How Failure Can Lead to Huge Success | Josh Oberlander - Ep 18

0:00And not only will these books help you in your business, it helps you in your life, period. If you're in business, your business is your life. I know it sounds harsh, but Josh, your business is your life. It's your lifeline. It's what you do every day to make sure that you can live the life that you want to. Welcome to Downshift with Tanika Haynes, the Automotive Auntie.

0:19The thing about Tanika, she gets to know you. She'll laugh and cut up with you, but then she'll hit you with some knowledge that you may not want, but that you need. Let's downshift. Eggs and Bakey. It's 11, it's 11 AM for me. Okay, so it's 12. That's not that bad. Yeah, you're East Coast, right? Yeah, it's 12. I've had my tea.

0:46I've gone out and talked to the birds. They talked back. What time do you normally wake up? I wake up at 9 o'clock in the morning. Yeah, I wake up 3 and 4. Okay, I was gonna say, yeah, I was like movies at that time, or Dateline. I know, like, my day is halfway over. I'm at the— I'm not even that old.

1:09I'm about to turn 31, but I am the 8:30 PM bedtime. Oh, that's me too. It's the best. Yeah. Just let me get in my bed and my heated blanket and my remote control and a bottle of water. There's nothing wrong with that. You work hard. 31. Ash, how old are you, if you don't mind? 27. 27. Look at all the babies.

1:32Yeah, so it's great. So Josh, tell all the people who you are, for all people that live under a rock and don't know who you are. You gotta introduce yourself. Yeah, yeah, my name is Josh Oberlander. I'm a co-founder of Detect Auto. Detect Auto is a software company that helps auto shops become more efficient. Look at that. Let's go. It made my head look very small.

2:02Just got a lot of brain up there. Yes. So yeah, we started probably about a year and a half ago, almost going up on 2 on this current product line we're doing. And we really help shops sell more maintenance. That's a key product of ours. And we're also launching a new one next week. So I might spill the beans here on this podcast and go into that a little bit with you guys.

2:25Okay, beans being spilled. So this is the crazy thing. Did you have any experience in the industry before that, before you started? Um, not really. Kind of built, learned the hard way. So you want to— you want an in-depth background or you want the short and sweet story? Well, I mean, you're 31, you came into an industry Um, and you came in with some AI stuff to a bunch of old grumpy people.

2:55Like, how did you even think that, hmm, this looks like something I should do and bring it to the automotive industry? Whatever sparked that? Yeah, I would say, um, wasn't like I popped out of bed one day and it's like, I need to build like AI tools for auto shops. Like, that is— it's been a trial and error and failure after failure to get here.

3:18So I said we've been doing this business for a year and a half, but in reality, we've been doing it for almost 4 years now and just have had 2 failed businesses prior to that where we, you know, built different tools and it didn't work. And we adapted and we adjusted and we learned more, especially in this industry. So like my first, my first company right out of college pretty much was a tree servicing company.

3:45This is taking me a little— I was, I was 24 and I was, I was climbing trees. I was 50 feet high in a tree slinging a chainsaw around. Um, and then kind of similar to like a technician who is highly skilled and then wants to start his own company, started my own business doing that and quickly learned that, um, just because you're skilled, that, uh, running a business is a different animal.

4:15Right. So, right. Accounting, looking at numbers, I thought, you know, all that stuff so important, but kind of had to learn it along the way. So basically I ran that business for a couple of years, was doing really well in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And the hard part with it was it was seasonal. Like it was like, I'm not— don't catch me in a tree you know, 30 feet again in the air when it's -20 out and my hands aren't working properly.

4:44So I started working with my two co-founders now, John and Nate. And these two are some, some brainiacs. I know you guys have met John. I leave— I live with Nate, actually. I leave him chained to his desk so that he continues to work. But I connected with them one winter and These are like two valedictorians of school, like they are just insanely smart.

5:14And we went through a couple business iterations. Nate had a really cool idea where he had built this person-tracking fan. It was a pedestal fan that would point you wherever you walked and would constantly be blowing air on you. Okay. And long story short with that, basically one of the target audiences was auto shops. They, or at least I thought so, you know, me selling this thing, it's like, who wants to buy this?

5:46And it was, you know, a pair of little Paul's of women. Yes, that ended up probably even being a better solution. But one of them, I went door to door selling this prototype fan to auto shops and thought that technicians would love it because they're just one person in the bay, it's hot, they have no AC. And long story short, again, they did not care.

6:11They did not want to buy this thing. The owner didn't want to pay for it. Like, so, but when I was going to those shops, we learned that a lot of like the shop owner had no idea what was happening in the bays. A lot of times they had no productivity numbers, they had no efficiency metrics on, or even just like in general tracking stuff was very meticulous of having people clock in, clock out, and they didn't even— We already know what to do.

6:42We've been to the trainings, paid for the coaching, learned the right way to inspect cars, build estimates, and talk to our customers. That's not the problem. The problem is consistency, because some days it only works when the right person is working. And when they're not, it's a whole different shop. So now you're stuck in that cycle. You need a strong team to run a great shop, but you need a great shop to attract a strong team.

7:04Make it make sense. That's why I rock with Detect Auto. Detect Auto streamlines your service processes with automations that save time, increase maintenance sales, and improve productivity without changing your whole system. It plugs in, guides your team through inspections, recommendations, and even customer communication. Now that's not just based on memory or mood. That's how a shop runs. And let me tell you, I've been using it for over a year now.

7:32My ARO is up 63%. That's not new knowledge. That's just consistency. If you're tired of your shop depending on who showed up today, go check out Detect Auto. Book a demo. Some shops had troubles with that, right? I'm sure you guys have heard that story. So we basically pivoted the fan that nobody wanted to a data analytics company that did these productivity and efficiency numbers with some sensors.

8:01And long story short there, we learned another hard lesson that, you know, data analytics is for, you know, in an auto shop, there's not, some owners really love data analytics, but the information, you still have to act upon it. And execute. Um, and so what we learned from that company was technicians and, uh, service advisors spend a lot of time on the computer and click clacketying away, uh, and they're just— they weren't very efficient.

8:34So then we pivoted to what we're doing now, and this is a, you know, 4-year story, 5-year story here I'm telling you, but we pivoted to what we're doing now on just making completing monotonous tasks on the computer and making them more efficient inside their shop management system. So that's where, like, you had no automotive knowledge, like your dad didn't own a shop and you knew he needed this or something like that?

8:59Because that's— I thought that was going to be the story you told, that, yeah, my Uncle Henry, he had a shop and they were having trouble with this, and I was like, aha. So you just pulled this not out of the hat, but You just kept thinking, thinking, thinking, what can I do to make a change just in the world? And then you narrowed it down to the automotive industry.

9:19That's— Yes. You kids are so smart. You're so smart. Well, also just enjoyed working with auto shop owners. Like they have— you think coming in they have this scary exterior, but in reality, when I was going around there, they're the best people. They're just trying to improve their business. Like kind of like my tree servicing business. It's hard to run this thing.

9:37And it was pretty easy to connect with them. And I was like, I love this group of, this, these group of people. And, um, it made it all easier. Like they're very open on what they're struggling on. And, um, I would say I haven't, I'm even still not an expert, obviously still learning every day, but have a very good grasp on the industry now.

9:57But it took, you know, 3 to 4 years of continuously learning, um, to figure out what is actually a problem. You think you know what the problem is, but it takes time. So who was your first shop? Like, what was the shop that you went to and they were like, yes, come on in here, I got you, help me figure this out.

10:14Like, I'm going to— who is your guinea pig shop? We— so we're from Minneapolis. We had a couple, like I had one— they're not even a current customer of mine, but German Auto Works was in a town there that we had data analytics. But really the big one is they're called Colorado Tire and Service. They're in Denver. They've got about 8 stores.

10:40And I would fly out to Denver every month working with them, picking their brain. They were the first people that gave us a true, honest shot and just helped us learn and build tools for them. I love it. I love it. What did you underestimate? Like, I can't imagine starting a business from scratch. I'm lucky because Dad started from scratch like 18 million years ago.

11:03Like, what is the one thing that you underestimated when you were starting a software business in the automotive industry? Huh? I would say, huh, that's a good question. What did I underestimate? You probably did because you guys are smart as I don't know what. So if you like nothing, we knew what we were doing. No, no, no, no. This has been, this is, every day is new tasks to be solving.

11:28I'm trying to think of a, Let's see here, so I might say again that industry knowledge, just taking time. Like at this point, even me selling maintenance, I've been doing maintenance for 2 years now and I work on it every single day. But I have gotten to the point now of where I can actually coach a company. I can go in there, I can look at their process and like say, I know confidently what you're doing wrong what you should improve.

11:57But that's me 2 years in now working on it every day, right? It just, just a breadth of knowledge. Like, this is, it's a simple business on the exterior. When you go down into it, the amount of stuff technicians are working on and the capabilities they need to do and the different things services, there's, it's, it's complex underneath. Like, these roles are doing a lot of different things.

12:20So Do you think it's changed your personality or had given you more respect for the industry? Because like, I don't think people have respect for the industry unless you're like really on the inside of it. Like, as a— before you were just in trees. Like, I don't know how much respect I have for people that climb trees, but the way that you just said it, you're 50 foot in the air and it's 30 degrees outside and your hands are 20 degrees, you got a chainsaw.

12:43I never thought about it that way. It's like, did you change your whole perspective of the industry once you got in it and start seeing what we do every day? Oh, totally. Perspective has changed. Like, if I look at my friends nowadays, and I probably— I wouldn't like to put myself in this boat, but I probably was in this boat— people don't know anything about cars.

13:05People don't even— they have an oil sticker number up there and they still might miss when they're supposed to do their oil change, right? The cars have gotten complex. People are worried. They, there's a trust issue that I know people have talked about a lot. Like I said, when I started actually going into them and talking to them and how these people just wanted to learn, improve their business.

13:29And as an entrepreneur, like one of the best parts of being an entrepreneur is networking and learning from other people. And everybody knows how hard it is. So they're just being open with you and want to learn and just giving you genuinely good advice. They're not holding anything back. And I felt that way here as well. So like, it's a hard business to run.

13:55And I know these— there's tons of coaching companies, like every— it's really hard to just start and succeed. So I totally, totally think this, this industry deserves way more respect. People are when they bring their car in, that's their independence. That's their— that's like, it changes their life when they don't have their car. But yet they don't put any respect on the person working on it, fixing it, and then paying for it.

14:25When, you know, it doesn't make any sense to me. Like, you're gonna whine and cry about it. But yeah, I'm, uh, so I'm, I'm part of the frustrated party now and like, feel like I'm on the end. But, uh, way more respect. One of my people. Yeah, welcome to the dark side. Welcome to the dark side. It's like, I just need an oil change.

14:44You don't just need an oil change. We need to service your vehicle. There's things that need to happen. Oil and gas, that's the only thing. Oil, gas, and the radio. It's the only people— only thing people worry about. They worry about their tires, they worry about the maintenance. That's some oil, some gas. My radio's not working. And the window, so they can go through the drive-through, right?

15:03Yeah. And AC, if AC is not working. Oh, AC. Right. Like, yeah, your AC is not working. Yes. But you know, you have this serious oil leak. I'm not worried about that. You know, your bearings are about to fall apart, but like, I can't be sweating. You know that noise? Right. That noise that you keep hearing? Those are your wheel bearings. Yeah.

15:21But I'm hot. But I'm not about to sweat. Yeah. Not going to sweat. Well, you're going to die. Well, at least I won't be hot. So like if somebody right now, like Ash is starting her business, I think. Yes. You guys met a year ago. I can't keep up with time. I can't keep up either. I don't know, Josh. It's been a minute.

15:41My, I mean, I feel like my brain is a pile of mush half the time. So if you're telling me to pick a date when I met you, I'm not sure. I know we started. It has to have been at least or longer because last summer I got to hang out with Nate and I'd already known you before that. Cool. I met you at a conference also.

16:05It was the one in Pennsylvania. No, Pennsylvania. Tools. That was Tools. Yes. Yes. So I met you at Tools, which would have been— I mean, Tools is coming up, so right a year ago. I feel like it was even before that, but I don't know. I also feel like Golden Hour is like 5 years old and I'm 59 and— Hey, hey, hey.

16:26Easy. What does that mean? What does that mean? Both of y'all watching. So to both of you, it is fresh, but I feel like it age— I don't know. This is just my perspective, right? Like it ages you in a way that you're not prepared for. At least I was not. How about maturity, not aging? Thank you. Yeah. It makes you grow up quick.

16:46Yeah. Like I shared recently that like one of the things I didn't think about and you know, I had the partnership before, so that's something I was going to ask you about, Josh. Going from a partnership to solo entrepreneur has been a completely different game. I thought I knew what entrepreneurship was before. I used to have a candle company a while ago too.

17:06It was nowhere near the scale of Golden Hour, so I was like, oh, I, I've done this, I've done, you know, business ownership. And then I had partners, I was like, this will be fine. And so then doing it on my own has been so different, and I realized What I was not prepared for was the character development that had to come with it.

17:24And it's like in 6 months I have become night and day a different person and I still have a different person to become. And I don't think that's what I was expecting. I mean, I give you props. Like I have never done— I did the tree business by myself, which was, which was hard. But like here I've had 2 co-founders again that I can lean on.

17:46So like you doing it by yourself, that's That is— that's got to be hard. That's really got to be. Yeah. I mean, I say by myself, right? Like, I have a community, I have mentors, I have a team. But when you're— when you're the sole person responsible for it, I think it's just— it hits a little different. Yeah. Yes. Like we said, there's so many aspects to a business.

18:10There's— okay, you know, I might be really good at sales, but If I had to build the product, good luck. If I, you know, am I good at making standard operating procedures? Yeah. You know, and building out that. Am I good at hiring people? Am I good at marketing? Like, these are all like question marks that you gotta fill, especially by yourself.

18:27Yeah. Yeah. So if somebody was listening right now, both of you, and they want to start a business and they were scared, what would you tell 'em? Would you tell 'em like, do it, go for it. You'd say do it scared? Yeah. Do it scared. Well, you've done it. Just be prepared, like, to, to become a different person. That's all I would say.

18:45But you're a good different person. Like, no, it is. It gives you all the leadership skills, delegation. Like you said, you don't want to sit there and— I listen, I say it every podcast, I hate accounting. I hate it. But you know what, you have to know a little bit about it because if you don't, then somebody can take your money. But, um, like, what would you tell them?

19:04Do it scared? Josh? Yeah, I would say, um, the, the scared feeling, maybe it sits there for a while and I still have that, but you gotta, you gotta change that mentality a little bit to being excited. You'd be excited about this company you want to start. Like, you have a good idea and you're amped up about it and you have a good mentality for it, really go for it.

19:27And my advice with it would be don't don't build something end to end and then expect to solve a problem. Like take bite-sized pieces, like build something. Service industry is a little different, but for me personally, like don't go, I want to have built my whole product and then gone back. You need to talk with people, you need to learn about what their pain problems are, you need to experiment and give them a bad product so you can learn.

19:54You need to be open to taking criticism to your baby and when people call it ugly, that that's just advice and improvement for you. So I would say the hardest thing is changing your mentality a little bit to being excited, right, about something. That nervous energy is the same energy. It's just framed a different way. Right. So have— we know that I love leadership coaching.

20:20You mentioned something about coaching earlier. Have you ever had a coach in this business? Like, not in the automotive business, but any kind of business coach to help you along the way? But you do have your partners, but like, helping you go through these processes and whatever and helping you see things differently? Do you guys coach each other maybe? Um, yes, I have a coach.

20:41I have. It took me a little too long to get the coach, I would say. You know, you think you're learning every, every day, you have so much to be working on. But I would say I just got a sales consultant coach and we started doing coaching probably just in the past couple of months.. And, you know, somebody else who, who has gone through that process, who has seen around the corners and already been punched in the mouth, like, it's so obvious that you should, you should get a coach.

21:07But they're, you know, expensive a lot of times. You're like, can I afford this? Like, for a couple years there, you know, we weren't making any money. We weren't, uh, you know, I personally wasn't making any money. The business wasn't doing anything. And so, you know, the, the point where you needed the most is probably where it's hard, you hardest to get.

21:23Now that we've gotten here, it's, it's gotten easier and easier, and I can get more coaching. But if you can get any type of coaching, it is worth it. It's always worth to pay money to build your knowledge, and especially if somebody else has gone through that experience. Absolutely. Ash, are you coaching with anybody right now? I am finding the right one.

21:45I have a few people that I have in mind. But yeah, I, I do need one. Yeah. Um, so I'm excited to find the right one. That's good, because even if, um, people in the audience can't afford a coach just yet, there's so much out there on YouTube, um, videos from coaches. Uh, even like, what's his name, Simon Sinek. Did I say his name right?

22:10He's got some great information, and it's not industry related, but it will relate to almost any business or any spot that you are in your life. So I do tell people, like, I know you think you know everything, you've got it, but there's so much more that you don't know. Like, you have to think about major, uh, sports players. We got Michael Jordans.

22:30I don't even know who the hip guys are now because I'm old and I don't care. But you gotta think, they have coaches. And the funny thing is, like, the coach on the team, a basketball team— let's just think about Carolina. Um, those guys are so much older than the kids that they're coaching, and I'm pretty sure that they cannot run the drills that they're telling them to run, and they cannot make the plays that they're telling them to do, but they can see it from a different angle.

22:59May— I don't even know if all coaches have really been in professional sports. It's the fact that you can see somebody from a different angle and you can help them improve upon it. It's like, you know, we watching the game from the stadium and we're looking down on the field or on the court and we can see it from a different angle.

23:17But the coach is seeing that person every day and they know how to help that person adjust. And so I think anybody could use a coach, whether it's in business or not. That's what I love about it. I'm— I mean, I'm a huge proponent for coaching. I grew up as an athlete. So between running and rugby, like my coach was everything because he could see things that I didn't see, like even small, like, body movements.

23:39Like, those are things your coach is going to know about your business that you're not going to see. They're going to see things, like you said, from a different perspective. Yeah. Yeah. I would, I would say for me, you touched on two things there that I constantly am battling, but one is getting stuck in the weeds is what I call it. The day-to-day, like, I have my meetings are packed from the whole day to the whole day and you just don't, you don't have a second to take a breath.

24:03And like look up and look around. And it takes a while to get your business to a comfortable spot where you even feel that way. But if you can start adding more and more of that time in there, that high-level, take a step back, look at it, it's, you know, I would say that's almost a luxury sometimes. But the other point I want to make here is the coach, like let's say you read a lot, that, which is great.

24:30You're reading all of these, uh, self-help books, you're reading all of these coaching books, you know, whatever. It's a lot of information to intake, and you— it's very hard to know exactly what piece is applicable because at your exact moment in your business right now, maybe there's one nugget in that book that you should actually be using. There's 50,000 points in there, there's one nugget you need to know to pull from it, and then put the other stuff away and we're going to work on this thing.

25:01And the coach hopefully can help you identify that specific nugget because a lot of the time you get into this paralysis of I need to do all of these things and you don't. You really need to focus on like one priority. Yeah, that happens when people come from Espo and things like that and they want— they have all the notes and they've got all the ideas and they come back into the shop and they're just like, yo, we're going to do all of this.

25:23And then nothing happens. So I don't remember where I got it from, but there was someone that told me, you know, focus, focus, focus on one course until successful. One thing. And like, if you have the notebook from that training you went to, just highlight one thing. And if you're really, really good, like I said yesterday in Lipstick Report, maybe do two.

25:43But if you try to change like everything about you all of a sudden, then you're going to burn yourself out and nothing's going to get done. Like 100%. If anything, like diet and exercise. Oh, I'm gonna New Year's Eve, I'm gonna eat healthy, I'm gonna exercise, I'm gonna do that. You're not. You're gonna do it for 2 days and you're gonna burn out.

25:57But if you decide, okay, right now I'm going to eliminate sugars from my diet and I'm going to work on that for a while, then the next thing you decide, hey, I'm going to eat better, more vegetables, and then you work on that, and then it becomes a habit. So yeah, I agree with you on that one. You guys are so much smarter than the people give the youth credit for.

26:15But it makes me so happy. That's the path and people know the path. People know that's what they should be doing, but we all know that's hard. The consistency is, I wanna focus on this one thing, I wanna eat better, you know, whatever it is. But then on day, even day 5 or 6, can you wake up and do that again and again and stay focused?

26:39You know, my ADHD brain's like, I wanna switch it up after like 3 hours. Like, where are the gummy bears at? Where am I going? Squirrel! So, hey, I have to give them a shout out. So I don't know, maybe Josh's class that we took at Frog Pond was a month ago, um, but I haven't said anything to him. A couple weeks ago— it's more than a couple weeks.

27:00I thought I want to give it a month. I want to give a month. I'm gonna figure it out. But my son Santana, this releases probably a month. Yeah, he has made up his bed every morning since that leadership Wow. And I've noticed that. I think that's one thing. He has a lot of stuff on his wall. He's the type of person that will write on his wall.

27:19His workout routine is on the ceiling. Um, the room makes me crazy, but I know it's his. It's my room, but it's his room. Um, and he has been doing that. His room is clean, and it's been going on. And he made a lot of conscious decisions during that leadership training. That I'm so impressed with. But the fact that it's his bed is the thing that he chose to start doing like every day.

27:45Because I said, won't you just make up your bed? Like, there's like, you make that boy make up his bed. As a parent, there's things that you just stay on, but there's some things you're just like, I'm not gonna fuss at this child about this every day. Yeah, I've been fussing about it for 21 years, and the 21st year he decides, maybe Mommy was right, I'm gonna make up my bed every day.

28:04So it's the little things like that that can make a huge impact. Like he says, one thing at the time. Sucks. One thing at a time. There's a speech by— I love motivational speeches. I don't know why, but, uh, I watch them all the time. There's one by William H. McRaven. He's like a general in the Marines or something like that. And that was his first piece of advice.

28:25Yeah, it's on YouTube. Um, just— I would probably just type in Make Your Bed. Yeah, McRaven or something. And, um, he talks about that, starting with a completed task for the day, waking up and just doing something so simple. And you feel better and you come back to at the end of the day, even if you had a bad day, come back to a made bed and you feel good.

28:49You know, you're clean. I wasn't always good at it. Not going to lie, because of ADHD, I'm like, get up, roll out of bed. Oh, I've got a million phone calls, like text or answer. But I like being in control of things and there's so much not in my control these days. So it's like, well, that's one thing I can do. One thing I can check off that I'm like, at least I got something done today.

29:12Josh, I just pulled that book up and, you know, I think I gave him that book about 3 or 4 years ago. I think it just takes that long to implement. But hey, I think I've been, I've always given them like, like with, with you, like what you said, I love motivational speakers too. I have always listened to them since I was a kid because my grandmother also loves them.

29:34And her favorite was Les Brown. And so I grew up listening to him like my whole life. So it's like natural to me. And so I always try to get my boys motivational books and things like that. And I would always listen to them when they were in the car, hoping that it would just rub off. And I'm sure it has. But when I didn't recognize until I saw it pull up that that is one of the books that I did buy him.

29:55So I'm going to go look at his nightstand to see if it's there. See if there— see if the, the book has had any wrinkles or anything in it. I've got, I've got some books right here. Let me see if I can— I'm a big reader. I love reading. And if you don't like reading, audience— oh yeah, I haven't read it yet.

30:13So yeah, you should, uh, share those. People don't understand that I love reading. I have a lot of books, but I don't have the time that I used to have to read. I do now, I do again, but I love Audible. Yeah, I love that. And you can actually listen to the same book more than once. You should, you should, because you're gonna get— I was gonna say that.

30:36It's like watching a movie. Okay, so you watch— I— my movie is Friday. That's my generation, Friday with Ice Cube, right? Oh my gosh, I could watch that movie every day and see something different. Like, there's little things that I can point— you're like, I never saw that. I was like, yeah. So if you watch your favorite movie, Lord of the Rings, Watch it again.

30:53Forrest Gump, watch it again. Same thing with a book. Listen to it again. Listen to that audiobook again. Ashley, that's how I feel about the trainings. The trainings as well. I was telling Josh Parnell that because he kind of like jokingly made a comment because I go to each one and it's similar material, right? And he's like, I was going to go to his third one in May and he asked me why.

31:16And I said, because I'm in a different season of my life each time I go. That is so true. I picked up something in December that helped me in December, and then in February I was in a completely different season and needed something else. Same material, you told me this in December, but it didn't click for me until I needed it at that time.

31:36So I, I love rereading books. There's a lot of books that I have that I have read 3, 4, 5 times. And not only will these books help you in your business, it helps you in your life, period. I mean, you're— if you're in business, your business is your life. I know it sounds harsh, but Josh, your business is your life. It's your lifeline.

31:54It's what you do every day to make sure that you can live the life that you want to. So it's going to help you in all aspects, in my opinion. Yeah. I mean, and it takes that too. Like, it takes my, you know, past 3 years, my grandma, you know, again, 31 here, my grandma's coming to me like, Josh, where's the girls at?

32:11Like, where— what are you doing with your life? You know, it's like, you know, Grandma, we got some priorities here for a little bit. Like, this, this is my focus. Just hired 3 employees. Like, if I told— if I went on a date with a girl, it'd be like, hey, nice, nice meeting you. I'll see you in like a month or 2.

32:29Here's the scheduling link. Yeah, here's my calendar. Yeah, I like that. I know you're— you got to choose your priorities. Jordan's like that. My youngest son is like that. He's like, Mom, I'm like, where's the girls? Grandma wants a great grandbaby. That's what that is. Yeah, but where are the girls? She was like, Mom, I don't have time for that. I don't have time for that right now.

32:46I've got friends. Oh, okay. Well, that— and then that's smart. So proud. So smart. Because people sometimes will get distracted by the girlfriend and a boyfriend, and they will derail your whole plan. You can't do that with all the autisms and the ADHDs and all the things, because I got like 10 of them. No. Sometimes you just gotta get yourself together, get your stuff together, get your dreams together, and then you can go be a better person for a spouse if you want one.

33:17You don't have to have one. But it eats at you all the time. For me, it's like, I gotta eventually do that. Like, I gotta make time. You know, I can't just be, you know, in 5 years I'm gonna be balded and ugly and fat. Nah, I'm just kidding. It is so crazy how you kids think that 40 is old. It is not.

33:34That's when you start living. 47, 30. I keep telling people that. Until about 7 o'clock in the morning, your knees hurt. Actually, no. I just start feeling that at about 49. So it just takes me a little bit to warm up. Got to stretch. But after that, you can't hold me down until about 7:32 PM, and I'm out. I'm out of here.

33:54So tell me what you— Go ahead. No, go. I don't know generationally speaking. I only know Josh and I's generation because it's all I've ever lived. Right. I think there's a lot of pressure for your early 20s to settle. Okay, go to college, meet somebody, settle down, have kids, start a family. Like, and I'm guilty of that. Like, I did that very early, and it's just a different— like, you don't— there is no rush.

34:22Like, there's no real clock ticking other than the women have a clock, but the clock doesn't It's like 40. I mean, but science— think about it. If you decided to have— right now, in your situations, you decided to have a child, do you think you'll be able to give them the attention that you really need? Because you're building a baby, which is your business.

34:48Nope. But like, we were talking to someone yesterday, and he— what was he, 47? And his kids were 5, 7, 5, 7, and 8 or 9. Yeah. And he gets to pick them up from school and drop them off. He used to show up at every game, all of that good stuff. Because he's able to be present. Yeah, you could be present instead of the kid being a task and, oh, I've got to get him to school, I've got to do this, I've got to do homework.

35:12You get to do the homework, you get to take them to practice. It's a different conversation. So my— but you also took your kids to work and they came out amazing. Something wrong with them. Don't run with it. Both of them a little crazy. But that is not the norm. Everybody doesn't get to take their kids to work. But I got to the point in the business when I was by myself and Dad was gone that I couldn't take them to practice and pick them up from school and be at the game.

35:45So what I did is I designed— I was lucky enough that I was able to design my business and my hours to and let my customers know, hey, I got to get this football game, I've got to get here, I've got to get there, and they respected and understood it. But at the age that you guys are now in the business, your business is so young, nobody's going to respect that yet.

36:04It's going to happen. So yes, my kids spent— we spent a lot of times, and I made a point to do, like I was telling you the other day, we would go on staycation. I would literally go to the DoubleTree a mile away from the house because they had an indoor pool, outdoor pool, and they had everything. And I made a mini vacation, we called it staycation, to make sure I intentionally spent that time with my kids.

36:25But they did see Mommy work. They saw me work, and they understood that this was their legacy because they had been around their whole life. But kids do not have to understand that. We shouldn't force them to understand that, and we shouldn't have to make them be sacrificed for the sake of the business. Sometimes that does have to happen, but if doesn't, then I would tell people, don't do it.

36:48Because they grow up way, way, way too fast. Like, the fact that Santana is 21 and Jordan lives in Jacksonville, 6 hours from me, it kills me every day to walk by that boy's room. But I'm very proud of my business that I know that I've got every flight scheduled to go see him. I've only ever missed one of Santana's college football games, and that's because he told me not to come.

37:11But I was able to make time, and I was blessed with that. But everybody isn't. And if you're not, don't sacrifice the relationship with kids because you're gonna regret it. Like I said, you're singing a cat's in a cradle. I think that's a wonderful point. Like, I, I don't— I just said I don't even have time to go on a date with a girl.

37:31If I had a kid right now, oh my gosh, my life would totally change. My business would totally change. And like you're saying, you, with the businesses being young, like For me, it's like I gotta get it to a developed point where I can, you know, go and know that it's okay. Like, I'm just getting to that point. I went on a 2-week-long road trip for work, and I came back and the house was still standing, and I was like, this is, you know— but the whole time you're nervous about it, and— but, you know, you've built up your team and they can execute, and, um, I love my team.

38:07Very— we're building something very fun. But like, it takes a while to get— it takes a while to get there. Yeah, look away. Yeah. So I encourage you guys to not let social media tell you that at 25 you're supposed to be married with a cat, two dogs, a 3,000 square foot house, and 2.5 kids. Are you talking to me right now, or are you talking to somebody else?

38:28If the shoe fit, anybody— oh my gosh, that's anybody. Because even with the dog, like, people tell me now, oh, go get a dog, go get a dog. I can't get a dog because then I wouldn't be able to give him the attention that he needed because I'm traveling right now. I like what I'm doing now. I like going to the conferences and going wherever the heck I want to go.

38:48And then what's the point of me having a dog and leaving him at home in a kennel? That's not fair. Yeah, even in the backyard, if I decide to fence it in, that's still not fair. So similar with kids, and I'm probably gonna get some slack for this, but I'm a mom. I got to been there, done that. I'm glad of the time I got to spend with them.

39:05I wish there was a little bit more. Everybody wishes they had more time, but yeah, don't do stuff you're not prepared for just for the sake of social media and grandma. And just peer pressure too. Like, I went to— everybody else is doing it. Everybody else is doing it. I just got done going through all my friends, you know, I went to 9 weddings over the past 2 years or something like that.

39:29Right. And yeah, there's, there's social pressure on that for sure. For sure. But don't worry about Aunt Nick said, no, it's fine. You don't have to worry about that. We'll have a wedding when you're 70. It'd be just as cute. So I'll be able to have a wedding and there'll be like starships up there. I'll have like, we'll be hovering over the planet.

39:49Exactly. I'll have the best wedding. Yeah. So, Josh, what does Detect Auto look 5 years from now if it keeps going the way you want to go? I, I, um, it's so interesting. Things are moving so fast right now. Like, it, it is, uh, I'm, you know, I work with engineers all the time, and with this— I know this buzzword— this AI stuff going on, like, one person in software engineering is getting ramped up to some of the capabilities that 2 or 3 used to have in the past.

40:26And people are able to make products so fast. Like, in our industry, you're seeing them pop up. I feel like I see a new company pop up every month, or maybe even faster than that. Like, it's, it's crazy. And I was just in an auto shop last week. The shop itself is having 2 people make their own tools, right? So now, that would be hard to— I was giving them advice— and hard to transition into like a full-blown company, but The fact is, like, the shop made its own tools, right?

40:52And, um, you know, I'd say that I can look, uh, like 2 years down the road, maybe a year. Like, it's so— things are just adapting so fast. But I would say, um, you know, hopefully in 5 years, uh, we're having a full— I, I'm not even sure. I don't even really know the 5-year plan is maybe a year plan, to be honest.

41:16One year at a time. Focus on one year until successful. So, Ash, do you think the AI is going to get rid of the service advisor's jobs? No. Like, with the tools that Josh and all the smart kids are using right now? No. So just like, to reframe that, service advisors, no. The tasks they shouldn't be doing anyways, yes. Okay. The service advisor should be caring for customers.

41:42The service advisor should be educating customers. The service advisor should be dispatching work and managing workflow, not bogged down because, you know, that was the whole philosophy for Golden. If they're doing all the other million things, that customer in front of them is no longer a priority. So no, I think we have a really cool opportunity in the industry with all the AI, with all the things that are going to make their job easier.

42:10It's so they can focus on the customer because humans are going to crave human connection more now than ever because all they get to do is talk to computers all day long, right? So now I'm excited for it. What say you, Josh? Yeah, I'll piggyback on that for sure. I think one, the job is definitely going to be there. Now the word efficiency that gets tossed around all the time means that one person will be able to perform more work.

42:40So like, I wouldn't— I would be lying to you if like one person couldn't do the job of two in maybe a couple years. But I think the role is necessary, right? Like, I personally am a salesman. Like, if you know, that means my job would also be gone across like industries too. Like, not the whole role is just going to shift a little bit into what Ash was saying, like, uh, building relationships with people.

43:04Learning more about their life, their specific car, how we can better help them, like building relationships. And then the sell— the selling, I don't think is going away for quite a while. And that's what excites me because that's what it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be a relationship building business. But in order— because, you know, you know the numbers, like in order to get everything done, you have to put a lot on that front, on that front line.

43:30Yeah. So no, it's very exciting. It's very exciting because it's like what you get— the golden hour is what you talk about, that, that time that the customer drops off the car to the next time that we make a contact with them. It's crucial. And so the tools that you have, it saves a lot of time on the front end, and then they can work on building their relationships and they can work on selling the actual service instead of looking up the parts, looking up the, the repair history and all those good things.

43:58Josh, you shared that, that statistic at Ignite. For every hour past that first hour, you lose 10% more of close ratio. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, your conversion rate definitely drops the longer it takes you to get your— the estimate back to the customer. So, and then another point on what we're talking about, like the— from that, from that presentation I had is like trust.

44:23Again, trust is I wouldn't say like for a problem for all shops, but in the industry-wide, like a customer trusting mechanics is just an unfortunate thing right now where if we had more time to build relationships with them, spend time on each person, like hopefully that trust factor goes away and we can educate these customers on what is actually needed on their car so they are willing to take care of their car you know, better and for longer.

44:53And then instead of them going to buy a new car because they had lifetime fluid in there and it wasn't lifetime fluid or whatever, you know, we can, we can chisel that like trust, that non-trust factor away. Yeah. Building relationships. That's how you build businesses. People buy from who? People that they know, love and trust. Like and trust. Yep. Yes. So Josh, we're going to take this last little bit for you to do your salesperson thing.

45:24Um, I'm excited to say that you guys are sponsoring my podcast. I'm tickled. I'm very excited for this. Yeah, I'm very excited for this. And I feel like that I'm a part of the history of Detect Auto. I wish I knew the exact day that I started, but it's been a while. I remember when I first met you guys, I was like, this is so cool.

45:46And you're so young. I'm so proud. Sign me up. I did the same thing with Ash. This is so cool. Sign me up. I love it. I love the energy that you guys bring. So tell the people that don't know exactly what you do in a couple minutes, uh, do your commercial. Shoot. Okay. What you got? I will do my commercial, but also before I do that, I do want to definitely say I'm so excited for your podcast here and one, your support from, me from the early days.

46:11I bet I could look up when you joined. But yeah, my question, like, your energy is intoxicating. And my question to you is like, how have you always been that way? Or like, I know this thing is— people are going to— no, no, no, no. I am— I'm a very introverted person. And I know people like, she's lying. I am. Ash will tell you that I will get burned out.

46:31I go to conferences and I am Miss Tanika all day. And I love it. And I love I really love watching you kids grow in the industry. And I keep saying kids, but respectfully, young people. I— because I watch my young people like Jordan. He's in school with Mercedes right now. It makes me so happy that at this age that you're doing all the great things despite of what the news and the social media and the internet says.

46:54So kudos to you. But what I have been told is I have a voice that needs to be heard. So when people tell you something, Josh, you're doing a great job. If you would say, Tanika, you're doing a great job, I'm naturally going to say, oh, it's nothing. But I'm learning to not do that. And I'm learning to be who I wish I had in the industry 15, 20 years ago.

47:17I need to be present for people like you and Ash so that, I don't know, what do you call them? Automotive auntie. I need to do that for you because I wish I had someone to do that for me. I need to be there for females. I need to be there for Black people. I need to be there for for younger people.

47:32That's just what God has me assigned to do, whether I want to do it or not. And so I decided, well, open your mouth and speak. People do like you, Tanika. I never didn't think people like me, but dude, I sound like cornbread and I'm not eloquent with my speaking. But I do have a lot of— what if nobody listens to this podcast?

47:51Yeah, like, what if nobody listens to it? Then maybe you're crazy. What I say to myself, I still think that. I look at the numbers like, you know, I Everybody's looking. They are looking. Um, so I have not always been like this. I'm— I've always been— I'm funny. My family is a funny group of people. Um, I do like to talk, but if you come to me 10 years ago, you ask me for an opinion on something or advice, I'd be like, girl, I don't know.

48:16But I would have all these things that I wanted to say that I just wouldn't say because I never thought it was my place. Now I'm old enough to know that's my place, that's my gift, and I'm going to use it. Because can't nobody shut me up anymore. Well, I, I'll just say I love it. I love your energy. I know this podcast is going to succeed.

48:32Thank you. So yeah, um, as for, as for Detect Auto, just my sales pitch, my sales pitchy, um, let's say not pitchy. Tell us what you do. Yeah, no, we, um, we are, I would say, a copilot, but an add-on to your shop management system. So if you use TechMetric, Shopware, you know, some of these shop management systems, we have you download an extension and can be used right inside your shop management system.

49:03So it's like your little assistant on the side, your little Clippy on the side. And we do have a website you guys can go to, but the really cool aspect about that is your team doesn't need to go to a different website to use our tools. They can use them right inside their place that they're in every day. And the first tool we built was a tool that looked up the maintenance on the vehicle and then looked through all of your history in the shop and Carfax.

49:34So it's basically combing through what the vehicle has previously done and then comparing it to a maintenance interval that you get to build. So it could be your shop-specific standards, it could be your VG Fluid warranty standards. It could be your— it could be OEM. It could be kind of whatever you want, and we can build that out for you. And it is taking that 5 to 10 minute task of looking through, oh, they did spark plugs at 84,300 miles, it's now— car's at 1,150,000— is the spark plugs due?

50:07Like trying to figure that out on every single item you want to track. And what we did is just put a button right inside of your shop management system, and it'll pull up a full report. Here's what's overdue on the car, here's what's due soon, and here's what has been completed by the customer or is not due yet. So, um, really just trying to help one increase the maintenance sales in that shop, uh, get more gravy work in the door for, for the technicians, uh, and, um, make the shops more consistent.

50:38Like, if you're just working off of repair work you know, maybe a big repair and then you're kind of on this like rollercoaster ride. And I think maintenance really creates some consistency in the shop. So that's the first thing. Thoughts on that? We got a bunch of things. You know how passionate I am about maintenance. I love me some maintenance, but it's for shops to like, if they're, if they can start adding that, I think they get overwhelmed with, oh my God, now the estimate is huge.

51:11But the goal isn't to sell it all today. The goal isn't for them to do it all today. It's for them to leave knowing what their car needs, do what they can, and then, okay, they get paid in 2 weeks. Okay, maybe 4 weeks after, you know, rent, and then the next paycheck they can come do their flush. And so it's like you said, it's creating that consistency.

51:29So you don't know what your books are going to look like in 4 weeks. You can have a slow day where that transmission flush you recommended a month ago, they're coming in to do today because you didn't skip that step. Yeah, I think people skip the step because they don't want to hear the no, but then shop owners and service advisors need to understand that might just be a no for now.

51:50Like you said, I might need to wait for my next paycheck or I might drop it off when I'm going on vacation for 3 days so I can keep my car with me now. So present the work. It's not your car. I need to know what's going on with my car and I get to decide Once you inform me yes or no and when I'm going to get it done.

52:07So no for now is a thing also. Yeah, I mean, that's what I've been training tons of people on. You're right. For a while there, everybody's come back with feedback of, you know, I feel like I'm tossing the kitchen sink at people and it's overwhelming my customers. And if you weren't previously selling a lot of maintenance, there is a shift that your business has to go to.

52:29If people were just buying oil changes and now you're selling them a bunch of work, That's hard. And maybe you're getting rid of some customers you might not want to be servicing. Yeah, exactly. I have a hot take on that. Hot take. It is not overwhelming the customer. You are overwhelming the customer because you have not learned how to present it. She said it.

52:54You have to learn to present it. How to present it. But that's another story for another day. For the low, low price of— I too can coach you on how to present Large tickets. Yeah, no, it is, it's a game plan. It's— yeah, yeah, exactly. And that's what my next thing was. It's, it's creating a plan with them. You know, you have— hey, on this 15-year-old car, you got 10 items.

53:17Here's probably the most important one I would start on. If we can do that next time, like, let's really focus on that and work on with them, you know, figuring out that relationship building. What kind of budget we got? How— what do we— what's our plan with this car? And how can we start to cross these things off? Like, right, you have to show them.

53:35If you don't, if you didn't show them the list, then the next time you came in and you did show the list and then they're like, wait, this wasn't all due last time. Again, it's a trust thing. It just needs to be consistent. You don't have to sell them every one of those items, but you do need to tell them about it.

53:51Yeah, right. I had a customer come in with a flat tire and he's like, I want to get 4 tires and alignment. Got the tires ordered, he brings the car in, and, um, he'd never been there before. We do our DVR process and we're like, dude, you need more than some tires. Radiator's leaking, he needed control arms, he needed a lot of work.

54:09And he was frustrated, but not with us. He was frustrated to see all of that, knowing that he had literally just got an oil change somewhere else and they didn't tell him anything. And the thing is, you, you will, if you're not properly trained, that service advisor will be afraid to tell that customer, dude, you need all of this stuff. But that comes with training, that comes with conversation, that comes with relationship building.

54:32But we've gained a customer because of the DVI. Now, there's going to be instances that we're going to lose a customer because of the DVI because they don't want to believe that their car is a piece of crap. All I wanted was an oil change. Well, you won't get mad at me at the next shop when They tell you your radiator's leaking.

54:50I'd rather you be mad at me for giving you all of the information that you don't want to hear. It's like me stepping on a scale backwards at the doctor. Like, I don't want to get on this damn scale. But ma'am, we need to put you on the scale and check your blood pressure and your cholesterol and let you know that you're not a spring chicken anymore.

55:06But if they didn't do it and if they didn't keep the records and something happened to me, you know whose fault that is? The physician. They're liable. The nurse. They're liable. And so are we. And that's, that's the bottom line. That's our responsibility. I totally agree. And me going into shops all the time, maintenance sales is the hardest sale, right? I think it's— and it takes that training that you're saying.

55:32Yeah, because you can't see it. You can't feel it. Yeah. If you don't know, if the service advisor doesn't know what a fuel induction service does, how can they properly explain that to the customer so that they educate them and they get the why, like why this is important, right? It's, it's a very hard sale if your own service advisor doesn't know how to educate the customer.

55:56So it is training. You know where I want to go with that, Tanika? Uh-oh. No, just service advisors need some type of certification. There needs to be like better standardized training. That's it. I think people say that about the techs. They say it about everybody. Standardized, standard training, certificates, and this, that, whatever. And that is going to be the conversation over the next 2 years.

56:18Yeah. Well, I've got my supervisors in coaching for these things, but whether they need to go to Raleigh and take a test with the state, I don't agree with that. But it's just that, and it's also like, I try not to like dog on the owner for that. Y'all are busy. It's busy. Where are you gonna find time to pause and train?

56:40It's hard. You gotta be busy. No, some people are just busy being busy, and they don't even know all the cracks and that things are falling through at their shop. And all the aha moments you have at a training— training does cost money, but it pays in return. Oh yeah. Oh, it really does. That's what I love about BG. I'll sing their praises till the sun comes up.

57:00Like, yeah. Their, their training is great, their product is great. And then the test strips, because you talked about, you know, maintenance, you can't see it or touch it, but when you can test the fluid and prove it, sells itself. Sells itself. Yeah, I could go on, we could do 5 hours of maintenance because we will not do that. That's my thing.

57:18But Josh, I want to hear more. Tell them about the other awesome stuff you— that Detect does. Yeah, we've got, uh, 4 other tools, but we've got 5 minutes here, so I'm going to I want to hear about the intake tool because that's an easy one and people really— I think that works a lot in the front office. We'll talk that and then I want to talk about the new one really quick.

57:38Oh, do it. Go, go, go. Okay, so customer intake, customer concerns, basically that's a very simple tool. But what comes in, the customer's coming in, they're having some diet complaint, right? And maybe you have a really good salesperson up front. It's maybe they came from a different industry and they don't, they aren't very technical. What they do is the customer says, I have a noise complaint, you know, and if that went to the technician, they'd be like, there's 3 noises here, which noise are you talking about?

58:09Now they got to go back and figure out more questions from the customer. And what this tool does is they just type in noise and a series of questions pop up immediately on great follow-up questions for them to ask. This could be, you know, where's the noise coming from? What type of noise is it? How long have you been hearing it? And then they just either click on certain answers or type in unique ones, and then it will write up a whole story for them so that it is a nice concise summary of everything they said.

58:39So I love it. Yeah, very good tool, especially for a young or a new, new advisor. Or again, if you just have a really good salesperson up front, but they don't know those good follow-up questions. Really impactful tool there. What's the new thing? The new thing is we are just launching an inspection app next week. So envision this, like you got your 50-point, 75-point, 100-point inspection that the technician is completing on the car, right?

59:09They're going through and completing them all. Technicians taking photos, You guys all know this. They're on their iPad taking a photo and they're clicking on the iPad trying to type their quick tech notes, you know, and that's already hard and slow. Or they're going back to the computer, they're typing it up at the end. Maybe they forgot something, maybe they're going back and forth, whatever.

59:30What— envision this now where you hit play on your phone or on your iPad, and maybe you have headphones in or you can just talk to it. But you are going to walk around the car saying, uh, check engine light on, take a photo, and then you're on the next. Cabin air filter is dirty with debris in it, take a photo. Uh, brakes are at 6mm, they're good.

59:53Um, you know, shocks are looking rusty, whatever it is, you're just walking around the car talking, and when you hit done, your inspection will have Everything that you said will be color coordinated to whether it's a problem or not, you know, green, yellow, red. You'll have a full description that has been cleaned for all, all grammar and all text and will have educational reasons on why the things are important that is customer-facing.

1:00:20And then the correct pictures will be attached to the correct spot. So you just hit send and then it will push over. At this point, we're starting with TechMetric. So sorry for some of the other shop management systems., but they just hit send and it will autofill in and complete the entire inspection in TechMetric. That is awesome. It's, um, that's amazing. That's gonna save a ton of time and a ton of really bad grammar trying to fix that stuff.

1:00:46That is awesome. What about language barriers? Language barriers? That's gonna, uh-oh. Yeah, so that's a great one. Nice thing is I know a lot of tools have come out with that, but one of the really easy things for AI now is changing languages. So definitely we'll be able to— it will, if you say something in a different language, its default is to just convert it all to English.

1:01:06So you could talk the entire time in a different language and it'll convert to English. That's amazing. That is good stuff. Josh, I so appreciate you spending the time with us today. Yeah, it was awesome. I'm honored. I'm really looking forward to everything that you guys are going to do. I kind of feel like, like I tell you guys, my little nieces and nephews out there, Taking over the world.

1:01:27Just take over the world. Take over the world. All right, well, we thank you. And if someone wants to get in touch with you, how do they do that? Yeah, I would just say go to our website. It's just detectauto.com. You know, you can— we have a 30-day free trial on all of our tools. Wow. And we are— so, and look for that inspection app to launch next week.

1:01:48We've been beta testing it for the past like month and a half and got this thing already really dialed in is pretty exciting. So yeah, website's detectauto.com. You can sign up for that 30-day free trial and try out any and all of our tools. All right, guys, this has been great. We will talk to you soon. Downshift with Tanika is where we slow down long enough to have real conversations.

1:02:11Hosted by myself, second-generation shop owner Tanika Haynes. This goes beyond your your car count, your KPIs. We want to talk about leadership, legacy, mindset, and the messy, beautiful journey of building something that lasts. You will hear stories from shop owners, technicians, and other industry leaders who are figuring it all out by themselves in real time. This is a space for growth, tough love, laughter, and leveling up.