Ratchet+Wrench Radio

Innovate: The Past, Present and Future of Shop Technology

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 their daily operations. 

Lead: The Basics of Branding

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. 

Grow: Becoming a Social Media Guru

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 resonates with that audience.

Innovate: Preparing Your Business for Profitable Expansion

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 on Carl Icahn, Dealerships’ Market Share, Impact of Ride-Sharing

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. 

Innovate: Attracting Your Optimal Customer

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. 

Lead: Following the Cash Flow

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  

Grow: Mentorship and Motivation

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.

Innovate: Perfect Your Verbal Business Card

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.

Innovate: Transforming Your Company’s Culture

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.