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Auto 226 Interview with Chris — Transcript

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0:05all right how's it going everyone soap
0:07uh I'm with my really good friend Chris
0:10today uh Chris is gonna he and I are
0:12gonna talk about kind of the uh
0:13different aspects of dealing with
0:16difficulty as a being a service advisor
0:18so uh Chris just like the other uh
0:21individuals we've had
0:23um talk to you all is uh you know a long
0:26time service advisor that I've worked
0:27with for many years
0:29um he has comes with an absolute giant
0:31wealth of knowledge
0:33um so what we're going to do is uh we're
0:34going to kind of uh streamline this this
0:37talk and he and I are going to talk
0:38about kind of the difficulties um and
0:41how you overcome uh the different heart
0:43you know dealing with difficult customer
0:45difficult technicians uh difficult
0:47management and of course you know parts
0:49and how you how you navigate
0:51um through all that so uh Chris is going
0:54to do a quick introduction of yourself
0:55your experience that you've had uh as a
0:57service yeah
0:59hey guys like I said uh my name is Chris
1:01uh I was a service advisor for about 20
1:03years started off with Chevrolet went to
1:07Ford went to Chrysler worked for
1:09Volkswagen for a little bit so kind of
1:13been around the block I guess you'd say
1:15um
1:17yeah I started off I think when I was 19
1:20or 20 years old back when service
1:21advisors worked uh Monday through Friday
1:24eight to five it was an awesome gig back
1:27then by the time I wrapped it up we were
1:30working Monday through Friday seven to
1:32seven and then we got to work an extra
1:34Saturday eight hours
1:36so things changed as well
1:39I was there
1:41yeah yeah so you want to talk you know
1:44go into
1:45you know just the difficulties of the
1:48change with the time schedule I mean we
1:49went from we were the king of the
1:51dealership I mean
1:53everybody bowed to us we made the
1:55dealership stay alive
1:57to not so much when I left
2:01yeah yeah lots of
2:06one of the good things that came out of
2:09the pandemic was there was a lot of
2:10dealerships moving towards you know
2:12almost all dealerships are Monday
2:14through Saturday but there was a push
2:16there was a couple Honda stores that
2:18were wanting to do seven days a week you
2:21know yeah and and it wasn't going to be
2:24seven days a week oh we're gonna hire
2:26two more service advisors and six more
2:29techs and you know two more lockporters
2:32it was the existing crew is not going to
2:34change a lot of you are going to have to
2:37work incredibly hard hours
2:40um I I still have a buddy that uh he was
2:43at a Ford dealership local here in
2:46Orange County
2:47and they went seven days a week and
2:49let's just say that Ford dealership does
2:51not exist anymore right
2:53didn't last long yeah and and that's one
2:56of the things that's always funny is you
2:58know Chris and I have worked many
2:59Christmas Eve's
3:02um to where it's one of those where it's
3:04like it's getting on to where a normal
3:06person would be with their family
3:08enjoying a nice meal right before
3:10Christmas and that's not the case for us
3:13we're trying to get a Durango back
3:14together you know and he's dealing with
3:16a customer that's pissed off that's road
3:19tripping to you know Colorado that night
3:22and you know trying to get that that
3:24going and one of the big changes you
3:27know in the industry was you know
3:28customer first
3:31um and with dealing with that that kind
3:32of has kind of bred some difficult
3:34customers and I know uh Chris and I both
3:36uh in our passive Dell was some really
3:39pretty extreme customers that will fly
3:41off the handle
3:43um the key thing though is is it's is
3:46it's different you got to understand
3:47that you know that's that's the money
3:49that's coming in so uh can you think of
3:51like anyone in particular Chris a
3:53customer wise that was you know
3:55particularly difficult to handle and how
3:57you how you handled it
3:59oh you'll get customers I mean
4:02I'll give you a difficult customer but
4:05it actually was a very nice customer you
4:07mentioned road tripping I had a customer
4:09that was on a road trip and they were
4:11Towing their fifth wheel with our truck
4:14and uh I think at this time it was a
4:17Dodge vehicle and the truck just you
4:20know came apart and they lived in my
4:23Shop's parking lot
4:24for I think four or five days because we
4:27couldn't get parts and I mean they're
4:29dry camping in a parking lot they're
4:31running out of water they can't use the
4:33bathroom anymore because their tanks are
4:35full they can't move that fifth wheel
4:37because I want to say it was like 30
4:39plus feet long
4:41and the worst thing for me was they were
4:44right there every minute of the day I
4:46was there they were there so I couldn't
4:49escape them I couldn't hang up the phone
4:51and Escape them yeah so um you know they
4:54they were very understanding and long
4:57story short you know hey we got it fixed
4:59and they went away happy you know
5:02another one was I was working uh for
5:06Chrysler
5:08[Laughter]
5:10um we had a big rainstorm and a guy had
5:12his new Wrangler and he thought I'm
5:13gonna go four-wheeling you know and he
5:16goes up to a local area you guys
5:18probably know where it's at everybody
5:19goes when it rains and uh cheap gets
5:23towed in
5:24and he's
5:27just you know cursing and swearing about
5:29his Jeep and it's not trail rated and so
5:32on and so forth and uh you just gotta
5:35sit there and suck it up you can't say a
5:37word because you don't know what's
5:38happened yet you think you know but you
5:40don't until you tear it apart
5:43so 48 Hours go by we tear into this
5:47thing we find out he was in some deep
5:50water he hikes or locked his engine
5:53no warranty brother you're on your own
5:56he came unglued
5:58suddenly you know you get like District
6:00reps and area reps coming in and all of
6:03a sudden you're Super Rad customer pay
6:06engine job turns into Goodwill warranty
6:10and technicians don't want to do it so
6:14you know it's uh it's the whole gamut it
6:18could go from
6:20you know easy oil change to same oil
6:23change and that customer saw someone
6:25driving his car yeah
6:27you know and it happens they saw him in
6:30a drive-through you know it could be
6:34thing you literally walk in and you
6:36don't know what you're going to get hit
6:37with every day in the service Drive yeah
6:39no when we when we first brought back uh
6:44the Hyundai franchise so the store that
6:46uh Chris and I were at was Chrysler for
6:49the longest time and then they brought
6:50back Hyundai and it was on the same
6:53service drive so yeah Wendy's and
6:56Chryslers were both serviced at the same
6:58time and I had a waiter and I remember
7:01specifically I remember the exact car I
7:03almost remember the exact tag and it was
7:05a silver Hyundai Sonata and it was there
7:08for a waiter oil change well it just so
7:10happened that the service manager for
7:12Hyundai and their head service advisor
7:15went out in the car to go get breakfast
7:18with it and I was waiting for the car at
7:21that time where Chris and I worked there
7:23was um kind of this Bullpen area where
7:26the customers could literally wait so
7:29Chris would write him up and then they
7:31could basically sit on almost kind of
7:34like nice perk benches or metal kind of
7:36corrugated and and basically sit there
7:39and watch the cars going now and I
7:42remember the customer was sitting there
7:43and I'm kind of panicked because at that
7:45time I can't find the car you know a lot
7:47borders were looking for it you know the
7:49customer can clearly see like their
7:50car's not getting their oil change done
7:52and all of a sudden you know service
7:54manager and the other service advisor
7:56you know come and they get out and as
7:58they get out they're both holding two
8:00big bags of you know um Del Taco
8:03breakfast burritos for everyone and
8:05literally caught red Hannah this
8:07customer came on glued on them but it
8:09was one of those where it's like
8:10customer was right in that sense you did
8:13it yeah yeah
8:15so I had a
8:18go ahead sorry go forward go for it I
8:20mean I I was working at Chevrolet and we
8:24pulled up a a Corvette up and this was
8:26back in early 90s you know I would say
8:30when Corvettes were cool but Corvettes
8:33are never cool
8:34[Laughter]
8:36dude you you we guys would pull up the
8:40car the service drive cars running
8:42some dude walks up Pops in it drives
8:44away calm as can be wasn't his car yeah
8:48you know the guy who owned the car was
8:50busy and paying his bill so anything can
8:54happen I mean it's just the service
8:56Drive is just
8:58it's like magic eight ball you know
9:00what's going to happen today you just
9:03don't know and the weirdest thing you
9:04think
9:05can happen not even close right yeah and
9:10that's that's kind of the Wild Thing
9:11with being a service advisor is is one
9:13of the benefits too is if you if you get
9:15bored at your job real easily you're not
9:17going to as a service advisor no
9:21um you know back to that is
9:24even with these difficult customers as
9:26hard as they may be
9:28the one thing that they all are is your
9:31paycheck yeah you don't get a base pay
9:34anymore you don't get an hourly plus
9:38your commission you are strictly
9:40commissioned so everything is a customer
9:43you have to do everything to take their
9:44money and make them happy yeah I mean
9:48I had a y'all are gonna laugh I remember
9:50this fella he was from New York he was
9:52my shop foreman
9:54um learned a ton from him this was 30
9:57plus years ago
9:58I remember his first
10:01it's in the last name I can't remember a
10:04lot of stuff from two days ago but I
10:05remember that dude
10:06um he taught me a bunch about how to be
10:09a service advisor you know he gave me
10:11the whole like hey when you walk through
10:13the shop carry a repair order in your
10:15hand and look like you're pissed off and
10:16going somewhere that way everybody else
10:18leaves you alone they won't ask you for
10:20anything extra totally holds true to
10:22today I mean look at Taylor he's going
10:24oh yeah I walk around like I'm grumpy
10:25you know that way nobody will talk to me
10:28I had a another sales manager old-time
10:33sales manager
10:34the dealership I was at had been around
10:36since early 50s and was still family
10:39owned at the time
10:40kind of like go see Cal anybody remember
10:44that guy yeah
10:46so we were out there and one of his
10:48sales managers comes up and he's smoking
10:52his Pall Mall cigarette and we're
10:54chatting it's like 110 degrees out he's
10:57got a steaming cup of coffee and a Paul
10:58ball in his hand and he's like I don't
11:01know how you boys in service do this
11:03I'm like why what do you mean you got to
11:06sell cars they're expensive
11:08he goes what you don't understand is
11:10people come by a car
11:13I have to find a car that fits them
11:14basically I gotta find a car that they
11:16can afford per month monthly payment
11:19that's all they care about they drive
11:21away with a shiny car it goes vroom's
11:23room new car smell and they can show it
11:26off to their friends
11:28because you they come in they're pissed
11:30off why do they come in here car's broke
11:33right
11:35you then got to tell them how much it is
11:37you then take their car for a week
11:39you give them their car back you charge
11:42them a ton of money
11:44they have no idea what you did the only
11:47thing they can see different is their
11:48car got a shitty car wash yep you just
11:51sold them invisible yeah
11:54the rest of my life has been I sell
11:57invisible yeah for 20 years in the
11:59service Drive I sold invisible I own my
12:03own business now I still sell invisible
12:07yeah so it's as soon as you realize that
12:10you can sell invisible that's when you
12:12become a good service advisor yeah
12:14exactly so and and that's that's kind of
12:17the thing that is key is
12:20you go to you know I always bring up you
12:22go to like Starbucks you know you're
12:24gonna get a coffee you're still gonna
12:25get a coffee you know it now it can go
12:27downhill from there but when you go in
12:31to go get your car serviced even if it's
12:32maintenance right and you you can speak
12:35to this curse word even if someone's
12:37going in for General oil change
12:38nothing's wrong with their car they're
12:40just maintaining it to keep it on the
12:42road
12:42it's still not a fun fun experience you
12:45know no because I'm gonna find something
12:48right right
12:50um and service but service advisors are
12:53just there to kind of
12:54um you know they they're there to make
12:57it better and if if you can't you're
12:59gonna flounder right you know yep you
13:03gotta you gotta make them happy you
13:05gotta cuddle them and then you're gonna
13:07figure out how much money you're gonna
13:08take from them because that's your job
13:09if you don't do it you get fired yeah I
13:12mean I used to play games with myself
13:15um if I could put a set of wiper blades
13:18on every car that came in the service
13:20Drive
13:21so when times were great I had probably
13:2440 new cars a day that came into my
13:27service Drive
13:29I would probably carry over 15 to the
13:31next day but 40 cars if I could put 37
13:36sets of wiper blades on those and I
13:39didn't even have a technician do it
13:40because it cost money to pay them I
13:42would snap them on myself I would make
13:44thousands extra per paycheck when ultra
13:48low sulfur diesel fuel came out and
13:50everybody was freaking out
13:52well hey all these guys have these
13:54trucks they need additive for their
13:57diesel fuel
13:58I would sell so much of that because I
14:00would put one in their tank and one
14:03cup holder my parts department manager
14:06said you've got to stop selling it I
14:08can't buy enough of it to keep up with
14:10just me I was just one guy yeah
14:13that's how you make your paycheck yeah
14:15you know every single car gets up sold
14:18something doesn't matter something you
14:21find something on it yeah I mean ask
14:23Taylor a car could come in that's
14:25a year and a half old we're gonna find
14:27something that needs right
14:30I always say PT Cruisers were my
14:33favorite because it's like doesn't
14:34matter how many miles are on it it's
14:36gonna be yeah twelve hundred dollars
14:38worth of service
14:39PT loser yep guaranteed and it was one
14:43of those it doesn't matter if they came
14:44back three months or they were here
14:46three months ago
14:47it's still going to probably need 1200
14:49worth of work and that's one of those
14:52things that like
14:54it and it's not it's not frivolous stuff
14:56right you know like what Chris is
14:57bringing up about the the fuel additives
15:00if you weren't doing that on early low
15:02sulfur diesels they were plugging up
15:04dpfs so selling that well I'm just gonna
15:08ballpark it that's probably what roughly
15:10forty dollars in fuel additives right
15:12yeah yeah yeah give give or take
15:15doing that every oil change was
15:18potentially saving the person Seven
15:20Grand when the DPF got plugged the
15:22diesel particulate filter so it is one
15:25of those things that it's it's a
15:26worthwhile Endeavor now the wiper blades
15:29is kind of funny because both the Chris
15:31and I worked for a um arts and service
15:34director
15:35that was Notorious for wanting us to
15:38sell wiper blades on stuff except for
15:39his timing was always really bad and I
15:42remember specifically I think it was the
15:44car with you that car came in and it got
15:49towed in motor was blown up and you know
15:53we tore it down to the diag customers
15:55like I can't afford to fix it
15:57and was getting it towed out and and
16:00that happens occasionally you know you
16:02can't you can't fall back you do get
16:04paid for the diagnostic times the
16:05service advisor does get the time the
16:07percentage of the time
16:09but I remember specifically because we
16:11we got the car pushed up waiting for the
16:13tow truck to come
16:15and that parts and service director came
16:16out of his office and happened to see
16:18that there was a car on the service
16:19drive with bad wiper blades and he and
16:23he in front of Chris and I pulls the
16:26wiper blade up and and pulls the little
16:28tail all the way off the wiper blade and
16:30goes rip the rubber right off yep right
16:32off you guys should have sold this and
16:35it was one of those like yeah man hey I
16:38don't think the wiper blades are that
16:39big of a deal since it won't drive
16:41because the motor is blown up yeah and
16:43and he and he's looking and he basically
16:46just wrecked something on the customer's
16:47car dealership had to eat it on a set of
16:50wiper blades on a car that was not
16:53drivable completely inoperable yeah yeah
16:56and my wiper blade story actually came
16:59years before this guy yeah but uh you
17:02know it I mean the guy was on the right
17:04track with like as a service advisor
17:06yeah every penny on there on the on the
17:10final repair order counts towards your
17:12final paycheck it's a percentage you get
17:13a percentage Yeah and you know
17:15everything is broken down you know I
17:19mean every penny counts the end of the
17:20month we're watching Pennies on Parts on
17:24labor you know it's a tiered system so
17:27you know you have to have certain marks
17:29you hit before you get certain
17:30percentage increases it's a hero to zero
17:34in 30 days exactly exactly I mean
17:38I had a I had a dealership to where you
17:43know everyone's in competition there's
17:45all the service advisors we all sit
17:46there we're friends but we're not
17:48friends we each run our own individual
17:50business for ourselves within that
17:53dealership and I had a scenario where um
17:57working at a dealer and it was on its
17:59third generation of ownership and I had
18:02made them more profit in one uh quarter
18:06than they'd ever seen in their entire
18:08ownership
18:09if I told you the amount of profit I
18:12made y'all would call me a liar so I'm
18:14not going to tell you it was a million
18:15dollars yeah it was a million dollars
18:19um I did that in a week and a half two
18:22weeks later I was in the owner's office
18:24getting my ass
18:26handed to me for giving away eight spark
18:30plugs
18:31so seven dollars eight dollars a piece
18:35the technician and I had some Rapport so
18:37he charged no labor on it and then I had
18:41a quickie wax done by our hourly our
18:45minimum wage hourly wax guy
18:48on a seven thousand dollar repair
18:50they chewed me out like you wouldn't
18:53believe
18:54hero to zero in 30 days yeah now that's
18:59always one of those things too that that
19:01I try to remind people is and this is
19:03the same as a tech you know some come
19:04from the tech side of things you could
19:06have a car that you just diagnosed you
19:08hit it out of the park you found this
19:10weird issue and the cars fixed literally
19:14there's the the two second rule like oh
19:17wait forgot about that oh hey you didn't
19:19clock in for lunch within the five hours
19:21or you didn't you know you didn't charge
19:24out this can of WD-40 to the shop ticket
19:26correctly and and yep and you're a zero
19:29again
19:30um yeah
19:31it's all forgotten immediately once it's
19:33done it's forgotten about and start all
19:35over yeah and and it's like that every
19:38time and that's that's a tough thing for
19:39people to adjust to you know you NE you
19:42never normally are at that like Peak for
19:46very long you know because any any one
19:48thing happens you can have a a customer
19:50come in and
19:51say hey it was a scuff mark on my doors
19:55on my door panel from when the attacker
19:58the law Porter got in to move my car and
20:00you get a bad CSI score you could have a
20:02full you know uh full hundreds on your
20:06CSI your customer service index scored
20:08and then one little thing dings you and
20:11the service managers ripping your head
20:13off
20:14I had perfect CSI one month and one of
20:19my customers who was in for an oil
20:20change got him in and out I think our
20:23our time frames were less than 30
20:25minutes from the moment I hit print
20:28because it's time stamp to the moment I
20:30hit print invoice it was less than 30
20:32minutes which is pretty epic
20:34um
20:35customer goes up into the sales
20:37department and sits in the waiting room
20:39she had kids with her when it came time
20:41for the CSI report about how everything
20:43went she gave me flying colors but in
20:46the comments she wrote down that she was
20:48very disappointed and might not ever
20:49come back because there wasn't enough
20:51deploys in the playroom up front for
20:54their kids while they were there well
20:56that dinged my CSI which then lowered my
21:01paycheck yeah and it had nothing to do
21:03with me whatsoever it was sales yeah
21:06that's that's the way it goes exactly
21:08you know a lot of times after the
21:11purchase of a vehicle
21:13they'll get all these surveys
21:15you're the next person they see and
21:18you're the person the service department
21:20is the first survey they get after they
21:23purchase this vehicle so if they're mad
21:25because they didn't get floor mats or
21:27maybe they didn't get a full tank of gas
21:29that first oil change they're going to
21:31take it out on you and that CSI report
21:34is going to affect your paycheck not the
21:36sales guy because it's been months it's
21:38going to be you so you have to be
21:40diligent on asking all kinds of
21:43questions it's it's just like you're a
21:45detective you have to play detective oh
21:47yeah absolutely you know I mean that
21:50being said God we'd walk up to cars and
21:53you get to know the cars you know how
21:55old they are you know what's in warranty
21:57you know it's out of warranty so you
21:59walk up to a car that's out of warranty
22:01and maybe the last four cars you wrote
22:04up as a service advisor were all under
22:06warranty
22:08you still make money you just make a
22:10little bit less on warranty back in my
22:12day
22:13so you walk up to a car and you
22:15intentionally take a route around the
22:17car to get to the driver it's the
22:20longest
22:21so you might start at the passenger
22:23front fender
22:25you walk down the car you look inside
22:28the car to see what's there is it kept
22:31neat is it clean
22:32is there a briefcase on the seat there's
22:35a back seat have books are they a
22:37college student with no money you then
22:39make your way around the back bumper of
22:41the car
22:42people that go to college are real proud
22:44about where they went they're gonna have
22:46a little license plate frame that says
22:47they're alumni of yada yada yada
22:51is it like an Ivy League school
22:53did they come out of USC yeah you know
22:56I'm looking at the bumper stickers in
22:58their car what's their Vibe you know
23:00they got something that says I'd rather
23:01be fishing
23:03now I'm coming around the backside like
23:05a cop you know and I'm looking in at
23:07them what are they wearing they got nice
23:10clothes on is that a lady with a nice
23:12purse a name brand that we might know
23:13what kind of jewelry they got on is it a
23:16guy with like a nice rolly
23:18dude I've already decided how much money
23:20I'm gonna take from you before I say
23:22hello
23:24yeah exactly that's my job that's how I
23:27make money yeah and I'm like a baseball
23:29player man I came up to bat if I struck
23:31out like before dude this time I'm going
23:33for a home run
23:34exactly exactly
23:37so now so
23:38I'm kind of Shifting Gears so you know
23:42dealing with customers is one thing but
23:43the the the key thing that you know I
23:46try to you know make sure that all the
23:48all the students understand is that
23:50you're not only the face of the customer
23:52as the customer comes to the repair
23:54facility
23:55you're also having to deal with the kind
23:59of biggest thorn in a service provider
24:01side and that's a technician
24:02you know Taylor yeah exactly yeah I mean
24:06um and I will say this it was
24:07interesting you know every every time a
24:10new service advisor starts right I can
24:13tell you this as a technician and the
24:14interesting thing is is
24:16I always tell people so my employee
24:18number at the dealership I'm at is is
24:191968.
24:21all right to give you some perspective
24:24I've been there for over 16 years
24:26we're now at 12
24:29000 I think 30 or something that's how
24:32many people have fluctuated through all
24:35of the Auto Group in California that's a
24:38lot of people right and a lot of people
24:40have gone through it's the same thing
24:42service advisor comes around and most
24:44techs and Chris will tell you this
24:45because he's been at multiple places
24:47there might not even shake your hand and
24:50might not even learn your name for the
24:52first month they want to see friend a
24:54lot
24:54I'll I'll attest that I I was at a place
24:57and I was in the service Drive
25:00and there was six desks
25:04one of the deaths we could never keep
25:06full in the service Drive
25:07anybody that ever came there I didn't
25:10bother learning their name because I
25:12just called them six a six there's a car
25:14hey six your break hey six go to lunch
25:18um and guys couldn't handle that I had a
25:20guy leave him break and never come back
25:24um technicians won't talk to you you
25:26know it's uh it's a tough one because
25:29they don't know if you're gonna be
25:31around why bother investing in someone
25:32who won't be around yeah and if you know
25:35if y'all are gonna be in the automotive
25:37program you obviously have some kind of
25:40mechanical knowledge and background if
25:43you come in as a service advisor and you
25:45don't have that it's going to be a hard
25:47world
25:48because you have to be able to
25:49communicate you're as a service advisor
25:53your customers are the person who drove
25:55the vehicle in
25:56and your technicians
25:58because you're dealing with all of them
26:00you're making deals constantly I mean
26:04Taylor actually knows this story that
26:06I'm about to tell it's kind of funny
26:10um there was a technician and you know
26:15as a serious advisor you come to the
26:17technician you're like hey I need your
26:18help I need I need you to do something
26:20for me
26:21and I need it done in a certain time
26:23frame or I can only pay you so many
26:26hours to do it you know
26:28maybe it's a hard job and you're like I
26:31can only give you you know one and a
26:33half hours instead of like you know two
26:35hours I'll make it up on the next one or
26:37we'll do something
26:38and you know
26:39everybody says that you know I'll pay
26:42you today for a hamburger tomorrow kind
26:44of thing you know or what have you or
26:46vice versa
26:47and uh this technician I kind of got
26:50into a little bit of an argue argument
26:52kind of you know there's always you're
26:54in the shop so you get to
26:56you get to yell you get to swear you get
27:00to throw things
27:01you maybe even kick something
27:05long story short you know this
27:06technician I had words and they weren't
27:08quite the best words and I wasn't
27:10getting my way he happened to have a big
27:12like five gallon bucket of used uh motor
27:15oil sitting in his Bay I kicked it over
27:17destroyed his entire Bay five gallons of
27:20used motor oil just flowing across his
27:23whole his whole Bay yeah I don't know if
27:26you guys have ever had to clean up an
27:27oil spill it's a freaking nightmare yeah
27:30let alone five gallons yeah
27:32so the shop is one of those places where
27:37if you're a guy if you're a girl service
27:40advisor a guy or a girl technician
27:43you get to just let your hair down and
27:46scream and holler and
27:48take out the stress from the service
27:49drive out into the shop yeah
27:53you know and it gets hard you know I
27:54mean it's it's emotional out there it's
27:57the stress is unbelievable on both ends
28:00everybody's pecking it everybody to
28:02hurry up and I need this and I need that
28:05you know service advisors don't take
28:06lunches they work 12 hours straight
28:09technicians sometimes they'll work that
28:12way sometimes they'll show up at 10 30
28:14in the morning you've been there since
28:15seven yeah like I need this car and now
28:18I need it in a half hour and they're
28:20like yeah whatever it's cool man then
28:22you see them strolling around with a cup
28:24of coffee talking to their boys hanging
28:27out
28:28you know and it's like come on bro like
28:31this dude's blowing my phone up I I need
28:35you to do your job
28:37the maddest I've ever seen you get
28:41was that Eric
28:43and this this I don't know if you
28:45remember that I think you're probably
28:47remembering it and I do I do what
28:50happened was Chris getting his
28:52particular technician
28:54a a recall now
28:57the thing with recall customers is is
28:59you know Chris brought up all the
29:01different ways that you can sell service
29:03recalls are kind of a wild card
29:06often times you're gonna get someone
29:09that is pissed just like zero to 100
29:13they're already at 100 because they have
29:15to go to a dealership to get this recall
29:17done because they can't register their
29:19vehicle they can't get their tags or
29:21whatever it happens to be because
29:24legally you have to continue to see
29:26their emissions recall or or a safety
29:30safety
29:31yeah and this particular car Chris had
29:36as a waiter and it was a fairly
29:37straightforward recall it was to change
29:41um the latches on a seat so you have to
29:43pull the seat up and change the seat
29:45belt latch
29:47and this technician got the seat on
29:50bolted got it put on the ground
29:53and then left for the day
29:58right he left he left in the middle of a
30:01waiter
30:02customer yeah and so who does that Chris
30:06came back and he's like hey man where's
30:09Eric
30:10and I was like dude Eric said he's
30:12splitting for the day he's all is he
30:14gonna finish my car I was like well I
30:16mean that recall is you know like an
30:18hour and a half you know it takes a
30:19little bit he's like dude the customer's
30:20waiting they've been waiting for three
30:22hours it's like oh remind you that the
30:25repair orders in Big Red Letters say
30:27wade or later you can't miss it
30:31well and I remember I remember he you
30:33know Chris is heated and so like I
30:36called the dude
30:37um and I asked him like hey man what
30:40what's up where are you at and he's all
30:42dude the surf is so good right now I
30:44gotta go on search and it's like that's
30:46so pissed you know that car is a waiter
30:48right he's all yeah they're gonna wait
30:50for me to come in tomorrow and it's like
30:52oh
30:53you know we we slammed the car together
30:57but again that's an example of like
30:59you can have a wild card like that where
31:03the tech totally yeah the kid was
31:07and the kid was so he was just like
31:10whatever he just didn't care yeah you
31:13know end of that story is I never gave
31:15that kid a single stitch of work ever
31:18again the entire shop could be busy and
31:22he could be sitting there doing nothing
31:23I would not
31:26give him work and that's what happens
31:28you don't do the work then you burn
31:30somebody you burn a service advisor one
31:31time yeah that's the last time you're
31:34you're dead to him now exactly so
31:37it's it's tough man it is the guys out
31:40there it's tough
31:42I know and and that's that's the kind of
31:45hard thing is is you can go from service
31:48advisors have like a multitude of
31:50different emotions that they're rolling
31:51through in a day so you can go from you
31:54got to be very cordial very presentable
31:57you know
31:59um very approachable to customers you
32:01know because there's all sorts of
32:02different walks of life out there and
32:04there's all sorts of different people
32:05that read human beings differently and
32:07you got to be approachable to all those
32:08as a service advisor and then you go
32:11back to the technicians and
32:14you know the the technicians are are are
32:16wild animals sometimes and it's a
32:19different report right yeah yeah
32:23you know
32:24um the the industry's changed a whole
32:26lot and definitely in terms of its
32:28tolerance towards stuff and it's not
32:30what you what the average person is
32:31going to be thinking about
32:33um when Chris and I work together at the
32:35dealership pranks were a big thing you
32:37know we would play pranks on each other
32:39constantly or we'd be constantly messing
32:41around you had to yeah stay sane yeah
32:44and and and like I I remember doing one
32:47to uh uh Barrette where I actually you
32:50know the phones all had chords to them
32:53and and we'd get little black zip ties
32:55and we'd zip tie the phone cable so that
32:58it was super tight but you couldn't see
33:00it and the first thing in the morning
33:01Brett goes and rips the phone and
33:03basically the entire you know 12 years
33:06flying flying at them and you know that
33:10was the time when you could do that we
33:11would you know
33:13if you lighting stuff on fire in the
33:15back of the base and that was one of
33:16those things that like Chris would have
33:17to go back there and like come on
33:18monkeys get back to work you know oh I I
33:22had two technicians playing pranks on
33:23each other at a shop and
33:26oh I can't remember what the first guy
33:29did
33:30but then the second guy to prank the
33:33first guy decides I'm going to take his
33:36toolbox
33:37and I'm going to put a zerk fitting into
33:39the side of his toolbox and I'm going to
33:41wheel over the you know 35 pound keg
33:45drum of grease and I'm going to clip on
33:48the pneumatic grease gun and then I'm
33:51going to zip tie the handle so it's
33:53called
33:54during his lunch hour
33:57it emptied that whole keg like of Grease
34:02he goes to pull his drawer and it won't
34:04open so he pulls harder to just
34:07yeah layered with grease
34:11that dude came unglued I thought someone
34:13I thought we're gonna have to call an
34:14ambulance it was chaos it looked like a
34:18baseball field when everybody pours out
34:20of the dugouts it was a straight fist
34:23fight with wrenches in hand yeah you
34:25know I mean it it'll escalate that quick
34:28yeah so I mean the pranks are like funny
34:31when it's like oh you sprayed a little
34:33WD-40 of my wiper blades or you put a
34:35little grease under the handle of my my
34:37door
34:38or you know you put zip ties on my drive
34:41shaft yeah whoop-dee-doo I mean you
34:43would have thought we were mob members
34:45when we went out to our cars at night to
34:48try and figure out what prank was pulled
34:51on us yeah we're like flashlights under
34:53our cars I mean it was insane but you
34:57look back and you're like it was
34:58hilarious at the same time so there is a
35:01lot of fun to be had it's not totally
35:03negative I mean yeah if it was negative
35:04I would have stayed around for 20 years
35:06you know it was a ton of fun you made a
35:10lot of good friends I mean look I met
35:11Taylor there how many years ago you know
35:14I mean I still got people like I mean I
35:16don't know if you can see in the back
35:18here I mean I've got cars I've got three
35:21Snap-on tool boxes that are full of
35:23Snap-on tools
35:26um especially all you technicians out
35:27there do not buy your crap at Harbor
35:30Freight go get some tools come on man
35:33like if you can't afford it go to the
35:36lunch truck make monthly payments I mean
35:39it's your livelihood
35:41have a Quality Tool in your hand you
35:45know go get something that's respectful
35:49dessert fittings yeah avoid dessert
35:52fittings yeah exactly but you know I
35:55mean I know the first few years man I
35:56started off as a Lube Tech you know that
35:58was what I actually started off as I
36:00actually started off as a porter I was
36:01washing cars
36:03but um you know go to the Snap-on guy or
36:06Matco or Cornwell and buy a used toolbox
36:09off the back of his truck man
36:11like I don't know if you can see him
36:12back there those are the first toolboxes
36:14I ever bought
36:16they don't go bad you know they got
36:20wheels on them so you can take them with
36:21you wherever you want yeah it's like God
36:24put wheels on toolboxes so you can leave
36:26yeah yeah well and and and so like
36:30that's that's another thing that's
36:31that's really interesting right is
36:33so depending on because even at stores
36:36that have had multiple different
36:38dispatch systems uh oh yeah there's the
36:41service advisor dispatch which is
36:42obviously most beneficial the service
36:45advisor correct and then there's teams
36:48right the service advisor gets put on
36:51usually I mean in the experience I've
36:54had with teams it's usually two service
36:56advisors so like eight to ten texts but
36:59you don't get those tax correct yeah you
37:02know or you have what kind of doesn't
37:04work out for anyone and Chris is
37:06probably gonna agree with me a
37:07dispatcher
37:08hundred percent I've done I've worked
37:10with all of those
37:12so I'll work backwards from what your
37:15list was so the shop that has like a
37:17dedicated dispatcher
37:19service advisor writes at the ticket he
37:22then hands it to a dispatcher it sits
37:23there with him along with all the other
37:26service advisors everything just piles
37:28up
37:29and then we wait for that dispatcher to
37:31give the job out to a technician
37:33somewhere in the shop then
37:36when the repair is complete the ticket
37:39then comes back to the dispatcher who
37:42then fills out all the paperwork after
37:45it's all stacked up again once he's
37:47filled everything out then he gives it
37:48back to the service advisor to double
37:50check and call the customer
37:53gigantic bottleneck at the dispatcher
37:56all it does is waste time yeah I'm
37:59talking I'm not talking minutes I'm
38:01talking hours yeah so that usually does
38:04not work
38:06um the team system
38:09as a service advisor
38:11you don't know what kind of technicians
38:13you're going to get do I want to get
38:16four brand new guys and one experienced
38:19guy from
38:22the technician standpoint you get
38:24saddled with these two service advisors
38:26are they both new guys are they both
38:29brand new and know what they're doing do
38:31they know how to sell are you going to
38:32starve because you're not allowed to
38:33take work from anybody else right and
38:36that usually that doesn't work
38:39very often it's a very difficult one to
38:42to make work I think because yeah you're
38:45forcing people
38:46into these groups who normally wouldn't
38:48be together you know now when the
38:52service advisor self-dispatches
38:56um as a service advisor you kind of
38:59float around the shop you need to hang
39:00out with the guys and see who's
39:02who's like-minded you know you find the
39:05technicians who are similar to you and
39:07you're like then you start feeding them
39:08work then they start getting work done
39:10and that usually works out pretty pretty
39:13well for everybody involved yeah yeah
39:16and that was the thing so like I I can
39:19remember you know Chris got hired on is
39:21the same thing you know as a technician
39:22you kind of look over a service advisor
39:24you're like okay we'll see how long they
39:25last for you know the the service
39:28manager takes them around I remember
39:29Chris you had on your you had on your
39:31clipboard you had a little Moon eye
39:32sticker
39:33oh yeah I was like huh and I and I you
39:37know it's it's on the bottom of that
39:39toolbox but I always have a munai
39:41sticker on all my toolboxes and so it's
39:44kind of like he and I both did the okay
39:46we're into the same thing and then it
39:48was I see you yeah and it just so
39:50happened that you know he had at the
39:52time a 63 F-100 I have a 64 F-100 you
39:57know and mine was faster by the way
40:01yeah
40:02mine's faster now so whatever we're not
40:05talking about that one yeah exactly so
40:07but but it was one of those words like
40:10you know we kind of had that common that
40:12common you know uh little thing that the
40:14thread that kept us together and that
40:16that made it to where we had a really
40:17good cohesive relationship you know and
40:20it could be it could be you know sports
40:21teams it could be whatever whatever that
40:23happens to be but yeah have that
40:24relationship with a service advisor in
40:27the tech
40:28then you can go from there and and and
40:30and be able to sell really good service
40:32now I know the industry's kind of
40:34changed uh a bit
40:36um you know where you weren't dealing
40:38with the the uh the video
40:40um inspections
40:42um that now is really really common
40:46um but it was one of those things that
40:49you know just as Chris was bringing up
40:51you know the the your paychecks reliant
40:54on
40:55um you know the vehicles coming in you
40:56selling stuff same thing with the tech
40:58if if you if you don't have a good
40:59reporter with a service advisor that you
41:02can get regular work from or that is
41:04going to bring cars in like if you just
41:06go bottom line if you have a service
41:09advisor that pisses customers off on a
41:11regular basis and now you don't have
41:13that return business
41:15your paycheck is going to suffer and
41:16texts leave and and you know when you
41:19look at you know uh dispatching and when
41:21you look at Team systems
41:24um or even you know service advisor
41:25dispatching that can be really really
41:27painful in terms of if you lose attack
41:30you know either medical out or you know
41:32they roll or they they utilize those
41:34wheels that are installed and they roll
41:35their tools yeah
41:37um
41:38extremely big case now
41:41even at the dealership that I met Taylor
41:43at I came in and it was kind of like uh
41:47everybody had lumped up together think
41:49of like the show Survivor everybody had
41:52their alliances and we had
41:55oh one two three four five
41:59we had nine service advisors
42:02I didn't even have a office on the
42:04service track when I came in I was
42:06around the back you couldn't even see me
42:09um so I came in so first of all you
42:10can't see me I couldn't see the service
42:12drive and I made a bet with the service
42:16manager that if I could write over a
42:18hundred thousand dollars my second month
42:19there he would build a new service
42:22office and give me the front desk
42:25so hey challenge accepted I went out
42:30back that's when I met Taylor all the
42:32other technicians had buddied up with a
42:36service advisor and they would not take
42:38work from me they would just say no
42:40I found one other technician Jimmy
42:42mm-hmm
42:44and for some reason he was a Hawaiian
42:47guy I don't know why the other guys
42:49wouldn't give him work
42:51so I'm like hey bro I go here's how it's
42:53gonna go we buddied up we had a system
42:55and I started feeding work
42:58second month I wrote over a hundred
43:00thousand dollars they got I got myself a
43:03brand new service office they redid the
43:05whole front end and I got the I got the
43:07poll position you know and Jimmy made a
43:10ton of money yeah and all I had was two
43:14guys Taylor and Jimmy those were my guys
43:17I fed them 100 of all my work
43:20I mean Taylor did stuff that was outside
43:22of his normal Spectrum you know I'd be
43:25like hey bro I need an oil change
43:26in the hierarchy of technicians once
43:28you've been around for a long time and
43:30you're working on heavy line or you're
43:33the only Viper technician that exists
43:35you know to do an oil change is kind of
43:37demeaning
43:38we do it for each other that's what we
43:40do you know
43:42so you really have to be personable as a
43:46technician
43:48and as a service advisor you you all
43:50have to have friends and figure it out
43:53somehow yeah because if you if you don't
43:55one of you or both of you is not making
43:58money which means somebody's leaving
44:00right and and we're the day and age now
44:04there is such a technician shortage and
44:07service advisor shortage or you almost
44:09can't afford it right yeah you can't
44:12afford you know having someone go to
44:16shop now so so I'm still at the same
44:18shop that Chris and I both worked at and
44:20Chris brought up there's nine service
44:21advisors right on the flip side of that
44:24Tech wise there was roughly including
44:27loot text there was around
44:2938 40 good 40 texts yeah now we're down
44:34to two quick line service advisors two
44:37actual regular you know I I call them
44:40the diagnostic service advisors because
44:41they're the ones that are dealing with
44:42the cars that come in with problems and
44:45then
44:46roughly five technicians that do
44:50diagnostic heavy line electrical and
44:52then another four you know lootex so
44:55you're looking at you know nine-ish
44:57technicians and four service advisors
45:00and
45:02it's it's it's brutal it's it's really
45:05really difficult and a lot of that is
45:07you know attrition it's dealing with the
45:10stress but
45:12it it comes down to people will migrate
45:15you know
45:16um multiple people follow different sets
45:19of managers and and I've seen I've seen
45:22Crews of of individuals
45:25um move from dealership to dealership
45:26and that and that could be hard if
45:28you're if you're used to a particular
45:29type of system in terms of dispatch or
45:33different or certain type of attack
45:35they can move on really really quick
45:37um so you kind of got to be like you
45:39know really quickly able to Pivot
45:42um you can't you can't get set in your
45:44ways you got to be able to you know look
45:46for the next
45:48thing that comes you got to be you got
45:50to be completely fluid all the time
45:52because every second is changing as a
45:56service advisor you pick up that phone
45:57and you never know who you're gonna get
45:59it could be happy customer it could be
46:02irate customer it could be perfect
46:05English speaking customer it could be a
46:07customer who has a super heavy accent
46:10and you struggle to understand them and
46:13they struggle to get their point across
46:15to you
46:16um you just don't know and you've got to
46:20be ready for whatever it is I use a lot
46:22of baseball analogies like you're up to
46:24bat you don't know what that pitcher's
46:25gonna throw at you he's got a whole
46:28toolbox full of junk and it could be any
46:30one of them he's going to Huck at you at
46:3198 miles an hour you know you you
46:34literally have to be
46:36able to change your personality
46:40to Jive
46:42with everybody else's in a second
46:46now you brought up and I will say um it
46:50was kind of interesting seeing you know
46:51when Chris first started at our
46:52dealership and the service manager at
46:54the time did make the bet with him and
46:57he held and he kept he came through with
46:58his work first got the hundred grand in
47:02that month and then
47:04um the service manager they did they
47:06remodeled the service drive for for
47:08Chris
47:09um and and held his work that being said
47:12the last kind of third wild card that
47:16you got to deal with as a service
47:17advisor is management you know oh yeah
47:20yeah and and and dealing with with how
47:23you kind of gotta uh address yourself
47:25with management now management you know
47:28oftentimes uh you treat them like spot
47:31firefighters or they act like that you
47:34know it's whatever is on fire at that
47:35exact moment you know what did you find
47:38so you brought up the example of like
47:40the service advisor ripping your head or
47:42service advisor service management
47:43excuse me ripping your head off over the
47:45spark plugs and the uh the quick detail
47:49um yeah how do you deal with that yeah
47:52well you ready for this one yeah
47:54I left the next day yeah there you go I
47:58I came back into work and I was I was
48:01still stealing I was still groveling I
48:03was like in the basement with my red
48:05stapler you know I was like I couldn't
48:07believe it I was upset
48:10and
48:11I sat there and I kind of went through
48:13my head what should I do
48:16I then went into my parts department I
48:19took a part out of a box I brought the
48:21box back to my desk and I put all my
48:23stuff in the Box
48:25now I'm talking like a small box like
48:28you you run thin
48:31um set the box there for probably a good
48:3330 40 minutes
48:35I'm not committed yet and I groveled and
48:38I was pissed off and
48:40then I picked that box up and I put it
48:42in my truck once that box hit my truck
48:45done deal
48:46I walked up my service Bays said goodbye
48:50to all my technicians told them what was
48:52going on I then walked into the owner's
48:54desk I put the keys on his desk and I
48:57said
48:58right now is my last day I'm gone
49:02everything's handled I've said goodbye
49:04to everybody I said there's no fires
49:06there's no time bombs there's nothing
49:08left I will never step foot on your
49:10property again
49:12uh
49:13he obviously wasn't very happy that was
49:16his cash cow and uh told me I can't do
49:19it and I had to give him his two-week
49:20notice
49:22and then pseudo politely explained you
49:24know hey when you fire people you don't
49:26give a two-week notice
49:28you made me hire my friends from San
49:31Juan Capistrano to come work in Costa
49:34Mesa and then less than a year you made
49:36me fire them so I'm gonna extend the
49:39same courtesy to you
49:41yeah I left I left and that's been
49:4413 years and I've never been back yeah
49:47there's no need once you leave a place
49:50do not be a retread
49:52no would you ever remarry someone you
49:55divorced like it's the same thing like
49:57just leave right and so that's that
50:00scenario I left I went and found another
50:02job I had one within 48 Hours yeah
50:06and and that's the thing is is you gotta
50:09gotta be ready to do that you know a
50:11service advisor
50:12um you're gonna be asked sometimes by
50:14service managers to do stuff that not
50:16it's not right it will go against your
50:18moral compass or it's hard yeah it's
50:21hard and you got to be able to to do
50:23that judgment call in that in that
50:25scenario what Chris was doing was
50:28helping a customer out the technician
50:30was on board with it
50:32and the uh he was on board with it the
50:35customer was on board with it now
50:38you know the service advisor May or the
50:40service manager excuse me keep messing
50:42that up
50:43um may have had a different tone at a
50:46different time because you don't know
50:47what they're getting yelled at with but
50:49it is one of those things that it's
50:51important to understand that you know
50:53you you kind of gotta hold your
50:54integrity in in that sense you know if
50:57it's one of those things like hey man I
50:58got screamed at like I was a child over
51:00something that I don't feel I should
51:02have gotten screamed at don't
51:04um I always would tell uh service
51:06managers when service or service
51:08managers would start to yell at me is
51:11one of those like hey man if we're not
51:12going to talk like adults
51:14yeah we're done here I'll just leave
51:17right now my toolbox has wheels I can
51:20get it out of here within an hour and
51:22I'm out of here and any and and I've
51:25noticed a couple things with that I've
51:26noticed either that I've had them get
51:29angrier
51:31and then at that point they've kind of
51:33made they've they've they've played
51:34their card and it's like okay cool well
51:36I wasn't bluffing you know I put out you
51:38know what what I had on deck and uh or
51:41or they mellow out and they treat you
51:43respectfully because because that is one
51:45of the things is emotions can run real
51:47high and ultimately that dealership lost
51:51Chris over
51:53we'll say you know legitimately a
51:56hundred and thirty dollars in terms of
51:58the detail and tax yeah yeah and and I
52:02and I watched I've watched a couple
52:04times where service managers totally
52:05been
52:07um instances where like they a
52:08technician quit and left that was a
52:11certified you know level three
52:13technician over Caster wheels on a on a
52:16engine crane
52:18and a vacation yeah and it's one of
52:20those like dude that just lost a tech
52:22over something so menial over nothing
52:25over nothing
52:27so that that's the hard part is you get
52:29all these
52:30all these guys
52:33when you really think about it service
52:34advisors I said it before they're
52:37running their own business within the
52:38business technicians are doing the exact
52:41same thing you're flagging your own
52:43hours you're adding up you know two
52:46tenths three tenths an hour plus you
52:48know you're adding it all up to make
52:50your paycheck you're running your own
52:51business you have your own tools they
52:53don't Supply you with anything this is
52:55all you so you've got these people that
52:58are just headstrong they're confident
52:59they're making it happen I mean maybe
53:01they're the only ones putting food on
53:03the table in their household or yeah you
53:05don't know
53:06and also you get someone in there
53:08shaking a finger nobody likes that you
53:11know and you kind of get all puffy and
53:13you're like hey don't talk to me that
53:14way and then before you know it emotions
53:16are high and you know you know how
53:19people are you know they they get pushed
53:22into a corner and they're like
53:24peace out I'm telling them yeah you know
53:26maybe they don't want to do that you
53:28know maybe they're not ready to do that
53:29yet but they feel as though they have to
53:31because they've been pushed in that
53:32corner or they
53:34said they were going to do it now they
53:36have no other choice so it's a it's a
53:38hard place right you know it's not like
53:41a regular job right you don't just you
53:43don't just show up and punch a little
53:44time clock and Peck away on a keyboard
53:46and take your make break and Union time
53:49smoke break this doesn't work that way
53:52you know there's a lot of give and take
53:54I mean there's times when you'll you'll
53:56take an hour and a half lunch because
53:57you're just slow or you know yeah it's a
54:00Friday and the surf's great you can take
54:02off not when there's a waiter
54:04exactly you know
54:06um then there's times when it's been 12
54:09hours and you're in your 13th and you're
54:12still there yeah
54:13you know you know maybe it's your
54:16Saturday off and you're like I really
54:19got to get this job done because it's
54:21gonna set me my tone for the following
54:23week so you show up and work for two
54:25hours on your one Saturday off a month
54:28um
54:29so it's uh it's all over the board it's
54:32the full gamut of of emotions and work
54:35ethic and you know when you bust your
54:38ass people notice yeah
54:40definitely and and it and it kind of
54:43kind of all gets wrapped up into the
54:45sense of like you know it can be a very
54:48very good rewarding job in terms of you
54:51know Financial benefit and it can also
54:52be exciting and different but also be
54:55the worst job we've ever had and all in
54:57the same day you know it's it's all what
54:59you make of it I mean financially it
55:02could be a great job yeah I mean I mean
55:05ask Taylor I mean I
55:07we used to get spiffs on certain items
55:10we sold we would get like seven bucks 12
55:13bucks on like a differential service or
55:15a power steering service
55:17every single spare car I own I bought
55:21off that money
55:23every old car I have
55:26everything was bought off of that money
55:28none of that fun stuff motorcycles all
55:31that stuff motorhomes none of it was
55:33bought from my paycheck it was all
55:35bought off that spiff money
55:37so there's programs like that that are
55:40out there where you can do very well
55:42financially yeah you know as a
55:45technician
55:47Taylor all tested this you know you got
55:49your toolbox you got your knowledge I
55:51have never sold a tool in my life First
55:53Tool I got when I was 14 I still have it
55:56yeah and they still make me money yeah
56:00you know I'm 50 plus years old they
56:03still make me money they're still all
56:05sitting in
56:06stupid expensive tool boxes right back
56:09here and you know what I've had those
56:11for 30 plus years and they're Flawless
56:14they open and close you know
56:18um they all still work yeah so that's
56:21why I say invest in yourself you are the
56:24biggest part of the tool
56:25you know that customers pay for what's
56:29in here they don't pay for how many
56:30things are in that box they pay for
56:32what's up in here right well and and
56:34that's why like one of the biggest
56:36things I always go with is
56:38um
56:39you know always take the opportunities
56:41you have in terms of training wise and
56:42for service advisors you can get ASE
56:45certified as a service advisor right and
56:47yeah you do all that stuff you
56:49definitely want to try to do it
56:51um I always use the example of training
56:53is I always
56:54from day one uh was be the guy that says
56:59yes don't be the guy that says no or the
57:02individual who says no
57:03um and that includes training so uh
57:05Chris and I worked with the manager and
57:09um you'll probably agree with me on this
57:10one uh Lou was by far
57:15one of the best managers I've ever had
57:17and that yes this man was his Dapper as
57:20Dapper could be he was six foot five
57:23perfectly slicked back hair
57:25ray-ban's perfect cuffed shirt perfect
57:28slacks
57:30um and he drove a 1963 Galaxy 500 HD 427
57:35black with red interior four-speed car
57:38it was one of those like he looked he
57:40looked like a guy
57:43was like best buddies with Carol Shelby
57:45back in the day yeah he was that era of
57:48like just
57:50awesome yeah and he he and he showed
57:53everybody complete respect didn't matter
57:56who you were it could be your first day
57:58and he'll talk to you like you've been
58:00there for years and he'll remember your
58:02name he'll hang out and just just a
58:06great guy yeah and Lou Lou at the time
58:09when when we were at the dealership he
58:11was always around he so he was a dealer
58:14principal basically he
58:16um took care of the day-to-day
58:17operations of multiple dealerships
58:20um but he would hang around in the
58:21service manager's office because he
58:23would you know if there was an issue
58:25what not it was it was greater than what
58:27the service manager can handle he would
58:28handle it I remember specifically I went
58:30into the parts and service director's
58:31office
58:33because at the time it's fun day attack
58:35and I had jumped on the yeah man I'll
58:37also do Hyundai just like I'll do
58:39Chrysler that's fine I'll do both and
58:42you know hybrid Hyundai came out like
58:44yeah man send me the training I'll be
58:45the only one that does that
58:47and I was the only technician that was
58:49certified for working on any of the high
58:51voltage electric vehicles in 2011 on on
58:54for Hyundai and there was a recall that
58:56came out and there was a special tool
58:58that was required for it so I went into
59:01the parts and service director's office
59:02and you know uh Dave was sitting behind
59:05his desk and Lou was sitting on the
59:07corner and I didn't really notice Lou
59:08right away because Lou would always kind
59:09of sit in a chair and and sit very very
59:12proper very upright and just kind of
59:14observe wouldn't say much just observe
59:16and went to Dave and went hey Dave you
59:18should have gotten a package from um
59:20Hyundai America this was some such
59:22special tools and and I need I need the
59:25tools to do a recall
59:27and I hear I hear behind me I hear Lugo
59:29why do you need the tools I'm gonna kind
59:32of turn and
59:33well you know Sarah you know I'm the
59:36only one that's hybrid certified and I
59:37have four cars here that need this
59:39recall and I want to make sure the
59:40customers are taken care of and get the
59:42car out
59:43and and Lou kind of goes okay well
59:47you heard the man Dave give him a dollar
59:49race and give him his tools
59:52you know Turner I was like for real he's
59:55like yeah he's like now I can't afford
59:57to lose you so I got to pay you more so
59:58yeah Dave give him the dollar rate and
1:00:00and Dave at the time he was one of those
1:00:03dudes that he he did not like giving
1:00:05raises he was really tough to talk to in
1:00:08terms of that and he just kind of
1:00:09buckled down and okay wrote up the
1:00:12personal action for him and got a dollar
1:00:14raised literally on the spot and yeah
1:00:16and and that was one of those things
1:00:18that you always say yes to you know in
1:00:22terms of service advisors there's a
1:00:23difficult customer always say yes you
1:00:25never know you never know that customer
1:00:26you know might be difficult with their
1:00:28initial vehicle and then you find out
1:00:29they're in charge of an entire fleet a
1:00:32government Fleet or business or a
1:00:34um a company Fleet and now you have
1:00:36instead of just one or two vehicles you
1:00:39now have 60 Vehicles then you can be
1:00:41selling
1:00:43and I'll tell you as a service advisor I
1:00:45I had some of those fleets and they were
1:00:48they were a godsend when like economies
1:00:50got tough and people weren't servicing
1:00:52cars I had those fleets coming in and it
1:00:55was carte blanche do what you need to
1:00:57Chris you had up to you know three
1:01:00thousand dollars every time every car
1:01:02because when this thing's out on the
1:01:04road
1:01:05you have zero option for failure there
1:01:08could be nothing go wrong with this car
1:01:09that was caused by your lack of
1:01:11Maintenance and you know doesn't mean
1:01:14you charge that much money every time
1:01:15how do you eat a whale one bite at a
1:01:18time yeah not a big giant bite you eat
1:01:20the whole whale
1:01:22one bite at a time right and now you're
1:01:24flipping all these you know fleet
1:01:27vehicles and it was like this was great
1:01:29everybody else is sitting around me and
1:01:32my guys like Taylor they're rocking and
1:01:34rolling you know our life was good and
1:01:37everyone else is worrying if they're
1:01:39gonna make their paycheck yeah yeah and
1:01:42and again those fleets are one of those
1:01:43like well you know it's a dirty work
1:01:45truck and you know you're not talking
1:01:48directly to the customer but it's one of
1:01:50those things you get that Rapport and
1:01:51you get that you get that kind of
1:01:52flowing so
1:01:54so to kind of finish this off you got
1:01:55any like kind of final advice that would
1:01:58be like your your your your what any of
1:02:01these uh young men or women should kind
1:02:02of look into as as what they should
1:02:04should be most you know prepared for
1:02:08or to help them you know I
1:02:10I would say
1:02:11um
1:02:13just you know it's a hard gig it's
1:02:15physically hard it's mentally hard
1:02:18don't forget to do stuff for yourself
1:02:20like the littlest thing like
1:02:23wake your ass up early and go pick up a
1:02:26cup of coffee on the way to work if that
1:02:27makes you happy that starts your day off
1:02:30and you can have a good vibe and you can
1:02:32be cruising do that you know if like my
1:02:36thing was I would drive one of my old
1:02:38cars to work on Friday
1:02:40um
1:02:40you know I cruise in and I'd stink like
1:02:43exhaust it would be fun it's loud but
1:02:45man you couldn't wipe that smile off my
1:02:48face all day yeah so do something for
1:02:51you
1:02:52once in a while to make it worth it you
1:02:54know because it's hard work you're going
1:02:56to be busting Knuckles you're going to
1:02:58be breaking tools you're going to be
1:03:00lifting stuff that hurts your back I
1:03:03mean you're gonna be yelling at guys
1:03:04like me in the service drive I'm gonna
1:03:06be kicking over buckets of oil
1:03:07[Laughter]
1:03:10you know take a minute and if it gets
1:03:13hard step away and go grab a sandwich
1:03:15you know but don't forget yourself yeah
1:03:18exactly yeah
1:03:20so I really appreciate you taking the
1:03:22time um I know this is valuable because
1:03:23it's one of those things that you know
1:03:25actually hearing from someone that's
1:03:26just spent the years and and done the
1:03:28time is really important for uh these
1:03:31men and women that we're training
1:03:33um so I appreciate you taking the time
1:03:34thank you yeah no worries anytime and I
1:03:37know they thank you as well
1:03:39um and uh we'll kind of leave it at that
1:03:41so thanks everyone for watching the
1:03:43recording and we'll uh see you next time

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