Autoshop Ministries Episode 6: Psalm 23 for Shop Owners - God's Presence in Success and Suffering
Now playing — Master Tech to Millionaire
About this episode
Pastor Devontae Tidwell joins Joe Adams to unpack Psalm 23, exploring how God remains with us in both the high seasons of success and the…
Key takeaways
- —Trust in God's presence during both prosperous and challenging times.
- —Awareness of God's closeness can transform your perspective on life's difficulties.
- —Reflecting on past experiences can help increase your faith and gratitude.
- —Suffering can lead to a deeper reliance on God and awareness of His goodness.
- —God's character is consistent; He is with you in every terrain of life.
Frequently asked
- How can I maintain faith during tough times?
- It's essential to remind yourself that God is with you in every situation, both good and bad. Keeping a journal of past experiences can help reinforce this belief.
- What should I do when I feel distant from God?
- Increase your awareness of His presence by engaging in prayer, reading scripture, and reflecting on times when you've felt His support in your life.
- How can I prepare for life's inevitable challenges?
- Recognize that challenges are a part of life and focus on building a strong relationship with God, which will provide comfort and guidance during difficult times.
▸Full transcript
What's up, family? This is Joe Adams with Adams Automotive, the number one shop in America. This is Master Tech to Millionaire presented by Auto Shop Answers, where we talk about the transition from technician to business owner, CEO. We are here, uh, on Sunday morning with Auto Shop Ministries resident pastor, Devonte Tidwell. How are you doing, Devonte? Man, I'm doing great. It's good to see you.
I feel good. I feel good on a Sunday, man. I'm excited. You know, I'm always fired up to talk to the people and talk to you. So let's go. Yeah, so what are we talking about today? Let's get right into it. Yeah, man, I wanna, I wanna start off this one a little bit different because this is one of my favorite passages of scripture.
And instead of maybe just doing one verse, I want to read the entire chapter. It's only 6 verses. So for everybody out there that's like, the whole chapter? It's like, no, don't get scared. Just stick with it. It's not Psalm 119? No, no, no, no, no. 200 verses? Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Leviticus? Yeah, we're not going to read 60 verses like in Acts number 7.
So, uh, we're gonna do 7. We're gonna do 6 verses. So I want to read it slowly though, because this one, this one is one that you got to reflect on. Um, the whole tone of this passage is really reflective. It says this, it says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul, he guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You've anointed my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Man, isn't that beautiful? It's poetic. It's— what's cool about this, this passage, Joe, is I want to talk to people today about what happens when the terrain changes. And what I mean by terrain, you know, in this passage that David is writing in Psalm 23 about how God is with him in every stage of life, in every place of life. He's like, I'm with you, God, you're with me in the green pastures.
And you're with me in the valley of the shadow of death. Like, these are 2 different things. One pasture is green and plush. Like, I remember being a kid and laying down in green grass outside and just feeling like it's almost like a pillow. And then there's other ones, it's like the valley of the shadow of death. There's bones, there's, you know, stuff that vultures are picking through.
And, you know, it's a low place and it feels dark. And it's saying that no matter what happens, God is with me and you're never leaving me. So what do you, what do you do when the terrain changes? What does that look like in our life? What do you do when you're on the mountaintop, when you feel like you're batting 1,000? When every business idea feels like it's going to the moon?
You know, what do you do when you're in a low place and you feel like, man, I've been, I've been going through the wringer, I've been trudging along for 6 months, like, I don't know what is going on. I feel like I'm losing at home. I feel like I'm losing at work. I feel like everybody's mad at me. I feel like I just can't get anything right.
What do you do in the pasture or in the valley? They're different places, they're different terrains. But, you know, I think there's a reminder in here. Is knowing that you have to be reminded that God is with you. I think sometimes, Joe, that a lot of people think that God's only with them when things are going good. Or on the opposite side, they only lean on God when things are going bad.
Like, I'm only going to pray when I really need you. You know, I only want Christ in a crisis. I only want to, you know, pray when, when my money is funny. And, you know, my bills are due, and I don't know how I'm going to pay them, or I need healing. And I there's stuff going on in my body or my family.
There's not typically a lot of people who realize that God wants to be with you in both. It's not, hey, hit me up when things are bad. Or it's not, hey, thank me when things are good. It's both. So what do we do when the terrain changes, Joe? What do we do? Like when business feels like it's booming? You know, what do we do when we feel like we're training so many people and we're onboarding all the right people and it feels like our last 7 hires were all rock stars and we can see a bright future for all of them and they can be in, you know, middle management in a few short years
or whatever. But also, what do we do when we're like, man, I'm showing up to work every day. And man, my health is declining. I'm showing up to work every day with a smile. And they don't even know that, like, I really have issues that I'm going home and I'm in pain. Like, I'm, you know, I'm sitting in my office closing the door, you know, taking pills or, you know, putting on heating pads because I got this issue in my back or whatever it may be, right?
What you do is in this space is you trust that God is with you in every single situation. Trust is hard though. Like, if I'm being honest, Joe, trust is hard. Because I feel like it's easy to trust God when things are going great. You know, when again, when you're like, man, I feel like I'm batting 1,000. I feel like I'm the man.
And like, right, God, like you made me the man, right? You did that. Like, appreciate you, God. You did that for real. And he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know. But then there's also times where it gets a little hard. Like, God, where are you? Like, if you're here, if you're real, if you're with me, how is this happening to me?
How am I struggling again? How are, how are the people around me struggling? Or how, like, what, what do I do with all that? What you do is you say, I have to be aware. And what, that's the word that I want people to hear today, is I want to increase my awareness of just how close God truly is. Because that's what a good father does.
He doesn't abandon you when things are bad. And he doesn't just only celebrate you when things are great. It's, no, I'm gonna be with you at any time. I'm gonna be with you when it's dark and I'm gonna help you get out. And I'm gonna be with you when things are great and I'm gonna be your biggest cheerleader. And that's the kind of Father that we have in heaven.
When the terrain changes, his position with us doesn't. Does that make sense? Yeah, it's, uh, you know, it does make sense. Uh, increasing awareness of your proximity to Jesus, basically what you're saying. And what I'm What I'm reading in between, not in between the lines, but in Psalms is, I think a lot of people think about Christianity as like a solution to all my problems and it's gonna make my life better.
And it does, 100%. I would say it has for me, but that doesn't mean that you're not gonna like have suffering in your life. And I think that even, I think David knew this. It's like, he's like, even when I'm walking through this valley of the shadow of death, It's not like, if I do walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
So it's like pretty, I don't know if we're gonna be able to solve the, you know, the questions of Brown's suffering in this podcast today. No, no, no, no, no. But 100%, it's like, the terrain is gonna change is pretty much what you're saying. It's not like, what if it happens? We are guaranteed that it will happen, but he's overcome the world.
He has. And so here's what I, let me break down this one. I wanna do this one a little unique because we did read the whole chapter and here's why. I wanna go through each terrain that's in this chapter so that people can see that David didn't focus on trying to change his environment. He was trying to change his heart. So look at, look at line number 1.
So verse 1 says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That sets the tone for everything. It's like, man, God, you're with me because he's seeing us as sheep and God is the shepherd, right? Jesus, since you are the shepherd, we must be sheep. We must be in your care. And if you've ever seen a shepherd, they have these big fences and stuff around and they carry a staff and they try to direct the sheep to stay.
Because sheep need guidance. So right after that, he says this, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. I talked about that already. He leads me beside quiet waters. Quiet waters. You're now, you're imagining like a screensaver, you know, you know, your screensaver where you see the still waters and it's like gorgeous that somebody took a photo of and it's peaceful, it's serene.
Says he restores my soul. That's where he does that. Peaceful, serene. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, complete opposite of still waters, complete opposite of green pastures, complete opposite of the screensaver feel. Like, I don't know anybody that's putting the valley of the shadow of death on their background on their computer.
You know, won't be me. Like, I don't want to wake up and be that depressed. Like, ah, let me wake up, scroll, look at my phone, valley of the shadow of death. You know, like, I don't, I don't want that as my screensaver. But it talks about what's there. It says, I will fear no evil. That's, that's what's there in the valley of the shadow of death.
I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. Again, most people are not signing up to be at a table full of people who hate you. But either way, David is saying, you're with me there too. If I had to be the only one at a table full of people that didn't like me, that hate me, that don't want me to succeed, that are competitors, that are people who are lying on me, talking bad about me, envying me, just straight up haters.
Says, you still have anointed my head with oil. The terrain is going to change. And what happens is he says, surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Because David realizes that living in the house of God starts in here, in your heart. It starts on the inside.
So he focused on the goodness and the mercy, or the goodness and the loving kindness follow him. He didn't say, surely one day my terrain is going to change. He said, surely one day the valley of the shadow of death is going to be the valley of the light of life. He didn't, he didn't say, surely the table of my enemies will be the table of my friends.
He just said, I know that your goodness is going to follow me no matter where I end up. And Jesus is going to be with you. I love that we serve a Jesus who is a strong man, uh, uh, uh, serve a Jesus who's not afraid, who will go into the valley with us, or he'll sit at the table of our enemies with us, or he'll dance in the pastures with us, or he'll lead us beside still waters to reflect, to be quiet, to be at peace.
And he's with us in every single situation. That's what David focused on. He did not focus on the environment changing. He did not focus on, man, God, you're gonna be good when the bills subside. Man, God, you're gonna be good when we finally get more employees. And there are people that are working less overtime. Man, God, you're gonna really be good. And you're gonna be there with me, man, when we get that second or third or fifth location.
It was like, no, God, you're with me right here, right now, no matter the terrain. Isn't that beautiful, Joe? That's— yeah, yeah. And he's kind of— he's not like asking for it. He's kind of just declaring it over his life. He's like, Look, you're— he's like, it's almost like gratitude. He's like thanking God for it in advance, uh, if I'm, if I'm understanding it correctly.
He's not like— yeah, is that— am I, am I reading into that too much? No, no, you're absolutely right. He's not asking for God to show up and be good. He's not asking for Jesus to be present. He's reminding himself of what's already true, you know what I mean? Like, he's not saying, all right God, I hope you're gonna be good. Like, when are you gonna start being good?
David is saying No, I'm reminding myself right now. Because sometimes, here's— and I'll preach a little bit to some people out there. Sometimes you got to remind yourself because your feelings will lie to you. If you go based off your feelings, sometimes your feelings will make you neglect the facts. Like, I feel down, or I feel lonely, so I must be alone.
It's like, no, feeling lonely does not mean that Jesus left you. Like, you can feel lonely and not be alone. Just like you can feel like you're inferior and not be inferior. You can feel like you're not a success and still be the only one in your family that has charted this course. Like, feelings will lie to you. And David's saying in this spot, Joe, like, I am not going to go off of my feelings.
These are the facts. And I am going to, like you said, remind myself, remind my heart, remind my spirit, declare it over myself, that these are the facts. God's not leaving me. These are the facts. He's been there the whole time. Yeah, and he's got conviction for sure, man. He's, uh, like, I mean, this is King David. He's probably like in his 30s or something.
Like, he's killed Goliath, you know. He like was, uh, serving in King Saul's court trying to get, you know, King Saul's trying to kill him. Um, and he's been through the valley. So I think he's kind of, he's also like just relying on his experience. He's like, you've literally done it for me before, like, I trust that you'll continue to do it for me.
And, um, yeah, he's, he's got conviction for sure that God's gonna take care of him. Yeah, and I love it because he's, he's looking back at some of his, you know, like you mentioned, some of his experiences. Like, at this point, David has killed a lion, he's killed a bear, he's killed Goliath. He could have killed Saul, you know, who was trying to kill him and didn't, you know.
So just so you know, if you don't have any scriptural context for what this is, David basically is— if you've ever seen the movie 300, And you've seen Leonidas as a kid. That's David, right? Like, he was the, the top dog. He was the best of the best. You know, you go out there to the wolf and, and you put the skin on your back out and come back from the forest.
Like, the, the perennial, you know, leader, like, that everybody knew was a leader from a young age. Like, this is, this is David. And this is him also saying, like, man, as a man, who's accomplished all of these things, who's seen all of these things, the one thing I know is that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
Not because I'm hoping that it will, because I've already seen that it has. It was with me in every single terrain. And, and the question for people today is, can you trust that God is with you anywhere? Can you trust that, like, he didn't leave you because of a decision you made? Can he— can you trust that he's not writing you off because you wrote yourself off?
I love this. I tell people this all the time. Like, I am so glad— I'm so glad that God's character doesn't change like ours does. Yeah, for real. The Bible says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. So that means that if he was faithful in the past, he's going to be faithful today, and he'll be faithful in the future.
That means if he cared about you in the past, He cares about you today, and he's going to care about you in the future. If he is consistent in the past, he's going to be consistent today, and he's going to be consistent in the future. That's the thing that I love about Jesus. Like, we know what we're getting in, in a way from his character right now.
We can't know it all because he's God and we're not, on everything that he can do and what he has in store. But nothing's impossible. And if nothing was impossible in the past, nothing is impossible today. And nothing will be impossible for him tomorrow. And that should be encouraging for some people out there, Joe, because life has a way of beating us down, man.
Life has a way of, of making us feel the highest of highs. You know, I can think of when I had my kids and being in that hospital and, you know, holding my kids for the first time and just being like, wow, this is a miracle. This is special. And I've seen the lowest of lows, moments that I didn't know that I was going to make it out of or how I was going to make it out of or Does anybody care?
Is anybody listening? I have to be the only one dealing with this. And what I've known and what I've seen is that Jesus was there every single time. Jesus was faithful every single time. Jesus was present in the hospital room when I was happy and shedding a tear for having my kids. And Jesus was present when I felt like nobody was there.
And he was like, no, no, be reminded I'm here. When you're alone and when you're crying for a different reason, those aren't tears of joy. In the tears of joy and in the tears of sadness, he was with me. And I think that's what, what people really, really need to, to see today. It's what I hope that they hear today. They, they have the awareness of God's presence.
Like, I, I— because I really think that this, Joe, and I'll say this, I'm sorry, I'm talking a lot before kicking it back, but I, I really am passionate about this. I think the awareness And the awe of just how good and how close God is, is the one thing we have that nobody else has. Every other thing, every other space, every other religion, what I would say, would be focused on how we can get up to God.
What can we do? What can we check off? What boxes can we check? What, what, what behaviors can we have? And the whole essence of what we believe is that Jesus loved us so much That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. He literally came to us.
God came to us. That's what's so special. He loves us so much that he says, I'm just going to close the distance between where you are and where you need to be. I'll be the one to be the bridge. I'll make sure that you— you're not gonna be able to get to me. I'm gonna come to you. That's what makes this whole thing so special, what makes me so passionate about it.
And maybe out there for some of you, you can relate. The thing that makes us follow him, it's like, God, you, you said that you looked at my deficiencies and you didn't write me off for them. You said, I'm gonna come closer to you. I'm gonna be— because I want to show you how much I love you. And that's what makes this special.
That's good stuff, man. I, um, you know, you're talking about increasing your awareness of your closeness to God and him being in your life. I may have said this before, but something I heard a sermon from Tim Keller. I don't know if you ever heard of Tim Keller. I probably mentioned this already, but he went over the Lord's Prayer. And for those of you that aren't familiar, it's like, our Father who art in heaven, you know?
And there's this one part where he says, thy will be done. And then he says, give us this day our daily bread. And that's the part he harps on. He's like, most people just ask for things. They just like ask for their daily bread, basically. Like, hey Lord, give me my daily bread. But he's like, that's not really how Jesus is telling us to pray.
He's telling us to pray that his will is done in your life. And I think that's kind of what you're saying. Like, you need to be just expressing gratitude of the awareness of God in your life. And it's not just like, hey, gimme, gimme, gimme. You know, like, hey God, I'm back. Like, money please. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like, hey, you know, like, your will be done in my life, you know?
And that's what I've been trying to pray recently. Um, but it's, it's, it's kind of all the same idea, you know? It's like, your goodness follows me all the days of my life. Like, I need your will to be done in my life. And then you go into like, this is what I'm asking for, Jesus. So I don't know if any of that makes sense.
No, it does. And, and let me break it down even further for some people too. Um, when, when we are— when we have an awareness that we're— what I'm trying to get people to see is when we have an awareness of God that no matter our circumstance, you know, I, I think it changes the way that we understand who he is. Because I think sometimes, like, we think church is just for the down and out.
And it's like, no, Jesus is for the up and out too. It's like people— Jesus is for the people who have a lot and a lot of relationships and have a lot of acres and have a lot of cars and have a lot of money and success. And he's like, yeah, I want to be with you too. It's like we're at a space where we say, man, God, your will be done in my life.
I thank you for what you've given me. I thank you for what's tangible. I thank you for what you've blessed me with. But none of that matters more than being close to you. None of that, like all of it pales in comparison. The cars are going to go away, the cars are going to change, they're going to break down, and they're going to come to Adam's Automotive to get fixed.
Preach, preach, De'Ronjay. You know, they're going to come to Adam's Automotive to get fixed. But when you have an awareness and a closeness to God, That's where you go get fixed. That's where your heart gets adjusted. That's where you say, man, I'm, I'm heartbroken over this situation. I'm grieving this loss in my family. I just got back from a funeral and I'm broken.
That's where you go. That's the difference. It's like, see the auto shop for your soul. You know what I mean? Like, it's— and that's where you have the— that's the awareness. That's what that peace is. When you have the awareness, you get to say, look, Lord, hey, nothing's, nothing's wrong. Just coming in for an oil change. I'm just because I'm here with you.
Or you say, you know what, everything's wrong. God, I don't know what's going on. But I'm making this noise in my life. It's making this like, or it's like anxiety, anxiety, anxiety, or depression, depression, depression, or, you know, pain, pain, pain, or bad habit, bad habit, bad habit. There's something going on. I need you to, I need you to help me. And either way, he doesn't turn us away.
Because when you have that awareness, you say, man, God, I'm so glad that you're so close. That you're not looking to beat me up. You're not looking to condemn me. You're looking to just be close to me because you are my Father. You are my Dad, and you love me. And there are gonna be times that I need you, Dad, when things aren't great, when I'm afraid, when there's evil around me, when I'm at a table and everybody at the table is my enemy, when I'm in the valley of the shadow of death.
I need you. But I also need you, and you're close to me When I'm in the green pasture, when I'm on the mountaintop, when I'm batting 1,000, when it feels like everything I swing at is going over the fence, I need you then too. And when you have that awareness, you never can say I'm alone again. You may feel lonely, but that does not mean that you are actually alone.
Yeah, this may be kind of a hot take, and I'm not a pastor, so I'll defer to Devonte, your, your perspective here. But I think that, um, One of the ways that I kind of carry my life is that I think suffering in some ways is, and I'm not talking about like, you know, tragedy or people getting cancer or stuff like that, but I just mean like suffering, like dying to yourself daily in your flesh is like kind of a, you know, what does Jesus say?
He's like, it's easier for the rich, easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. And I think it's like, When you are batting 1,000 and you got 6 cars underneath your house and like your life's super easy, I don't think you're, you know, in a sense suffering very much, or maybe people don't think you are, maybe you are.
But I think if your life is super easy, you know, it's like there's less of a reason to need God. And, you know, I don't think money is, you know, something that you can't have to be a practicing Christian. I think God wants his children to be, you know, well-fed and taken care of so that we can be a blessing. But in other ways, I also think like suffering is kind of a— it's like a guarantee in the life of a Christian, like it's going to happen.
And you're like, my sanctification process has been like a constant, like stretching, a refining process of like, man, dude, I didn't know like I was going to have to deal with this. And you have to like rely on God even more. And then it's just like the next year, it's like, just a little bit further. And so that may have been a little bit of word salad, but no, um, it's kind of like, uh, the, the, the quickest way to have an awareness of God in your life and how much you need him is when things aren't going maybe as well as you thought they would.
And you really have to, you really have to, uh, put your hopes in him. So I guess I'll hand it back to you. No, that's so great, man. You're spot on. You know, there, there's, there are a few things that are more sobering And like you said, increase your awareness than when things start getting snatched away. You know, when things aren't in place, when, you know, you— it's almost like you don't realize how good you have something until you don't have it.
You know, like, you don't realize how much you love a good mattress until you sleep on a bad one. You're like, you're like, man, I miss my bed. Like, I don't like, you know, this. Like, you don't realize, you know, just how good a meal is or a chef is until you go somewhere else and then that's not available, right? So sometimes, like, that very thing is the thing that increases, you know, that suffering.
I love that you put it that way. I know some people would hear that and cringe, but like, again, it could be anything. It could be like, man, like, I can't shake this mental health thing. I can't shake, you know, this idea. I can't shake this, you know, struggle that I'm having, or whatever it may be. But it's in those places, Joe, that you really look up and you say, man, but now I have an increased awareness because I I didn't have anything to rely on but Jesus.
I couldn't use my vices. I couldn't use my coping mechanisms. I couldn't use the things that I would default to. I couldn't drown out the noise of this one. I couldn't gamble away the noise of this one. I couldn't drink away the noise of this one. I couldn't be in the gym for 6 hours to try to, like, you know, get my mind off of this one.
I have to— I have to rely on Jesus for this. He has to be the only solution. And when you do it and you see just how good he is and how good at being solutions. He always has been. Then it just increases your awareness to say, man, God, I'm so grateful that you didn't leave me. You didn't leave me in the valley.
You didn't leave me in the pasture. You didn't leave me at the table. You didn't leave me in the up or the down, in the dark. You didn't leave me anywhere. And so sometimes when you have those things that are taken away, you know, I think that people will see just how good God is. And it changes the narrative from them seeing him as a taskmaster that's waiting to shame them and hit them with a stick, to a loving, compassionate God that is inviting them into a relationship to say, hey, I've got more for you than that.
You know, so one of the challenges I want to give people this week, you know, I know that we're getting close to wrapping. One of the challenges that I want to give to people this week is, you know, if you've got a journal, which I tell people on here almost every single week, if you got a journal, I want you to write down some times, and it may be— this one may be heavy, because you might have to write down some times where you felt like you didn't have anything, where you were in the your valley seasons.
Put it like this, put— write down your valley seasons and write down your green pasture seasons. And then look at where God was with you in all of them. Literally, like a, like a, do a pros and cons list, but just say valley, pasture, and just say all the good times. Like, man, I remember this, and I remember the birth of my kids.
And I remember my first, you know, basketball game that I won. I remember winning this tournament. And I remember becoming a scratch golfer. And I remember, you know, all of the, all of the accomplishments. But then the dark seasons. Like, man, I remember that. I remember the COVID years. I remember the struggles. I remember wondering what was going to happen to the business.
And he said, man, but we made it. And then at the bottom, you can see, man, I made it because God was with me. And I think it'll just increase your awareness. And when you increase your awareness, man, it almost becomes addicting to just be like, God, like, how much— how close are you? Can I read your word more? Can I pray with some people?
Can I pray to you? Can I— all of these different things start to grow out of that. But the awareness is the baseline. So I hope that that challenge helps some people this week as they try to sort through, you know, what to do when the terrain changes. Because the answer is really simple. Trust that the God that's been with you the whole time is with you now and will be with you tomorrow.
That's good stuff. Uh, well, man, I think we're up on time. So that's awesome. Uh, awesome word, Devonte. Do you want to pray for us as we go into this week? Yeah, absolutely. Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you so much for this week. God, I thank you that we are aware that you are close. And God, if there is somebody out there that's not aware that you're close yet, bro, I pray, Lord, that you would just bring them closer to you so that they can sense your presence.
Lord, if somebody's listening and they're still on the fence about following you, Jesus, I pray that you would make this an opportunity for them to rededicate their life. Lord, as they just take a moment and just acknowledge that they've gotten it wrong and they want to walk with you, Pray that you would just show them in their heart that you've forgiven their sins, God, and they will be with you all the days of their life.
Thank you that no matter what terrain we're on, no matter the good, the bad, the ugly, you will never leave us or forsake us, as it says in your word. Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, thank you all for listening once again to, uh, you know, to us on Auto Shop Ministries. Happy Sunday. Let's all go have a great week, and as always, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord turn his face towards you and give you his peace. Let's have it. Let's make it a great week. Let's go. For more information, reach out to Todd Westerland at 925-980-8012 or visit autoshopanswers.com. You can get more information about Key to Key to Callbacks, uh, Courtside.
We have a VIP Rack Attack Day where you spend an entire day in the trenches with our team. Learning this perfected business model. Uh, we offer leadership classes, we have an AI academy, and also get more information about auto shop callbacks. Uh, we have auto tech training. We are literally your one-stop shop. Once again, that number for Todd Westerland is 925-980-8012.
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218 - What Your Opt-Outs Reveal: Your CRM Isn't Broken. It's Being Misused September 9th, 2026 - 00:55:22 Show Summary: Most CRM systems are capable of producing results but the way shops use them can weaken customer relationships. Mass messages often focus on filling bays instead of delivering value customers actually want. Strong retention starts by understanding communication preferences and earning permission before sending messages. Shops can build stronger relationships by creating meaningful reasons for customers to stay connected. Automation can support that process but it should never replace genuine human communication. Returning customers should become a primary measure of success because lifetime value matters far more than a single repair order. A retention focused culture can create steadier car count and stronger long term growth. Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development Guest(s): Craig O'Neill, VP of Training Autoflow Show Highlights: [00:02:45] – CRM systems work but shops often misuse their capabilities. [00:06:32] – Mass text blasts can create opt outs instead of appointments. [00:12:10] – Effective communication must focus on what matters to customers. [00:18:18] – Customer retention should create meaningful relationships built on trust. [00:21:08] – Customers should understand why your messages provide real value. [00:27:36] – Promotional mass texts require proper permission before being sent. [00:33:28] – Retention should become a goal across the entire organization. [00:35:02] – Returning customers can reveal more than traditional sales metrics. [00:41:12] – Give customers a compelling reason to return after every visit. [00:45:35] – Safe reliable vehicles provide a powerful purpose for follow up. In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode. 👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/10RC8L1nKhM Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this! Links & Resources: Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com. Episode Transcript: Jimmy Lea: Hello, welcome. Glad to be with you today. It is Wednesday, so excited for Webinar Wednesday. Coming to you live from the road. I'm in Eugene, Oregon, here at Brian Slater's shop in Eugene, Oregon. This is the North Eugene Auto Repair in in Eugene, and so coming to you from the road. Thank you, Brian. Jimmy Lea: Appreciate you letting me use your office today as we're out and about visiting shops. It's just an awesome, gorgeous weather here in northern U- northern... no. I was gonna say northern Utah. I'm not in northern Utah. I'm in Eugene, Oregon, and this is not northern Utah, but it is gorgeous weather. Jimmy Lea: So if you don't have gorgeous weather where you are, you wish you were here. We're gonna have a great conversation today. Those of you who have comments, questions, comments, put them into the chat section. That chat section comments allows us to have this conversation back and forth. I will be the voice for You've got questions, comments, concerns for our guest, want to make sure that those are voiced for you, put them in the comments section. Jimmy Lea: My guest with us today is ever-present, ever-linguist, Mr. Craig O'Neill of AutoFlow. Craig, how the heck are you, brother? Craig O'Neill: I'm really good, Jimmy. Really good. I was actually thinking northern Utah, as you mentioned Utah, even though it was Oregon. Both places are beautiful. I can't blame you for the distinction issue there. Craig O'Neill: That was- that's all right. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. No it is absolutely gorgeous up here. Now, I will tell you that there is a large lack of mountains in Eugene, Oregon- ... Jimmy Lea: That northern Utah does have, is bounteous mountains. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. A lot of them. Yeah. I can't wait. Ogden, a couple, next month. Next month now is October. Jimmy Lea: Yes. October for the Mars Conference. Craig O'Neill: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Yes. Speaking of Mars Conferences we're gonna put up a QR code for the Mars Conference. If you scan this QR code, it will get you right onto our registration page, and those sticking around to the very end, there is this very special, very unique offer for anybody who wants to attend the Mars Conference. Jimmy Lea: So stick around, scan the QR code. Save that in your smartphones. We are gonna have a great conversation about marketing. Craig is one of our presenters at the Mars Conference, and super excited for Craig to be here. Craig and I have known each other for a couple of years now, and worked together at a couple of companies, and- Jimmy Lea: glad that we are able to still be friends here in this wonderful industry that we call home. Craig, what are we talking about today? Craig O'Neill: Jimmy, this is the, one of my favorite topics to go into. We're talking about CRM systems, of course. Now I have some opinions about CRM systems. Both of us come from a background that deals in these systems. Craig O'Neill: You have opinions as well, and you have some observations, and my observation is simply this: the systems themselves are capable of some pretty cool things- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... Craig O'Neill: but we aren't using them very well. The it's not broken, they're being misused, is the title of our conversation today. Your CRM isn't broken, it's being misused. Craig O'Neill: And I don't like to walk into a conversation with "Oh, you're doing something wrong", or on the opposite side of it, I don't like to walk into a conversation as you guys are doing it right. You're just fine, but other people are doing it..." Like I, I've used stuff wrong. I've made mistakes in how I leverage the different systems and tools that are available, and I just believe, and I hope you just go along with us today, there might be a better way than our way that we're approaching it now. Craig O'Neill: Be open to that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Be open to it, because what they're, what you as a shop may be doing today is working. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. It's not even a debate. It is getting results of a certain level and type that are appearing to be adequate. Jimmy Lea: Adequate for today. And hopefully with this conversation that you and I are gonna have as we talk about the customer relationship management software Hopefully there's something we can expose shops to that might say, "Hey, maybe there is a different way of doing this." Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: So what are these ways? What are the five mistakes that shops make the most, or not the mistakes. What, how can we help these shops improve? Sure. I would call Craig O'Neill: them hurdles that we have to get over, right? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. This one it's an opportunity for us to make it better. It's an opportunity to make it better. Jimmy Lea: This is what it is. It's not a mistake. You're not doing it wrong. Consider this. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. We're gonna talk about a lot of things on this, and I think before we even get into those hurdles, let's talk about the nature of communication today. Yeah. People's attention span today, because I think that there's a couple of different things that we need to understand. Craig O'Neill: And first off, let's talk about why we even wanna leverage a CRM system. And for many shops, you might have a sustainable s- sort of automatic practice here, but when you're a busy shop, you feel very successful, and then all of a sudden things are not as busy as they are. This happens to all of us. All the time. Craig O'Neill: We've ... shop, Jimmy, our transmission shop, family business that I came up, down into grew up in, and like we never had a slow spell. The shops around us always had those little slow spells, and we're like, "Yeah, we don't." And that was a good feeling until it happened to us, too. So we're all vulnerable to it, and the knee-jerk reaction that I see is this. Craig O'Neill: People as eventually hit that slow spell. They check, see if other people are experiencing it, too. We comfort ourselves with the fact that others are doing it, defining it as a, a market-wide symptom of broader events that we have no control over. And so then we can just comfort ourselves with another idea. Craig O'Neill: It's like, "Ah, it'll come back around." And I heard this over, and over again from my family who is owner of the business, my, my dad and my grandpa, because that has been the experience. It always comes back around. Why would we ever be okay with the fact that a slow spell also technically always comes back around? Craig O'Neill: And if our knee-jerk reaction to those moments is then to go into a, a degree of marketing or a degree of follow-up or a mass blast text strategy, like I see a lot of people fall into is like, "Huh, the work needs to be drummed up. We'll turn to our CRM system. We'll construct the perfect message and send it out, and then people will make appointments and fill our bays." Craig O'Neill: Sound familiar? Jimmy Lea: Oh, it does. It does. And if we know those, those times are gonna come back around because it's cyclical, what are we doing? We... It- Yeah ... is preventable. What are we doing that we can prevent this from happening and being that cyclical item? Because- Craig O'Neill: This is, this goes straight into it, because what I see people doing with the knee-jerk response is they're actually crippling their ability to handle the cycles of this. Craig O'Neill: When you do a knee-jerk text blast response, what's the number one reaction that you get to it every single time? Opt-outs. They are the most common reaction to this, and that's what I... If you go on the socials and you look on comment threads of shop owners experiencing a slow spell, they're asking each other "What's the perfect message that you can type out that gets fewer opt-outs and more appointments?" Craig O'Neill: There isn't one. There is no perfect message that gets X number of people. The ratio will never be the same in two demographics with unique people being the customers or clients in every one of the unique repair facilities that we have. There is no perfect message. Jimmy Lea: No. They're not. They're looking for that silver bullet, Craig. Craig O'Neill: Yes. It's silver bullet is the right term for this, and I discussed this on my podcast in an early episode of the podcast Speak Up: Effective Communication on the Automotive Repair Podcast Network. It was episode 14. I said, "What your opt-outs are really telling you," and I think that what they are telling us is something we need to listen to. Craig O'Neill: So now on that, let's move into the attention span of the people in the world today versus the past. And Jimmy, I love to read. I love deep thoughts, and we're gonna get philosophical for a second. I know you don't mind. Love it. We love this. Yeah. Let's Jimmy Lea: go. Craig O'Neill: Signature classic, C.S. Lewis. One of my favorites, Screwtape Letters. Craig O'Neill: In the early chapters in that book it's describing... I won't go into the details of Screwtape Letters, but the way that you distract someone if you're trying to distract them from serious thoughts in C.S. Lewis' time period was, and I'll quote here from the book that- Got the guy to think he was hungry, and then I showed him a newsboy shouting, "The midday paper," and the number 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps, I had him into an unalterable conviction that whatever odd ideas might come into the man's head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of real life, which he meant by the bus and the newsboy, was enough to show him that all that sort of thing just couldn't be true. Craig O'Neill: He knew he had a narrow escape, and then years later was fond of talking about it. I w- I'll skip ahead. But thanks to the process which we set at work in them centuries ago, they find it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. So this is hard to digest 'cause it's C.S. Craig O'Neill: Lewis. You... It's like a tough piece of wonderful, awesome, the best flavor steak in the world that you gotta chew on a whole lot of times before you can actually get to digesting it. But the point is, C.S. Lewis's era, the distraction was you wanted to get them into this stream of events and that's your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Craig O'Neill: Teach it to call it real life, and don't let him ask what it means by real. And that stream is exactly what people are having today. This is a word used by C.S. Lewis before streaming like we are on a webinar, streaming across the web even existed. What distracted a man? Just being on the street with a bus and a newsboy shouting. Craig O'Neill: That's yesterday. That's 1940s United Kingdom, actually, in C.S. Lewis' time. Let's fast-forward Johann Hari's book, Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again, absolutely nails the same point in the modern age and puts a name to it with this term called the f- this frenetic digital interruption, and he says, "Is pulling our attention away from our thoughts and suppressing your default mode network," cool term. Craig O'Neill: I think we're almost in this constant stimulus-driven, stimulus-bound environment, moving from one distraction to the next, and if you don't remove yourself from that, it will suppress whatever train of thought you had, right? And I think that frenetic digital distraction really i- it's just, we have to acknowledge this is the reality we're in today, and there's people that are struggling with notifications and attention, and bombarded with media messages. Craig O'Neill: Every news article you read has the pop-up ads. Are we in that same zone like C.S. Lewis, where a newsboy and the sign on a bus is the only thing that could distract our attention? No. We are under a constant 24/7 assault for our attention span today. That's where we're communicating from, and when your shop gets a little slow and you decide you're gonna have a knee-jerk reaction to the slowness, and you expect a message to land that leads to action with a population that's drowning in this reality, would it be any surprise that it only sees marginal results? Jimmy Lea: Is there any irony that it is called streaming? Is there any irony that it's called a reel? No. Craig O'Neill: Jimmy, it's like the oldest problems are always resurfaced again in our lifetimes today- Yep ... with different technology. Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's totally different. And now it's 17-second blurbs about it's a seven-second commercial, it's a 17-second commercial. Jimmy Lea: We're being bombarded with this instant stimuli to totally distract us from what is actually real- Yes ... and consequential, and you're being bombarded by things that are momentary blurbs of Jimmy Lea: Endorphins Craig O'Neill: Yeah. It, and it just- It's a Jimmy Lea: temporary- Craig O'Neill: You're competing with that- Yeah ... tendency too, to escape with these things. You're spot on. This, this topic is why I lead into these five barriers to that are causing us, like the things that we're misusing in our CRMs, right? Yeah. I consider them barriers or hurdles because we can get over them. Craig O'Neill: Yeah ... and we can decide to lever it right. And number one and we have a slide for this, so I put it up there. I know some people like to read and some people can listen. I wanted to put this quote on there because... And I'm gonna, fatal sin of speakers, I'm gonna read the quote. I know it's on the slide, but I know some of you can't see it, and I know some of you are only listening. Craig O'Neill: Yes. I can't read it. Oh, Jimmy, I'm sorry. It's too small. Too small? Oh, that's okay. That's why I'm here. Yeah. So- You can Jimmy Lea: read all of them. Read all of Craig O'Neill: them ... it's a big meaty slide. Problem number one though is we're not communicating to people on what matters to them. That's the problem. And to reference this point the, a great read, and please write this down, pick up this book, How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age. Craig O'Neill: Amen. If you're interested in this topic at all, read that book. It's from the Dale Carnegie and Associates. So updated for the digital age. There's so many profoundly good things in this, and this is a quote I pulled straight from the book, and I wanna make sure it gets its proper reference there. Craig O'Neill: But it says, "When it comes to mattering to others, you must discuss what matters to them. Assume all else will fall on deaf, or in this case, dull ears. This is an interesting principle to consider given the spirit in which the vast majority of people are communicating today. Most messages are primarily meant to educate others about our lives, our products, to reveal compelling portions of ourselves we think others would be attracted to. Craig O'Neill: While this appears to be an assertive strategy, it is actually a passive strategy in that it requires others to connect with us." "The trouble is that's marketing monologue, not relational dialogue. It's assumption, not assimilation. When assumption guides our efforts to befriend or influence others, the results end up on the wrong side of memorable." Craig O'Neill: Okay. End quote. That is that's another, like I'm giving you solid food to digest today. That's, that's- ... we don't have time to go this layer of depth in our presentation at Mars, so that's why I'm really happy to have this conversation today. It's a primer. If you walk in primed with some of these thoughts, you're gonna be able to get a lot more out of it. Craig O'Neill: But here's where I go with this. We are communicating from a position of our interests most of the time in the auto repair shop. When it slows down, we're interested in filling our bay. If we were really interested in having those customers come in, we would have done the harder work of relating and documenting and managing the data, all sorts of things differently to have a sustained conversation that they understood the value in, because we understand what's important to them. Craig O'Neill: And that's a whole different thing, and that's gonna come up again as we move into these, these other hurdles. But I think that's the thing, first and foremost, remember what messages right now are you pushing out there that are not memorable? I didn't give this in the slide, but I have an example recently, Jimmy very recently. Craig O'Neill: I turned 43 earlier in August, and I'm not on social media these days. The one thing that was fun is getting all those birthday harvests. You know how you get all the happy birthday thing. It's actually a lot of work. Yeah. Then you gotta go like everything and all that stuff too. But don't worry, I don't miss that entirely because I have been a patron in local businesses that have CRM systems in my neighborhood chiefly my Subaru dealership where we have a, a vehicle leased presently. Craig O'Neill: And I got three happy birthday emails from three separate people in that organization. Two of them were identical emails automatically constructed, and there was a neat little quote in the bottom of one of those emails. It actually said, "This email is automatically generated, and we do not monitor replies to it." Jimmy Lea: Oh my God. That's- Craig O'Neill: But it was a beautiful picture of balloons with the branding of that dealership on it. Oh, it was touching. It was such a great birthday blessing to receive that on Sunday afternoon. Jimmy Lea: Had it been from an actual person and not an automated system would've made it even better, but... Craig O'Neill: Sure. But does the birthday greeting from a business actually land on the memorable side of communication, or is it a cheap and simple automated gimmick to feign that you care with a direct interest that is more for the business's benefit rather than it is for my birthday, right? Craig O'Neill: Congratulations, you captured my birth date in a data field in a system that is automated to generate a joy, because I don't unsubscribe because I love these examples. It really was a gift for me that I get to use and communicate from. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. And that's good. That's good. Craig O'Neill: But no, this is a common thing, and we've we've seen this strategy. Craig O'Neill: You and I have been in the CRM space for a while, and you've seen that given as a best practice. We wanna capture the, birth date and month, not the year. Birth date and month. And then you can have these sort of birthday messages go out. All right, maybe you have that strategy applied in your shop. Craig O'Neill: Is that a wrongness? No. Maybe some people really appreciate it. I think a lot of people don't give it a second thought, and that's the majority. Jimmy Lea: They probably don't, but they also aren't sending it from an email that is not being monitored and not gonna reply. Craig O'Neill: Let's hope not. Yeah. ' Jimmy Lea: Cause if Jimmy's Super Shop were to send you a happy birthday message, it would purely be a happy birthday message. Jimmy Lea: There's no other ulterior motives whatsoever. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Jimmy- And you would reply and say, "Oh, thank you so much, Jimmy's Super Shop." We would reply again to say Craig O'Neill: I would hope so. Yeah. Now, my experience in birthdays are one thing, but all sorts of messages. I know when CRM automation occurs, and I'll touch on this at Mars a little bit further the team is not engaged in that part of the process, and it's difficult for them to engage in the inbound Present Jimmy Lea: conversation. Jimmy Lea: Yeah Craig O'Neill: Yep. There's a, a loss of continuity there. So I do feel a lot of times there's automated things going out from a shop, but there is actually no behavior that is being encouraged or directed or accountable any accountability layer for the team to be a participant in that. So it does play in that. Craig O'Neill: But this goes to number two which I think is at the root of the whole problem, and this is, again, another quote from the Dale Carnegie and Associates. First off, problem number two we're not cultivating a community, and this, this principle comes for me from my study in this book. And as I was reading that book, assessing how shops are leveraging CRMs, this stuck out. Craig O'Neill: And it says, and I quote, "Often forgotten is the long-term plan. Businesses call it a customer retention strategy, but it is best thought of as a lively, meaningful dialogue among a community of friends. If the foundation of all long-term success is the establishment of trust-based relationships, then the goal of all interactions should be to convey value as soon and as often as possible." Jimmy Lea: Not just birthdays. Craig O'Neill: Not just birthdays as a data field. What's meaningful for a client in a repair shop? What's meaningful to them in a repair shop? What is the purpose in our community, and how are you articulating the value of staying in touch so we can continue to express what this purpose is and how it benefits you? Craig O'Neill: And by the way, Mr. Client, it's very important, save this number in your phone so that you recognize that we're a contact 'cause you can reach out to us here, and we're gonna be here if you have any questions. And that's starting to get to the sense of community here. And Jimmy, this is getting more important. Craig O'Neill: In today's world, here's a tip for y'all right now. I want you to open up your phone, go to your text message app, look at the spam folder How many messages do you have in the spam folder of your messages app, whether you're using Android or Apple, does not matter. Automatically, messages are going straight to those folders with default settings from the phone's operating system and device. Craig O'Neill: There's a bunch in there, and a lot of it probably is spam, correct, Jimmy? Jimmy Lea: Oh, I'm pretty sure all of it's spam. Craig O'Neill: A lot of times it's very accurate in mine. I- I've only on occasion seen one or two messages in there. Here's how your shop is gonna land in the spam folder. If the client never accepts you as a contact and never engages in the dialogue with you in text. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Craig O'Neill: And so the manifestation of this, and I've started to see more of this recently, very recently, just this summer people sending a DVI link to their client, for example, but the client claims they never got it. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: But they do receive- Because it went to spam ... messages without the link went to the spam folder because sometimes those links are just being interpreted when it's not saved as a contact. Craig O'Neill: The solution is to get it saved as a contact. Interesting little issue, but that takes a little effort, doesn't it, to keep your client- Yeah ... to add you as a contact. There's some cool tools to do that, simple QR code scans, and lots of things we can do at the counter to help people through this problem. Craig O'Neill: But we need our advisors to express the importance of the communication and why they should want it before they'll ever accept it as a contact. Jimmy Lea: That's right. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So interesting, right? So I think that cultivation of a community, that's the easy entry point. Help them understand the value of the communication that's coming and why we're going to be reaching you and make sure they actually do want it. Craig O'Neill: And that leads perfectly into hurdle number three. Hurdle number three is we are not gaining an opt-in for the purpose we seek. And Jimmy, you know this is true across the board generally for opt-ins and shop capturing, and we're gonna talk just a minute about this here as well. We'll do this after the next point. Craig O'Neill: The next point is a strong one on this. But you want the customer to want the message from you. Yeah. Does that happen automatically that they understand what you're going to be sending them and why you're going to be sending it? Jimmy Lea: Not unless you explain it. Craig O'Neill: Not unless you explain it. What's the value in it for them? Craig O'Neill: Why is there a benefit for them to be on a list in your shop for a certain type of message? I used an example earlier about text blast when it gets slow. And the mistake I see the most, Jimmy, is that shops literally have their all or repeat customer list, and they just hit this whole list with this message like, "Hey, we're slow. Craig O'Neill: Come in." Yeah. What if... just go with me here. Love it. What if you created a list that people could sign up and subscribe to in your shop? It's like, "Hey, if you wanna join our slow day list, there's a couple advantages of this. If you wanna just you have a few lingering maintenance items type of a thing, and we have openings we have a... Craig O'Neill: Maybe there's a promotion rate, or maybe it's just literally we can get you in and out because we know time is important, and we're not a discount culture anymore here, right? So maybe we express the speed of service. We know it's inconvenient to have the car down when it's quiet like this. We'll have loaners or rides available. Craig O'Neill: Whatever. There's benefits for you signing up on this list, so you can gain access to this thing that we're gonna do to make it better for you. Would you like to be on that list? We maybe send one or two of these out-" a quarter and perfect, right? And they sign up for that, so now you've got a warm lead list of people who are ready to fill your bays when they need filling. Craig O'Neill: How hard would it be to create that? Jimmy Lea: Oh, not very hard, and I wanna rename it already. I wanna call it the VIP available spots list. Perfect. Craig O'Neill: Yes. Yes. All sorts of things that you could do. Yeah, you could call it your membership list. Whatever. You go crazy. Have fun with it. Communicate the value of it. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. And you have some- My wife does this at art shows. She sells her art in these art shows, and she's found that even just the placement of the sign-up form matters. Like, when it's front and center, people who are waiting in line for the checkout now are able to sign into that book while they're waiting for their turn to check out with the art, and she gets way more signups for her email list. Craig O'Neill: Love it. It's perfect. Yeah, and similar practices are totally possible still today, but what do shops do? We automatically assume everyone wants to get any type of message we wanna have for any purpose, and we never clarify or distinguish any special type of thing, and thus they never get the opt-in. Craig O'Neill: And thus, what are your opt-outs telling you? Man, that's their first chance to talk to you about their preference for the type of communication you send. And you know what happens in an opt-out, Jimmy. You know as well as I do. That number's blacklisted at the carrier level. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Craig O'Neill: That's hard to undo. Now you gotta communicate to them about the value of reengaging in that by texting the word start to this number, and that's a harder thing for a busy service advisor or customer service rep to be able to engage in. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No, it's true. It's true. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: We've gotta communicate with them on the level they want in the form that they want. And sometimes those opt-outs are them saying, "Look, I just don't want to communicate in this method." Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: But what do they prefer? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Might Craig O'Neill: be. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: What's the conversation? Where have you built the relationship to continue that conversation on their preferred platform? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Look, I cooked my cellphone a long time ago doing demos of AutoFlow at, with multiple instances. Now I get texts that I forget to clear out of their thing all the time. That texting's not the best way to get me during the day. I am, however, in my inbox. And I promise you, you have clients that's the same thing for them too. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Or they don't even want... Now, go with me here. What if we had a list of people who prefer a phone call follow-up, Jimmy? Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. And there are. Craig O'Neill: Yes. Jimmy Lea: There's people that's what they would prefer. Craig O'Neill: Yes. 100% yes. And if you don't get the buy-in from that group, and you think everyone wants a phone call follow-up we already do this- You're wrong Craig O'Neill: at Chris' shop, Jimmy. Yeah. You wanna know in about 90 to 120 follow-up calls that we do in a week there we have a gal doing this for us, for Golden Rule Auto Care. Yeah. We get about 10 to 15% of those calls that go out end up with good connections. Like a good conversation. Jimmy Lea: Oh, they actually answer the phone and have a Craig O'Neill: conversation. Craig O'Neill: Actually answer the phone and have a conversation. Only 10 to 15% 10 to 15. Around 120 calls. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. I, Craig O'Neill: I- Not a huge number. Jimmy Lea: No, it's not. Because people are busy, and they don't wanna be interrupted. And those that want the conversations, they're the ones that answer the phone. And the other 80, 85%, 90% prefer a text message or an email or a Facebook message or purely nothing at all. Jimmy Lea: Thank you very much. Goodbye. Craig O'Neill: Let me ask you this, Jimmy. You got it, man. And when you get a phone call today from a number that's not a contact in your phone- ... do you answer it? Jimmy Lea: Voicemail. No. I- Craig O'Neill: Or screening? Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: I found the you push the two buttons on both sides, boop, right into voicemail. Done. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. I, I have, one of the call screener things on mine now. If it's not a contact, it hits that pretty much automatically. I don't answer my phone. I don't answer my phone. I then check to see the missed call, and if it is something important, I'll call it back. That's the world we're entering, and it's the same principle that we just discussed with that text message that i- if they darn a contact, same is true for the phone number that you're dialing from. Craig O'Neill: If that hasn't yet been saved as a contact, look, guys, your call isn't gonna be trusted yet. Area codes that are mine are the least trusted. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Yes. But that's the world now, and we have to be able to recognize that and combat that. Yeah ... but that involves becoming that contact, agreeing to that type of conversation, and maybe making a note somewhere in your management or CRM system about those preferred lev- levels of contact. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So- that's the hard work here, and I understand why shops that are low staff or only have one service advisor to five technicians, and he's also the CSR, and he handles payroll because he's also the owner, and yeah, it gets really tough really fast. And you have opportunity there when you're overwhelmed to hire someone else who can do these things, that's gonna add value to your business. Craig O'Neill: They'll be able to help cultivate these lists, which ke- it's more retention, guarantees you have the income and the cashflow to be able to support their livelihood, and everything gets better. But the starting point's really tough. Problem Jimmy Lea: Number four Craig O'Neill: Let's go. All right, this one's key. Mass blasts- Oh Craig O'Neill: without express written permission are against the law. True. And this is- True ... the really bonkers part of this is shops are loosely aware of this and yet they do it anyway. I forget what the fine is right now, and I'm not a lawyer. I'm not giving legal advice. Just disclaimer on that if you can put it in bold. Craig O'Neill: Yeah, no. But I think it's a $1,500 fine per offense, and if somebody knows that they did not expressly give you permission to text them very specifically- Jimmy Lea: Yep ... Craig O'Neill: text is what we're talking about here. Yep ... that's something they could sue you for and win every time. Notice a lot of the largest organizations out there with multiple locations do not engage in this method of follow-up Jimmy Lea: Because- They Craig O'Neill: know the targets Jimmy Lea: they've lost multiple court cases. Jiffy Lube is one that comes to mind. You can Google it. Court cases where Jiffy Lube had to pay out multimillion dollars because of their mass texting clients. A- and- and what's makes it worse is that they were mass texting clients who had opted out. Craig O'Neill: Oh. Oh, no. Craig O'Neill: So they had a blacklist failure- Yeah ... which is even another thing. So yeah, this is where, okay, you videcoders out there, I know you're out there, and I know you're even playing with APIs from groups like Twilio. And you might think "Cool, we can do texting real easy." Guess what? Start managing your blacklist because Twilio sometimes doesn't do it properly for you. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. And the carrier sometimes doesn't do it properly, and it is still you on the hook every time. And if you're giving your software platform to other people to use, your platform, unless it has clear terms and conditions, could also fall under some scrutiny. Oh, boy. It gets sticky. Investigate that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. It does. It really is. So there's a difference between mass sending a marketing message versus pinpointing and being very specific. Craig O'Neill: Oh, I'm glad you bring this up, Jimmy. Yeah we have a slide on this. So CRM permissions are not actually the same across the board in multiple channels. So the- you probably use terms like transactional versus promotional, Jimmy, I'm sure. Craig O'Neill: But industry terms do vary from- from some- And our industry itself is not usually good at taking universal language- ... Craig O'Neill: And carrying it forward. But these three categories of- of text messages, I put this out. This is I don't have the source on here, but I pulled this source from online. Craig O'Neill: Conversational, informational, promotional. I wanna draw your attention to that blue arrow on the screen. It's kind of a bluish-green arrow, Jimmy. It's on that- Yep ... one, two, three, third row down, where it's talking about how that- that message is constructed. Messages promoting a brand, a product, or a service Or anything that prompts a consumer to buy something, go somewhere, or otherwise take an action. Craig O'Neill: That, if it's in that category, requires express written consent to be legal. Express written consent. Consumers may sign a form, check a box online, or otherwise provide consent to receive promotional text message in some fashion. That express written consent is the highest form of consent, and I haven't met an organization that's tracking it yet. Jimmy Lea: And through the TCPA- Yeah ... which is the act that governs over texting and how you can communicate, it used to be that you had to have a wet signature for that promotional message to go out, and you had to retain it for seven years even after you stopped your business. You still had to have it on file. Jimmy Lea: It's now changed. You can track it digitally. Yes. But you have to be able to provide the source, the date, the time, where it consent was given- Craig O'Neill: Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: for you to send promotional messages. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: conversational, reminders, informational. Now and it's interesting you've got informational broke out here that you do need consent Craig O'Neill: Express consent, which is different than express written consent, and this was interesting to me when I started studying this too, and these things are pretty stable. Craig O'Neill: I don't see this element changing a lot. Yeah. But permission can happen over text on that, or on a form or a website, or verbally, and that's an interesting one. And that's just a message that contains information, just information. It's a status update, it's an appointment confirmation or a reminder. Craig O'Neill: Those types of things are information text, and that's handled- Yeah ... very differently than a promotional marketing text that's asking them to take an action. It tips towards promotional anytime you're asking them to click a link to schedule an appointment, for example, on your slow day blast type of scenario. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. That is a promotional text purely. Even if it's a deferred service reminder. Think about those deferred service drips that people have active in just about every CRM system in the world. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: That is asking the consumer to take an action, and this is exactly the type of thing I will be combating in, in, in our session at Mars 'cause we have a better way forward. Craig O'Neill: We can start talking a little bit about that here too. But those deferred work little drips are... Like, it's a strange thing to do. It's the thing your customer said no to during your visit that we're now assuming they want to receive an, a reminder about without any knowledge that this is coming, and certainly no express written consent. Craig O'Neill: And all of the burden is fully on them to take the action to make something happen about that still deferred work. Yeah. We aren't doing anything. We, in fact, automated the whole thing. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. So what's- Craig O'Neill: It's a passive reminder, as we discussed earlier, right? Jimmy Lea: What's the better way? Are we gonna discuss that here, or are you waiting for Mars? Craig O'Neill: Oh, we can ta- we can talk on it here. So our better way is, it depends on our sense of purpose here, but I think let's go to barrier number five before we talk about that better way, 'cause I think this plays into the whole topic that we're discussing. And this is really the largest barrier, and it is the, the one that I think needs to be overcome before you fix any of the other ones. Craig O'Neill: We don't have our whole organization truly oriented towards retention as a goal What are we oriented towards then? Is the question I like to ask. And if you really stop and you really think about what your organization is structured to achieve, what is it? And it might be what you consider your most important metric might give you a clue. Craig O'Neill: I think it's an interesting question to ask, Jimmy. I do this a lot in different courses. I ask what's the most important metric for a service advisor or for a technician or for this or that?" I like to ask specifically for our front counter staff, whether it be a CSR, a reservationist, a service advisor, whoever we have working our front counter. Craig O'Neill: What is their most important metric? And you get all kinds of answers. You've probably heard every one of them, Jimmy. Closing rate. Those service advisors are like, "I sell 98.92% of all work I ever write up." Terrible stat, by the way, 'cause that's the work you write up. You can artificially inflate your closing rate on sales by writing up what you know will sell. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. But I th- I'm gonna give you my answer. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Craig O'Neill: Your ratio of returning customers Jimmy Lea: Agreed Craig O'Neill: It's your most important statistic Jimmy Lea: If they're not coming back, you're doing something wrong Craig O'Neill: Correct. Yeah, I don't care what your ARO is really. It's an interesting stat to know. You'll establish baselines for all sorts of KPIs. Craig O'Neill: They tell you useful information. But is our goal to sell all of the stuff we find on every visit? And is our team like, "Is that's what's gonna impress the boss? That's what's gonna make him very happy"? Jimmy Lea: No, returning customers. Totally agree. Craig O'Neill: Yeah, because what's the value of one good visit, right? Yeah. Craig O'Neill: What's the value of one visit versus the lifetime value of a client? Jimmy Lea: Yes. The lifetime value has so much more weight to it. Neck and neck. Tens of thousands of dollars versus- Craig O'Neill: Hundreds. Yeah ... Jimmy Lea: hundreds that, for that one visit. Craig O'Neill: Some, yeah. Yeah. And o- I had family accounts, family accounts- Yeah ... literally in the hundreds of thousands with, For Jimmy Lea: the lifetime value? Craig O'Neill: Lifetime value of that particular individual. He had a lot of vehicles in the family. Jimmy Lea: And, What's the family fleet? Craig O'Neill: It's the family fleet ... it's a family fleet. It's Jimmy Lea: a Craig O'Neill: fleet Jimmy Lea: account. Craig O'Neill: Yep. Yep, but even when the kids grew up, they were still coming in as well, too, and that, the lifetime value of the relationships that turn into more things, like, man, if that's true, though, and we do this. Craig O'Neill: Jimmy, we pay lip service to this all the time in our industry. It's a relationship-based business. It is. And then we go and we emphasize we gotta sell this much, and this is our target for sales, and all this other thing, and it's and how much time really are we putting our human attention on our team's human attention in this frenetic age on retention strategy? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. How involved are they in your team right now towards the goal of getting people back in the door from the beginning of that visit to the end of that visit, and what happens in between, the humans involved? And Jimmy, you've been in this industry. It... Most shops, I hear they say, "Hey, my guys aren't gonna use this. Craig O'Neill: I just need this to be automated." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. We'll try and make it sound as personal as possible in that automation, but Craig O'Neill: Yeah, we use those cool little variables. Your service advisor gets filled in with the service advisor's name, all the automated message, and automation has merit. It does. We create, through automation, consistent repeatability of things that we want to have occur That's good, right? Craig O'Neill: It is. Jimmy Lea: Make it personable, and make sure you're responding. Craig O'Neill: And make sure you had a hand in that, and make sure you are responding. Correct. The service advisors know these are going out, they know when it's going out, and they're maybe involved in scanning to see who replied and who didn't, or maybe that's somebody's job in the shop. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. And we'll talk about this at Mars a little further. I believe it is somebody's job in the shop. We call... I call it the reservationist. A lot of people have a CSR. Yes ... it's a fun topic because... And it goes deep, and we have podcasts on that too. But dude, it's an orientation thing. It's if it's important to you, you're gonna do something about it. Craig O'Neill: If it's not important to you, you won't do anything about it, and that's the measure that, yeah, like, all right. So I just kinda threw a C.S. Lewis mindset at you. There's like this is one of the things I love about reading some of these, these thinkers, right? It's and of course, he's Christian apologetics and that sort of thing, but he said... Craig O'Neill: i'm breaking it down to just a simple point, like something is important or it's not important at all. Craig O'Neill: That middle ground in this topic, I think this is true, that middle ground's not given to us, which forces us to either have to decide, "Eh, it's really not important and we can continue as we are because we're okay with the results," or, "No, this is a really important topic. Craig O'Neill: Our strategy for getting clients into the shop is of actually critical importance to the ultimate success of our business, and is the most important thing that we should be focusing on to guarantee our success. So we're gonna really put in all of our effort towards this goal instead of just reacting to the chaos, reacting to the things that made it in today." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Craig O'Neill: Wow. What would happen to your business with that focus? Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. Yeah. Man. We wanna exponentially increase it. We wanna rocket fuel this. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And I wonder what the statistics are. There, there was a, a, a read a while ago that talked about restaurant industry was tracking this. How can they get a client to come back for the second dining experience- Yeah Jimmy Lea: and the third dining experience, and the fourth dining experience? And once they get 'em in for that fourth dining experience, they've got a client for life. Craig O'Neill: True. Yeah. I actually just had a interesting restaurant follow-up. I'm on the email list for one of the sushi joints here in Grand Rapids. I love sushi. Craig O'Neill: Love this place. We go Maru Sushi on Cherry Street. Fantastic. Next time you're in Grand Rapids, wonderful. Love going there with my wife. It's our go-to spot. We had a couple months of a dry spell there where we didn't make it in, and we were busy with art shows and all sorts of stuff. Sure. And I got an email that must have been triggered. Craig O'Neill: It's like their little lost customer reminder. It's like- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... " Craig O'Neill: It's been a while. Here's a free app- appetizer" Okay ... for next, on, on your next visit." It was an interesting follow-up. I thought it was really good. Oh yeah, it has been a while. Man, I want sushi right now, is what I experienced with that. Craig O'Neill: And then, and there's a benefit for me right there in it, and I already wanna go there anyways. It's just been a while. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: It's a great way of getting you back in. I, there, there was the example That the manager would go around and say, "Oh, is this your first time?" They had different colored napkins, so he knew- The servers ask us, they're the new ones that don't recognize us. Jimmy Lea: They ask, "Have you guys been in before?" It's like, "Oh, yeah." Yeah. All right. "You can hold on to the menu. N- unless you need it to show us that you haven't taken the order yet," right? Yeah. Yeah. The the managers are going around and they're giving away, "Hey, on your second visit, make sure you try the cheesecake, and here's a coupon for a free cheesecake." Jimmy Lea: You get me back for a $100 meal for a free cheesecake, is it worth it? Craig O'Neill: Totally. Jimmy Lea: What's that cheesecake cost you? Craig O'Neill: Cheapest marketing. All right. So look- Cheesecake more cost ... how much Jimmy Lea: money Craig O'Neill: do you spend on other marketing efforts for what kind of results? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And we've got to do the optimizing everywhere. Jimmy Lea: We've got to optimize ourself in all the locations. There's, which is true. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: But also how effective, and it's extremely, ex- extremely effective when they're there at your shop enjoying the experience, you give them a reason to come back. Craig O'Neill: Yes. And I like what you said there, Jimmy, and I think that's worth drawing some out a little further. Craig O'Neill: What you described is what I we have an improv club in our Toastmasters club, so the we play a lot of improv games, and we've been taught the yes and- Yes and ... approach. Yes and. Yes and. It is, it's, so it's a rule in improv where one of the people in your troupe are make something, that's truth now. Craig O'Neill: You react with that. It's not, you can't go combat this thing. It's not this or this. It's these things now have to be recognized as, as connected. The reality of Jimmy Lea: what you create. Combining forces for something good. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So you said- Using that idea ... all networks, all channels, and this is exactly it. Craig O'Neill: This conversation that we're having doesn't say "Oh, yeah, we just master this and we won't need to spend as much money in this other area." That's not necessarily the case. Now, although maybe you have have some restructuring of that, it's you do refine your strategy on how your team is engaging retention, and you continue your outreach efforts, and maybe restructure how your phone call skills and other things go into all the m- effort you did take towards generating leads actually gets converted into real clients that come back again. Jimmy Lea: Oh, yeah. W- I was talking to a shop the other day, "My marketing's not working. My marketing's not working. I need to redo all my marketing." Got digging into his phone call log, discovered 43% of phone calls were- Ooh ... not being answered. No. 43%. Craig O'Neill: This is the world th- that AI assistants are entering. Craig O'Neill: And Jimmy- Yes ... this is this is the deepest, saddest thing in the world for me. AI assistants are one, a thing that is i- in demand and two, that it's sometimes better than the Jimmy Lea: people. If you're not able to answer the phone, you need to figure out either you need a human that's there answering the phone, or you implement this AI answering system- Oh, man Jimmy Lea: that's tied to your point of sale that sees your schedule, that can schedule- Better Craig O'Neill: at containing the context and keeping the notes and everything else ... four different... Jimmy Lea: Absolutely. Craig O'Neill: Yeah, I know. Jimmy Lea: And it's true. If- I do not support the idea that the AI answering your system is going to replace your advisor. Jimmy Lea: Absolutely not. Yeah. Craig O'Neill: No. Jimmy Lea: You do need to answer the phone as quickly as you humanly possibly can, but if you're not able to, that's where you've got this backup that can take care of business. And it's an interesting thing. Craig O'Neill: And this backup Jimmy Lea: is just that. Yeah. It needs to be backup, not plan A. Craig O'Neill: Oh, not plan A. Craig O'Neill: And in fact, you need to be aware And we were having this conversation in our team, too 'cause our sales guys, when they're calling shops, they're hitting AI- Jimmy Lea: Yes ... Craig O'Neill: systems far more frequently than they ever used to, and it's interesting to see that volume go. But simultaneously, we understand, like, how do you feel personally when you call a business and the first thing you get is an AI? Craig O'Neill: Are you happy or a little sad about that? And in an election year right now, it has turned divisive. And we did tailor- trace this back to this really started about two weeks ago. Even in demos where we're talking about AI features- ... the data center issue is coming up. And, like, all these things are, like, top of mind, front and center. Craig O'Neill: "Oh, I can't believe you guys are engaging with AI stuff in this world right now." And it's oh, wow, hot button issue. You have an AI assistant, you probably are gonna have a 50/50 split. I'm y- I'm talking 50/50. Some people will love it and think it's fine or just tolerate it. The other 50% are going to hate it, hate you, and may never call you again. Craig O'Neill: And congratulations, now we're in 2026. Yep. Jimmy Lea: And I, I think the 50/50 might be a little, Craig O'Neill: I'm just thinking about how the elections play out- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... for two different parties. I propose there's probably a 30%, maybe a 33% that loves it, 33%- Fair ... that hates it, and 33% that's in that middle that says, "Ah." Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: I Craig O'Neill: would love to see a strong third party too, Jimmy, but that's neither here nor there. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. So look at this though. We talked orientation. We don't have a whole organization structured towards retention. Now I had a great coach. Bob Greenwood was my coach. He passed away 2021. And I talk about this frequently. I echo what he taught me a long time ago, and he described our professional responsibility. Craig O'Neill: He asked the question, "What's our job? What's our job? What is your job?" I remember being the technician in the room that raised my hand, and I told him what he was expecting someone in the room to raise their hand and say. Jimmy Lea: Fix cars. " Craig O'Neill: I fix cars." Yep. He pounced. He was ready. This is what he did. I've seen him do it multiple conversations after that. Craig O'Neill: He said, "No. Your job, your professional responsibility, is to make sure the vehicle's safe, reliable, and efficient. That's the job. And that, Mr. Client, is why we do a multi-point inspection on every vehicle that we do, and we will send this digitally to you, and we won't let you down." And there's lots more that goes into that, but there's a whole underlaying sense of purpose about the service that we provided. Craig O'Neill: And if that is our job, to make sure the vehicle's safe, reliable, and efficient, we owe it to our customers to be participants in that- Yeah ... as a member of the community of which they are also driving in. It has direct benefits to us and the other people we love on the streets. But that's an orientation, right? Craig O'Neill: And if that is what you believe about your purpose in this industry- Amen ... yeah, we're gonna start following up with the strong ability to communicate that sense of purpose, and people will hear the conviction in there and that commitment that you made to not letting them down. And that is not going to be heard in your competitors. Craig O'Neill: If you master this, and you don't, you will stand out, I promise you. Jimmy Lea: It's true. It's true. Yeah. Craig, this is a, a phenomenal conversation that we're having, talking about all things marketing, customers, customer relationships. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Managing those relationships, communicating in their preferred method, form, and fashion. Jimmy Lea: This is gonna continue in our Mars Conference. I can't wait. Let's throw up that QR code again. If you are able to attend, and you are listening to this, today is... What day is today? Craig O'Neill: Today is the 9th. Jimmy Lea: September 9th It's called Wednesday. September 9th, intensive giveaway winners. Oh, don't forget the giveaway winners here, Craig. Jimmy Lea: We've- Oh ... le- but- Great Do you wanna announce the winners first, or do you wanna announce the the special giveaway for everybody listening? Craig O'Neill: Let's do the winners first, Jimmy. I'm excited. So we had a drawing as we had two tickets to give away to Mars, and we have two winners, and we'll be sending emails to these winners as well. Craig O'Neill: Winner number one, Preston Callahan. Winner number two, Jordan Jawarenko. And we will get those emails out to you and hope to see you in Utah. And yeah bring your hiking shoes if you wanna go up in the hills with me. I definitely encourage getting up in the hills. So- Jimmy Lea: Are you gonna be rucking? Craig O'Neill: Oh, see, when I'm in the hills I don't just bring useless weight, I bring actual hiking gear, so I just call it hiking when I'm actually in a mountain. Jimmy Lea: When you're in Utah, you go hiking. Yeah. Everywhere else it's Craig O'Neill: rucking. Yeah. Rucking is what I would call urban hiking. Jimmy Lea: It's for you flatlanders. Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Yeah. So no, I will definitely be ha- I have a pack, I have I put water in there for weight and snacks that I can eat, and the, the idea is you get it lighter as you go with that sort of stuff, but- Oh ... it's absolutely beautiful. So these- Yeah ... are the winners from the Autoflow drawing that we'd had. Craig O'Neill: Those of you who did not win on that drawing, we'll still email you and hope to see you in Utah. Take advantage of this promotion. I think it's gonna be a great conversation. I've done this intensive multiple times. Jimmy, I gotta give you guys some props on this because this is my favorite format literally in all events that I go to. Craig O'Neill: You're in one room together at your headquarters in Ogden, Utah- Yeah ... which is a cool town. Everyone hears the same presenter. We get everyone here asking those same questions, and then- Yep ... the next presenter's gonna be up, and then we do that. We have great food in between, and then there's breakout sessions afterward where we get to go and break out into groups and discuss everything that's done. Craig O'Neill: No one's missing any of the context from any of the presentations. It's not like you're in one session and then another session is going on and "Man, that would've been a cool talk too, but this is really good." You don't have any fear of missing out on anything that's happening. Everybody's a participant the whole way. Craig O'Neill: It's awesome. Jimmy Lea: Oh, and I love the, the vendors are included. Everyone is in the same- Yeah ... room, and we're having these conversations together. It's not just shop owner to shop owner point of view. We get everybody's point of view in on these conversations- Yeah ... which is super awesome. All right. So if you scan this QR code, grab out your smartphone, scan this QR code, this is a coupon. Jimmy Lea: It is on- coupon, oh, I hate calling it that. Yeah. This is a special member VIP. Because you are watching this webinar, this is a cu- the, this code is good until 12:00 AM tomorrow morning, Pacific Daylight Time The code is, and I have to switch over to my other computer, the code is Mars300. This is $300 off of the general admission pricing. Jimmy Lea: So you and a- anybody of the public that is out there, you will get the webinar, the the whole entire intensive, Mars Intensive at the institute member pricing. So use the code Mars, M-A-R-S 300, and that is good until, for in the next, what? 12 hours? Craig O'Neill: Yeah. Where are we? 10, 12- And after Jimmy Lea: you fill that out- Oh, 13 hours. Jimmy Lea: You got 13 hours. Ready, set, go. Go ahead ... after Craig O'Neill: you fill that out, email us and I will tell you my favorite two sushi joints in Ogden, Utah, and maybe we can even grab a bite there. Jimmy Lea: Ooh, that's great. And you know what? We do have a couple of more tickets available. There's not a lot, but there are a few more tickets available for that exclusive dinner with Cecil Bullard. Craig O'Neill: Nice. Jimmy Lea: We're gonna have some great conversations. Those that are speakers are invited to be able to be part of this conversation and it's an exclusive dinner with Cecil, so you're gonna have some really good, intense, great conversations with the speakers of the event, with Cecil being there. These are gonna be some really good focused conversations. Jimmy Lea: Those Craig O'Neill: are my favorite moments, Jimmy. Yeah, the event is one thing, but the conversations that happen throughout and at dinners these... If you're not frequently going to industry events like this is... You owe it to yourself to do this. The ideas that you get to go back with are phenomenal, and the connections that you make and the sense of community that you feel that, that's permanent Jimmy Lea: Agreed. Jimmy Lea: Agreed. Couldn't have said it better. Thank you, Craig. Oh, yeah. Congratulations to Preston. Congratulations to Jordan. Look forward to seeing you in Ogden, Utah, October 26th, 27th and 28th, right before SEMA Apex. And for those who are the adventurous types rent a car. Let's go drive down through Zion and Bryce Canyon and- Yes Jimmy Lea: I'm sure Craig Craig O'Neill: and- Zion. If you haven't been to Zion National Park, what is that place? It is beautiful. It is. Southern Utah, phenomenal, dude. I could go... We have another hour here, so we can just talk about Southern Utah. Man, dude- ... you guys have got the pocket of beauty in this world. It is phenomenal. Craig O'Neill: Like- Jimmy Lea: It's gorgeous. Yeah. It is gorgeous. Craig O'Neill: Absolutely. You will... And Salt Lake City's no joke either. You fly in there, you're gonna think, "This is amazing," and it is. And then you go to Southern Utah and you think "What is... It gets better?" Jimmy Lea: Yep. Yep. Glad you had a great experience with your family down there in Southern Utah. Craig O'Neill: Dude, my wife and I are flying out a little early. We're staying through the weekend before the Mars Intensive we're gonna be hiking some hills then too. It's hard to get the bigger hikes in between the event stuff. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Craig O'Neill: It gets dark- Yes, it is ... it gets hard on the mountain. Jimmy Lea: It does. It does. Jimmy Lea: Even with that, it's not quite enough. I got you. With that, thank you, Craig. I appreciate you being here, brother. Oh, thanks. Thank you so much. Look forward to Mars- Can't wait ... the Mars Intensive. Let's continue this conversation. Let's get in deeper with these conversations and have a great time. I will see you there. Jimmy Lea: Thank you, everybody. See Craig O'Neill: you soon.
Shop Owners: Maybe YOU'RE the Problem | Tristin Sweeney - 38
Rick White was my VERY FIRST business coach, and trust me when I say he helped me get my shop-owner life together! 😂 Now I’m proud to have 180Biz presenting Downshift, so head to 180Biz.com and book your FREE strategy session with Rick because, honey, you don’t know what you don’t know!Y’all, if you missed the first Tektonic, you missed a GOOD one, but you've got another chance! 😂 Tekmetric is going even BIGGER in Houston, Texas, April 1–3, 2027, so head to Tekmetric.com/Tektonic and get registered because you're NOT missing out twice!Consistency is key - heard that! But, consistency is HARD. That's why I gave up on trying and let the experts handle it. Detect Auto. Let them clean up your estimating process and raise your ARO - like they did for me! CLICK HERE TO BOOK A DEMOAt 29 years old, Tristin Sweeney is running an auto repair shop, building automotive technology, and questioning some of the industry's favorite excuses. In this episode, Tonnika Haynes talks with Tristin about his unconventional path from the startup world into automotive, acquiring Honest Automotive, building Shift, and why owning a shop became the ultimate testing ground for solving real industry problems. But things get spicy when they tackle the supposed technician shortage, outdated hiring practices, shop owners blaming younger generations, and why good employees may be leaving shops that refuse to change. They also dig into AI, technician training, communication, leadership, burnout, and why new technology should solve problems instead of creating more work. If you're a shop owner who keeps saying, “Nobody wants to work anymore,” this conversation might make you look in the mirror.Timestamps:00:00 Why automotive has become unattractive to work in00:23 Downshift intro00:42 Meet Tristin Sweeney: 29, busy, and obsessed with automotive01:23 Audi, Volkswagens, and where the car obsession started03:15 Can you be a great service advisor without knowing cars?04:40 There are more automotive careers than turning wrenches06:26 From tech startups to the automotive industry07:17 Getting laid off, joining ShopGenie, and finding his industry09:17 Running TWO automotive businesses at 2910:11 How Tristin bought Honest Automotive after finding it on Facebook14:01 Has shop ownership given him gray hair yet?14:32 Building a shop around passion and customer experience16:21 Honest Automotive is also Tristin’s “laboratory”16:48 How Shift Automotive was born18:19 Building software from the problems that drive shop owners crazy19:10 Technology problem or people problem?20:17 How does someone working 60–70 hours a week avoid burnout?22:55 Success isn’t worth burning yourself out by 3023:19 Tonnika gets VERY personal about Tristin having kids 😂25:32 Why Tristin is committed to automotive for the long haul28:53 Shift grows to more than 150 shops30:02 Why simply SHOWING UP can change your career31:21 The “Gen Z stare” and learning how to communicate33:34 Get in rooms where you’re uncomfortable37:04 What will automotive look like 10 years from now?41:11 Shop owners who ignore AI WILL get left behind42:43 How should shops prepare technicians for new technology?43:27 Does every tech need to understand the newest cars right now?45:48 Why the next generation matters more than ever47:58 What does a technician actually need to “look like”?48:48 Is the technician shortage actually a hiring problem?49:48 How many great technicians are shops overlooking?50:48 “I hire people. I don’t hire jobs.”52:00 Why automotive can be an unattractive place to work54:18 Great shops generally aren’t struggling to find applicants54:51 The talent is out there—and some of them want to leave their current shop55:55 If recruiters can steal your technicians, that’s a YOU problem56:04 Most shop problems start with the owner57:30 Accepting criticism from your employees—even your own son58:03 Old-school leadership vs. the way Tonnika leads today59:33 The macaroni-and-cheese recipe for evolving a family business1:01:47 Is treating every employee differently “coddling”?1:03:50 Why one universal pay plan doesn’t work for everyone1:04:39 Flexible schedules, flat rate, salary, and what actually motivates people1:07:08 Shop owners who refuse to compromise may lose great technicians1:07:56 Bad bosses create the next generation of bad bosses1:08:21 Why leadership and communication have to be learned1:13:00 Stop micromanaging every detail of your shop1:14:22 “Granddad did it that way” isn’t a good enough reason anymore1:15:28 The Carfax data debate gets spicy 😂1:16:24 What Carfax actually gets from your shop1:17:47 Tonnika’s grandfather discovers OnStar and thinks “they’re coming for him”1:19:03 Technology fear usually comes from misunderstanding1:19:45 Tristin’s legacy: Leave automotive better than he found it1:20:00 Where to find Honest Automotive and Shift Automotive1:21:22 Closing, AI hot takes, and what’s next
Why Young Technicians Keep Failing | Riley Spence - Ep 36
Rick White was my VERY FIRST business coach, and trust me when I say he helped me get my shop-owner life together! 😂 Now I’m proud to have 180Biz presenting Downshift, so head to 180Biz.com and book your FREE strategy session with Rick because, honey, you don’t know what you don’t know!Y’all, if you missed the first Tektonic, you missed a GOOD one, but you've got another chance! 😂 Tekmetric is going even BIGGER in Houston, Texas, April 1–3, 2027, so head to Tekmetric.com/Tektonic and get registered because you're NOT missing out twice!Anybody can run a shop. Building one that lasts? That's a whole different story. If you're ready to build smarter systems and a better experience for your team and customers, check out Tekmetric HERE00:00 Meet Riley Spence and the dangers of reading internet comments03:12 Starting in the automotive industry at 14 years old04:54 Learning from mistakes, trouble, and a different career path06:06 Moving from turning wrenches into service and parts management07:36 Being promoted without training, procedures, or support08:21 Are service advisors really doing the easier job?09:52 How technician roles differ between dealerships, independents, and fleets12:31 Front and back must work together—not against each other14:35 Ego, arguments, and the shop cultures nobody wants17:23 Why Riley loves his current shop and the people around him18:34 Not every mentor is right for every apprentice19:02 Riley admits how ego hurt him as a young technician20:11 What Tonnika tells young employees who ask for help but won’t listen22:20 Making mistakes, slowing down, and learning without giving up24:20 What happens when a technician oversells their abilities25:51 Tonnika’s “green banana” scale for inexperienced technicians26:54 Do experienced technicians actually want to teach the next generation?28:30 The most important lesson for apprentices: shut up and listen30:00 Could an experienced technician learn from a 20-year-old apprentice?33:00 How younger employees can make an entire shop better35:18 Accountability, respect, and preparing young people for the workforce37:42 Mental health is real—but it cannot erase accountability41:04 Work-life balance and creating a safe place for technicians to talk44:10 Riley shares a costly mistake involving a car with no brake pedal47:52 The high-school dropout who became a talented technician50:35 Finding potential in unexpected employees51:24 How shops can make automotive careers more attractive53:01 Tool allowances and helping young technicians build a toolbox54:45 Why shops need to invest in training55:20 Technicians don’t have to wait for their employer to educate them58:40 Don’t let a bad shop stop your career growth01:03:00 Why support at home matters in a demanding automotive career01:05:11 Parenting your own children is not “babysitting”01:07:33 From “Brown’s daughter” to “Tonnika’s dad”01:08:09 Making a difference in employees’ lives01:10:36 What legacy really means inside and outside the shop01:12:52 Why shop owners need honest feedback from their employees01:21:11 Jordan’s roadside repair and a helpful stranger01:22:11 Banana pudding, Southern culture, and automotive friendships01:23:47 The automotive leaders Riley admires01:26:32 Why conversations and community are changing the industry01:27:00 Why Tonnika finally started a podcast01:27:29 Showing young people that automotive can be a great career01:29:24 Riley’s responsibility to the next generation01:29:42 Dirty hands, clean money
