Episode 259 - Building Company Culture and Beating Chargebacks in Automotive Shops With Kevaughn Williams
With Kevaughn Williams
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About this episode
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Key takeaways
- —Company culture significantly impacts employee satisfaction and retention.
- —Transparent communication and peer accountability are essential for a healthy work environment.
- —Implementing friendly competitions can boost morale and engagement among employees.
- —Shops should establish clear procedures to protect against chargebacks and fraud.
- —Building rapport with customers is crucial before processing payments, especially for first-time clients.
Frequently asked
- What are some effective ways to build a positive company culture?
- Encouraging open communication, recognizing employee achievements, and fostering a supportive environment can significantly enhance company culture.
- How can shops protect themselves from chargebacks?
- Shops should verify customer identities, avoid allowing third-party payments, and document transactions thoroughly to protect against chargebacks.
- What should I do if I receive a chargeback?
- Immediately review the transaction details, gather supporting documentation, and respond promptly to the chargeback notice to increase your chances of a favorable outcome.
▸Full transcript
Hey folks, David here, and I'd like to thank you for joining us for the Changing the Industry podcast. Lucas and I started this podcast with the goal of capturing the frank and open conversations you typically have at industry events. Those conversations cover the challenges we face in our business and lives, as well as difficult repairs, new products and services, and everything in between.
We hoped that these recordings would spur our listeners to enact the change they'd like to see in their own lives and businesses. That's also why we've partnered with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. My first management class was with Cecil Bullard, and his genuine passion for helping others in an honest and ethical manner permeates his entire organization. And if you need some of the Institute's help, they have a special offer for our listeners.
Click the link in the show notes and get signed up for a free business analysis. They'll go over your current situation and give you advice on your next steps. And they have everything from free resources and online classes to peer groups, one-on-one coaching, and specific help for MSOs. So don't miss out on this great offer. Click the link in the show notes.
And now on to the podcast. I just want to point out that you are so persnickety about your colors and this, that, and the other. The minute we're done, I take your entire picture and I put the Joe Rogan CNN filter on it so you look sickly and green, and that's what we roll with. And that's why everybody's like Is Lucas feeling okay?
It's like, yeah, he's fine. He's fine. I know he looks sickly and green. Might be dying. Who knows? Have you seen the Trump filter? No, I've not. So they put, yeah, they, they put them, they make them extra orange. I'll send you videos of it. So they'll do side by side. This is all on X, by the way. I'm not trying to get political.
I'm just saying that this is all on X. They will play the video side by side. And on CNN, Trump is extra orange, extra orange. Like, I think I can pull it off. You know, more than normal. Look, I can pull it off, David. Look. You getting sickly and green? Yeah. And then the Joe Rogan filter. And then like all the other channels, not MSNBC, but all the other channels, he looks He looks like Trump normal.
He's still orange, but not like grotesquely orange, like, like an orange orange. Can you imagine the shower in the White House after he gets done with his spray tan? Man, that bad boy has got to be like caked up. Hey, he wants a glow. I, hey, I, I appreciate it. He doesn't look like death. The other guy looked like death and he didn't care.
I don't think he realized he looked like death. He was just walking around mumbling to himself, eating ice cream. He looked like death, man. Nobody bothered to tell him like, hey, we're going to put a little blush on them cheeks. We're going to, we're going to spruce you up so you don't look like death warmed over. Listen, listen, nobody's telling us that we look like death, death warmed over, right?
They tell me that you look like death warmed over and I'm like, it's the CNN Joe Rogan filter. Sorry. So Mr. 360 Payments. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Like the head dog out there, makes everything happen now that Lisa's not there anymore. He's like, he's like everything to everybody at this point. That's how this works, right? I'm not, I'm not the top dog.
I mean, I would say top 3, humbly, you know, top 3, you know. But yeah, man, I'm in touch with everyone, you know, all aspects of the, you know, operations, tech side, onboarding, you know. Gotta make myself valuable. There you go, there you go. So we met in Tulsa Right. And so I came back and I told David, I was like, dude, the, the culture within the Velo brands, but primarily like, and all of them have it, but 360 has a very unique culture.
And I thought it was really interesting because there's so much of Lisa in that culture. And Lisa's not even like day-to-day leadership involved in that way anymore., but you still see that in the culture. So I wanted to have you on and talk culture a little bit, a talk 360, because 360 is a, a kind of powerhouse payment system within the automotive space.
Yes, sir. But the support and the things that you do that are unique are rooted in the culture of the organization. Can you tell us how that happens and why that happens? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Well, first off, you know, I'll start with my name. My name is Kevon Williams. Everyone calls me Kev. I am the operations manager here at 360 Payments.
I'm over the customer support team and the technical support team. Also help oversee our deployment installation and onboarding as well, like I mentioned earlier. The culture, like you said with Lisa, they instilled that. I've been— it'll be my 5th year anniversary this August, you know, with the company. And when I came on, my first one-on-one was with Lisa, you know, first time My first meeting or any kind was, oh, it was with the co-founder of the company.
And she instilled the culture there. Like, it's one thing for them to talk about it, but it's a whole nother thing to see it day in and day out. The messages, the acknowledgments, the, you know, the referrals, the, hey, you did a good job, keep doing it. Or also just, yeah, you want to try it? Let's try it. Let's see what happens.
And just that, that get stuff done, you know, being grit. Honest to a fault is a big one, you know, for our values. You know, it's just, hey, even if a customer is having a bad day or we can't help them or do what they are asking, let's let them know that. You know, let's be honest to a fault. And we have— we hold each other, you know, accountable to the highest level, you know.
And that's one thing I tell my teams is that, you know, as long as we have that peer-to-peer accountability, we're always going to do great. You should, you should have your teammate, make sure they know that you have an expectation for them when they're assisting our customers and vice versa. You know, if you, if your teammate knows that, hey, I want this person to do well, they're more inclined to do well.
For sure. And, and here's the interesting thing. And so I didn't know anything about the Slack group and I didn't know anything about the taco competition. I didn't know anything about any of that. And I always wondered where that, like, push and that drive— and, like, I thought it was so cool. So I show up at this event, right? Yeah. Nobody knows me from the 360 team, right?
Like, or that— I didn't think they did. Like, I know Lisa and I know, like, people within Shopware, but I've never, like, fully been involved aside from, like, being friends with Jesse and stuff. I've never really been hardcore involved with 360 or anything like that. Yet people that I had talked to on the telephone about my payment stuff are like, Lucas, hey man, like, did you get that fixed?
And they remember the exact scenario. I'm like, do what? Did that really just happen? Yes, sir. So tell me, tell me about the competition thing, because it is a very friendly competition. And so we talk about like motivation in the workplace, things like that. Yes, sir. But you guys have a really friendly competition that's a lot of fun. Tell me a little bit about how that works.
Yes, sir. And we call that our Taco Celebration. So any accomplishment, any— if your teammate sees you doing well or, you know, overcoming some trials and tribulations or just doing something new or different, it can be as easy as, hey, you put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Thank you for doing that. Here's a taco. Or, hey, I heard you had a real tough call.
You handled that very well. Here's a taco. And the great thing about it, anybody can give someone a taco. And you only have one per day. So you're not just slinging tacos to anybody. Why are— why are you giving this person a taco? It does matter. We don't have any blindness of, oh, I just gave you a taco just because I wanted to, because we're really good, we went to lunch together.
No, it has to be a certain reason why, and it has to be intentional and purposeful. And then throughout the year, everything is tracked. Lucas and I have been telling you about PartsTech for a while now and how it gives you access to unlimited parts and tire vendors and direct integration with over 35 shop management systems. And now they've just launched a new referral program.
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That's it, nothing else is needed. Your referrals can get you $100 just for using PartsTech, which by the way is absolutely free to get started with. So if you're using PartsTech already, start sharing that referral link. And if you haven't signed up for PartsTech yet, what are you waiting for? Click on the link in the description or go to partstech.com/podcast. That's partstech.com/podcast.
Hey, one more thing. If you find out that your shop management system doesn't integrate with PartsTech, it's time to upgrade. David and I use what we believe to be the very best system on the market, Shopware. With unmatched features like PartsGP Optimizer and DVX, which is their digital vehicle experience, Shopware really is way more than just a shop management software. With it, you'll be able to create an immersive and interactive experience for your client, setting you apart from everyone else using run-of-the-mill software.
Are you ready to upgrade? Click the link in the show notes to get started. Every quarter when we do our town halls, we talk about at that point, you know, who got the most tacos this quarter, you know, give them a nice little gift card, celebrate them. And that goes on throughout the year, which you saw at kickoff, you know, for AMP.
At the end of the year, they total all up and then, hey, whoever got the most tacos, you get celebrated for that. And you're being celebrated by your team, by your managers, by your COOs, CEOs, you know. And it's a huge thing because a lot of times, even the company I came from before, they talk about that culture, but you never see it once you get there, you know, and here you actually see it.
You can, your COO will give you a taco. You, at some companies, you never even talked to the COO before. For sure. You know, that can happen. And so a lot of, you know, my team, they range from the ages of, you know, 20, 21 to about 28. And they're coming from, you know, Andolini's for pizza or a coffee shop, you know, and that's such a huge deal.
For the culture, for them to know. They think I'm just going to a corporate role or, you know, call center environment, but no, your COO, let's go have lunch. You know, your VP of payments, hey, let's go talk. What do you think will work? No matter, no matter your title. And that's huge. You know what I mean? That is very huge. But top person is great.
For sure. And, and, you know, I thought it was so interesting and I'm not going to call them out here in the podcast, but I talked to a couple employees.. And all of them pointed out that the skills and the talents that they learned or are learning within this organization, that they felt like they were better prepared for life moving forward because of what they had learned here.
And I thought it was neat because one of the things that came out of somebody's mouth was, is, hey, I came to work for 360. My plan was I was going to go to school for this. And this was going to be a stepping stone to that. But I am so afraid to leave this company because I don't think I'll ever find something so neat, so special as what we have right here.
I'm considering staying because of that. And like, I'm sitting here— David absolutely flipped out on a CEO one time because he was talking about his culture and he's like, your culture is bullshit, dude. Like, it doesn't exist. It's not real. Now, now look, I'm gonna tell you this, I was in complete agreement with him until I showed up at that event, and then I saw something completely different that I'd never seen in any organization ever.
And I don't— it blew my— you saw the post I made. I was dead honest, genuine. I, I just could not even believe that you guys had implemented it to such a degree. No, man, the coach is very important, man. It's just because it's one thing that I can't really put a value on. Like, whenever I'm interviewing new candidates, I tell them, I'm like, hey, there's two things that I'll bet my whole check on.
One thing is the culture here, 360 Payments and Velo as a whole. And the other thing is growth opportunity. Yeah. The growth opportunity is so serious. You just have to make sure that you're ready for it. You're prepared for it because it's going to come. It's not a matter if it's going to come, it's when it's going to come. And if you're ready for it.
And it's my job to put you in a position to where you are ready for that. So tell me this, give me a little bit of your life story and how you ended up here. I want to hear how you got here. Yes, sir. All right. So just thinking back, because I was thinking over the weekend, Easter Sunday, and I was like, man, what are we going to talk about?
You know, what am I going to talk about? And I'm like, okay. And I was thinking about all my history. I'm going to go through it. But I came to realize that I've been in the automotive industry this whole time and never realized it. Never even realized it. It draws you in, man. Man, in some form or fashion. So we can start my first, when I moved back here to Oklahoma, first job, I was at Story Wrecker.
It was a tow company. You know, first year's job, full-time. I have my own apartments on me. They had a contract with the City of Tulsa Police Department. So my first position there, I was a lot hand. Just lock in. Oh, your car got in an accident, you got repoed, it got towed by the police. Let's go get your belongings out the car.
Simpam playing, you know, take them to the back, come forward. I want to say maybe after about 8 months, they needed someone in the office. They saw that, you know, oh, you went to school. Do you want to do this? You know, I was like, hey, well, I'll give it a try. No worries there. Got into the office, answering phone calls on the computer.
Loved it. Loved it. Did a really good job at it. The one thought about it was that folks that were upset because their car got towed by the police and everything, whenever I told them the total, hey, I know your car got towed today, it just got here, but you're looking around $275 to pick it up. It just got there, $275? Frustrated.
And I knew that they were coming to see me. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I knew that they was coming to see me. And so that's one thing that I want to say that did prepare me for just being ready for tough conversations. You know, understanding that, hey, that phone conversation is one thing, but then knowing they have— I know that they're coming.
Yeah, dude. So I've got a little story about that. Okay. Years ago, um, there's a, there's a wrecker business that does all of our towing in town, and I will never forget it. The owner of the business is there, and, and, um, a car gets towed in, and it comes in, the bill's like $250, and dude tells him it's $250, and this man calls him every name in the And he's— the owner's very, very mild, very laid-back, very, very smooth and gentle human being.
He says, "Now your bill's $375." And that man says again, he starts screaming and cussing again, and he says, "Now your bill's $425." And it just, man, it goes up. We're up into the thousands at some point. And this dude goes outside and he calls the police department. Police department shows up. They walk in the door and they're standing there and he's screaming and yelling, telling them all these things.
And the police officer The owner said, "Well, considering he has your car and he can decide what it is he's gonna charge you, even if you decide to take him to court later, that's fine. I'm just telling you, he decides what he charges you." He did. So I think I would shut up and pay the man. And so the guy gets upset and he has to go to the ATM.
He comes back with the money and he hands that money out to that guy. And the owner takes it and he looks at it and he counts out all except for that $250, $275, and he hands it back to him. He said, "I just wanted to teach you a lesson about the importance of what you say to people." because it matters and it can impact you, and it impacts you more than it impacts them.
And I thought that was— I'll never— dude, that was like a life lesson I've never forgotten. I'll never forget it. No, that's— and that's, that's good that he was able to, you know, teach in that fashion, you know, because the thing is, you have to respect people, man. You have to respect people just because— it doesn't matter what position they hold or anything.
My dad taught me early, like, hey, you say good morning to the janitor too. Yeah, you know, you say good morning to whoever you will cross paths with. You lock eyes, hey, good morning, how you doing? You know, I was taught that at an early age. And so that, that, that means a lot to me. Um, let's see, back on track. Back on track.
Okay. So Story Records. So I was there for about 3 years, anything like that. Um, at this point, you know, I got my little girlfriend. I want to try and move up, you know, I need to get some more, you know, finances under me. And so I started looking around. Okay. There's a position, customer support position for Avis Budget Group. Rental car company.
I sent my application on that. Funny part on that, um, the interview process had to do it on lunch break. Had to figure it out. It was at the Stafford Agency. I left. I was in constant communication with the person that was doing it. I let her know when I showed up. She skipped me in front of like 40 people to get me in for the interview.
Oh wow. Got me in, got that done. I think I was about maybe 7 to 10 minutes late coming back from my lunch break. Just trying to make that happen. And I did get that position there, just regular customer support, still just dealing with automotive and just— my first position was just regular customer support, you know, how much is my ticket, making reservations.
And my last position there was delayed check-in. And that's basically whenever you return a car, they don't check it in in time. But then a week, two weeks down the line, you get a receipt saying, oh, you returned the car. 2, 3 days late because it was in a different parking lot at the airport. It was my— it was my job to then do the research, reach out to the airport, confirm when it was actually returned, make the updates, and then correct you and issue any kind of refunds that were needed.
Dude, okay, like, I'm just gonna tell you, like, I switched to Avis for a while. I'm an Alamo guy, okay? I switched to Avis for a while. I did not enjoy that experience very much. Okay, I'm just gonna— I'm not trying to talk bad about— you're gonna get blamed for all the Avis problems. Yeah, like, I know you've been there for a while, but listen, I got some beef here.
I— so we— I can't remember where we were, and I rented a car, and I go in, and, and I had delayed, and it was delayed in Charlotte. Get there the next day, and I opened up my phone, and it's not on my app, and I'm like, hey, What am I supposed to do about this? And he said, well, he's like, it's because you were delayed.
I know you called in, not a big deal. We've still got the same car we're going to put you in. We're just going to put you in that car. Well, they had given me a free upgrade on the original reservation. When he plugged the reservation in, he plugged it in as he sold me an upgrade. And I guess because he got commission for selling an upgrade and all of this other stuff And so my bill went from like $350 to like $980.
Dude, it was— and like, so I'm sitting— it was in Costa Mesa, California. We were at ETI and I was— remember the Jaguar, David? It had the— you sit down in the car and you like turn the knob and it would, it would pop up and it would say it had air-conditioned seats and you'd hit the button and it would tell you you had to pay a subscription to get the air-conditioned seats.
No way. Yeah, you hadn't upgraded. You're like, hey, you didn't pay for the upgrade. No way. And so, and so it was crazy, right? Because like, and then I get it back and we left super early in the morning. I'll never forget. I think David like almost missed his flight or did miss his flight as we're like rolling up to the gate.
His plane's pushing back. He went to the wrong check-in gate. Phoenix. Was that in Phoenix? Yeah. But were you guys returning back to the same airport to fly out or was it like a one-way? No, same airport, same airport. Okay. And so like I returned my card, I'm sitting there and I'm looking at my little thing. I'm like, do what? What? This is why I prepay.
I always prepay. You prepay and then there's like, oh, I got a free upgrade. Great. What are you going to do? You're not going to charge me again. Like I already paid. So we're done. Right. Yeah. Transaction's over. Always prepaid. What you do is you rent Alamo and then you just don't have these problems. Right? Like, that's just what you do. That's great.
But the last— it wasn't this last one, but the one before that— car stunk of weed. Like, it was reeking of weed. And that's Alamo's fault. That's the previous driver's fault. I get that. But, bro, no, it's Alamo's fault. I'll say it. But we went to— we went to that Alamo in Phoenix. Wasn't it Phoenix? It was Phoenix. Where they sprayed the— whatever the hell they sprayed that car with, it smelled phenomenal.
It smelled of clean. Whatever the hell clean smells like, that's what the car smelled like. It was 10 out of 10. It was so good. And I left a review and I'm like, this is the cleanest smelling car I've ever had, ever. It was so nice versus weed, like stank Ditch weed. What is ditch weed? I smoked a lot of weed in my life.
I've never smoked any weed out of a ditch. Dave, you gotta explain that, sir, please. You never heard of the term ditch weed? Never, never in my 34 years living. I mean, like, I don't know, maybe you throw the bag out when the law gets behind you. You can look it up on Urban Dictionary. Ditch weed. Will do, will do, will do.
I think that's called swag. David's searching it right now. Well, I am glad that, um, well, no, I'm not. I was gonna say I'm glad Lisa's got a sense of humor. Um, Lisa's not the CEO or the co-founder anymore, right? Right, right. Now you're in trouble. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. Let me see where we at, man. So you went to, you went to Avis?
Yeah. And you were kind of handling the check-in stuff? Yeah, the late check-ins. Yes, sir. And I was there, I was there for probably around 4 years going on 5. We're finally getting into a good roll and here comes Lucas interrupting the episode. Folks, now you know exactly why I hire Shop Marketing Pros to do my shop marketing. It's that I am spastic and all over the place and I lack consistency.
But here's the thing, that doesn't work in marketing. You see, marketing takes 30, 60, sometimes 90 days to be effective. And I was all over the place with my marketing. There was no consistency at all. Caused these waves in my business because I was so inconsistent. And that's why I am so happy to refer Shop Marketing Pros. They bring consistency. They are true professionals.
I'm going to encourage you, go down to the link below and get your free digital marketing inspection. Just like we do digital vehicle evaluations for automobiles, they're doing the same thing about your marketing, and they will help you get your business turned around. Has been changed at this point. My job, what I'm doing, it does not require me to speak with anyone.
I'm actually just investigating, going to research, and I'm getting my caseload by email. So in this situation, I took the opportunity with my team being there. Hey, you know, now we're working from home. Would it be possible for me to work from midnight to 8 AM? Yeah, midnight to 8 AM. That way I still have my whole day, you know, still no kids at this point in time, but we're working on it.
But we're working on it. And so, um, my supervisor at the time, yeah, that's why, that's fine. The productivity is there. You're doing the work. You know, I never had to check in. No issues with that. So I was doing that for about 6, 7 months, this clockwork, and I was able to get a part-time job. During the daytime because I wanted to end up buying a home.
You know, I had plans and things I wanted to do. So my schedule was lovely. Now, into that, close to the end of the 4-year mark, 4 and a half years, manager change, everything switch up. And then the conversation comes, hey, we're not going to be allowing you to have this schedule anymore. We're going to have to force you. Yeah, yeah, we're going to have to force you.
We need you on this schedule. You can still work from home, but You have to be on this schedule. I was like, okay, what that is, just so we're clear, that's cutting into my part-time. And letting them know my goals, I'm like, hey, my productivity has always been— I'm always self-aware on certain things on how I gauge my success. But they ended up still going moving forward and said, hey, unfortunately, this is not up for debate.
We got to make this move. And so at that point, I knew I have to find something else. Because I know I have goals and I explained to Mixpress that, hey, these are my plans. You're telling me that you want me to do this just because you want me to. There's no, it's just, hey, it's my way or the highway. And in this situation, it's like, we got to do better.
We got to do better. So I learned a lot of things from bad management to take with me in my journey. For sure. That reminds me of the story that David always tells about O'Reilly's. When, when like he had a system that worked and he had developed a system and, and he knew how to run his store and his store worked like it was supposed to.
But some hothead district manager or somebody from, from afar, it's about control, right? It's not, it's not about the outcome. And I think that's when management really misses it, because when it, when it's about control instead of the outcome, man, we break it. Right? And it's, it's just about telling that person and squeezing that person and helping them understand who's really in charge here.
That, that management doesn't work like that. I don't care what anybody says, it just doesn't work. Not at all. Not at all. And so in my, in my search, you know, I think I was working— my part-time was Chili's. I was working to-go at Chili's, you know, QA and everything like that. And so at the time, I came across 360 Payments. You know, um, I was with Avis Budget Group for about 5 years, started at $13 an hour, ended at $15.75.
Nothing, nothing. Yeah, exactly. Nothing crazy. It's like, I've been there for this long and turnover in the call center is 6 months. It's, it's easy for you to lose employees. And so, yeah, um, I saw an ad for 360 Payments customer support, reached out, um, and at the time they brought me in. Interviews, they loved me. They loved everything, especially with my resume having the 5 years straight with Avis Budget Group, no hiccups or anything.
They knew that I was going to be there, you know, and that I could, you know, withstand the time. And so they brought me on. And one thing I did love about 360, and this is before the VLO thing came into play, was the transparency. I love the transparency. If they, when they knew the information, they knew it. When they didn't know, hey, Kael, we're not sure, but we're going to work on this for you.
We're going to figure this out. And I just love how they were able to— they empowered me to push me to learn more, do more. If you think this is going to work, try that. And if it doesn't, let's course correct. Maybe half of them would have worked. And I've been in love ever since. And here recently, I got promoted to level 1, level 2, level 3.
I've been through all the ranks. I actually skipped team lead. And became supervisor. And now I'm the operations manager. So I went through all the reasons. So I know, you know, and I appreciate my managers and, you know, previously, you know, but only because I've learned what not to do in that situation. I know that there's a personable aspect that needs to be there when you're leading people.
My team, I have a total of 15 agents that's under me. Age range from 20, 21 to about 28. You know, they're, they're learning life as we speak, you know. And as far as, you know, previous, you know, experience with them, we got folks that came from, you know, pizza shops, coffee shops, liquor stores. It's just, you know, not knowing, being used to not being paid from when you're not at work, and now you have an opportunity to have PTO.
Like, the conversations I've had to have is like, oh, well, how does TikTok work? You know, how does— you know, so I take it very, very seriously as far as my responsibility to help build people, not only for 360, for Velo, but for themselves in life. And I tell them all the time, my goal is that 10 years down the line, you see me somewhere on lock, you're like, hey, that was the best manager I had.
That's what my goal is. That's what my goal is. And so I know what it's like when you— when your manager isn't transparent, or, oh, we'll talk about it later, or, and then we don't talk about it, or, you know, oh yeah, I do care, but I can tell you really don't. Yeah, it's, it's just lip service at that point, right? It's literally just telling them what they want to hear to get them to shut up and go about their way.
What, what's been the biggest challenge as far as taking over that kind of leadership role in an organization like this, man? I was just saying, learning the people. At some point, at some point, this laptop, the rates, the data, all of that, that's great to know, but you want to master that. People is one thing you're never going to master. There's different types of people, the way there's different types of perspectives, and you got to be able to listen.
You know, a lot of leaders don't listen. You have to listen first. You listen first, have the empathy, know that this is real life. When they're coming to you crying about what's going on in their life, listen. We don't— they don't need to hear, oh, you're doing good, we should work on this, keep, keep doing a great job. No. And everyone learns differently, you know.
You have to actually pay attention and let that wall down and know, hey, teach me how I can better push you. Right, right. Absolutely. You know, when, when we look at you, you, you've really pushed yourself to the next level as far as career goes. Right? Like, you've continued to march forward. You started a YouTube channel. Tell us a little bit about the YouTube channel.
Yes sir, yes sir. YouTube channel is Living with the Williams. It actually started just as, you know, a place to keep memories for me and my family, you know. My first daughter Madison, she was born, and it was like, hey, you know, I don't want to do just the generic photo albums or anything like that. And so we always travel before the kids even got here, and so I was like, you know what, Instead of us showing pictures and things like that, as far as what they did, we can record this.
I always like recording videos, you know, and small little edits here and there. So it was nothing except for fun to me. And then also just if it turns into passive income, it's great, you know, and it's love to see. I love to see when my— we're watching a video and it just shows like a recommendation and it's us. That's so awesome, dude.
And my daughter's like, oh yeah, that's us when we went. Like, I even went to her school and she's had her class watching us when we went to, um, California. It's just, it's just crazy, you know. So, um, but it's just experiencing life, man. And yeah, just those things as far as those milestones. Like right now in June, we're going to be taking both daughters, uh, to Disney World, man.
Like that's just one where it's one of those milestones. Like if I could get my kids to Disney World, it's so many people that have not done that yet. And that's the— and that's how, just how I gauge my success, the things that I want to be able to do for them. Like, I went to Disney World. My, my mom took me, you know, was 5 and 6, and just being able to cross off the list means so much that I'm at the point in my life to where I can make that happen.
Yes, only it can be only money, but as far as life's going on, being able to do that is a whole nother thing. Well, and, and working for an organization that helps facilitate that, right? Like, that, that looks at it and says You know, I've seen a lot of shops that they'll get a manager and they'll get that manager to the position that that manager can't leave, can't do anything else.
No, we need you here, we need you here. Yeah, you got paid time off, but man, it's not okay because I got this. And oh, what about this thing that's coming up? And so it's always something, always a reason why they've got to be there. And, and I think you look at this organization and, and when we talk about the culture, the culture has prioritized the people not the business.
And, and I think in turn what that's created is an environment where the people then prioritize the business just the way that the business prioritizes them. And so I've seen that from the outside looking in. You deal with a lot of telephone calls, right? You filled a ton of telephone calls. What are the majority of the support cases that you guys deal with?
You know, we've We've got a lot of shop owners listening, and so if, if you're going to say, hey, here's some major pieces of advice, I would love to kind of dig into this a little bit and see if we can help them. Yes, sir. Two main things that come to mind: reconciliation and protecting yourself from a chargeback. Which one you want to dive in first?
Uh, hey, hey, we got to do the chargeback thing because I— listen, I just had a conversation with a guy the other day Okay, and, and he is a 360 customer. He says to me, he said, now I don't take any payments over the telephone, but I've got 360 Payments and they guarantee that if I take a payment online, nobody can charge that back.
And I said, ain't nobody doing that. Nobody said what? I said, ain't nobody gonna do that. I said that unless you take that card in person or they give you cash money, that money is not yours until that terms of service says it is. It's crazy. Okay, let's start with chargebacks. So in that, in that statement there, I would say maybe just the perception of that conversation, what they took away from that conversation with the sales rep when onboarding on whoever they spoke with.
Yeah. Um, you know, we're big with text-to-pay or, you know, um, you know, web, website payments as well, but there's still a possible way for that to be disputed. So the transaction details is secure. The information, the card number, the data that's coming with it is secure. But there's no processor anywhere that can say, hey, they're not gonna— they're not gonna be allowed to dispute this transaction because of the way it was processed.
That's not gonna happen. Yeah. And that was my message to him, is that like, hey, you need— you need protections in shop and in your process to protect you from chargebacks. And so, you know, some of the things that we did— and, and Jesse walked me through the only chargeback I've ever had. I just made a short about the chargeback because it was such a crazy story, right?
And, and the dude was a professional friendly fraudster, right? Like, we figured out later, this is what this dude does. And, and like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of chargebacks. Had been contacted by law enforcement multiple times. You know what saved my butt is that when he charged this back, we were able to collect enough data to determine that he did it in the parking lot before he left.
Wow. And so he was sitting in his car. We've even got it on video where he was sitting in his car. Now, you can't see what he was doing, right? But based on the time that he was sitting in the parking lot on his telephone, And the way that he handled the process, the local law enforcement was able to say this was theft of services because they listened to the calls.
And, and so what I've learned about these people, and I've learned about friendly fraudsters, especially when it's big amounts, is they talk in circles. They do not talk to you like you're having a conversation with them and we're, we're trying to accomplish this goal, right? They talk to the point you can't understand what they're talking about. And you get to the point you're really just wanting them to say yes or no.
I don't care which it is. I just want to get off the phone with you. I don't want to do this. This sucks. And so what do we do? We start pushing the conversation along. And I'll never forget these recorded telephone calls when my service advisor says, you know, now here I do need to go ahead and get on with these other clients and, and here's your estimates.
I just need to know what you would like to do. Mm-hmm. He said, because we offered to let him do it online and authorize it himself. And he said, no, I'm not good with technology. And then he says, do you guys take credit cards? That was the first time I could clearly understand what he said. And I thought, that's really weird. Why would you need to ask?
Does somebody take credit cards in this day and age? That's odd, right? Right. And like, my, my process now is I've got an email in my inbox right now from a guy. Hey, do you, do you take credit cards? We sure do, with proper identification. Yes. Yes. And so he comes through and, and he speaks plain as day. As soon as my service advisor says, yes, we take credit cards, he says, oh my goodness, well, go ahead and do all that work then.
And he should have known right then what was getting ready to happen. Right there, right there, man. And so they got him, right? No, they got my money back. Yeah, that's it. He calls me back. He calls me like the day after. He's like, I called the sheriff's department. They called me back and they said, hey, he just told me to get bent.
You better, you better go get yourself an attorney. And so the lead detective calls him, and he said about the third time he called my mama a bitch, he said, I decided that I was not going to be nice anymore. He said, he should be calling you soon. And so he calls me and he says, hey, can you, uh, take my money?
And I said, I'm not taking another credit card, buddy. I'm sorry, I'm not doing it. We go around and around. He said, uh, He said, listen, he said, I promise I won't charge this thing back. He said, I give you money. He said, please just call them law dogs off. I'm too old to be put in handcuffs. Hey man, all right, let's do it.
Yeah, that friendly fraud is a real thing. It is. And how do you protect yourself then? Like, if it's a thing, how do you protect yourself? So I got a list that I actually— we had an account, I want to say maybe about 4 or 5 months ago where, you know, they were heavy on the Text-to-Pay side of things and they had Friendly Froster, except he had multiple ROs.
So he did it not with just one, he did it for about 4 or 5 different ROs, paying different card types, things like that. And just, and the shop itself wasn't, you know, they were looking at a, just a surface level. Once I was able to go on the phone with them and actually show them how they should be doing this the proper way.
Yes, it takes extra time. Yes, extra work. But guess what? You got all that time back that you just lost. Yeah, with protecting yourself, you know. And so, um, I actually ended up creating the standard operating procedures for them, for someone that's doing text-to-pay or over-the-phone payment when things like that come in. And so one thing, just for all the shops that's listening, uh, don't allow a first-time customer just to do, you know, come in and, oh, I want this fixed, this, this fix, and I want to pay over the phone, I want to pay you in text-to-pay.
Build that rapport up. That's super important. Super important. Yeah. Scan documentation, copy of the ID, just so it matches and confirm the name. You don't have to take a copy of the credit card, but just confirm that the name on the card that they plan on using does match the driver's license. You can do that at the time when they're dropping off the vehicle.
Hey, well, we know what car we plan on using when it's time to pay. If we're dropping off the car, we already have that in our head. We already have it in our head what we're going to do. Um, another thing would be, you know, set a standard limit for text-to-pay transactions or any online payments. Don't allow anyone to just say, my first time using you guys, I want to replace my engine and I want to make payment over the phone.
I want to pay $15,000. That's asking for it. You know, you got to be able to catch those red flags. You know, for example, I'll have to go ahead. Well, so like the reason I think it's important to stop right here and talk about this is especially over the telephone. Or when someone is remote like that, the issue then becomes like they, they can go online and buy a credit card number, right?
Yeah. And that credit card number may or may not work. And I just think about how many times your credit card has been used, right? Think about that for a second. A scammer picks it up and your credit card starts being used. What do they do? They start with $5 here, then they go to $10 and they go $20 and they go to $30 and they go to $50.
And it just keeps going up because they're trying to figure out how far will this card let me go. And so they know how to play this game. They're smart. They know what they're doing. And if you're taking that, that card and you don't know that person, right? Like, it's one thing if it's somebody that is, is a citizen in town that's upstanding and you know them and you see them around and you talk to them.
But if it's a new client you've never seen before, or if there's, if there's red flags, Right. I found a lot of red flags. Uh, do you take credit cards? That's, that's a big one. That's a big one. Why would you ask? 14.5, that's a big one. And I, and I have some red flags too, and we're going to get to that.
I'll set up, you know, the one last thing I would say, um, do not let third parties, you know, purchase or pay for services. Oh, my boyfriend, my uncle, my aunt. Yes. My mother-in-law, my cousin, my teacher, my bank rep. Don't, just don't let any, any third parties pay for a service. If they plan on paying for the service, hey, can we ask, hey, can you please have them send you the funds so that way you can pay with your card so everything lines up in my system?
You know, and one situation like that is that when they know, when you say, when you ask that question, it should raise a red flag for them that, hey, I'm paying attention to what you're trying to do. And fraudsters usually, you know, they're all, you know, always rushing. Always trying to, you know, push you, push you, push you to get something done so that way you're not paying attention and you're not paying attention to the red flags.
And so one thing we got to do with that is if your name, if it's John Doe, right? We're not going to let John Doe's girlfriend pay for the service because if John Doe and his girlfriend breaks up in the next 4 or 5 months, she can dispute that transaction because they have 6 months. And if it's fraud, there's no time limit.
There's no time limit for fraud chargebacks. If, if they can say, hey, that was not me, yeah, there's no limit. Well, so you know what I've done in instances where I have no choice, right? What I do is I created a DocuSign and it's got a credit card authorization, and then in DocuSign I can create that I want you to upload images, and you have to upload an image of the credit card.
I don't care if it's just the last 4 and your name right? And then you have to upload your ID. And so I specifically document in there, I don't want the whole card number, I want the last 4 and your name. That's all I care about. And so I, I actually had one that was a white, just basic plain plastic card, no nothing on it.
And this guy sent it in with it like inkjet printed the number on the back of it, and, and like, uh, you can tell it's not a real magnetic strip. And I'm like, bro, I like, are you seriously trying this? And so what it does is it makes them upload their ID, it makes them upload a picture of the credit card. So now not only did you sign it, but if you are committing fraud, guess what?
I have your ID, and I know that I'm only releasing this card to this person. It says in the agreement I will only release it to the person with this ID. So if you come in, you have to show me this ID to be able to leave with the car. That's lovely. And, and guess what? And they say, well, but I'm paying for my son, I'm paying for my whatever.
Well, okay, you need to transfer that money into his account. Yes. And let him pay with the card, because it's important for your college-age child to learn how to pay their bills. Very much so, man. And that's a good process. Letter of authorization can go a long way. A letter of authorization can go a long way. Does it? So it does help in a chargeback instance, right?
Because yes, when I talked to Jesse about this, Jesse was saying, Lucas, and, and was it what, 4 or 5 years ago now that they changed chargeback laws or changed chargeback policy for one of the credit card companies? I wouldn't be able to speak. I haven't heard any changes or any kind of updates since I've been in, in the field. Okay, as far as anything changed, and I haven't heard anything.
I, I think Jesse told me that there was some sort of change at some point that made it much more difficult to win a chargeback. And it was like, so I don't know if it was a law or if there was like a company policy that changed for one of these companies. And he said, hey, after this, it's really hard to win chargebacks, and so make sure you're documented.
I was going to say, maybe if we add the context of car not present Chargebacks, that, that's what it is. Very difficult. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, card not present chargebacks are very, very difficult because the risk is already there. The, the card was not there at the business. It was not inserted in the machine. Yeah, you just took it over the phone or online.
And so in this situation, you don't know who processed that transaction or who, whose card it is, you know. And so it's uphill battle once that comes through. And that's exactly why you have to pay attention to to those red flags that you were discussing earlier. And I do have, let me see, about 6 or 7 that I can run through for— Yeah, love it.
Um, first one, customers who advise that there's no way they'll be able to come into the shop and everything has to be done over the phone. First red flag. Yeah, they're saying that right out the gate when they're, you know, trying to bring the vehicle in for service. You— we have to pay attention to that. The second one, when the customer advises that someone else will be paying for the services provided.
We have to pay attention to that. We have to know, just like you said in your process, hey, you got to transfer the money. Make sure your college kid knows how to pay their bills. Third one, when a customer does not care how much a service costs. That is a big one. That's when a customer does not care how much a service costs.
Yes. I have one story from this. I was speaking with a shop owner, you know, tire place. He said, hey, You know, I have this customer, he called in, works for a construction company. He said, you know, and this is all after the fact, you know, chargeback's already been placed. I want to say it was about, yeah, $10,500 for a chargeback. Oh my God.
Yeah. Yeah. Listen to the story. I was like, he said, hey, um, this chargeback happened, you know, it's already been escalated to me at this time. I was a supervisor. So I'm like, okay, tell me what happened. What's going on? Verbatim. Well, this guy called. He's working with a construction company and he wanted to buy all his employees tires. And so what, true story, whoops, and David, true story.
He wanted to buy his employees, you know, tires and everything. And, you know, so it wasn't no sweat off my back. We was making a good little profit off of it. And so, you know, he had gave me the card and we ran it, you know, we got all the tires and I was like, okay. And I was like, we didn't think about, you know, him knowing the tire size for all his employees.
You didn't think about that when he said that? Yeah, at a minimum, we should be getting a spreadsheet for each employee, right? What tires you need. And he was like, well, I didn't, I didn't think about that. I'm like, okay, that's fine. And he said, what else happened? He said, yeah, I didn't, I didn't, it really didn't ring a bell until they actually came to pick up the tires.
And they came in the box truck and everything, and they load the tires up, and I walked out there and was like, hey, You guys, do you guys need us to, you know, balance them and things? And it was like, no, we have a machine for that. And they left. I was like, okay. I was like, so you had to be at some point saying, well, hey, so have you heard the new one?
Um, a local shop, uh, to me just got taken. He posted in the group and he just got taken. And so what, what the situation was is that, and, and the, the shop that I was telling you who said like, hey, 360's got my back, I, I can't have charge chargebacks against me because they've got my back, right? He, he went through something very similar, and the situation was is that someone had, um, ordered a wheel, ordered a tire, ordered something, and if I understand correctly, they paid for it, they delivered it to this man, he charges it back and then returns the product and asks for a refund and says, no, I don't want
that. Or maybe it was that they hadn't even delivered it yet. And he said, I want a refund. And so he said, okay, you know what, there's a restocking fee, I'll just go ahead and give you the refund, not a big deal. So he, he refunds it, and at the exact same time, this man has done a chargeback. So it was like $3,000 of merchandise, and he didn't realize that when he refunded it to the guy, at the exact same time, he had done this chargeback.
So it wasn't $3,000 he lost, it was $6,000 he lost. And so that's a game people are playing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have heard of that. And one thing, and that's what we try our best to make sure the shops and the tire shops and this are aware of the chargeback immediately. We know everyone doesn't check their emails, you know, throughout the day.
So that's one thing. So one thing that we do here at 360, um, once we get notified that the chargeback has been received, the charge, the notification from the car brand is already sent. Via email. We sent, we sent another email just to make sure from us, hey, you received a chargeback. Want to make you aware of that, you know, so you can take the necessary steps.
If the transaction is over $1,000 and you receive a chargeback, a case is created for my customer support team to reach out to you via email and phone. Hey, did you realize you received this chargeback? It's over $1,000. You know, we want to make sure you're aware of that. And once they answer the phone, oh yeah, I did see it come through.
Thanks for calling. Okay. Do you know what you need to support yourself in this transaction or in this dispute? And we're able to help them in that moment in time, answer any questions. We can't do it for you, but we're here to help you. And that goes a long way. That goes a long way because a lot of processors do not help.
They're like, hey, you got a chargeback, you know, take a step back, do your thing. So let me ask a question because I've heard, and I may be completely wrong here, I've heard that if you get a lot of chargebacks, there's a negative impact on your business. And so what I mean, obviously financial, but, but from your credit card processor. One thing I found very interesting is I became more involved with the family business.
They have smaller ticket numbers, right? So they're typically $100 to $300 ticket on average is what they have. And the number of chargebacks that they get are unbelievable because they sell, uh, they sell tickets online. And so just, I mean, it's fraud. Oh, I didn't like the product I got. Oh, it's this. Oh, it's that. And, and typically you really can kind of see the people who are going to do it.
And some of it's probably friendly fraud. Some of it is like just flat out fraud. Yeah. But they get a lot of them. And I, I'm worried about just getting one as a shop and, and mainly because of the high ticket dollar amount. Right. But does this have a negative impact on a business as far as getting multiple chargebacks? Yes, sir. Yes, sir, definitely can, especially from the processor perspective.
Uh, it's not based off the total number of chargebacks, it is based off a percentage of your total volume. So let's say, I believe right now, before you become a high-risk account, um, 4% of your total volume, that's the limit before. We want to keep that below 4%. Okay, if you go over that 4%, you'll be, you could be labeled as a high-risk account, which what happens, your rates could go up.
Not even just with 360, with the card brand herself, with everybody, you know, you're already losing money, you're paying more. And then depending on how that chargeback process goes, we know how the, you know, Facebook and social media works when you get a bad rap for a name and, you know, Joe Blow is telling everybody your business is doing bad and that you didn't treat them right.
You know, just the report there alone could, could hurt. And so it can go as far as if it's so bad, Visa or Mastercard can stop you from processing their card. You can only— you can't imagine how that would damage the business. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So there's a lot of, a lot of organizations that seem to be— and I've talked to 3 or 4 people recently and they said, hey, I've started this credit card processing company.
And I, I'm, I'm gonna do all the processing. I'm gonna be your processor. I'm gonna save you some money. Usually it's that, hey, we're gonna bill the— we're gonna bill the consumer the fees, that kind of deal. What's that? To me, I don't feel really comfortable with that concept. Okay, right. Like, I'm, I'm not feeling good about that. Can you tell us why that wouldn't be a good idea, or, or is it legit?
As far as— so are we speaking from a surcharging perspective where we're charging our consumer the processing fees? No, I'm talking about these, these operators who, you know, they owned a shop and now they've got a credit card processing company and they, they're coming out of the woodwork and they're going around and asking all these people, hey, I want to provide you— just like all the people who call you every day and say, hey, I'll help you with your credit card rates.
Rick White did a video years ago on our channel and he said if you're worried about your credit card processing rates, you're, you're stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Correct. You know, we need to make our business profitable. Um, what— how do we know that we're picking a good credit card processor is really at the end of the day my question.
Oh, gotcha, man. Transparency. Do they, do they provide you the information? Are they telling you what's going on? Are they trying to teach you? Are they— we, we love to make our customers independent. We're going to give you all the information you need to know, and that's just a part of being transparent. Because in this case, a lot of processors Oh, well, we can't tell you how that works, or we're going to explain it in a way where it doesn't make sense.
So that way, yeah, we're still in control and you're not well in the know to make an informative decision. You know, that's the main thing is having those conversations, not just with the sales reps. When you call them support, have those conversations because the sales rep is what, you know, starts. That's the dating in the relationship. Yeah. You know, the support side is maintaining that relationship.
And how much support and what kind of support you get is very important. You know, so I would say from a shop's perspective, you know, you have a great processor if they're helping you grow, if they're giving you information, giving you, you know, the tips and things. Like I said, you know, keep an eye out for the red flags. We have these conversations.
I've sent out the documentation that's for customer view. You know, we want you guys to know this to help build you because the better you get, the more you improve. The more we improve. Yeah, for sure. Now, if our listeners wanted a copy of, say, the, the standard operating procedure you recommend and the, the, um, red flags that you've said, can you provide us that so they can— is there a website, some way that we can get it to them?
I believe it's on our Facebook, Facebook page. Our marketing has definitely public, you know, put that out. It's on our LinkedIn as well. You know, scroll through there and you can actually see that and download that, but it's definitely there, the red flags and tips on how you can, you know, protect yourself because it is needed. It's not just, you can be great at what you do.
You have to have a foundation on how to protect your business. We all work too hard. We are responsible for other families, the employees, everything. We can't say, oh, you know, we had this $10,000 chargeback, so I don't know if I'm gonna be able to pay you, you know, so you can feed your family. We're responsible for a lot of things if you're the leader in charge.
So just, just doing the right thing the first time is so important. Yep, I agree 100%. Brother, I appreciate you being here more than you know. Yes sir, I appreciate it, man. You know, it's a long time coming. Yes sir, absolutely, buddy. I can't wait to see you again soon. Hopefully we're at another event in the same area. Uh, they don't let you get out and go to all the trade shows.
I've tried to file formal complaints and they told me that my, my formal complaint wasn't accepted. I was able to get out for SEMA last year. I was able to get out for that, and hopefully I can this year as well, man. But, you know, I'm here to support the people, you know, and help them grow. So, hey, we'll make David buy us dinner.
We'll all go to— we'll all go to Apex. David can buy dinner, and then you can, you can handle all of his chargebacks for In-N-Out Burger. If you need me, reach out, you know. If you need me for chargebacks, I'm here to support you. Did you, did you know David has not switched to 360 Payroll? I heard it, I heard it on the last podcast.
There's going to be I watched about 4 videos. He said that when he was talking to Lisa, when she said anything about CSP, yeah, I did my research, David, CSP, and what he didn't like. And then he was like, oh, we'll be here all day. How much time we got? What's holding up David up from CSP? And David, if you want to ask, what was the one thing that you didn't like?
That we didn't have clarity on regarding this CFP since I'm here. The, the, see, the, the, the dual funding or CFP, what is that? Dual funding as far as funding from the lender, or— and no, so it's, it's split funding. So I swipe the credit card once and then a certain percentage goes into one account and then the rest goes into another account.
He has to do this because if it doesn't he will spend all the money in one account, yeah, and then he can't pay his bills into a completely different— it goes into a completely different account. That's all I asked for. I just needed that. And I was told by several people at 360 that you guys didn't have it. And then Lisa, she's like, we have that.
And I'm like, I asked. And she like, she started texting and she's like, yeah, we have that. No, we can't. And I'll answer that right here, right now on the show. Uh, we definitely can do that. And so in your question, my only rebuttal would be when you say dual funding Um, are you saying that you want your credit cards from your shop to go to one account and you want the funding from the lender to go to another account?
No, no. Well, I mean, that'll work too, but no, we don't, we don't use the lender stuff all that often. Okay. Uh, it's, it's a very small percentage. No, it's just, it, you know, you— somebody spends $1,000 with you, $250 goes into one bank account and then $750 shows up on a different bank account. It's one swipe. Yeah, so I will make that clear.
We cannot do that. Oh, I'll make it clear. I'll make a full circle. We cannot do that. How did Lisa screw that up? Maybe she didn't understand. I would not say that. She's a very scary woman. I would just— just stop right now, David. Yeah, just, just, you know, hey, I'll take that back. Maybe she misunderstood. I— it was my fault for not explaining correctly what it was, right?
You see what kind of clarifying questions I asked. Hey, listen, 4 days later, David Roman is no longer walking the face of this planet. What happened? David met Lisa. Right, right, right, right. No, man, I've definitely paid attention to the shows, man. I was, I was watching for a little bit, man, just trying to see, you know, okay, how's it go? We don't have any Tony Mercury slander.
I watch another show as well, you know, so just, just being clear, you know, just I appreciate it. I think we can— did we slander Tony Mercury? We didn't do that. I think we probably should slander Tony Mercury. We didn't. It was just, you know, that's my guy. Look, look, I'm just telling you, I'm just telling you, I, I'm not so sure.
He did the double-breasted jacket thing this year, and I love the jacket. I'm not saying it was wrong. I'm just saying I still don't know that he buttoned to the right button. Okay, we had a big discussion on this. I'm not sure that he buttoned the right button. I'm just going to put that out there. If you button the wrong button, does it like throw a signal?
Does it like, does it tell a certain group of people like, oh, okay. Like when you put the earring on the wrong ear, is that what you're saying? Is it one of them deals? Probably with Tony, yes, it probably is. And I'm just going to point out like the whole moonshine story, I did not tell that. This episode. I think, I think I deserve a prize.
You do deserve a prize. I'm gonna— that's brownie points for you. Yeah, but I appreciate you fellas, man, having me on and let me speak to chargeback and things like that. So I really do appreciate it, man. Yes, sir. And, uh, I will talk to you soon. Hopefully we'll be at a trade show together. Yes, sir. All right, you guys have a great day.
All right, buddy. Thank you for listening to the Changing the Industry podcast. If you enjoyed the show, do us a favor, Leave us a review on your favorite podcast player and don't forget to set it to automatically download the latest episode. Our efforts with this podcast, the YouTube channel, and the Facebook group wouldn't be possible without the support of our awesome sponsors.
So please take a moment, check them out by clicking on the links in the show notes.
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218 - What Your Opt-Outs Reveal: Your CRM Isn't Broken. It's Being Misused
218 - What Your Opt-Outs Reveal: Your CRM Isn't Broken. It's Being Misused September 9th, 2026 - 00:55:22 Show Summary: Most CRM systems are capable of producing results but the way shops use them can weaken customer relationships. Mass messages often focus on filling bays instead of delivering value customers actually want. Strong retention starts by understanding communication preferences and earning permission before sending messages. Shops can build stronger relationships by creating meaningful reasons for customers to stay connected. Automation can support that process but it should never replace genuine human communication. Returning customers should become a primary measure of success because lifetime value matters far more than a single repair order. A retention focused culture can create steadier car count and stronger long term growth. 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In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode. 👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/10RC8L1nKhM Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this! Links & Resources: Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com. Episode Transcript: Jimmy Lea: Hello, welcome. Glad to be with you today. It is Wednesday, so excited for Webinar Wednesday. Coming to you live from the road. I'm in Eugene, Oregon, here at Brian Slater's shop in Eugene, Oregon. This is the North Eugene Auto Repair in in Eugene, and so coming to you from the road. Thank you, Brian. Jimmy Lea: Appreciate you letting me use your office today as we're out and about visiting shops. It's just an awesome, gorgeous weather here in northern U- northern... no. I was gonna say northern Utah. I'm not in northern Utah. I'm in Eugene, Oregon, and this is not northern Utah, but it is gorgeous weather. Jimmy Lea: So if you don't have gorgeous weather where you are, you wish you were here. We're gonna have a great conversation today. Those of you who have comments, questions, comments, put them into the chat section. That chat section comments allows us to have this conversation back and forth. I will be the voice for You've got questions, comments, concerns for our guest, want to make sure that those are voiced for you, put them in the comments section. Jimmy Lea: My guest with us today is ever-present, ever-linguist, Mr. Craig O'Neill of AutoFlow. Craig, how the heck are you, brother? Craig O'Neill: I'm really good, Jimmy. Really good. I was actually thinking northern Utah, as you mentioned Utah, even though it was Oregon. Both places are beautiful. I can't blame you for the distinction issue there. Craig O'Neill: That was- that's all right. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. No it is absolutely gorgeous up here. Now, I will tell you that there is a large lack of mountains in Eugene, Oregon- ... Jimmy Lea: That northern Utah does have, is bounteous mountains. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. A lot of them. Yeah. I can't wait. Ogden, a couple, next month. Next month now is October. Jimmy Lea: Yes. October for the Mars Conference. Craig O'Neill: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Yes. Speaking of Mars Conferences we're gonna put up a QR code for the Mars Conference. If you scan this QR code, it will get you right onto our registration page, and those sticking around to the very end, there is this very special, very unique offer for anybody who wants to attend the Mars Conference. Jimmy Lea: So stick around, scan the QR code. Save that in your smartphones. We are gonna have a great conversation about marketing. Craig is one of our presenters at the Mars Conference, and super excited for Craig to be here. Craig and I have known each other for a couple of years now, and worked together at a couple of companies, and- Jimmy Lea: glad that we are able to still be friends here in this wonderful industry that we call home. Craig, what are we talking about today? Craig O'Neill: Jimmy, this is the, one of my favorite topics to go into. We're talking about CRM systems, of course. Now I have some opinions about CRM systems. Both of us come from a background that deals in these systems. Craig O'Neill: You have opinions as well, and you have some observations, and my observation is simply this: the systems themselves are capable of some pretty cool things- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... Craig O'Neill: but we aren't using them very well. The it's not broken, they're being misused, is the title of our conversation today. Your CRM isn't broken, it's being misused. Craig O'Neill: And I don't like to walk into a conversation with "Oh, you're doing something wrong", or on the opposite side of it, I don't like to walk into a conversation as you guys are doing it right. You're just fine, but other people are doing it..." Like I, I've used stuff wrong. I've made mistakes in how I leverage the different systems and tools that are available, and I just believe, and I hope you just go along with us today, there might be a better way than our way that we're approaching it now. Craig O'Neill: Be open to that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Be open to it, because what they're, what you as a shop may be doing today is working. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. It's not even a debate. It is getting results of a certain level and type that are appearing to be adequate. Jimmy Lea: Adequate for today. And hopefully with this conversation that you and I are gonna have as we talk about the customer relationship management software Hopefully there's something we can expose shops to that might say, "Hey, maybe there is a different way of doing this." Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: So what are these ways? What are the five mistakes that shops make the most, or not the mistakes. What, how can we help these shops improve? Sure. I would call Craig O'Neill: them hurdles that we have to get over, right? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. This one it's an opportunity for us to make it better. It's an opportunity to make it better. Jimmy Lea: This is what it is. It's not a mistake. You're not doing it wrong. Consider this. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. We're gonna talk about a lot of things on this, and I think before we even get into those hurdles, let's talk about the nature of communication today. Yeah. People's attention span today, because I think that there's a couple of different things that we need to understand. Craig O'Neill: And first off, let's talk about why we even wanna leverage a CRM system. And for many shops, you might have a sustainable s- sort of automatic practice here, but when you're a busy shop, you feel very successful, and then all of a sudden things are not as busy as they are. This happens to all of us. All the time. Craig O'Neill: We've ... shop, Jimmy, our transmission shop, family business that I came up, down into grew up in, and like we never had a slow spell. The shops around us always had those little slow spells, and we're like, "Yeah, we don't." And that was a good feeling until it happened to us, too. So we're all vulnerable to it, and the knee-jerk reaction that I see is this. Craig O'Neill: People as eventually hit that slow spell. They check, see if other people are experiencing it, too. We comfort ourselves with the fact that others are doing it, defining it as a, a market-wide symptom of broader events that we have no control over. And so then we can just comfort ourselves with another idea. Craig O'Neill: It's like, "Ah, it'll come back around." And I heard this over, and over again from my family who is owner of the business, my, my dad and my grandpa, because that has been the experience. It always comes back around. Why would we ever be okay with the fact that a slow spell also technically always comes back around? Craig O'Neill: And if our knee-jerk reaction to those moments is then to go into a, a degree of marketing or a degree of follow-up or a mass blast text strategy, like I see a lot of people fall into is like, "Huh, the work needs to be drummed up. We'll turn to our CRM system. We'll construct the perfect message and send it out, and then people will make appointments and fill our bays." Craig O'Neill: Sound familiar? Jimmy Lea: Oh, it does. It does. And if we know those, those times are gonna come back around because it's cyclical, what are we doing? We... It- Yeah ... is preventable. What are we doing that we can prevent this from happening and being that cyclical item? Because- Craig O'Neill: This is, this goes straight into it, because what I see people doing with the knee-jerk response is they're actually crippling their ability to handle the cycles of this. Craig O'Neill: When you do a knee-jerk text blast response, what's the number one reaction that you get to it every single time? Opt-outs. They are the most common reaction to this, and that's what I... If you go on the socials and you look on comment threads of shop owners experiencing a slow spell, they're asking each other "What's the perfect message that you can type out that gets fewer opt-outs and more appointments?" Craig O'Neill: There isn't one. There is no perfect message that gets X number of people. The ratio will never be the same in two demographics with unique people being the customers or clients in every one of the unique repair facilities that we have. There is no perfect message. Jimmy Lea: No. They're not. They're looking for that silver bullet, Craig. Craig O'Neill: Yes. It's silver bullet is the right term for this, and I discussed this on my podcast in an early episode of the podcast Speak Up: Effective Communication on the Automotive Repair Podcast Network. It was episode 14. I said, "What your opt-outs are really telling you," and I think that what they are telling us is something we need to listen to. Craig O'Neill: So now on that, let's move into the attention span of the people in the world today versus the past. And Jimmy, I love to read. I love deep thoughts, and we're gonna get philosophical for a second. I know you don't mind. Love it. We love this. Yeah. Let's Jimmy Lea: go. Craig O'Neill: Signature classic, C.S. Lewis. One of my favorites, Screwtape Letters. Craig O'Neill: In the early chapters in that book it's describing... I won't go into the details of Screwtape Letters, but the way that you distract someone if you're trying to distract them from serious thoughts in C.S. Lewis' time period was, and I'll quote here from the book that- Got the guy to think he was hungry, and then I showed him a newsboy shouting, "The midday paper," and the number 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps, I had him into an unalterable conviction that whatever odd ideas might come into the man's head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of real life, which he meant by the bus and the newsboy, was enough to show him that all that sort of thing just couldn't be true. Craig O'Neill: He knew he had a narrow escape, and then years later was fond of talking about it. I w- I'll skip ahead. But thanks to the process which we set at work in them centuries ago, they find it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. So this is hard to digest 'cause it's C.S. Craig O'Neill: Lewis. You... It's like a tough piece of wonderful, awesome, the best flavor steak in the world that you gotta chew on a whole lot of times before you can actually get to digesting it. But the point is, C.S. Lewis's era, the distraction was you wanted to get them into this stream of events and that's your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Craig O'Neill: Teach it to call it real life, and don't let him ask what it means by real. And that stream is exactly what people are having today. This is a word used by C.S. Lewis before streaming like we are on a webinar, streaming across the web even existed. What distracted a man? Just being on the street with a bus and a newsboy shouting. Craig O'Neill: That's yesterday. That's 1940s United Kingdom, actually, in C.S. Lewis' time. Let's fast-forward Johann Hari's book, Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again, absolutely nails the same point in the modern age and puts a name to it with this term called the f- this frenetic digital interruption, and he says, "Is pulling our attention away from our thoughts and suppressing your default mode network," cool term. Craig O'Neill: I think we're almost in this constant stimulus-driven, stimulus-bound environment, moving from one distraction to the next, and if you don't remove yourself from that, it will suppress whatever train of thought you had, right? And I think that frenetic digital distraction really i- it's just, we have to acknowledge this is the reality we're in today, and there's people that are struggling with notifications and attention, and bombarded with media messages. Craig O'Neill: Every news article you read has the pop-up ads. Are we in that same zone like C.S. Lewis, where a newsboy and the sign on a bus is the only thing that could distract our attention? No. We are under a constant 24/7 assault for our attention span today. That's where we're communicating from, and when your shop gets a little slow and you decide you're gonna have a knee-jerk reaction to the slowness, and you expect a message to land that leads to action with a population that's drowning in this reality, would it be any surprise that it only sees marginal results? Jimmy Lea: Is there any irony that it is called streaming? Is there any irony that it's called a reel? No. Craig O'Neill: Jimmy, it's like the oldest problems are always resurfaced again in our lifetimes today- Yep ... with different technology. Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's totally different. And now it's 17-second blurbs about it's a seven-second commercial, it's a 17-second commercial. Jimmy Lea: We're being bombarded with this instant stimuli to totally distract us from what is actually real- Yes ... and consequential, and you're being bombarded by things that are momentary blurbs of Jimmy Lea: Endorphins Craig O'Neill: Yeah. It, and it just- It's a Jimmy Lea: temporary- Craig O'Neill: You're competing with that- Yeah ... tendency too, to escape with these things. You're spot on. This, this topic is why I lead into these five barriers to that are causing us, like the things that we're misusing in our CRMs, right? Yeah. I consider them barriers or hurdles because we can get over them. Craig O'Neill: Yeah ... and we can decide to lever it right. And number one and we have a slide for this, so I put it up there. I know some people like to read and some people can listen. I wanted to put this quote on there because... And I'm gonna, fatal sin of speakers, I'm gonna read the quote. I know it's on the slide, but I know some of you can't see it, and I know some of you are only listening. Craig O'Neill: Yes. I can't read it. Oh, Jimmy, I'm sorry. It's too small. Too small? Oh, that's okay. That's why I'm here. Yeah. So- You can Jimmy Lea: read all of them. Read all of Craig O'Neill: them ... it's a big meaty slide. Problem number one though is we're not communicating to people on what matters to them. That's the problem. And to reference this point the, a great read, and please write this down, pick up this book, How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age. Craig O'Neill: Amen. If you're interested in this topic at all, read that book. It's from the Dale Carnegie and Associates. So updated for the digital age. There's so many profoundly good things in this, and this is a quote I pulled straight from the book, and I wanna make sure it gets its proper reference there. Craig O'Neill: But it says, "When it comes to mattering to others, you must discuss what matters to them. Assume all else will fall on deaf, or in this case, dull ears. This is an interesting principle to consider given the spirit in which the vast majority of people are communicating today. Most messages are primarily meant to educate others about our lives, our products, to reveal compelling portions of ourselves we think others would be attracted to. Craig O'Neill: While this appears to be an assertive strategy, it is actually a passive strategy in that it requires others to connect with us." "The trouble is that's marketing monologue, not relational dialogue. It's assumption, not assimilation. When assumption guides our efforts to befriend or influence others, the results end up on the wrong side of memorable." Craig O'Neill: Okay. End quote. That is that's another, like I'm giving you solid food to digest today. That's, that's- ... we don't have time to go this layer of depth in our presentation at Mars, so that's why I'm really happy to have this conversation today. It's a primer. If you walk in primed with some of these thoughts, you're gonna be able to get a lot more out of it. Craig O'Neill: But here's where I go with this. We are communicating from a position of our interests most of the time in the auto repair shop. When it slows down, we're interested in filling our bay. If we were really interested in having those customers come in, we would have done the harder work of relating and documenting and managing the data, all sorts of things differently to have a sustained conversation that they understood the value in, because we understand what's important to them. Craig O'Neill: And that's a whole different thing, and that's gonna come up again as we move into these, these other hurdles. But I think that's the thing, first and foremost, remember what messages right now are you pushing out there that are not memorable? I didn't give this in the slide, but I have an example recently, Jimmy very recently. Craig O'Neill: I turned 43 earlier in August, and I'm not on social media these days. The one thing that was fun is getting all those birthday harvests. You know how you get all the happy birthday thing. It's actually a lot of work. Yeah. Then you gotta go like everything and all that stuff too. But don't worry, I don't miss that entirely because I have been a patron in local businesses that have CRM systems in my neighborhood chiefly my Subaru dealership where we have a, a vehicle leased presently. Craig O'Neill: And I got three happy birthday emails from three separate people in that organization. Two of them were identical emails automatically constructed, and there was a neat little quote in the bottom of one of those emails. It actually said, "This email is automatically generated, and we do not monitor replies to it." Jimmy Lea: Oh my God. That's- Craig O'Neill: But it was a beautiful picture of balloons with the branding of that dealership on it. Oh, it was touching. It was such a great birthday blessing to receive that on Sunday afternoon. Jimmy Lea: Had it been from an actual person and not an automated system would've made it even better, but... Craig O'Neill: Sure. But does the birthday greeting from a business actually land on the memorable side of communication, or is it a cheap and simple automated gimmick to feign that you care with a direct interest that is more for the business's benefit rather than it is for my birthday, right? Craig O'Neill: Congratulations, you captured my birth date in a data field in a system that is automated to generate a joy, because I don't unsubscribe because I love these examples. It really was a gift for me that I get to use and communicate from. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. And that's good. That's good. Craig O'Neill: But no, this is a common thing, and we've we've seen this strategy. Craig O'Neill: You and I have been in the CRM space for a while, and you've seen that given as a best practice. We wanna capture the, birth date and month, not the year. Birth date and month. And then you can have these sort of birthday messages go out. All right, maybe you have that strategy applied in your shop. Craig O'Neill: Is that a wrongness? No. Maybe some people really appreciate it. I think a lot of people don't give it a second thought, and that's the majority. Jimmy Lea: They probably don't, but they also aren't sending it from an email that is not being monitored and not gonna reply. Craig O'Neill: Let's hope not. Yeah. ' Jimmy Lea: Cause if Jimmy's Super Shop were to send you a happy birthday message, it would purely be a happy birthday message. Jimmy Lea: There's no other ulterior motives whatsoever. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Jimmy- And you would reply and say, "Oh, thank you so much, Jimmy's Super Shop." We would reply again to say Craig O'Neill: I would hope so. Yeah. Now, my experience in birthdays are one thing, but all sorts of messages. I know when CRM automation occurs, and I'll touch on this at Mars a little bit further the team is not engaged in that part of the process, and it's difficult for them to engage in the inbound Present Jimmy Lea: conversation. Jimmy Lea: Yeah Craig O'Neill: Yep. There's a, a loss of continuity there. So I do feel a lot of times there's automated things going out from a shop, but there is actually no behavior that is being encouraged or directed or accountable any accountability layer for the team to be a participant in that. So it does play in that. Craig O'Neill: But this goes to number two which I think is at the root of the whole problem, and this is, again, another quote from the Dale Carnegie and Associates. First off, problem number two we're not cultivating a community, and this, this principle comes for me from my study in this book. And as I was reading that book, assessing how shops are leveraging CRMs, this stuck out. Craig O'Neill: And it says, and I quote, "Often forgotten is the long-term plan. Businesses call it a customer retention strategy, but it is best thought of as a lively, meaningful dialogue among a community of friends. If the foundation of all long-term success is the establishment of trust-based relationships, then the goal of all interactions should be to convey value as soon and as often as possible." Jimmy Lea: Not just birthdays. Craig O'Neill: Not just birthdays as a data field. What's meaningful for a client in a repair shop? What's meaningful to them in a repair shop? What is the purpose in our community, and how are you articulating the value of staying in touch so we can continue to express what this purpose is and how it benefits you? Craig O'Neill: And by the way, Mr. Client, it's very important, save this number in your phone so that you recognize that we're a contact 'cause you can reach out to us here, and we're gonna be here if you have any questions. And that's starting to get to the sense of community here. And Jimmy, this is getting more important. Craig O'Neill: In today's world, here's a tip for y'all right now. I want you to open up your phone, go to your text message app, look at the spam folder How many messages do you have in the spam folder of your messages app, whether you're using Android or Apple, does not matter. Automatically, messages are going straight to those folders with default settings from the phone's operating system and device. Craig O'Neill: There's a bunch in there, and a lot of it probably is spam, correct, Jimmy? Jimmy Lea: Oh, I'm pretty sure all of it's spam. Craig O'Neill: A lot of times it's very accurate in mine. I- I've only on occasion seen one or two messages in there. Here's how your shop is gonna land in the spam folder. If the client never accepts you as a contact and never engages in the dialogue with you in text. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Craig O'Neill: And so the manifestation of this, and I've started to see more of this recently, very recently, just this summer people sending a DVI link to their client, for example, but the client claims they never got it. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: But they do receive- Because it went to spam ... messages without the link went to the spam folder because sometimes those links are just being interpreted when it's not saved as a contact. Craig O'Neill: The solution is to get it saved as a contact. Interesting little issue, but that takes a little effort, doesn't it, to keep your client- Yeah ... to add you as a contact. There's some cool tools to do that, simple QR code scans, and lots of things we can do at the counter to help people through this problem. Craig O'Neill: But we need our advisors to express the importance of the communication and why they should want it before they'll ever accept it as a contact. Jimmy Lea: That's right. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So interesting, right? So I think that cultivation of a community, that's the easy entry point. Help them understand the value of the communication that's coming and why we're going to be reaching you and make sure they actually do want it. Craig O'Neill: And that leads perfectly into hurdle number three. Hurdle number three is we are not gaining an opt-in for the purpose we seek. And Jimmy, you know this is true across the board generally for opt-ins and shop capturing, and we're gonna talk just a minute about this here as well. We'll do this after the next point. Craig O'Neill: The next point is a strong one on this. But you want the customer to want the message from you. Yeah. Does that happen automatically that they understand what you're going to be sending them and why you're going to be sending it? Jimmy Lea: Not unless you explain it. Craig O'Neill: Not unless you explain it. What's the value in it for them? Craig O'Neill: Why is there a benefit for them to be on a list in your shop for a certain type of message? I used an example earlier about text blast when it gets slow. And the mistake I see the most, Jimmy, is that shops literally have their all or repeat customer list, and they just hit this whole list with this message like, "Hey, we're slow. Craig O'Neill: Come in." Yeah. What if... just go with me here. Love it. What if you created a list that people could sign up and subscribe to in your shop? It's like, "Hey, if you wanna join our slow day list, there's a couple advantages of this. If you wanna just you have a few lingering maintenance items type of a thing, and we have openings we have a... Craig O'Neill: Maybe there's a promotion rate, or maybe it's just literally we can get you in and out because we know time is important, and we're not a discount culture anymore here, right? So maybe we express the speed of service. We know it's inconvenient to have the car down when it's quiet like this. We'll have loaners or rides available. Craig O'Neill: Whatever. There's benefits for you signing up on this list, so you can gain access to this thing that we're gonna do to make it better for you. Would you like to be on that list? We maybe send one or two of these out-" a quarter and perfect, right? And they sign up for that, so now you've got a warm lead list of people who are ready to fill your bays when they need filling. Craig O'Neill: How hard would it be to create that? Jimmy Lea: Oh, not very hard, and I wanna rename it already. I wanna call it the VIP available spots list. Perfect. Craig O'Neill: Yes. Yes. All sorts of things that you could do. Yeah, you could call it your membership list. Whatever. You go crazy. Have fun with it. Communicate the value of it. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. And you have some- My wife does this at art shows. She sells her art in these art shows, and she's found that even just the placement of the sign-up form matters. Like, when it's front and center, people who are waiting in line for the checkout now are able to sign into that book while they're waiting for their turn to check out with the art, and she gets way more signups for her email list. Craig O'Neill: Love it. It's perfect. Yeah, and similar practices are totally possible still today, but what do shops do? We automatically assume everyone wants to get any type of message we wanna have for any purpose, and we never clarify or distinguish any special type of thing, and thus they never get the opt-in. Craig O'Neill: And thus, what are your opt-outs telling you? Man, that's their first chance to talk to you about their preference for the type of communication you send. And you know what happens in an opt-out, Jimmy. You know as well as I do. That number's blacklisted at the carrier level. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Craig O'Neill: That's hard to undo. Now you gotta communicate to them about the value of reengaging in that by texting the word start to this number, and that's a harder thing for a busy service advisor or customer service rep to be able to engage in. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No, it's true. It's true. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: We've gotta communicate with them on the level they want in the form that they want. And sometimes those opt-outs are them saying, "Look, I just don't want to communicate in this method." Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: But what do they prefer? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Might Craig O'Neill: be. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: What's the conversation? Where have you built the relationship to continue that conversation on their preferred platform? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Look, I cooked my cellphone a long time ago doing demos of AutoFlow at, with multiple instances. Now I get texts that I forget to clear out of their thing all the time. That texting's not the best way to get me during the day. I am, however, in my inbox. And I promise you, you have clients that's the same thing for them too. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Or they don't even want... Now, go with me here. What if we had a list of people who prefer a phone call follow-up, Jimmy? Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. And there are. Craig O'Neill: Yes. Jimmy Lea: There's people that's what they would prefer. Craig O'Neill: Yes. 100% yes. And if you don't get the buy-in from that group, and you think everyone wants a phone call follow-up we already do this- You're wrong Craig O'Neill: at Chris' shop, Jimmy. Yeah. You wanna know in about 90 to 120 follow-up calls that we do in a week there we have a gal doing this for us, for Golden Rule Auto Care. Yeah. We get about 10 to 15% of those calls that go out end up with good connections. Like a good conversation. Jimmy Lea: Oh, they actually answer the phone and have a Craig O'Neill: conversation. Craig O'Neill: Actually answer the phone and have a conversation. Only 10 to 15% 10 to 15. Around 120 calls. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. I, Craig O'Neill: I- Not a huge number. Jimmy Lea: No, it's not. Because people are busy, and they don't wanna be interrupted. And those that want the conversations, they're the ones that answer the phone. And the other 80, 85%, 90% prefer a text message or an email or a Facebook message or purely nothing at all. Jimmy Lea: Thank you very much. Goodbye. Craig O'Neill: Let me ask you this, Jimmy. You got it, man. And when you get a phone call today from a number that's not a contact in your phone- ... do you answer it? Jimmy Lea: Voicemail. No. I- Craig O'Neill: Or screening? Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: I found the you push the two buttons on both sides, boop, right into voicemail. Done. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. I, I have, one of the call screener things on mine now. If it's not a contact, it hits that pretty much automatically. I don't answer my phone. I don't answer my phone. I then check to see the missed call, and if it is something important, I'll call it back. That's the world we're entering, and it's the same principle that we just discussed with that text message that i- if they darn a contact, same is true for the phone number that you're dialing from. Craig O'Neill: If that hasn't yet been saved as a contact, look, guys, your call isn't gonna be trusted yet. Area codes that are mine are the least trusted. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Yes. But that's the world now, and we have to be able to recognize that and combat that. Yeah ... but that involves becoming that contact, agreeing to that type of conversation, and maybe making a note somewhere in your management or CRM system about those preferred lev- levels of contact. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So- that's the hard work here, and I understand why shops that are low staff or only have one service advisor to five technicians, and he's also the CSR, and he handles payroll because he's also the owner, and yeah, it gets really tough really fast. And you have opportunity there when you're overwhelmed to hire someone else who can do these things, that's gonna add value to your business. Craig O'Neill: They'll be able to help cultivate these lists, which ke- it's more retention, guarantees you have the income and the cashflow to be able to support their livelihood, and everything gets better. But the starting point's really tough. Problem Jimmy Lea: Number four Craig O'Neill: Let's go. All right, this one's key. Mass blasts- Oh Craig O'Neill: without express written permission are against the law. True. And this is- True ... the really bonkers part of this is shops are loosely aware of this and yet they do it anyway. I forget what the fine is right now, and I'm not a lawyer. I'm not giving legal advice. Just disclaimer on that if you can put it in bold. Craig O'Neill: Yeah, no. But I think it's a $1,500 fine per offense, and if somebody knows that they did not expressly give you permission to text them very specifically- Jimmy Lea: Yep ... Craig O'Neill: text is what we're talking about here. Yep ... that's something they could sue you for and win every time. Notice a lot of the largest organizations out there with multiple locations do not engage in this method of follow-up Jimmy Lea: Because- They Craig O'Neill: know the targets Jimmy Lea: they've lost multiple court cases. Jiffy Lube is one that comes to mind. You can Google it. Court cases where Jiffy Lube had to pay out multimillion dollars because of their mass texting clients. A- and- and what's makes it worse is that they were mass texting clients who had opted out. Craig O'Neill: Oh. Oh, no. Craig O'Neill: So they had a blacklist failure- Yeah ... which is even another thing. So yeah, this is where, okay, you videcoders out there, I know you're out there, and I know you're even playing with APIs from groups like Twilio. And you might think "Cool, we can do texting real easy." Guess what? Start managing your blacklist because Twilio sometimes doesn't do it properly for you. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. And the carrier sometimes doesn't do it properly, and it is still you on the hook every time. And if you're giving your software platform to other people to use, your platform, unless it has clear terms and conditions, could also fall under some scrutiny. Oh, boy. It gets sticky. Investigate that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. It does. It really is. So there's a difference between mass sending a marketing message versus pinpointing and being very specific. Craig O'Neill: Oh, I'm glad you bring this up, Jimmy. Yeah we have a slide on this. So CRM permissions are not actually the same across the board in multiple channels. So the- you probably use terms like transactional versus promotional, Jimmy, I'm sure. Craig O'Neill: But industry terms do vary from- from some- And our industry itself is not usually good at taking universal language- ... Craig O'Neill: And carrying it forward. But these three categories of- of text messages, I put this out. This is I don't have the source on here, but I pulled this source from online. Craig O'Neill: Conversational, informational, promotional. I wanna draw your attention to that blue arrow on the screen. It's kind of a bluish-green arrow, Jimmy. It's on that- Yep ... one, two, three, third row down, where it's talking about how that- that message is constructed. Messages promoting a brand, a product, or a service Or anything that prompts a consumer to buy something, go somewhere, or otherwise take an action. Craig O'Neill: That, if it's in that category, requires express written consent to be legal. Express written consent. Consumers may sign a form, check a box online, or otherwise provide consent to receive promotional text message in some fashion. That express written consent is the highest form of consent, and I haven't met an organization that's tracking it yet. Jimmy Lea: And through the TCPA- Yeah ... which is the act that governs over texting and how you can communicate, it used to be that you had to have a wet signature for that promotional message to go out, and you had to retain it for seven years even after you stopped your business. You still had to have it on file. Jimmy Lea: It's now changed. You can track it digitally. Yes. But you have to be able to provide the source, the date, the time, where it consent was given- Craig O'Neill: Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: for you to send promotional messages. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: conversational, reminders, informational. Now and it's interesting you've got informational broke out here that you do need consent Craig O'Neill: Express consent, which is different than express written consent, and this was interesting to me when I started studying this too, and these things are pretty stable. Craig O'Neill: I don't see this element changing a lot. Yeah. But permission can happen over text on that, or on a form or a website, or verbally, and that's an interesting one. And that's just a message that contains information, just information. It's a status update, it's an appointment confirmation or a reminder. Craig O'Neill: Those types of things are information text, and that's handled- Yeah ... very differently than a promotional marketing text that's asking them to take an action. It tips towards promotional anytime you're asking them to click a link to schedule an appointment, for example, on your slow day blast type of scenario. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. That is a promotional text purely. Even if it's a deferred service reminder. Think about those deferred service drips that people have active in just about every CRM system in the world. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: That is asking the consumer to take an action, and this is exactly the type of thing I will be combating in, in, in our session at Mars 'cause we have a better way forward. Craig O'Neill: We can start talking a little bit about that here too. But those deferred work little drips are... Like, it's a strange thing to do. It's the thing your customer said no to during your visit that we're now assuming they want to receive an, a reminder about without any knowledge that this is coming, and certainly no express written consent. Craig O'Neill: And all of the burden is fully on them to take the action to make something happen about that still deferred work. Yeah. We aren't doing anything. We, in fact, automated the whole thing. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. So what's- Craig O'Neill: It's a passive reminder, as we discussed earlier, right? Jimmy Lea: What's the better way? Are we gonna discuss that here, or are you waiting for Mars? Craig O'Neill: Oh, we can ta- we can talk on it here. So our better way is, it depends on our sense of purpose here, but I think let's go to barrier number five before we talk about that better way, 'cause I think this plays into the whole topic that we're discussing. And this is really the largest barrier, and it is the, the one that I think needs to be overcome before you fix any of the other ones. Craig O'Neill: We don't have our whole organization truly oriented towards retention as a goal What are we oriented towards then? Is the question I like to ask. And if you really stop and you really think about what your organization is structured to achieve, what is it? And it might be what you consider your most important metric might give you a clue. Craig O'Neill: I think it's an interesting question to ask, Jimmy. I do this a lot in different courses. I ask what's the most important metric for a service advisor or for a technician or for this or that?" I like to ask specifically for our front counter staff, whether it be a CSR, a reservationist, a service advisor, whoever we have working our front counter. Craig O'Neill: What is their most important metric? And you get all kinds of answers. You've probably heard every one of them, Jimmy. Closing rate. Those service advisors are like, "I sell 98.92% of all work I ever write up." Terrible stat, by the way, 'cause that's the work you write up. You can artificially inflate your closing rate on sales by writing up what you know will sell. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. But I th- I'm gonna give you my answer. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Craig O'Neill: Your ratio of returning customers Jimmy Lea: Agreed Craig O'Neill: It's your most important statistic Jimmy Lea: If they're not coming back, you're doing something wrong Craig O'Neill: Correct. Yeah, I don't care what your ARO is really. It's an interesting stat to know. You'll establish baselines for all sorts of KPIs. Craig O'Neill: They tell you useful information. But is our goal to sell all of the stuff we find on every visit? And is our team like, "Is that's what's gonna impress the boss? That's what's gonna make him very happy"? Jimmy Lea: No, returning customers. Totally agree. Craig O'Neill: Yeah, because what's the value of one good visit, right? Yeah. Craig O'Neill: What's the value of one visit versus the lifetime value of a client? Jimmy Lea: Yes. The lifetime value has so much more weight to it. Neck and neck. Tens of thousands of dollars versus- Craig O'Neill: Hundreds. Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: hundreds that, for that one visit. Craig O'Neill: Some, yeah. Yeah. And o- I had family accounts, family accounts- Yeah ... literally in the hundreds of thousands with, For Jimmy Lea: the lifetime value? Craig O'Neill: Lifetime value of that particular individual. He had a lot of vehicles in the family. Jimmy Lea: And, What's the family fleet? Craig O'Neill: It's the family fleet ... it's a family fleet. It's Jimmy Lea: a Craig O'Neill: fleet Jimmy Lea: account. Craig O'Neill: Yep. Yep, but even when the kids grew up, they were still coming in as well, too, and that, the lifetime value of the relationships that turn into more things, like, man, if that's true, though, and we do this. Craig O'Neill: Jimmy, we pay lip service to this all the time in our industry. It's a relationship-based business. It is. And then we go and we emphasize we gotta sell this much, and this is our target for sales, and all this other thing, and it's and how much time really are we putting our human attention on our team's human attention in this frenetic age on retention strategy? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. How involved are they in your team right now towards the goal of getting people back in the door from the beginning of that visit to the end of that visit, and what happens in between, the humans involved? And Jimmy, you've been in this industry. It... Most shops, I hear they say, "Hey, my guys aren't gonna use this. Craig O'Neill: I just need this to be automated." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. We'll try and make it sound as personal as possible in that automation, but Craig O'Neill: Yeah, we use those cool little variables. Your service advisor gets filled in with the service advisor's name, all the automated message, and automation has merit. It does. We create, through automation, consistent repeatability of things that we want to have occur That's good, right? Craig O'Neill: It is. Jimmy Lea: Make it personable, and make sure you're responding. Craig O'Neill: And make sure you had a hand in that, and make sure you are responding. Correct. The service advisors know these are going out, they know when it's going out, and they're maybe involved in scanning to see who replied and who didn't, or maybe that's somebody's job in the shop. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. And we'll talk about this at Mars a little further. I believe it is somebody's job in the shop. We call... I call it the reservationist. A lot of people have a CSR. Yes ... it's a fun topic because... And it goes deep, and we have podcasts on that too. But dude, it's an orientation thing. It's if it's important to you, you're gonna do something about it. Craig O'Neill: If it's not important to you, you won't do anything about it, and that's the measure that, yeah, like, all right. So I just kinda threw a C.S. Lewis mindset at you. There's like this is one of the things I love about reading some of these, these thinkers, right? It's and of course, he's Christian apologetics and that sort of thing, but he said... Craig O'Neill: i'm breaking it down to just a simple point, like something is important or it's not important at all. Craig O'Neill: That middle ground in this topic, I think this is true, that middle ground's not given to us, which forces us to either have to decide, "Eh, it's really not important and we can continue as we are because we're okay with the results," or, "No, this is a really important topic. Craig O'Neill: Our strategy for getting clients into the shop is of actually critical importance to the ultimate success of our business, and is the most important thing that we should be focusing on to guarantee our success. So we're gonna really put in all of our effort towards this goal instead of just reacting to the chaos, reacting to the things that made it in today." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: Wow. What would happen to your business with that focus? Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah. Man. We wanna exponentially increase it. We wanna rocket fuel this. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And I wonder what the statistics are. There, there was a, a, a read a while ago that talked about restaurant industry was tracking this. How can they get a client to come back for the second dining experience- Yeah Jimmy Lea: and the third dining experience, and the fourth dining experience? And once they get 'em in for that fourth dining experience, they've got a client for life. Craig O'Neill: True. Yeah. I actually just had a interesting restaurant follow-up. I'm on the email list for one of the sushi joints here in Grand Rapids. I love sushi. Craig O'Neill: Love this place. We go Maru Sushi on Cherry Street. Fantastic. Next time you're in Grand Rapids, wonderful. Love going there with my wife. It's our go-to spot. We had a couple months of a dry spell there where we didn't make it in, and we were busy with art shows and all sorts of stuff. Sure. And I got an email that must have been triggered. Craig O'Neill: It's like their little lost customer reminder. It's like- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... " Craig O'Neill: It's been a while. Here's a free app- appetizer" Okay ... for next, on, on your next visit." It was an interesting follow-up. I thought it was really good. Oh yeah, it has been a while. Man, I want sushi right now, is what I experienced with that. Craig O'Neill: And then, and there's a benefit for me right there in it, and I already wanna go there anyways. It's just been a while. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: It's a great way of getting you back in. I, there, there was the example That the manager would go around and say, "Oh, is this your first time?" They had different colored napkins, so he knew- The servers ask us, they're the new ones that don't recognize us. Jimmy Lea: They ask, "Have you guys been in before?" It's like, "Oh, yeah." Yeah. All right. "You can hold on to the menu. N- unless you need it to show us that you haven't taken the order yet," right? Yeah. Yeah. The the managers are going around and they're giving away, "Hey, on your second visit, make sure you try the cheesecake, and here's a coupon for a free cheesecake." Jimmy Lea: You get me back for a $100 meal for a free cheesecake, is it worth it? Craig O'Neill: Totally. Jimmy Lea: What's that cheesecake cost you? Craig O'Neill: Cheapest marketing. All right. So look- Cheesecake more cost ... how much Jimmy Lea: money Craig O'Neill: do you spend on other marketing efforts for what kind of results? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And we've got to do the optimizing everywhere. Jimmy Lea: We've got to optimize ourself in all the locations. There's, which is true. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: But also how effective, and it's extremely, ex- extremely effective when they're there at your shop enjoying the experience, you give them a reason to come back. Craig O'Neill: Yes. And I like what you said there, Jimmy, and I think that's worth drawing some out a little further. Craig O'Neill: What you described is what I we have an improv club in our Toastmasters club, so the we play a lot of improv games, and we've been taught the yes and- Yes and ... approach. Yes and. Yes and. It is, it's, so it's a rule in improv where one of the people in your troupe are make something, that's truth now. Craig O'Neill: You react with that. It's not, you can't go combat this thing. It's not this or this. It's these things now have to be recognized as, as connected. The reality of Jimmy Lea: what you create. Combining forces for something good. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So you said- Using that idea ... all networks, all channels, and this is exactly it. Craig O'Neill: This conversation that we're having doesn't say "Oh, yeah, we just master this and we won't need to spend as much money in this other area." That's not necessarily the case. Now, although maybe you have have some restructuring of that, it's you do refine your strategy on how your team is engaging retention, and you continue your outreach efforts, and maybe restructure how your phone call skills and other things go into all the m- effort you did take towards generating leads actually gets converted into real clients that come back again. Jimmy Lea: Oh, yeah. W- I was talking to a shop the other day, "My marketing's not working. My marketing's not working. I need to redo all my marketing." Got digging into his phone call log, discovered 43% of phone calls were- Ooh ... not being answered. No. 43%. Craig O'Neill: This is the world th- that AI assistants are entering. Craig O'Neill: And Jimmy- Yes ... this is this is the deepest, saddest thing in the world for me. AI assistants are one, a thing that is i- in demand and two, that it's sometimes better than the Jimmy Lea: people. If you're not able to answer the phone, you need to figure out either you need a human that's there answering the phone, or you implement this AI answering system- Oh, man Jimmy Lea: that's tied to your point of sale that sees your schedule, that can schedule- Better Craig O'Neill: at containing the context and keeping the notes and everything else ... four different... Jimmy Lea: Absolutely. Craig O'Neill: Yeah, I know. Jimmy Lea: And it's true. If- I do not support the idea that the AI answering your system is going to replace your advisor. Jimmy Lea: Absolutely not. Yeah. Craig O'Neill: No. Jimmy Lea: You do need to answer the phone as quickly as you humanly possibly can, but if you're not able to, that's where you've got this backup that can take care of business. And it's an interesting thing. Craig O'Neill: And this backup Jimmy Lea: is just that. Yeah. It needs to be backup, not plan A. Craig O'Neill: Oh, not plan A. Craig O'Neill: And in fact, you need to be aware And we were having this conversation in our team, too 'cause our sales guys, when they're calling shops, they're hitting AI- Jimmy Lea: Yes ... Craig O'Neill: systems far more frequently than they ever used to, and it's interesting to see that volume go. But simultaneously, we understand, like, how do you feel personally when you call a business and the first thing you get is an AI? Craig O'Neill: Are you happy or a little sad about that? And in an election year right now, it has turned divisive. And we did tailor- trace this back to this really started about two weeks ago. Even in demos where we're talking about AI features- ... the data center issue is coming up. And, like, all these things are, like, top of mind, front and center. Craig O'Neill: "Oh, I can't believe you guys are engaging with AI stuff in this world right now." And it's oh, wow, hot button issue. You have an AI assistant, you probably are gonna have a 50/50 split. I'm y- I'm talking 50/50. Some people will love it and think it's fine or just tolerate it. The other 50% are going to hate it, hate you, and may never call you again. Craig O'Neill: And congratulations, now we're in 2026. Yep. Jimmy Lea: And I, I think the 50/50 might be a little, Craig O'Neill: I'm just thinking about how the elections play out- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... for two different parties. I propose there's probably a 30%, maybe a 33% that loves it, 33%- Fair ... that hates it, and 33% that's in that middle that says, "Ah." Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: I Craig O'Neill: would love to see a strong third party too, Jimmy, but that's neither here nor there. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So look at this though. We talked orientation. We don't have a whole organization structured towards retention. Now I had a great coach. Bob Greenwood was my coach. He passed away 2021. And I talk about this frequently. I echo what he taught me a long time ago, and he described our professional responsibility. Craig O'Neill: He asked the question, "What's our job? What's our job? What is your job?" I remember being the technician in the room that raised my hand, and I told him what he was expecting someone in the room to raise their hand and say. Jimmy Lea: Fix cars. " Craig O'Neill: I fix cars." Yep. He pounced. He was ready. This is what he did. I've seen him do it multiple conversations after that. Craig O'Neill: He said, "No. Your job, your professional responsibility, is to make sure the vehicle's safe, reliable, and efficient. That's the job. And that, Mr. Client, is why we do a multi-point inspection on every vehicle that we do, and we will send this digitally to you, and we won't let you down." And there's lots more that goes into that, but there's a whole underlaying sense of purpose about the service that we provided. Craig O'Neill: And if that is our job, to make sure the vehicle's safe, reliable, and efficient, we owe it to our customers to be participants in that- Yeah ... as a member of the community of which they are also driving in. It has direct benefits to us and the other people we love on the streets. But that's an orientation, right? Craig O'Neill: And if that is what you believe about your purpose in this industry- Amen ... yeah, we're gonna start following up with the strong ability to communicate that sense of purpose, and people will hear the conviction in there and that commitment that you made to not letting them down. And that is not going to be heard in your competitors. Craig O'Neill: If you master this, and you don't, you will stand out, I promise you. Jimmy Lea: It's true. It's true. Yeah. Craig, this is a, a phenomenal conversation that we're having, talking about all things marketing, customers, customer relationships. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Managing those relationships, communicating in their preferred method, form, and fashion. Jimmy Lea: This is gonna continue in our Mars Conference. I can't wait. Let's throw up that QR code again. If you are able to attend, and you are listening to this, today is... What day is today? Craig O'Neill: Today is the 9th. Jimmy Lea: September 9th It's called Wednesday. September 9th, intensive giveaway winners. Oh, don't forget the giveaway winners here, Craig. Jimmy Lea: We've- Oh ... le- but- Great Do you wanna announce the winners first, or do you wanna announce the the special giveaway for everybody listening? Craig O'Neill: Let's do the winners first, Jimmy. I'm excited. So we had a drawing as we had two tickets to give away to Mars, and we have two winners, and we'll be sending emails to these winners as well. Craig O'Neill: Winner number one, Preston Callahan. Winner number two, Jordan Jawarenko. And we will get those emails out to you and hope to see you in Utah. And yeah bring your hiking shoes if you wanna go up in the hills with me. I definitely encourage getting up in the hills. So- Jimmy Lea: Are you gonna be rucking? Craig O'Neill: Oh, see, when I'm in the hills I don't just bring useless weight, I bring actual hiking gear, so I just call it hiking when I'm actually in a mountain. Jimmy Lea: When you're in Utah, you go hiking. Yeah. Everywhere else it's Craig O'Neill: rucking. Yeah. Rucking is what I would call urban hiking. Jimmy Lea: It's for you flatlanders. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Yeah. So no, I will definitely be ha- I have a pack, I have I put water in there for weight and snacks that I can eat, and the, the idea is you get it lighter as you go with that sort of stuff, but- Oh ... it's absolutely beautiful. So these- Yeah ... are the winners from the Autoflow drawing that we'd had. Craig O'Neill: Those of you who did not win on that drawing, we'll still email you and hope to see you in Utah. Take advantage of this promotion. I think it's gonna be a great conversation. I've done this intensive multiple times. Jimmy, I gotta give you guys some props on this because this is my favorite format literally in all events that I go to. Craig O'Neill: You're in one room together at your headquarters in Ogden, Utah- Yeah ... which is a cool town. Everyone hears the same presenter. We get everyone here asking those same questions, and then- Yep ... the next presenter's gonna be up, and then we do that. We have great food in between, and then there's breakout sessions afterward where we get to go and break out into groups and discuss everything that's done. Craig O'Neill: No one's missing any of the context from any of the presentations. It's not like you're in one session and then another session is going on and "Man, that would've been a cool talk too, but this is really good." You don't have any fear of missing out on anything that's happening. Everybody's a participant the whole way. Craig O'Neill: It's awesome. Jimmy Lea: Oh, and I love the, the vendors are included. Everyone is in the same- Yeah ... room, and we're having these conversations together. It's not just shop owner to shop owner point of view. We get everybody's point of view in on these conversations- Yeah ... which is super awesome. All right. So if you scan this QR code, grab out your smartphone, scan this QR code, this is a coupon. Jimmy Lea: It is on- coupon, oh, I hate calling it that. Yeah. This is a special member VIP. Because you are watching this webinar, this is a cu- the, this code is good until 12:00 AM tomorrow morning, Pacific Daylight Time The code is, and I have to switch over to my other computer, the code is Mars300. This is $300 off of the general admission pricing. Jimmy Lea: So you and a- anybody of the public that is out there, you will get the webinar, the the whole entire intensive, Mars Intensive at the institute member pricing. So use the code Mars, M-A-R-S 300, and that is good until, for in the next, what? 12 hours? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Where are we? 10, 12- And after Jimmy Lea: you fill that out- Oh, 13 hours. Jimmy Lea: You got 13 hours. Ready, set, go. Go ahead ... after Craig O'Neill: you fill that out, email us and I will tell you my favorite two sushi joints in Ogden, Utah, and maybe we can even grab a bite there. Jimmy Lea: Ooh, that's great. And you know what? We do have a couple of more tickets available. There's not a lot, but there are a few more tickets available for that exclusive dinner with Cecil Bullard. Craig O'Neill: Nice. Jimmy Lea: We're gonna have some great conversations. Those that are speakers are invited to be able to be part of this conversation and it's an exclusive dinner with Cecil, so you're gonna have some really good, intense, great conversations with the speakers of the event, with Cecil being there. These are gonna be some really good focused conversations. Jimmy Lea: Those Craig O'Neill: are my favorite moments, Jimmy. Yeah, the event is one thing, but the conversations that happen throughout and at dinners these... If you're not frequently going to industry events like this is... You owe it to yourself to do this. The ideas that you get to go back with are phenomenal, and the connections that you make and the sense of community that you feel that, that's permanent Jimmy Lea: Agreed. Jimmy Lea: Agreed. Couldn't have said it better. Thank you, Craig. Oh, yeah. Congratulations to Preston. Congratulations to Jordan. Look forward to seeing you in Ogden, Utah, October 26th, 27th and 28th, right before SEMA Apex. And for those who are the adventurous types rent a car. Let's go drive down through Zion and Bryce Canyon and- Yes Jimmy Lea: I'm sure Craig Craig O'Neill: and- Zion. If you haven't been to Zion National Park, what is that place? It is beautiful. It is. Southern Utah, phenomenal, dude. I could go... We have another hour here, so we can just talk about Southern Utah. Man, dude- ... you guys have got the pocket of beauty in this world. It is phenomenal. Craig O'Neill: Like- Jimmy Lea: It's gorgeous. Yeah. It is gorgeous. Craig O'Neill: Absolutely. You will... And Salt Lake City's no joke either. You fly in there, you're gonna think, "This is amazing," and it is. And then you go to Southern Utah and you think "What is... It gets better?" Jimmy Lea: Yep. Yep. Glad you had a great experience with your family down there in Southern Utah. Craig O'Neill: Dude, my wife and I are flying out a little early. We're staying through the weekend before the Mars Intensive we're gonna be hiking some hills then too. It's hard to get the bigger hikes in between the event stuff. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Craig O'Neill: It gets dark- Yes, it is ... it gets hard on the mountain. Jimmy Lea: It does. It does. Jimmy Lea: Even with that, it's not quite enough. I got you. With that, thank you, Craig. I appreciate you being here, brother. Oh, thanks. Thank you so much. Look forward to Mars- Can't wait ... the Mars Intensive. Let's continue this conversation. Let's get in deeper with these conversations and have a great time. I will see you there. Jimmy Lea: Thank you, everybody. See Craig O'Neill: you soon.

Autoshop Ministries Episode 9- Ask With Vision: What Do You Really Want from God?
Joe Adams and Pastor Devonte Tidwell unpack the story from Mark 10 to show why being specific about what you ask for matters in prayer, leadership, and business. They contrast clear, faith-filled requests with vague desires and explain how vision shapes outcomes. The episode offers practical takeaways: sharpen your language, examine motives behind requests, trust God’s timing, and seek the deeper need (sight) rather than temporary status (a seat).

Shop Owners: Maybe YOU'RE the Problem | Tristin Sweeney - 38
Rick White was my VERY FIRST business coach, and trust me when I say he helped me get my shop-owner life together! 😂 Now I’m proud to have 180Biz presenting Downshift, so head to 180Biz.com and book your FREE strategy session with Rick because, honey, you don’t know what you don’t know!Y’all, if you missed the first Tektonic, you missed a GOOD one, but you've got another chance! 😂 Tekmetric is going even BIGGER in Houston, Texas, April 1–3, 2027, so head to Tekmetric.com/Tektonic and get registered because you're NOT missing out twice!Consistency is key - heard that! But, consistency is HARD. That's why I gave up on trying and let the experts handle it. Detect Auto. Let them clean up your estimating process and raise your ARO - like they did for me! CLICK HERE TO BOOK A DEMOAt 29 years old, Tristin Sweeney is running an auto repair shop, building automotive technology, and questioning some of the industry's favorite excuses. In this episode, Tonnika Haynes talks with Tristin about his unconventional path from the startup world into automotive, acquiring Honest Automotive, building Shift, and why owning a shop became the ultimate testing ground for solving real industry problems. But things get spicy when they tackle the supposed technician shortage, outdated hiring practices, shop owners blaming younger generations, and why good employees may be leaving shops that refuse to change. They also dig into AI, technician training, communication, leadership, burnout, and why new technology should solve problems instead of creating more work. If you're a shop owner who keeps saying, “Nobody wants to work anymore,” this conversation might make you look in the mirror.Timestamps:00:00 Why automotive has become unattractive to work in00:23 Downshift intro00:42 Meet Tristin Sweeney: 29, busy, and obsessed with automotive01:23 Audi, Volkswagens, and where the car obsession started03:15 Can you be a great service advisor without knowing cars?04:40 There are more automotive careers than turning wrenches06:26 From tech startups to the automotive industry07:17 Getting laid off, joining ShopGenie, and finding his industry09:17 Running TWO automotive businesses at 2910:11 How Tristin bought Honest Automotive after finding it on Facebook14:01 Has shop ownership given him gray hair yet?14:32 Building a shop around passion and customer experience16:21 Honest Automotive is also Tristin’s “laboratory”16:48 How Shift Automotive was born18:19 Building software from the problems that drive shop owners crazy19:10 Technology problem or people problem?20:17 How does someone working 60–70 hours a week avoid burnout?22:55 Success isn’t worth burning yourself out by 3023:19 Tonnika gets VERY personal about Tristin having kids 😂25:32 Why Tristin is committed to automotive for the long haul28:53 Shift grows to more than 150 shops30:02 Why simply SHOWING UP can change your career31:21 The “Gen Z stare” and learning how to communicate33:34 Get in rooms where you’re uncomfortable37:04 What will automotive look like 10 years from now?41:11 Shop owners who ignore AI WILL get left behind42:43 How should shops prepare technicians for new technology?43:27 Does every tech need to understand the newest cars right now?45:48 Why the next generation matters more than ever47:58 What does a technician actually need to “look like”?48:48 Is the technician shortage actually a hiring problem?49:48 How many great technicians are shops overlooking?50:48 “I hire people. I don’t hire jobs.”52:00 Why automotive can be an unattractive place to work54:18 Great shops generally aren’t struggling to find applicants54:51 The talent is out there—and some of them want to leave their current shop55:55 If recruiters can steal your technicians, that’s a YOU problem56:04 Most shop problems start with the owner57:30 Accepting criticism from your employees—even your own son58:03 Old-school leadership vs. the way Tonnika leads today59:33 The macaroni-and-cheese recipe for evolving a family business1:01:47 Is treating every employee differently “coddling”?1:03:50 Why one universal pay plan doesn’t work for everyone1:04:39 Flexible schedules, flat rate, salary, and what actually motivates people1:07:08 Shop owners who refuse to compromise may lose great technicians1:07:56 Bad bosses create the next generation of bad bosses1:08:21 Why leadership and communication have to be learned1:13:00 Stop micromanaging every detail of your shop1:14:22 “Granddad did it that way” isn’t a good enough reason anymore1:15:28 The Carfax data debate gets spicy 😂1:16:24 What Carfax actually gets from your shop1:17:47 Tonnika’s grandfather discovers OnStar and thinks “they’re coming for him”1:19:03 Technology fear usually comes from misunderstanding1:19:45 Tristin’s legacy: Leave automotive better than he found it1:20:00 Where to find Honest Automotive and Shift Automotive1:21:22 Closing, AI hot takes, and what’s next

Why Young Technicians Keep Failing | Riley Spence - Ep 36
Rick White was my VERY FIRST business coach, and trust me when I say he helped me get my shop-owner life together! 😂 Now I’m proud to have 180Biz presenting Downshift, so head to 180Biz.com and book your FREE strategy session with Rick because, honey, you don’t know what you don’t know!Y’all, if you missed the first Tektonic, you missed a GOOD one, but you've got another chance! 😂 Tekmetric is going even BIGGER in Houston, Texas, April 1–3, 2027, so head to Tekmetric.com/Tektonic and get registered because you're NOT missing out twice!Anybody can run a shop. Building one that lasts? That's a whole different story. If you're ready to build smarter systems and a better experience for your team and customers, check out Tekmetric HERE00:00 Meet Riley Spence and the dangers of reading internet comments03:12 Starting in the automotive industry at 14 years old04:54 Learning from mistakes, trouble, and a different career path06:06 Moving from turning wrenches into service and parts management07:36 Being promoted without training, procedures, or support08:21 Are service advisors really doing the easier job?09:52 How technician roles differ between dealerships, independents, and fleets12:31 Front and back must work together—not against each other14:35 Ego, arguments, and the shop cultures nobody wants17:23 Why Riley loves his current shop and the people around him18:34 Not every mentor is right for every apprentice19:02 Riley admits how ego hurt him as a young technician20:11 What Tonnika tells young employees who ask for help but won’t listen22:20 Making mistakes, slowing down, and learning without giving up24:20 What happens when a technician oversells their abilities25:51 Tonnika’s “green banana” scale for inexperienced technicians26:54 Do experienced technicians actually want to teach the next generation?28:30 The most important lesson for apprentices: shut up and listen30:00 Could an experienced technician learn from a 20-year-old apprentice?33:00 How younger employees can make an entire shop better35:18 Accountability, respect, and preparing young people for the workforce37:42 Mental health is real—but it cannot erase accountability41:04 Work-life balance and creating a safe place for technicians to talk44:10 Riley shares a costly mistake involving a car with no brake pedal47:52 The high-school dropout who became a talented technician50:35 Finding potential in unexpected employees51:24 How shops can make automotive careers more attractive53:01 Tool allowances and helping young technicians build a toolbox54:45 Why shops need to invest in training55:20 Technicians don’t have to wait for their employer to educate them58:40 Don’t let a bad shop stop your career growth01:03:00 Why support at home matters in a demanding automotive career01:05:11 Parenting your own children is not “babysitting”01:07:33 From “Brown’s daughter” to “Tonnika’s dad”01:08:09 Making a difference in employees’ lives01:10:36 What legacy really means inside and outside the shop01:12:52 Why shop owners need honest feedback from their employees01:21:11 Jordan’s roadside repair and a helpful stranger01:22:11 Banana pudding, Southern culture, and automotive friendships01:23:47 The automotive leaders Riley admires01:26:32 Why conversations and community are changing the industry01:27:00 Why Tonnika finally started a podcast01:27:29 Showing young people that automotive can be a great career01:29:24 Riley’s responsibility to the next generation01:29:42 Dirty hands, clean money