Episode 282 - AI, Recruiting, Shop Culture, and the Drive for Better Hires with Promotive

0:00For years, the automotive industry has been plagued with the perception of shady business practices, greedy owners, and incompetent technicians. It's time we flip the script. Good clap, David. I'm very proud of you. I don't know if you know this, but this is not a standard podcast, David. We started this podcast in order to bring everyone together to have the tough conversations everyone's been avoiding.

0:31Instead of endless complaining and pointing out the problems, we seek to get everything out in the open and look for real solutions. To do that, we bring on industry experts, vendors that are changing the game, multi-million dollar shop owners, as well as those that are struggling every single day to pay the bills, and everything in between. We're not professional podcasters pretending to know how it is.

0:56We're in the trenches every single day trying to pay the bills and hopefully achieving some success. So if you're tired of overly polished scripted conversations, it's time to tune in to the Changing the Industry podcast. Lucas and I are proud to partner with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence as a means to help shops, whether they're getting off the ground, hiring their first technician, or looking to pass along their business to a new generation.

1:29So jump down to the show notes and check the link in the description, which will take you to their events page. The Institute is committed to bringing world-class training to shops all over the country, including their Leadership Intensive, their MARS Intensive, and the Service Advisor 3-Day Intensive. Some of these events take place all over the country, so jump down to the show notes, click the link, find an event near you, and experience world-class training unlike anything else you've seen.

2:03And now on to the episode. Okay, Lucas, for you. Okay, you want me to call this phone number? Yeah. All right, we're gonna make David do it. No. Yes, David's doing it. Call why? Why are we calling? Who is this person? It's a 1-900 number. What? It's me, Sam. Like, you don't know how you completely ignored my text messages? I did not completely ignore your text.

2:36I ignored your emails because they seemed automated. Well, yes, you did that as well. I didn't think it was actually you emailing me. I thought it was like one of those spam bots. Was it AI? Is it AI slop? You just tell the AI to send the email back. That's what he does. I don't talk to Lucas anymore. I talk to Lucas's AI.

2:58Well, I use AI when I want to cuss somebody out. So make it more professional. Make this more professional. Oh yes. Because a lot of times I want to— no, I don't care. David does a really good job of, without AI, making someone feel like they should probably end their own life. He's very good at it. You should have like a webinar on that.

3:19Stop. What? It was— those are still on, so we're good. It's cuz you click buttons. I didn't click anything, I promise. You clearly have clicked buttons. I've never seen— cuz I'm pretty sure that thing— it's cuz it'll be on camera. See, kicks it out. Oh, see, I mean, why is it kicking? Cuz it's full. That's what she said. Yeah, no, I'm about to cut that out.

3:42That's gross. Why are you putting that in the podcast? I didn't say any— I didn't say what she was talking about. Who was talking about what? Why are you so— why are you so uptight? What's that? If you're gonna make it like spicy, at least make it interesting. I just said, bro, I just had to sit through an entire episode with Mike Allen.

4:03That's your fault. You shouldn't have signed up for that. Oh, I did get to talk to him about his brother. That was great. Introduce our guests. Guests, introduce yourselves. Not the one without the mic. That one can't talk. Sam, ask your guests to introduce themselves. Introduce yourself. Alex. I'm Alex from Promotive. What do you do, Alex? I'm a recruiter at Promotive. I'm Danny.

4:31I work with the promoter. I'm the recruiting team lead. Nice. And Sam is the boss. Yeah, right. Who is Sam? I don't know who Sam is. I've not figured it out yet. Who is Sam? Sam. This is going to cost me a fortune. I'll never financially recover from this. Lisa's going to— Don't offer help twice. I know, right? I'm not often without a mic.

4:57So this is weird. Yeah, well, I know, I know, I know. I'm sure that it can hear you. Do you think so? People outside. Yeah, yeah, it'll be, uh, it'll be a little— no, it shouldn't be echoey. Yeah, it might be. We're in a small room. It might be a little muffled, but it'll like, whenever you speak, it'll amplify. So all of a sudden you're— and then you'll start talking.

5:20All right, well, I will introduce myself. I am Sam Freeman. I'm with Promotive, and I am the partner manager. Partner manager. What does that mean? I manage the partners. Who are the partners? So I manage the partnerships. So currently right now we have partnerships with podcasts that we sponsor. So we have sponsored The Jada Mechanic. I mean, do we sponsor you guys?

5:44No, because Lisa's just like that. And then we also have partnerships with the coaching programs out there. We have partnerships with— what else? That's your job. Yeah. Isn't this your entire department? Well, I just took this part over. Okay. Okay. Okay. It's my first day here. You know, I used to manage a lot of other partnerships, so now I'm taking over and figuring out what we got going on.

6:14Yeah. I think we're all still wondering what you've got going on. I wonder it all the time. Yeah. Yeah. But we are doing some awesome things though. So for sure. We're launching a partnership with Worldpack. Oh, really? Launching our AI recruiter, which is pretty legit. Yeah. Yeah, I hear that. David's getting ready to call her. Yeah. What'd you say her name was?

6:35Paige. Oh, there's a little saying that goes behind it. Paige is hot. Come on. I didn't know that was the saying. I just tell everybody that she's hot because she is hot. No, it actually is the saying. Paige is hot. Did you design her to be flirty or something? No, but she just sounds like a hot chick. Yeah, yeah, she sounds hot.

6:56She sounds hot. We also have a cardboard cutout of her, so also AI generated. Yes, I guess so. Interesting. Okay, notice your name is spelled P-A-I-G. No, okay, that was not intentional, but it worked out. Yeah, yeah, that did work out. You shouldn't say it's not intentional. It's like, oh yeah, we planned all this out. Okay, let me redo that. It was absolutely intentional.

7:23Let's call Paige and see what she sounds like. Let's call Paige. Let's see. David's got to talk to her there because— How's this going to work? You're going to make quite the mess. Hi. Hello. Thanks for calling Promotive. This is Paige. I'm Promotive's virtual recruiter. I'm here to learn more about you, your background, and your interest in automotive positions. Would you like to learn more about Promotive before we continue with the introductory interview?

7:50Yes. Okay, great. Let me give you a quick overview of Promotive. Promotive is an automotive recruitment company that partners with automotive repair shops across the country to help them find the right people for their teams. But we're not just about filling jobs. We're about creating strong, long-term matches. Shopware is the modern cloud-based shop management system that keeps your repair shop organized, profitable, and calm, even when you're slammed with work and the phones won't stop ringing.

8:16With built-in DVIs, real-time customer communication, and seamless parts ordering directly from your approved estimate, your team spends less time chasing paperwork and more time turning bays. Shopware also gives you powerful reporting and analytics, showing you exactly where your shop is winning and where to improve. So every technician hour and every part sold counts. Now here's a special offer just for our listeners.

8:39For a limited time, you can get your first month of Shopware free, plus a complimentary onboarding session. When you sign up using the link in the show notes or mentioning this podcast. So quit procrastinating. Listen, it's free. There's no risk to you. And get Shopware today, making this summer your most profitable summer yet. Whether you're a seasoned technician, a service advisor, or just starting out in the industry, our goal is to connect you with opportunities that fit your skills, experience, and career goals.

9:11We also provide support during the hiring process. Oh, she heard you. Oh, you got it. Including honing your resume, scheduling interviews, and negotiating pay and benefits so you're set up for success. With all that being said, you talk a lot, Paige. I hear you. I just want to make sure you have all the info you need. Let's keep it simple from here.

9:32Ready to dive into a few quick questions? Are you going to dumb this down for me? Absolutely. I'll keep it straightforward and easy. Let's start with something simple. Can you please provide your first and last name? At this point, I feel like you're calling me stupid. Not at all. I'm here to make this as smooth and easy as possible for you. Let's take it step by step.

9:54How can I best help you today? I want a paycheck. Got it. Let's work on finding the right opportunity for you. Can you tell me your first and last name so we can get started? Before that, I want to work at L&N Auto Repair in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. If you can't get me hired there, I don't know if I want to talk to you.

10:16I understand. While I can't guarantee a specific shop like L&N Auto Repair, I can help match you with opportunities in your area, including shops that align with your skills and goals. What if I tell you I will give the owner back rubs? That's certainly a unique offer. Let's focus on your skills and experience to Make sure we find the best fit for you.

10:37Can we start with your name so I can help you move forward? I'll give you whatever name you need to give me if you can get me hired there. Oh my God, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Let's start with your real first and last name so we can build your profile and get things moving in the right direction. What's your name? Lucas Backrubber.

10:59Thanks, Lucas. And what's your last name? Backrubber. Got it, Lucas. Let's keep going. Are you calling from your cell phone? Yes. Perfect. I'll save the number you're calling from. Can you also provide your email address? That's going to take a bit. I'll have to call you back. She did have an answer for everything. She did. Well, they typically do. Just so we are very clear.

11:34Majority of the people that she speaks with actually forget that she's a bot, and they actually finish the thing by answering the actual question. That doesn't seem like a David thing to do. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be 100% honest with you. Why? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Why does he scare you? Can I, can I as a shop owner request that if they are fooled by the AI bot, uh, they're immediately disqualified.

12:07So it is not being fooled by them. So the way that we structure this is we let them know this is the first step of getting the screening done, and every shop owner should want this stuff done because— well, I get that part, but I'm saying like, yeah, within the conversation they start to giggle, start asking them weird questions, kind of like Carmen, and you're like, okay, this is This is going down some weird path, uh, because apparently she sounds hot, right?

12:33That's what you guys said. So, um, uh, does she not? She sounds like a bot. So, so there is a whole genre of men who are looking for that. Yeah, some people, some people are into that. Listen, I, I understand when the robots show up. I'm, I'm there. I get it. I understand. Okay, hand his order in. No, no, no, I'm happily married.

12:54Love my wife. No, no. What kind of robot would it take, David? Like, hey, can you make her redheaded with freckles? Slightly. Yeah, definitely freckles. Slightly ragey. Snaps at me sometimes. Yeah, but I mean, like, you need to define snap because, I mean, a robot could probably like actually snap some things. I don't know. We'll let it go. Let's see what happens.

13:22But yes, we could make that some level of— hey, if they actually get fooled by this completely. I think she already rates it weird if they do get fooled by it. Really? But that's hilarious. The point of it is for them to be able to get through the questionnaire. This guy sounded like a moron. So cool. I mean, I would be curious what she said.

13:41You're hard to work with. No, will not answer questions. Yeah. Probably would. That would be funny. Turns out that I'm gonna get a resume in my inbox here in the next couple hours. Here's the thing though, is 2 weeks ago, because I turned off a couple of jobs, we're gonna be out. But 2 weeks ago, she completed 369 screenings in a week.

14:02What? So they are actually utilizing this, and the reports that we are providing to our clients for the candidate screening, they're actually very detailed. Yeah, they're detailed and they're consistent. And she could do the interviews like on the weekends when we're not working or at 3 o'clock in the morning when people are pissed off at the, you know, that'll also be a disqualifier for me.

14:22Person called in at 3 AM, they have a meth problem. Like on holidays and things like that. Like, well, anytime where we're not working. The other value, kind of what she'd be able to do, is the scalability piece of it. So how many prescreens can you do in a day? A day? Yeah, I mean, it depends on who answers the phone, but I would say up to like 10.

14:43She can do 50 at a time. Yeah, that's— I mean, she can do— there's unlimited how many she can. That's pretty cool. So like off of that too, like, right, I mean, you— we have candidates from all walks, right? People who worked at McDonald's. Yeah, they can wrench. Or you have, right, yeah, world-class master techs. And so if she's going through getting all those, when we get in in the morning, we can go through and be like, okay, we know what we have because we've answered 99% of the questions already.

15:08And so we're like, okay, I know I need to call this guy first, this guy second, maybe not this guy. Yeah. And because the way that we have it structured is when somebody— and this is the inbound component of it— so when somebody applies to a job that we have posted, we automatically are texting them saying, okay, thank you for applying. The first step is to complete a phone screen with Paige, and that is happening immediately.

15:31So when somebody applies, let's say a standard shop has run their own job ads, what else are they doing? How long is it taking for them to get in front of that candidate? Yeah, I could see that. Um, if you're— if you've got a good ad out, you're gonna get flooded with— because I will get 110 applications. And so you just start blasting through, you're like, no, no, no, no, no.

15:54But you're not really looking at— and you haven't spoken to them where you guys can go and we can call all 110 of these people and actually dig in to see. Because you'd be surprised how many people don't bother to actually fill out the application properly. They're just like, I'm just going to throw feelers out there, but it could be a great candidate.

16:13You have no idea. And so sometimes that judgment right away, because yeah, I haven't been through the whole thing, because they don't know who you are most of the time, right? Yeah. Or their resume isn't updated, so then you call them and you find out that they have 10 years more than the rest of you. And a lot of people just throw feelers out there.

16:28They just, they just want to see what's out there, and the right position comes along, they'll jump ship, and they could be the perfect person for you. Where if you don't go through that whole process— and that's why I like, yeah, when I talk to shop owners and they're trying to hire somebody, it's like, dude, you need to try to call. It's almost a second job where you're spending 4 to 8 hours in the evening after the shop's closed up where you're calling person after person or person, sitting on the phone with them doing what the AI can do in a few minutes for you.

17:02Yeah, I mean, the screen that we give over to our clients though, and this is beyond— so we have 2 aspects. We have a virtual recruiter, which is straight. They do this and we send that to you and you run with it. And then we have— we enable these guys to reach out, do sourcing, follow up, do all the lovely stuff that AI wasn't able to do or expand on it.

17:21Yeah, but what we're giving them to start with is way more than they typically get if they were interviewing them. Sure. Yeah, because it is 30 questions. It is diving deep into what their background is. And let's be real, if you like somebody, you might not cover all the damn topics you want to cover. Yeah. Yeah. If you hit it off with them, you're like, oh shit, I should have asked them that.

17:41Yeah. With her, you're getting it. You're not getting derailed. So is she, is she able to, to talk to them in other languages? I'm surprised you didn't try Spanish. We're— I think we're, we're in the process of trying to figure out a Spanish-speaking page, right? Are we gonna do Enrique. Oh my gosh. Currently right now it is English. So what happens if he tries to speak to her in Spanish?

18:04I have absolutely no idea. Oh, sorry, Dani. No, no, no, no, no. I have to know now. I have to know. No, my Spanish isn't that good. It's not. You're not going to be able to tell. We're all ethnics to you, but I'm saying. There is a story behind that. Didn't mean it like that. I did mean it like that. What if somebody is like, maybe Spanish is a second language and their Spanish or their English is not— I mean, it's proficient but not sometimes completely understandable.

18:40They don't know the right words to say. Like, what does it do in those situations? It does a pretty good job of, right, if it's not— if English isn't the first language, if, right, they're able to kind of get through it. She will get it right. Some of the answers might be a little more unique, or like, I think there, there's an unintelligible that she'll put next to it.

18:57So, okay, right, then that does fall into the human aspect as we're reviewing it, of like, you know, she'll put in a notes section up top for us of like, okay, well, they said this at one point and this at a different point. So she might say that like, you know, a little bit harder to understand, so that we know going in, you know, that It may have just been someone who— it's not even right, the language part, but someone who mumbles when they talk, right?

19:23Yeah, for sure. She'll make a note at least for us to be like, hey, this is what's going on before we call. I was talking to an attorney that's handling some stuff for us in Minnesota, and he said the scariest thing he's ever seen is that when they use AI to do a deposition now— have you heard anything about this? So they'll— the attorney will be asking questions And the attorney's got their computer set up in front of them and the laptop will pop up and say, dig in on this.

19:50And so they noticed inconsistencies in the way they spoke and they'll dig in and they'll get, they'll ask questions. It'll give them the questioning line and they'll break the deposition. They'll break them down and get answers that the attorney didn't catch, little nuances. And like, so really skilled. I'm sure you've like, in this case, he sent his assistant to the case. Or to court with us.

20:13And she was, you know, she was not nearly as well-spoken as the other attorney, who is a very, very well-spoken, nailed-down attorney. But it was just on the facts. It wasn't like something where she had to argue the case. But I'm going to tell you, like, the fact that it could be sitting there listening to any paralegal do a deposition and get those answers and like change the outcome of a case like that is insanity, right?

20:37That is But even with Paige in the screen now, so he was alluding to it, she will give like the pros and the cons or the notes for the recruiter or the hiring manager at the top where it is pulling all that information and says, you know, look out for this or said this and this might be a weakness or this is a strength.

20:55So it's, it's crazy, but it's going to take it to the next level for us. How do people get Paige's telephone number? I'm sorry. How do people get Paige's telephone number? They apply to, and that is a test one. So yeah, but we actually had to separate from our, our live platform and make a test one because we had so many people interested in trying it out and it was going into the recruiter funnel.

21:19We're like, okay, gotta pause this. Um, but I'm gonna call the live one. Oh my Jesus. And it'll be— yeah, it'll be one of us calling you back. You might want to watch the number I tell you to call back. Oh my gosh. No, it's, it's the number that you call from. Yeah, you might want to watch for that because I can spoof my number.

21:38So what it does though is, um, man, you made me lose my train of thought just now with that one. So when they apply, like Sam was saying earlier, is we send an automatic automated text out immediately as well as an email address, and we say that, hey, the first step, call our virtual recruiter. Because right, we might not— yeah, depending on what time, right?

21:58It could be 6 o'clock, could be 3 in the morning like we talked about before. So they'll get that and then they call into it. I know we use it, um, even if we're, we're working to still get a hold of certain candidates. If they don't call page, we're still sending it out of like, hey, if you get a chance, you know, it's not during normal business hours, give us a call.

22:15So we probably have it posted around our website as well on our Indeed. It's, yeah, it's typically a responsive so we can track the flow. Yeah. So it's responsive. We will eventually have an outbound agent that will be able to reach out to candidates, um, through like a phone call. Yeah. That's kind of cool. That is. It works good for us too, because if we have like a loop tech or something that had applied for like an A-level position job, that way you're not really wanting to spend a bunch of time calling them and interview them.

22:41We can just say call Paige, and then if we have something that matches up with them in the area, then we can kind of call and dig in more with it. That's a good point. Like you, you can actually kind of filter through that a little bit and get some. Yeah. How much technical expertise is in Paige? So much. 3 years of building.

22:58But I mean, who built it? Um, we were— Hey y'all, Lucas here. It's story time. Over the past 6 months to a year, I've actually been working more and more in the family business. Now, the family business is not an automotive business, it's a tourist attraction. And one of the things that was happening in that family business is we were doing all of the marketing internally, be it social media ads, be it Google, all of it.

23:18We were handling all of it, website building, the whole 9 yards. And here's the deal. It became very clear our marketing efforts were ineffective. Now we could see that we weren't getting return on investment. We could see that we weren't getting good conversions. And that's when we stepped in and hired someone. We hired a professional that knew what they were doing. And for the first time in years, our parking lot's full when it's typically empty.

23:41And that's why I'm going to recommend you pick up the phone today and call Shop Marketing Pros or click the link down in the comments below, because you shouldn't be learning how to do marketing. Your marketing machine should be working for you. Right here, right now, making sure your bays are full. So go into the link in the comments and click on the Shop Marketing Pros link for your free marketing analysis today.

24:01A lot of people— so Lisa's a big part of it. We work with MasterTechs on building it out and testing it. So every single response and kind of comment that she's making, every question she's asking, it is a scripted component that's driving her. That's kind of— and we continue to build her out and we grew. Yeah, right. That's pretty neat. This is probably like the 20th version of her.

24:22That's why we're asking for so much feedback, because we want to make her, right, the best that she could be. And I typically— I'll see on a Facebook forum somebody, I think one of yours before, right, where they're like, I'm an A-level tech or master tech, I'm tired of this crap, right? And I'll be like, hey, I'm not a recruiter, I got other stuff I have to do, but I don't want to lose that opportunity, so Hey, call this number and let me know when you're done and I'll reach out to them after they're done and say, all right, what'd you think?

24:49Now I still want their feedback. And the feedback, like you originally asked, is what are they— they do like it. It's convenient. You know, it's not like you're— when they first rolled out Paige, I've been in dentistry 20 years, right? I know technicians, shop owners, vendors. I know it. My head's not as big as it sounded just now, but But you can still see over it though.

25:16We could. My nails are long, I'm gonna fuck you up. Um, but see, I have like a really short attention span. Um, completely forgot where the fuck I was. She's spicy. Hey, now that we've talked a little bit about some of this, when you first rolled this out, you knew shop owners and technicians, they don't scare me as much anymore. Well, that was what we were getting ready to change the topic to, is I was really curious, like, are you still intimidated by David?

25:42Does he still make you nervous? Quit distracting. I'm trying to let her get it out. I need focus. Um, no, when we first started rolling this out, Lisa came to me and she's like, hey, this— we're thinking about this, what do you think? I'm like, oh shit, I'm thinking about calling CVS because I call them once a month for my prescription, and I'm zero human, zero human.

26:03Yeah. I'm like, hell no, this is never going to work. And she's like, all right, so now that you've expressed your closed-minded self, let's think of it with an open mind and call it. And I called it Normal. Not like David. I called it Normal. And I don't know, normal for Sam, right? Yes. But I got about halfway through and I was like, holy shit, this is going to change what we do.

26:26Like, think about it, right? Not everybody needs full service. Not everybody needs live recruiters, you know, reaching out, turnover rocks, all that stuff because they get plenty of inbounds. And the whole concept of always be hiring, well, you don't want to put all the extra effort into a possible level up. So to have somebody like you said, it's a full-time job if they have a good ad written and being able to respond.

26:48Well, you don't want to miss the ones that might be worth something. Yeah. You don't want to spend time on the ones that dreamed about being a mechanic last night. Like you need to be able to cultivate and get engaged and touch base, but you want to make sure that your time and energy is spent where it's worth it. So this being able to enable this and have Lucas have a job ad posted and they are just calling in the ad responses, they're calling into Paige and doing a screening.

27:15Now your time is going into something more valuable, right? Well, and I mean, I kind of like the data collection aspect of it. Because it makes the data easier to parse, right? And it's, it's non-subjective, like they just listen to the incoming data and compute the incoming data. So I think that's really neat. What are you hearing the number one reason, or what are the kind of top reasons that people are wanting to move from where they're at right now?

27:41Pay, obviously. Bad shop culture, too long of a commute. Those are really the top 3 that I hear. Amounts. Yeah, I mean, I'd concur with that. So for better or worse, right, it's everyone's looking for that next extra 25 cents or that extra dollar. What are they expressing? What I mean, do we have any data, I guess is the better question of like when they're asking for more money based on the area?

28:08Is there any kind of demographic or any information you can share that says, hey, if they're below this, they're looking? I think we'd have to speculate. We can't say that right now with confidence because we don't look at that recently. Right. But I mean, is there somewhere that you think that there's like, hey, these guys are just absolutely unhappy? I think a lot of it.

28:29I mean, right. Most techs are friends with other techs. They're starting to hear, you know, this guy moved and he's making now this much more. And I'm just as good as him. You know, I can make that much more. So let me start. Seeing what's out there. So I think, again, like Sam said, a lot of it is we're gonna have to speculate, but it's— that's probably, if I had to guess, what it is, is they're seeing, you know, shifts within their friend groups, or, right, all the Facebook groups that probably most of us are a part of.

28:55This guy makes this much, and so, okay, maybe I can see if I can go make that. Um, are you seeing— because one of the things that I think Paige could show us is, are there flows out of particular sector within the industry. So I think Paige could tell us, hey, are we, are we seeing more people leave the dealership world? Are we seeing more people leave fleet chains, whatever?

29:17Or are we seeing more people leave independent to go to those? Like any data on that? I mean, me personally, I see a lot of people leaving dealerships to go to independent shops. Yeah. Just because they say that they prefer the, the culture of the independent shops over the dealerships. I mean, there's always a couple that say that they would rather work with a dealership as well.

29:33But me personally, I hear a lot of people wanting to go to independent versus dealerships most of the time. And I think a lot of it too with people looking to leave dealerships is what we're— where we're at right now, right? I talked to a handful of guys this week while I was here, while I was not here, and I was like, hey yo, I'm going to be at Vision, like come stop by our booth.

29:51And they're like, oh, you're going? I'm like, yeah, I'll be there. So, you know, they don't have a lot of that opportunity as often I'm seeing in dealerships. You know, they might do that OEM training or go out to Chicago for, for something, but they're not getting to go here necessarily. Yeah, that's a good point. Well, and they also don't get the— it's a different culture.

30:11I mean, a lot of shop owners don't necessarily always want dealer technicians because their focus is, is typically on one specific section or one specific service. So they don't have the variety to grow as fast as they do in an independent where it's— yeah, that was my watch. That. Sorry, it freaked me out for a second. You get used to it after a while.

30:33Um, but I mean, if they're exposed to a bunch of different types of services, makes, models, environments, it's not as buttoned up. They can actually be themselves sometimes within, within those guardrails a little bit. I don't want you being yourself all the time. I'm just saying, like, Sam, you're yourself at all these trade shows, so I mean Dude, okay, really fast, I have to squirrel.

30:58I took my shoes off. That floor is so slippery. I definitely ran down it and slid. It's the best thing ever. Really? She probably made it like 15 feet. It was so much fun. That, that's impressive. That's impressive. Blow my knee out. Screw that. Hey, no, you're gonna be like that dude at the family business. Hey, so we had this deal, right?

31:22And like, I don't even know what happened, but this kid, there's— they're on a bachelor party trip, right? And we just had like a lot of sleet. Typically we get snow, but we had a lot of sleet and then it rained. And so it turned into this 4-inch thick solid block of ice everywhere, right? So we went through 3 weeks where you— we had no business, like cars couldn't get out, like there was nothing.

31:47And so this dude, they're on this trip and this one guy, he keeps running across this like slab of ice. It's a family business and he runs and he slides and he slides all the way across it. His friend goes and does it one time, falls and slams his head against the ground. So they call and they're like, hey, can you come out here and help us?

32:06One of the other staff members. And we get out there and the dude is like full-blown seizure for like a minute and a half. Foaming at the mouth, like in really bad shape. They life-flighted him out. And so I'm like, I'm trying to be really careful these days. I ain't trying to get up like that. Well, I was controlled. Yeah, that will be the first time that's ever happened.

32:26Yeah, I sent you the video. It's actually pretty fun. It's the slow motion one. It is the slow— everything's slow motion. Oh my gosh. I mean, I— yeah, I see that. So, I mean, this has been a How many years have you been at Vision now? We met— well, I think we met here, didn't we? Uh, 2015, 2016 is when we met.

32:50You weren't up here those years. Get out of here. Listen, I don't know anymore. I think the first year I came here was 2017. I think I came like actually into the conference, not just walk through the expo. Yeah, maybe it was 2018 when I came for the first time. So I started doing trade shows because I was inside sales for a long time.

33:14So I started doing trade shows around 2013-14. Yeah. So who were you working for then? Oh Jesus. Um, so I just left CustomerLink and I went to MechanicNet, and then Epicor bought out MechanicNet, so then I went to Um, AS1. Yep. And worked under Velo. And then here. Yep. That's actually— I have not had that many jobs. That's crazy. Yeah, you really haven't.

33:42And, and Lisa, Lisa sniped you from Velo, right? No, Lisa did not snipe me. No, no, no, that's not what I heard. Nope, I was actively looking to leave. Oh, I mean, you can only do so much, and I can only hear the It's a big ship and it turns slowly so many times. My ADD needs action. It needs it now. I mean, if I will build you the data, the process, and what— how to do it, we need to do it.

34:12I don't like the red tape. Yeah, I understand that. I understand that. Selfie Sam. Oh my gosh. Let me tell you a story. Sorry. Story time. So First trade show with MechanicNet, I was walking around and everybody had their booths set up and all that lovely stuff, and I'm like, okay, you guys are all walking— the shops are walking booth to booth giving the same damn shop phone number.

34:39I don't want to work to get a hold of you. We've already met. It's already that. It's a done deal. So I'm like, how can I be fucking different? So like, I'll take a selfie with people. Take a selfie, send a text message to them. I'm gonna share it with you. So now what do I have? Their personal cell phone. Yeah. And a photo of me so they remember who the hell I am, because there's 50 other vendors and their wives are pissed off.

35:01No, no, I've had one wife in my entire career get mad at me, and we hashed it out, and we're actually Facebook friends now. There you go. Facebook official. Facebook official. But no, seriously, it was— I don't want to wait in the line with everybody else. I want to get a direct We've already have— we've already hashed out the bullshit. I showed my wife a picture of you and I one time and she said, wow, she's really tall.

35:25And I said, Alex, I was on my knees. Oh my God, I'm not even joking. Well, my husband's 6'4, so we kind of offset each other. He actually got mad at me one time in his dream. Um, he woke up one day hella pissed off at me. I'm like, why are you mad? He doesn't get mad. Yeah. So he's very passive-aggressive mad.

35:48And he— I'm totally off topic here, sorry. No, I love it. This is what we do in the show. Okay, well, thank you. Right on point. But he's— I'm like, why are you mad at me? He's like, well, you were throwing dishes out of the top shelf, throwing them on the ground and smashing them. I'm like, are you fucking stupid? I can't even reach the top shelf.

36:08He's like, you know what? You have a valid point. Oh my God. Definitely was not Sam throwing dishes out of the top shelf. Then you should have got mad at him. Like, no, that was a different bitch that you were having dreams about. That's what— that's very— that— got to turn it around on them. Find out. Let me find out. Too good for me to turn around.

36:24Just like, okay, no, simmer down. You're good. Just let it go. Just let it go. It was absolutely funny, though. So what do you think of Promotive? I love Promotive. Listen, when I started my career, it was actually going all the way back. It was at an auto auction. Right. But really it was marketing. So automotive marketing before it was a thing.

36:46Yeah. Like it was back when I used to call shops and they're like, my customers come back on their own, you know, I know their kids, their grandbaby kids, all this stuff. Yeah. And now it's like a staple. Like if you don't have marketing, are you really in business? Yeah. And that was back before they had websites consistent. That's before they were utilizing Facebook for things.

37:04And now it's a staple. Then I moved over to DVI and DVI before I got involved was a nice— Meh. Yeah. I mean, it was— I don't need that. My customers, they trust me. Right. I don't need that to sell stuff. Okay. Now DVI is a staple. Right. It's a common thing. It's a common thing. If you don't have it, like, are you really?

37:26Sam, are you trying to say you made all these things staples in the industry? No, I'm not. I mean, what I'm saying is I do attach smart shit, right? But I like to be a part of the changing things. And so marketing— you get bored easily. I'm sorry? You get bored easily. Listen, I think I bring a spice. Yeah. To help promote things.

37:46But now the whole recruiting thing, like, this is a need. My first sales call was, I don't need marketing, I need tech. Well, and I mean, I think for me, the, the coolest thing about all of this is, is that like, for once you're at a place where somebody can match your energy. And like, Lisa can match your energy and keep you from getting so bored so quickly.

38:07Oh yeah, no, she keeps me on my damn toes. Right. I have to tell her, pause, like, pause. We need to action the 30,000 other things you said to do, but that's a good idea. No, look, I'm just saying like David, right? He relates really well to Lisa. And when she talks, he can like truly engage with her because their minds are moving so fast.

38:25Like they can kind of somewhat sync up and accomplish shit. I don't got anything accomplished. I don't know what he's talking about. I'm just saying, like, the one that throws out the 30,000 ideas and then moves on. Yeah, their wavelengths align there. I'm just saying, like, I don't know. She's talking about starting a podcast. I know. And you know what? I'm actually a little offended because we had that conversation together and then she's like, yeah, I'm doing one.

38:49And I'm like, yeah, she called up and she's like, hey, listen, whatever you do, don't tell Sam about it. Yeah, we all know I have FOMO. We all know, like, I can't be left out. I have really enjoyed this whole thing of like where we act like we're going to take a selfie without you in it. Because it like, it's to the point it really upsets you.

39:08Yeah, I almost broke my neck last time. Yeah, dude, she like, we're in Las Vegas and she straight up freaks out and runs halfway across the trade show floor. Not to mention I was talking to like 5 people. I'm like, wait one second. Yeah, I remember seeing that video. Yeah, yeah, somebody filmed it. Like, somebody filmed it. We put it on Jaded.

39:32It was goofy. But yeah, and so when she mentioned the podcast, I was like, so she's like, it's not automotive specifics, it's about working mom. Like, what the fuck do you think I am? Well, I mean, we know you don't work, so it's different, right? I'm sorry, what? We know you don't actually do anything. I'm not gonna throw anything. I was gonna say, she's looking around over here for a weapon.

39:54How old are these kids that you're going to all these trade shows and you have 5 of them? Oh yeah, you really want to know how old they are? Yeah. 12, 13, 15, 16, and 20. Okay, so they're older. Yes, we didn't even know you were 20. Oh, thank you. See, look at you, always trying to be nice. But you were still going to all these trade shows when they were like little, little.

40:15Yeah, it's crazy. Gotta pay the bills somehow. Yeah, I get that. Just wouldn't go to the trade shows. Who's it? Who's this? It's David's. It's not. He's been playing with it. He busted it and blamed me. David has issues with busting, uh, stress balls, and so it was kind of a bet to see how long it would live. Okay, so how stressed are you?

40:42I'm not. There's a reason he scares me. I'm not stressed at all. It's good. I barely touched it. You kind of look stoned right now. Did you take some sort of like— it's almost bedtime, dude. It's getting, it's getting late in the day. It's not even starting. 4:20. It's 4— it's— yeah, it's 4:30. I start to wind down. Poor Dave. So did you hear about the Shopware party?

41:07I did. I'm going. No, did I? Is that this? Yeah. So Emily, you remember Emily that used to work at Napa that works at Velo? Velo? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So Emily texted us and said, hey, so just remember, invite all your friends to the party. And I said, what party? And she's like, you were passing around things. Yeah. And she's like, What party?

41:32And I'm like, yeah, what party? She's like, you know, the after-party where Shopware and Changing the Industry does a party. And I'm like, oh, did you not get an email that told you we were going to do these things? So we were supposed to get an email. He was convinced that he got an email and I just, I ignored it, which I do sometimes.

41:48But in this case, that was not what happened. We just didn't get the email. Apparently they emailed in Make It Out. That's all. Oh. I found it. It got stopped in the spam somewhere in there. Yeah. Yeah. That's my common excuse as well. It works out. It works out. So it turns out the outbox spam caught it before, before I hit send.

42:09Yeah. Yeah. It's in my drafts. I must have had an internet mishap. Yeah. No, I just didn't do it. And David, like, I admire David. Like, he really does. He just tells people like, oh, I actually really don't care about You were the thing, so I'm just not gonna— that's why he scares me. I didn't say that to them. They're a sponsor.

42:30Why would I tell them? No, I'm not talking about them. I'm like, no, I'm serious. Like, he's— he has said to me before, oh, I— no, I didn't respond because I don't give a fuck. I'm like, oh, thanks. Yeah, have we— I don't— I mean, if they send me— I got emails all the time from randos just like He's like, did you respond?

42:48I'm like, no, deleted that. Just bloop. If it's really important, I need to see bloop. If it's not the 3rd or 4th email, like on the 4th email, I might look at it and go, they really want something. All right, so everybody needs to send you a cadence of at least 4 emails to get your attention. I mean, if it gets excessive, I do just move them into the spam folder.

43:11They're gone forever. I never see them again. Yeah, so right there between 3 and 4 is where that gets decided. No less than 3, but no more than 4. It needs to be from somebody legitimate too. Like, pull the 4th one back. Yeah, that's like a happy face on it, like I'm real. Yes, yes. Yeah, people are flagged, they go to the top of the line and I read their emails.

43:31Emily is one of them. If Emily sends me an email, it's important. She doesn't usually send me an email. The rest of us are all— yeah, the rest of you guys can screw. We're already in that label rule that says don't fuck with. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. He answers Monique. He does respond. She doesn't email. She texts. I don't think I've ever sent him an email.

43:50You should start. I just started sending you an email. This was my first one. You didn't even think it was me. I just, I mean, like, I didn't know. I, I, it seemed very promotional is all I'm saying. Well, I think it's almost every day that I hear shop owners talk about credit card processing and credit card processing fees. And I'm going to tell you right now, if you're that worried, you're stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.

44:12What do I by that. When it comes to credit card processing, it's all about the service. It's all about the support and the great rates at the same time. And that is exactly why I use 360 Payments for all of my payment processing needs. They are the best payment processor in the automotive space. So don't wait, go to the link in the show notes and get set up with 360 Payments.

44:39They're integrated with all of your favorite shop management softwares. And it makes your life so much easier. Kind of designed to be that way. Oh, a little bit. So I was trying to get Paige out there, not make it about me. But I normally hit you up in the inbox. Yeah. So I'm like, the DMs, right? What in the world? I don't know.

45:02Lisa's probably going to be mad at us because we've not like been serious or anything, but Lisa's used to us not being serious, right? Yeah, I mean, we've recorded podcasts with her before. Like, they go off the rails every time. Yeah, that makes me feel better. Yeah, I like Lisa. At least we're still like near the track. At least. Are we? Track?

45:22I don't know. We're on a track. We did mention Paige, so I think we're good. Yeah, yeah, box checked. And we can say Lisa's so beautiful and we love her so much. Yeah, she'll never be bad. She does not like the ass kissing. Yeah, she— so Did she, uh, she, she tore her ACL out here? She did. Wow, that's nasty. Yeah, this is again same one.

45:43No, it's the first one on this leg. Oh, he's done it twice on the other leg. Yeah, well, she's 40-plus years old playing soccer and thinks she can stop on a dime still. Oh yeah, but I love her. Running out onto the field. No, I saw the video. Oh no, she was already on the field. It was active. She just wasn't near the ball.

46:01Oh yeah, she— that makes it all that much better. She's running and it just popped. Yeah, she was running and she stopped like just abruptly and yeah, boom. It looked really painful though. And then she starts hopping. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That— the Olympic skier, man, that was rough. I didn't see that one. Okay, so she got hurt right before and like she's known for pushing the limits evidently, and she's like known to take things way too far.

46:29And so she had just gotten hurt and they said, are you seriously still going to the Olympics with a fracture? And she's like, yeah, absolutely, dude. She fractured. Yeah. So she ended up blowing it. Yeah. Bad. And so they were going to— she was telling an interview that they were going to amputate her leg and she was like, no, no, no, no, please don't do that.

46:46And he's like, I don't know that this is an option. I don't know that it's going to be possible to save the leg. The bone, like, explode out of the skin. Yeah. Oh, it was rough. I don't know why vision— I mean, literally, I've already seen it and it's flashback. I'm gonna have to look this up. Yeah, it was rowdy, dude. It was, it was rough.

47:03And so she hit, she hit like one of those things that they're supposed to ski through. She probably hit it at 50 miles an hour and she like— yeah, but it's a fracture. Like the bone's already weakened. That's why. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah, she took a hard hit, dude. She took a hard hit. That was like the one event I was watching was that one.

47:22Yeah, it was not fun. I, you know, I'm just going to say, like, I'm surprised you haven't brought up all of your injuries more often. I can relate. That's all I'm saying. I can relate. I mean, I made a whole reel about you talking about trying to get up and down off the toilet seat. I mean, I can only imagine, right? Like, it sounds rough.

47:46This is trying to get me to— well, I did try, actually. She asked me to go see if we can get us a handicap room, and they're like, nope. I was like, but she has a torn ACL. Like, well, we can put you up in a room for one night, and then we'd have to move you back. I was like, it's not worth it.

48:02That sucks. So she's here? She's here. She's wobbling around with her, um, frame on her leg. I made her ice it last night. So she doesn't have a scooter? No. Can you imagine Lisa on a scooter? I can. That's why I'm asking. Is she like how how far out of surgery is she? She's trying to get it scheduled for next month. Oh, she's had she just tore it nine days ago, so she got it braced up and she's here.

48:27She's like, are you serious? That shit is swollen. She was shaking it. She's like, look at my fat leg. I was like, it's not that is she shouldn't have flown with that. I think she's fine. It's she's fucking Lisa. I was gonna say nothing's gonna stop Lisa. Yeah, no, no, it may not stop her, but then they can't properly do the surgery and they're like, hey, there's too much scar tissue here.

48:49We're not gonna be able to reattach this properly. This thing will pop if you sneeze, by the way. Did your hand start working again? It's better. It's better. It's probably 75% better. So we had this thing like after his last surgery, like his hand wouldn't work, and so he was like going around with the strong hand and Everywhere we went. And so people were looking at us really weird.

49:11It was great. It was awesome. No, if Lisa does anything, she's very intentional. So she definitely did double-check with her doctors and everything and make sure that she's good to do what she needs to do. Yeah. No. Okay. I'm just telling you, she just didn't say, hey, I'm gonna go walk this conference in this other state. I'm gonna fly halfway across the country.

49:33On an airplane, which doesn't cause any water retention, by the way. My entire leg isn't gonna fill up with water and sodium and a bunch of other gunk, which I'm sure is gonna help the entire situation. And then I'm gonna go walk this conference. I'm sure she laid that out. She's like, I gotta make this quick trip. All right, maybe she left some shit out.

49:49Lisa leaves some shit out? No. 'Cause I'm telling you, no doctor would've been like, yeah, you're good, go ahead and fly. It'll be great. It'll be great for your leg. I did make sure to wake up in the middle of the night and give her the Tylenol, okay? We're good. And I got her. I mean, I guess she doesn't want to play soccer ever again or walk.

50:07Well, I mean, she can bend it this much. No, no, I've not hurt myself like that, but I stood up the other day and it hurt my— oh my God, I've not hurt myself like that, but I did stand up one time and got really dizzy. That is a Sam thing to do. I did it 3 days ago and I don't know, it must have been sitting down too damn long and I couldn't bend my right knee.

50:34And I told Lisa I hurt my damn knee too and she's like, sympathy hurt. I was going to say sympathy hurt. I had to rub out my calf. I was like, this is stupid, why? I don't work out for a reason. I mean, it happens when you get over 50, right? Like, it's just part of it. I'm not even 30 yet though.

50:50You're not 30? I'm 29. That is Fucking depressing. That is like, that makes me feel really bad about myself. You and me both. This is bullshit. Yeah, that's rough. I'm just excited I don't get fined. Yes, yes, absolutely. What happened to good football? What happened to good football? Yeah, it does leave a film on your hands. Yes, because it's leaking. All the good players got old.

51:19My bed. But yeah, over there. Hey, uh, you know, it's better than the last one. Yeah, the last one got, got messy. Yeah, that's why I don't mess with them anymore. Just leave it alone. We were at the Velo Customer Experience Conference or whatever, and David had a boo-boo with the stress ball, and it, it exploded, and he couldn't get it off his hands.

51:40He looked really like— you ever, you ever notice, like, when your kids do something they're not supposed to do and they get really scared all of a sudden he had that look on his face. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They get really quiet. Yeah, yeah. The kids are quiet, you know something happened. David's always really quiet though. It got super sticky. I didn't know it was gonna wash off.

51:57It did, it did wash off. It did wash immediately off. Oh God, I got white shit all over my hands, man. It didn't even like, you know, sometimes you can just kind of roll it out off the skin. It didn't even do that. It was just kind of digging into the skin Just water. Yeah, just ran it under some water and it came right off.

52:20I'm like, huh, okay. I don't know, I don't know what chemical they made that with. No idea. It said made in China on the back. That's all I know. Oh God, where'd you put it? It's a Neato ball. Oh yeah, Neatos. Yeah, they're all about those damn things. Yeah, they're pretty cool. They're pretty awesome. Yeah, they get— yeah, like that one. You experience the needle ball.

52:49My daughter, she, um, she's driving now and she, she wanted to drive me first of all. I was like, you need to slow the fuck down, calm it down, because she likes to turn corners at like 30 miles an hour. I'm like, no. Um, that's how you learn how to drift. Yeah, my sister-in-law drives like that. She's like, I'm not speeding. I'm like, I got Live 360, I can tell how fucking fast you're going, slow down.

53:11She's like, it's wrong. It's like, okay. I was like, oh man, that's software, it could be wrong sometimes, but not every fucking time. You know what's really good with that, with Live 360? We have it too. My brother, my youngest brother's a pilot. Yeah, he's got his, he's got a single pilot license. He's working, I think he has multi-engine now. And the first time he went like up in a plane, had his phone on with him.

53:32Yeah, they're like, how is he going 300 miles an hour? This makes sense. This makes sense. Yeah, I get it. So I get in her car though, and, um, I put my seatbelt on, I start like adjusting everything. She goes, don't touch that. Like, why? Opening up the thing. I was like, this is what you do with my car. And I grabbed— I was like, what the fuck is this?

53:54She goes, that's my needle. I need another one. Can you throw it in the back seat? I'm like, what the Well, stuck to my hand. It was weird. Yeah, it had like a film on it, but it was dirty. Yeah, you gotta wash them. I am— oh, like, like the, like hair and like lips. All of it. Everything sticks to the damn thing.

54:10Yeah, it gets nasty. Yeah, I think, uh, I think my wife's been sending blue ones just so David plays with blue balls all the time. I was gonna make a comment, but I was trying to be professional. You're right. We are way past that at this point. That was funny. David likes blue balls. Okay, yeah, leave it alone. Yeah, I don't even know.

54:36How did we get into this? Into what? No, this whole, this whole, this, this podcast, this whole thing. I mean, how, how did we end up here? Someone signed me up and told me to show up. So you— hey, I don't know if you've Notice this. When Sam signs me up and says, hey, I need you to do this thing, I tend to like, like vet the situation out first.

54:58Make yourself busy at that time. I don't even think I did it. Yes, you did. Was it me or Lisa? It was Lisa. Lisa texted me and said, I'm signing you up for a podcast. Oh, maybe it was Lisa. It was. Blame me. Go ahead. Everybody does. I just got it. I'm like, yeah, I'll do it this morning. Okay. No, she did ask me if she was wanting to be a podcast.

55:14So Lucas, I was like, yeah, I've never done one. Focus. This is my third one. I like— yeah, I know, I was surprised too. Third one? Yes, third podcast ever. Ever. Who were the others with? Um, Jada Mechanic. So yeah, that was, that was probably pretty good. I like— oh my gosh, it was the best thing ever. I was like, I get to talk about the industry I love and I get to talk.

55:37Yeah, to a Canadian. Yeah, to a Canadian. That was— yeah, but it Listen, talking about a topic or an industry that I like, let's go. This is my second one. Who'd you do the first one? You know what your problem is? Oh, that's what's wrong. You haven't worked in a shop. This one is far more, uh, you need to engage, not just working it.

56:00I dated a shop owner for a good amount of time, okay? I was in that damn shop. I got him into coaching, okay? Oh no, you were, you were trying to help the situation. Yes, you almost— if you don't get that, that like notification right before you turn, you're starting to fall asleep, you're like, oh, then you're ding, you just— something tells you I should, I should look at this.

56:23And then you see some cockamamie 1-star review. Oh my God, you start to read it and you, your heart rate goes up and your hot head gets hot and you're just like Yeah, but the thing is, like, when it's yours, when it's yours, it's different. I'm just telling you, it's different. His reviews, so, uh, but it's still his reviews. Like, if this was like Sam's Auto Repair, I'm just telling you, you would have read some bullshit that didn't even happen, you know?

56:50It just— yeah, it didn't even happen. Like, none of that is accurate. This guy's nuts. He's not even spelling his words correctly. There's no punctuation. It's just, just his block of illegible blob text in there. I can't believe you told her that you did not respond in a snarky way. It wasn't snarky, it was very factual. Is this recent? I'm just saying, if you haven't— this is a one-time thing, you know, if you haven't gotten that and just like get upset over it and then get some freaking text message from your tech that's 5 minutes late for the, for the start of the day.

57:29And yeah, yeah, like, I'm gonna be sick today. And you're like, you got 800 cars that need to go out the door. And but he shows up on the days that we don't have any cars. Like, if you haven't had all that, I don't know, you, you do get to the point where you're like, you know what, like, the industry is wonderful.

57:50Owning a shop is the worst thing ever. I have been an unofficial therapist for majority of shop owners for years. I absolutely get it. I don't get on that level, but I hear it and I help bring them down. Yeah, I'm just telling you, it's— I don't know, it's, it, it's just like, it's just when you're giving somebody advice and they're telling you what's happening to them and you're trying, you know, you can be empathetic and you're like, well, yeah, I mean, or sympathetic at least, and you go, yeah, I understand the situation.

58:19Here's somebody advice. But when it's happening to you, it's a completely different situation. And you're like, hey, look, when, when the family business gets bad reviews, it does not bother me nearly as bad as it does when the shop gets them. Like, I get those and I'm like, man, it is what it is, right? The shop gets them. Oh my God. Like, my heart beats fast and I like feel like I can't bet yet.

58:41I'm okay if we screwed up. But if there was some just BS in that review. Well, I mean, and that's where I would typically tell everybody, Fuck it. Like, respond back with the facts. Like, the whole point of negative reviews, I think, are actually a positive if you know how to use it. Yeah, consumers— I know, calm down for one moment. Consumers— he's gonna start looking over your head again.

59:03Oh, fuck. But consumers, I mean, majority of people will go to the negative reviews. That's why they have that filter on Google or all those things. They want to see the negative things people say about you because that's just how we're ingrained. But also They want to see what the fuck you're doing about it. Like, how do you respond? What are you going to do to take care of it?

59:21Or if they're in the wrong, call them out. I know I would appreciate it. Nobody is perfect, and people want more than what they're willing to— but these are not rational and reasonable people. I know it's not. It's not even that. And yeah, you can do— you can go through all of the steps, and I understand the steps. I do the steps.

59:38Like, that's not— it's not the issue. It's the— that's when you know you're getting ready to get a lecture. No, it's, it's the— that 1-star review just bumped me from 4.72 to 4.69, and they don't go all the way out, so it's now 4.6. So now I've just deranked underneath this shit shop that I know is a piece of crap because they're at 4.7, and this one stupid 1-star review just knocked me down a hair.

1:00:08And now I'm like— and now I've got to deal with that. That's what pisses me off. It's like you get contact Google and talk to them about this process because it kind of sucks. It does suck because they don't have to be valid. They don't validate that it's actually a client. So yeah, I have somebody— I have a 2-star review. They said that I took too long in the driveway, in the drive-through.

1:00:28I'm a repair shop. It was for somebody else, or a local restaurant. Yeah, they wouldn't take it down. Hey, this isn't me. I don't have a drive-through. I'm a repair shop. They didn't take it down. Freaking Google. You know why? There's no humans working there. It's all AI. It's an entire entire building of Pages. That's all it is. It's Pages and Bangladeshis all working for Google, and all we do is send them money.

1:00:52That's it. You send them money. Paige is more intelligent. She would have at least said, hey Alex, fix this for them. Yeah, but no, I agree. And when something controls somebody's company so much, or their views— like, reviews so much there needs to be some way or avenue for you to resolve it, especially if it's not a client of yours, especially if you can prove that it's incorrect.

1:01:17And you know what's idiotic about the whole thing is that the only reason they make any money is because small businesses like us send them copious amounts of money. That's it. That's their revenue. That's 100% of the revenue source. I should be the priority, not The end user, the idiot who just got his first Android and happened to pop up with a repair shop near me because they don't know how to Google things.

1:01:45That shouldn't be the priority. I should be the priority. The guy sending you thousands of dollars each month for ads. They don't care about me. All right, simmer down. That happened to me though too with the review because I got a bad review of someone who literally just talked of BS that didn't even happen and said, oh, Alex never reached back out to me or whatever.

1:02:06And we did remember this. Yeah. And we did kind of in a professional way say, you know, she did reach back out to you on this date and this. And it's like, but still, because you call them like— I remember that you called them like 4 or 5 times. That was a bad review for Promotive the week of Christmas too. How unhinged do you have to be to Google Promotive.

1:02:28You're in Florida, the company's in California. You're like, I'm gonna find the headquarters and leave them a Google review. Who does that? Which, by the way, he left the review like almost 3 months after we hired him. Oh, like, you know, it ended up not being a fit or whatever. I can't imagine why. And I'm like, 3 months later when I haven't even talked to you since my last check-in with you where We talked about everything and now it's like— and I forget who it was.

1:02:56Maybe it was you or Lisa or someone told me, like, look at all your good reviews and that's one bad review. And I was like, yeah, Sam's like, you should have checked all of your reviews. I'm just saying the bad ones are really what matter. No, honestly, I was like, that was my one bad review I ever got and it still stuck with me to this day.

1:03:13Like, yeah. Oh, listen, they bought— imagine that but 100 times. Just randomly when you're trying to go to bed and you have to get up early the next morning, and you read that and you're like, oh, I'm just telling you. And then you're like, I love this industry. That's what you tell yourself as you're staring at the screen going, that didn't happen, that didn't happen, my head's hot, I want to go to sleep, and by now my heart's at 150 beats a second.

1:03:39I love this industry. No, no, you just want to take your phone, sling it across. Customers, buddy. I said I like the people that I'm around, okay? Yeah, I like the group of people I'm around. Screw everybody else. I mean, there's some people I'm like, okay, avoid that, let's walk this way. There's— I'm watching this— she does that every time she sees me.

1:03:58I'm watching this guy on, uh, on YouTube, and he has a smallish channel. I think he's like 2,500 reviews or whatever, or, uh, subs. And he goes to restaurants and he's like, I'm gonna find the best burgers in Kansas City. I'm gonna find the best pizza in Kansas City. I'm gonna, I'm gonna go check out the worst reviewed— the worst— that's what he does.

1:04:20He's looking really intently. Yeah, I'm gonna go to the worst reviewed barbecue joints in Kansas City and try them out. Like, that's his, that's his shtick, right? And I like those kind of videos. It's always fun to watch, like trying out the worst, the worst Chinese restaurant in Kansas City or whatever. Those videos like that are interesting to me. And the guy's in Kansas City, so I thought it was kind of cool.

1:04:45And he's doing these, these videos and he's talking or whatever. And at one point, this is what set me off, at one point he's like, I leave a Yelp review and a Google review for every single restaurant that I go to, to leave my thoughts out there, good and bad. What? No. Don't do that. You're affecting somebody's livelihood here. These are employees, a shop owner, a business owner, somebody that's invested their time, energy, heart, soul, every dime they have to open this stupid place.

1:05:18And just because you didn't get the best experience of your life, you're gonna leave them a 2-star review? Why? For your stupid YouTube channel? I can't rate his YouTube channel. All I can do is downvote him and leave him nasty comments. That's all I can do. But I can't derank him. By the way, buddy, screw all your ad revenue. I'm about to screw this up.

1:05:40I can't do that. But he's got the gall to leave everybody a review because everybody gives 2 flying fucks about his personal opinion. How about if it's a great experience, leave them a 5-star review. If it's that bad, you don't go back. That's it. You don't go back. Only if the person— the place is completely unhinged do you leave a bad review.

1:06:06See, I love, um, shop owners when they are mad and want to give somebody a negative review, and I like to say, well, treat people the way you want to be treated, because they are sometimes the first ones to go blow somebody up. And oh yeah, oh yeah, constantly. Those, those— I'm just telling you, I'm just saying, I said in another video we just need to bring them back, camps.

1:06:29And I, I would put every single one of those motherfuckers— no, no, no, no, no, no, don't you dare! Do not ask that question! You just keep trucking, okay, young lady? You do not talk. I would take every single one of those shop owners and then off to the work camps you go, to Siberia to go dig ditches. That's where you're going, to Siberia to go dig ditches.

1:06:50Hey, The shot— a business owner that has the gall to leave a 1-star review. And I'm telling you, it's completely different if you're like, hey, I voiced my complaint and they threw the food at my face. Yeah. Or, you know, just completely unhinged. Then yeah, like, I, I have no other recourse here other than to warn people not to come in here because obviously you don't care about your business.

1:07:11My thing is, is if you're gonna— if it gets to the point where you need to leave a negative review, have a conversation. Try to resolve it and bring it to their attention, because that business owner might not realize what the fuck's going on. Yeah, absolutely. I'm gonna leave a bad review. I'm, I'm gonna— if I'm to the point I'm leaving a bad review, my bad review is going to be with my fist in their face, right?

1:07:30Why are you getting in fights with people? That's how you end up in jail. You leave the mountains of North Carolina and you go to pull that anywhere else One, you might get shot, or two, you end up in jail. I've almost been shot a couple times. I did get stabbed once. Oh my God, she was, she was, she was crazy. But I already told you that story.

1:07:54Yeah, bringing it back, bringing it back. I'm just saying, don't leave, don't leave bad reviews. We don't bring— we don't— there is no bringing this back. I'm not finished with my statement. Are you ever? No. Do you remember your statement, Sam? Yes, I do now. Okay. My medicine kicked in. Okay. Okay. No, but if you are to the point that you're going to write a negative review before you do that, give the company at least a management team that actually has a little bit more investment into what's going on, an opportunity to resolve the issue before you go and blast them and fuck up their star rating.

1:08:26Then they try to get to Google and they can't fix it because AI people. Okay, so maybe we should just do away with reviews altogether. I'm okay. I'm okay with reviews. I really am. Yeah, I'm okay with reviews. I'm just saying maybe we just get away, do away with them. Then what are we gonna do? Nothing. We're not gonna do anything. Yeah, just put everybody at 3 stars and get rid of reviews all at once.

1:08:47Yeah, 3 stars. No, we just keep 3, 4, and 5, get rid of 1 and 2. I absolutely love when somebody gives us a 4-star rating. Like, what the fuck? I got one last night. I know, I read it. I read it this morning. I think he said the— like, what? Everything was positive. Everything was— oh my God, brings me back. It's one of those— it's one of those— it's never a 5-star experience.

1:09:09Everybody could improve. I'm gonna choke those people out. I want to hunt them down and choke them out and off to the camps they go too. It was— what was it? It was Danny was like— he— I was recruited, right? Recruiting. I mean, he was like, oh, everything was great. He was super attentive. He called me, he kept me informed. Form. Unfortunately, the shop that he sent me to didn't want to move forward, so 4 stars.

1:09:29No, I literally took my phone and threw it on it. It literally said if you have the experience that they're looking for, they'll get you hired. Isn't that any fucking job? Uh, yep. I mean, you still have to also have the personality. Um, maybe not have face— honey, we are talking about automotive technicians. They don't have personalities. Also, a technician, I have no problem.

1:09:50You want to have a face tattoo, have a face tattoo. Well, we have a claw or whatever. People say like, oh, they can't have any tattoos, they can't have a nose ring. I had no tattoos. Conversation with that, I would have been fired so long ago. What? Why not? That last— somebody be rejected yesterday because he had a nose ring? You can take a nose ring out.

1:10:07Was it a dude? Yeah. Was it like a spacer? Can you see his boogers? No, like a nose ring, like my nose ring. Well, I don't know if that's the why I have detailed conversations with my clients. Like, what the fuck are you thinking? Can we talk about my Uber rating really fast? I would like to know who gave me less than a 5-star rating on my Uber rating.

1:10:27It doesn't tell you. Sam? No. As a passenger? Yes. Sam. I'm like 4.7 or something like that. So maybe I didn't leave a tip or something. No, it's been like 4 years. I don't recall what happened. I was going to say, we have ridden with you in Ubers. Okay, I like to play music. Sam, Sam. Okay, how about that topic then? Yeah, I, I mean, we, we've ridden with you in Ubers.

1:10:52Okay, here. Oh, I'm gonna— yeah, I'm gonna look now too. Okay, listen, I am fine if I did something that caused it, but let me know what the hell it was and who did it. When, where— I don't even need to know who, but when, how. Oh, I'm a 5. Fuck you. That's the only thing in life I'm a 5 at. I'm a 4.88.

1:11:15Oh, you two are just. They were sexist. I feel like I need to move to. They were sexist. I know I did travel in an Uber one time and my daughter pooped in it. So. Hey! She's eight months old. So I'm at 4.94. So Alex is way worse than you. Sorry. 4.88. Yeah, you're like a whole. I'm 4.94. Okay, I've only done, like, 5 rides in my life.

1:11:40Oh, shorter wait times. Oh, that's cool. No, but. Oh, if you've got a higher rating. Tell me. Yeah. Who wrote the review or who? I don't think it tells you. No, but it just says understanding your rating. But I want to understand how that happened. Apparently, you're supposed to shake the driver's hand according to the. I'm not touching. I'm not touching anybody.

1:11:59I want to wash my hands right now from. I'm touching the blue ball. Don't you have stuff on your back thigh? I do, it's just over there. No, but okay, seriously though, if Uber can improve anything, it would be letting me know when and how I fucked up to get a lower star rating. Let me just be clear with you, if Uber could do anything, if they would increase— Somebody rated me fucking 3 stars.

1:12:22Do you know how many rides I would have to go through if that's on? And that one was when I was with Stacy. And Caitlin. Oh, so it's Caitlin's fault. In Orlando. How do you see that? Fucking squirrel. Where is it at? 13th. That was kickoff, right? Yeah. Yeah, they rated me fucking 3 stars. Okay, you have to go to each, each ride.

1:12:47David, I want to see who rated you negatively. Well, I don't know, it's bad, but I use my Uber for, for, uh, custom Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason. Oh, that's smart. Okay, it had to have been a long time ago though, so let's see. Oh, 5 stars. 4.94. Dang. I'm gonna have to see if I can extract this data. I only have 2 ratings.

1:13:13I only have a 5 and a 3. That's bullshit. 5 stars. I actually— I think I intimidate them now because I literally— this fucked me up so so bad. I'm like, how? What did I do? And so now I'm like, you're gonna be a 5-star, right? Oh my— they're gonna be like, if you give me some. No, not some. But do you know how many rides have I— oh, let's go.

1:13:37Maybe it's the first one. This is— oh, I guess the trade show just opened. Oh shit, I think we have to go. Okay. Well, good. Well done then. That was a good episode. That was a good ending. I think we have to go. Click. Thank you for listening to the Changing the Industry podcast. If you enjoy the show, do us a favor and leave us a review on your favorite podcast player.

1:14:03And 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.