WEBVTT
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All right, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome once again to Greesta Wheels.
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I'm your Uncle Jimmy, host of Greesta Wheels, your favorite automotive technician podcast.
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I don't know, maybe not your favorite.
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Hey, coming to you from the rock and roll garage.
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Sit down and have a cold brew.
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We're gonna talk about some shit.
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Hey, I want to uh just say my usual thank you to everybody out there who's working hard and getting things done.
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Thank you very much for what you do.
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Greatly appreciated by one, your Uncle Jimmy.
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Now I was sitting around, I gotta be honest with you, sitting around and debating as to whether to do a podcast this week because uh sometimes I just draw a blank.
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I have no idea what to talk about.
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And uh yeah, really, believe it or not, I I don't know what to say.
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I have no idea what to talk about, I have no idea what I want to bring to you.
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And you know, obviously after eight years, uh the well has pretty well been drained dry.
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What I did is uh I backed up 10 yards and I punted and I asked my old friend Google Gemini AI to help me generate some content for today and for this week so that I didn't leave you guys out in the cold.
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What I came up with was I just asked Gemini a bunch of questions of things that I wanted to kind of know, and and then I wanted to share with you the responses and the facts and the figures and some of the things that it told me.
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Uh and I will just start right out at the beginning here because it could what I did is I delved into some pretty interesting stuff and I thought maybe you might enjoy hearing about it, or maybe not enjoy it so much as be uh interested in what it's got to say here.
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Uh, what I what I asked it was the first question I asked it, how many new car dealers are there in the U.S.?
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Okay, now there's a lot.
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There's a real lot, and the NADA, which is the National Automobile Dealers Association, says that there's 16,991, which is a very specific number.
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I gotta be, I I gotta say, I think that's kind of awesome that they know exactly how fucking many there are.
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Let me just be clear about what the NADA is.
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It is a group of people, and each one of these dealers, these uh almost 17,000 dealers, pay into it to uh provide them with lobbying of Congress, you know, the Senate and the House of Representatives to make things go their way.
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Okay, and this is not something new.
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There's a lot of a lot of businesses out there, a lot of corporations out there, a lot of genres of businesses that do the same thing.
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They're not they didn't invent it, um, but they have got it down pretty good here.
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And and what they are good at is having legislation made that helps those particular businesses make money.
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And you know what?
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And then this might fly in the face of convention, and you might think, oh, geez, Uncle Jimmy, what are you bailing on us here?
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It's actually a good thing, okay, because sometimes the government likes to do things that are not good for dealers, and sometimes they like to do things that are not good for us, and hopefully that would be one and the same because we work for dealers, a lot of us work for dealers.
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Uh, many of you out there probably working for independents.
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Uh, you you realize that uh as working for an independent, you're kind of out there on an island by yourself, uh, doing what you can to keep the uh people in your area on the road.
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Uh dealers like to help put cars on the road and then keep those cars going.
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It's a little bit of a different kind of a business uh business model, okay?
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But having uh someone who can sort of tweak the uh legislative process in Washington and and possibly even your state capitals in whatever state you're in is not a bad thing at all, okay, because sometimes they try to come up with stuff that isn't good for you, it isn't good for the dealer, and would cripple our industry.
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Okay, now I can't really think of anything.
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Okay, so the question is what has the NADA done as far as lobbying to help the dealers or the employees?
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And let's see here what uh Gemini has to say about this.
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The National Automobile Dealers Association operates as one of the most powerful trade associations and lobbying forces in Washington, D.C.
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Yeah, kind of knew that.
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Federal and state regulations directly impact how dealers operate.
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Of course, they do finance vehicles, pay technicians, and service cars.
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And it's kind of weird that they would uh include that in there, pay technicians.
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Uh, I think the Gemini knows what I'm up to.
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It keeps track.
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It's like a it's like a an engine computer in your car, it adapts to the to the shit you ask questions about.
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So it knows that that's a a touch point for me, at least, uh, pay technicians and service cars.
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Uh they spend millions annually lobbying Congress.
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Here is uh what I asked it was uh what have they done so far as lobbying help, uh regulatory defense and fighting federal overreach, challenging when the Federal Trade Commission introduced its combating auto retail scams, which imposed heavy disclosure mandates and restrictions on finance and insurance add-ons and new paperwork burdens, the NADA launched aggressive legal and legislative challenges.
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They argued the rule added massive, massive compliance costs without providing real consumer protection.
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Okay, so the government typically, typically, not always, uh, is interested in trying to keep the consumer safe.
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And uh honestly, probably one of their major targets is car dealers.
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Let's just be let's just be straight about it.
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A lot of people feel like car dealers are just out there trying to rip them off.
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And then honestly, you know, as somebody who works at a car dealer, uh I don't feel like that's true, at least not for the car dealer I work for.
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They are very above board, straightforward, and honest with people.
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And uh people still accuse us of stuff that we're just kind of not doing at all.
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Uh, but that doesn't ever stop people from getting the wrong idea or lumping us all into a group.
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You know, you're all a bunch of pirates.
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Yeah, okay, you know, whatever.
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Some of the other things that they they try to protect the franchise model and block uh direct sales.
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I'm not sure that that's a good thing.
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We'll see what happens with uh this slate pickup truck that's coming along here that is probably going to be marketed and sold via Amazon.
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Not sure if they're gonna have trouble with that.
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I know that they didn't like the way Tesla does business, and a lot of states have said yet to Tesla as far as selling them in that particular state.
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But uh, you know, the the one thing about states is, you know, if you're in a state where you can't buy a Tesla at a Tesla center, well, guess what?
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Go to another fucking state.
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They're usually typically not that far away.
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I mean, unless you live in Texas, because Texas is fucking huge, or Alaska.
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Alaska is uh extraordinarily huge, and oh, by the way, doesn't really border any other states.
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So you kind of screwed if you're in if you're in Alaska and you want a Tesla, unless, of course, they're one of the states that says, hey, we don't give a fuck what you sell here.
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Uh lots of states do care and and are are having laws either on the books or trying to get laws that would require vehicle manufacturers to use a franchise dealer type system.
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Okay.
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Now, I don't know how I feel about that.
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Uh obviously, I work for a dealer, and a lot of us work for a dealer, and they do provide for us employment and wages and benefits and that.
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And we can't really discount that.
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We do that's all stuff that we need.
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Uh, and honestly, eight years I've been banging on these people to just pay us a little bit more.
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Uh, they don't really want to.
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And what I found out after asking Gemini some questions here, a lot of dealers operate a very slim margin after they figure out all the costs that they have to incur to keep a service department open.
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It's not cheap.
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There's a lot of employees there, so the payroll is a lot of money.
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There's uh cost of the uh the infrastructure, you know, the uh the building and the and the land and and uh property taxes and other assorted fees and taxes that they have to pay to have certain things in the building, right?
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I mean, uh I'm pretty sure that if you want to have like a even just like a uh a small gas pump at your dealership, you I believe that there's there is a uh a massive uh fee to get that done.
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And then there's also probably, I'm guessing, in some states at least, there's gonna be extra fees just for having fuel on site because it can be can be dangerous.
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Of course, it can be dangerous.
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Legislation befitting dealership employees and technicians.
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Here again, they know that it's a technician they're talking to, uh opposing the Repair Act framework, NADA lobbies against certain federal right to repair bills that they argue could compromise vehicle cybersecurity, telematics, and customer data privacy.
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Um, I'm not sure that I'm not sure the dealerships really care about that that much.
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Okay.
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Typically, dealerships care, in my experience anyway, just about the money.
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The vehicle cybersecurity, the telematics, and the customer data privacy, I'm pretty sure you're not going to find a whole lot of people in a dealership who give a flying fuck about that, really.
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If customers' data is compromised, if it doesn't cause them a problem if they don't get their identity stolen and credit cards and loans and automobiles bought in their name when it isn't them, I'm not sure that they care.
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If it doesn't have anything to do with earning the business money, it's not something they care about that much.
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Okay.
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The right to repair, however, does limit independent repair shops from receiving information necessary to repair cars, typically cars of very late model cars, anything newer than five years old.
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Uh that stuff, they call it proprietary information.
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They they have uh different sorts of uh, yeah, and you guys know this, they have different sorts of uh machinery and equipment that you need to perform certain repairs, and they don't want to share it with anybody who isn't associated with them.
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And then they'll tell you, oh, you know, these are, you know, we have trained technicians in the dealership that know how to use the this equipment, and uh sometimes that is actually true, sometimes not so much, but they don't want the uh independent portion of the auto repair business to get their hands on their stuff because, well, first off, it costs their dealerships money, and they're very, very uh keenly aware that the dealership needs to make money, and they're very keenly aware that the dealership typically spends a lot of money training technicians and keeping them up to date, and then also jamming some of this.
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There's no other way to put it, they're jamming some of this equipment that they need to fix these cars right up straight up their ass and making them pay for it.
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You know, we just got a a fucking machine earlier this week, it might have been last week, it's some crazy ass uh smoke machine, and it was fucking expensive.
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And we had to buy it.
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We had to buy it, and they're going to insist that we use it for diagnosing certain things in the future.
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I'm not sure how important it was.
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I'm not sure.
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I'm sure we'll find out.
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Uh maybe it it's gonna help us.
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Maybe uh sometimes equipment comes in and never gets used.
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Sometimes equipment comes in and guys have better ways of diagnosing stuff than using the factory approved equipment.
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So uh that's one of the things that goes on with the right to repair, is that they have uh diagnostics that you know you're the only one who can do it if you're working at a specific brand dealer franchise.
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Okay.
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Uh other things that they they have championed that trying to get catalytic converter theft legislation put through that uh puts VIN numbers on catalytic converters.
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I haven't seen that yet, uh, but that's that's actually that to me sounds like a good idea.
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Although with a nice angle grinder, you can make a VIN number disappear.
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But also at the same time, if you grind off a VIN number, then it makes it worthless.
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Nobody's gonna want it because if somebody in a junkyard's buying catalytic converters, and then you know the FBI rolls in and says, Where's the VIN that was on this catalytic converter?
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And they go, Yeah, I don't know, Charlie.
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And then you go, Well, you're under arrest, so for buying stolen goods, because there's no way to prove where it came from.
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And in that situation, they're going to assume that they were fucking stolen.
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Okay, because I tried to uh sell some converters I had when I was on vacation back home at and uh I had two sets, and they go, Yeah, you got to have the title for the cars they came off of.
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And I go, uh, okay, never mind.
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You just sound like too much of a hassle.
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But in reality, I I actually have two titles for two cars they came off.
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I have it, I just don't feel like traipsing it all over the fucking county to try to get some money for some converters, although they do pay pretty well, the ones I have.
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I'll probably do that the next time I go home.
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Also, to the NADA regularly lobbies for federal workforce development funding to provide training.
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Uh, and and that's I think that that's gonna work, that works out for us, okay, because some of us have probably taken part in some of the training and some of the grants they have for training.
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I know uh I have not really, I mean, I paid to go to tech school, and then I uh I didn't pay actually to go to my dealer brand training for six months.
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I didn't pay for that.
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My dealer paid for that after I'd worked for them for six months, but I didn't I didn't earn anything more than like 12 cents an hour uh while I was going to school.
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So it was uh dead chuffed broke dick.
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I mean, I really just didn't have two cents to scrape together, and really that's one of the things that makes me so tenacious.
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What's the other word I want to use to describe how I felt when I got out of that?
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I felt I felt like I was owed, really, because I had suffered uh for six months while I did that training, and when I got out of the field and got$15 an hour, I was like, oh, it's better than nothing.
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And and so, you know, I I really had committed, I made a commitment to learn what I needed to know to belong in the building where I was working.
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And then the dealer was uh the deal, the first dealer I worked for was god-awful, and so it didn't feel like it was worth it until I went to a dealer in a neighboring town, a neighboring city, and worked for people who really seemed to appreciate uh the time and the energy spent to know what to do when certain vehicles came in.
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Okay, so training, you know, not having to pay for training afterwards, after all of that, that's so that's that was definitely a very good thing.
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Uh overtime and labor standards.
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That's something else the NADA works closely with the Department of Labor on.
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All right.
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So that answers that question as far as what the NADA does.
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Um, but let me but make make no mistake, folks, they're on the side of the people who pay them, and that's typically your owners or your dealership group.
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A lot of auto groups out there uh probably pay them very large amounts of money, some of the larger ones, you know, like your Auto Nations, your Lithia, your group one, your Penske, your Sonic, your Asbury.
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Uh, these people uh enjoy uh they they pay a great deal of money, and and for the things that they're getting, trust me, it must be worth it or else they wouldn't pay it.
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Okay.
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I wanted to find out also too how many uh auto groups there are, okay.
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And this is uh, and I even asked it, I said, how many auto groups are there?
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Well, there's uh about 8,000, and I was a little surprised by that number because it just sounds like a lot.
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Um, and you if you take 17 or 18,000 uh dealerships and divide them uh divide it by 8,000, you've got some dealership groups that are gonna be really small that maybe have just one or two, one or two dealerships, because there's some out there that have an enormous amount of dealerships.
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I think Auto Nation is the the number one, if something like three or four hundred particular dealerships.
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And you would think, and I would think, at least this is the way I think, excuse me, I don't want to impose upon you what you think.
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Uh, I would think that Auto Nation must have it going on.
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They must know what they're up to.
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And probably if you're in the back of one of their buildings wrenching on whatever it is they sell there, you probably don't feel that way.
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Okay, because when you have a company like that that has, you know, X number of dealerships, be it two, 10, 20, 100, or 200, or even up to 500 or 1,000.
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I mean, I have no idea.
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I didn't ask that question, but it that's not really what I'm looking for here.
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But when you have that many dealerships, you have it pretty well fine-tuned as far as what you need to pay for specific employees in the store.
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You have their wages calculated down to the penny, what you can typically get away with paying and what you can't get away with paying.
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And maybe you have people who are hip and uh know what uh know what's up as far as like uh what to pay in certain locations, because obviously if you have dealerships that are in the north and the northeast for some reason, their wages are stagnant and low.
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And in the south, because there's less people to do the job, or apparently it's it's more, and I'm not I'm not sure whether the supply is high and the demand is low, but it the wages in the south are typically higher, and it's probably a good chunk of both.
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The supply is low and the demand is high, whereas in the north, it's not there's not such a gap between the two, but you you are able to get a better wage in dealers that are located south of the Mason-Dixon line and and towards the uh Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America, whichever you prefer to call it, and closer to the border of Mexico than closer to the border of Canada.
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Okay, you just have a different dynamic going on there, and typically the wages are a little higher.
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Okay, that's what I have found in my experience anyway.
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And with some of these companies, and I know that a lot of these companies I that I just mentioned, Auto Nation and Group One and Sonic, they're pretty big in the south.
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That is a uh that is a place where a lot of people are going to.
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A lot of people want to live there.
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People from the north are moving down there, and so the population is exploding, the need for automobiles is exploding, the need for automobile repairs is exploding.
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Unfortunately for them, the amount of technicians who can properly fix a car is not exploding.
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It is not something that is growing.
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Uh, it is pretty well stagnant.
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Uh, I think every time you add a new guy, you lose a guy.
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It's not a win-win situation.
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It's a it's a win-lose situation where you get a new guy, but then somebody leaves or quits, gets fired, or retires, or dies.
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There's several ways to leave a dealership.
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I just named a few.
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That's all.
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What I went on what I went on to ask next was who makes the decisions at these auto groups, owners, boards of directors, presidents, or others.
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Uh yeah, a lot of them, a lot of them are publicly owned.
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And so you're gonna have a board of directors, which uh is people who are in businesses that are similar to yours and possibly the same business, and have been asked to sit on this board of directors, and then they they direct how the business is run, and they often manifest their decisions through a CEO.
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And and sometimes they will listen to a CEO and do what he feels like they should do, and sometimes they don't do what the CEO wants them to do, or they don't insist that they do what, and they'll just fire them.
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They'll just they'll just they'll just say, ah, you're gonna you need to step down.
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You're not you're not providing us with the leadership that we need.
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And and really, in a lot of cases, uh board of directors may be the reason for some of the the fucking heinous shit that goes on in the dealership and goes on with a dealership group because you have a lot of middle management there, and they're really just they're directed by the CEO, and the CEO is directed by wait for it, the board of directors.
00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:57.119
So you have people who know business things but perhaps don't know your business trying to tell you how to run your business, and then I don't feel like that's a real a real good idea, at least not all the time.
00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:05.039
Uh the the particular uh auto group that I work for is run by one guy, one guy, and he's got his shit together pretty good.
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:14.960
And he is he is an entity that we look up to and we like and we uh and we want to do good things for him, and he wants the good things to happen to us.
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:23.680
And so he runs his short in a much different manner than perhaps someone with a board of directors, somebody who's publicly traded.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.839
He's in charge, he's large and in charge, and uh I am fine with that.
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.359
Where I work has been working fairly well.
00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:38.160
Uh, obviously, there's gonna be some things that I I don't like and that some of the other techs and some of the other people that work in the building don't like.
00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:39.200
It's always gonna happen.
00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:40.400
That's always gonna happen.
00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:44.559
You can all you can't really eliminate the chaos.
00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:46.240
You can only hope to manage it.
00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:51.039
And on some days you can't, and on other days it's not too hard to manage it.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.440
So uh, and that's what goes on in in our businesses all day, every day, pretty much.
00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:55.680
Okay.
00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:04.240
What I want to what it said here was large and mid-sized private auto groups, owners, founders, equity partners hold ultimate financial authority.
00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:32.960
Of course they do, and then you they'll have a president or a CEO also in that runs day-to-day operations across the group, and then they have executive general managers and operation VPs and other people who uh are supposed to manage large groups of people, manage maybe several dealerships all at once, or manage one part of a dealership, such as a fixed ops director or or a sales manager, a general sales manager, or overall sales manager.
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:40.480
And what I have found in my experience, and my experience is not limited to the 23 years that I've been a professional technician.
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:48.400
It is a broader base than that, because I I did uh work in parts departments and dealerships for a number of years before that.
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:59.759
Okay, so I've seen I've seen a lot of different dealerships, only five different dealerships types that I've worked for, five different uh actually, it's gonna be uh yeah, five different.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.400
Types of uh dealership owners and operators, okay?
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:05.920
Uh mostly private.
00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:09.920
I have never really worked for an auto group that was a uh publicly traded.
00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:25.759
And I would think that that is uh that you if you work for a company like that that is managed to the nth degree as a public entity, that you probably get strangled out of wages uh and and wage increases are probably uh metered out.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.559
Well, let's just say uh fiscally uh frugal manner, okay?
00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:48.880
Uh but when you work for a family-owned or at least a privately owned, uh you have people who can make decisions without having to check with a thousand people and without having other people tell them one thing or the other and and having the power to say that that they would ixnay a deal such as that.
00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.039
Um it's just it's just a different setup.
00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:57.200
You work for people who are private owners, they can certainly see what you do if they're on site.
00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:02.960
And even if they're not on site, sometimes they become aware of what you do and how you do it and how well you do it.
00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:56.400
And so your wages in in those particular uh setups, if you're really any any, you know, if you work at I may have a little trouble here, but uh whatever, whatever your employment status is at that particular dealership, whether you're a salesperson or a service advisor or some sort of a manager or you work in parts or as a technician or as a lot guy, uh typically a smaller group or a family-owned group or a just a small auto group would know possibly is familiar with you and how valuable you are to the dealership and and would, at least hopefully, in my opinion, anyway, uh pay you a little bit more, a little bit more lucratively, I mean a little bit more aggressively to make sure that you know if you're doing good things and and you're doing the right things and you're a very good employee, that they would want to keep you and that they would know that they should keep you.
00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:59.359
That's a problem when you work for an automotive group.
00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:03.200
You're just you're just a number, as Bob Seeger used to say, you're just a number.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:12.559
One of the other things I wanted to check out here was what is the uh, and I kind of want to take this in a little different direction here, but what is their greatest money-making part of the business?
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:19.119
And it wasn't really uh it took a little bit for this to come up here as a contrary to popular belief.
00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:24.480
Selling new vehicles is actually the least profitable primary department for your auto group.
00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:25.279
Absolutely.
00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:30.160
Uh it did, it did kind of steer away from used cars, though.
00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.680
Uh, I I've always felt that used car department is really the bread and butter of the dealership.
00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:36.960
This is what Gemini said.
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:50.880
Dealership profitability relies on two core profit centers, fixed operations, which is you and me, the fucking wrench throwing bastards out back, the greasy monkeys that fucking fix them, and finance and insurance.
00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:57.359
Okay, now finance and insurance is something that I want to say, from my experience, is fairly new.
00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:57.839
Okay.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:17.279
Selling the money and selling the warranties and the insurance for the money and uh the vehicle has become extremely profitable because there's a lot of companies out there scratching it to ground trying to get this kind of business for their bank or for their investment purposes.
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:25.759
And so they have made it lucrative for dealerships to use their particular finance and insurance products, okay?
00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:27.759
And it and it's become big business.
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:31.279
Now, I remember a day when it wasn't, it wasn't a big deal.
00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:40.160
You know, you went into the local dealer, you wanted to buy a Chevy, you wanted to buy a Ford, and they called up the bank in town and said, Hey, does this guy have any money in the in the bank?
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.400
You see, yeah, you know, he's got a couple grand in the bank.
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:51.519
Like, okay, he can cover about, you know, in the in the day, he probably could have covered, you know, you know, a whole year's worth of uh payments based on what he had in the bank.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:56.480
And also, too, by the way, those uh those loans uh were paid off in two years.
00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.440
That was common.
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.640
It was very common to have a two-year loan to pay for a car.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:04.559
It just goes to show you what's happened to our economy, and it's not a real good thing.
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:09.119
I mean, I've seen 84 months, and I don't, you know, I'm not that great at math.
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:10.240
84, what is that?
00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.119
Uh let me see.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:16.240
60 is five years, so 72 is six years, 84 is gonna be seven years.
00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:28.559
You get an 84-month loan for a car, especially in like the north and the northeast, it's a good chance that that thing's gonna rot to shit before you're done paying for it.
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.000
It's just not a good deal.
00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:31.279
Just not a good deal.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:38.640
And this is why you are gonna see, and then uh, and this this is kind of off topic a little bit here, but let me just go down this path real quick.
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.240
This is why you're gonna see the average age of automobiles go up.
00:26:42.880 --> 00:27:00.720
You're also gonna see that it's gonna become very lucrative to become an uh independent repair shop because these people, you know, somebody goes out and buys a car, it's say it's seven years old, maybe they spent 10, 20 grand on it, it's got 70, 80, 90,000 miles on it.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.279
They get it, it's in good shape, tires are good, brakes are good, and they just drive it.
00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:06.079
That's all they do.
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:11.839
They drive it maybe two, maybe a hundred, two hundred miles a week, and it just keeps going.
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:18.559
And when it breaks, there there's no warranty, unless they bought an aftermarket warranty, and even then, they could just do whatever they want with that.
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:20.720
But then they're they're gonna want to get it fixed.
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.359
And are they gonna want to go to a dealer to get that fixed?
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:24.000
Probably not.
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:31.759
And this is what's gonna happen when they get when a lot of people, and I think a lot, a lot, a lot of people are gonna get priced right out of the new car market.
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:38.799
And and honestly, people will tell you, and and I think one of the major people who will tell you this is a gentleman by the name of Warren Buffett.
00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:48.799
This is a guy who is frugal, and it's it's completely and entirely unnecessary for this guy to be this fucking frugal.
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.480
He's worth somewhere in the neighborhood of$50 billion.
00:27:53.039 --> 00:28:04.400
He is the the oracle of Omaha, he's an investment guy, uh, and he has done super, super well for himself, bought like the entire fucking railroad system in the US.
00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.480
Um, just he's out there.
00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:10.160
And one of the things he does, and it this kind of murders me, really.
00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:23.440
I mean, because I I don't I don't I don't get it, but he says he has never ever bought a new new car, and he never will, because he says that they depreciate too much.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:35.599
Like, well, you know, honestly, if you have 50 billion fucking dollars, I think that depreciation on an automobile is like it's I can't even think of an analogy for it, but it doesn't really make a lot of sense.
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:40.079
It's like, why would you deprive yourself of the joy of buying something brand new?
00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:43.039
And there's a there's a joy that goes to it, boy, boys and girls.
00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:47.519
If you've never felt it, you should maybe save some money up and try to find a way to enjoy it.
00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:50.880
Obviously, if you have to pay 84 months for it, it might not be worth it for you.
00:28:50.960 --> 00:29:02.160
But I mean, here's a guy who's 50 billion dollars, and he never buys new cars, he buys used, and this is really and he just says basically because they depreciate so quickly.
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:05.119
And he's not wrong, they do depreciate.
00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:11.759
But if you buy something new and you just keep it, who gives a fuck how much it depreciates?
00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:22.160
It you you're gonna use it, and eventually you're gonna come to a point where if it runs and goes, it's gonna be worth exactly what you owe on it, which is nothing.
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:23.759
You know what I mean?
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:34.000
Uh, but as far as uh what dealerships provide, financing and insurance, I just yeah, they make a lot of money on it, but I just I see this as something that is gonna taper off.
00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:38.160
It's gonna taper off because uh we just got some new cars in today.
00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:41.920
They were each uh in the neighborhood of$90,000.
00:29:42.400 --> 00:30:03.039
I don't I don't care if you're Warren Buffett and you have$50 million, if you're gonna buy one and you put down maybe you know the bare minimum of uh down payment and your trade-in's not worth jack shit, which pay trade-ins are never worth anything anyway, uh, according to most car dealers, uh, you're gonna you're you're gonna have to make payments for you know 72, 84 months.
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:04.559
It's kind of ridiculous.
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.720
And this is why I think a lot of people, they are going to be uh driving older cars for a long time.
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:13.119
It's not gonna, it's not something that's gonna go away.
00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:20.400
Yeah, so folks, in the future you are gonna see the average age of the automobile go up steadily.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:22.880
Uh, and that is that is a boon.
00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:31.680
That is good a good thing for any of you working out there in the uh aftermarket in the independent uh independent repair shops.
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:33.519
I think it's gonna be good for you.
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:35.839
Uh, I'm not sure who's coming up with these figures.
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.839
It rises by uh 0.2, 0.1.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:43.039
It's been 12 12 years for a long time.
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:45.599
I'm blowing that away myself personally.
00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:54.000
I have four cars on the road, uh 1968, a 2001, a 2002, and a 2012.
00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.480
So I am fucking killing that average.
00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:57.440
I am killing it.
00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:03.519
And I don't really see myself, I mean, I talk about it on a regular basis, just a Eric, the producer.
00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:18.640
I'd like to get something new, but man, I just cannot stand the idea of spending all that money, like Warren Buffett says, and watching it just fucking disappear in the value of a vehicle, especially, you know, the vehicle I want to buy is a GM truck.
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:26.319
I mean, it's like, you know, you could spend 50K to buy a really nice GM truck, and then two weeks later you might want to trade it in and it'll give you 30 grand for it.
00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:27.039
It's like, what?
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:28.400
What the fuck happened?
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:31.839
You know, so uh I'm probably gonna continue to drive old stuff.
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:32.400
You know why?
00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.559
Because I'm a mechanic and I can keep fixing it.
00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.799
I mean, the 68's on the road, I could drive it to work if I had to.
00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:50.960
I mean, I don't have it here in Texas where I'm at, but uh if I had it, I did drive it to work for about three weeks while I let somebody in my truck, you know, I don't have any fear of cars breaking down, and I don't, you know, I can fix them.
00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:57.039
And then that's the one thing, and I wanted to just take a second to to point that out to a lot of you technicians out there.
00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:04.319
Being a technician and being capable and handy and able to repair your own vehicle is a treat.
00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:07.680
Okay, it's a good thing, it is a very valuable thing.
00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:16.079
You should be really proud of yourself, okay, because a lot of people can't, and you see them every day.
00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:22.400
And uh, maybe if you're in the back with the tools and in the wrench, in the trenches with the wrenches, I love that one.
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:32.640
Um, but if you're if you're in the shop and you're not dealing with people bringing their broken shit into you, into your shop or your dealership, what you find is that they are they feel helpless.
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:36.400
They feel helpless and it and it makes them vulnerable.
00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:37.599
And they hate that.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:41.759
And I know that I would hate that, but I'm not vulnerable when it comes to automobiles.
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:43.359
I'm not vulnerable at all.
00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:46.240
If I if something I have doesn't run, I'll fucking fix it.
00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:48.640
If something breaks down, I'll I'll put it back together.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.880
I'll, you know, if something's not working right, I'll fix it.
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:52.079
And you guys are the same way.
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:56.960
But we take that skill, that ability, we take it for granted.
00:32:57.359 --> 00:33:02.160
It's seriously valuable, it has a serious value to it.
00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:13.680
And because our our shops and our dealerships don't pay us as much as we feel like we're worth, we kind of fall into this pattern where we feel like we're not worth it, it's not worth doing.
00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:19.359
It's not worth doing that job, it's not worth having that skill, but it is, it is very valuable.
00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:30.559
And and here we go with the the mantra of Grease to Wheels is folks, there's there's a crushing and crippling shortage of technicians out there.
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:37.519
Now, you may work somewhere like I do where they don't have a shortage, okay, for whatever reason.
00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:39.359
And then there's lots of reasons, you know.
00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:53.599
Maybe, maybe uh they they treat you fairly well or they pay you fairly well, or you know, maybe one or both, or you know, maybe maybe where you work is very convenient and where you work is nice and it's clean, that's definitely describes our shop.
00:33:53.759 --> 00:34:00.559
And most of the people that I work with are very cool and and do a really good job and really have everybody's best interest at heart.
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:08.880
But if you don't, if you work somewhere that's terrible and they treat you like shit, they don't pay you very well, you could certainly grease the fucking wheels.
00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:14.800
I mean, there is a shortage in a lot of places, there is better jobs out there.
00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:33.920
Here's what it says about dealership profitability when referring to the fixed ops center, because that's really it says here uh in terms of pure reliable, this is AI talking, in terms of pure reliable gross profit dollars, fixed ops is the ultimate engine of the dealerships.
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:35.440
Very interesting way to put that.
00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:40.480
Fixed ops typically uh accounts for wait a minute, here you go.
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:56.480
Fixed ops typically accounts for only 10% to 15% of a dealership's total top line revenue, but generates about 45% to 50% of the entire entire dealership's gross profit.
00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:10.480
Now, here's what it says while selling a new vehicle might yield a three to six percent gross margin, labor and service gross margins routinely average sixty to seventy-five percent.
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:20.639
Now, what they find is that after they pay the bills, which and then they even said it here too, yeah, because I asked I asked AI about this.
00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.960
It says service gross margins routinely average 60 to 75 percent.
00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:27.440
Is that almost strictly labor?
00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:42.000
And Gemini wrote back, yes, that high gross margin is driven primarily by customer pay labor sales through parts added to those repair orders pay a big supporting role as well.
00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:59.039
The main driver behind that 60% to 75% labor margin is the spread between what the dealership charges the customer per hour, in parentheses, it says the retail door rate, and what they pay the technician, the effective flat rate or hourly wage.
00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:06.000
They're making a lot of money on our backs, but okay, there's always everyone has a big butt, Smoone.
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:11.760
Uh what we don't know or what we're not calculating, and we we're not gonna do this, you know.
00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:13.599
We don't go, well, it's fair.
00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:20.000
It is fair, actually, because they have to pay a lot of money for everything.
00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:34.239
They have to pay the advisors, they have to pay the management, they have to pay the parts guys, they have to pay the service porters if you have any, they have to pay the car wash people if you have any, and then also pay us.
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.440
They also have to pay the rent on the building.
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.880
They have to they have to they have all these things they have to pay for.
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:47.119
And by the time it's done, they will end up with 10 to 15 percent as a bottom line profit.
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.760
Okay, that's that's a net profit.
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:51.679
Gross profit is not net.
00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:56.800
That's uh net is when you calculate out everything you have to buy.
00:36:56.960 --> 00:37:08.960
You know, you have to, and and right about now, it seems like they're spending a lot of money on oil because there's a shortage of it, and we're also clamoring loudly at times for an increase in wages.
00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:15.599
Now, and this is this is honestly one of the things that we don't really calculate uh in our heads.
00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:42.320
I mean, when when I tell you that you need to figure out how much of your door labor rate you are actually making, you're not really taking into account all the other things they have to spend money on to keep the shop running, tools and electricity, and water, and heat, and air conditioning, and lifts, and repairs on lifts, and repairs on equipment, and and uh you know support support staff.
00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:46.320
And by the time that's all done, that profit is eaten away pretty good.
00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:58.559
But it's so it the gross is so high that typically they will calculate all of the building's expenses, all of it, against the fixed department.
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:02.480
They do that because they just think that fixed, and and they're right.
00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:07.199
They they believe they work on the impression that fixed is gonna pay for everything.
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:12.880
And if your shop is run fairly well, then that's a definite yes, that's what happens, okay?
00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:20.000
But the problem is that sometimes our wages get the shit kicked out of them because the shop maybe isn't doing as well as it needs to.
00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:29.599
Uh, the next question that I asked Gemini here, and I you want to get away from talking about the uh pathetic uh wages that we that we have and why.
00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:38.639
I don't, you know, I don't actually feel like I need to stick up for dealers and and uh you know kind of verify that this is the reason why they don't pay you enough.
00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:40.559
Like they could stand to pay you more.
00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:51.760
But one of the things I wanted to try to find out from Gemini was what would be the best way for us to maximize sales of service and maintenance?
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:59.199
And this was the question: would it be a good idea to attempt to maximize sales of service and maintenance by having good service advisors?
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:05.280
And it says maximizing service and maintenance, sales through strong service advisors isn't just a good idea.
00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:12.000
It is widely considered the single highest leverage growth strategy for dealerships long-term profitability.
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:20.079
Okay, so what he's what they're saying here, what Gemini is saying, is that yes, this is the number one thing that you can do.
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:22.480
A studio audience was surveyed.
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:31.119
A hundred dealers were asked what's the single highest leverage growth strategy for a dealership's long-term profitability and its service advisor.
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:37.280
Because fixed ops drives 45 to 50 percent of a store's total gross profit.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:42.559
Service Advisor acts as the ultimate gatekeeper for dealership cash flow.
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:50.079
A skilled advisor doesn't just sell hours, they drive customer retention and fuel the rest of the business.
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:51.679
I agree with that completely.
00:39:51.840 --> 00:40:00.159
Here is why investing in top-tier advisors pays off so heavily, along with the key strategies to execute it successfully.
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:00.639
Okay.
00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:04.000
Now, I'm not gonna sit here and bash on them.
00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:05.119
We're gonna go the other direction.
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:07.440
We're gonna say, what can we do to make them better?
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:25.599
Here it is the multiplier effect of a great advisor, labor hours per RO, an elite advisor who builds trust, performs consistent walk-arounds, and presents factory maintenance menus, routinely averages 2.2 to 2.8 plus hours per RO.
00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:30.000
Uh, it says here that an average advisor might write 1.3 to 1.5.
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:38.880
So obviously that's it's bulking you up an hour plus on each RO, which is good for you and it's good for the shop.
00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:39.360
Okay.
00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:42.079
Customer retention is also another point here.
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:51.679
Over 70% of vehicle owners defect from dealership service departments to independent repair shops once their warranty expires.
00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:54.559
I understand exactly why that would work that way.
00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:58.800
Great advisors, and I can't believe they use those two words in the sentence together.
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:08.320
Great advisors build relationships and clear communication channels, stopping that churn and keeping high margin customer pay work in-house.
00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:13.360
Yes, when you provide the best service possible, who's gonna run away from that?
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:15.039
Who's gonna leave that behind?
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:25.679
Especially with some of the work I've seen lately that comes into our shop where they got the diagnosis from us, the professionals at the dealership, and went somewhere else and got something done.
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:29.119
And now they're back because that work did not get done properly.
00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:30.239
It happens.
00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:31.519
I mean, we're not perfect.
00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:51.519
There's no way I'm gonna sit here and try to tell you that we are perfect as a dealership, as a dealership technician's myself as a technician, we're not perfect, but we do have much better track record than Billy Bob Joe Jed's BMW service or Audi service or Mercedes-Benz service down the street.
00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:53.440
We just have a better track record.
00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:57.119
We have more experience, we also have the factory backing.
00:41:57.360 --> 00:41:58.880
Sometimes it's very important.
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:02.639
Uh, it says here service advisors drive future car sales.
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:04.400
Yes, they absolutely do.
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:18.559
When a customer trusts their advisor during a major service recommendation, that advisor is positioned to introduce them to sales or trade-in opportunities if repair costs outweigh the vehicle value.
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:34.559
So, what they're saying here is that probably, and I'm not gonna catch some shit about this one, but probably the most important person in your dealership is your service advisor because they take a relationship that perhaps sales started and they maintain it.
00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:47.440
They maintain it, they keep them coming back by offering them, you know, by by servicing them with respect and and and appreciation and with confidence and skill and and they earn trust along with us.
00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:49.760
We're we're helping with that now.
00:42:50.079 --> 00:43:01.920
Okay, before we were just a bunch of gorillas in the back with tools and and probably, you know, we couldn't even barely speak English and we couldn't walk around the shop without dragging our knuckles on the ground.
00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:14.559
And now, through the uh advent of the uh video, the walk around video or the DV, the video MPI or whatever you want to call it, now because of that, we are suddenly a part of that equation.
00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:22.320
And depending on how well we do our job, it just multiplies and magnifies what a good service advisor does.
00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:38.400
And that relationship is not going to end when that vehicle suddenly, I don't know, something happens to it, or it becomes uh not cost effective to repair it, or just just too difficult to have it keep going, or perhaps they they sell it to somebody or they give it to somebody.
00:43:38.559 --> 00:43:59.280
I mean, a lot of uh a lot of our customers have a tendency to give their cars to their children to go to college or to just have to go to work or whatever, and then they buy a new one from us, or at least I'd like to think they would, if we have done our job properly in servicing their vehicle, because it the old adage is true, it's never been truer than it is now.
00:43:59.440 --> 00:43:59.679
Sale.
00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:05.039
Sells the first car, the service department sells the next one and the ones after that.
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:11.280
And so it's very important for us to develop and then maintain a relationship with the customers.
00:44:11.840 --> 00:44:14.159
Here's what makes a good service advisor.
00:44:14.239 --> 00:44:18.400
Gemini says you need to have transparent communication and educational selling.
00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:19.280
Absolutely.
00:44:19.519 --> 00:44:21.440
You have to have process discipline.
00:44:21.599 --> 00:44:21.920
Okay.
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:26.400
And what it says right after this, I and I want to say uh I've never seen this.
00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:38.480
Consistently walking around every vehicle at intake and then reviewing the vehicle history, checking mileage-based factory maintenance intervals, and presenting logical options.
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:44.000
Folks, I you know, I uh I said I wasn't gonna bash on on service advisors, but and I meant it.
00:44:44.079 --> 00:44:47.840
I don't want to do that, but I have not really seen anybody who does any of those things.
00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:54.000
I mean, sure, they'll review a vehicle history, and a lot of times they'll do that because the customer's complaining about something they said they complained about before.
00:44:54.079 --> 00:45:00.719
And checking the mileage-based maintenance, uh, they have a tendency to ignore them, at least in my experience.
00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:04.559
And presenting logical options, I don't really see that going on either.
00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:09.920
Now, maybe I'm just not there when they do it, but I'm there on a semi-regular basis.
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:24.079
And I, you know, I thought about it the other day and I was talking to one of the uh one of the sorry, I was talking to one of the other technicians, and I said I asked him out loud, I just said, Have you ever heard a service advisor selling anything to a customer?
00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:29.599
And he said, No, I have I've never I've never heard that, I've never witnessed that, I've never experienced that.
00:45:29.679 --> 00:45:36.400
Um, I did actually experience it not too long ago, but only because it was late in the day and I wanted to make sure the part got ordered.
00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:50.880
And I asked the advisor to call the customer and they did they did, and we got uh hooked up with a sale and the parts are on their way, and hopefully it doesn't sit too long on my on my lift because it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
00:45:51.039 --> 00:45:53.760
I wanted to move forward here with this particular line of question.
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:56.000
What is the best way to hire service advisors?
00:45:56.159 --> 00:46:00.000
Should you start from scratch and and train them or hire experienced advisors?
00:46:00.079 --> 00:46:08.960
And it says here there is no single right answer, as the best strategy depends on your dealership's existing culture, processes, and leadership capacity.
00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:11.199
So, what that what he's trying to say here, Mr.
00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:16.880
Gemini, is that you have to look at what you have going on and try to find pieces of the puzzle that will fit.
00:46:17.039 --> 00:46:49.679
Okay, now if you're not doing the job as service manager or a general manager or an owner, if you're not if you're not actively involved in what goes on in the service department, if you're not actively involved in how a service advisor does their job, if you if your culture is that you just trust them to do the job and you trust them to perform the simple things that make up the process and you don't really provide any leadership for them, then you are gonna get the lowest common denominator who follows the path of least resistance.
00:46:49.760 --> 00:46:51.840
And that's true really with any employee.
00:46:51.920 --> 00:46:57.360
If you give an employee two jobs and they're not good at one of them, they're just not gonna do that job anymore at all.
00:46:57.519 --> 00:46:58.079
Forget about it.
00:46:58.239 --> 00:47:03.360
And with being a service advisor, I just want to say it's an extremely important job.
00:47:03.519 --> 00:47:06.480
And it's also a very labor-intensive job.
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:11.199
And I haven't seen a lot of people who really put in 100% effort to do it.
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:15.119
That's the least uh scathing thing I can say about it.
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:26.079
In the automotive industry, the choice between hiring experienced advisors versus training from scratch is a classic trade-off between speed and culture and process control.
00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:34.719
A breakdown of both approaches, along with a hybrid strategy, many top-performing dealers' groups use illustrates how to approach the decision.
00:47:34.960 --> 00:47:38.719
Strategy one Greenpeace slash hire and train from scratch.
00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:48.960
This approach involves recruiting candidates with zero automotive experience but strong customer facing skills, sales or hospitality or hospitality training.
00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:49.920
Read i.e.
00:47:50.320 --> 00:47:56.960
former restaurant servers, retail managers, phone sales reps, or bank tellers, and teaching them the service drive.
00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:04.239
Um, all three of those jobs listed there, restaurant servers, retail managers, phone sales reps, or bank tellers.
00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:05.280
That's four jobs.
00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:10.960
Uh, those those are jobs that are those are better jobs than being a service advisor.
00:48:11.119 --> 00:48:13.920
So I'm not sure you would want to go from those jobs.
00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:16.960
Maybe the phone sales rep, that job might suck, dick.
00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:21.840
But uh the other jobs could possibly be better than being a service advisor.
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:26.320
And teaching them the service drive, that is not an easy task.
00:48:26.480 --> 00:48:33.039
People are going to expect you to know how an engine works, they're gonna expect you to know certain things about a car.
00:48:33.199 --> 00:48:35.440
Not everybody, obviously.
00:48:35.679 --> 00:48:49.039
Some people are not gonna know anything uh about automobiles, and then there's gonna be other people who are gonna try to baffle you with bullshit and make you think that they know about cars when in reality, yeah, yeah, not so much.
00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:55.440
The pros of having a uh service advisor come in with no experience is that they do not have any bad habits.
00:48:55.599 --> 00:49:06.960
And I gotta tell you, that is a big one for me, okay, because a lot of our experienced service advisors in the past have come with uh, and I called it faulty faulty software.
00:49:07.119 --> 00:49:15.679
They already come with uh ideas about how they're gonna do their job, and and oh, by the way, ideas about how they're not gonna do their job, which is a big deal.
00:49:15.840 --> 00:49:26.320
They have no pre-existing shortcuts, bad desk habits, or clinical attitudes towards processes like video MPIs, active walk-arounds, or menu presentations.
00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:38.239
I think that if I saw uh if I saw a uh service advisor do an active walk around where they really looked at the car and checked the mileage and checked to see if it had any lights on in the dash, I would probably fucking fall over dead.
00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:41.840
Uh, here's another one that is a pro, hire process compliance.
00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:52.320
They follow your dealership specific DMS with CRM, which is all your customer management software and sales processes, because it is the only way they know.
00:49:52.480 --> 00:50:06.159
And this is why I feel like hiring somebody and training them from scratch, although it's an arduous process and it's going to be difficult to find anybody who will stick with it, to be quite honest with you.
00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:13.119
I think it's still the best way to go because you can train them in your particular, in your particular vernacular.
00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:15.760
You can train them to do it the way you want them to do it.
00:50:15.920 --> 00:50:22.320
You can train them to have the standards and the protocols that you have put in place.
00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:31.280
They will not have these preconsisting ideas about, oh, you know, I don't have to do that, or or I'm not gonna do this, or this is how you fuck the system.
00:50:31.440 --> 00:50:33.840
You know, that that that was a that's actually a big one.
00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:39.119
They're not gonna know how to do that until an experienced guy comes along and tells them.
00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:40.079
But they're not gonna do it.
00:50:40.159 --> 00:50:48.880
And you're gonna just tell them right from the beginning, hey, if you if you don't talk to a customer about the recommendations that we have made for their car, we can't use you.
00:50:49.039 --> 00:50:52.000
You have to talk to them, you have to say something to them.
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:58.639
You have to get into a personal, verbal, one-on-one with every customer that you talk to.
00:50:58.719 --> 00:51:03.360
And before they leave the dealership, they should know what the condition of their vehicle is.
00:51:03.519 --> 00:51:20.480
And I can tell you right now that there's a hell of a lot of service advisors out there all across the country and even the world who are just actively trying to get this customer the fuck out of their face and will say nothing to them about what's going on with their vehicle because they do not want to have a conversation with them.
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:24.639
They do not want to talk to them any more than they already have, and so they're not going to.
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:27.280
They will just hand them their keys and say, have a good one.
00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:28.159
See you later.
00:51:28.400 --> 00:51:30.320
It happens, and it happens a lot.
00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:49.760
And so, really, what has to happen, and this is just my opinion, of course, is that you have to train your uh up-and-coming service advisors to always have a personal one-on-one with the customer before he leaves about what might be on an estimate, what might they have found on an MPI.
00:51:49.920 --> 00:51:56.079
Even if you're not going to be able to sell anything, even if they they're in a hurry, just say, hey, listen, here's the estimate.
00:51:56.159 --> 00:52:07.360
There's some things on here you might want to consider getting done the next time you come in, or if they're urgent, you might want to make an appointment for next week or even tomorrow when you have more time so that we can get these things taken care of.
00:52:07.440 --> 00:52:20.239
So if they don't cause you a safety issue or a problem where you might get into an accident or have some kind of a uh of a failure that is going to cause you bigger problems and possibly even hurt you or kill you.
00:52:20.400 --> 00:52:21.039
All right.
00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:23.119
I mean, it's important.
00:52:23.360 --> 00:52:35.440
And it I can tell you right now, in my experience, an awful lot of service advisors will forego any sort of of personal interactions with a customer because they just don't want to do it.
00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:37.519
There's nothing else I can even say about that.
00:52:37.679 --> 00:52:43.599
Uh, the culture fit here, it says that uh they build their professional identity around your store's values.
00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:46.159
I think that that is extremely important.
00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:55.199
That is what I've been talking about here when you know you go to work at Joe, Joe, Joe Blow Chevrolet, you learn how to do things the Joe Blow Chevrolet way.
00:52:55.360 --> 00:52:57.519
The store's values are very important.
00:52:57.679 --> 00:53:08.719
They're important to the people who own that store or run that store and the people who are going to come into that particular store, into that particular service department, into that particular sales department.
00:53:08.880 --> 00:53:17.519
They're the ones who are going to see these values and react to them in a favorable manner, hopefully, okay, if they're presented properly.
00:53:17.679 --> 00:53:29.119
And if you have service advisors who you have trained to their person, there it says here they build their professional identity, their professional identity around your store's values.
00:53:29.280 --> 00:53:35.199
They will tell a customer, say, listen, you know, we're gonna do this, this is what we do here, then this is why we do it.
00:53:35.360 --> 00:53:39.199
And then there's no compromises as far as your safety goes.
00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:45.119
We're gonna talk to you about your tires, we're gonna talk to you about your brakes, we're gonna tell you if they're good, and we're gonna tell you if they're bad.
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:51.440
And if they're bad, we're gonna offer an estimate, and we're gonna offer to make everything as safe as possible and work properly.
00:53:51.599 --> 00:53:58.480
That should be part of your store's values, that should be part of the personal and professional identity of your service advisors.
00:53:58.719 --> 00:53:59.280
Is it?
00:53:59.519 --> 00:54:01.199
Ask yourself that question.
00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:03.199
You know your service advisors.
00:54:03.440 --> 00:54:04.639
Is that how they are?
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:06.559
I'm pretty sure the answer is gonna come back.
00:54:06.639 --> 00:54:07.360
Yeah, fuck no.
00:54:07.920 --> 00:54:09.599
I would love it if it didn't.
00:54:09.760 --> 00:54:20.000
Uh, I've known some I've known some service advisors who know exactly what they do, what they're supposed to do, how to do it, and do it right, and put forward a professional identity.
00:54:20.159 --> 00:54:25.039
Uh lower initial cost, yes, obviously you can pay somebody who's in training a little bit less, okay?
00:54:25.199 --> 00:54:28.639
But you're gonna have to monitor, and it's just like with us as technicians.
00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:55.519
When we came up with the goddamn K plan because nobody was really evaluating the uh cost and also the value, and there's a difference between cost and value, by the way, just so you know, but the cost and the value of a technician who comes to work for you, shows up on time, and is eager to learn and get better, and real value in placing this guy on a path to retirement from your particular business.
00:54:55.679 --> 00:54:58.239
And that's what the K-Plan does that we developed.
00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:12.159
It allows people to get the training and the experience and the wages that they that they deserve and that they have earned working for you and makes them a valuable addition to your fixed department.
00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:13.039
Valuable.
00:55:13.199 --> 00:55:16.000
It adds value, it adds value at every point.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:19.199
It's like a set of stairs that lead you to the promised land.
00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:21.039
It's a light at the end of the tunnel.
00:55:21.119 --> 00:55:23.119
And you could have the very same plan.
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:28.239
And in fact, we're if I know Eric, he's probably working on this already and has it worked up for us.
00:55:28.400 --> 00:55:45.760
He's working on a K plan for service advisors where they come in and they learn how to, they learn how to be professional, they learn how to talk to people, they learn how to take criticism, they learn how to handle somebody who's not in a good mood, who's in a bad mood, or is evil or mean or an asshole.
00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:46.880
They have to learn it.
00:55:46.960 --> 00:55:52.079
And the pay structure has to be there to support that because it is really, really, really easy.
00:55:52.159 --> 00:55:55.840
And this is why that job sucks.
00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:56.239
Okay.
00:55:56.400 --> 00:55:58.800
That job sucks because people come to you.
00:55:58.960 --> 00:56:06.239
I would say 50% of them are having a fucking problem and they don't want to have a problem, and they're pissed, and they're looking for somebody to blame it on.
00:56:06.320 --> 00:56:10.559
They're looking for somebody to take it out on, and it's almost always the service advisors.
00:56:10.639 --> 00:56:13.119
And in that respect, I got to give them props.
00:56:13.280 --> 00:56:14.239
I say it all the time.
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:16.800
I think they have the worst job in the goddamn building.
00:56:16.960 --> 00:56:20.639
They also have probably the most important job in the building.
00:56:20.719 --> 00:56:31.519
And the fact that they can't do it in a lot of cases, and some of these people are trying and are getting it done, and some of them aren't getting it done, and some of them give up and say, fuck it, I can't get it done.
00:56:31.599 --> 00:56:32.880
I'm just gonna phone it in.
00:56:33.039 --> 00:56:33.920
I understand.
00:56:34.159 --> 00:56:34.880
I understand.
00:56:35.039 --> 00:56:58.480
And you gotta have a real strong, you gotta have a real good backbone, you gotta have real good confidence, a real high amount of confidence in your own personality and in your own confidence and in your own ability and in your in your own mind of how you are, and and if other people uh attack it, try to put you down and make you try to berate you, you just let them know.
00:56:58.800 --> 00:56:59.440
Well, you know what?
00:56:59.599 --> 00:57:01.440
If you want to talk to me like that, that's fine.
00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:02.559
But I'm trying to help you.
00:57:02.639 --> 00:57:10.800
If you want to keep talking like that, then we can end this relationship right now and you can leave, or you can talk to somebody else until you've pissed off everybody in the building.
00:57:10.960 --> 00:57:19.679
I want, I, I will, I will say this, and this is the last thing I really want to say about this, because there's some cons here too, as far as hiring uh people who need training here.
00:57:19.920 --> 00:57:23.280
But I want to say this before I get too much farther is I love them.
00:57:23.440 --> 00:57:24.800
As people, they're great.
00:57:24.960 --> 00:57:25.599
They're great.
00:57:25.679 --> 00:57:26.960
I love them, I really do.
00:57:27.199 --> 00:57:29.840
Um, I don't have anything bad to say about them personally.
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:41.920
It's professionally where I wish that they could do certain, they would do certain things and be more consistent in what they do, put themselves personally in front of the customers and talk to them about what they need for the vehicles.
00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:54.239
Because it appears to me in the meantime that what they do is they avoid talking to customers, they avoid sending them estimates, they avoid telling them they need things, they avoid it.
00:57:54.400 --> 00:57:59.920
And unfortunately for me and the people I work with and work for, I understand it.
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:02.400
That's why I don't fucking do it.
00:58:04.719 --> 00:58:05.760
Oh my god.
00:58:05.840 --> 00:58:06.639
I'm sorry.
00:58:06.880 --> 00:58:08.239
Now, here's some cons.
00:58:08.559 --> 00:58:16.800
Uh, you got the pros, uh, why it would be good to hire somebody uh who is green and doesn't know how to do this job and maybe shows a lot of promise.
00:58:16.960 --> 00:58:17.840
Here's the cons.
00:58:18.159 --> 00:58:19.599
Uh long ramped up time.
00:58:19.679 --> 00:58:28.559
It takes three to six months for a non-automotive hire to gain confidence with technical terminology, warranty guidelines, factory maintenance schedules, and basic mechanical understanding.
00:58:28.800 --> 00:58:29.679
Three to six months?
00:58:29.760 --> 00:58:31.039
What are you fucking nuts?
00:58:31.199 --> 00:58:35.599
We have we have some that have years in and they don't understand any of that shit.
00:58:35.760 --> 00:58:36.960
They don't understand any of that shit.
00:58:37.039 --> 00:58:39.760
They have to rely on us, and sometimes they don't rely on us.
00:58:39.920 --> 00:58:44.400
Sometimes what they'll say is, well, this guy says that you need this, but I don't think you really do.
00:58:44.639 --> 00:58:46.159
I've heard that happening before.
00:58:46.239 --> 00:58:47.280
So here's another one.
00:58:47.519 --> 00:58:49.199
Demand strong internal training.
00:58:49.280 --> 00:58:52.800
In other words, you have to depend on yourself to learn things.
00:58:53.039 --> 00:59:08.159
If your dealership lacks a structured onboarding program, a designated mentor, advisor, or clear software standards of operation, SOPs, green hires will quickly become overwhelmed and quit.
00:59:08.320 --> 00:59:09.920
That is that is it in a nutshell.
00:59:10.079 --> 00:59:16.320
That's the problem with being advisor, whether you're a greenhorn or whether you're a seasoned veteran.
00:59:16.480 --> 00:59:20.960
It is very easy to become quickly overwhelmed and quit.
00:59:21.440 --> 00:59:22.159
Very easy.
00:59:22.320 --> 00:59:31.119
What I find is, and this was at one of the shops I worked at recently, is that the uh advisors would come out into the shop and hide from customers.
00:59:31.280 --> 00:59:38.880
They'd see somebody pull in, they'd think to themselves, oh, I don't want to talk to this guy, I suddenly have to take a piss, or I suddenly have to talk to a technician.
00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:39.920
And they would scatter.
00:59:40.079 --> 00:59:43.119
For me personally, I would chain them to the fucking desk.
00:59:43.360 --> 00:59:44.480
Oh, you got a pee?
00:59:44.639 --> 00:59:46.800
I'll give you a key, and you can unlock your lock.
00:59:47.039 --> 00:59:50.239
If you're not back in five minutes, I'm gonna fucking come and find you.
00:59:50.400 --> 00:59:52.559
They used to hide in the shop all the time.
00:59:52.719 --> 00:59:53.519
It was terrible.
00:59:53.599 --> 01:00:04.079
Uh, early customer and technician friction, misidentifying customer complaints on a repair order frustrates master technicians and leads to wasted shop time.
01:00:04.320 --> 01:00:08.800
Yeah, it's a uh and it's a challenge that we all face.
01:00:09.039 --> 01:00:14.800
Uh that service advisors write, sometimes they write what the customer said and it doesn't make any sense.
01:00:14.960 --> 01:00:20.239
Sometimes they listen to what the customer said, write what they want to write, and that doesn't make any sense either.
01:00:20.400 --> 01:00:30.800
And then other times they'll write down that the customer said that this is what's going wrong, and this other thing is going wrong too, all on one line, which is a big no-no.
01:00:31.039 --> 01:00:34.239
Uh, you should never use the word and in a complaint.
01:00:34.400 --> 01:00:40.960
Okay, you got a complaint, and then you have another complaint, and it's completely different from the previous complaint, has to have a separate line.
01:00:41.199 --> 01:00:44.960
Oh, no, no, no, we can't do that because then we have to charge DIEG for both lines.
01:00:45.119 --> 01:00:46.320
Oh, we don't want to do that.
01:00:46.400 --> 01:00:54.159
And then there's the pros and cons, and I'll end this podcast pretty quickly because it's it's been a fucking train wreck of a podcast.
01:00:54.400 --> 01:00:58.320
Pros, the pros and cons of hiring experienced advisors.
01:00:58.559 --> 01:01:00.800
Pros, plug and play productivity.
01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:11.679
They know the DMS system, see CDK Reynolds, Dealer Track, or techyon, understand labor time, speak technician language, and can hit the ground running in days rather than months.
01:01:11.840 --> 01:01:17.679
Yes, yes, if you hire somebody who's got experience, they could conceivably do the job very, very well.
01:01:18.079 --> 01:01:30.000
Immediate revenue generation, experienced advisors know how to structure an RO, handle difficult customer objections, and navigate complex warranty claim requirements without hand holding.
01:01:30.159 --> 01:01:31.199
They may know all that.
01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:39.360
Immediate capacity, ideal if you are replacing a sudden departure or opening new service bays that need immediate production.
01:01:39.519 --> 01:01:43.920
Yes, hiring somebody with experience could conceivably be a good thing.
01:01:44.079 --> 01:01:44.960
Here's the cons.
01:01:45.199 --> 01:01:46.719
You're familiar with some of these.
01:01:46.880 --> 01:01:48.639
We'll bring them to you once again here.
01:01:48.880 --> 01:01:51.039
Bad habits and resistance to change.
01:01:51.199 --> 01:02:03.440
They often bring baggage from previous stores, skipping walkarounds, refusing to adopt new tech tools like video MPIs, or cherry picking high-paying ROs.
01:02:03.599 --> 01:02:05.599
Well, I don't see how they're doing that.
01:02:05.679 --> 01:02:07.119
I'm sure that there's a way they could.
01:02:07.280 --> 01:02:17.519
Cost, top producing experienced advisors expect premium pay plans, guarantees, or sign-on bonuses to leave their existing customer base.
01:02:17.679 --> 01:02:20.880
Yes, I don't suspect that there's a lot of that shit going on.
01:02:21.039 --> 01:02:32.960
High churn risk, dealership hoppers will jump ship for an extra 1% commission down the street if things get tough or if management demands strict process accountability.
01:02:33.119 --> 01:02:35.360
Uh here they uh they gave me a little chart here.
01:02:35.440 --> 01:02:40.960
It says higher to train from scratch is three to six months before you're gonna see any kind of profitability.
01:02:41.199 --> 01:02:44.320
An experienced advisor might be a week or two.
01:02:44.480 --> 01:03:04.719
Uh, process and tech adoption very high on the new guys and low to medium on the experienced guys, retention and loyalty, and it says here higher, and then in parentheses, if trained well, and on hiring experienced advisors, it says lower because they're prone to poaching.
01:03:04.800 --> 01:03:13.280
It says training overhead heavy on the new hire and minimal on the experienced advisor, and then it says ideal role slash focus.
01:03:13.440 --> 01:03:29.280
The new hire is going to want to focus on express maintenance and main drive trainees and heavy and the experienced guys are going to want to focus on heavy main shop work at a luxury dealer or a high volume dealership.
01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:29.679
Okay.
01:03:29.920 --> 01:03:32.000
What is the best hiring framework?
01:03:32.239 --> 01:03:39.599
Just to kind of finish this off, the most successful auto groups use a tiered hybrid strategy matched to their shop layout.
01:03:39.760 --> 01:03:50.800
Promote/slash train for express lanes for new guys, use non-automotive hires or high-performing lube techs and valets in express service or junior advisor roles.
01:03:51.199 --> 01:03:53.519
Junior advisor roles, that's an interesting one.
01:03:53.599 --> 01:04:05.840
Uh, lower technical complexity of oil changes, tires, and maintenance menus allows them to learn customer management, learn the software, learn the walk around without risking major technical errors.
01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:20.000
Higher experience for main shop, sure, you could do that, and then bring in experienced advisors specifically for heavy repair, complex diagnostic lines, or specialized luxury brands where deep technical knowledge and warranty navigation are critical.
01:04:20.159 --> 01:04:26.960
Key train to hiring for high emotional intelligence, sales aptitude over mechanical genius.
01:04:27.119 --> 01:04:28.559
Yes, that would be good.
01:04:28.960 --> 01:04:30.800
Because it really is a salesman's job.
01:04:31.039 --> 01:04:32.159
You have to sell stuff.
01:04:32.320 --> 01:04:39.599
And if you're not on board with selling stuff and you don't want to do it, then you're gonna wiggle and skirm to try to get out of it, and that's not a good thing either.
01:04:39.760 --> 01:04:44.159
Tech literacy, modern service drives run on digital MPIs.
01:04:44.320 --> 01:04:45.440
They absolutely do.
01:04:45.599 --> 01:04:52.639
That's why we're trying to get out there and help train the new guys here on uh digital MPIs.
01:04:52.800 --> 01:05:01.199
Texting platforms and automated workflow tools look for candidates comfortable toggling quickly between multiple screens and software interfaces.
01:05:01.519 --> 01:05:02.800
That doesn't include me.
01:05:03.039 --> 01:05:03.840
I struggle.
01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:10.480
I have these big fat fingers, and when I go to press something on my phone, I press three buttons and it doesn't work L at the same time.
01:05:10.639 --> 01:05:11.920
Not a good thing, Eddie.
01:05:12.159 --> 01:05:16.960
All right, so that's a a podcast for you that is just a jumbled up mess of shit.
01:05:17.119 --> 01:05:24.480
And I apologize, but I didn't really have anything to start out with, and then I ended up going down my favorite rabbit hole and talking about advisors.
01:05:24.639 --> 01:05:28.880
As far as as far as service advisors go, let me just leave you with this one thing, okay?
01:05:29.119 --> 01:05:31.599
They're people, they're trying to do their job.
01:05:31.760 --> 01:05:34.400
It's it's a tough, tough, tough job.
01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:35.679
I really mean it.
01:05:36.000 --> 01:05:47.679
And as a technician, sometimes, and and I personally I'm responsible for this, and I really, really try hard not to do this, but sometimes we're responsible for making the job hard.
01:05:47.840 --> 01:05:52.559
Sometimes they don't get what they want out of me, or they don't get what they expect out of me.
01:05:52.719 --> 01:05:58.559
And I I always feel like that they should learn what to expect being different from each technician.
01:05:58.719 --> 01:06:06.400
What they should do on the on the other end of it is when they let a customer know how long something's gonna take, because that they all ask.
01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:08.320
They all ask, oh, how long is that gonna take?
01:06:08.480 --> 01:06:09.760
You need to hedge that bet.
01:06:09.840 --> 01:06:12.320
You need to underpromise and over-deliver.
01:06:12.400 --> 01:06:14.880
And when you do that, you look like a hero, no matter who you are.
01:06:14.960 --> 01:06:18.800
If you're the tech or if you're the service advisor, you're gonna look like a hero.
01:06:18.960 --> 01:06:21.920
Why it's so hard for them to get to do, get them to do that.
01:06:22.159 --> 01:06:23.679
I I have no idea.
01:06:23.760 --> 01:06:28.239
They're constantly coming back and saying, hey, can you do six hours worth of work in two hours?
01:06:28.719 --> 01:06:29.039
No.
01:06:29.920 --> 01:06:33.280
No, I might be able to do it in three, but I'm not gonna be able to do it in two.
01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:36.880
Why would you why would you run us right up against a wall like that?
01:06:37.039 --> 01:06:39.519
Because there's almost always something that goes wrong.
01:06:39.679 --> 01:06:43.679
I had a car the other day that the service advisor wanted it done at five o'clock.
01:06:43.760 --> 01:06:46.400
I said, No, I might have it done at six, but not five.
01:06:46.480 --> 01:06:49.199
And they got upset and said, Well, I need it done at six then.
01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:59.199
And then at six o'clock, I'm finishing up the alignment on it, and they shut the air off, and the alignment rack runs on air, and the car was almost stuck on the lift.
01:06:59.360 --> 01:07:13.440
And I got, I gotta say, I did, I laughed because they they they did not factor in the fact that there might be some unforeseen circumstance, and there it was, staring them in the face, screwing them up, screwing everybody up.
01:07:13.679 --> 01:07:17.519
You can't go and guarantee a job's gonna be done at a specific time.
01:07:17.679 --> 01:07:20.880
You just can't do it because this is the planet Murphy.
01:07:21.039 --> 01:07:22.800
All right, that's enough for your Uncle Jimmy.
01:07:22.960 --> 01:07:26.800
Apologize for a crappy, crappy, crappy fucking podcast.
01:07:27.039 --> 01:07:28.880
As a technician, you work for a business.
01:07:28.960 --> 01:07:31.679
You're technically, if you're flat rate, you're in business for yourself.
01:07:31.920 --> 01:07:33.360
Count on a whole lot of other people.
01:07:33.519 --> 01:07:36.400
You need to help them do what they do if you can.
01:07:36.480 --> 01:07:41.039
Uh, it would be great if everybody was all on the same page and all trying to get the same things done.
01:07:41.199 --> 01:07:52.239
A lot of people in the dealership, a lot of people in the shop are just trying to get us get get the path, use the path of least resistance and not have to do what what they're supposed to do.
01:07:52.400 --> 01:08:05.519
Hopefully, you got a shop full of good people who are working hard for you and doing the things they need to do to get you get you paid, get you services and maintenance and repairs to keep you uh keep you busy, keep you earning money, keep you earning them money.
01:08:05.840 --> 01:08:06.239
All right.
01:08:07.199 --> 01:08:07.840
All right.
01:08:08.239 --> 01:08:10.400
This is your Uncle Jimmy signing off.
01:08:10.480 --> 01:08:11.119
You know how he does it?
01:08:11.199 --> 01:08:12.719
Yeah, he says, See ya.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.359
All right, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome once again to Greesta Wheels.
00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:07.519
I'm your Uncle Jimmy, host of Greesta Wheels, your favorite automotive technician podcast.
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:08.640
I don't know, maybe not your favorite.
00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:10.400
Hey, coming to you from the rock and roll garage.
00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:11.759
Sit down and have a cold brew.
00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:12.800
We're gonna talk about some shit.
00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.079
Hey, I want to uh just say my usual thank you to everybody out there who's working hard and getting things done.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:19.440
Thank you very much for what you do.
00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.920
Greatly appreciated by one, your Uncle Jimmy.
00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:29.280
Now I was sitting around, I gotta be honest with you, sitting around and debating as to whether to do a podcast this week because uh sometimes I just draw a blank.
00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.760
I have no idea what to talk about.
00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.600
And uh yeah, really, believe it or not, I I don't know what to say.
00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.399
I have no idea what to talk about, I have no idea what I want to bring to you.
00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:46.719
And you know, obviously after eight years, uh the well has pretty well been drained dry.
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:59.920
What I did is uh I backed up 10 yards and I punted and I asked my old friend Google Gemini AI to help me generate some content for today and for this week so that I didn't leave you guys out in the cold.
00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:11.599
What I came up with was I just asked Gemini a bunch of questions of things that I wanted to kind of know, and and then I wanted to share with you the responses and the facts and the figures and some of the things that it told me.
00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:24.079
Uh and I will just start right out at the beginning here because it could what I did is I delved into some pretty interesting stuff and I thought maybe you might enjoy hearing about it, or maybe not enjoy it so much as be uh interested in what it's got to say here.
00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:29.200
Uh, what I what I asked it was the first question I asked it, how many new car dealers are there in the U.S.?
00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:30.640
Okay, now there's a lot.
00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:42.079
There's a real lot, and the NADA, which is the National Automobile Dealers Association, says that there's 16,991, which is a very specific number.
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:47.519
I gotta be, I I gotta say, I think that's kind of awesome that they know exactly how fucking many there are.
00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.239
Let me just be clear about what the NADA is.
00:01:50.400 --> 00:02:07.760
It is a group of people, and each one of these dealers, these uh almost 17,000 dealers, pay into it to uh provide them with lobbying of Congress, you know, the Senate and the House of Representatives to make things go their way.
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:09.680
Okay, and this is not something new.
00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:16.639
There's a lot of a lot of businesses out there, a lot of corporations out there, a lot of genres of businesses that do the same thing.
00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:20.639
They're not they didn't invent it, um, but they have got it down pretty good here.
00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:28.639
And and what they are good at is having legislation made that helps those particular businesses make money.
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:29.520
And you know what?
00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:35.520
And then this might fly in the face of convention, and you might think, oh, geez, Uncle Jimmy, what are you bailing on us here?
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:51.680
It's actually a good thing, okay, because sometimes the government likes to do things that are not good for dealers, and sometimes they like to do things that are not good for us, and hopefully that would be one and the same because we work for dealers, a lot of us work for dealers.
00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.400
Uh, many of you out there probably working for independents.
00:02:54.639 --> 00:03:06.800
Uh, you you realize that uh as working for an independent, you're kind of out there on an island by yourself, uh, doing what you can to keep the uh people in your area on the road.
00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:11.199
Uh dealers like to help put cars on the road and then keep those cars going.
00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:15.439
It's a little bit of a different kind of a business uh business model, okay?
00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:36.479
But having uh someone who can sort of tweak the uh legislative process in Washington and and possibly even your state capitals in whatever state you're in is not a bad thing at all, okay, because sometimes they try to come up with stuff that isn't good for you, it isn't good for the dealer, and would cripple our industry.
00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:38.719
Okay, now I can't really think of anything.
00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:45.599
Okay, so the question is what has the NADA done as far as lobbying to help the dealers or the employees?
00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.479
And let's see here what uh Gemini has to say about this.
00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:58.240
The National Automobile Dealers Association operates as one of the most powerful trade associations and lobbying forces in Washington, D.C.
00:03:58.400 --> 00:03:59.360
Yeah, kind of knew that.
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.400
Federal and state regulations directly impact how dealers operate.
00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:06.240
Of course, they do finance vehicles, pay technicians, and service cars.
00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.719
And it's kind of weird that they would uh include that in there, pay technicians.
00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.319
Uh, I think the Gemini knows what I'm up to.
00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:16.399
It keeps track.
00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:23.360
It's like a it's like a an engine computer in your car, it adapts to the to the shit you ask questions about.
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:29.120
So it knows that that's a a touch point for me, at least, uh, pay technicians and service cars.
00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.240
Uh they spend millions annually lobbying Congress.
00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:57.839
Here is uh what I asked it was uh what have they done so far as lobbying help, uh regulatory defense and fighting federal overreach, challenging when the Federal Trade Commission introduced its combating auto retail scams, which imposed heavy disclosure mandates and restrictions on finance and insurance add-ons and new paperwork burdens, the NADA launched aggressive legal and legislative challenges.
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:04.560
They argued the rule added massive, massive compliance costs without providing real consumer protection.
00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:12.000
Okay, so the government typically, typically, not always, uh, is interested in trying to keep the consumer safe.
00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.399
And uh honestly, probably one of their major targets is car dealers.
00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:18.480
Let's just be let's just be straight about it.
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.000
A lot of people feel like car dealers are just out there trying to rip them off.
00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:29.360
And then honestly, you know, as somebody who works at a car dealer, uh I don't feel like that's true, at least not for the car dealer I work for.
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.439
They are very above board, straightforward, and honest with people.
00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:38.560
And uh people still accuse us of stuff that we're just kind of not doing at all.
00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:44.959
Uh, but that doesn't ever stop people from getting the wrong idea or lumping us all into a group.
00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.800
You know, you're all a bunch of pirates.
00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:48.160
Yeah, okay, you know, whatever.
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:55.759
Some of the other things that they they try to protect the franchise model and block uh direct sales.
00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:57.680
I'm not sure that that's a good thing.
00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:06.160
We'll see what happens with uh this slate pickup truck that's coming along here that is probably going to be marketed and sold via Amazon.
00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:08.000
Not sure if they're gonna have trouble with that.
00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:16.879
I know that they didn't like the way Tesla does business, and a lot of states have said yet to Tesla as far as selling them in that particular state.
00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:24.560
But uh, you know, the the one thing about states is, you know, if you're in a state where you can't buy a Tesla at a Tesla center, well, guess what?
00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:26.079
Go to another fucking state.
00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:28.160
They're usually typically not that far away.
00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.240
I mean, unless you live in Texas, because Texas is fucking huge, or Alaska.
00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:37.519
Alaska is uh extraordinarily huge, and oh, by the way, doesn't really border any other states.
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:45.360
So you kind of screwed if you're in if you're in Alaska and you want a Tesla, unless, of course, they're one of the states that says, hey, we don't give a fuck what you sell here.
00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:58.240
Uh lots of states do care and and are are having laws either on the books or trying to get laws that would require vehicle manufacturers to use a franchise dealer type system.
00:06:58.399 --> 00:06:58.720
Okay.
00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.199
Now, I don't know how I feel about that.
00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:11.199
Uh obviously, I work for a dealer, and a lot of us work for a dealer, and they do provide for us employment and wages and benefits and that.
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:13.199
And we can't really discount that.
00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.040
We do that's all stuff that we need.
00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:19.680
Uh, and honestly, eight years I've been banging on these people to just pay us a little bit more.
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:21.279
Uh, they don't really want to.
00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:34.480
And what I found out after asking Gemini some questions here, a lot of dealers operate a very slim margin after they figure out all the costs that they have to incur to keep a service department open.
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:35.360
It's not cheap.
00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.480
There's a lot of employees there, so the payroll is a lot of money.
00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:54.319
There's uh cost of the uh the infrastructure, you know, the uh the building and the and the land and and uh property taxes and other assorted fees and taxes that they have to pay to have certain things in the building, right?
00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:07.839
I mean, uh I'm pretty sure that if you want to have like a even just like a uh a small gas pump at your dealership, you I believe that there's there is a uh a massive uh fee to get that done.
00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:18.319
And then there's also probably, I'm guessing, in some states at least, there's gonna be extra fees just for having fuel on site because it can be can be dangerous.
00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:19.680
Of course, it can be dangerous.
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.000
Legislation befitting dealership employees and technicians.
00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:39.919
Here again, they know that it's a technician they're talking to, uh opposing the Repair Act framework, NADA lobbies against certain federal right to repair bills that they argue could compromise vehicle cybersecurity, telematics, and customer data privacy.
00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:44.720
Um, I'm not sure that I'm not sure the dealerships really care about that that much.
00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:44.960
Okay.
00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.399
Typically, dealerships care, in my experience anyway, just about the money.
00:08:50.559 --> 00:09:00.080
The vehicle cybersecurity, the telematics, and the customer data privacy, I'm pretty sure you're not going to find a whole lot of people in a dealership who give a flying fuck about that, really.
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:13.279
If customers' data is compromised, if it doesn't cause them a problem if they don't get their identity stolen and credit cards and loans and automobiles bought in their name when it isn't them, I'm not sure that they care.
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:17.919
If it doesn't have anything to do with earning the business money, it's not something they care about that much.
00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:18.320
Okay.
00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:33.440
The right to repair, however, does limit independent repair shops from receiving information necessary to repair cars, typically cars of very late model cars, anything newer than five years old.
00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.039
Uh that stuff, they call it proprietary information.
00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:50.960
They they have uh different sorts of uh, yeah, and you guys know this, they have different sorts of uh machinery and equipment that you need to perform certain repairs, and they don't want to share it with anybody who isn't associated with them.
00:09:51.120 --> 00:10:24.080
And then they'll tell you, oh, you know, these are, you know, we have trained technicians in the dealership that know how to use the this equipment, and uh sometimes that is actually true, sometimes not so much, but they don't want the uh independent portion of the auto repair business to get their hands on their stuff because, well, first off, it costs their dealerships money, and they're very, very uh keenly aware that the dealership needs to make money, and they're very keenly aware that the dealership typically spends a lot of money training technicians and keeping them up to date, and then also jamming some of this.
00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:31.279
There's no other way to put it, they're jamming some of this equipment that they need to fix these cars right up straight up their ass and making them pay for it.
00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:42.879
You know, we just got a a fucking machine earlier this week, it might have been last week, it's some crazy ass uh smoke machine, and it was fucking expensive.
00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.120
And we had to buy it.
00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:50.559
We had to buy it, and they're going to insist that we use it for diagnosing certain things in the future.
00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:52.639
I'm not sure how important it was.
00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:53.279
I'm not sure.
00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:54.960
I'm sure we'll find out.
00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.080
Uh maybe it it's gonna help us.
00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.600
Maybe uh sometimes equipment comes in and never gets used.
00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:09.440
Sometimes equipment comes in and guys have better ways of diagnosing stuff than using the factory approved equipment.
00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:21.360
So uh that's one of the things that goes on with the right to repair, is that they have uh diagnostics that you know you're the only one who can do it if you're working at a specific brand dealer franchise.
00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:21.759
Okay.
00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:32.879
Uh other things that they they have championed that trying to get catalytic converter theft legislation put through that uh puts VIN numbers on catalytic converters.
00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:36.639
I haven't seen that yet, uh, but that's that's actually that to me sounds like a good idea.
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:40.799
Although with a nice angle grinder, you can make a VIN number disappear.
00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:44.480
But also at the same time, if you grind off a VIN number, then it makes it worthless.
00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:52.960
Nobody's gonna want it because if somebody in a junkyard's buying catalytic converters, and then you know the FBI rolls in and says, Where's the VIN that was on this catalytic converter?
00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.120
And they go, Yeah, I don't know, Charlie.
00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:00.720
And then you go, Well, you're under arrest, so for buying stolen goods, because there's no way to prove where it came from.
00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:05.279
And in that situation, they're going to assume that they were fucking stolen.
00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:16.320
Okay, because I tried to uh sell some converters I had when I was on vacation back home at and uh I had two sets, and they go, Yeah, you got to have the title for the cars they came off of.
00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:18.159
And I go, uh, okay, never mind.
00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:19.840
You just sound like too much of a hassle.
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:23.279
But in reality, I I actually have two titles for two cars they came off.
00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:30.960
I have it, I just don't feel like traipsing it all over the fucking county to try to get some money for some converters, although they do pay pretty well, the ones I have.
00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.519
I'll probably do that the next time I go home.
00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:39.840
Also, to the NADA regularly lobbies for federal workforce development funding to provide training.
00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:50.720
Uh, and and that's I think that that's gonna work, that works out for us, okay, because some of us have probably taken part in some of the training and some of the grants they have for training.
00:12:50.960 --> 00:13:00.399
I know uh I have not really, I mean, I paid to go to tech school, and then I uh I didn't pay actually to go to my dealer brand training for six months.
00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:01.360
I didn't pay for that.
00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:11.519
My dealer paid for that after I'd worked for them for six months, but I didn't I didn't earn anything more than like 12 cents an hour uh while I was going to school.
00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.919
So it was uh dead chuffed broke dick.
00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:21.200
I mean, I really just didn't have two cents to scrape together, and really that's one of the things that makes me so tenacious.
00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:24.720
What's the other word I want to use to describe how I felt when I got out of that?
00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:35.919
I felt I felt like I was owed, really, because I had suffered uh for six months while I did that training, and when I got out of the field and got$15 an hour, I was like, oh, it's better than nothing.
00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:48.080
And and so, you know, I I really had committed, I made a commitment to learn what I needed to know to belong in the building where I was working.
00:13:48.240 --> 00:14:07.360
And then the dealer was uh the deal, the first dealer I worked for was god-awful, and so it didn't feel like it was worth it until I went to a dealer in a neighboring town, a neighboring city, and worked for people who really seemed to appreciate uh the time and the energy spent to know what to do when certain vehicles came in.
00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:15.200
Okay, so training, you know, not having to pay for training afterwards, after all of that, that's so that's that was definitely a very good thing.
00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:16.879
Uh overtime and labor standards.
00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:20.159
That's something else the NADA works closely with the Department of Labor on.
00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:20.799
All right.
00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:24.720
So that answers that question as far as what the NADA does.
00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:35.600
Um, but let me but make make no mistake, folks, they're on the side of the people who pay them, and that's typically your owners or your dealership group.
00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:48.159
A lot of auto groups out there uh probably pay them very large amounts of money, some of the larger ones, you know, like your Auto Nations, your Lithia, your group one, your Penske, your Sonic, your Asbury.
00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:58.080
Uh, these people uh enjoy uh they they pay a great deal of money, and and for the things that they're getting, trust me, it must be worth it or else they wouldn't pay it.
00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:58.320
Okay.
00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:03.440
I wanted to find out also too how many uh auto groups there are, okay.
00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:07.200
And this is uh, and I even asked it, I said, how many auto groups are there?
00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:13.759
Well, there's uh about 8,000, and I was a little surprised by that number because it just sounds like a lot.
00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:32.240
Um, and you if you take 17 or 18,000 uh dealerships and divide them uh divide it by 8,000, you've got some dealership groups that are gonna be really small that maybe have just one or two, one or two dealerships, because there's some out there that have an enormous amount of dealerships.
00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:37.759
I think Auto Nation is the the number one, if something like three or four hundred particular dealerships.
00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:44.000
And you would think, and I would think, at least this is the way I think, excuse me, I don't want to impose upon you what you think.
00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:48.240
Uh, I would think that Auto Nation must have it going on.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:50.240
They must know what they're up to.
00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:58.480
And probably if you're in the back of one of their buildings wrenching on whatever it is they sell there, you probably don't feel that way.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:12.080
Okay, because when you have a company like that that has, you know, X number of dealerships, be it two, 10, 20, 100, or 200, or even up to 500 or 1,000.
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:13.440
I mean, I have no idea.
00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:17.200
I didn't ask that question, but it that's not really what I'm looking for here.
00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:27.279
But when you have that many dealerships, you have it pretty well fine-tuned as far as what you need to pay for specific employees in the store.
00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:36.159
You have their wages calculated down to the penny, what you can typically get away with paying and what you can't get away with paying.
00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:51.600
And maybe you have people who are hip and uh know what uh know what's up as far as like uh what to pay in certain locations, because obviously if you have dealerships that are in the north and the northeast for some reason, their wages are stagnant and low.
00:16:51.840 --> 00:17:06.640
And in the south, because there's less people to do the job, or apparently it's it's more, and I'm not I'm not sure whether the supply is high and the demand is low, but it the wages in the south are typically higher, and it's probably a good chunk of both.
00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:31.039
The supply is low and the demand is high, whereas in the north, it's not there's not such a gap between the two, but you you are able to get a better wage in dealers that are located south of the Mason-Dixon line and and towards the uh Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America, whichever you prefer to call it, and closer to the border of Mexico than closer to the border of Canada.
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:36.880
Okay, you just have a different dynamic going on there, and typically the wages are a little higher.
00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.440
Okay, that's what I have found in my experience anyway.
00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:48.799
And with some of these companies, and I know that a lot of these companies I that I just mentioned, Auto Nation and Group One and Sonic, they're pretty big in the south.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:53.119
That is a uh that is a place where a lot of people are going to.
00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:55.519
A lot of people want to live there.
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:05.759
People from the north are moving down there, and so the population is exploding, the need for automobiles is exploding, the need for automobile repairs is exploding.
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:13.680
Unfortunately for them, the amount of technicians who can properly fix a car is not exploding.
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:15.680
It is not something that is growing.
00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.160
Uh, it is pretty well stagnant.
00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:21.519
Uh, I think every time you add a new guy, you lose a guy.
00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.200
It's not a win-win situation.
00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:31.759
It's a it's a win-lose situation where you get a new guy, but then somebody leaves or quits, gets fired, or retires, or dies.
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.000
There's several ways to leave a dealership.
00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:35.279
I just named a few.
00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:35.759
That's all.
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:44.960
What I went on what I went on to ask next was who makes the decisions at these auto groups, owners, boards of directors, presidents, or others.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.319
Uh yeah, a lot of them, a lot of them are publicly owned.
00:18:48.400 --> 00:19:07.039
And so you're gonna have a board of directors, which uh is people who are in businesses that are similar to yours and possibly the same business, and have been asked to sit on this board of directors, and then they they direct how the business is run, and they often manifest their decisions through a CEO.
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:20.720
And and sometimes they will listen to a CEO and do what he feels like they should do, and sometimes they don't do what the CEO wants them to do, or they don't insist that they do what, and they'll just fire them.
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:23.920
They'll just they'll just they'll just say, ah, you're gonna you need to step down.
00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.480
You're not you're not providing us with the leadership that we need.
00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:45.119
And and really, in a lot of cases, uh board of directors may be the reason for some of the the fucking heinous shit that goes on in the dealership and goes on with a dealership group because you have a lot of middle management there, and they're really just they're directed by the CEO, and the CEO is directed by wait for it, the board of directors.
00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:57.119
So you have people who know business things but perhaps don't know your business trying to tell you how to run your business, and then I don't feel like that's a real a real good idea, at least not all the time.
00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:05.039
Uh the the particular uh auto group that I work for is run by one guy, one guy, and he's got his shit together pretty good.
00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:14.960
And he is he is an entity that we look up to and we like and we uh and we want to do good things for him, and he wants the good things to happen to us.
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:23.680
And so he runs his short in a much different manner than perhaps someone with a board of directors, somebody who's publicly traded.
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.839
He's in charge, he's large and in charge, and uh I am fine with that.
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.359
Where I work has been working fairly well.
00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:38.160
Uh, obviously, there's gonna be some things that I I don't like and that some of the other techs and some of the other people that work in the building don't like.
00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:39.200
It's always gonna happen.
00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:40.400
That's always gonna happen.
00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:44.559
You can all you can't really eliminate the chaos.
00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:46.240
You can only hope to manage it.
00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:51.039
And on some days you can't, and on other days it's not too hard to manage it.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.440
So uh, and that's what goes on in in our businesses all day, every day, pretty much.
00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:55.680
Okay.
00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:04.240
What I want to what it said here was large and mid-sized private auto groups, owners, founders, equity partners hold ultimate financial authority.
00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:32.960
Of course they do, and then you they'll have a president or a CEO also in that runs day-to-day operations across the group, and then they have executive general managers and operation VPs and other people who uh are supposed to manage large groups of people, manage maybe several dealerships all at once, or manage one part of a dealership, such as a fixed ops director or or a sales manager, a general sales manager, or overall sales manager.
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:40.480
And what I have found in my experience, and my experience is not limited to the 23 years that I've been a professional technician.
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:48.400
It is a broader base than that, because I I did uh work in parts departments and dealerships for a number of years before that.
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:59.759
Okay, so I've seen I've seen a lot of different dealerships, only five different dealerships types that I've worked for, five different uh actually, it's gonna be uh yeah, five different.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.400
Types of uh dealership owners and operators, okay?
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:05.920
Uh mostly private.
00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:09.920
I have never really worked for an auto group that was a uh publicly traded.
00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:25.759
And I would think that that is uh that you if you work for a company like that that is managed to the nth degree as a public entity, that you probably get strangled out of wages uh and and wage increases are probably uh metered out.
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.559
Well, let's just say uh fiscally uh frugal manner, okay?
00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:48.880
Uh but when you work for a family-owned or at least a privately owned, uh you have people who can make decisions without having to check with a thousand people and without having other people tell them one thing or the other and and having the power to say that that they would ixnay a deal such as that.
00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.039
Um it's just it's just a different setup.
00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:57.200
You work for people who are private owners, they can certainly see what you do if they're on site.
00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:02.960
And even if they're not on site, sometimes they become aware of what you do and how you do it and how well you do it.
00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:56.400
And so your wages in in those particular uh setups, if you're really any any, you know, if you work at I may have a little trouble here, but uh whatever, whatever your employment status is at that particular dealership, whether you're a salesperson or a service advisor or some sort of a manager or you work in parts or as a technician or as a lot guy, uh typically a smaller group or a family-owned group or a just a small auto group would know possibly is familiar with you and how valuable you are to the dealership and and would, at least hopefully, in my opinion, anyway, uh pay you a little bit more, a little bit more lucratively, I mean a little bit more aggressively to make sure that you know if you're doing good things and and you're doing the right things and you're a very good employee, that they would want to keep you and that they would know that they should keep you.
00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:59.359
That's a problem when you work for an automotive group.
00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:03.200
You're just you're just a number, as Bob Seeger used to say, you're just a number.
00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:12.559
One of the other things I wanted to check out here was what is the uh, and I kind of want to take this in a little different direction here, but what is their greatest money-making part of the business?
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:19.119
And it wasn't really uh it took a little bit for this to come up here as a contrary to popular belief.
00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:24.480
Selling new vehicles is actually the least profitable primary department for your auto group.
00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:25.279
Absolutely.
00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:30.160
Uh it did, it did kind of steer away from used cars, though.
00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.680
Uh, I I've always felt that used car department is really the bread and butter of the dealership.
00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:36.960
This is what Gemini said.
00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:50.880
Dealership profitability relies on two core profit centers, fixed operations, which is you and me, the fucking wrench throwing bastards out back, the greasy monkeys that fucking fix them, and finance and insurance.
00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:57.359
Okay, now finance and insurance is something that I want to say, from my experience, is fairly new.
00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:57.839
Okay.
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:17.279
Selling the money and selling the warranties and the insurance for the money and uh the vehicle has become extremely profitable because there's a lot of companies out there scratching it to ground trying to get this kind of business for their bank or for their investment purposes.
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:25.759
And so they have made it lucrative for dealerships to use their particular finance and insurance products, okay?
00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:27.759
And it and it's become big business.
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:31.279
Now, I remember a day when it wasn't, it wasn't a big deal.
00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:40.160
You know, you went into the local dealer, you wanted to buy a Chevy, you wanted to buy a Ford, and they called up the bank in town and said, Hey, does this guy have any money in the in the bank?
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.400
You see, yeah, you know, he's got a couple grand in the bank.
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:51.519
Like, okay, he can cover about, you know, in the in the day, he probably could have covered, you know, you know, a whole year's worth of uh payments based on what he had in the bank.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:56.480
And also, too, by the way, those uh those loans uh were paid off in two years.
00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.440
That was common.
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.640
It was very common to have a two-year loan to pay for a car.
00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:04.559
It just goes to show you what's happened to our economy, and it's not a real good thing.
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:09.119
I mean, I've seen 84 months, and I don't, you know, I'm not that great at math.
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:10.240
84, what is that?
00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.119
Uh let me see.
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:16.240
60 is five years, so 72 is six years, 84 is gonna be seven years.
00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:28.559
You get an 84-month loan for a car, especially in like the north and the northeast, it's a good chance that that thing's gonna rot to shit before you're done paying for it.
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.000
It's just not a good deal.
00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:31.279
Just not a good deal.
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:38.640
And this is why you are gonna see, and then uh, and this this is kind of off topic a little bit here, but let me just go down this path real quick.
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.240
This is why you're gonna see the average age of automobiles go up.
00:26:42.880 --> 00:27:00.720
You're also gonna see that it's gonna become very lucrative to become an uh independent repair shop because these people, you know, somebody goes out and buys a car, it's say it's seven years old, maybe they spent 10, 20 grand on it, it's got 70, 80, 90,000 miles on it.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.279
They get it, it's in good shape, tires are good, brakes are good, and they just drive it.
00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:06.079
That's all they do.
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:11.839
They drive it maybe two, maybe a hundred, two hundred miles a week, and it just keeps going.
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:18.559
And when it breaks, there there's no warranty, unless they bought an aftermarket warranty, and even then, they could just do whatever they want with that.
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:20.720
But then they're they're gonna want to get it fixed.
00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.359
And are they gonna want to go to a dealer to get that fixed?
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:24.000
Probably not.
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:31.759
And this is what's gonna happen when they get when a lot of people, and I think a lot, a lot, a lot of people are gonna get priced right out of the new car market.
00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:38.799
And and honestly, people will tell you, and and I think one of the major people who will tell you this is a gentleman by the name of Warren Buffett.
00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:48.799
This is a guy who is frugal, and it's it's completely and entirely unnecessary for this guy to be this fucking frugal.
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.480
He's worth somewhere in the neighborhood of$50 billion.
00:27:53.039 --> 00:28:04.400
He is the the oracle of Omaha, he's an investment guy, uh, and he has done super, super well for himself, bought like the entire fucking railroad system in the US.
00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.480
Um, just he's out there.
00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:10.160
And one of the things he does, and it this kind of murders me, really.
00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:23.440
I mean, because I I don't I don't I don't get it, but he says he has never ever bought a new new car, and he never will, because he says that they depreciate too much.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:35.599
Like, well, you know, honestly, if you have 50 billion fucking dollars, I think that depreciation on an automobile is like it's I can't even think of an analogy for it, but it doesn't really make a lot of sense.
00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:40.079
It's like, why would you deprive yourself of the joy of buying something brand new?
00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:43.039
And there's a there's a joy that goes to it, boy, boys and girls.
00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:47.519
If you've never felt it, you should maybe save some money up and try to find a way to enjoy it.
00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:50.880
Obviously, if you have to pay 84 months for it, it might not be worth it for you.
00:28:50.960 --> 00:29:02.160
But I mean, here's a guy who's 50 billion dollars, and he never buys new cars, he buys used, and this is really and he just says basically because they depreciate so quickly.
00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:05.119
And he's not wrong, they do depreciate.
00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:11.759
But if you buy something new and you just keep it, who gives a fuck how much it depreciates?
00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:22.160
It you you're gonna use it, and eventually you're gonna come to a point where if it runs and goes, it's gonna be worth exactly what you owe on it, which is nothing.
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:23.759
You know what I mean?
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:34.000
Uh, but as far as uh what dealerships provide, financing and insurance, I just yeah, they make a lot of money on it, but I just I see this as something that is gonna taper off.
00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:38.160
It's gonna taper off because uh we just got some new cars in today.
00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:41.920
They were each uh in the neighborhood of$90,000.
00:29:42.400 --> 00:30:03.039
I don't I don't care if you're Warren Buffett and you have$50 million, if you're gonna buy one and you put down maybe you know the bare minimum of uh down payment and your trade-in's not worth jack shit, which pay trade-ins are never worth anything anyway, uh, according to most car dealers, uh, you're gonna you're you're gonna have to make payments for you know 72, 84 months.
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:04.559
It's kind of ridiculous.
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.720
And this is why I think a lot of people, they are going to be uh driving older cars for a long time.
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:13.119
It's not gonna, it's not something that's gonna go away.
00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:20.400
Yeah, so folks, in the future you are gonna see the average age of the automobile go up steadily.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:22.880
Uh, and that is that is a boon.
00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:31.680
That is good a good thing for any of you working out there in the uh aftermarket in the independent uh independent repair shops.
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:33.519
I think it's gonna be good for you.
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:35.839
Uh, I'm not sure who's coming up with these figures.
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.839
It rises by uh 0.2, 0.1.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:43.039
It's been 12 12 years for a long time.
00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:45.599
I'm blowing that away myself personally.
00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:54.000
I have four cars on the road, uh 1968, a 2001, a 2002, and a 2012.
00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.480
So I am fucking killing that average.
00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:57.440
I am killing it.
00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:03.519
And I don't really see myself, I mean, I talk about it on a regular basis, just a Eric, the producer.
00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:18.640
I'd like to get something new, but man, I just cannot stand the idea of spending all that money, like Warren Buffett says, and watching it just fucking disappear in the value of a vehicle, especially, you know, the vehicle I want to buy is a GM truck.
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:26.319
I mean, it's like, you know, you could spend 50K to buy a really nice GM truck, and then two weeks later you might want to trade it in and it'll give you 30 grand for it.
00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:27.039
It's like, what?
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:28.400
What the fuck happened?
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:31.839
You know, so uh I'm probably gonna continue to drive old stuff.
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:32.400
You know why?
00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.559
Because I'm a mechanic and I can keep fixing it.
00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.799
I mean, the 68's on the road, I could drive it to work if I had to.
00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:50.960
I mean, I don't have it here in Texas where I'm at, but uh if I had it, I did drive it to work for about three weeks while I let somebody in my truck, you know, I don't have any fear of cars breaking down, and I don't, you know, I can fix them.
00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:57.039
And then that's the one thing, and I wanted to just take a second to to point that out to a lot of you technicians out there.
00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:04.319
Being a technician and being capable and handy and able to repair your own vehicle is a treat.
00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:07.680
Okay, it's a good thing, it is a very valuable thing.
00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:16.079
You should be really proud of yourself, okay, because a lot of people can't, and you see them every day.
00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:22.400
And uh, maybe if you're in the back with the tools and in the wrench, in the trenches with the wrenches, I love that one.
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:32.640
Um, but if you're if you're in the shop and you're not dealing with people bringing their broken shit into you, into your shop or your dealership, what you find is that they are they feel helpless.
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:36.400
They feel helpless and it and it makes them vulnerable.
00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:37.599
And they hate that.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:41.759
And I know that I would hate that, but I'm not vulnerable when it comes to automobiles.
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:43.359
I'm not vulnerable at all.
00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:46.240
If I if something I have doesn't run, I'll fucking fix it.
00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:48.640
If something breaks down, I'll I'll put it back together.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.880
I'll, you know, if something's not working right, I'll fix it.
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:52.079
And you guys are the same way.
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:56.960
But we take that skill, that ability, we take it for granted.
00:32:57.359 --> 00:33:02.160
It's seriously valuable, it has a serious value to it.
00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:13.680
And because our our shops and our dealerships don't pay us as much as we feel like we're worth, we kind of fall into this pattern where we feel like we're not worth it, it's not worth doing.
00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:19.359
It's not worth doing that job, it's not worth having that skill, but it is, it is very valuable.
00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:30.559
And and here we go with the the mantra of Grease to Wheels is folks, there's there's a crushing and crippling shortage of technicians out there.
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:37.519
Now, you may work somewhere like I do where they don't have a shortage, okay, for whatever reason.
00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:39.359
And then there's lots of reasons, you know.
00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:53.599
Maybe, maybe uh they they treat you fairly well or they pay you fairly well, or you know, maybe one or both, or you know, maybe maybe where you work is very convenient and where you work is nice and it's clean, that's definitely describes our shop.
00:33:53.759 --> 00:34:00.559
And most of the people that I work with are very cool and and do a really good job and really have everybody's best interest at heart.
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:08.880
But if you don't, if you work somewhere that's terrible and they treat you like shit, they don't pay you very well, you could certainly grease the fucking wheels.
00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:14.800
I mean, there is a shortage in a lot of places, there is better jobs out there.
00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:33.920
Here's what it says about dealership profitability when referring to the fixed ops center, because that's really it says here uh in terms of pure reliable, this is AI talking, in terms of pure reliable gross profit dollars, fixed ops is the ultimate engine of the dealerships.
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:35.440
Very interesting way to put that.
00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:40.480
Fixed ops typically uh accounts for wait a minute, here you go.
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:56.480
Fixed ops typically accounts for only 10% to 15% of a dealership's total top line revenue, but generates about 45% to 50% of the entire entire dealership's gross profit.
00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:10.480
Now, here's what it says while selling a new vehicle might yield a three to six percent gross margin, labor and service gross margins routinely average sixty to seventy-five percent.
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:20.639
Now, what they find is that after they pay the bills, which and then they even said it here too, yeah, because I asked I asked AI about this.
00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.960
It says service gross margins routinely average 60 to 75 percent.
00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:27.440
Is that almost strictly labor?
00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:42.000
And Gemini wrote back, yes, that high gross margin is driven primarily by customer pay labor sales through parts added to those repair orders pay a big supporting role as well.
00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:59.039
The main driver behind that 60% to 75% labor margin is the spread between what the dealership charges the customer per hour, in parentheses, it says the retail door rate, and what they pay the technician, the effective flat rate or hourly wage.
00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:06.000
They're making a lot of money on our backs, but okay, there's always everyone has a big butt, Smoone.
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:11.760
Uh what we don't know or what we're not calculating, and we we're not gonna do this, you know.
00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:13.599
We don't go, well, it's fair.
00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:20.000
It is fair, actually, because they have to pay a lot of money for everything.
00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:34.239
They have to pay the advisors, they have to pay the management, they have to pay the parts guys, they have to pay the service porters if you have any, they have to pay the car wash people if you have any, and then also pay us.
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.440
They also have to pay the rent on the building.
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.880
They have to they have to they have all these things they have to pay for.
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:47.119
And by the time it's done, they will end up with 10 to 15 percent as a bottom line profit.
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.760
Okay, that's that's a net profit.
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:51.679
Gross profit is not net.
00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:56.800
That's uh net is when you calculate out everything you have to buy.
00:36:56.960 --> 00:37:08.960
You know, you have to, and and right about now, it seems like they're spending a lot of money on oil because there's a shortage of it, and we're also clamoring loudly at times for an increase in wages.
00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:15.599
Now, and this is this is honestly one of the things that we don't really calculate uh in our heads.
00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:42.320
I mean, when when I tell you that you need to figure out how much of your door labor rate you are actually making, you're not really taking into account all the other things they have to spend money on to keep the shop running, tools and electricity, and water, and heat, and air conditioning, and lifts, and repairs on lifts, and repairs on equipment, and and uh you know support support staff.
00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:46.320
And by the time that's all done, that profit is eaten away pretty good.
00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:58.559
But it's so it the gross is so high that typically they will calculate all of the building's expenses, all of it, against the fixed department.
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:02.480
They do that because they just think that fixed, and and they're right.
00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:07.199
They they believe they work on the impression that fixed is gonna pay for everything.
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:12.880
And if your shop is run fairly well, then that's a definite yes, that's what happens, okay?
00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:20.000
But the problem is that sometimes our wages get the shit kicked out of them because the shop maybe isn't doing as well as it needs to.
00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:29.599
Uh, the next question that I asked Gemini here, and I you want to get away from talking about the uh pathetic uh wages that we that we have and why.
00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:38.639
I don't, you know, I don't actually feel like I need to stick up for dealers and and uh you know kind of verify that this is the reason why they don't pay you enough.
00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:40.559
Like they could stand to pay you more.
00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:51.760
But one of the things I wanted to try to find out from Gemini was what would be the best way for us to maximize sales of service and maintenance?
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:59.199
And this was the question: would it be a good idea to attempt to maximize sales of service and maintenance by having good service advisors?
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:05.280
And it says maximizing service and maintenance, sales through strong service advisors isn't just a good idea.
00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:12.000
It is widely considered the single highest leverage growth strategy for dealerships long-term profitability.
00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:20.079
Okay, so what he's what they're saying here, what Gemini is saying, is that yes, this is the number one thing that you can do.
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:22.480
A studio audience was surveyed.
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:31.119
A hundred dealers were asked what's the single highest leverage growth strategy for a dealership's long-term profitability and its service advisor.
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:37.280
Because fixed ops drives 45 to 50 percent of a store's total gross profit.
00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:42.559
Service Advisor acts as the ultimate gatekeeper for dealership cash flow.
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:50.079
A skilled advisor doesn't just sell hours, they drive customer retention and fuel the rest of the business.
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:51.679
I agree with that completely.
00:39:51.840 --> 00:40:00.159
Here is why investing in top-tier advisors pays off so heavily, along with the key strategies to execute it successfully.
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:00.639
Okay.
00:40:00.800 --> 00:40:04.000
Now, I'm not gonna sit here and bash on them.
00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:05.119
We're gonna go the other direction.
00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:07.440
We're gonna say, what can we do to make them better?
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:25.599
Here it is the multiplier effect of a great advisor, labor hours per RO, an elite advisor who builds trust, performs consistent walk-arounds, and presents factory maintenance menus, routinely averages 2.2 to 2.8 plus hours per RO.
00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:30.000
Uh, it says here that an average advisor might write 1.3 to 1.5.
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:38.880
So obviously that's it's bulking you up an hour plus on each RO, which is good for you and it's good for the shop.
00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:39.360
Okay.
00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:42.079
Customer retention is also another point here.
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:51.679
Over 70% of vehicle owners defect from dealership service departments to independent repair shops once their warranty expires.
00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:54.559
I understand exactly why that would work that way.
00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:58.800
Great advisors, and I can't believe they use those two words in the sentence together.
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:08.320
Great advisors build relationships and clear communication channels, stopping that churn and keeping high margin customer pay work in-house.
00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:13.360
Yes, when you provide the best service possible, who's gonna run away from that?
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:15.039
Who's gonna leave that behind?
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:25.679
Especially with some of the work I've seen lately that comes into our shop where they got the diagnosis from us, the professionals at the dealership, and went somewhere else and got something done.
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:29.119
And now they're back because that work did not get done properly.
00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:30.239
It happens.
00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:31.519
I mean, we're not perfect.
00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:51.519
There's no way I'm gonna sit here and try to tell you that we are perfect as a dealership, as a dealership technician's myself as a technician, we're not perfect, but we do have much better track record than Billy Bob Joe Jed's BMW service or Audi service or Mercedes-Benz service down the street.
00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:53.440
We just have a better track record.
00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:57.119
We have more experience, we also have the factory backing.
00:41:57.360 --> 00:41:58.880
Sometimes it's very important.
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:02.639
Uh, it says here service advisors drive future car sales.
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:04.400
Yes, they absolutely do.
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:18.559
When a customer trusts their advisor during a major service recommendation, that advisor is positioned to introduce them to sales or trade-in opportunities if repair costs outweigh the vehicle value.
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:34.559
So, what they're saying here is that probably, and I'm not gonna catch some shit about this one, but probably the most important person in your dealership is your service advisor because they take a relationship that perhaps sales started and they maintain it.
00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:47.440
They maintain it, they keep them coming back by offering them, you know, by by servicing them with respect and and and appreciation and with confidence and skill and and they earn trust along with us.
00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:49.760
We're we're helping with that now.
00:42:50.079 --> 00:43:01.920
Okay, before we were just a bunch of gorillas in the back with tools and and probably, you know, we couldn't even barely speak English and we couldn't walk around the shop without dragging our knuckles on the ground.
00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:14.559
And now, through the uh advent of the uh video, the walk around video or the DV, the video MPI or whatever you want to call it, now because of that, we are suddenly a part of that equation.
00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:22.320
And depending on how well we do our job, it just multiplies and magnifies what a good service advisor does.
00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:38.400
And that relationship is not going to end when that vehicle suddenly, I don't know, something happens to it, or it becomes uh not cost effective to repair it, or just just too difficult to have it keep going, or perhaps they they sell it to somebody or they give it to somebody.
00:43:38.559 --> 00:43:59.280
I mean, a lot of uh a lot of our customers have a tendency to give their cars to their children to go to college or to just have to go to work or whatever, and then they buy a new one from us, or at least I'd like to think they would, if we have done our job properly in servicing their vehicle, because it the old adage is true, it's never been truer than it is now.
00:43:59.440 --> 00:43:59.679
Sale.
00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:05.039
Sells the first car, the service department sells the next one and the ones after that.
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:11.280
And so it's very important for us to develop and then maintain a relationship with the customers.
00:44:11.840 --> 00:44:14.159
Here's what makes a good service advisor.
00:44:14.239 --> 00:44:18.400
Gemini says you need to have transparent communication and educational selling.
00:44:18.559 --> 00:44:19.280
Absolutely.
00:44:19.519 --> 00:44:21.440
You have to have process discipline.
00:44:21.599 --> 00:44:21.920
Okay.
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:26.400
And what it says right after this, I and I want to say uh I've never seen this.
00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:38.480
Consistently walking around every vehicle at intake and then reviewing the vehicle history, checking mileage-based factory maintenance intervals, and presenting logical options.
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:44.000
Folks, I you know, I uh I said I wasn't gonna bash on on service advisors, but and I meant it.
00:44:44.079 --> 00:44:47.840
I don't want to do that, but I have not really seen anybody who does any of those things.
00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:54.000
I mean, sure, they'll review a vehicle history, and a lot of times they'll do that because the customer's complaining about something they said they complained about before.
00:44:54.079 --> 00:45:00.719
And checking the mileage-based maintenance, uh, they have a tendency to ignore them, at least in my experience.
00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:04.559
And presenting logical options, I don't really see that going on either.
00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:09.920
Now, maybe I'm just not there when they do it, but I'm there on a semi-regular basis.
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:24.079
And I, you know, I thought about it the other day and I was talking to one of the uh one of the sorry, I was talking to one of the other technicians, and I said I asked him out loud, I just said, Have you ever heard a service advisor selling anything to a customer?
00:45:24.320 --> 00:45:29.599
And he said, No, I have I've never I've never heard that, I've never witnessed that, I've never experienced that.
00:45:29.679 --> 00:45:36.400
Um, I did actually experience it not too long ago, but only because it was late in the day and I wanted to make sure the part got ordered.
00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:50.880
And I asked the advisor to call the customer and they did they did, and we got uh hooked up with a sale and the parts are on their way, and hopefully it doesn't sit too long on my on my lift because it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
00:45:51.039 --> 00:45:53.760
I wanted to move forward here with this particular line of question.
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:56.000
What is the best way to hire service advisors?
00:45:56.159 --> 00:46:00.000
Should you start from scratch and and train them or hire experienced advisors?
00:46:00.079 --> 00:46:08.960
And it says here there is no single right answer, as the best strategy depends on your dealership's existing culture, processes, and leadership capacity.
00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:11.199
So, what that what he's trying to say here, Mr.
00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:16.880
Gemini, is that you have to look at what you have going on and try to find pieces of the puzzle that will fit.
00:46:17.039 --> 00:46:49.679
Okay, now if you're not doing the job as service manager or a general manager or an owner, if you're not if you're not actively involved in what goes on in the service department, if you're not actively involved in how a service advisor does their job, if you if your culture is that you just trust them to do the job and you trust them to perform the simple things that make up the process and you don't really provide any leadership for them, then you are gonna get the lowest common denominator who follows the path of least resistance.
00:46:49.760 --> 00:46:51.840
And that's true really with any employee.
00:46:51.920 --> 00:46:57.360
If you give an employee two jobs and they're not good at one of them, they're just not gonna do that job anymore at all.
00:46:57.519 --> 00:46:58.079
Forget about it.
00:46:58.239 --> 00:47:03.360
And with being a service advisor, I just want to say it's an extremely important job.
00:47:03.519 --> 00:47:06.480
And it's also a very labor-intensive job.
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:11.199
And I haven't seen a lot of people who really put in 100% effort to do it.
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:15.119
That's the least uh scathing thing I can say about it.
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:26.079
In the automotive industry, the choice between hiring experienced advisors versus training from scratch is a classic trade-off between speed and culture and process control.
00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:34.719
A breakdown of both approaches, along with a hybrid strategy, many top-performing dealers' groups use illustrates how to approach the decision.
00:47:34.960 --> 00:47:38.719
Strategy one Greenpeace slash hire and train from scratch.
00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:48.960
This approach involves recruiting candidates with zero automotive experience but strong customer facing skills, sales or hospitality or hospitality training.
00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:49.920
Read i.e.
00:47:50.320 --> 00:47:56.960
former restaurant servers, retail managers, phone sales reps, or bank tellers, and teaching them the service drive.
00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:04.239
Um, all three of those jobs listed there, restaurant servers, retail managers, phone sales reps, or bank tellers.
00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:05.280
That's four jobs.
00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:10.960
Uh, those those are jobs that are those are better jobs than being a service advisor.
00:48:11.119 --> 00:48:13.920
So I'm not sure you would want to go from those jobs.
00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:16.960
Maybe the phone sales rep, that job might suck, dick.
00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:21.840
But uh the other jobs could possibly be better than being a service advisor.
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:26.320
And teaching them the service drive, that is not an easy task.
00:48:26.480 --> 00:48:33.039
People are going to expect you to know how an engine works, they're gonna expect you to know certain things about a car.
00:48:33.199 --> 00:48:35.440
Not everybody, obviously.
00:48:35.679 --> 00:48:49.039
Some people are not gonna know anything uh about automobiles, and then there's gonna be other people who are gonna try to baffle you with bullshit and make you think that they know about cars when in reality, yeah, yeah, not so much.
00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:55.440
The pros of having a uh service advisor come in with no experience is that they do not have any bad habits.
00:48:55.599 --> 00:49:06.960
And I gotta tell you, that is a big one for me, okay, because a lot of our experienced service advisors in the past have come with uh, and I called it faulty faulty software.
00:49:07.119 --> 00:49:15.679
They already come with uh ideas about how they're gonna do their job, and and oh, by the way, ideas about how they're not gonna do their job, which is a big deal.
00:49:15.840 --> 00:49:26.320
They have no pre-existing shortcuts, bad desk habits, or clinical attitudes towards processes like video MPIs, active walk-arounds, or menu presentations.
00:49:26.559 --> 00:49:38.239
I think that if I saw uh if I saw a uh service advisor do an active walk around where they really looked at the car and checked the mileage and checked to see if it had any lights on in the dash, I would probably fucking fall over dead.
00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:41.840
Uh, here's another one that is a pro, hire process compliance.
00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:52.320
They follow your dealership specific DMS with CRM, which is all your customer management software and sales processes, because it is the only way they know.
00:49:52.480 --> 00:50:06.159
And this is why I feel like hiring somebody and training them from scratch, although it's an arduous process and it's going to be difficult to find anybody who will stick with it, to be quite honest with you.
00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:13.119
I think it's still the best way to go because you can train them in your particular, in your particular vernacular.
00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:15.760
You can train them to do it the way you want them to do it.
00:50:15.920 --> 00:50:22.320
You can train them to have the standards and the protocols that you have put in place.
00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:31.280
They will not have these preconsisting ideas about, oh, you know, I don't have to do that, or or I'm not gonna do this, or this is how you fuck the system.
00:50:31.440 --> 00:50:33.840
You know, that that that was a that's actually a big one.
00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:39.119
They're not gonna know how to do that until an experienced guy comes along and tells them.
00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:40.079
But they're not gonna do it.
00:50:40.159 --> 00:50:48.880
And you're gonna just tell them right from the beginning, hey, if you if you don't talk to a customer about the recommendations that we have made for their car, we can't use you.
00:50:49.039 --> 00:50:52.000
You have to talk to them, you have to say something to them.
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:58.639
You have to get into a personal, verbal, one-on-one with every customer that you talk to.
00:50:58.719 --> 00:51:03.360
And before they leave the dealership, they should know what the condition of their vehicle is.
00:51:03.519 --> 00:51:20.480
And I can tell you right now that there's a hell of a lot of service advisors out there all across the country and even the world who are just actively trying to get this customer the fuck out of their face and will say nothing to them about what's going on with their vehicle because they do not want to have a conversation with them.
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:24.639
They do not want to talk to them any more than they already have, and so they're not going to.
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:27.280
They will just hand them their keys and say, have a good one.
00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:28.159
See you later.
00:51:28.400 --> 00:51:30.320
It happens, and it happens a lot.
00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:49.760
And so, really, what has to happen, and this is just my opinion, of course, is that you have to train your uh up-and-coming service advisors to always have a personal one-on-one with the customer before he leaves about what might be on an estimate, what might they have found on an MPI.
00:51:49.920 --> 00:51:56.079
Even if you're not going to be able to sell anything, even if they they're in a hurry, just say, hey, listen, here's the estimate.
00:51:56.159 --> 00:52:07.360
There's some things on here you might want to consider getting done the next time you come in, or if they're urgent, you might want to make an appointment for next week or even tomorrow when you have more time so that we can get these things taken care of.
00:52:07.440 --> 00:52:20.239
So if they don't cause you a safety issue or a problem where you might get into an accident or have some kind of a uh of a failure that is going to cause you bigger problems and possibly even hurt you or kill you.
00:52:20.400 --> 00:52:21.039
All right.
00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:23.119
I mean, it's important.
00:52:23.360 --> 00:52:35.440
And it I can tell you right now, in my experience, an awful lot of service advisors will forego any sort of of personal interactions with a customer because they just don't want to do it.
00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:37.519
There's nothing else I can even say about that.
00:52:37.679 --> 00:52:43.599
Uh, the culture fit here, it says that uh they build their professional identity around your store's values.
00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:46.159
I think that that is extremely important.
00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:55.199
That is what I've been talking about here when you know you go to work at Joe, Joe, Joe Blow Chevrolet, you learn how to do things the Joe Blow Chevrolet way.
00:52:55.360 --> 00:52:57.519
The store's values are very important.
00:52:57.679 --> 00:53:08.719
They're important to the people who own that store or run that store and the people who are going to come into that particular store, into that particular service department, into that particular sales department.
00:53:08.880 --> 00:53:17.519
They're the ones who are going to see these values and react to them in a favorable manner, hopefully, okay, if they're presented properly.
00:53:17.679 --> 00:53:29.119
And if you have service advisors who you have trained to their person, there it says here they build their professional identity, their professional identity around your store's values.
00:53:29.280 --> 00:53:35.199
They will tell a customer, say, listen, you know, we're gonna do this, this is what we do here, then this is why we do it.
00:53:35.360 --> 00:53:39.199
And then there's no compromises as far as your safety goes.
00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:45.119
We're gonna talk to you about your tires, we're gonna talk to you about your brakes, we're gonna tell you if they're good, and we're gonna tell you if they're bad.
00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:51.440
And if they're bad, we're gonna offer an estimate, and we're gonna offer to make everything as safe as possible and work properly.
00:53:51.599 --> 00:53:58.480
That should be part of your store's values, that should be part of the personal and professional identity of your service advisors.
00:53:58.719 --> 00:53:59.280
Is it?
00:53:59.519 --> 00:54:01.199
Ask yourself that question.
00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:03.199
You know your service advisors.
00:54:03.440 --> 00:54:04.639
Is that how they are?
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:06.559
I'm pretty sure the answer is gonna come back.
00:54:06.639 --> 00:54:07.360
Yeah, fuck no.
00:54:07.920 --> 00:54:09.599
I would love it if it didn't.
00:54:09.760 --> 00:54:20.000
Uh, I've known some I've known some service advisors who know exactly what they do, what they're supposed to do, how to do it, and do it right, and put forward a professional identity.
00:54:20.159 --> 00:54:25.039
Uh lower initial cost, yes, obviously you can pay somebody who's in training a little bit less, okay?
00:54:25.199 --> 00:54:28.639
But you're gonna have to monitor, and it's just like with us as technicians.
00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:55.519
When we came up with the goddamn K plan because nobody was really evaluating the uh cost and also the value, and there's a difference between cost and value, by the way, just so you know, but the cost and the value of a technician who comes to work for you, shows up on time, and is eager to learn and get better, and real value in placing this guy on a path to retirement from your particular business.
00:54:55.679 --> 00:54:58.239
And that's what the K-Plan does that we developed.
00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:12.159
It allows people to get the training and the experience and the wages that they that they deserve and that they have earned working for you and makes them a valuable addition to your fixed department.
00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:13.039
Valuable.
00:55:13.199 --> 00:55:16.000
It adds value, it adds value at every point.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:19.199
It's like a set of stairs that lead you to the promised land.
00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:21.039
It's a light at the end of the tunnel.
00:55:21.119 --> 00:55:23.119
And you could have the very same plan.
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:28.239
And in fact, we're if I know Eric, he's probably working on this already and has it worked up for us.
00:55:28.400 --> 00:55:45.760
He's working on a K plan for service advisors where they come in and they learn how to, they learn how to be professional, they learn how to talk to people, they learn how to take criticism, they learn how to handle somebody who's not in a good mood, who's in a bad mood, or is evil or mean or an asshole.
00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:46.880
They have to learn it.
00:55:46.960 --> 00:55:52.079
And the pay structure has to be there to support that because it is really, really, really easy.
00:55:52.159 --> 00:55:55.840
And this is why that job sucks.
00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:56.239
Okay.
00:55:56.400 --> 00:55:58.800
That job sucks because people come to you.
00:55:58.960 --> 00:56:06.239
I would say 50% of them are having a fucking problem and they don't want to have a problem, and they're pissed, and they're looking for somebody to blame it on.
00:56:06.320 --> 00:56:10.559
They're looking for somebody to take it out on, and it's almost always the service advisors.
00:56:10.639 --> 00:56:13.119
And in that respect, I got to give them props.
00:56:13.280 --> 00:56:14.239
I say it all the time.
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:16.800
I think they have the worst job in the goddamn building.
00:56:16.960 --> 00:56:20.639
They also have probably the most important job in the building.
00:56:20.719 --> 00:56:31.519
And the fact that they can't do it in a lot of cases, and some of these people are trying and are getting it done, and some of them aren't getting it done, and some of them give up and say, fuck it, I can't get it done.
00:56:31.599 --> 00:56:32.880
I'm just gonna phone it in.
00:56:33.039 --> 00:56:33.920
I understand.
00:56:34.159 --> 00:56:34.880
I understand.
00:56:35.039 --> 00:56:58.480
And you gotta have a real strong, you gotta have a real good backbone, you gotta have real good confidence, a real high amount of confidence in your own personality and in your own confidence and in your own ability and in your in your own mind of how you are, and and if other people uh attack it, try to put you down and make you try to berate you, you just let them know.
00:56:58.800 --> 00:56:59.440
Well, you know what?
00:56:59.599 --> 00:57:01.440
If you want to talk to me like that, that's fine.
00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:02.559
But I'm trying to help you.
00:57:02.639 --> 00:57:10.800
If you want to keep talking like that, then we can end this relationship right now and you can leave, or you can talk to somebody else until you've pissed off everybody in the building.
00:57:10.960 --> 00:57:19.679
I want, I, I will, I will say this, and this is the last thing I really want to say about this, because there's some cons here too, as far as hiring uh people who need training here.
00:57:19.920 --> 00:57:23.280
But I want to say this before I get too much farther is I love them.
00:57:23.440 --> 00:57:24.800
As people, they're great.
00:57:24.960 --> 00:57:25.599
They're great.
00:57:25.679 --> 00:57:26.960
I love them, I really do.
00:57:27.199 --> 00:57:29.840
Um, I don't have anything bad to say about them personally.
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:41.920
It's professionally where I wish that they could do certain, they would do certain things and be more consistent in what they do, put themselves personally in front of the customers and talk to them about what they need for the vehicles.
00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:54.239
Because it appears to me in the meantime that what they do is they avoid talking to customers, they avoid sending them estimates, they avoid telling them they need things, they avoid it.
00:57:54.400 --> 00:57:59.920
And unfortunately for me and the people I work with and work for, I understand it.
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:02.400
That's why I don't fucking do it.
00:58:04.719 --> 00:58:05.760
Oh my god.
00:58:05.840 --> 00:58:06.639
I'm sorry.
00:58:06.880 --> 00:58:08.239
Now, here's some cons.
00:58:08.559 --> 00:58:16.800
Uh, you got the pros, uh, why it would be good to hire somebody uh who is green and doesn't know how to do this job and maybe shows a lot of promise.
00:58:16.960 --> 00:58:17.840
Here's the cons.
00:58:18.159 --> 00:58:19.599
Uh long ramped up time.
00:58:19.679 --> 00:58:28.559
It takes three to six months for a non-automotive hire to gain confidence with technical terminology, warranty guidelines, factory maintenance schedules, and basic mechanical understanding.
00:58:28.800 --> 00:58:29.679
Three to six months?
00:58:29.760 --> 00:58:31.039
What are you fucking nuts?
00:58:31.199 --> 00:58:35.599
We have we have some that have years in and they don't understand any of that shit.
00:58:35.760 --> 00:58:36.960
They don't understand any of that shit.
00:58:37.039 --> 00:58:39.760
They have to rely on us, and sometimes they don't rely on us.
00:58:39.920 --> 00:58:44.400
Sometimes what they'll say is, well, this guy says that you need this, but I don't think you really do.
00:58:44.639 --> 00:58:46.159
I've heard that happening before.
00:58:46.239 --> 00:58:47.280
So here's another one.
00:58:47.519 --> 00:58:49.199
Demand strong internal training.
00:58:49.280 --> 00:58:52.800
In other words, you have to depend on yourself to learn things.
00:58:53.039 --> 00:59:08.159
If your dealership lacks a structured onboarding program, a designated mentor, advisor, or clear software standards of operation, SOPs, green hires will quickly become overwhelmed and quit.
00:59:08.320 --> 00:59:09.920
That is that is it in a nutshell.
00:59:10.079 --> 00:59:16.320
That's the problem with being advisor, whether you're a greenhorn or whether you're a seasoned veteran.
00:59:16.480 --> 00:59:20.960
It is very easy to become quickly overwhelmed and quit.
00:59:21.440 --> 00:59:22.159
Very easy.
00:59:22.320 --> 00:59:31.119
What I find is, and this was at one of the shops I worked at recently, is that the uh advisors would come out into the shop and hide from customers.
00:59:31.280 --> 00:59:38.880
They'd see somebody pull in, they'd think to themselves, oh, I don't want to talk to this guy, I suddenly have to take a piss, or I suddenly have to talk to a technician.
00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:39.920
And they would scatter.
00:59:40.079 --> 00:59:43.119
For me personally, I would chain them to the fucking desk.
00:59:43.360 --> 00:59:44.480
Oh, you got a pee?
00:59:44.639 --> 00:59:46.800
I'll give you a key, and you can unlock your lock.
00:59:47.039 --> 00:59:50.239
If you're not back in five minutes, I'm gonna fucking come and find you.
00:59:50.400 --> 00:59:52.559
They used to hide in the shop all the time.
00:59:52.719 --> 00:59:53.519
It was terrible.
00:59:53.599 --> 01:00:04.079
Uh, early customer and technician friction, misidentifying customer complaints on a repair order frustrates master technicians and leads to wasted shop time.
01:00:04.320 --> 01:00:08.800
Yeah, it's a uh and it's a challenge that we all face.
01:00:09.039 --> 01:00:14.800
Uh that service advisors write, sometimes they write what the customer said and it doesn't make any sense.
01:00:14.960 --> 01:00:20.239
Sometimes they listen to what the customer said, write what they want to write, and that doesn't make any sense either.
01:00:20.400 --> 01:00:30.800
And then other times they'll write down that the customer said that this is what's going wrong, and this other thing is going wrong too, all on one line, which is a big no-no.
01:00:31.039 --> 01:00:34.239
Uh, you should never use the word and in a complaint.
01:00:34.400 --> 01:00:40.960
Okay, you got a complaint, and then you have another complaint, and it's completely different from the previous complaint, has to have a separate line.
01:00:41.199 --> 01:00:44.960
Oh, no, no, no, we can't do that because then we have to charge DIEG for both lines.
01:00:45.119 --> 01:00:46.320
Oh, we don't want to do that.
01:00:46.400 --> 01:00:54.159
And then there's the pros and cons, and I'll end this podcast pretty quickly because it's it's been a fucking train wreck of a podcast.
01:00:54.400 --> 01:00:58.320
Pros, the pros and cons of hiring experienced advisors.
01:00:58.559 --> 01:01:00.800
Pros, plug and play productivity.
01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:11.679
They know the DMS system, see CDK Reynolds, Dealer Track, or techyon, understand labor time, speak technician language, and can hit the ground running in days rather than months.
01:01:11.840 --> 01:01:17.679
Yes, yes, if you hire somebody who's got experience, they could conceivably do the job very, very well.
01:01:18.079 --> 01:01:30.000
Immediate revenue generation, experienced advisors know how to structure an RO, handle difficult customer objections, and navigate complex warranty claim requirements without hand holding.
01:01:30.159 --> 01:01:31.199
They may know all that.
01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:39.360
Immediate capacity, ideal if you are replacing a sudden departure or opening new service bays that need immediate production.
01:01:39.519 --> 01:01:43.920
Yes, hiring somebody with experience could conceivably be a good thing.
01:01:44.079 --> 01:01:44.960
Here's the cons.
01:01:45.199 --> 01:01:46.719
You're familiar with some of these.
01:01:46.880 --> 01:01:48.639
We'll bring them to you once again here.
01:01:48.880 --> 01:01:51.039
Bad habits and resistance to change.
01:01:51.199 --> 01:02:03.440
They often bring baggage from previous stores, skipping walkarounds, refusing to adopt new tech tools like video MPIs, or cherry picking high-paying ROs.
01:02:03.599 --> 01:02:05.599
Well, I don't see how they're doing that.
01:02:05.679 --> 01:02:07.119
I'm sure that there's a way they could.
01:02:07.280 --> 01:02:17.519
Cost, top producing experienced advisors expect premium pay plans, guarantees, or sign-on bonuses to leave their existing customer base.
01:02:17.679 --> 01:02:20.880
Yes, I don't suspect that there's a lot of that shit going on.
01:02:21.039 --> 01:02:32.960
High churn risk, dealership hoppers will jump ship for an extra 1% commission down the street if things get tough or if management demands strict process accountability.
01:02:33.119 --> 01:02:35.360
Uh here they uh they gave me a little chart here.
01:02:35.440 --> 01:02:40.960
It says higher to train from scratch is three to six months before you're gonna see any kind of profitability.
01:02:41.199 --> 01:02:44.320
An experienced advisor might be a week or two.
01:02:44.480 --> 01:03:04.719
Uh, process and tech adoption very high on the new guys and low to medium on the experienced guys, retention and loyalty, and it says here higher, and then in parentheses, if trained well, and on hiring experienced advisors, it says lower because they're prone to poaching.
01:03:04.800 --> 01:03:13.280
It says training overhead heavy on the new hire and minimal on the experienced advisor, and then it says ideal role slash focus.
01:03:13.440 --> 01:03:29.280
The new hire is going to want to focus on express maintenance and main drive trainees and heavy and the experienced guys are going to want to focus on heavy main shop work at a luxury dealer or a high volume dealership.
01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:29.679
Okay.
01:03:29.920 --> 01:03:32.000
What is the best hiring framework?
01:03:32.239 --> 01:03:39.599
Just to kind of finish this off, the most successful auto groups use a tiered hybrid strategy matched to their shop layout.
01:03:39.760 --> 01:03:50.800
Promote/slash train for express lanes for new guys, use non-automotive hires or high-performing lube techs and valets in express service or junior advisor roles.
01:03:51.199 --> 01:03:53.519
Junior advisor roles, that's an interesting one.
01:03:53.599 --> 01:04:05.840
Uh, lower technical complexity of oil changes, tires, and maintenance menus allows them to learn customer management, learn the software, learn the walk around without risking major technical errors.
01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:20.000
Higher experience for main shop, sure, you could do that, and then bring in experienced advisors specifically for heavy repair, complex diagnostic lines, or specialized luxury brands where deep technical knowledge and warranty navigation are critical.
01:04:20.159 --> 01:04:26.960
Key train to hiring for high emotional intelligence, sales aptitude over mechanical genius.
01:04:27.119 --> 01:04:28.559
Yes, that would be good.
01:04:28.960 --> 01:04:30.800
Because it really is a salesman's job.
01:04:31.039 --> 01:04:32.159
You have to sell stuff.
01:04:32.320 --> 01:04:39.599
And if you're not on board with selling stuff and you don't want to do it, then you're gonna wiggle and skirm to try to get out of it, and that's not a good thing either.
01:04:39.760 --> 01:04:44.159
Tech literacy, modern service drives run on digital MPIs.
01:04:44.320 --> 01:04:45.440
They absolutely do.
01:04:45.599 --> 01:04:52.639
That's why we're trying to get out there and help train the new guys here on uh digital MPIs.
01:04:52.800 --> 01:05:01.199
Texting platforms and automated workflow tools look for candidates comfortable toggling quickly between multiple screens and software interfaces.
01:05:01.519 --> 01:05:02.800
That doesn't include me.
01:05:03.039 --> 01:05:03.840
I struggle.
01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:10.480
I have these big fat fingers, and when I go to press something on my phone, I press three buttons and it doesn't work L at the same time.
01:05:10.639 --> 01:05:11.920
Not a good thing, Eddie.
01:05:12.159 --> 01:05:16.960
All right, so that's a a podcast for you that is just a jumbled up mess of shit.
01:05:17.119 --> 01:05:24.480
And I apologize, but I didn't really have anything to start out with, and then I ended up going down my favorite rabbit hole and talking about advisors.
01:05:24.639 --> 01:05:28.880
As far as as far as service advisors go, let me just leave you with this one thing, okay?
01:05:29.119 --> 01:05:31.599
They're people, they're trying to do their job.
01:05:31.760 --> 01:05:34.400
It's it's a tough, tough, tough job.
01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:35.679
I really mean it.
01:05:36.000 --> 01:05:47.679
And as a technician, sometimes, and and I personally I'm responsible for this, and I really, really try hard not to do this, but sometimes we're responsible for making the job hard.
01:05:47.840 --> 01:05:52.559
Sometimes they don't get what they want out of me, or they don't get what they expect out of me.
01:05:52.719 --> 01:05:58.559
And I I always feel like that they should learn what to expect being different from each technician.
01:05:58.719 --> 01:06:06.400
What they should do on the on the other end of it is when they let a customer know how long something's gonna take, because that they all ask.
01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:08.320
They all ask, oh, how long is that gonna take?
01:06:08.480 --> 01:06:09.760
You need to hedge that bet.
01:06:09.840 --> 01:06:12.320
You need to underpromise and over-deliver.
01:06:12.400 --> 01:06:14.880
And when you do that, you look like a hero, no matter who you are.
01:06:14.960 --> 01:06:18.800
If you're the tech or if you're the service advisor, you're gonna look like a hero.
01:06:18.960 --> 01:06:21.920
Why it's so hard for them to get to do, get them to do that.
01:06:22.159 --> 01:06:23.679
I I have no idea.
01:06:23.760 --> 01:06:28.239
They're constantly coming back and saying, hey, can you do six hours worth of work in two hours?
01:06:28.719 --> 01:06:29.039
No.
01:06:29.920 --> 01:06:33.280
No, I might be able to do it in three, but I'm not gonna be able to do it in two.
01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:36.880
Why would you why would you run us right up against a wall like that?
01:06:37.039 --> 01:06:39.519
Because there's almost always something that goes wrong.
01:06:39.679 --> 01:06:43.679
I had a car the other day that the service advisor wanted it done at five o'clock.
01:06:43.760 --> 01:06:46.400
I said, No, I might have it done at six, but not five.
01:06:46.480 --> 01:06:49.199
And they got upset and said, Well, I need it done at six then.
01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:59.199
And then at six o'clock, I'm finishing up the alignment on it, and they shut the air off, and the alignment rack runs on air, and the car was almost stuck on the lift.
01:06:59.360 --> 01:07:13.440
And I got, I gotta say, I did, I laughed because they they they did not factor in the fact that there might be some unforeseen circumstance, and there it was, staring them in the face, screwing them up, screwing everybody up.
01:07:13.679 --> 01:07:17.519
You can't go and guarantee a job's gonna be done at a specific time.
01:07:17.679 --> 01:07:20.880
You just can't do it because this is the planet Murphy.
01:07:21.039 --> 01:07:22.800
All right, that's enough for your Uncle Jimmy.
01:07:22.960 --> 01:07:26.800
Apologize for a crappy, crappy, crappy fucking podcast.
01:07:27.039 --> 01:07:28.880
As a technician, you work for a business.
01:07:28.960 --> 01:07:31.679
You're technically, if you're flat rate, you're in business for yourself.
01:07:31.920 --> 01:07:33.360
Count on a whole lot of other people.
01:07:33.519 --> 01:07:36.400
You need to help them do what they do if you can.
01:07:36.480 --> 01:07:41.039
Uh, it would be great if everybody was all on the same page and all trying to get the same things done.
01:07:41.199 --> 01:07:52.239
A lot of people in the dealership, a lot of people in the shop are just trying to get us get get the path, use the path of least resistance and not have to do what what they're supposed to do.
01:07:52.400 --> 01:08:05.519
Hopefully, you got a shop full of good people who are working hard for you and doing the things they need to do to get you get you paid, get you services and maintenance and repairs to keep you uh keep you busy, keep you earning money, keep you earning them money.
01:08:05.840 --> 01:08:06.239
All right.
01:08:07.199 --> 01:08:07.840
All right.
01:08:08.239 --> 01:08:10.400
This is your Uncle Jimmy signing off.
01:08:10.480 --> 01:08:11.119
You know how he does it?
01:08:11.199 --> 01:08:12.719
Yeah, he says, See ya.
