Ratchet+wrench Radio

Jeff Matt owns the six-location Victory Auto Service & Glass operation in Minnesota. He details how he grew his network and offers advice for any shop owner looking to expand.

No two shops are the same, and various factors can determine a shop's efficiency numbers. However, there are universal tips that can improve one of the most crucial KPIs that determines profitability. To help, Andy Fiffick, owner of 10 Rad Air Complete Car Care locations in the Cleveland area, lays out how he builds his shops from the ground-up for maximum efficiency and how he coaches his team to maximize the KPI.

Is there truly a technician shortage? According to Grow host Rissy Sutherland, there are just as many if not more men or women entering tech schools. The issue is there aren’t enough people staying in the industry after tech school. In June’s Grow podcast, Sutherland speaks with two members of NASTF’s Road to Great Technicians board, Jill Saunders and Donny Seyfer, whose objective is to recruit new technicians, train them, and communicate their findings to the industry.   Saunders and Seyfer detail the work they’re doing with NASTF, and how shop owners around the country can get involved.

In this month’s edition of the Lead podcast with Ratchet+Wrench Radio, Aaron Stokes discusses how shops can get through slow days and slow periods. Stokes discusses the misunderstandings most shop owners have about slow periods, how to best prepare for them and how to keeping your cool and keep your staff in check when you experience a downturn.

This week, Ratchet+Wrench is launching the “How I Did It” series, where we look at some of the most successful shop owners throughout the industry, and the obstacles they overcame to take their business to the next level. Our first guest is Brian Sump, a former professional athlete who had no business experience prior to owning Denver-based Avalon Motorsports in 2007. Since that time, Sump has turned the German-specialty shop into what a number of industry consultants consider to be one of the best repair facilities in the industry. Additionally, he launched Klasse Auto Rentals to supplement Avalon, and launched a second facility, Denver-based Urban Autocare in 2015. Sump goes over the calculated risks he took to take his businesses to the next level, and discusses how he improved his business acumen as he slowly grew his shop.

In this week's Innovate podcast, Chris Cloutier, shop technology expert and owner of Golden Rule Auto Care, joins the show to discuss the timeline of a shop's technology.  Cloutier created his own site to go over this topic, and he walks through the timeline's three stages, including where your shop is now, and where it can be. The further along on the timeline you are, Cloutier says, the more efficient and productive your shop can be. Stage One (3:26): Stage one covers the vast majority of today's shops. This is the inescapable technology, like your shop's website, or online reviews.  Stage Two (10:10): Shops in stage two know they need to embrace technology, and leverage it in their day-to-day operations. These shops have already embraced software like automated workflow, or digital vehicle inspections.  Stage Three (30:04): These shops are in what Cloutier calls the advanced category, and are the 1 percent. These early adopters may have already included cloud based SMS software, or telematics into thei

What do customers think of when they see your logo? In this week's episode of the Lead podcast, Aaron Stokes discusses his thoughts on branding and how you should represent yourself to your surrounding community. 

On this week’s Grow podcast, Rissy Sutherland brings in two guests to discuss a vital marketing tactic for any shop—developing a presence on social media, specifically Facebook. Tim Rodifer, owner of Milex/Mr. Transmission in Johnson City, Tenn. has built up a following of nearly 10,000 likes on Facebook. He now receives about 20-30 new customers per month, mostly done through internet advertising like Facebook and pay per clicks. Rodifer discusses the important balance in getting new customers through Facebook without losing the old, along with putting out Facebook ads that get the biggest return on investment. Additionally, Rodifer shares the lessons he learned in how to build relationships with his customer base through social media. Dorothy Freeman Self, founder of DFS Creative Concepts in South Carolina, discusses the importance of social media and why it’s a worthy investment for any business. She’ll go over how a shop can establish an audience on Facebook, and how you should create content that reso

Over his 17 years as a shop owner, Greg Bunch, owner of five Aspen Auto Care locations throughout central Colorado, has mastered the art of measured business expansion. In this week's Innovate podcast, Bunch details everything a shop owner considering expansion should keep in mind. Bunch says that, from reports he’s seen, 58 percent of shop owners want to be out of the business by 2020. In the next few years, there will be a tremendous opportunity for shop owners who want to go multi-store by buying out competitive shops. To reach this point however, it’s vital to focus on building your business’s foundation, to ensure that success can be duplicated somewhere else. Bunch details how your shop can construct a “franchise manual,” and how you can find another location that best positions your brand for future success.

Jim Lang, industry guru and president of Lang Marketing, joins the show to discuss three major issues that will impact the independent repair industry in 2018 and beyond. 1:20: Lang discusses Tenneco purchasing Carl Icahn’s Federal Mogul in a $5.4 billion deal. What does this mean for Icahn’s empire, and where do independent shops fit in? 6:00: Several months ago, Lang put out a report dissecting how dealerships have steadily been gaining a larger share of the repair market. Lang details why dealerships have been taking more of this market share, and where independent repair shops still have the upper hand. 11:00: Lang discusses the future of ride-sharing and autonomous vehicles, and how it will impact the automotive repair industry. 

Knowing who you want to target as a desired customer base is a vital aspect in making your shop as successful as possible. Kim Auernheimer, owner of CS Automotive in Brentwood, Tenn., learned this firsthand as she shifted her customer base from value-focused customers, to more affluent customers who were willing to pay more for quality service.  In this month’s Innovate podcast, Auernheimer goes over the keys to narrowing down and capturing the customer base that will be most beneficial to your business. This involved completely rebranding her shop, increasing labor rates, and taking a deep dive into her community's demographics. 

As Aaron Stokes says, cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. Properly managing the cash in your shop and building a reserve is key to giving your operations some room for error. When managing your cash flow, Stokes says that discipline and emotional management is key, especially if you’re a newer shop owner. He goes over the keys for a shop owner to manage his or her back office operations, and get the rest of the team on board with the plan. 0:56: The importance of cash flow 2:15: Difference between cash flow and a profit and loss statement 8:40: How to keep track of cash flow and accrual 13:08: Getting your team on board with the system 15:58 The importance of being disciplined with your cash  

Jason Smith, owner of M&M Car Care Center, joins Rissy Sutherland to discuss his personal journey, and the struggles of being an owner of multiple independent shops. Part of this journey involved leaving his business for eight months to become a service advisor at a dealership, and deciding whether or not to sell his business after a significant downturn. He shares how mentorship and a newfound approach and attitude allowed him to resurrect his passion and successfully rebuild his shop. Aaron Stokes, owner of six shops throughout Tennessee and founder of Shop Fix Academy, shares how mentorship helped him grow his own career as a shop owner. From what he’s learned in nearly two decades in the industry, Stokes details how he helped Smith grow his business, and turn things around with positive reinforcement and feedback.

If your shop is dependent on word-of-mouth advertising, then you need to understand how to talk about your shop with customers and area businesses. Eric Twiggs, a coach with the Automotive Training Institute, discusses a few simple steps you can take to perfect your verbal business card and effectively market your shop to networking groups, which should result in a plethora of referrals.

Owner Bud Wildman shares how a simple meeting with ATI convinced him to heavily invest in improving the company culture at his shop, Precision Auto in Germantown, Maryland. For Wildman, this process involved changing or removing negative energy in his shop, while infusing it with new employees who have a consistent positive attitude. Once you’ve had the opportunity to create this positive culture, Wildman says, you’ll do anything to protect it. He covers some of the 24 fundamentals he created for a strong atmosphere in his shop, and the conception of his shop's “Golden Wrench Award,” which he gives to his top employees of the month.

As a shop owner, your employees will consistently be influenced by your actions, whether you like it or not. In this week’s Lead Podcast, Aaron Stokes discusses the power of influence, and how being a disciplined leader can bring out the best in your employees. To get your employees to do what you need them to, Stokes says, it’s important to be the best version of yourself every day to draw respect from the rest of your team.

As your shop grows, it’s vital to implement a structured training program for your entire staff. On this month’s Grow podcast, Rissy Sutherland discusses how to effectively set this program up with Chris Chesney, senior director of training at Carquest Technical Institute, and Brad Pellman, owner of Pellman’s automotive in Boulder, Colorado. Brad lays out what you can do at the shop level, as far as training technicians, putting a pathway together and letting technicians control their own destiny. Chris details how everyone in the industry can make a difference and get involved with better training efforts.

We recorded this week’s Ratchet+Wrench Radio podcast from VISION in Kansas City, and guests include four different management training course instructors. Each presenter also discusses why they keep coming back to VISION, and what their favorite parts of the conference are. Amy Mattinat, owner of Vt.-based Auto Craftsmen, discusses effective in-house marketing strategies, and why a blog should be an important component of your shop’s website (0:30). Danny Sanchez, CEO of Autoshop Solutions goes over the first steps to creating a strong company culture, and how he keeps things fun at his own business (6:13). Industry veteran Bill Haas discusses the difference between a challenging and difficult customer, and some common mistakes shops make when an especially difficult customer comes through the door (10:54). Jeremy O’Neal, founder of AdvisorFix, explains how a digital sales process works, and why it could be beneficial for your shop (16:05).

Frank Leutz, president of Desert Car Care in Chandler, Ariz., joins Ratchet+Wrench Radio to discuss the importance of growing your own talent through an apprenticeship program, and how you can successfully attract young talent to your shop.

In Aaron Stokes’ inaugural Lead episode as part of the Ratchet+Wrench Radio Network, he discusses the best starting points to position your shop for maximum growth and future success. To take your business to the next level he says, you’ll have to change up your daily patterns and surround yourself with people more experienced than yourself.