WEBVTT 00:00:00.017 --> 00:00:04.677 Good morning, Glenn Piccolo here with Adams Automotive bringing you another 00:00:04.677 --> 00:00:09.797 episode of Master Tech to Millionaire presented by Autoshop Answers. 00:00:10.257 --> 00:00:13.837 Man, today we are kicking off the Profit Panel Series. 00:00:13.837 --> 00:00:19.137 We are bringing together some of our amazing HPP partners to discuss the transformation 00:00:19.137 --> 00:00:24.317 in the profit in their businesses and just how much that has changed and what 00:00:24.317 --> 00:00:27.337 that looks like today versus a couple years ago. 00:00:27.497 --> 00:00:29.777 It's absolutely life-changing. 00:00:30.057 --> 00:00:34.497 More importantly, just sharing how this concept works across multiple markets, 00:00:34.717 --> 00:00:35.637 multiple demographics. 00:00:35.817 --> 00:00:39.677 It will really change your perception on our industry. 00:00:39.917 --> 00:00:43.737 It's absolutely incredible. So joining me today, man, we've got the amazing 00:00:43.737 --> 00:00:47.157 Charlie's Latko's out of Massachusetts. 00:00:47.637 --> 00:00:52.297 We've got JJ Mont out of Waldorf, Maryland, and we've got Lynn Massenville out of Tennessee. 00:00:52.557 --> 00:00:57.737 Man, this is going to be absolutely amazing. Thank you guys so much for joining. Let's dive in. 00:00:59.480 --> 00:01:02.740 Man, what a great group of people we have on for the Profit Panel, 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.140 man. We've got Charlie Blacktoes. 00:01:05.660 --> 00:01:10.780 We've got Lynn Massengill. We've got JJ Mont. 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:18.700 And when you talk about the Profit Panel, man, what a perfect group of people 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:20.320 to come on this morning and talk. 00:01:20.320 --> 00:01:30.060 If I add up the record net profits for these three guys out of a total, 00:01:30.100 --> 00:01:32.120 I guess it'd be a total of five stores. 00:01:32.320 --> 00:01:33.640 We're talking about a net profit 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:43.000 of $750,000 to the bottom line in one month, by the way, in one month. 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:48.060 JJ just had a record net profit. JJ, you on the line? 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:55.040 Yes, sir. Yes, sir. what's going on brother let's go record net so record net 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.760 was in um this is it was two months ago, 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:06.160 236 000 oh 236 00:02:06.160 --> 00:02:13.120 000 net you know we're talking a lot about we're talking a lot about um you 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.440 know there's a lot of training companies out there that are teaching people 00:02:16.440 --> 00:02:22.980 how to make you know $10,000 that are making no money or moving from $10,000 to $15,000. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:30.260 And we're literally talking about making more net than you were grossed in before you started. 00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:34.780 And we have stores that are you making more to the bottom? 00:02:34.880 --> 00:02:39.560 Are you putting more money to the bottom line than what you were doing in revenue 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:41.860 several years ago? Right. 00:02:43.142 --> 00:02:46.562 Absolutely. Absolutely. Man, it's crazy. It's crazy. 00:02:46.902 --> 00:02:50.102 And and, you know, another part of it is the market. You know, 00:02:50.182 --> 00:02:54.142 we hear a lot about the different markets and demographics. 00:02:54.802 --> 00:03:01.222 And what a perfect group to be able to say, look, let's look at some different 00:03:01.222 --> 00:03:09.142 demographics, some different markets, because, man, rural Tennessee, Lynn Massengill. 00:03:10.402 --> 00:03:13.482 You're in rural Tennessee, Lynn, huh? Oh yeah. 00:03:13.902 --> 00:03:19.022 Yeah. You get rural very fast when you drive in this from either shop for sure. 00:03:19.682 --> 00:03:22.642 Yeah. So we, so we'll hear that. We'll hear a man. I'm in a rural area. 00:03:22.822 --> 00:03:24.342 You can't do that in my market. 00:03:24.662 --> 00:03:28.402 Uh, we'll hear about, uh, rust when we do our rack attack. 00:03:29.182 --> 00:03:33.342 I show people how we do the rack attack. We hear that you can't do that with rust. 00:03:33.662 --> 00:03:37.002 And we've got obviously rust up in, in 00:03:37.002 --> 00:03:40.042 boston with charlie and uh 00:03:40.042 --> 00:03:43.722 some some rust in maryland i would imagine yeah 00:03:43.722 --> 00:03:46.382 not the outside as much not definitely not as much 00:03:46.382 --> 00:03:49.422 as charlie but hey man 00:03:49.422 --> 00:03:53.462 but there's definitely some rust up there is you 00:03:53.462 --> 00:03:58.022 know looking at all three companies they're 00:03:58.022 --> 00:04:01.422 you know just different shapes and sizes and they 00:04:01.422 --> 00:04:04.702 all end up with the same result which is obviously 00:04:04.702 --> 00:04:09.082 putting big money to the bottom line so i actually want to start with lynn this 00:04:09.082 --> 00:04:14.122 morning who's doing a million out of two stores i know you i don't know exactly 00:04:14.122 --> 00:04:18.682 your record i think 1.1 million out of two stores in a month putting big net 00:04:18.682 --> 00:04:24.122 to the bottom line and going back before you got through or came through, 00:04:24.722 --> 00:04:27.662 key-to-key, what kind of revenue were you doing? 00:04:28.322 --> 00:04:33.682 Yeah, our record before key-to-key was .456 combined for two shots. 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:41.510 456 combined two shops. Um, and now you guys are putting a couple hundred thousand 00:04:41.510 --> 00:04:45.710 dollars to the bottom line, uh, which is just absolutely incredible. 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:49.650 Change your business, change your life. I've seen your, obviously your story 00:04:49.650 --> 00:04:53.750 and, um, you know, it's just, just so incredible. 00:04:54.170 --> 00:04:58.690 So what really changed, uh, Lynn for you, I wanted to start with you on this. 00:04:58.870 --> 00:05:04.350 What really changed, and how'd you get a better kind of understanding of, 00:05:04.370 --> 00:05:09.830 you know, kind of the numbers and how auto hospitality could really drive big net for you? 00:05:10.690 --> 00:05:13.770 Yeah, for us, it was basically, Glenn, 00:05:13.930 --> 00:05:20.690 just a huge mindset shift because before we were so focused on profit and the 00:05:20.690 --> 00:05:25.870 car and then all of a sudden we started focusing on people, hospitality, 00:05:26.370 --> 00:05:30.730 always saying yes and really creating that experience and building the relationships 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:37.330 with the customers to add value instead of managing from the bottom line, cutting expenses. 00:05:38.030 --> 00:05:46.190 We've learned very fast auto hospitality increases value, which pays huge dividends from the customers. 00:05:46.330 --> 00:05:49.390 And customers will spend, they love you, they will buy from you. 00:05:49.510 --> 00:05:54.150 And that's really how we got started, focusing on the customer, 00:05:54.370 --> 00:05:59.830 always saying, yeah, I'm creating that experience and the sales and profits. followed. 00:06:01.507 --> 00:06:06.327 Yeah, I mean, a lot of companies, they manage kind of backwards, 00:06:06.607 --> 00:06:08.187 they manage from the bottom up. 00:06:08.407 --> 00:06:17.227 And, you know, one thing that we do way different is we manage from a staffing perspective, 00:06:17.227 --> 00:06:21.467 like I've got to be able to staff my stores for success to be able to provide 00:06:21.467 --> 00:06:27.287 auto hospitality, so that I can charge accordingly to be able to give the level 00:06:27.287 --> 00:06:31.207 of service that the customer needs and wants. 00:06:31.507 --> 00:06:35.267 And the only way I can do that is I have to really, I have to pay good people to do that. 00:06:35.407 --> 00:06:39.107 And so if I do all those things and then it really doesn't matter what I charge. 00:06:39.807 --> 00:06:42.967 If they're getting great service, they don't really care about, 00:06:43.127 --> 00:06:45.847 you know, what the person down the street is charging. 00:06:46.087 --> 00:06:49.607 Price actually just becomes, I mean, it's not that it's not an issue, 00:06:49.727 --> 00:06:52.507 but it's just way less of an issue. 00:06:53.087 --> 00:06:59.047 What's true, you know, once you give them a level of service that, you know, 00:06:59.107 --> 00:07:01.887 just exceeds their expectation which in today's i mean 00:07:01.887 --> 00:07:04.747 in today's world it doesn't even take much 00:07:04.747 --> 00:07:08.367 to do that right to to actually exceed their expectation is 00:07:08.367 --> 00:07:12.087 do it is doing probably what would be considered like 00:07:12.087 --> 00:07:15.627 subpar or par customer service 00:07:15.627 --> 00:07:18.967 like 30 40 years ago uh but 00:07:18.967 --> 00:07:21.887 today it's like completely uh it's completely different and 00:07:21.887 --> 00:07:24.967 so the bar has been lowered and so it makes it even that much easier 00:07:24.967 --> 00:07:30.047 and so yeah you hit it there it's like focus on the process the concept first 00:07:30.047 --> 00:07:34.587 and then the rest will the rest will just take care of itself the number is 00:07:34.587 --> 00:07:41.367 always the byproduct of amazing service and executing the concept and you guys 00:07:41.367 --> 00:07:44.627 have obviously done man an incredible job on that. 00:07:46.767 --> 00:07:48.287 Charlie what's up there, 00:07:50.223 --> 00:07:53.963 Got another star in the house. He's not in the office right now. 00:07:54.143 --> 00:07:57.283 He's still on the take five. Mike Quinn is visiting me today. 00:07:58.003 --> 00:08:01.003 Oh, Mike Quinn, man. Mike Quinn knows how to put money to the bottom line. 00:08:01.263 --> 00:08:03.463 He put major money to the bottom line. 00:08:04.043 --> 00:08:09.243 I mean, last year, 1.2 million to the bottom line out of the Woodland store. 00:08:09.403 --> 00:08:14.623 A store that was doing $135,000 a month, by the way, back in, 00:08:14.903 --> 00:08:16.963 I guess, I don't remember what year it is. 00:08:17.083 --> 00:08:19.943 It flies by so fast. Probably like three years ago, something. 00:08:20.363 --> 00:08:22.683 Who knows? Yeah, three years ago, four years ago, whatever it was, 00:08:22.763 --> 00:08:27.103 when we took over that store, 135 gross sales per month. 00:08:27.323 --> 00:08:30.603 And now a print, you know, I mean, I think it's record printing. 00:08:31.323 --> 00:08:32.883 It's 130,000 percent. 00:08:34.163 --> 00:08:37.603 157,000, 158,000 record print for the month. 00:08:37.823 --> 00:08:41.863 Yeah, so like you said, like Jay Jay's story, you know, that store now nets 00:08:41.863 --> 00:08:46.923 more than it used to gross, which is, it seems to be a very common theme here. 00:08:48.301 --> 00:08:54.301 Yeah, it's a pretty common theme. So, Charlie, you know, we talk a lot about rust. 00:08:54.481 --> 00:08:58.381 I always laugh when people talk to me about rust because, man, 00:08:58.421 --> 00:08:59.441 how could you make profit? 00:08:59.781 --> 00:09:05.561 And how could you put big money to the bottom line in a shop that just has all 00:09:05.561 --> 00:09:07.061 these rusty cars coming in? 00:09:07.081 --> 00:09:12.261 I mean, how is that possible, man, in your market, man? How can you even do that? 00:09:13.061 --> 00:09:16.381 So I got to tell you, it's all in your mind, 100% of it. 00:09:17.121 --> 00:09:21.481 You just have to change your mindset. And not only will have RAST in Boston, 00:09:21.621 --> 00:09:24.561 and now people listening from the Northeast, they know what I'm talking about. 00:09:24.901 --> 00:09:30.321 So we actually put the system to the test last week. So Mike and myself flew 00:09:30.321 --> 00:09:31.981 up to Canada, Torraldo area. 00:09:32.501 --> 00:09:37.281 And they, you know, they have more RAST. It's heavier up north. 00:09:37.441 --> 00:09:39.241 They use way more salt on the roads. 00:09:39.761 --> 00:09:44.901 So we walked in a store. We do a lot of work for, I mean, most of you guys know 00:09:44.901 --> 00:09:46.241 we do a lot of work with Midas. 00:09:46.881 --> 00:09:51.621 And they wanted us to go and train. We had a weekend of key-to-key up in Canada. 00:09:51.961 --> 00:09:57.301 But what we did on Friday, we rack-attacked in one of their stores out there. 00:09:58.201 --> 00:10:03.981 And guess what they have? A lot of rust. And it was really a big mindset deal. 00:10:04.121 --> 00:10:08.101 Because when you talk to people about, like, Glenn, you're a master on flipping 00:10:08.101 --> 00:10:12.821 calipers. You teach it, I've heard you, you talk about it so many times. 00:10:12.881 --> 00:10:14.801 And it's such an easy process, right? 00:10:15.301 --> 00:10:19.461 Four on the floor when you inspect the car. If there's any questions on the 00:10:19.461 --> 00:10:21.361 brakes, just flip the car, right? 00:10:22.821 --> 00:10:26.561 And most people will come up to me in the northern areas and be like, 00:10:26.621 --> 00:10:29.321 oh, how about us? How about if a bolt breaks? 00:10:29.421 --> 00:10:32.481 And I say, you know what? How many cars did we do last year, 00:10:32.801 --> 00:10:36.141 let's say, in the Boston area between the two Pleasant Caratel locations? 00:10:36.241 --> 00:10:38.481 I think we have like 10,000 cars. 00:10:38.721 --> 00:10:44.741 And out of those 10,000 cars that I did this process to, what do we damage? Maybe one? 00:10:45.753 --> 00:10:49.873 It's not even a measurable number to think of, right? 00:10:50.073 --> 00:10:56.373 But in the brain, we always think worst case scenario versus thinking the 9,999 00:10:56.373 --> 00:10:58.713 times that it actually worked. 00:10:59.553 --> 00:11:03.653 So I said, we're not even going to think about this. We're just going to run the process. 00:11:04.173 --> 00:11:09.013 And guess what? We worked in a whole new market, a whole new shop. 00:11:09.493 --> 00:11:14.733 I've never been in that shop before. And we had a record day because we changed our mindset. 00:11:15.333 --> 00:11:18.413 That is really where it stands. So when you start learning the process, 00:11:18.613 --> 00:11:21.613 I always say for people that heard my podcast and all this stuff, 00:11:21.853 --> 00:11:27.093 I always say the biggest hurdle I had to overcome when I started learning Todd's concept was me. 00:11:27.393 --> 00:11:30.533 Up until I changed my mind, it didn't work. 00:11:30.893 --> 00:11:34.633 Once I started believing it and just did it, then you're 100% worth. 00:11:35.333 --> 00:11:42.853 Yeah, and, you know, I know you're kind of prepared for what could happen if it's going to happen. 00:11:43.273 --> 00:11:45.453 And you know, one thing that I was noticing. 00:11:46.644 --> 00:11:49.444 When we were at your store, when I was up there a few months ago, 00:11:49.604 --> 00:11:53.424 Rack Attack and McGoo is you have a whole drawer in one of your, 00:11:53.424 --> 00:12:00.204 you know, your toolboxes for your, your inspection area, which is a bunch of 00:12:00.204 --> 00:12:03.664 bolts that you're going to probably need. Cause you're going to break some bolts. 00:12:04.004 --> 00:12:08.904 Right. And so, so you've got all the bolts and you've got everything you need to fix it right there. 00:12:09.084 --> 00:12:13.924 So it's not a, you know, it's not a problem. It's just a minor inconvenience 00:12:13.924 --> 00:12:17.564 and then you can just kind of keep on going. And if it's going to happen, 00:12:17.704 --> 00:12:19.004 you might as well be prepared for it. 00:12:19.124 --> 00:12:22.204 So you guys, you know, obviously do that really well. 00:12:22.364 --> 00:12:27.484 You don't use the excuse of, well, in my market, you can't do that. 00:12:27.604 --> 00:12:29.904 It's not the first time that we've come into a store. 00:12:30.584 --> 00:12:35.644 It's been done many times where we'll go into a store, execute our concept. 00:12:35.644 --> 00:12:39.064 And we're not even executing our concept at really full throttle in terms of 00:12:39.064 --> 00:12:42.444 technology because we don't have necessarily all the tools that we need there 00:12:42.444 --> 00:12:47.204 because most shops aren't quite set up the way we are yet, but we'll go into 00:12:47.204 --> 00:12:50.384 a store and we will absolutely go and break a record. 00:12:50.784 --> 00:12:56.764 And the all-time record day gets broken and you think it's by coincidence? 00:12:56.984 --> 00:13:01.064 Well, of course not. I mean, it's just, we're doing the concept and it works 00:13:01.064 --> 00:13:03.084 the same across all markets. 00:13:03.564 --> 00:13:08.624 So, you know, a lot of people, they don't quite understand, you know, 00:13:08.704 --> 00:13:11.164 just a hundred percent about what we do. 00:13:11.164 --> 00:13:15.464 And we're trying to get that message out and teach people because if they don't 00:13:15.464 --> 00:13:18.364 know it and they're getting secondhand information or they think they know or 00:13:18.364 --> 00:13:22.204 they heard something from somebody and they don't actually understand and don't 00:13:22.204 --> 00:13:24.784 know it, then it really just won't make sense to them. 00:13:24.884 --> 00:13:28.764 But once you see it and once you do it, like there is no other way. 00:13:28.924 --> 00:13:33.184 There's nothing. Todd always says, what could you take away from this? And it's like nothing. 00:13:33.364 --> 00:13:36.764 You can't take anything away from it. It's a perfected business model. 00:13:37.464 --> 00:13:42.484 And so, man, I'm just so thankful that we get to operate with it because, 00:13:42.624 --> 00:13:43.864 man, it sure does make it easy. 00:13:44.944 --> 00:13:49.404 You know, one thing I want to talk about was kind of customer's threshold of pain. 00:13:50.192 --> 00:13:56.132 A lot of people are, you know, scared to raise their prices because they're, 00:13:56.172 --> 00:13:59.092 you know, they're thinking, oh, my gosh, I'm just going to start, 00:13:59.292 --> 00:14:00.872 you know, start losing customers. 00:14:01.112 --> 00:14:05.812 And I have to tell you this, too. I'll start this by saying a lot of training companies do teach. 00:14:05.992 --> 00:14:07.712 Oh, you just need to go back and raise your labor rate. Well, 00:14:07.712 --> 00:14:14.392 that's a really good, easy way for any shop to just get an immediate lift or 00:14:14.392 --> 00:14:17.212 tick up in their gross profit. 00:14:17.212 --> 00:14:20.312 I mean, obviously, if you just do nothing different and you raise the labor 00:14:20.312 --> 00:14:25.692 rate just a little bit, you know, obviously, the revenue is going to go up. 00:14:25.772 --> 00:14:32.212 But you can't really do that without adding and delivering excellent service 00:14:32.212 --> 00:14:34.332 to go along with that rate. 00:14:35.052 --> 00:14:39.172 And so, you know, Todd always talks about trying to find that customer's threshold 00:14:39.172 --> 00:14:43.012 of pain. And you can't do that by listening to the feedback. 00:14:43.012 --> 00:14:46.252 Like you said, you know, the 1%. 00:14:47.932 --> 00:14:53.272 One person complains about a price. Well, you don't build your business on the 00:14:53.272 --> 00:14:56.692 exception, you build your business on the rule, but everybody does seem to focus 00:14:56.692 --> 00:15:02.412 on the, you know, the one customer that gives any kind of pushback on it. 00:15:02.492 --> 00:15:06.172 But, you know, you got to kind of find that customer's threshold of pain in 00:15:06.172 --> 00:15:08.532 terms of, man, what can I charge, right? 00:15:09.052 --> 00:15:14.492 And am I leaving money on the table? So I did want to talk a little bit about that this morning. 00:15:15.292 --> 00:15:20.352 As far as customer's threshold of pain and kind of where you guys were and. 00:15:21.169 --> 00:15:25.089 Where you're at now in terms of the year on a start with yeah 00:15:25.089 --> 00:15:28.609 so uh jj let's let's get jj back yes 00:15:28.609 --> 00:15:31.889 sir yes sir well that's such a um a major 00:15:31.889 --> 00:15:34.869 point because i remember i was 00:15:34.869 --> 00:15:38.829 at one point you know particularly at my last shop my first shop that i started 00:15:38.829 --> 00:15:44.449 i was the cheapest guy probably in the state of maryland okay and that wasn't 00:15:44.449 --> 00:15:51.909 even cheap enough you know what i'm saying like i was it was so many jobs I did for free and that, 00:15:51.909 --> 00:15:54.949 and that wasn't even cheap enough. It was very weird. Right. 00:15:55.309 --> 00:16:01.349 And I did not enjoy that. So I remember hearing you talk about that and Todd 00:16:01.349 --> 00:16:04.089 talking about, you know, finding that customer's threshold of pain. 00:16:04.149 --> 00:16:11.949 Um, but just to circle back, I remember like, like kind of being hesitant to, to raise the prices. 00:16:12.089 --> 00:16:18.789 And, and it's because I didn't have the, the foundation of being able to deliver 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:20.969 superior customer service. 00:16:21.169 --> 00:16:25.009 OK, so this whole thing, everything we're talking about, once you put it all 00:16:25.009 --> 00:16:28.229 together and you start putting these major pieces together, 00:16:28.709 --> 00:16:33.109 man, your prices are justified because if you look at it, you can the person 00:16:33.109 --> 00:16:36.429 down the street can change the alternator just as good as you can. 00:16:37.103 --> 00:16:42.143 OK, so the everybody can, you know, put a new starter on the car. 00:16:42.283 --> 00:16:45.843 OK, completely understand. But what is the difference? 00:16:46.063 --> 00:16:53.463 What separates, you know, us or Charlie's store from the guy next door right down the street? 00:16:53.583 --> 00:16:56.103 What separates it? And that's the world class service. 00:16:56.263 --> 00:17:01.043 So the key to key concept is not teaching you how to change an alternator, 00:17:01.123 --> 00:17:04.983 because I have never changed an alternator or starter, never busted the bead 00:17:04.983 --> 00:17:07.783 on the tire. I don't want to do none of that. I don't like it. 00:17:07.903 --> 00:17:09.223 It's dangerous to me. Right. 00:17:09.343 --> 00:17:12.723 So I want qualified people to do that. So I was the cheapest, 00:17:13.043 --> 00:17:14.623 Glenn, and it was not fun. 00:17:14.923 --> 00:17:18.263 So when I heard you guys talk about finding the customer threshold of pain, 00:17:18.423 --> 00:17:20.903 I was like, wow, this is very interesting. 00:17:21.103 --> 00:17:25.983 OK, so I'm no longer looking at what my market dictates. 00:17:26.183 --> 00:17:29.023 OK, what what what everybody else is. 00:17:29.023 --> 00:17:32.043 Charge i'll tell you a funny story man you know how you say when when 00:17:32.043 --> 00:17:36.103 somebody calls you and they ask you what your uh labor rate is you know it's 00:17:36.103 --> 00:17:40.063 another shop right it's funny it's so funny you said it because you know what 00:17:40.063 --> 00:17:45.123 i had even before i came down to the uh to the class man i had my mom i said 00:17:45.123 --> 00:17:49.503 mom look here's the list of 25 stores i need you to call all of them get their labor rates. 00:17:51.523 --> 00:17:56.743 Ain't that funny man so so she could yeah she called like a you know a damsel 00:17:56.743 --> 00:18:00.183 in distress yeah That was your labor rain. And they would tell, right? 00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:03.860 So so that's how I came up with my one seventy. 00:18:04.280 --> 00:18:08.140 OK, so that's how I came up with my one seventy. And and that was kind of at 00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:12.220 the at the upper tier. There's people charging one ten, one fifteen, one fifty. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:17.180 Dealership was right around one eighty, you know, one ninety max. 00:18:17.320 --> 00:18:20.420 So I said, let me let me come in at one seventy. So anyway, I heard what you 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:25.160 guys said is that you raise the prices, you know, and you kind of figure out 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:27.800 or find out when that customer starts saying no. 00:18:27.800 --> 00:18:32.060 When they when do they start kind of objecting you 00:18:32.060 --> 00:18:35.000 know a lot you know and that's when you start seeing 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:37.780 that that price point where it starts to be 00:18:37.780 --> 00:18:40.860 a little bit more difficult to justify um that that 00:18:40.860 --> 00:18:43.780 particular price so to speak for for lack of better terms and when 00:18:43.780 --> 00:18:46.880 you guys found it you guys uh what was yours glenn like 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:50.100 where did you find yours uh 350 00:18:50.100 --> 00:18:54.500 high 350 yeah and we 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:57.320 came down obviously and and here's an important part 00:18:57.320 --> 00:19:00.180 of this uh it's you know you have to make sure that 00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:03.480 you're executing this concept you're coming through training and you understand 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.880 and you're doing everything and you're not missing any plays and here's why 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.760 because just because you started getting objections doesn't mean you found the 00:19:11.760 --> 00:19:15.200 customer's threshold of pain it could mean that you're not executing the concept 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.220 right and you don't have the right people so don't get those or too confused. 00:19:19.540 --> 00:19:25.060 You have to make sure you have the absolute superstar studs executing the concept, 00:19:25.060 --> 00:19:27.360 and then you can start to make that decision. 00:19:27.520 --> 00:19:30.360 But a lot of people, sorry, a lot of people are already getting objections, guys. 00:19:30.580 --> 00:19:34.900 I mean, at $110 an hour, there's shops out there that are getting the same exact 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:39.500 objections that we get every single day, right? We all know the objections, they're all the same. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.260 So whether you're at 110 or you're at 210 or you're at 310, you're going to 00:19:44.260 --> 00:19:45.780 get the exact same objections. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:50.200 So that doesn't mean it's the price. That could mean it's the execution. 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:54.260 Now, once you start executing, then you can start determining, 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:59.300 okay, we're getting, I mean, some of my really good customers start to say things like, 00:19:59.807 --> 00:20:03.407 man, it seems like it's getting a little bit high or the prices seem like they've 00:20:03.407 --> 00:20:06.147 gone up. And you have to get a good sample size of that, right? 00:20:06.307 --> 00:20:09.407 Because you can't, one, you don't find that out immediately. 00:20:09.567 --> 00:20:12.227 You find that out over a period of time. 00:20:12.407 --> 00:20:15.647 Because if you raise your labor rate today, and me and Charlie, 00:20:15.767 --> 00:20:19.107 and he could probably touch on this, if I raise the labor rate today, 00:20:19.687 --> 00:20:23.427 well, there's going to be six months worth of customers that don't ever even 00:20:23.427 --> 00:20:25.567 feel that if they don't come in during that time. 00:20:25.687 --> 00:20:29.867 And so that's why we talk a lot about don't raise your payment rate, 00:20:30.247 --> 00:20:34.247 $10 an hour over the next six months or $10 a month over the next six months. 00:20:35.047 --> 00:20:36.447 Go ahead and just raise it. 00:20:36.547 --> 00:20:40.547 If you're going to end up getting there, just do it now because Ms. 00:20:40.627 --> 00:20:43.267 Jones that came in today isn't coming back for six months. 00:20:43.407 --> 00:20:46.387 She's not going to see and feel the incremental increases. 00:20:46.687 --> 00:20:49.447 It's like, just rip the Band-Aid off. Let's find that threshold of pain. 00:20:49.707 --> 00:20:54.047 And then we'll come and we'll find a soft landing once we get there, which is what we did. 00:20:54.207 --> 00:20:57.807 And we adjusted it down and we've been comfortable where we're at right now. 00:20:57.807 --> 00:21:01.227 But charlie is a good example uh you 00:21:01.227 --> 00:21:04.687 know he was wanting to raise his labor rate well these 00:21:04.687 --> 00:21:07.947 little increments and uh we had a conversation one 00:21:07.947 --> 00:21:10.947 day and i learned when you want to get charlie 00:21:10.947 --> 00:21:14.107 to do something all i got to do is put a camera on him and tell 00:21:14.107 --> 00:21:17.107 him all right charlie you said you're gonna do this i 00:21:17.107 --> 00:21:20.567 got you being recorded everybody's watching so let's still 00:21:20.567 --> 00:21:23.747 get it done tell that story and so tell 00:21:23.747 --> 00:21:27.127 that story charlie and what that's done for your business uh sure 00:21:27.127 --> 00:21:29.967 but before we get there i have to bring up some other 00:21:29.967 --> 00:21:32.927 points because a lot of people that are listening to this they might just think 00:21:32.927 --> 00:21:36.087 oh these guys just charge more right see it could 00:21:36.087 --> 00:21:40.127 sound like that oh they just charge more money let's rather make money and this 00:21:40.127 --> 00:21:44.087 and so there is this couldn't be further than the truth so i want to clarify 00:21:44.087 --> 00:21:48.367 a couple of things first before we get to that story okay so first of all years 00:21:48.367 --> 00:21:53.907 ago when i started you know charging because i was kind of like you jj I wasn't 00:21:53.907 --> 00:21:54.987 cheap enough, probably. 00:21:55.267 --> 00:21:59.027 I was so cheap because I thought that's what drove the business, right? 00:21:59.771 --> 00:22:04.011 So, I thought that if I raise my price, the customers will walk away. 00:22:04.631 --> 00:22:10.611 And it is not, there couldn't be further than the truth. That is not how business works. 00:22:10.831 --> 00:22:14.611 As long as you provide good value, and Glenn, you do a very good job saying 00:22:14.611 --> 00:22:21.091 that if you just go ahead and charge more today without upping your quality 00:22:21.091 --> 00:22:25.451 of service, you could be running to the potential of being an overpriced shop. 00:22:25.931 --> 00:22:30.531 So you have to give them better service. So in our take five that we had today, 00:22:30.691 --> 00:22:35.531 right before I jumped into this call, we were talking now of our videos. 00:22:35.731 --> 00:22:41.931 So obviously we do the videos before and we send to the customer and we do meta videos on a case. 00:22:41.951 --> 00:22:46.411 So I have to be honest, we don't do it all the time of after we finish the repairs. 00:22:47.091 --> 00:22:51.811 How about process videos? So do you think if a customer came in, 00:22:51.951 --> 00:22:56.771 we presented a nice job, and they said yes, and I would do work on the car for 00:22:56.771 --> 00:23:01.591 $3,000 or whatever the number is, and I'd take a video of my technician, 00:23:01.931 --> 00:23:06.051 superstar technician working on the car, and it will happen like a timing bell job. 00:23:06.191 --> 00:23:08.351 Today we're going to do a timing bell job on a Honda, right? 00:23:09.111 --> 00:23:13.451 So how about if I took that video so they can see what's involved in the job? 00:23:13.731 --> 00:23:17.711 Does the customer still think I'm overpriced? I think I'll take that away. 00:23:17.711 --> 00:23:22.871 So what value can I build to be able to charge a fair price? 00:23:23.011 --> 00:23:26.731 You see, it becomes a fair price. You're not overpriced anymore. 00:23:27.871 --> 00:23:31.011 What else? Man, I had so many notes here. 00:23:32.711 --> 00:23:36.071 So it was really, again, a mine thing. 00:23:36.171 --> 00:23:40.791 And the biggest pushback you're going to get on price is going to be from the 00:23:40.791 --> 00:23:42.751 people inside the organization. 00:23:42.751 --> 00:23:46.251 So if you guys went to your shop today and you say, hey, we're going to change 00:23:46.251 --> 00:23:50.471 the price $40 an hour, your people are going to give you a lot of pushback. 00:23:50.471 --> 00:23:54.471 And that's a confidence level thing if they don't believe in themselves. 00:23:55.441 --> 00:23:59.721 But if you do provide better service, if you train your people every day on 00:23:59.721 --> 00:24:05.021 the take five on the auto hospitality, not just fixing cars, what can they do? 00:24:05.121 --> 00:24:08.021 Are they there to provide value to the customer? 00:24:08.381 --> 00:24:12.201 How about this story? JJ, you remember this very clearly. 00:24:12.861 --> 00:24:16.541 So it was a Saturday. You were in my shop in Utah. 00:24:17.101 --> 00:24:22.401 And we had a Honda Pilot here that I can never forget because it's such a good story. 00:24:22.521 --> 00:24:27.281 And the only reason that Pilot was here that day, because Gary Walker had called 00:24:27.281 --> 00:24:29.641 that customer on a warranty. 00:24:29.881 --> 00:24:32.361 We had done axles on the car previously. 00:24:32.921 --> 00:24:36.861 Gary or his team called the customer and said, hey, it's been a while since 00:24:36.861 --> 00:24:41.241 we did these repairs for you. We would like to inspect our work Make sure everything 00:24:41.241 --> 00:24:44.301 is going great Do you think there is value to that? 00:24:44.561 --> 00:24:46.681 So we inspect our car You came in. 00:24:49.428 --> 00:24:52.648 It for a warranty check well obviously cars wet 00:24:52.648 --> 00:24:55.668 out right over time so we have the car on the lift we 00:24:55.668 --> 00:24:58.388 inspect the axles what else we noticed we noticed the brakes are 00:24:58.388 --> 00:25:01.368 worn out so as i'm taking that video on the axles because 00:25:01.368 --> 00:25:04.288 i still want to show them but i did inspect our work 00:25:04.288 --> 00:25:07.168 see there is value to that mr customer thank 00:25:07.168 --> 00:25:10.308 you for coming in here is the actuals we previously did everything looks 00:25:10.308 --> 00:25:13.168 great there's no problem at all we appreciate your 00:25:13.168 --> 00:25:15.928 business however while i'm under here and 00:25:15.928 --> 00:25:18.688 wheels are off the car i noticed that the brakes are worn out we 00:25:18.688 --> 00:25:21.508 sold those brakes and then the next day we sold on 00:25:21.508 --> 00:25:24.368 that vehicle uh we presented him that the strats were 00:25:24.368 --> 00:25:28.888 leaking by the time we were done with that car it was over four thousand dollars 00:25:28.888 --> 00:25:34.288 and that is because gary and his team provided value by following up on that 00:25:34.288 --> 00:25:38.988 customer so so you see the price becomes irrelevant because that customer doesn't 00:25:38.988 --> 00:25:43.408 have to think anymore right man these people call me to thank me for the business. 00:25:43.588 --> 00:25:46.928 These people will call me to check on my car before the warranty runs out. 00:25:47.148 --> 00:25:52.808 So long as you build all these value-added items, then the price doesn't become 00:25:52.808 --> 00:25:56.148 a problem anymore and your team will believe it because they see the value. 00:25:56.468 --> 00:25:57.688 Would you guys agree with me? 00:25:58.196 --> 00:26:02.976 Yeah, 100% on that. Well, a lot of people say that they're going to get, 00:26:03.136 --> 00:26:08.016 the biggest pushback they get when they change their labor rate is they get 00:26:08.016 --> 00:26:12.636 pushback from the technicians is what they tell us. And I'm like, huh? 00:26:12.956 --> 00:26:15.796 It took me a second to, okay, I'll be honest with you. 00:26:15.956 --> 00:26:20.216 Like the first time I heard that, it kind of just like took me back a little 00:26:20.216 --> 00:26:22.916 bit. I'm like, I don't understand. Like, what do you mean the technicians? 00:26:23.156 --> 00:26:26.656 Like, what are they, like, we're, I mean, because I'm thinking differently. 00:26:26.656 --> 00:26:29.716 I'm thinking I'm literally I'm serving the I'm serving hours 00:26:29.716 --> 00:26:32.516 like on a platter like they can't even keep up 00:26:32.516 --> 00:26:35.336 that I have unlimited hours and and they have 00:26:35.336 --> 00:26:38.036 access to whatever they want to do 00:26:38.036 --> 00:26:40.936 with their career and so I don't 00:26:40.936 --> 00:26:43.796 understand why they're giving pushback like it doesn't make 00:26:43.796 --> 00:26:47.956 sense like we just wrapped up we just did 700 hours 00:26:47.956 --> 00:26:50.996 last week okay 700 build hours 00:26:50.996 --> 00:26:53.876 last week okay and I've got technicians that are backed up 00:26:53.876 --> 00:26:56.516 and wow that's yeah yeah we 00:26:56.516 --> 00:26:59.336 did 700 build hours last week okay to 00:26:59.336 --> 00:27:02.396 wrap up our month okay and so uh i've 00:27:02.396 --> 00:27:05.676 got technicians they're just slammed and blown out i just like roll we 00:27:05.676 --> 00:27:09.816 just roll over a part full of cart or a cart full of uh parts to them like here 00:27:09.816 --> 00:27:14.176 you go here's 15 hours and and so and and then people are saying they're giving 00:27:14.176 --> 00:27:18.876 pushback i don't understand well i understand it's because in a 50 close ratio 00:27:18.876 --> 00:27:23.196 world or less okay and you You have technicians that are checking out all these 00:27:23.196 --> 00:27:24.516 cars and the cars are leaving. 00:27:24.716 --> 00:27:28.696 Well, of course, they're going to complain about the price because they think the price. 00:27:29.456 --> 00:27:35.256 Directly ties to the decline sales that they are not getting and they want to 00:27:35.256 --> 00:27:40.016 blame the price or they say, hey, you guys are going up. You're not giving me any more. 00:27:40.296 --> 00:27:43.716 You know, like I should be making more money if you guys are making more money. 00:27:44.056 --> 00:27:48.476 And so that's a technician that doesn't understand how business works and how 00:27:48.476 --> 00:27:51.256 business runs. We want to give our technicians more money, obviously, 00:27:51.496 --> 00:27:57.836 but we have to do that once we can be profitable and be able to provide, you know, consistent. 00:27:59.349 --> 00:28:03.189 You know, high profitability and, you know, and obviously growth, 00:28:03.189 --> 00:28:06.689 we want all of our technicians and our technicians do make big money. 00:28:06.809 --> 00:28:09.989 So they don't complain about labor rate. They don't, I never, 00:28:10.089 --> 00:28:15.529 I've never had a technician in our company ever mention the labor rate to me, not one time. 00:28:15.689 --> 00:28:18.229 One, they don't even know what it is or care what it is, right? 00:28:18.369 --> 00:28:22.209 All they care about is I'm just, man, I'm just flagging a ton of hours. 00:28:22.369 --> 00:28:27.969 And so that is a tail wagging the dog situation. 00:28:28.569 --> 00:28:33.149 And a lot of people fall into that trap. So yes, you have to provide and you 00:28:33.149 --> 00:28:36.289 can't forget like, okay, I provide amazing service. 00:28:36.729 --> 00:28:41.169 I'm on a zoom call at 6am. We had a meeting before the zoom call. 00:28:41.509 --> 00:28:45.169 I'm going to, I'm going to be working all day. I'm going to deliver amazing 00:28:45.169 --> 00:28:47.449 hospitality. I'm going to deliver cars, pickup cars. 00:28:47.569 --> 00:28:50.269 I'm going to train my team. I'm going to send my team down to Houston. 00:28:50.469 --> 00:28:52.749 They're going to train. I'm going to do all these things. 00:28:53.229 --> 00:28:55.989 And that makes me worth so much 00:28:55.989 --> 00:28:59.189 more and it gives the confidence level to your team so 00:28:59.189 --> 00:29:01.989 much more when they believe that they're worth it because we put in 00:29:01.989 --> 00:29:05.409 so much time effort and energy to deliver the world-class 00:29:05.409 --> 00:29:09.329 service that we're worth it but if you just change your prices and go up and 00:29:09.329 --> 00:29:13.169 you're just like the auto guy down the street well guess what now you're just 00:29:13.169 --> 00:29:18.109 an overpriced repair shop okay we're not comparing apples to apples we sell 00:29:18.109 --> 00:29:23.989 oranges and the industry is selling apples so you've got businesses that are basically competing. 00:29:24.409 --> 00:29:28.269 Okay. And they're comparing their prices to the person down the street. 00:29:28.469 --> 00:29:32.749 That is, you know, in a lot of cases on their way out of business. 00:29:32.749 --> 00:29:34.809 And I know that's sad to say, but that's the truth. 00:29:34.989 --> 00:29:39.449 And, and these people are competing with each other and they're basically racing to the bottom. 00:29:39.669 --> 00:29:42.669 Okay. So we do it completely different. 00:29:42.889 --> 00:29:47.469 So, you know, obviously all of this is taught in all the programs. 00:29:48.249 --> 00:29:54.229 And you guys have obviously been through a ton of them, but I definitely want to ask Lynn on this. 00:29:54.669 --> 00:29:59.189 We haven't heard much from Lynn yet this morning, so I really want to just kind of hear from that. 00:29:59.309 --> 00:30:04.289 And your thoughts on this, Lynn, and kind of how this has changed your business. 00:30:05.089 --> 00:30:10.409 Oh, yeah, it's definitely changed a lot for us getting to elaborate where it should be. 00:30:11.349 --> 00:30:14.349 Again rural southeast tennessee we're 00:30:14.349 --> 00:30:17.209 at the high end of the market but implementing the 00:30:17.209 --> 00:30:21.009 concepts like outrageous world-class service 00:30:21.009 --> 00:30:24.809 the best people training every day with 00:30:24.809 --> 00:30:28.309 our take fives phone training company take 00:30:28.309 --> 00:30:31.249 fives like all the focus on people and getting 00:30:31.249 --> 00:30:34.209 better and creating that experience what i 00:30:34.209 --> 00:30:37.289 found is like we do not have pushback on pricing 00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:40.849 customers are looking for extreme value 00:30:40.849 --> 00:30:43.909 and being taken care of and 00:30:43.909 --> 00:30:46.849 just that great world-class experience that 00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:51.409 we offer the last thing a customer wants is a bad experience and so many customers 00:30:51.409 --> 00:30:57.109 have been in bad shops before that they're so happy to be out of now and they 00:30:57.109 --> 00:31:02.069 come somewhere that is implementing world-class service through auto hospitality 00:31:02.069 --> 00:31:05.609 their whole mindset changes. 00:31:05.709 --> 00:31:12.009 They're no longer looking for the cheapest price in town or a shop that may 00:31:12.009 --> 00:31:13.349 be a little bit less than us. 00:31:13.569 --> 00:31:18.169 They're looking for world-class service, a great experience, 00:31:19.049 --> 00:31:24.289 number of cars being taken care of, and the transparency we provide and just the wonderful people. 00:31:25.770 --> 00:31:30.390 That are serving them. And we just do not have to push back on price. 00:31:30.570 --> 00:31:32.950 And that's been a game changer for our business for sure. 00:31:33.930 --> 00:31:37.030 Yeah. And you know, you know, another part of it, and we're talking about price 00:31:37.030 --> 00:31:41.150 going up, but you know, a lot of people also miss a very, very big part of this, 00:31:41.270 --> 00:31:43.110 which is how can my costs go down? 00:31:43.330 --> 00:31:48.950 You know, and talking specifically about gross profit and parts cost, 00:31:49.350 --> 00:31:51.610 you know, yesterday, a good example, there's some control arms, 00:31:51.710 --> 00:31:53.070 a lot of people are quick to click. 00:31:53.390 --> 00:31:56.050 And there's some control arms we get sold and I got to order them. 00:31:56.710 --> 00:31:59.410 And, you know, these particular control arms were $90. 00:32:00.210 --> 00:32:04.950 And so I could, now that was $90 was the best price across all my, 00:32:05.010 --> 00:32:07.930 you know, vendors that I could see online. Now I have an option there. 00:32:08.130 --> 00:32:12.630 I can either click that button and those parts are on the way and boom, it's done fast. 00:32:13.090 --> 00:32:16.050 Or I pick up the phone. So I pick up the phone. 00:32:16.170 --> 00:32:21.410 I call the guy. I said, look, man, I had to make a deal on this job and these 00:32:21.410 --> 00:32:25.730 controllers are $90 each and I need them for $69.99. 00:32:26.090 --> 00:32:27.550 Can you do them for $69.99? 00:32:28.690 --> 00:32:31.270 Not price match. I'm just saying, look, I had to make a deal. 00:32:31.350 --> 00:32:34.490 Cause we did, we had to make a deal to save a deal, which is another part of 00:32:34.490 --> 00:32:37.070 like having hammers. Okay. 00:32:37.790 --> 00:32:41.410 Um, I'm like, man, I need them for $69.99. And he's like. 00:32:42.542 --> 00:32:46.902 Let me see. He's like, I can't do that. He's like, the best I can do is $70 00:32:46.902 --> 00:32:50.482 and 50 cents. And I'm like, okay. 00:32:51.042 --> 00:32:58.142 I said, I'm like, here's the PO send them over. Okay. Now that's $60. 00:32:58.802 --> 00:33:02.222 Okay. That is $60. That is a lot of money. 00:33:02.482 --> 00:33:06.762 Okay. When you're talking about running big car accounts, when you're talking 00:33:06.762 --> 00:33:12.322 about, um, you know, over the course of a month, over the course of a year, 00:33:12.322 --> 00:33:13.782 That is, that is big money. 00:33:13.882 --> 00:33:18.002 That is $60 that somebody would just, it's either they're going to keep it or 00:33:18.002 --> 00:33:21.622 we're going to get it, you know, and all I had to do was pick up the phone and 00:33:21.622 --> 00:33:23.562 it literally took me one minute to do it. 00:33:23.762 --> 00:33:27.142 And so that's another part of it. Right. I mean, that was a huge part. 00:33:27.622 --> 00:33:31.002 Yeah. So I, yeah. So tell me a little bit about that and kind of like what you've 00:33:31.002 --> 00:33:34.802 learned coming through on, on that side of it, on managing, not necessarily 00:33:34.802 --> 00:33:36.762 the price increase, right? 00:33:37.042 --> 00:33:43.062 But on the managing of the actual, you know, estimating and parts purchasing. 00:33:43.762 --> 00:33:48.702 Yeah, purchasing, we are obsessed with that. Like our team, we talk about it 00:33:48.702 --> 00:33:51.122 all day long, VE, VEV, value engineer. 00:33:51.422 --> 00:33:55.262 So we are constantly working on getting those parts prices down. 00:33:55.682 --> 00:34:00.262 And it's crazy, the money you can put to the bottom line just by shopping those 00:34:00.262 --> 00:34:03.342 parts, picking up the phone and say, hey, I need it for this. 00:34:04.582 --> 00:34:10.562 And when you have a team that is, has an incentive based off of gross profit, 00:34:10.762 --> 00:34:13.162 they're very eager to do that for sure. 00:34:14.222 --> 00:34:18.322 Everyone wins when we're saving $60 on a part, $100 on a part. 00:34:18.482 --> 00:34:21.822 And it is just crazy the amount of money that is just sitting there. 00:34:22.362 --> 00:34:25.722 And just like you said, it's either going to be a win for the parts store, 00:34:25.922 --> 00:34:30.042 they're going to keep that 60 bucks, 100 bucks, or it can go to our bottom line. 00:34:30.562 --> 00:34:36.402 And once you train your team to do that, every time, every car, 00:34:36.642 --> 00:34:41.262 every day, it just adds so much money to the bottom line. And it's so fun. 00:34:41.462 --> 00:34:45.502 It's a game for our people to do that. They love like. 00:34:46.287 --> 00:34:51.127 Calling up. Who's calling? Oh, I've got it. No, I'll call. They're just obsessed 00:34:51.127 --> 00:34:52.867 with buying those parts down. 00:34:53.407 --> 00:34:57.947 And it's a huge impact for sure. And then what's this job worth? 00:34:57.967 --> 00:35:04.027 What can I sell this for? If we get a set of control arms and it's estimated 00:35:04.027 --> 00:35:10.487 and it's $1,000 and then the repair pal says, okay, I can sell this $1,500 to $2,000, 00:35:10.967 --> 00:35:16.947 that's a whole other opportunity there where can I charge more? 00:35:17.087 --> 00:35:20.627 Absolutely, I can charge more. I have world-class service, the best warranty 00:35:20.627 --> 00:35:25.207 in town, the best people, the best technicians, loaners, cars, et cetera. 00:35:25.687 --> 00:35:30.527 For sure, there is a huge opportunity there where I can take care of this for 00:35:30.527 --> 00:35:36.347 the customer and deliver world-class service and get paid the fair market or 00:35:36.347 --> 00:35:38.927 just above what the range is. 00:35:39.087 --> 00:35:42.067 And it is super fair for the customer. 00:35:42.207 --> 00:35:46.407 And we feel great about doing that all day long because we can provide more 00:35:46.407 --> 00:35:48.027 than anyone else to that customer. 00:35:52.414 --> 00:35:55.314 Smell no limb hit something so so 00:35:55.314 --> 00:35:58.154 critical because first of all i know i went down 00:35:58.154 --> 00:36:01.034 to lens too man because i i just had to see what in the world they 00:36:01.034 --> 00:36:06.534 had going on man and it's just it's just phenomenal what what they are doing 00:36:06.534 --> 00:36:11.034 down there you you can imagine just the culture that that lynn has built down 00:36:11.034 --> 00:36:15.894 there it's amazing glenn uh lynn knows that soon as i i left out of there I 00:36:15.894 --> 00:36:18.634 was filled up. I said, oh, my God. I mean, there's so many things. 00:36:18.874 --> 00:36:21.634 That's why I say like everybody that that's all in. 00:36:21.894 --> 00:36:24.914 Oh, my God. You can just you could just pull so much from. So let's go back 00:36:24.914 --> 00:36:26.674 real quick about the part shopping. Right. 00:36:27.454 --> 00:36:31.514 Let's I remember Todd said this and this this opened my eyes hugely. 00:36:31.714 --> 00:36:35.574 OK, he said if you save one hundred dollars on on, let's say, 00:36:35.654 --> 00:36:37.354 on parts, you shop, you shop the parts. 00:36:37.534 --> 00:36:40.534 And like Glenn, like you said, don't be quick to click, you know, 00:36:40.594 --> 00:36:43.914 but if you save one hundred dollars on this part, then it's 00:36:43.914 --> 00:36:47.074 the exact same thing as a thousand dollar 00:36:47.074 --> 00:36:49.954 boom it's the exact same thing you know 00:36:49.954 --> 00:36:55.174 so that's what i said oh my gosh okay okay so then it started it started really 00:36:55.174 --> 00:36:58.934 growing in my mind how important it is to make sure that we're getting deals 00:36:58.934 --> 00:37:03.274 on these parts because it's just the exact same thing as getting booms yeah 00:37:03.274 --> 00:37:09.674 so um well well for you it's more like about a 500 boom based on your net percentage. 00:37:10.114 --> 00:37:12.114 But just so everybody understands that. 00:37:12.790 --> 00:37:18.050 Just so everybody understands, or probably less than that, but just so everybody 00:37:18.050 --> 00:37:25.370 understands what we're saying here is if the average shop in America puts 10% to the bottom line, 00:37:25.630 --> 00:37:31.350 and the guys we're talking to, we're talking about 25 to 30 plus percent, 00:37:31.470 --> 00:37:33.590 but the average shop is 10%. 00:37:33.590 --> 00:37:38.910 That means every, you know, it takes a thousand dollars sale to make that hundred dollars. 00:37:39.190 --> 00:37:44.230 And so when you save that hundred dollars, it's essentially the same thing as 00:37:44.230 --> 00:37:48.310 a one thousand dollar sale with no effort, with no extra energy. 00:37:48.510 --> 00:37:53.370 We do an exercise in key to key that says, okay, we're going to go back last week. 00:37:53.490 --> 00:37:56.630 And I want you to re-estimate all these jobs by looking at repair pal, 00:37:56.930 --> 00:37:58.610 go and get the parts price. 00:37:59.370 --> 00:38:04.630 See who has that parts price at a better price. What could you get it for? 00:38:04.770 --> 00:38:05.990 And we do this little exercise. 00:38:06.570 --> 00:38:11.490 And when we come back from the breakout group, people tell us that they have 00:38:11.490 --> 00:38:15.910 like, you know, you know, nausea in their stomach because they're like, 00:38:15.910 --> 00:38:18.630 I can't believe how much money I'm leaving on the table. 00:38:18.970 --> 00:38:24.030 So I tell them, we'll go back for the whole year last year and do nothing different 00:38:24.030 --> 00:38:26.770 except just reestimate all your jobs and stop your parts. 00:38:26.870 --> 00:38:29.510 How much money would you make? And people are like, I can't do that. 00:38:29.690 --> 00:38:34.390 I can't do that. I don't, I can, no, I can't do that because they understand, right? 00:38:34.490 --> 00:38:39.150 If you estimated every job all over again, like today, if you're listening to this call. 00:38:40.238 --> 00:38:43.098 Go into your shop, pull up your repair order from yesterday, 00:38:43.098 --> 00:38:47.778 the day before, and look at the estimates and look at the parts and go on just 00:38:47.778 --> 00:38:52.758 do, even if you just did the parts, not even talking about an increase, just parts alone. 00:38:53.078 --> 00:38:56.758 And you get those part numbers and you start calling around and you start shopping 00:38:56.758 --> 00:39:01.478 those parts and you are going to find out that you left a lot of money on the table. 00:39:01.718 --> 00:39:04.778 Every single person, every single time, doesn't matter. 00:39:04.978 --> 00:39:09.458 We find a ton of money. And so our goal is to make the spread obviously as big 00:39:09.458 --> 00:39:14.358 as possible. I've got to sell it for the best possible price that I can sell it for. 00:39:14.538 --> 00:39:17.958 And then I have to be able to buy the parts, quality parts still. 00:39:18.158 --> 00:39:24.538 We're not talking about using cheap parts, right, in place of quality parts. 00:39:24.538 --> 00:39:27.678 But we can get quality parts and get them at a good price. 00:39:27.858 --> 00:39:31.118 And then we increase that spread. So if it's a $1,000 ticket, 00:39:31.118 --> 00:39:36.618 as an example, and, you know, the average shop out there, not our average shop, 00:39:36.678 --> 00:39:38.518 but the average shop in America is charging $1,000. 00:39:38.518 --> 00:39:43.838 And they're vying all the parts in the labor for probably like $500. 00:39:44.378 --> 00:39:50.078 Like people are running 50% gross profits out there. So it's costing them $500 to do this $1,000 job. 00:39:50.278 --> 00:39:54.938 Well, if they look at it and they say, wow, RepairPal was $1,400. 00:39:55.578 --> 00:40:00.398 I could have sold that for $1,400. And then my $500, I could have bought those 00:40:00.398 --> 00:40:02.678 control arms that were $100 a piece. 00:40:02.818 --> 00:40:06.098 And I could have gotten them for $70 a piece. 00:40:06.158 --> 00:40:11.318 And so now I've just made 60. and I've just made $400. So I've just made $460 00:40:11.318 --> 00:40:17.718 on that exact same job and I did nothing different except just be smart about my business. 00:40:18.534 --> 00:40:24.054 And then all of a sudden, you start having insane net profit numbers, 00:40:24.254 --> 00:40:26.754 you know, like you guys do. 00:40:27.094 --> 00:40:29.994 And you're not, you know, you're just giving great service, but you're charging 00:40:29.994 --> 00:40:33.654 the right price for it. We are allowed to make a profit in this business. 00:40:34.014 --> 00:40:39.154 Now, the parts vendors, straight from a parts vendor, okay, he tells me, 00:40:39.494 --> 00:40:41.874 and I don't know the exact number, but it's something along these lines. 00:40:42.014 --> 00:40:47.954 It's 44% of shops out there pay their bill late. 00:40:48.894 --> 00:40:54.974 That's almost half. They pay their bill late. And then 20, I think 27% or 24% 00:40:54.974 --> 00:40:57.654 don't pay their bill at all, okay? 00:40:58.314 --> 00:41:00.054 Complete write-off, okay? 00:41:01.454 --> 00:41:04.214 So think about that from a parts-fender standpoint, right? 00:41:04.514 --> 00:41:08.514 We pay our bills on time, okay? We want to pay our bills on time. 00:41:08.614 --> 00:41:10.014 I need to get my bills paid on time. 00:41:10.810 --> 00:41:14.610 And that gives me the upper hand with my vendor. And we spend a lot of money 00:41:14.610 --> 00:41:17.350 with them, which means they'll do whatever they want. We are a TIAB. 00:41:17.530 --> 00:41:19.410 This is a buyer. We are a VIP customer. 00:41:19.830 --> 00:41:24.570 Therefore, our vendors want to sell us parts. And so they will work with us 00:41:24.570 --> 00:41:25.530 and they will help us out. 00:41:26.130 --> 00:41:28.910 And so super important to remember that, right? 00:41:29.070 --> 00:41:31.650 If you pay your bills, see a lot of these things that we take for granted, 00:41:32.050 --> 00:41:36.190 paying your bills on time, all those things that we do, amazing training, 00:41:36.390 --> 00:41:38.250 all of that wrapped together, 00:41:38.850 --> 00:41:43.370 separates us from the competition and when 00:41:43.370 --> 00:41:46.090 that happens it allows for you to 00:41:46.090 --> 00:41:50.650 be able to charge the right price and your customers want to pay it because 00:41:50.650 --> 00:41:54.030 they want you to exist and be there and they want you to make money and they 00:41:54.030 --> 00:41:59.310 will continue to take care of the business um wow this one gosh we need like 00:41:59.310 --> 00:42:04.010 one more thing so So cool. 00:42:04.630 --> 00:42:09.210 So Todd started this accounting class years ago, and he used to do it one-to-one 00:42:09.210 --> 00:42:11.130 with us. Then we did it as a class. 00:42:11.510 --> 00:42:15.130 Now the accounting class developed from, you know, where people come in. 00:42:15.270 --> 00:42:17.050 It's accounting and it's fraud prevention. 00:42:17.230 --> 00:42:20.650 That's another league. We still have another podcast for that alone. 00:42:21.770 --> 00:42:27.350 And it starts very basic, and now Matt Kiss teaches here, and it goes to pretty high-level stuff. 00:42:27.950 --> 00:42:31.090 So any level, anywhere you are in between, you're going to learn a lot. 00:42:31.090 --> 00:42:33.410 But it's this exercise that all does. 00:42:34.850 --> 00:42:37.750 And everybody, I want to assume I've seen a P&L, right? 00:42:38.170 --> 00:42:41.690 So on your P&L, you have all these line items. You have your rent, 00:42:41.850 --> 00:42:45.530 your software, your dumpster, your insurance, your payroll, blah, 00:42:45.690 --> 00:42:47.070 blah, blah. There's 100 items. 00:42:47.510 --> 00:42:49.690 Now, next to each line item, there's a percentage. 00:42:50.519 --> 00:42:55.319 So I want you, in your mind, to take this part, visualize of a water pump or 00:42:55.319 --> 00:43:00.199 an alternator or whatever that part is, and I want you to take your profit and 00:43:00.199 --> 00:43:02.519 take the percentage off that profit. 00:43:02.639 --> 00:43:06.979 Take a 1% away, take 2% away, take 5% away for advertising. 00:43:07.179 --> 00:43:12.899 Whatever the line item is, I want you to deduct the percentage that you made off of that part. 00:43:13.279 --> 00:43:16.119 And at the end of the day, at the end of the bottom of the line, 00:43:16.539 --> 00:43:20.119 Todd asked me the first time he did this exercise, like, how much you have left? 00:43:20.119 --> 00:43:23.639 And I said, not enough. That was my answer. 00:43:23.999 --> 00:43:28.099 That was my answer. So that will make you price yourself to where you should be. 00:43:28.499 --> 00:43:32.679 So a lot of times we use our feelings versus using real data of what's happening. 00:43:33.359 --> 00:43:37.459 Yes, you nailed it 100% right there. 00:43:37.619 --> 00:43:40.939 It's like, and that's, there's a perfect example of when the technician says 00:43:40.939 --> 00:43:45.239 you're charging too much or, you know, where's my part of that? 00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:50.359 It's like, if you go through and you do this open book financials with your 00:43:50.359 --> 00:43:55.519 team and they understand what it takes to actually run the business, right? It's like. 00:43:56.398 --> 00:43:59.398 It gives them a completely different perspective because yes, 00:43:59.558 --> 00:44:01.978 when you break it down a $2,000 job, well, 00:44:02.378 --> 00:44:04.998 and, and, and even an advisor, mate, if they don't know this, 00:44:05.118 --> 00:44:07.358 they're going to look at that and they're going to go, wow, we, 00:44:07.478 --> 00:44:10.798 you know, we're making $1,200 profit or we're making $1,400 profit. 00:44:10.898 --> 00:44:12.138 Look at that right there. Okay. 00:44:12.518 --> 00:44:15.038 And then you break it down and you strip all that out of it. 00:44:15.118 --> 00:44:19.018 And it's like, wow, we, okay, we did not make, make nearly as much. 00:44:19.198 --> 00:44:21.198 So I'll say this, I'll end it with this. 00:44:22.338 --> 00:44:24.618 We're going to have a part two of this. We have to, There's just, 00:44:24.758 --> 00:44:26.898 there's just wasn't enough time. This is just too good. 00:44:27.838 --> 00:44:33.858 For sure. So go back with your team and do an exercise. And here's what you do. 00:44:34.078 --> 00:44:38.018 You grab your team and you get them individually and you say, 00:44:38.098 --> 00:44:42.538 all right, if our store does, whatever that number is, whatever your revenue 00:44:42.538 --> 00:44:44.218 number is for your month, okay, 00:44:44.838 --> 00:44:50.018 write down a piece of paper, how much money you think that the company makes, 00:44:50.158 --> 00:44:53.838 how much money does the owner take home? Okay. Do this exercise with your team. 00:44:54.538 --> 00:44:57.758 And here's what's going to happen. You are going to find out that your team, 00:44:58.058 --> 00:45:01.958 see, people are scared to let their team know how much money the business makes. 00:45:02.598 --> 00:45:07.098 But the average person, now this is real data. 00:45:07.678 --> 00:45:13.498 The average person believes that you make six times more than you actually make. 00:45:14.178 --> 00:45:19.158 Okay? So if you're worried about your employee thinking you're making X amount 00:45:19.158 --> 00:45:21.538 of dollars per month or per year, 00:45:21.938 --> 00:45:27.878 just remember, they believe or think in their mind that you make six times what 00:45:27.878 --> 00:45:29.578 you're actually making. Okay? 00:45:29.898 --> 00:45:33.698 So get them to write down a piece of paper. If our store does this much in revenue, 00:45:33.758 --> 00:45:35.278 how much money do we make in profit? 00:45:35.438 --> 00:45:40.438 And what you're going to find out is your team thinks that you are making insane amount of money. 00:45:41.373 --> 00:45:44.633 And you may not even be making any money. So those of you that are listening, 00:45:44.913 --> 00:45:47.713 I'm going to tell you, you really need to teach and educate your team on this. 00:45:48.313 --> 00:45:53.453 I know we're up on time today, guys. Thank you guys so much for being on here. We will do a part two. 00:45:53.633 --> 00:45:57.473 For those of you listening, be ready for that. This is going to be great. 00:45:57.613 --> 00:45:58.753 We'll get deeper into it. 00:45:59.093 --> 00:46:02.493 But thank you guys so much for jumping on this morning. Thank you, guys. 00:46:03.513 --> 00:46:10.893 For more information, reach out to Todd Westerlin at 925-980-8012. 00:46:10.893 --> 00:46:13.733 Or visit AutoshopAnswers.com. 00:46:13.773 --> 00:46:19.033 Get more information about Key2Key to Callbacks, Courtside, VIP Racket Tech 00:46:19.033 --> 00:46:21.953 Day, where you spend a full day in the trenches with our teams. 00:46:21.973 --> 00:46:25.813 We have leadership classes, an AI academy, accounting first, 00:46:26.173 --> 00:46:30.893 fraud and prevention, as well as auto tech training. We are literally your one-stop shop. 00:46:31.193 --> 00:46:37.333 Please don't hesitate. Reach out to Todd Westerland, 925-980-8012.