AutoFix AdvisorCast

Michael Doherty [00:00:00]:
This is the autofix Advisor Cast, powered by WorldPac. Hey, Service Advisor Nation. Thank you for tuning into another episode of the Autofix Advisor Cast with your host, Michael Dougherty. I hope everybody's doing well, staying healthy, and hopefully, wherever you are, you're enjoying some fall weather. It is absolutely gorgeous out. I'm located here in North Carolina, and just this time of year, it's just always just nice to look out the window. Leaves turning colors, just sunny skies, etc. But again, hopefully wherever you are, you're enjoying some fall weather as well.

Michael Doherty [00:00:45]:
So this particular podcast I wanted to focus on a topic and the episode itself going to be talking about why a selfless team wins. So selfless teams win. Why Serving each other creates the unstoppable shop. So first off, the power of selfless team. True teamwork starts when individuals stop keeping score and start serving each other. When everyone on your team prioritizes we over me, the entire shop wins. In a service department, this might look like an advisor helping a tech move a vehicle or a technician helping an advisor explain a repair. Those small, selfless moments create big momentum.

Michael Doherty [00:01:38]:
And those are both two examples that I've personally experienced. You know, I've been out in the shop before and kind of looking out toward the parking lot or, you know, where we park clients, vehicles that need repairs or maybe there was a towing or something. And, you know, I'd see one technician, he's got the driver's door open, he's trying to, you know, push the car forward and maneuver the steering wheel at the same time. And obviously knowing he's going to be trying to get it into the shop. So, you know, kind of drop what you're doing, run out there, give a helping hand. It means a lot. Again, it promotes, you know, team environment and, you know, it's, you know, it's everybody's job, right? So again, if you see a team member that needs help, if you can help them. And same goes for the front end.

Michael Doherty [00:02:22]:
I've had a couple times where no matter how I've explained something to a client at the front counter, it's just not getting through. So I've walked back and asked the technician that has been working on or worked on that client's vehicle, and I'm like, hey, you know, I know you got stuff going on, But I've got Mr. Jones up front, and I just can't seem to get him to understand the way I'm explaining it. And I know that you worked on his vehicle. Would you mind coming up front and, you know, giving it a go. And again, you know, not. Not barking orders, having a communication, right, Having communication, asking for assistance, asking for help. And that technician, or, you know, whoever it was, would, you know, wash up their hands, walk up front, hey, Mr.

Michael Doherty [00:03:04]:
Jones, I'm so and so I worked on your vehicle. What questions do you have? And literally it was the same stuff that I told Mr. Jones, but him hearing it directly from the technician's mouth carried more weight. And I was very appreciative that that technician would, you know, handled that for me. So, again, right, when everyone on your team prioritizes we over me, the entire shop wins. And there's a great quote too, for this by Zig Ziglar. He says, help enough people get what they want and you'll get what you want. And that is true.

Michael Doherty [00:03:38]:
And also, right, a selfless team doesn't focus on who gets the credit. They focus on getting the job done. Right. That's where trust, efficiency and excellence are born. Very, very true. There. And putting the team first, right? The real competitive edge. Serving others fuels success faster than serving yourself.

Michael Doherty [00:04:04]:
Putting your teammates needs before your own doesn't make you weak. It makes the team strong. It creates a culture where no one lets anyone fail alone. And one, you know, if an advisor, let's say, if you've got more than one advisor in the shop, if one advisor is slammed, another one steps in. When one technician is behind, another technician helps, you know, stage the necro or ask that technician if they need help. Again, really, the. The synergy, right? The collaboration, the teamwork. And, you know, a strong shop doesn't say, that's not my job.

Michael Doherty [00:04:42]:
They say, how can I help? And I think, really, that pertains to the internal mechanisms which are, you know, our team. So again, strong team doesn't say, that's not my job. We say, how can I help? And again, if you can help the team, help the team. Right? And there's an old African proverb that goes along with that. It says, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I think that is great. Again, if you want to go fast, go alone.

Michael Doherty [00:05:15]:
If you want to go far, go together. So again, promoting teamwork, promoting synergy. Right. And also for service advisors, right. You know, the most successful service departments aren't built on individuals chasing commissions. They're built on leaders who elevate those around them. Right. I understand.

Michael Doherty [00:05:37]:
We're here for a job. We're here to take care of our families. And yes, there's money involved in that. But if you're there just to chase the money, you're going to burn out really quickly. You just are, you know, chase the passion. Come to work excited. You love the industry, you love the automotive, you're a good people person, you want to help your team, you want to help your clients. And you know, if you're great at doing automotive and you're good at speaking with people, as a service advisor, those two things collide and boom, there's your passion, right? Build a winning mindset.

Michael Doherty [00:06:18]:
It starts with daily discipline. Champions are made from consistent thoughts and daily habits. Mindset is not a one time decision, it's a daily discipline. Every morning you decide who you're going to be, right? Reactive or proactive, selfish or selfless, scattered or centered. The same way a technician trains their skills, a winning advisor trains their thoughts. And it's so, so important, right? Mindset is everything. If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right. So one of the things that I used to do on the way to work, I probably say maybe two miles before I got there is just, you know, turn down the radio a little bit.

Michael Doherty [00:07:07]:
If I had the radio on and just tell myself, hey, coming up on it, we're going to help some people today. We're going to take care of our customers, we're going to take care of our coworkers, it's going to be a great day. And just go in with that positive mindset, right? Self talk. And yes, sometimes I would say it internal monologue and sometimes I'd just be talking to myself. So people driving by probably like, who's that guy talking to? There's no one else in the car, I don't care. But just saying like, you gotta have that personal motivation and mindset to, you know, when you go in there. And again, I know nothing's always not nothing, but things aren't always structured, right? You could have a game plan for the day. As a service advisor, here's how everything is going to go.

Michael Doherty [00:07:53]:
And it's very rare that that happens. It does sometimes, but nine times out of ten it doesn't. And you, you've got to pivot, you've got to adapt, you've got to again, change your mindset. Don't get bogged down on negativity, right? As soon as you start thinking negative things, negative things have a tendency to happen. So kind of stay away from that. Go in with that positive, extract the positive out of those things. And starting each day with an intention, right? Today I'm going to take care of my team. And that mindset shapes how you handle stress, customers and challenges.

Michael Doherty [00:08:30]:
So good stuff there, Good stuff there. Great quote by Tony Robbins. You will never rise above the story you tell yourself. Very true, very true. And also, you know, when your thoughts align with growth and service, your habits will follow and your habits create results. Very important. There again, when your thoughts align with growth and service, your habits follow and your habits create results. And also, you know, moving on, you know, talking about your next move matters more than your last mistake.

Michael Doherty [00:09:10]:
Yeah, very true. Progress beats perfection every single time. Ladies and gentlemen, every service advisor will have off days, missed calls, delayed updates, wrong estimates. But what separates average from elite advisors is the response. Your next move determines your growth, not your last mistake. And I've mentioned before, right, I would love to say that I came to work every day feeling 100%. Most of the time I feel that I did. But on days that I only had, you know, maybe felt like I was 70% or 75% or maybe I had a day, we're still in 60%.

Michael Doherty [00:09:53]:
That is my 100% to give to the day, right? If I'm going to work and I'm only feeling like 75% for the day, I'm going to give that 75%. So in actuality, I'm still giving 100%. And we're going to have great days, we're going to have good days, and we're going to have not so great days and not so good days. It's just going to happen its life. But again, a lot of it, especially at work. Think about, again, you know, if you've got nine wins and that 10th one is a mistake or a customer got upset about something, right? Don't focus on that one instance. Again, think of it, think of it as a cumulative, right? In the week that you've been at work, has the positive outweighed the negative or is the negative outweighed the positive? And really it's going to be the positive outweighs the negative because you always can pull positive out of negative. And again, mindset, what did I learn from this that was a negative? What can I apply to next time I'm going to encounter this situation? What did I learn from this situation? Right? So again, the mindset of turning that negative into a positive, very, very important.

Michael Doherty [00:11:01]:
And you know, if you miss a customer update, don't spiral downward, right? Recover, give a call, apologize, make it right, and then build a system in place to prevent it from happening next time that's how elite advisors grow. Again, learning from our mistakes. And again, we can't be 100% all the time. So again, if you're only having an 85% type of day, 70% type of day, 90% type of day, that percentage that you've got to give for the day is your 100%. And carry that through. Right? And the comeback is always stronger than the setback if you learn from it and move forward with purpose. So again, learning from that is huge. Any setback, you've got to learn from it to be able to grow and move forward.

Michael Doherty [00:11:56]:
And how do we create a selfless team culture? Right. Right. Culture isn't what you say, it's what you do daily. I heavily endorse having a morning team meeting now more than ever, especially where I work. It's part of our structure. Where I worked prior to where I work now. We did it, I'd say 60% of the time. And truthfully, it was mostly my fault that we didn't have it because I was so focused on cars coming in, phones ringing, estimates to be made, like, just carving out a chunk of time to go back there and talk about who's doing what, what's going on.

Michael Doherty [00:12:37]:
And again, something that I learned from. But now I look forward to the morning meeting. And every morning when we do our morning meeting, we actually start with a grateful. We go around and we say, here's what we're grateful for. Again, it could be a personal grateful. It could be a work grateful. And then we get into our priorities for the day. And it really takes about maybe two or three minutes for each individual.

Michael Doherty [00:12:56]:
But again, starting off with a grateful. Because what does that promote? Positive mindset. Right. So again, culture isn't what you say, it's what you do daily. Creating a selfless winning team doesn't happen by accident. It's built through intentional actions and leadership from every level. So how do we build that? What are the steps involved? Right. Step one, model it.

Michael Doherty [00:13:24]:
Leaders and advisors must show what serving looks like. Step two, celebrate it. Recognize when someone goes above and beyond for a teammate. Absolutely. Step three, train it. Talk about teamwork and mindset in meetings. Don't just assume it happens. And step four, protect it.

Michael Doherty [00:13:46]:
Don't tolerate negativity, gossip, or me first behavior. And I think those are the steps to really help build a winning culture. And great quote by Peter Drucker. He says, culture eats strategy for breakfast. That's kind of cool. That's pretty cool. So again, a culture of selflessness creates an environment where trust thrives, morale skyrockets and performance becomes consistent because everyone is rowing in the same direction. And ultimately that's what we have to do.

Michael Doherty [00:14:21]:
We have to get everybody on the same page. And I know at the job, at the business, we have different positions, but I really think everybody on the same page or rowing in the same direction is to understand that we are there to take care of the customer. Because if we don't take care of the customer and the customer's not there, we don't have a business to come to, we don't have a job to come to. The customer is what's keeping us open. And we need to pull out all the stops, advisors, technicians, management, to really embrace and understand that is what we're here to do, is take care of that client. And no, I'm not talking about brown noising them, I'm not talking about kissing their butt. There's a way to do it strategically, with empathy and that you are being genuine in doing so. But again, really, when that phone rings, it's an opportunity.

Michael Doherty [00:15:13]:
You're being interviewed by that new potential client to decide if they want to come to your business or not. And again, phone skills, super important. I really would promote internal role playing, right. A lot of the times, and I've talked about this in the past as service advisors, I've heard it all too often, they get annoyed. We get annoyed when someone just calls and says, you know, I just need a price, I just need a price, I just need a price. Right. Service advisors, timeout. Think about it like this.

Michael Doherty [00:15:44]:
Again, they don't know what else to ask. A lot of people don't speak car and they don't know what else to ask, so they're just asking for a price. And yeah, if you just give them a price, you've answered their question, but I don't think you've captured their attention, their business. Again, if someone calls in and just wants a price, ask more questions, they don't know what else to ask you. And it's our job also, because again, we are the professionals, we are the go tos. They called, they did their part, now we've got to do our part and do the discovery portion of the phone call, ask probing questions. I promise you, 99% of the time, it's not about the price, they just don't know what else to ask. And really breaking that down and understanding they're not trying to annoy you.

Michael Doherty [00:16:37]:
And yes, ultimately you're going to arrive at a price point, but you got to build a Relationship. You got to build value. That's your time to shine as an advisor. Tell them about how, you know, how'd you hear about us? You know, I saw your website or got referred from a friend or you know, that's a great starting point, right? How'd you hear about us? And expanding from there. Let me tell you more about us. Our warranty, our ASC technicians, our loaner car program. Again, pull out all the stops but right. The best way to change your team is to lead by example.

Michael Doherty [00:17:10]:
And it's easy to point fingers or wait for others to change first, but real leadership starts with you. If you bring humility, gratitude and a customer first approach to every day, others will follow. And I'd love to see everybody win. I really would. I really would. So this week, Service of Azernation. Please do one selfless act for for a teammate without expecting recognition and watch what happens to your shop's energy and connection. Promote that.

Michael Doherty [00:17:50]:
Keep doing it. And great quote by Les Brown. Greatness is not about being better than someone else. It's about being better than you were yesterday. I think that is a fantastic quote. Right again. Greatness is not about being better than someone else. It's about being better than you were yesterday.

Michael Doherty [00:18:13]:
Constantly strive for self improvement and that is really the way to go, right? We don't have competitors. We're not trying to one up somebody. We're trying to be better than we were yesterday by our actions, by learning humility, treating each other respectfully, co workers, clients, et cetera. In Service Advisor Nation. You know, I guess final takeaway on this, when a team is made up of selfless individuals, each one taking care of one another and our client supporting and striving to grow that shop becomes unshakable. And in the automotive world, that's the secret to becoming truly unstoppable. Service Advisor Nation. Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Autofix Advisor Cast.

Michael Doherty [00:19:05]:
I wish you peace, health, wealth, all the things that go with it. And man, we're heading up on the end of the year already, right? October's almost done. November, December go by like a flash. But please make some time for self care. I can't stress it enough. Take care of yourself. Don't burn out. If you need help, ask for help.

Michael Doherty [00:19:29]:
It's okay, right? And if you get stuck, there's multiple resources out there for help, you know, for service advisors, right? Take some classes, go to a course. Listen to previous episodes of the Autofix Advisor Cast. No, I don't have all the answers. But I love this industry and I really want to just help it grow and feel that I have helped it grow. And again take the time for self care. You have to or you're gonna burn out. Take a deep breath, count to 1, 2, 3, 4, whatever. Stay hydrated.

Michael Doherty [00:20:04]:
Super important something that I didn't really do that I should have. Again, when you're inside. Yeah even if you're in a climate controlled environment, you still gotta stay hydrated and it'll prevent you from getting angry and having headaches. You know every hour. Drink some water. Really important but love you Service Advisor Nation. And again, thank you for tuning into another episode of the Autofix Advisor Cast. Have a great day.

Michael Doherty [00:20:28]:
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.