Auto 226 interview with Mark Anderson — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01sitting with my good friend uh Mark
2. 0:03Anderson uh Mark is a long time service
3. 0:05advisor and has been doing this for a
4. 0:07very long time and is extremely good at
5. 0:09his craft so
6. 0:12um Mark you I kind of want to give a
7. 0:13little bit of history on uh your
8. 0:15experience and and and where you come
9. 0:17from in the industry and what you've
10. 0:19seen what you've done kind of yeah it
11. 0:21wasn't my if I'd known that you could
12. 0:24make this much money in the automobile
13. 0:25industry I would have done it right out
14. 0:26of high school I I fell into it
15. 0:30um I had another profession I owned my
16. 0:33own business after that business failed
17. 0:35my daughter said you should go work for
18. 0:37Saturday and they have integrity and I
19. 0:40first got hired in sales and didn't like
20. 0:42it at all it was horrible because people
21. 0:45were rude to didn't have a chance to
22. 0:47even be nice to them
23. 0:49and I saw an old guy Lou de cerma write
24. 0:52service
25. 0:53he didn't spin he didn't sweat he was
26. 0:55making a hundred thousand a year and I
27. 0:57said to myself oh I can do that
28. 0:59and I talked my way into that position
29. 1:02and I was horrible I would walk through
30. 1:05the shop and text would throw bolts at
31. 1:07me
32. 1:08customers took advantage of me uh they
33. 1:11would try and get a discount the third
34. 1:13party aftermarket warranty companies I
35. 1:15didn't know what a t-stat was and so
36. 1:17they took advantage of me but after a
37. 1:19while I caught on and it's a rewarding
38. 1:22very rewarding business
39. 1:25yeah yeah definitely
40. 1:27um it's interesting because I kind of
41. 1:29fell into the automotive industry too it
42. 1:31wasn't a a direct path I was going a
43. 1:34full different path it was separate of
44. 1:36it and it kind of it's kind of funny it
45. 1:39just kind of grabs you you know and and
46. 1:40gets you in
47. 1:42uh I went to school for special
48. 1:44education
49. 1:46definitely prepped me for the automobile
50. 1:48industry no so you know now you know how
51. 1:51to talk to text
52. 1:53that and having children yeah yeah
53. 1:55exactly
54. 1:57um yeah and that's the thing is is those
55. 1:59experiences are really really pretty key
56. 2:01and and important
57. 2:03um
58. 2:04so working for Saturn obviously we know
59. 2:06the history of Saturn
60. 2:07um
61. 2:09product they they came on board for a
62. 2:12while with a plastic car and lasted
63. 2:14about five to seven years you're still a
64. 2:17few of them on the road I've worked for
65. 2:20so I worked for Saturn Pontiac Nissan
66. 2:24Ford
67. 2:26Toyota Acura Chevy
68. 2:30GMC
69. 2:32obviously the Jeep brand
70. 2:35so I've worked for several manufacturers
71. 2:38what's really interesting at every shop
72. 2:41there's a guy like me there's a guy like
73. 2:45Taylor in the fact that
74. 2:47um they're not always as nice as Taylor
75. 2:48but knowledgeable good Tech you know you
76. 2:51got the slow tech you got a heavy set
77. 2:53Tech you have all the same characters at
78. 2:55every store our job as a service advisor
79. 2:59is to figure out who can do what and
80. 3:01when yeah so the process is pretty
81. 3:05simple when you think about it a car
82. 3:07pulls up on a service drive you know
83. 3:09whether they need maintenance or they
84. 3:10have a mechanical failure that they need
85. 3:12corrected their car got towed in
86. 3:14whatever it may be a service advisor
87. 3:16greets the customer
88. 3:18makes them feel welcome at the store
89. 3:20does some Basics we do a walk around of
90. 3:23the vehicle to make sure there's no
91. 3:25damage prior to it coming into our
92. 3:27service area
93. 3:29we take down the VIN number so it's a
94. 3:32specific ID number
95. 3:34so we get the miles and then we take
96. 3:36them inside and we type all the
97. 3:37information customer States what the
98. 3:40following is customer requests and oil
99. 3:42change and we build a ticket so the
100. 3:45technician like Taylor
101. 3:47can decipher what's wrong with the
102. 3:49vehicle
103. 3:50um there's a lot of problems with
104. 3:52communication guys like me may not get
105. 3:55enough information for the tech to fix
106. 3:58the problem because
107. 3:59the tech doesn't know he wasn't there
108. 4:01when the car pulled up
109. 4:03um fortunately for us Taylor and I had a
110. 4:06good relationship so when a customer
111. 4:07pulled up I would know you know what to
112. 4:11ask and even if I didn't ask then I
113. 4:13would talk to Taylor later and we would
114. 4:15get down to the details so that he could
115. 4:17fix the car
116. 4:19yeah definitely it's it's funny because
117. 4:22you know you know working working for
118. 4:24Jeep and Chrysler
119. 4:26um the clientele is very different you
120. 4:28know you can have the person that's
121. 4:30bought in the you know hundred and ten
122. 4:32thousand dollar Challenger and it's
123. 4:33their absolute baby or you can have the
124. 4:35person that's bought in the Jeep
125. 4:37um both of which you know can have a
126. 4:41inclination on what they think is wrong
127. 4:43and definitely having that ability to
128. 4:46kind of just listen and then uh decipher
129. 4:49okay what is this person actually
130. 4:51talking about what's really bugging them
131. 4:52you know
132. 4:54um is important
133. 4:56um what do you find has been like the
134. 4:57biggest difference in demographic in
135. 4:59terms of the different brands you know
136. 5:01like uh if you look at like a Toyota
137. 5:02customer versus a Jeep let's just talk
138. 5:06Toyota okay so here in California I
139. 5:08worked in uh Toyota of Orange which is
140. 5:11in Orange right and then I worked at uh
141. 5:14Elmore Toyota
142. 5:15which is in Westminster I worked at
143. 5:18South Coast Toyota which is in Costa
144. 5:20Mesa
145. 5:21um
146. 5:22uh obviously we're going to Toyota now
147. 5:24in Buena Park and I worked at a Toyota
148. 5:27in Irvine
149. 5:29and even though they're all Toyota
150. 5:31customers the demographics just by the
151. 5:34area totally different I believe
152. 5:37uh let's take let's start with Costa
153. 5:40Mesa Costa Meson Harbor Boulevard uh
154. 5:43it's a Dave Wilson store it's a
155. 5:45beautiful store it's not in a great area
156. 5:47you know we had homeless people and bums
157. 5:49in the area you know outside of the
158. 5:51perimeter of the dealership
159. 5:54and the customer base didn't want to
160. 5:56spend money you know their brother's a
161. 6:00mechanic or whatever and they just never
162. 6:03really spent money I couldn't stay there
163. 6:05very long because I live in Orange
164. 6:06County and my rent was more than what my
165. 6:09paycheck was so that didn't work out
166. 6:11yeah yeah yeah and then there's Irvine
167. 6:13okay
168. 6:15Irvine you present to them a bill and if
169. 6:19it's up to eight thousand dollars
170. 6:21they're fixing it if it's over that and
171. 6:23there's a different you know obviously
172. 6:25different top for every person or every
173. 6:27family they just go buy a new car
174. 6:30uh Dodge
175. 6:32customers
176. 6:34have to be careful how I say this
177. 6:37um
178. 6:39they'll buy a vehicle then they'll lift
179. 6:42it and spend an additional 15 to 25
180. 6:45000 on the vehicle
181. 6:47it's not a well-made vehicle so it
182. 6:50breaks down on a regular basis so we
183. 6:53make money in the car business but the
184. 6:56customer keeps on buying that same
185. 6:57product yeah that I don't understand
186. 7:00whereas at least with the Toyota it
187. 7:02seems to be a better made vehicle
188. 7:06a simple manufacturer
189. 7:08items that I look at as a sales
190. 7:10consultant or as a service advisor
191. 7:12because I've done both if you look at
192. 7:14the structure of a Toyota I mean the
193. 7:16physical structure the exterior panels I
194. 7:19use that as an example as a sales tool
195. 7:21if you look at the the width of the
196. 7:24scene between a door panel or a corner
197. 7:28panel they're identical I drive a 97
198. 7:30Camry you could look at a brand new 2023
199. 7:33Camry and those scenes are going to be
200. 7:36identical and what I would say as a
201. 7:38Salesman if the other manufacturers
202. 7:40can't get their panels straight what
203. 7:42else is wrong with the vehicle exactly
204. 7:44you who know what you know like hanging
205. 7:47a window or hanging a door it has to be
206. 7:49perfect or the window won't open the
207. 7:51door won't open and that's what that's
208. 7:53what the car has to be and it has to be
209. 7:55somewhat perfect now of course
210. 7:56everything mechanical is subject to
211. 7:58failure and that's where we come in and
212. 8:01everything breaks and good thing for us
213. 8:04because if it didn't we wouldn't have a
214. 8:06job exactly and that's what that's what
215. 8:09I often tell people you get is you'll
216. 8:11get customers on the drives that will
217. 8:12ask like well which car is reliable it's
218. 8:14like we're not the people you should be
219. 8:16asking because we only ever see the bad
220. 8:18examples you know I I've never seen I
221. 8:21know they're out there I've never seen
222. 8:23the 300 000 mile PT Cruiser that's never
223. 8:26had a thing wrong with it no but
224. 8:29um it still is one of those things that
225. 8:31you you know I've often gotten you know
226. 8:34and from individuals like oh well those
227. 8:36cars are are crap or that car is good
228. 8:38and and whatnot it doesn't matter you
229. 8:40got to treat it all they're all
230. 8:42Mechanicals
231. 8:44I think uh and you may or may not agree
232. 8:47but if you take a hundred vehicles that
233. 8:49are made from any manufacturer the top
234. 8:52ten don't have any problems eight of
235. 8:54them have some kind of problem and that
236. 8:56bottom 10 they get bought back in the
237. 8:59Lemon Law and California is a lot more
238. 9:01consumer friendly than any other state
239. 9:03in the country you know 30 days in a
240. 9:06shop here and you gotta buy that yeah I
241. 9:08like that in other states yeah and that
242. 9:11was you know during the pandemic when
243. 9:12when parts were thin on the ground that
244. 9:14was you know the uh it was really weird
245. 9:17you know uh the manufacturers
246. 9:19voluntarily doing the Lemon Law stuff
247. 9:21they're doing like hey you know the
248. 9:23Park's not going to be here for another
249. 9:2490 days like you want it whatever your
250. 9:27car back you know yeah it's insane how
251. 9:30that all works
252. 9:31um yeah it's a good point with the
253. 9:33demographic being different based on the
254. 9:34area and it definitely the area the
255. 9:37product
256. 9:38um here's what I say about
257. 9:41um
258. 9:41Jeep you know Dodge owners in Orange
259. 9:45County I don't know if you know if your
260. 9:47students are old enough to go to Vegas
261. 9:49and gamble but in Vegas and I say this
262. 9:52if you go in a hotel in Vegas of a
263. 9:55casino you go up and down on the
264. 9:56elevator you will hear people brag about
265. 9:58how much money they lost which to me is
266. 10:01the thing I lose 20 bucks and I'm nuts
267. 10:04you buy a Jeep you lift it you invest 20
268. 10:07grand in it and then it blows an oil
269. 10:10cooler on the way to work and and you
270. 10:13fix it and then you you get a buy back
271. 10:15and you go buy another Jeep yeah hello
272. 10:18yeah no it
273. 10:20um yeah it was interesting watching
274. 10:22people
275. 10:24um
276. 10:24our general manager that uh Mark and I
277. 10:28both had at one time had to literally
278. 10:30almost physically stop someone from
279. 10:32buying the third of the exact same make
280. 10:35model and almost a year
281. 10:38because they kept getting them bought
282. 10:40back and it was one of those like you
283. 10:41don't want this go across the street to
284. 10:43Ford go buy another car yeah yeah the
285. 10:46loyalty is insane with Jeep
286. 10:49um what would you say if wait the Grand
287. 10:52Cherokee when that car runs it's a great
288. 10:54vehicle oh yeah that's Wrangler Sahara
289. 10:57that whole brand you gotta love that
290. 10:59brand it's a fun vehicle yeah yeah so
291. 11:02what would you say um have been kind of
292. 11:04the the uh you know we'll we'll start
293. 11:07with the good then go to the bad but
294. 11:09what would you say is like the the best
295. 11:11part of being a service advisor
296. 11:13um obviously other than the the paycheck
297. 11:15being good it's good the relationship
298. 11:18with the people the customers
299. 11:21um
300. 11:23I'll I'll tell a couple stories okay so
301. 11:25I worked at uh Toyota dealership in
302. 11:28Irvine my my shop form and my lead kind
303. 11:31of like you
304. 11:32he and I had a tiff because you know
305. 11:34they weren't an automobile industry but
306. 11:36this is the people business you know
307. 11:37it's all about relationships and I don't
308. 11:40know what we fought over you know we're
309. 11:42people and I'm headstrong and so was he
310. 11:44and so
311. 11:46Monday came and I don't know what to do
312. 11:48and I headed right for his Bay went
313. 11:50right for him and normally guys you know
314. 11:53we continue to argue
315. 11:54we basically hugged it out you know two
316. 11:57two grown men ever talked about it again
317. 11:59and there's other people that you never
318. 12:01get along with Taylor and I had a tiff
319. 12:03yes I'm headstrong and Taylor's same
320. 12:06thing and then but once we made up you
321. 12:09know we're friends forever and we
322. 12:11accomplished that we got a lot of work
323. 12:12done in a short period of time
324. 12:15because of the relationship yeah exactly
325. 12:17exactly and that's what I say is always
326. 12:19key
327. 12:20um I always really kind of hark on and
328. 12:23uh in this class in other classes you
329. 12:25know as a service advisor uh you know
330. 12:28you're doing a whole lot you know you're
331. 12:30not only
332. 12:31you know making sure the customer's
333. 12:33taken care of it you're you're following
334. 12:35up on Parts you're following up on where
335. 12:37the car is making sure it's going to
336. 12:38detail you know if there's any damage so
337. 12:40on and so forth and
338. 12:42um oftentimes what can happen is is I
339. 12:44know you and I have both seen it where
340. 12:45you can have a lot harder that's you
341. 12:47know getting the brunt of the
342. 12:49frustrations of not only you know the
343. 12:51service of algebra possibly the manager
344. 12:53it's important to make sure you
345. 12:54appreciate those supportive roles in the
346. 12:57dealership because they're really really
347. 12:59crucial to uh making sure that you know
348. 13:01the customer leaves fully satisfied
349. 13:03because a service advisor you know is
350. 13:06oftentimes you know going a million
351. 13:09miles an hour and they're there to
352. 13:10support that you know yeah there's most
353. 13:15dealerships that I work at the staff the
354. 13:18support staff we support one another it
355. 13:21isn't always like that with management
356. 13:22because unfortunately a lot of managers
357. 13:25don't understand what we do I know it
358. 13:27sounds crazy but they don't know what we
359. 13:29do and the bottom line most important
360. 13:32thing that we do is help the customer I
361. 13:35do little things as a service advisor
362. 13:38um you look at their car and see if they
363. 13:40have you know a duck sticker or you know
364. 13:43a Lakers fan you know if they have a car
365. 13:45seat you know they have kids if you have
366. 13:46kids you can relate to that
367. 13:49um I keep toys in my desk I buy dollar
368. 13:51toys little little match cars you know
369. 13:54and HL cars and so we give we give
370. 13:59treats to dogs and I give water to every
371. 14:01dog even though the owner says no no
372. 14:02they're not thirsty they're thirsty you
373. 14:05know and I give I give toys to the kids
374. 14:07so you're trying to build a relationship
375. 14:09in a short amount of time
376. 14:11because the bottom line is you want them
377. 14:14to spend money you want them to feel
378. 14:16comfortable because when they come into
379. 14:17the dealership they're not you know it's
380. 14:19not like a they're driving by and they
381. 14:21go oh I want to get a Dairy Queen no
382. 14:23they're going to the dealership for a
383. 14:25specific reason our job as a service
384. 14:27advisor is to greet them take down their
385. 14:30information be professional but we also
386. 14:32want a lawn protect their investment
387. 14:34right they spent between 20 and 120 000
388. 14:38on a regular car not talking about a
389. 14:41real high-end car right and then they
390. 14:45need to maintain it because right
391. 14:46everything mechanical subject to failure
392. 14:49there's a reason why you know 20 years
393. 14:51ago we changed the oil every three
394. 14:52months every three thousand miles then
395. 14:54it was semi-synthetic and it was five
396. 14:56months five thousand miles now it's Ten
397. 14:58Thousand Miles and eventually it got
398. 15:00news for you cars are going to be
399. 15:02throwaways just like disposable razors
400. 15:04and years ago you know you don't
401. 15:07remember the the disposable I guess they
402. 15:10still have disposable cameras right and
403. 15:12now you have all the cardboard ones yeah
404. 15:14everything changes so the the car
405. 15:18business the automobile business for
406. 15:20service it will be like an automotive uh
407. 15:23Car Wash where you pull up you hook onto
408. 15:26the conveyor belt if there's an O2
409. 15:28sensors that that's bad they'll lift the
410. 15:30cab they'll pull out the whole engine
411. 15:32module put a new module back in and 20
412. 15:35minutes late your car will come out with
413. 15:36a brand new engine module watch
414. 15:40you won't change the oil it will be
415. 15:42lifetime oil but anyway
416. 15:44yeah no and that's definitely one of
417. 15:46those things that um you know moving
418. 15:49with with the different different area I
419. 15:51like looking at like how Tesla kind of
420. 15:53structures their service department
421. 15:55um
422. 15:56platforms yeah absolutely too well and
423. 15:59just just how they have
424. 16:01um everyone in in the service department
425. 16:03works everyone else's job you know they
426. 16:07rotate people through and it's kind of a
427. 16:09compare belt style exactly what you were
428. 16:11talking about and that scares me
429. 16:12personally uh yeah
430. 16:14you know because uh definitely the way
431. 16:17that you know I've found to be
432. 16:19successful leadership the way you found
433. 16:20to be successful leadership is those
434. 16:23that kind of key role of getting to know
435. 16:26the customer and getting to be someone
436. 16:28that they can trust and rely on right
437. 16:30that I think that will always be there
438. 16:33um
439. 16:34and then you know as far as we won't
440. 16:37lose the mechanics the mechanics will be
441. 16:39doing different functions you know the
442. 16:40mechanic will probably be more of fixing
443. 16:43the Hydraulics for the machine that you
444. 16:45know carts the vehicle around the but
445. 16:48that you know that's 20 30 years from
446. 16:49now yeah exactly there's still it's
447. 16:52still gonna there's still going to be
448. 16:53people and you're going to need people
449. 16:54to greet them and go through the process
450. 16:57to some degree right yeah no I know I
451. 17:01often say too like you know a service
452. 17:03advisor is you know part
453. 17:06skilled labor part therapist at the same
454. 17:08time yeah
455. 17:10oftentimes I gotta listen to the person
456. 17:12bent for a while right you know
457. 17:15yeah you know as a service advisor once
458. 17:18you win them over
459. 17:19then they trust you and if you're not
460. 17:23here's what I see in the industry a lot
461. 17:26um
462. 17:26people Bond based on language and
463. 17:30culture and and and you know income
464. 17:34but I find that the people that speak
465. 17:36the same language use that as a way to
466. 17:39take advantage of their people
467. 17:41here's there's plenty of money to be
468. 17:43made and just do it the right way if
469. 17:45they need service and it's a legitimate
470. 17:48service like me personally I thought
471. 17:50that uh like the transmission fluid
472. 17:53exchange because I came from Old School
473. 17:55was BS and I just done a trans service
474. 18:00on my motorhome and it was it had a
475. 18:02Dodge 440 in it and the guys from it was
476. 18:04BG and it's still you know mocking BG
477. 18:07are still around and they said well
478. 18:09bring it in and we brought it in we did
479. 18:11a trans service on my motorhome and the
480. 18:14fluid came out dirty and so now what I
481. 18:16tell customers is it'd be like because
482. 18:18the Tran service we hook up there's a
483. 18:20lot of different ways unless you're one
484. 18:21of our old techs that doesn't work there
485. 18:22anymore it's not a way to a Tran service
486. 18:25but uh you can hook up to the trans
487. 18:28cooler lines and suck out the old fluid
488. 18:31and pump good fluid in where the old way
489. 18:33we would just you know take the pan off
490. 18:36or take the drain plug out for the
491. 18:38transmission pan and drain the trans
492. 18:40fluid out but you also have a converter
493. 18:42right so the trans pan may have what
494. 18:46yeah maybe a third of the fluid so
495. 18:50basically it'd be like taking a glass of
496. 18:53sour milk and if you pour it a third of
497. 18:55that sour milk out and put good milk
498. 18:57into that glass it'd still be sour milk
499. 18:59where the trans service takes out all
500. 19:01the fluid yeah backwash on a diametric
501. 19:05pool filter yeah exactly so Technology's
502. 19:08changed so basically
503. 19:10if you're just pitching to the customer
504. 19:12what you need to to what services you
505. 19:15need to protect your investment they're
506. 19:18going to say yes every time because here
507. 19:21in Southern California we drive a lot
508. 19:23and we protect our investment we need
509. 19:25our cars guys like you and I we don't
510. 19:28worry about cars yeah exactly I never
511. 19:30worried about a car since I've been in
512. 19:32the car fixing it buying it didn't
513. 19:34matter yeah that's why I always tell
514. 19:36people you know when they put the ad on
515. 19:38offer up they're selling a car and it
516. 19:39says mechanic owned you don't want that
517. 19:41car
518. 19:42we know what to ignore I do all my
519. 19:46services yeah exactly no and that's a
520. 19:48good that's a good point so you brought
521. 19:50up something that's really key is
522. 19:51bringing that really heavy technical
523. 19:53jargon of how to do a trans service and
524. 19:55bringing it down to an understandable
525. 19:57level
526. 19:59um and and without
527. 20:01um
528. 20:03[Music]
529. 20:05yeah yeah without talking down to them
530. 20:08right that's the important skill that
531. 20:10takes a lot to kind of to kind of get
532. 20:12yeah and I'm not a mechanic and I tell
533. 20:14my customers that I'm not a mechanic so
534. 20:16you know that's what Taylor is for yeah
535. 20:19we write down the concern make them feel
536. 20:22comfortable you know think about if
537. 20:24they're leaving their vehicle with us
538. 20:25for an extended period of time that in
539. 20:27itself is a problem so
540. 20:30thank you for your students think about
541. 20:31yourself what happens when your car
542. 20:33breaks down what do you do you can't go
543. 20:34to school you can't go to work right
544. 20:37it's a burden so we have to help them go
545. 20:40on with their lives yeah I mean
546. 20:41personally I have that disease going
547. 20:43around right now it's called broke right
548. 20:46so I can't fix anything right now and
549. 20:49when my customers come in and I know
550. 20:51that they're struggling they're a school
551. 20:53teacher Unfortunately they don't make
552. 20:55any money at all and I help them I make
553. 20:58mistakes in the favor of the customer
554. 21:00you know
555. 21:02what do you think that does the next
556. 21:04time that customer they tell everybody
557. 21:06if you take care of a customer they tell
558. 21:08everybody
559. 21:09and then they come back and when they
560. 21:11come back if they need if they're
561. 21:13transparent is leaking or whatever
562. 21:15repair may be they say fix it they they
563. 21:18toss your key they toss the keys to you
564. 21:20and say fix it yeah exactly and that
565. 21:22builds that trust you know and it's and
566. 21:25it's it's funny there definitely is you
567. 21:28know the service advisor is is an
568. 21:29extremely necessary position you know
569. 21:31you're the customer facing you know
570. 21:34person that's going to be able to handle
571. 21:36what woes they have and be able to
572. 21:39translate it to the you know the the
573. 21:41Apes in the back like me that I'm not
574. 21:44the customer facing person you know it's
575. 21:47oftentimes funny you've probably seen it
576. 21:50um you know in the uh the customer is
577. 21:52really upset and wants to talk to the
578. 21:54tech and you know they'll they'll be all
579. 21:56hot and and bothered up on the service
580. 21:58drive but then you take them out of that
581. 22:00comfortable setting with the nice tile
582. 22:02floor and the clean atmosphere and you
583. 22:05bring them back into the into the tech
584. 22:07in the text area and you can always see
585. 22:09the you know instantly the demeanor
586. 22:12usually changes it always changes yeah
587. 22:14that's one of those
588. 22:16that's why we have the customer facing
589. 22:18person and we have the person doing the
590. 22:20work
591. 22:21I I would do that I worked at a Ford
592. 22:23Store and you know Ford has a lot of
593. 22:25diesels like Dodge but and I'm not a
594. 22:27mechanic and he's just so you know the
595. 22:30modern era the owner
596. 22:32do they know more about their vehicle
597. 22:34than we do
598. 22:35and when we would get a pushy diesel
599. 22:39customer that you know they have all
600. 22:41this jargon and I can't compete with
601. 22:44that and nor do will I I worked at a
602. 22:47Ford store and I had a tech it was big
603. 22:48like he was down there Big John he was
604. 22:50each other he was like a teddy bear but
605. 22:52I would bring him I'd bring it I go yeah
606. 22:53come let's talk to the attack and bring
607. 22:55it back and here's this guy he's six
608. 22:56four you know 240 pounds and yeah and
609. 22:59the customer awesome the customer is all
610. 23:00sweet and everything yeah I play
611. 23:03psychological games all the time oh yeah
612. 23:05well and you kind of got it and it's one
613. 23:07of those things that's really funny you
614. 23:08know
615. 23:09um I've I've had that where um I've had
616. 23:12service advisors that have that have
617. 23:14called me and and I know you and I have
618. 23:16done this where you know the customer is
619. 23:17all hot I was like bring it back right
620. 23:19bring it back let's Let's Straighten It
621. 23:21Out
622. 23:22um I think like uh you know example was
623. 23:23that diesel truck owner that he was
624. 23:26overheating yeah yeah he was threatening
625. 23:29to you and me like I'm gonna blow it up
626. 23:31and both of you and I are like yeah
627. 23:33they do that
628. 23:35because we can't commit what's called
629. 23:37warranty fraud yeah even though we know
630. 23:39that there might be a flaw in that
631. 23:41vehicle or within that engine we have to
632. 23:43wait until it breaks before we can
633. 23:46submit that as a warranty claim if we
634. 23:48send a part back to any manufacturer and
635. 23:50it's not damaged and we submitted and we
636. 23:52got paid under warranty it's about
637. 23:53warranty fraud and then they audit you
638. 23:56and they charge back the dealership
639. 23:57sometimes they revoke licenses so we're
640. 24:01also we're also and I'm sure you have a
641. 24:03class on this we're also monitored by
642. 24:05the bar yeah Bureau automotive repair
643. 24:08and their degenerate attorneys that have
644. 24:10nothing better to do they're like uh
645. 24:12what's that uh when some of us oh
646. 24:14they're Karen's yeah their parents that
647. 24:18have nothing better to do like the
648. 24:19homeowners association than to bother
649. 24:22people but they do protect the customer
650. 24:24and we can't do anything outside of the
651. 24:27guidelines of the bar yeah I know I've
652. 24:30been in situations where I've been uh
653. 24:33subpoenaed you know when when bars
654. 24:36gotten involved on a car being shot
655. 24:37performed unfortunately I'm always a
656. 24:40Fall Guy for a lot of stuff that I
657. 24:42didn't do have you been in that
658. 24:43situation
659. 24:44no oh you haven't oh man that's good
660. 24:47never
661. 24:48yeah it's it's always funny because they
662. 24:50sit you down right so so in a bar
663. 24:52situation
664. 24:54um
665. 24:54they sit you down and they kind of they
666. 24:58act as the mediator right and the the
667. 25:01last time I had I had this situation the
668. 25:03customer was totally trying to pull the
669. 25:05wool over us you know he said if you did
670. 25:08Scotty worked to his truck but it made
671. 25:10it all the way to uh um Tacoma
672. 25:12Washington and he said oh yeah he drove
673. 25:14from California to Tacoma Washington we
674. 25:16didn't put a hose clamp on his radiator
675. 25:19and it was one of those the Bureau of
676. 25:21Automotive Repair guys like well we got
677. 25:22to meet halfway and I was like
678. 25:24we couldn't meet halfway if if my tech
679. 25:27truly left that radiator hose by a
680. 25:29police it wouldn't have made it outside
681. 25:31of the state yeah it wouldn't have made
682. 25:33it that far and and like it almost got
683. 25:36to where it was like do you own a map
684. 25:37like a globe do you know how far this
685. 25:40dude
686. 25:42um yeah it's it's it's insane but it's
687. 25:44stressful it's one of those things that
688. 25:46definitely is stressful
689. 25:48um and kind of hearkens the importance
690. 25:50of making sure you're riding that repair
691. 25:52order correctly it being the document
692. 25:54yeah and that's that's why we go to
693. 25:57school so we can follow you know it's I
694. 26:00type I don't I don't know probably 90
695. 26:02words a minute with spell check you know
696. 26:05I can't spell but I typed really fast so
697. 26:08we have to have the mechanical skills we
698. 26:10have to be good with computers and
699. 26:12computer programs uh we have to be able
700. 26:14to communicate to technicians who don't
701. 26:16really communicate very well and have to
702. 26:19be uh empathetic with the customer you
703. 26:23know they just bought a twenty thousand
704. 26:25dollar car they spent their life savings
705. 26:27and it broke yeah and we have to help
706. 26:30them and not manufacturers and it's not
707. 26:33just Jeep or Toyota right
708. 26:35back in the day okay for instance when I
709. 26:38worked for Toyota of Orange and I worked
710. 26:39for uh Finley Toyota in Henderson Nevada
711. 26:41both of those stores had 99 rental cars
712. 26:45in their Fleet oh dang seven shuttles
713. 26:48both stores had seven shuttles 99 and if
714. 26:51we ran out of the 99 we'd call
715. 26:53Enterprise and a drop of a hat now
716. 26:55manufacturers don't want to provide
717. 26:57rental or alternate transportation and
718. 26:59I'll give you a lift home but that's it
719. 27:01so it's changed a lot and put a lot of
720. 27:04pressure on both the mechanic and the
721. 27:06service advisor
722. 27:07to cater to and pamper the customer
723. 27:10enough so that we can finish their
724. 27:12vehicle and we don't we're not doing it
725. 27:14in a timely fashion yeah I know it's
726. 27:16impossible
727. 27:18um the store that you and I are at uh it
728. 27:21had when I started it because I've been
729. 27:23there for 16 years it had 28 certified
730. 27:27technicians that could work on who could
731. 27:30actually do the work you could actually
732. 27:31do the work yeah not Loop Tech so this
733. 27:33is excluding Loop types now now there's
734. 27:35five
735. 27:37five or six which definitely put the
736. 27:40burden on you all the service advisors
737. 27:43because it'd be difficult right
738. 27:46it's impossible that's why I don't work
739. 27:48there it isn't because here's the thing
740. 27:50so
741. 27:51anyway we don't even I don't think we
742. 27:53should put on it I think we should go
743. 27:55down a more positive road yeah let's
744. 27:57talk about the eyes and the salary and
745. 27:59these are not these are real life I've
746. 28:01seen with my own eyes and I've worked at
747. 28:04a lot of dealerships there's a service
748. 28:06advisor still there at Toyota of Orange
749. 28:09speak Spanish very gifted can multitask
750. 28:12like you have no idea not counting his
751. 28:15fifths he makes 35 000 a month yeah and
752. 28:19that's not anything to shake a stick at
753. 28:21no it's that's insane amount of money
754. 28:23yeah
755. 28:25a lot of that isn't it's it's not that
756. 28:28they've gotten an extraordinary degree
757. 28:31or they've had to no degree no they've
758. 28:35just been in the right place and and
759. 28:37learned the right things along the way
760. 28:39common sense
761. 28:41uh people skills right
762. 28:44and and the ability to ask for the sale
763. 28:48there's a simple there's a simple
764. 28:50process that we use and it's so simple
765. 28:52people always mess it up you tell the
766. 28:55customer what's wrong with the car
767. 28:56you ideally you would have a a program
768. 28:59in your computer where you can type the
769. 29:01estimate to them of what they need both
770. 29:04for maintenance and the mechanical
771. 29:06repair with the total to the penny not
772. 29:08an estimate not a around 10 grand it has
773. 29:11to be specific
774. 29:147513.12 and will be ready Thursday the
775. 29:1727th I mean you have to be specific it
776. 29:19has to be in writing
777. 29:21if you slide that estimate to them and
778. 29:24you don't talk
779. 29:26in the business and on whoever talks
780. 29:28first loses there's no debating that
781. 29:32as soon as you talk because a lot of
782. 29:34service advisors will go it's fourteen
783. 29:36hundred fifty dollars and I can take 10
784. 29:38off yeah yeah or the customer will say
785. 29:42do I have to do that and when you say no
786. 29:45or do I have to do it now no you could
787. 29:47do it next week you're done yeah exactly
788. 29:49go around the corner and the next guy's
789. 29:51gonna say yeah Anita now it's a safety
790. 29:53concern I don't know we do it today yeah
791. 29:55how often have you had so I mean you've
792. 29:58been a service advisor where you've seen
793. 30:00there wasn't the Adventist smartphones
794. 30:02how often if you had someone bust out a
795. 30:05phone and already start like
796. 30:07looking at a different quote yes yeah
797. 30:10times have changed the again customers
798. 30:14like when the sales process coming in to
799. 30:16buy a vehicle they know more about the
800. 30:17vehicle than most sales Consultants
801. 30:19diesel owners know everything about
802. 30:21Diesel and blah blah blah but most
803. 30:24owners they know a lot and now people
804. 30:26that know nothing they Google it it's on
805. 30:29YouTube and I get a lot why do I have to
806. 30:32pay
807. 30:3375 for that I saw it on YouTube it took
808. 30:36two seconds
809. 30:37um yeah
810. 30:40no it didn't and go to YouTube have them
811. 30:43fix it yeah well it's funny because you
812. 30:45know like I I create YouTube videos for
813. 30:48my students it's one of those like yeah
814. 30:50man I'm taking a job that took me
815. 30:52literally eight hours to do and I'm
816. 30:54condensing it down into a 13 minute
817. 30:56video right so yeah it looks real easy
818. 30:59but what you can see is me you know
819. 31:01missing the wrench and sucker punching
820. 31:04and bleeding you know causing my
821. 31:05Knuckles to bleed or
822. 31:07um having a having a phone call you know
823. 31:10right at the inopportune moment when you
824. 31:11got your hand over your head and you
825. 31:13know
826. 31:14um
827. 31:15yeah it's definitely but but having the
828. 31:18ability to be able to explain like well
829. 31:20look here's let me get you behind the
830. 31:23scenes and show you that it's not that
831. 31:24easy you know and I do that quite a bit
832. 31:27because people don't customers don't
833. 31:29understand what it takes to repair
834. 31:31anything because they they don't know I
835. 31:33mean I don't know what it takes to bake
836. 31:35a cake I have an idea but I couldn't
837. 31:36bake one and the rest instructions but
838. 31:39it probably wouldn't rise or come out
839. 31:40right
840. 31:41when you bring them back to the shop and
841. 31:44so for diesel trucks and for a lot of
842. 31:46vehicles it's easier for the mechanic
843. 31:49for us to get to the components that we
844. 31:51have to change we actually lift the
845. 31:53whole cab off the vehicle you take a
846. 31:56customer back and you show them there
847. 31:57and they go take your time yeah take
848. 32:00your time please make it go back
849. 32:02together correctly
850. 32:04did you guys like Puzzles as kids oh
851. 32:06yeah definitely yeah yeah I didn't yeah
852. 32:09no yeah I was uh you know I I got
853. 32:12diagnosed very early on with the
854. 32:15um uh dyslexia and uh one of the things
855. 32:18that they make you test is they pull you
856. 32:20out of class and make new puzzles so it
857. 32:22was one of those like it was almost like
858. 32:23they were training me to you know you're
859. 32:25gonna You're Gonna Go retro cars
860. 32:28so yeah I know and that and that is a
861. 32:30good point like you know if you got a
862. 32:32customer that is you know giving you a
863. 32:35um you know their their take on how easy
864. 32:37the repair should be
865. 32:39um Mark's not wrong you know when we
866. 32:41lift up ABS or Bodywork on vehicles it's
867. 32:44really intimidating when you have half
868. 32:46the car six feet up and another half the
869. 32:48car on the ground
870. 32:50um that that kind of puts things into
871. 32:52perspective that it's a big job yeah
872. 32:56um I know you were always really good at
873. 32:58taking pictures too yeah getting those
874. 33:00things to be helpful right yeah videos
875. 33:04everything
876. 33:05yeah we're humans we like to see it
877. 33:07touch it feel it and and your students
878. 33:10have to you know you hear about the
879. 33:12money that you can make I don't make
880. 33:14that much money but the good advisors
881. 33:15make good money even those that aren't
882. 33:17that good you know are still making
883. 33:19three thousand a month but anyway
884. 33:21but that may not be for you
885. 33:24like I know people that you know work
886. 33:26thought they were going to be a radio
887. 33:28announcer and he talked like this you
888. 33:30know that's not my radio voice you know
889. 33:32if you don't if you don't like people
890. 33:34you're right and you're not outspoken
891. 33:37and friendly and if you're shy service
892. 33:39advisor is not for you yeah you know
893. 33:42maybe you want to be a tech or BDC or
894. 33:44something else in a car business yeah
895. 33:46but if you have an outgoing personality
896. 33:48and you want to have fun at work and
897. 33:51that's the key if you have fun if you're
898. 33:52getting your customers to smile and be
899. 33:54happy
900. 33:55or be sympathetic with them because I
901. 33:57have a lot of customers that come in and
902. 33:59see
903. 34:00you say things that you wouldn't believe
904. 34:02they would say yeah
905. 34:04I I worked at a Ford store and I I had a
906. 34:07man and a woman young couple that came
907. 34:09all the time and this lady came in with
908. 34:12her F-150 and said
909. 34:14John just died he went to the gym and he
910. 34:17died my check engine light is on
911. 34:19you know what do you say to that yeah I
912. 34:21have come into my office to say my
913. 34:23five-year-old granddaughter just drowned
914. 34:25in my daughter's pool I mean you know
915. 34:27they have kids and grandkids and they
916. 34:30say that what do you do
917. 34:33I had a I had a judge come in my office
918. 34:35who was a judge who was presided over
919. 34:39when I adopted my son you know I I
920. 34:41couldn't not cry you know so we're
921. 34:44humans
922. 34:45so you got to know what your personality
923. 34:47is and if you have that personality be a
924. 34:50service advisor yeah
925. 34:52oh definitely well and it's one of those
926. 34:54things too that it's all it's it's
927. 34:56something new every day right it's never
928. 34:59the same thing over and over again yeah
929. 35:01you know I help a lot of people because
930. 35:04not everybody has money but everybody
931. 35:06has a car here in Southern California
932. 35:07exactly a lot of people
933. 35:10um I can do whatever I want with that
934. 35:12computer you should and now they you
935. 35:14know years ago we had a cashier and we
936. 35:16had all different departments and now
937. 35:18the service advisor does everything I
938. 35:26you know they yell at me but what are
939. 35:28you gonna do to me I mean I'm older now
940. 35:29you're gonna send me home
941. 35:31and read a book
942. 35:33yeah well no so so you bring up a really
943. 35:35good point
944. 35:36um to understand you know and it's
945. 35:38oftentimes I'll have my students either
946. 35:40service advisors or as
947. 35:43um as technicians that the economy will
948. 35:45be frustrated about how management
949. 35:47operates
950. 35:48and it's oftentimes you got to explain
951. 35:50to them that like hey look management
952. 35:52is there for the owners or the or the
953. 35:56dealer group in a lot of cases
954. 35:57stockholders or whatever yeah they're
955. 36:00not necessarily there for the customer
956. 36:02so
957. 36:03the service advisor especially has to
958. 36:07play a very fine line that you're you
959. 36:10don't want to in battle with the service
960. 36:12manager and if you do that you want to
961. 36:13find a new facility but
962. 36:16you got to understand that they might
963. 36:18not be seen in the same aspect that you
964. 36:20are no you know that's my biggest
965. 36:23problem as an individual and a service
966. 36:25advisor yeah
967. 36:27because I do know and I worked with the
968. 36:30best of the best at a lot of different
969. 36:32stores and I I took pieces of
970. 36:35information that came you know word
971. 36:36tracks that they gave me all the word
972. 36:38tracks that I have that I pass on to
973. 36:40other younger advisors I didn't make
974. 36:43them up stole them from someone else
975. 36:45yeah but yeah yeah that was 50 managers
976. 36:50that really know what's going on the new
977. 36:54corporate structure that's taken over
978. 36:55the car business they don't want
979. 36:58I don't think they want people that
980. 37:00really know what's going on
981. 37:01that's what I said and but it's your job
982. 37:05as a person right and and again I'm I'm
983. 37:09not good at this so I failed at this you
984. 37:12know
985. 37:13if I'm right in a situation I'm I'm
986. 37:17I've always had to prove that I was
987. 37:19right you don't win
988. 37:21you lost you already lost you know and
989. 37:24for me it took a long time enough to
990. 37:26take it personal when uh customers would
991. 37:29get mad at me you know I'm able now to
992. 37:32just detach and say I can't help you go
993. 37:34talk to someone else instead of having
994. 37:36to prove that I was right
995. 37:38and that's a problem again it's a people
996. 37:40business we're not a car business we're
997. 37:42in people business
998. 37:43unfortunately for me at this late stage
999. 37:46in my life I'm figuring out that that is
1000. 37:48a flaw and I use that to my advantage
1001. 37:50right right when you and I it was that's
1002. 37:53a perfect example we worked together I
1003. 37:56was a new advisor uh
1004. 37:59I prep Taylor with his job and it was a
1005. 38:02good job it was a combination of
1006. 38:03mechanical failure and I also upsold
1007. 38:06several necessary maintenance services I
1008. 38:10pulled all the parts I brought the parts
1009. 38:11out and then because the dealership had
1010. 38:14problems Taylor got pulled away to
1011. 38:16another job and I'm like what do you
1012. 38:17mean he didn't finish my job right so
1013. 38:20and I gave it to another mechanic who
1014. 38:23could who couldn't fix it so it sat
1015. 38:27broken for weeks upon weeks and weeks
1016. 38:30turned into months and guess what I had
1017. 38:32to go back to Taylor and have to fix it
1018. 38:35I mean it came back around all in a big
1019. 38:37long Circle yeah it took like six months
1020. 38:39but you finally did fix it
1021. 38:43yeah
1022. 38:44yeah but that's the exact thing that
1023. 38:46like with with management it's really
1024. 38:47tough is is the exact exact thing
1025. 38:50happens all the time you know me as a
1026. 38:52tech
1027. 38:53I get pulled off and then it's and then
1028. 38:55it's one of those
1029. 38:57um you know you bring it up as a person
1030. 38:58a people person or people on business
1031. 39:01the technician's not going to be able to
1032. 39:03convey to the service advisor usually in
1033. 39:06a good enough fashion hey you know this
1034. 39:08is what's happening this is the
1035. 39:10situation and the service manager is
1036. 39:11looking you know blinders on
1037. 39:13they're looking at yeah yeah and they're
1038. 39:16looking at
1039. 39:18what fires in front of them
1040. 39:20um and that often times is one of those
1041. 39:22things that
1042. 39:23you really gotta navigate well and you
1043. 39:25got to learn that it that is the
1044. 39:27business now unfortunately
1045. 39:30that uh the business is uh dealing with
1046. 39:33uh the real corporateness of everything
1047. 39:36but as long as you can go home at night
1048. 39:38and and and still feel good about what
1049. 39:41you did then then you're still good
1050. 39:43right so our job as a service advisor or
1051. 39:46any other position in life you have to
1052. 39:49manage your staff you have to manage
1053. 39:51your co-workers and you have to manage
1054. 39:53your manager
1055. 39:54it's our job to I only go to management
1056. 39:56when I want them to say no I I don't
1057. 39:58need them I don't ask them anything ever
1058. 40:01no seriously they know or if I don't
1059. 40:05want to work with a customer because it
1060. 40:06just got to the point where it's not
1061. 40:08going to work out well for the
1062. 40:09dealership
1063. 40:11and that's your job as a business man or
1064. 40:14a businesswoman
1065. 40:15to work that out and women I women are
1066. 40:18better than men as being a service
1067. 40:20advisor but the industry is not letting
1068. 40:22them in proportionally like the rest of
1069. 40:25the world
1070. 40:25yeah exactly and and it's
1071. 40:29it's funny you know um
1072. 40:32one of the things that I've found is is
1073. 40:35is kind of remarkable is the ability
1074. 40:39to multitask and the ability to write
1075. 40:42service and ability to write sales and
1076. 40:44everything you can oftentimes have
1077. 40:47someone that can be really good at one
1078. 40:48of those things
1079. 40:49and not fully understand that you kind
1080. 40:53of need to be as well-rounded as
1081. 40:56possible maybe not be the guy or girl
1082. 40:58that absolutely hits out of the park
1083. 41:00with sales but also the person that can
1084. 41:03you know sell enough service but also
1085. 41:06take care of the customers needs and
1086. 41:09also be able to handle the other 10
1087. 41:11customers that came in after or before
1088. 41:13them you know well the the big index and
1089. 41:17indicator now for manufacturers is
1090. 41:20coming back so the the service advisor
1091. 41:24or the salesman that hit the home run
1092. 41:26but then the customer you know had
1093. 41:28buyer's remorse and shopped around and
1094. 41:31found out he got ripped off and got it
1095. 41:33done less expensive because he wasn't
1096. 41:34happy right he'll never come back uh
1097. 41:37Toyota and you guys know what CSI is and
1098. 41:39what it was and it's not the way it used
1099. 41:41to be
1100. 41:42they're they're gauging different
1101. 41:44there's not so much the survey as it is
1102. 41:47are you coming back so if you don't in
1103. 41:51the Toyota World now if you don't if
1104. 41:53your customer does not come back within
1105. 41:55a year
1106. 41:56and that's a mark against you and if you
1107. 41:58have too many marks then your percentage
1108. 42:00drops below 100 and you get less
1109. 42:03marketing money and it's all about money
1110. 42:05we're here to make money yeah exactly
1111. 42:08well and and then like the grand scheme
1112. 42:11of things too is when you look at like
1113. 42:12they've interlinked Sales and Service
1114. 42:14you know uh there's the old saying that
1115. 42:18um the sales department sells the first
1116. 42:20car and the service department sells the
1117. 42:22next five well if you actually look at
1118. 42:24the the way the nomenclature to describe
1119. 42:27the service department it's called after
1120. 42:29sales yeah exactly I work for sales I'm
1121. 42:32in sales I work for sales my job as a
1122. 42:35service advisor and this was told to me
1123. 42:36by a service manager years ago is to
1124. 42:39sell billable billable labor hours in
1125. 42:42other words Taylor gets paid three hours
1126. 42:44no matter what now if I do a bad
1127. 42:47estimate I can only Bill them for two
1128. 42:49then we still pay Taylor the three but
1129. 42:52we only charge two
1130. 42:54sell billable hours get good CSI the
1131. 42:58real key is to hold the customer as a
1132. 43:02customer to three to five years to five
1133. 43:05to seven years depending on their cycle
1134. 43:06to buy another car and have them come
1135. 43:09back and buy another car and Taylor
1136. 43:10probably has all the statistics of how
1137. 43:13much money people spend at a dealership
1138. 43:16for the life of the car yeah no yeah
1139. 43:20it's insane I got no
1140. 43:22I think I think I had you deal with uh
1141. 43:24my customer Jan the lady with the really
1142. 43:26old Jeep yes yeah she had
1143. 43:30um her her total that she spent from 40
1144. 43:3450 000. oh yeah easily yeah and it's
1145. 43:38it's an insane amount when you actually
1146. 43:39look at it
1147. 43:41but this customer is absolutely head
1148. 43:45over heels for their vehicle yes I want
1149. 43:48another one they're never going to get
1150. 43:50another one
1151. 43:51um you know and it's basically gonna go
1152. 43:54to the Grave with them almost
1153. 43:56um and it's remarkable how much money
1154. 43:58that person's willing to spend and
1155. 44:01they're not the only one there's tons
1156. 44:03out there that are like that yeah the
1157. 44:05Pete there's certain there's certain
1158. 44:07vehicles that PT Cruisers for one you
1159. 44:11know they love their cars you know and
1160. 44:14that's okay I understand you know yeah
1161. 44:17yeah plus it's just a card to them they
1162. 44:19have names and everything just like
1163. 44:21those similar commercials exactly bottom
1164. 44:23line I believe anyone could be a service
1165. 44:26advisor
1166. 44:27treat the people nice
1167. 44:29they'll come back
1168. 44:31they want to spend money they want you
1169. 44:34as a service advisor to give them
1170. 44:36permission to spend their money they
1171. 44:38came there to fix their car yeah so fix
1172. 44:41their car take their money yeah you do
1173. 44:43it professionally and if you're you know
1174. 44:45if you're compassionate they'll come
1175. 44:47back to you and it'll be a fun business
1176. 44:50we had fun when I first started at that
1177. 44:52dealership we had a lot of fun yeah
1178. 44:55and management got in the way yeah and
1179. 44:58like that at most of the stores that
1180. 45:00I've worked at in the past 20 years we
1181. 45:03have a good thing going and they want to
1182. 45:05make changes
1183. 45:07just to be able to say they've made a
1184. 45:08change and look what I fixed and
1185. 45:11no you're absolutely right and and the
1186. 45:14key thing with that and it took me a
1187. 45:16really long time just don't take it
1188. 45:18personal you know don't take it personal
1189. 45:19right don't take it personal understand
1190. 45:22that
1191. 45:24that that's the business yeah and that
1192. 45:27oftentimes when people are very
1193. 45:29business-centric
1194. 45:31they're not people-centric no you know
1195. 45:34and and keep your humanity and make sure
1196. 45:36you keep the relationships up yeah that
1197. 45:38you have you know there's a lot of good
1198. 45:40there's a lot of good people everywhere
1199. 45:42there's a lot of good people in a car
1200. 45:43business yeah
1201. 45:45you know make good money had fun over
1202. 45:49the years
1203. 45:50definitely so what would be like the the
1204. 45:53kind of kind of wrap things up what
1205. 45:55would be the biggest thing that you
1206. 45:56would tell an a new service advisor like
1207. 45:59to best prepare them
1208. 46:02um you know like the the one key thing
1209. 46:04that's like hey do this and you're gonna
1210. 46:06be good
1211. 46:09stick to the basics all right so I just
1212. 46:11started a new job and as confident as I
1213. 46:14am
1214. 46:15of course I've been worried about the
1215. 46:16new job and am I going to make money and
1216. 46:18I said to myself through the basics and
1217. 46:20the basics are you you look at the car
1218. 46:23and you
1219. 46:25have uh interaction with the car and the
1220. 46:28customer you turn the steering wheel you
1221. 46:30you look at their tire tread you look at
1222. 46:33their window to make sure things aren't
1223. 46:34cracked you really you can you could
1224. 46:37tell a lot about a customer by looking
1225. 46:38at their car and you do that basic walk
1226. 46:41around it's basic you turn the wheel
1227. 46:44turn the wheel so you can see the tire
1228. 46:46tread and tell the customer because no
1229. 46:48one take does that anymore and shows the
1230. 46:50customer everyone's on their phone put
1231. 46:53your phone away talk to the customer use
1232. 46:56your phone for their technology they'll
1233. 46:58put it away when you're with the
1234. 46:59customer don't answer the phone when
1235. 47:01you're with a when there's a customer I
1236. 47:03won't answer the phone when there's a
1237. 47:04customer in front of me I don't care who
1238. 47:06it is I don't care who's calling
1239. 47:08um
1240. 47:10do the basics the basics are the key
1241. 47:12that's what I found do your walk around
1242. 47:14check the tire tread look at everything
1243. 47:17in the car so that you can tell the
1244. 47:19customer oh your tires are in good shape
1245. 47:21or your tires are not in good shape or
1246. 47:24this is going to be covered under
1247. 47:25warranty set their expectations right
1248. 47:27away with what they're going to have and
1249. 47:29what they're going to need when their
1250. 47:31car comes in with 5 000 miles you need
1251. 47:33to tell them I'm going to see you again
1252. 47:35at 10 or 15 and then you're going to do
1253. 47:37your brake fluid exchange at in two
1254. 47:39years because brake fluid is hydroscopic
1255. 47:41and you want to learn about their
1256. 47:43product if you don't understand engine
1257. 47:45components then go to a technician in
1258. 47:48this Bay and say well what's an
1259. 47:50alternator because I didn't know I
1260. 47:53learned I didn't know what these
1261. 47:54components I wasn't I grew up with gear
1262. 47:57heads and guys that worked on cars I
1263. 47:58didn't work on cars right I got in and
1264. 48:01turned on the radio and the air
1265. 48:02conditioner and drove yeah so learn
1266. 48:05about these components so that when the
1267. 48:06text says oh it needs a CCV filter
1268. 48:10whatever that filter is right you know
1269. 48:13it's a crankcase ventilation filter and
1270. 48:15what's it and what's what does it need
1271. 48:16like I'm trained I'm working with a
1272. 48:18young advisor now and
1273. 48:21a customer was asking him how much is a
1274. 48:24brake fluid exchange how much is this
1275. 48:26service and I said when they asked you
1276. 48:27the question feature benefit
1277. 48:31how much is a brake fluid exchange and
1278. 48:32the first response is brake fluid is
1279. 48:35hydroscopic it absorbs moisture from the
1280. 48:37air is it going to keep your vehicle
1281. 48:39from stopping no but over time that
1282. 48:42moisture is going to damage the internal
1283. 48:43lining of your braking system and if
1284. 48:45you're keeping the car you're going to
1285. 48:46keep the car right if you're keeping the
1286. 48:48car then you're going to spend more
1287. 48:49money later to fix your braking system
1288. 48:52and then you know just tell them that
1289. 48:55and then a price is nothing you know how
1290. 48:58come it's so expensive I mean I'm old so
1291. 49:00I say oh when I started driving gas was
1292. 49:02a quarter everything's wrong
1293. 49:04if they're not pushing back then they're
1294. 49:06not really going to buy anything when
1295. 49:09they say no they really mean yes and you
1296. 49:11have to get through that and find out
1297. 49:12what they really need
1298. 49:14a walk around
1299. 49:17know your product right drive the cars
1300. 49:20talk to the mechanics
1301. 49:22I don't before I call a customer to say
1302. 49:24what they need to fix their car and how
1303. 49:26much it's going to be I walk out to the
1304. 49:28tech I ask them what's wrong with it
1305. 49:30show me what do you mean I don't know I
1306. 49:32don't know what that is right I ask you
1307. 49:35all the time what is that what does that
1308. 49:36mean and then you tell me so then I can
1309. 49:39put together a really good estimate to
1310. 49:42the penny with the alternator is going
1311. 49:44to be this much the belt's that much
1312. 49:46we're going to do your front brakes
1313. 49:47we're going to do brake fluid exchange
1314. 49:50I don't break down individual dollar
1315. 49:52amount for items unless they ask I give
1316. 49:55them a total right I push that paper
1317. 49:57over with the total to the penny and the
1318. 50:00exact time frame of when it's going to
1319. 50:01be ready whether we get that or not you
1320. 50:03know you don't know until you start the
1321. 50:04job
1322. 50:06don't talk let them sign the repair
1323. 50:08order and then talk to your Tech and get
1324. 50:10it done when you're talking with your
1325. 50:12technicians if he wants three hours pay
1326. 50:15him three hours
1327. 50:18don't pay them two and a half I think
1328. 50:20you're going to get away with it you
1329. 50:21know and you're helping the customer
1330. 50:22you're not helping anybody yeah
1331. 50:25take care of your technician he'll fix
1332. 50:28the car
1333. 50:29be empathetic talk to your customer
1334. 50:31listen to their concerns write them down
1335. 50:34I keep a book I have hundreds of these
1336. 50:37little black books you can buy for two
1337. 50:39dollars in a grocery store little
1338. 50:41Loosely books I put the day you know
1339. 50:44Monday whatever
1340. 50:45do you call me I write it down you talk
1341. 50:48to me I write it down Taylor calls me
1342. 50:51and you know says it's going to be X
1343. 50:52number of hours I write it down because
1344. 50:55when they come back and people say
1345. 50:57something the the statement is if their
1346. 51:00lips are moving they're lying you have
1347. 51:02to document everything that you've
1348. 51:04communicated to the customer in an email
1349. 51:06or a text your walk around listen to
1350. 51:10their concerns document it be specific
1351. 51:13talk to the tech know what you're going
1352. 51:17to fix and how much it's going to be how
1353. 51:18long it's going to take
1354. 51:20put it in writing
1355. 51:21and I've been put together so much you
1356. 51:24have no idea
1357. 51:26ladies foreigners young kids yeah
1358. 51:30because I didn't get in writing guess
1359. 51:32what they got a free service yeah once
1360. 51:35when when I worked at Ford back in the
1361. 51:37day we used to ask you if you wanted to
1362. 51:39authorize an upsell a guy comes in he
1363. 51:43signs the repair order for diagnosis
1364. 51:45first transmission he signs for a
1365. 51:47hundred dollars I call them up Sir you
1366. 51:50need a transmission it's forty five
1367. 51:52hundred dollars would you like us to
1368. 51:54proceed yes what's the last four of your
1369. 51:56Social and you write it down
1370. 51:58we fixed the guy's car he came with the
1371. 52:00police
1372. 52:01and said I want my car
1373. 52:04and go you haven't paid
1374. 52:06here you authorize it here's your social
1375. 52:07that's not my social
1376. 52:10he got a free transmission yeah
1377. 52:13now if you follow the rules of the bar
1378. 52:15the bar says that you have to have to
1379. 52:17have a signed repair order signed and
1380. 52:20dated with everything that you're going
1381. 52:22to fix on their vehicle you discuss it
1382. 52:24has to be in writing
1383. 52:25[Music]
1384. 52:27and if you have an upsell or a change in
1385. 52:29the repair order it has to be signed or
1386. 52:32you have to have the customer documented
1387. 52:34before they leave the dealership saying
1388. 52:36I authorize more work to be done on my
1389. 52:38car and if you don't have that you lost
1390. 52:40me for it and that's what the bar is
1391. 52:41it's it's the legal side yeah exactly
1392. 52:44exactly so no that's that's fantastic
1393. 52:48advice and again really it's it's the
1394. 52:51reason why I do these is it's really
1395. 52:52important for people to understand and
1396. 52:55you know my students to hear from
1397. 52:56someone that's lived it you know and I
1398. 52:59really appreciate
1399. 53:01um you know you taking the time uh to
1400. 53:03talk to talk to them
1401. 53:05um so this is one of those things again
1402. 53:06you know the reason why I record it is
1403. 53:08so that I have this for Prosperity so
1404. 53:10that I can give it to multiple classes
1405. 53:13um because this information is gold
1406. 53:14that's one of the things that
1407. 53:16um
1408. 53:16kind of scares me with the way the
1409. 53:18industry is is a lot of the the
1410. 53:20knowledge that like that you have even
1411. 53:23the industry so it's one of those things
1412. 53:25I want to capture that as much as I can
1413. 53:27yeah so definitely thank you
1414. 53:31yeah it's definitely changing so um I
1415. 53:34really appreciate your time and taking
1416. 53:36the time to sit down um and talk with
1417. 53:38the students
1418. 53:39um and uh and all that you do I really
1419. 53:41do appreciate that so thank you