How good are the people that work for you? How loyal are they? How long do they stay with you? Are they better than you are at their position?
For 25 years, I really struggled with this one. Because my shop was not consistently profitable during that period, I was always looking for ways to hold costs down including the wages I was willing to pay. Even though it seemed necessary at the time, much later I discovered it also caused a very serious self-perpetuating problem. It wasn’t until I woke up one day so sick of the chaos and failure of my employees to follow through that I realized my approach — where I was the most proficient person at every position in the shop — was not working. Right then and there I decided things had to change.
When David Rogers came on board 11 ½ years ago, I was already making strides towards upgrading my personnel. But as you can imagine, it was very difficult to do…the business was losing money most months and I just didn’t have the budget to replace everyone at once with top-notch employees.
As David took over the management duties the business, profitability began to turn. This provided us the opportunity to slowly change our business model. We decided we had to stop being all things to all people. No longer could we attempt to be the big discounter in the market and still try to be the most skilled, the most trusted and the best at customer service. We had to choose which type of customers we wanted to cater to.
The dilemma was that our medium- to low-quality people could not provide the value, the level of competence or the customer service that the upper-level customers expected. I could not afford to hire and pay new, high-quality, top-producing employees unless we continued to improve the quality of our customers and our profitability…almost a catch-22, right?
After much soul searching we made the commitment to hire and train the best people we could find at every position. Over the next couple of years here is what we learned…
- A significant segment of almost every market is willing to pay for a high level of quality, honesty, ethics, and customer service.
- This can only be delivered and sustained through high-quality personnel who are well-trained and well-compensated through incentives to do so.
- Performance standards and expectations must be set during the recruiting, screening and hiring processes.
- A high level of accountability must be sustained through daily measurement, reporting, training, and discipline. Consistent follow-up and follow-through by managers and front-line supervisors must be established.
- Quality control and customer satisfaction systems must be monitored and reported to the team.
- Positive and corrective feed-back — along with regular performance reviews — must be part of the regular management routine.
- Production systems and rules must be thorough, synchronous with all other systems, and simple enough to be understood and sustained by everyone on the team. Once these are in place, then…
- You must train and train and train, and hold everyone accountable for high performance, maintaining the systems and following all the rules all the time!
- Where appropriate (and within the bounds of company policies and boundaries), management and ownership must reach out and support or help an employee or their family in special need or circumstances.
Under these conditions, high-quality people will thrive! They will go well above and beyond the norm to please customers and the boss. They will even help to establish a self-governing attitude among coworkers where rules and systems are followed at levels not possible under any form of command and control style of management. A bond of cooperation and concern will become the culture of your business.
This will produce an environment under which the highest-quality employees will find and make a “home” for themselves! High quality employees and customers will be attracted to this environment, and low quality people will be repelled and replaced. I have seen this process unfold and work in my shop and in dozens of our clients’ shops.
What are the benefits and value to you the business owner, of experiencing such a transformation in your shop? How would you like to have a life again, with low levels of chaos in the shop, happy employees, thrilled customers, high take-home profits, and more freedom to spend your time how you want? How would that affect your family and finances?
Only you can put the actual value of these things into perspective for you and your family. I have successfully remote-managed my shop for almost 8 years now (I’m at the shop maybe a half-hour per month), and I can tell you it’s worth any amount of effort and pain to make this transition! Your ego may suffer a little like mine did at first as you hire people who are smarter and better at their jobs than you are. So what?!
It should be about having what you desire and deserve as a business owner, not about your need to be the go-to guy, the final authority, the micro manager, the only one who knows, the only one who can fix cars…right? With lower-quality people you had to be all those things to survive. I can tell you for sure that it can be different!
It’s your choice! What do you really want?
I really welcome your feedback and questions in the comments section below!
You can 
Terry,
I have followed your shop for years, recently signed on for some coaching. You and David are on track. If I can make 50% progress in what you teach my life and family will thank you….
Your teachings and methods are liberating.
Chip
Chip,
On this Thanksgiving day, 2009, I am most grateful to have good people – fellow shop owners – just like you in my life. Let me express my special gratitude for your kind comments today.
At the age of 59, with 8 grandkids, 4 wonderful married kids with great spouses and the most wonderful wife in the world, why do I spend so much time helping my peers? Why would a man with all this and a very successful, profitable shop which I have remote managed for the last 8 years spend 50-60 hours a week doing this?
Of course it’s a business…it would be impossible to support our clients without great office staff and a set of systems and tools that work. Of course we generate revenue from our efforts. But you see, I could make a lot more money if I had a string of 4 or 5 Keller Bros. Auto Repair shops out there and wouldn’t have to work nearly as hard as I do for my clients.
So why do I do it? The real reason is found in the words you sent me today and in the frequent thoughts and feelings I am honored with from dozens of others just like you. My financial and retirement planning needs are being met from the income of my shop. I certainly enjoy owning that business and taking good care of our employees and customers. However, there’s something very special about making a difference in the lives of my fellow shop owners their families…those who are struggling to scratch out a living just like I did for the first 25 years as a shop owner. My hope is that you and all others seeking a better way will find what you are searching for and if I can be a small part of that, then it’s all worth it.
Thank you so much for making my day! I am looking forward to helping you and your family in every way I can!
Terry
I HAVE A SHOP THAT REQUIRES THE DAYCARE ADVISOR ( ME ) TO BE WIPING UP ALL OVER ,
HOW DO I REPLACE MYSELF A 25 YEAR EXPERIENCED PERSON WHOM CAN SOLVE THE PEOPLE ( CUSTOMER ) DILEMMA THAT THE FRONT DESK HAS AND THE TECHNICAL DILLEMA IN THE BAYS THAT I CAN RECALL THE FIX FROM 20 YEARS AGO AND SHORTENED UP THE SOLVE TIME BY ALOT.
ALOT OF MY PEERS WHOM I APPRENTICED WITH WHO HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE IN ONE AREA OF THE BUSINESS OR ANOTHER HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF THE BUSINESS OR ARE BURNED OUT . OR DONT WANT THE RESPONSIBILTY / THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW DONT CARE AND THE ONES THAT CARE DONT KNOW HOW.
I KNOW THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AS I SEE FRANCHISE STORES WHERE THE OWNER ISNT THERE LET ALL KINDS OF THINGS SLIP THROUGH THEIR HANDS AND I SEE THE GOOD SHOPS IN MY AREA WHERE THE OWNERS ARE THERE RUNNING THINGS.
THE OLD SAYING GOES , THE BEST MANURE FOR THE FARMERS CROP IS THE SHADOW OF THE FARMER.
Rick,
I know exactly how you feel. I was there for at least 20 plus years! When an owner is also the manager, and the service advisor, and the quality control guy, and…….it is difficult to break into the type of leadership approach I taught above.
You have to start with personal buy in and commitment to holding your people accountable at a reasonable level through using simple ways to measure their performance. That’s why many shop owners lose their way, burn out or get out – they simply do not know how to teach their people to consistently measure their own performance and report it to the boss daily. They don’t empower their employees to take responsibility.
We use a simple measurement system we developed call WebTools(TM) that allows each employee to see their level of performance in several areas, analyze it, and report back to their supervisor daily on the things they need to improve and specifically what they are doing to correct their underperformance.
Without this type of system which also provides lots of resources such as training by pod cast, and by subject material in our encyclopedia on shop operations, or by CD/DVD, there is no way the producers in the shop understand what is wrong or how to fix it. If you have employees who respond to this type approach, they are of the quality it takes to grow toward the ideal. If your guys do not embrace this method then you have to question if they are the right people for the job. Or you may have to consider whether their leader is fit to lead. Now don’t get upset with me – I was in this boat and it was not fun until I brought on the right type of people. I would be happy to speak with you more about this sometime if you like.
Good luck to you!
HEY , RICK HERE AGAIN
TERRY , I AM NOT LIKELY FIT TO LEAD IN ONE SENSE THAT I ALWAYS KNOW HOW I COULD DO EACH JOB BETTER OR THE STEPS THAT WERE MISSED .
A QUOTE GOES OUT SATURDAY NIGHT AND THE WRITER NEVER THINKS TO TELL THE CLIENT THAT AND ALTERNATIVE QUOTE FOR A LESSER PRICE COULD BE MADE IF THE HIGH END PART WAS NOT USED. THE JOB WAS LOST AND WE COULDNT RECOVER , THE CUSTOMER THOUGHT THAT THE ONLY WAY WAS THAT WAY. I NOT ONLY WOULD HAVE DONE A MULTIPLE CHOICE QUOTE BUT I ALSO HAD A USED PART IN STOCK AND COULD HAVE MADE ANOTHER OPTION FOR THIS CLIENT . I WOULD HAVE EXPLAINED THE LESSER WARRANTY AND LACK OF BEING ABLE TO SERVICE AFTER THE SALE . THIS MAYBE WOULD HAVE HAD THE CLIENT THINKING THEY HAD CHOICES AND NOT FEEL RAILROADED AND OFTEN THEY WILL CHOOSE THE HIGHER LEVEL TO SAVE AGGRIVATION .
I AM RIGHT NOW WALKING THE BAYS , FINDING CORES SITTING AROUND NOT BEING RETURNED , NEW PARTS ON BENCHES NOT IN A PLACE WHERE SOMEONE COULD ACCOUNT FOR THEM AND RETURN THEM . I COULD BE SUNK WITHOUT KEEPING AN EYE ON THIS .ALSO I HAVE CLIENTS WALKING IN THE DOOR FROM YEARS OF VALUED SERVICE EXPECTING ME, WOULD THEY STAY ? WITHOUT ANYBODY CALLING THEM BY NAME OR HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM .
Rick,
These examples you show of the right way to service advise and operate a shop demostrate you know how to do it yourself…problem is your employees don’t know or don’t care to know.
Who’s fault is that? …their leader – you! Yes, you can keep doing what you have been doing and try to drag them along with you…is that what you want? Will that help you reduce the chaos, avoid burn-out or make more money?
I was in your exact position until 1997. I know pretty much how you feel.
If you can’t train them and hold them accountable for a reasonable level of performance, it’s one of two things: 1-they are not capable, or 2-you are not capable.
You’ve got to find out which one. I would start by getting them on a simple, inexpensive system of training and accountability where daily measurement of performance is reported. This will separate the men from the boys. Then you will know how to proceed.
If you want to know more about what we use and what our clients use to do this, contact us directly at contact@autoprofitmasters.com. We would love to help you!