AutoFix AdvisorCast

Michael Doherty [00:00:00]:
This is the autofix Advisor cast powered by worldpac. Hey, Service Advisor Nation. Welcome to another episode of the autofix Advisor Cast. I'm your host Michael Dougherty and we would like to thank our sponsor worldpac. Worldpack is awesome at getting parts at rapid speeds with to all locations across the United States. Please be sure to check out worldpac.com and also worldpactraining.com they have several training platforms, actually multiple training platforms that can and will take your career to the next level. So Service Advisor Nation, again, good to be with you, hope you're doing well. It is the end of January already, man, I gotta tell you, I feel like I'm still paying off Christmas gifts.

Michael Doherty [00:00:55]:
So. So anyways, I wanted to talk to you guys and gals about parts today. Primarily reason I wanted to talk about parts as my career as a service Advisor for over 20 years. A couple of shops that I worked at, we had some parts process flows, some parts process issues. But the one that I think mostly helped us out was, you know, knowing when the parts arrive. And I think most shops do not have a dedicated parts person, you know, parts area, meaning, you know, somebody that's just assigned to receiving parts, billing parts, things of that nature. Usually that falls under the service advisors as other team members as well. But in specific, the shop that I worked at, a lot of the offices were up front, in the back of course was the shop.

Michael Doherty [00:01:44]:
And we had, you know, at the time, you know, a table that worldpac drivers or other parts drivers, you know, autozone, advance, carquest, sometimes depending on what we needed. Of course, if worldpac didn't have it, but they would just drop parts off, put the papers in a bin and they'd roll out. And a lot of times we just didn't know when parts showed up. So to help with more, I guess you call it efficiency, we set up a Bluetooth doorbell. So we put a doorbell back by the parts table and then put a Bluetooth speaker in the front office area that had a chime and we put a big note, actually had it laminated by the parts table for any parts driver saying after dropping off parts, please ring this bell. So just an alert that hey, parts are there. And I think that's definitely going to help because it's going to help efficiency in the shop. Obviously if you've got cars up on the lift that are waiting for parts, you know, texts sometimes see that the parts people come in the building, sometimes they don't.

Michael Doherty [00:02:46]:
But again, if you know, most of your offices up front, most of the people are up front, you don't know when they're going to arrive or when they have arrived. And that could hamper, you know, downtime on a vehicle especially, you know, hey, I didn't know the part was here two hours ago. Didn't know the part was here an hour ago. So again, just from an efficiency standpoint, knowing that the parts are there is going to help you out. So number two, I think it's really important also to have two separate parts areas or tables, one for incoming, one for outgoing, and for outgoing, that could be RMAs, that could be damaged parts, parts boxed incorrectly, things of that nature. I know a lot of times, well, I wouldn't say a lot of times, but sometimes I've found out over the years that, you know, if a part shows up from ups, you unbox it and you find out that, hey, this was the wrong part sent. Or sometimes they send parts to a totally different place. I mean, over the years, we've accepted parts for what we thought were ours.

Michael Doherty [00:03:46]:
We open them up and we're like, what's this? And then we look at the manifest and it's for a totally different shop somewhere in the United States. So, you know, again, unboxing, verifying that what you've got is for you and correct, not just assuming, putting it on the shelf. And then when the tech goes to open it, it's the wrong part. And again, you've got a car likely on the lift, disassembled, waiting for that part. It's more downtime. You've got to order another one, repeat process. So again, just being vigilant, unboxing things that are coming, especially From UPS or FedEx, overnight, if you're getting those types of deliveries and for the deliveries that you're getting locally, not all the time, but I've had, I have had, I have had the experience before where, you know, I've opened up a spark plug box and the electrode on the spark plug is just crushed. And I don't think that was anybody, you know, that did that on purpose.

Michael Doherty [00:04:41]:
But, you know, when parts are being boxed, put in, or just a plastic bag, there could have been a heavier something that rolled on top of it. I mean, stuff happens. So again, just being vigilant, verifying little things like that before you hand them off to the technician or put them in, you know, I won't say a tool bucket, but, you know, a box before you put it, like in a box for the technician to take the parts, you know, just verifying that they are in Fact good and not damaged. And sometimes I have seen boxes that aren't damaged, but the parts inside are. So again, just awareness, you know, a team effort, just making sure that everything can move as smoothly, as efficiently as possible. And also for delivery drivers, you know, when delivery drivers are coming to drop off parts, I know most of the time most shops have it set up where you have to get a signature or if the driver that's dropping it off, if you don't have an account set up, you've got to write a check, a cod, give them cash, credit card, whatever it is. But you know, again, just awareness that they're there with the parts so that if they have something that needs to, if you have something that needs to go back, make sure it gets back in a timely manner and make a duplicate copy of that parts manifest so that, you know, you can keep track of your RMAs, your refunds, you know, damaged parts, etc. So that you're getting your money back from, you know, whoever, you know, worldpac or whoever you're getting the parts from.

Michael Doherty [00:06:06]:
That way it's trackable for you. So again, make a copy of that invoice. Don't just, you know, send it off that one and just assume that they're going to, you know, whoever's going to take care of it. I mean, again, stuff falls through the cracks and we want to prevent that. Also I think something to be proactive too is parts that you're able to bench test before you install is going to be really important. I have over the years encountered alternators defective out of the box, not damaged, but just they don't work. So, you know, bench test that, make sure that it's, you know, got power and ground if you can. And also batteries.

Michael Doherty [00:06:40]:
A lot of shops are stocking batteries in the parts area and most of the time, I want to say one, probably every two weeks, the there's somebody coming around, the manufacturer of those batteries. Usually it's interstate from what I've seen with most shops locally. But you know, don't just pick up that battery and throw it in the client's car and assume that it's good just because it was brought to you a week ago. I mean, bench test it, you know, make sure that it is a good battery, that it checks out before you put it in that client's vehicle, register it and then find out that there's an issue. You know, it's going to save you time, it's going to save you a headache, it's going to possibly save You a bad review again. So just being proactive. And I know we so get in the, you know, the phase of just, you know, we did our part, you know, we ordered the part, literally, you know, we clicked order, it showed up, we put it in the assigned shelf, and the technician's going to put it in, and it should be okay. Yeah.

Michael Doherty [00:07:35]:
I mean, in a perfect world, that's how it should work. But, you know, there are a lot of times that we experience issues that we have to, you know, if it's happened once or twice, we should know better, you know, so again, just being proactive, really opening up those parts boxes, looking, you know, taking a second, taking a minute to verify that what you got is right. I mean, I've had. And it's not worldpack maybe sometimes, but it's the. It's the exception, not the rule. But I've ordered parts before they show up. And, you know, an alternator. We ordered an alternator.

Michael Doherty [00:08:10]:
And in the box that is on the part shelf for that technician, for that vehicle, I'm looking at it, and it's an air filter box. And I'm like, why is this in here? And I pick up the air filter box, and it's got an alternator part number on it. And we were charged for an alternator, and it was. We were sent an air filter that's just crappy. You know, it's somebody not paying attention from whoever was picking that part off the shelf. They just went with what was there. Maybe it's an experience, I don't know. But again, you know, just verifying that what you're receiving is actually what you ordered by part number, by manufacturer, and that the part looks to be good.

Michael Doherty [00:08:45]:
Brake rotors, too. I've seen brake rotors, they get thrown around, man. They really do. You know, people pick them up, just kind of slam them down. I mean, these are very delicate parts. You know, check for cracks. Just things that are visually, you know, not okay. You know, it's okay to return the part.

Michael Doherty [00:09:04]:
And, you know, like, let's be honest, if it's a matter of if the mindset is, look, it's here, I'm just going to put it on the car. I know the part's warrantied. I'm just going to get it out the door anyways. Don't do that. I mean, do the right thing. You know, call the client, let them know that there was an issue with the part that you ordered and that you ordered another one. It'll be there in the morning or the afternoon of the next day. And I'm much, much sure they'd rather hear that than you find a small defect on a part and just put it in anyways and hope that it doesn't come back.

Michael Doherty [00:09:36]:
I mean, that's, you know, that's where integrity comes in, especially on, on the, on the service side, right? We're talking about integrity, like do the right thing, you know, I mean, don't just rush it through the shop and go out. It's gonna, it's got a warranty on anyways. It doesn't matter. No, it really does. You know, you've got to do the right thing for the client all the time. It's easy to just hope that nothing's gonna happen, but we all know Murphy's Law and, and it's gonna happen. So do the right thing. Send it back, call the client, be communicative.

Michael Doherty [00:10:06]:
Communicative. And just do the right thing. But one thing I thought of too was, and not on the part side, but one thing I think would be great for shops is make a list. You know, make a list of your top 20 clients and I'm sure you've got them. I'm sure you could go if you've got one service advisor in the shop, two service advisors, management as well, people doing callbacks. I mean, make a list, you know, get a list together of your top 20 clients and do something special for them. You know, once a week, get one of those top 20 clients in, do a nice car wash for them, nice detail, something. Thank them, you know, thank them for being one of your best clients and give them some business cards and say, hey, we'd love more clients like you.

Michael Doherty [00:10:49]:
And they've got friends, they've got family. I mean, that's the greatest referral right there. You know, word of mouth. You can't beat that. You really can't. And, you know, you could take them out to coffee, you could, you know, just, just make time for those top 20 or top 10, top 30, whatever you consider the top number to be, just do something more for them. Go that extra mile. You know, one of the things that I've been talking to a lot of shops lately because I'm doing some marketing stuff.

Michael Doherty [00:11:16]:
Not for shops, independent automotive shops. And it's on a questionnaire that we ask them. But one of the things is, the question is, you know, as a business owner, what keeps you up at night regarding your shop? And they really, you know, it's not a question that they're anticipating. You know, on this, on this questionnaire, there that wasn't previously asked of them in an email that we sent out. So that's kind of like an on the spot looking for a response. So again, the question that we ask is, you know, as the business owner, you know, what keeps you up at night about your shop? And a lot of the shops that I've talked to, it hasn't been car count, it hasn't been money, it's been about the staff. It's been about the staff and that, you know, people being out sick, not knowing if they're going to have everybody at work that week, things of that nature, and how they can be better at taking care of the staff, how they can be better at helping, you know, their workers, their employees. And I think that's really cool.

Michael Doherty [00:12:19]:
You know, the mindset shift of how can I do better for my staff, how can I do better for my employees, how can I take care of them? And again, you know, have those morning meetings, have two a day. There's nothing wrong with that. I was so used to, you know, I mentioned in the past we do a morning meeting and sometimes I didn't do it, but most of the time we did a morning meeting. We went over the stuff from the day before and you know, what we've got going on currently and of course all that stuff can change, but that was usually somewhere between 9 and 9:30 in the morning. And then we go the whole day with nothing else. And everybody's just kind of, you know, doing their thing, working, whatever. But have two a day, you know, do the morning meeting and do an afternoon meeting. One thing too that I've learned with a company that I'm working with now doing independent automotive marketing for marketing for independent automotive shops.

Michael Doherty [00:13:08]:
We have so many meetings per day, things of that nature. And maybe think of from like a service advisor's perspective. You know, that phone's ringing constantly. You're emailing, you're interfacing with clients, you're in the shop and it's just go, go, go, go, go again. Carve out some time on the calendar for yourself. You know, we call it, and the company I work with now, they call it a clarity break. And it's anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes, you know, once a day. And you just block out the time on the Google calendar, you know, a clarity break.

Michael Doherty [00:13:36]:
No, it's not your lunch break, it's a separate break. And it gives you time to kind of refocus. You know, you could take that 15, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever. You could do emails, you could go Take a walk, whatever you need to do. But it's basically kind of downtime and I think that's really important. I mean, yeah, we get a lunch break, but let's be honest, in our industry, it's kind of rushed through and you know, you're going right back into the grind. So, you know, really carving out time on the calendar every day for what again, I call it a clarity break. That's what they call is a clarity break.

Michael Doherty [00:14:06]:
And again, it can be anything you want. We try to stay on task and make it work related, of course, because it's a work break. But you know, kind of just slow down the pace, you know, recalibrate. Think of some things that you need to kind of do. Catch up on those emails, catch up on those phone calls. You know, maybe you've got a DVI back from a technician that you've got questions about. Like just again, kind of slow it down, slow down the pace. Take care of yourself, you know, again, service advisors, take care of your crew.

Michael Doherty [00:14:37]:
Again, you know, go back in the shop. If you've got a technician or two that's burning through cars one after the other after the other after the other. Yeah, that's great. But you know, recognize that. Go back there. Hey, technician, you know, you've been kind of going kind of ham on this for a while. Why don't you just take a clarity break? What's that? And explain it to them. You know, again, I think again, communication, working towards taking care of the client, obviously, you know, retaining client relationships and getting customers in and out of the shop.

Michael Doherty [00:15:06]:
But again, taking care of one another. And again, focusing back to what I was saying about the owners of these shops. You know, when we're asking that question of, you know, what keeps you up at night about your shop? Yeah. Some of them say car count, some of them say cash flow. But most of it was, you know, they're worried about their employees, they're worried about their employees happiness. So again, I'm recommending to the service advisors out there, when you have a morning meeting or an afternoon meeting, you know, mention that. Talk about carving out time, separate time for a clarity break. I think it'll kind of help the shop atmosphere.

Michael Doherty [00:15:38]:
Again, kind of just, you know, slow it down a little bit. We're all humans, we need a break. And again, this is not considered a lunch break. This is just time for yourself or time to catch up on a task that you maybe didn't have time to. And if you've got a team worker, a coworker, if you're doing true service advisors at the front desk or in the office, again, you know, communicate, hey, I'm gonna take my clergy break at 2:30. I'm gonna take mine at 4:00. You know, don't, don't do it a half hour before you leave. At the end of the day, it's not leaving early again, it's on task.

Michael Doherty [00:16:09]:
It's still doing some work, but it really will help you, it'll help you refocus. So again, kind of recapping for this episode, parts, you know, parts coming in upon arrival, figuring out a system so that you know that they're there so you can get them distributed to your technicians as efficiently as possible. But also in that process, again, verifying, checking the parts, making sure they're right. The parts that you ordered by manufacturer, part number, quantity, check for any visible damages or issues. And if there are, do the right thing, do the right thing. Don't put them on the client's car. Integrity all the way. Communicate with the client.

Michael Doherty [00:16:49]:
I guarantee you're not going to have a client upset with you because you said, hey, I noticed when I was checking this part in, Mr. And Mrs. Jones, that there is a chip, there's a crack on this or there's a broken, you know, a little piece, call it a hangnail, but I'm not comfortable putting it on your car. So we ordered you another one. It may be another business day before we get the car back to you, but, you know, we just want to, we want to do the right thing for you. I mean, that's how you retain clients, that's how you keep the relationship going. You're being transparent, you're being honest and they know that you're looking out for them and that's what sets you apart from the other shops. So again, we thank you to our sponsor, Worldpac.

Michael Doherty [00:17:28]:
Again, everybody, check out Worldpac and WorldpacTraining.com also coming up here in March. Pretty soon in Kansas City, I believe it's the March 5th through the 9th, the Vision Expo. Lots of learning, lots of training. Check that out if you can get there with your team. I don't think it's too late to get tickets, but maybe it is. But check it out again, that's going to be Vision in Kansas City, I believe it's March 5th through the 9th and all good stuff. So service of Azure Nation. Again, thank you for tuning into another episode of the Autofix Advisor cast and keep those bays full and always, always, always integrity, guys.

Michael Doherty [00:18:05]:
Ladies, do the right thing for your client. And please, please, please, please take care of yourselves too. And get those clarity breaks every day. Make time to take care of yourself. It is essential. It is important. And yes, we can do that. We have to do that.

Michael Doherty [00:18:20]:
So thank you again and have a good one, y'all. Hey, thanks for listening to the autofix Advisor Cast. If you're ready to take your shop to the next level, check out our sponsor, WorldPAC and the WorldPAC Training Institute. WTI. Big thanks to them for their sponsorship. Follow the podcast on social media for more insights and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Oh, and tell your friends we want to help the industry grow and help advisors love their jobs again. See you on the next autofix Advisor Cast.