so much, while earning a great income at the same time, then this is the perfect opportunity. Elite is looking for business development coaches who would like to share their knowledge so that other shop owners can have the opportunity to walk in their shoes and become more successful. All Elite coaches must meet the following qualifications: At least 5 years experience as a successful owner operator A track record of verifiable business success that includes a 5-star reputation in the community A strong commitment to ethics A positive attitude Great communication skills A great personality A + references A willingness to submit to a background investigation A willingness to embrace and live by our mission statement If you qualify, we would love to work with you to change the lives of shop owners facing challenges that you’ve already overcome. Please send an email that communicates your specific accomplishments as a shop owner and any statistics on the shop(s) that you’ve run to [email protected], or visit https://www.eliteworldwide.com/careers-that-change-lives.ht… to learn more.

BY Bob Cooper If your shop’s not generating the sales you need, you may very well need more customers, but before you start pumping more of your hard-earned money into your advertising campaigns, you may want to take advantage of this easy-to-use Elite checklist to see where you may be losing valuable sales. The Proper Goals in Place – As a shop owner you need to ensure you set daily sales and car count goals. These can be easily created by simply breaking down your monthly goals. In addition to car count and sales goals, you need to ensure you have a closing ratio goal in place for bringing in those first-time callers. A Competent Team that Believes – You’ll need to have a team of superstars who are gifted at what they do. Beyond that, they’ll need to believe in proper, professional and ethical inspections of every vehicle. Your advisors will need to believe in your technicians and their recommendations, in the services you offer, and that the prices you charge are a good value for your customers. The Right Customers – You’ll need to ensure you have the right customers on the other side of your service counter. With the wrong customers you will inevitably lose sales at the point of sale, your ARO (and efficiencies) will drop, the sales process with each customer will take more time (and subsequently cost you more), your comeback rate will increase, and you will get less favorable reviews. If that’s not all damaging enough, when the wrong customers decide to decline all the services you’ve recommended, your techs (and advisors) will become frustrated, which leads to poor morale, a decline in productivity and higher employee turnover. The Right Telephone Procedures - Putting first things first, you need to make sure that everyone who picks up your phone is properly trained. Also bear in mind that what you hear when you are at your shop may not be what the callers are hearing when you’re not around. Accordingly, you may want to records all calls, or have mystery calls made to your shop on a random basis. It’s senseless to keep pumping money into advertising campaigns if the leads are being lost when they call your shop. The Right Procedures for Handing Web Leads – When someone reaches out to you over the web, time is of the essence. In addition, you need to have a clear policy in place for how those leads are going to be followed up with, by whom, and when. Remember, the primary objective with every web lead is to get them on the phone as soon as possible so you can start building the relationship you need for the ensuing sales. Proper Vehicle Inspections – You need to ensure that every vehicle is properly inspected every time, and that all discoveries are properly documented. Ideally the inspections will be performed digitally so that your techs can be more efficient with their time, and your advisors can communicate with your customers more effectively. In today’s age of technology, there is no longer any valid reason for a shop to still be performing handwritten inspections. In addition to all the efficiencies, digital inspections will build customer confidence that is so desperately needed in today’s competitive environment. The Right Pricing Structure – In all cases you need to ensure your prices are competitive for the value delivered. By no means does this mean you need to be the cheapest shop in town. What I am suggesting is that your prices need to be competitive with other top shops in your community that offer similar value. The right pricing structure also mandates that you have a clear policy in place for when you will begin charging for your time and services. In essence, to what extent will you help, or provide service to a customer, before they will be required to pay? Lastly, in order to maximize your sales you need to ensure your advisors are charging the appropriate prices for all of your diagnostic services. Proper Estimating – There is no question that your sales will be dependent on every job being properly estimated. At any given time you should be able to review reports that reflect what we at Elite refer to as the “Total Discovered Services”. In essence, this is a report that shows the true sales potential of your shop, not only for the past year, but for the past month, week and any given day as well. Remember, your advisors can’t sell it if it’s not on the estimate. Complete & Proper Disclosure – In order to provide exceptional service to your customers, and maximize your sales, your advisors need to ensure they never pre-judge or pre-qualify any customer. To pre-judge simply means the advisor feels the customer won’t authorize the repairs, and to pre-qualify means the advisor feels the customer does not have the financial wherewithal to pay for the necessary services. We have also found over the years that there are many advisors who hold back on their disclosures to their first-time customers because they’re afraid to scare the customer away. Unfortunately, this practice not only leads to a decline in sales, but when the customer later discovers that there is something your advisor did not disclose to them, your reputation with that customer will be irreparably damaged. Utilizing the Proper Sales Procedures – In all cases, your advisors need to be properly trained how to sell. Beyond having the necessary knowledge of automobiles, your products, and your services, they need to know how to help your customers make the right decisions. If you find your advisors are closing less than 50% of the total discovered services, you need to look for the failures, and you need to do so immediately. Advisors Monitoring & Measuring Their Own Performance – Each morning your advisors need to create a daily goal sheet that reflects both their daily sales and car count goals at the top. When a repair order is written, they should then strike a line through the current car count goal, and write the revised goal beneath. They’ll need to use this same procedure in tracking their sales performance. By taking this approach, at any given moment they will know exactly how many cars they still need to bring in that day in order to reach their daily car count goal, and they’ll know what they have left to sell that day as well. By reaching either of these daily goals by the end of their day, they’ll be able to go home feeling great about what they were able to achieve. In addition to the goal sheet, your advisors need to have a call log by their phone to keep track of their lost calls. For those of you who feel having daily sales goals in place may cause your advisors to sell services that don’t need to be sold, consider that if this occurs, the problem isn’t with the system, but with the advisor. When you have the right people with the right principles, they understand that reaching their sales goals doesn’t include selling services that don’t need to be sold. They can reach their goals by being more efficient with the vehicles they have in the shop, and when necessary, bringing in more customers. As an added note, I used this daily goal setting strategy at the shops that I owned, and it enabled me to generate outstanding sales. I have also noticed that as soon as our clients start using this procedure, it is not uncommon for their sales to increase 10-15%, with no other changes. The Shop Owner Doing Their Job – It is the responsibility of the shop owner to not only ensure all the above policies and procedures are in place, but to ensure they have the right people, that their techs and advisors are properly trained by the best trainers, and that they’re monitoring, measuring and praising the positive performance of all their employees. This responsibility also includes performing mystery calls (or recording all calls), spot checking vehicle inspections, watching for trends, doing repair order reviews with their advisors, and performing role-plays. A Companywide Commitment to Principles – To maximize your sales and build a really great business at the same time, you need to create a list of Guiding Principles, you need to share them with your entire team on a consistent basis, and you need to ensure everyone on your team lives by them each and every day. If you do, and apply the procedures listed above, then not only will you reach your sales goals, but you’ll do so in a way that makes you and your entire team proud. “Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with online and in-class sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can contact Elite at [email protected], or by calling 800-204-3548." View full article

By Bob Cooper When it comes to keeping your employees operating at peak performance, I am sure you will agree that training is critical. Accordingly, I felt it would be appropriate for me to provide you with what Elite feels to be the most important considerations when it comes to training your team. First of all, here in the U.S. both physicians and attorneys are required to participate in continued education, and I feel your team members should be required as well. It is for this reason that I would strongly encourage you to have a policy in place that mandates that as a condition of ongoing employment, each year your technicians will need to complete (as an example) at least 40 hours of training, and your advisors will need to complete at least 8 hours of training. In all cases, the training will need to be company approved. Secondly, as we all know, there is no one right answer for who pays for the training, but you may want to consider this. As soon as the employee has completed their training, they have benefited, because they are now more knowledgeable. On the other hand, as the owner of the shop, you will not benefit (economically) until your employee has applied their new-found knowledge, and the application has increased their productivity. I am sure you will agree, these two reasons alone suggest that an employee should invest in their own training. Additionally, when someone has their own dollars invested in any type of training, they will take it much more seriously. Accordingly, you may want to consider having the employee pay a percentage of the cost of the training, and letting them know that if they are still employed with you XX months later, you will then reimburse them for their contribution. If they are cash strapped, you can always do a payroll deduction spread out over 2-3 pay periods. If you find you have to sell your employees on participating in such classes, you will ultimately discover it’s due to one of two reasons. One, they don’t see the value in such courses, and if you discover this to be the case, you may find that they have taken courses in the past that were sub-par, and they lost interest. In such cases you need to sell them on how you select the courses, and/or have them participate in the selection process. On the other hand, if you find you have an employee that has little or no interest, or if they suggest there is nothing left that they can learn, then clearly you have the wrong employee. Whether or not they are paid for their time taking the courses is subject to state laws, and to your discretion. Just bear in mind that the only thing worse than training an employee and having them leave, is not training them, and having them stay. 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 the industry’s #1 peer group of 90 successful shop owners, training and coaching from top shop owners, service advisor training, along with online and in-class sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can contact Elite at [email protected], or by calling 800-204-3548. View full article

All successful companies need a leader that has a vision of the future, clearly defined long-term goals and a deep appreciation for people. These leaders also need the ability to bring out the best in others, have a deep-rooted commitment to ethics, and be able to withstand the challenges of leadership. When it comes to small businesses, even the best leaders often have difficulty finding others in their organization that are not only capable of becoming a successor, but that can also effectively lead others. I realize that there are countless books that have been written on developing leaders within, and the amount of information available on the web really is endless. Accordingly, I felt I could best help you by distilling this subject down to a step-by-step guide to creating leaders within your company. Step #1. Communicate your values, mission and culture early and often - Individuals in leadership positions must realize that others will most willingly follow when they feel the leader shares their values. By having a deep commitment to ethics, by never putting money ahead of people, and by creating a culture that others want to be a part of, people will have a natural propensity to not only follow you, but emulate you as well. These are the principles of leadership that can’t be faked, or only applied when the time is right, because people will inevitably be able to tell if you aren’t genuine. You may want to consider what we do at Elite, and have all new hires memorize your Mission Statement as soon as they come aboard. This will help them achieve a deeper relationship with your values. Then throughout their tenure with your company, make sure that you continually reinforce those values and the things that are most important to your brand. For example, since ethics are important to our culture at Elite, we provide every new employee with a copy of Ethics 101 by John Maxwell, and they are asked to share what they feel are the most important takeaways. Reinforcing your shop’s culture early and often will help ensure that you have buy-in from everyone that works with you. Step #2. Start with the Right People - Regardless of how good your leadership skills may be, in order to create leaders within your business you need to start with people that have the right attitude, the aptitude to grow within your organization (or into the position), and the right ethics. Bear in mind that regardless of whether or not you are looking to fill a specific leadership role in management, each and every one of your employees will take on a leadership role to some degree. This is why you need to consider two different leadership paths; One for the individuals who will be assuming greater management/business leadership roles, and one for those who will less directly serve as role models for others. Step #3. Identify the Candidates for Leadership Roles in Management Positions – In identifying the right candidates, you will need to ensure you are confident that they have the capacity to grow into the leadership position you are looking to fill. You will also need to assess their natural talent for engaging and dealing with people (including the management of others), their temperament, their ability to operate under pressure, and their ability to inspire others. These are all personality characteristics (not skills), so you will need to carefully evaluate not only the candidate’s strengths, but equally as important, any noteworthy weaknesses. In making your decisions, you may also want to consider having the candidates undergo professional assessments that are available through organizations like the Berke Group. Step #4. Create a Path to Leadership – Once someone has been identified as a good candidate for a leadership role in management, you will need to provide them with them a list of the skills they will need to develop, a timeline for their completion, and the method you will use to judge their knowledge and ability to apply what they’ve learned. You will also need to have a clear understanding with the candidate regarding what will occur if for whatever reason either of you feel it is inappropriate to continue moving forward. When it comes to the skills they will need, first and foremost, they will need to develop (or further develop) their people skills. One of the best ways of accomplishing this goal is by asking them to read How to Win Friend and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I would strongly encourage you to have them read one section at a time, and then provide you with an oral report. During their reporting session they should tell you what they have learned, how they will apply it to their personal life, and how they will apply it to their role in your company. Always be sure to ask for their reasoning as well. This exercise will help you better understand how your employees process information, and will give you valuable insights into how they view their roles. This learning path should help the candidate understand the value of having goals in place, the goal setting process you use, your key performance indicators, your financial statements (when applicable), how to effectively manage their time, and how to delegate. You will find John Maxwell has written many extraordinary books on a number of these subjects, which can be valuable tools for you. Lastly, they will need to learn how to effectively manage your single greatest asset: the people that you employ. Although there are many books that have been published on managing people, I believe that the all-time best is The One-Minute Manager series by Kenneth Blanchard. Step #5. Application of Leadership Skills – As you are developing your business management leader, you will need to provide them with opportunities along the way to practice what they have learned. Although there are many strategies available, here is a simple one that you can use: Start by having the management leader-in-training create a simple 3-5 page mini-business plan for any part of your business. For example, it could be for driving up sales, controlling costs, or bringing in more new customers. The plan needs to include the goals (ideally relative to your KPI’s), the strategy that will be used, the opportunities and the potential risks. Additionally, they should be put in a position where they can take on a leadership role in your team meetings, and begin handling employee issues that are relative to the role they will be filling. While creating leaders is by no means an easy task, I hope that you find these 5 steps helpful in building a company comprised of leaders that not only embrace your shop’s mission and values, but that serve as role models for every life they touch. 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 the industry’s #1 peer group of 90 successful shop owners, training and coaching from top shop owners, service advisor training, along with online and in-class sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can contact Elite at [email protected], or by calling 800-204-3548. View full article

Elite Certified Sales & Leadership Trainer Jen Monclus shares a UCLA study that reveals an important key to bringing more first-time callers into your shop: For addtional help generating higher sales and happier customers, learn more about Elite's industry acclaimed Masters Service Advisor Training Program.