Turn Your Parts Spend Into Team Rewards with the NAPA Team Tool Rebate [THA 483]

0:00This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network. Hey everybody, Carm Capriato, Remarkable Results Radio, and another Town Hall Academy. I got a hell of an episode coming up for you. You're going to learn an awful lot and you're going to understand how important the NAPA Team Tool Rebate is. Thanks so much to NAPA Tracks. Let me tell you something, with everyday education, feet on the street, and you realizing that there's so much more that you have to do with your SMS, NapaTrax is just a great option for you.

0:32And if you're a Napa— I just found out a couple days ago, you don't have to even be in Napa to get NapaTrax. That's the coolest. NapaTrax, N-A-P-A-T-R-A-X dot com. Thanks so much for having us here. Thank you to Sherry and Vision 2026. And I have my conference voice because I spoke a little too long, hard. I was drinking water at the bar.

0:52Yes, I was. But thanks to all of our other great sponsors. Hey, for over 30 years, Napa Trax has made selecting the right shop management system easy by offering the best, most comprehensive SMS in the industry. We'll prove to you that Trax is the single best shop management system in the business. Find Napa Trax on the web at napatrax.com. Ready to optimize with today's class?

1:20Boy, listen to an episode we did with David Boyes. Great program. Roll out a training plan for your automotive shop in just 5 minutes daily. Boost knowledge retention and improve team performance. Start seeing results today. Join your peers at today'sclass.com. Shop owners, stop juggling multiple marketing tools. Kukui's integrated platform— they deliver 4 times better website conversions, automated follow-up, and real-time ROI tracking.

1:49Get industry-leading customer support with Kukui. That's K-U-K-U-I.com. You're probably tired of chasing new customers who never return. We understand. Pit Crew Loyalty ends the one-and-done cycle, turning first visits into lasting, reliable revenue. On the web at pitcrewloyalty.com. Welcome back. Jason Rainey's here with me. Hello, VP, NAPA Auto Care, and a million other things that you said yes to of late. Yeah. Auto Tech Training.

2:22Yeah. Tracks. I know. Major accounts. Major accounts. AAA. And we had this great episode in here with Rob and Matt. And you know what, I would've loved to have been a fly on the water there, or on the wall there. Yeah. Mm-hmm. You'll be able to listen to it. Robin is a lot, isn't he? No, no, no, no, no. Robin is the most excitable guy.

2:40Oh, Robin's never frowns. He's got this perpetual smile. I've never seen someone who loves what he does. That's awesome. Yeah. And so it's all about this whole new rebirth— intelligent, forward-moving thinking, extended reality, augmented reality, all this stuff. He even brought the glasses with him. And oh yeah, oh, I'm telling you, whoever came up with this entire concept of moving into truly the 22nd century by involving the level of education through technology like you are.

3:15Brilliant. The thing that I think is so cool about it is, you know, we've been talking to this next generation for years, right? Cars are technical sensors, rolling computers, and now you're actually taking the technology that they grew up with. Yeah. And applying it to a skill set that can last the next 40 years. 100%. Like, you're bringing it together, and Robin does a really good job of— oof, scary good.

3:37Everything about him is like contagious, like You can't help but not get on board with him. So yeah, he's cool. Lauren Briggs is here, the director of sales and marketing. It's the Team Tool Rebate that we're going to talk about. When we were at NAPA NOW in Las Vegas, you guys came in and talked about it. Yes, we're doing this really cool thing with Team Tool Rebate, and it actually— you went through the end of the year and all the good stuff churned.

4:04Shops end up getting money that they can do things with to buy tools, to engage in and reward their people. You've got the stories to tell. I don't. You're here so that you can tell us what's going on with the Team Tool Rebate. Yeah, I mean, it was amazing getting to see what a lot of our shop owners were able to do for their current technicians that are in their shop, and they're using it as a recruitment tool too going into 2026.

4:32So yeah, we've had a lot of success with it. What's the word? An allowance? That's— yes and no. Think about that. I mean, Yeah, I know you don't get the team tool rebate till the end of the year, but now that you've gotten it and say it's an insane number, like you're gonna talk about in a minute, but say it was like 5 or 6 grand, you got 3 or 4 people.

4:49It's not hard to say as long as we keep our numbers up with NAPA, which would be crazy not to, and you continue to grow, that stash of cash is gonna be there. Yeah, it really solidifies that we're in this for more than just selling parts. I mean, obviously that's what NAPA does, but this is a partnership and We're willing to invest in your team to help you.

5:11You sell tools. Yeah. You need tools to do the job. Since we launched it back at the NAPA NOW conference and then having the first year under our belt. So, let's explain a little bit about the program, right? So, the idea really came by us of trying to really, one, build on culture because we know culture is so important. And obviously the biggest pain stake is for these technicians is the investment they need to make in these tools.

5:39With us having the ability to be a full-line tool and equipment distributor and the launch of this new Carlyle program and all of that, like, why would we not figure that out? That was kind of the vision and the strategy. Now, I will say this, and look, at the end, at the end of the day, people only want to see what comes out of the chimney, you know, when it's done.

6:00It was a ton of work. I mean, for Lauren and the AutoCare team, it's new. Nobody's ever done it before. So how do you distribute the funds? How do you How do you work through all of our sellers? Like, it was a lot. I can't imagine. And so in having been around a while, you know, we are always a little bit slow in our first year of launching anything.

6:25But now that we have that year under our belt, like, we know exactly what we need to improve on. We know exactly what different communication things we need to build on. But I will tell you the coolest part about it was, is as we started distributing the funds, And this was just a timing thing, right? So we released these funds in October, and shops were using it as part of their Christmas parties or their holiday season.

6:53The pictures, and I mean, it looked— they were like rewarding tools. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah. And I mean, like, big team photos and just Carlisle Venom Green everywhere, Milwaukee Tools, DeWalt. I mean, it was just equipment, like, I mean, it was just exciting. And so we know exactly what we need to improve on for next year. Yep. But now we also have shops saying, okay.

7:19The disappointing piece of it was, is we had a few shops that are like, how did I even get this? That's where we need to build on this, 'cause it's like, well, you didn't really change behavior. Now we know how we can apply to that. Isn't communications in all the layers the toughest thing? Oh my gosh. And you think you've got it nailed down.

7:38We felt like we did a really good job communicating and we found out there was so much room to grow. So that's what we're building on this year is, okay, letting you know throughout the year, this is what you've earned so far. You got 18,000 Auto Cares out there. Yeah. And I'm sure all the information's on the website and it's in the brain of your salespeople.

7:59And I don't know how many you have out there, but let's just say it's a 4-figure number and facing all of your clients. And still, what's this? Yeah, I'm going to twist this whole thing. I'm texting Pete. Yeah, Pete's going to do a walk-in for us and he's going to tell you how he used it, cuz I had dinner with him last night.

8:17You connected with him? Yeah. Okay, this is really cool. As much as this feels unrehearsed, this is truly live because we were really looking for a fourth guest to tell you what he did with his team tool rebate, which Jason says he found out about last night. So he's gonna come in? He's gonna come in. So we're back, and if you're watching on YouTube or any video, you see we found a guest.

8:42It's amazing when the doors knock and you say, oh, it must be an emergency, maybe mom's calling from home, and then you open the door and it's Pete McNeil. Oh my God. And he has no idea why the hell he's here. No, none. It's Pete McNeil's Auto Care, Sandy and Riverton, Utah. I was speaking with them last night. Jason and Lauren came in, and before we even were going to turn on the microphones, Jason says, oh, I got him, he called me back.

9:08He says, but we need to invite him in here and not even tell him why he's here. So if you've been listening to the show up so far, you know what our topic is, but Pete doesn't. That's a cool thing. And I'll give it back to you, Jason. All right, so Pete, the topic is the team tool rebate. We kind of set the stage on why we were doing it.

9:26What we wanted to— What our goals were. What our goal, our purpose was with it. So last night, Pete and I had dinner together with his team. And so they actually took me through how they spent it. And so I wanted Pete to share that story because it is 100% the thought process behind what we wanted to accomplish with it. I'm going to turn it over to him so that he can take you through it.

9:55But Jake brought it up on his phone, a spreadsheet with every one of the guys and all of that. So, so cool. I'm not going to tell the story. That's why he's here. Talk to us, baby. Well, here we go. Yeah, you know, I think that's something that Jake and I have talked about for many, many years, right? Like, we know so much of the decision-making for parts happens on the front side, but the influence is on the back side.

10:18When we found out that there was going to be some type of incentive We were ecstatic, super excited. Our rep came in from our distribution center and let us know that the reward program indeed took place. They started at mid-year. It was a sizable amount of money. And without hesitation, I let Jake know, and he said, "How are we going to do this?"

10:41And in doing so, we decided to come up with a plan that we felt would, number one, be just a great experience for our technicians. And we decided to take 100% and divide it amongst all of our technicians. We gave a certificate because we wanted them to feel like they had earned something, which I feel these guys work so hard that it's time they receive something good.

11:07So not only did we give them a certificate and the amount, we gave them the catalogs and access to everything, and we asked them to put a wishlist together. Of what they think would help them. Now, Jake also took it hard. What can these guys use, right? What would best help them at this stage in their career? So we collaborated and we ended up doing like a presentation ceremony.

11:31We waited for all the tools to show up. We did a separate celebration at each location and we literally put everything out on display and we called each technician up and let them know Here's what you ordered. Here was the excitement. And I got to get this clarification. So I gave you my wish list. They did— why he's here, but Lauren and I can't tell this story.

11:53This is— but I got to understand, they gave you a wish list, but what they didn't know is you bought it. Yeah, they didn't know. Yeah. And so when they showed up at whatever point in time, all of a sudden their wish list came true. Keep that Santa. Yeah, I'll tell you, I do think this is important. It was around that time of year We purposely did not do it as a Christmas gift.

12:14Ah, okay. This was earned. Okay. This was something that we wanted to be a true benefit of their hard work, their commitment, their dedication. So we did Christmas. That was a separate deal, right? We do our gifts. We do something that benefits them then, but this was in and of itself. Listen, I love that. I'm great no matter how shops want to do it, right?

12:36I've been to one of his Christmas parties and it is off the chain. What they do for their team is incredible. And I got a really sweet jacket out of it too, so thank you. But I'm glad to hear you say that because you wanted to make sure that this was completely separate. This was not part of your holiday party that you do.

12:56Yeah, we didn't want this to feel that we were tying it into something else and manipulate it to look like it was different than what it was. Yeah, this was earned. Okay, tell me about the reactions of your people. Oh, I'm telling you, especially the 10-year technicians, they're seasoned, they've got a very large arsenal, right? But there's always that one item that, yeah, if I had a little extra, I would get it.

13:20But I'll tell you what, the ones, the apprentices that we've graduated that are 5 years in, 6 years in, they're still assembling. And as they're learning and Jake's saying, hey, this really would make your job a lot easier, one bought a picoscope. Yep. And those are the game changers, right? And I'll tell you, I think they were surprised because it was all done together.

13:40I think there was a, well, maybe I'm going to get a couple of these items and they'll show up 2 months later. And you know, this was expedited quick. We received everything in about a 2-week period, but we waited until, and guys, we created an email after we did the presentation that they had this allocated money available and we asked them to email their requests.

13:59So we had everything in writing. We kept a list and I love that idea. Hey, let's face it, your shop management system is the single most important tool in your shop, period. NapaTrax has made selecting the right shop management system easy by offering the industry's best, most comprehensive SMS. Now it all starts when a local representative meets with you to learn about your business and how you need to run it.

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16:23Stop working harder, start working smarter. Get industry-leading customer support, and book a demo with Kukui. That's K-U-K-U-I.com. You know, most shop owners feel trapped spending on ads while half their first-time customers never come back. It's frustrating. It's exhausting. And it's not your fault. The industry average is 54% one-and-dones. We understand how discouraging that can be. Well, Pit Crew Loyalty changes the story.

16:50Our clients cut that rate by up to 38%, raising lifetime value by more than 50%. Loyalty members visit nearly 3 times more often, creating predictable revenue without extra ad spend. Pit Crew Loyalty, where customers stay and shops thrive. On the web at pitcrewloyalty.com. What I want to know is how did you manage the formula or the split of the money between the team?

17:17Great question. You know what? It didn't take that long for me to determine it. And again, I made sure Jake and I were both aligned. That we took all of our technicians that are full-time and we divided it evenly amongst every technician. Unbelievable. 100%. Brand new people got a percentage of that? Anybody that was a full-time technician. Yeah. What about somebody with you 6 months?

17:38Did they get anything? We actually— if somebody for that year had been with us 6 months, we gave them 50% of that. 50% of that normal amount? Yeah. And you kept working it back till you spent all that money. You wouldn't care at all to tell us how much it was, would you, Pete? I mean, that may be a breach of confidentiality.

17:54I don't mind. Was it substantial? At your level, you're more than happy to— it was your money, you earned it. So if you're comfortable sharing it, it sounds confidential to me. It shows the size of business Pete runs. But if someone could be listening to this to say, wow, Pete earned that, maybe I can. And look what I could do. So before he shares the number, let me just kind of give you how it works, right?

18:16So we give a certain percentage for all of our NAPA Autocare Centers that they're eligible to earn.. But because Pete is a NAPA Autocare Gold Certified shop, he gets an additional rebate towards it. Okay. A higher percentage. A higher percentage. So share the number, 'cause I think it's phenomenal. Yeah, it was just shy of $13,000. Geez. Yeah. That's a lot of tools.

18:39$13 grand that he was able to give back to his technicians to support their skillset. This is the reason why we did it. Yeah. This is what we wanted. And so last night when we were talking about it at dinner, now everybody on the shop's on board because now the process is in place. No question. Right. So they're constantly like, okay, what's our NAPA bill?

18:59Where are we at? How much are we doing with NAPA? And it creates the opportunities, right? Like maybe if we're underperforming in whatever area or with a category line, we can have those conversations because now Pete can come back to us and say, hey, this is impacting my team tool rebate. Right. Or the service advisor second-guessing before— Erica second-guessing before she hits that I have no doubt our technician team, knowing what they received, is absolutely going to impact their support and commitment both on the part side and on the tool side, right?

19:28We've got Carlisle trying to commit. There's a lot of good things going on, but the synergy now is with the technician, right? Where it should have been anyway, right? For a long time. And the fact that it's gone this way, I couldn't be happier. And Pete, we've had this conversation for years, right? Pete and I, Lauren, we're all very close. We're connected.

19:46But the reality of it is, is the parts purchases and the decisions that are made in the shop are done by the technicians, the service writers, and the service managers. You're running the business, right? Your assumption is this is my partner and that's what's happening. But sometimes, yes, things happen. Absolutely. And now, for the first time that I can think of, We have actually created a program that benefits all people working in the shop.

20:13Exactly. Everyone. And so I have a question. When you say all, I don't know if it was Pete or you, Jason, said front of shop, back of shop. Okay. The connectivity there and why it's important that there's a pull and a push. Are any of your service writers in this? It's only technicians, I think I heard you say. Yeah, we purposely made sure it was to support the technicians.

20:31Hey, listen, salespeople have a lot of opportunity. There are other incentives. Okay. So they're in on some other kind of incentive. Right. But to the point, if it's a tune, team, tool rebate, our people need tools. This is how they make their living. But here's the cool thing what Lauren's group has put together. And I say Lauren's group because honestly, and I said it before, it's a lot of work.

20:53We built this thing to be as flexible as it possibly could be, right? To be able to serve the appetite of whatever the shop needs, right? Some folks gave it to service managers. Some folks used it to buy a piece of equipment to benefit the entire shop. Yeah. We had a BDG that actually bought a piece of equipment and gave it to their local Vo-Tech school.

21:17Nice. On behalf of all of that. So it's completely flexible for however each shop owner wants to distribute the funds. That's brilliant. Which is extremely hard in our network of 18,000+ independent shop owners. It would be so cool though to maybe reach out to the Carlisle team or the BDG groups and say, we want these stories to be told. Well, send them up.

21:41Check out the Q2 of Insight Magazine. You're going to read two different stories, one about that business development group and one about our former Shop of the Year, Larry and Kara Rose, and what they did for their team, which is similar to what Pete— what you did. I'm interviewing them in a couple of weeks. Cool. Yeah. Insight Quarter 1 came just before I was leaving, so I didn't have a chance to read it.

22:02Yep, that highlights the Vols Automotive. They're Shop of the Year, and just blanked on his name, our Tech of the Year. Yeah, yeah, there's an article in there from me, Carm's Corner. Yes. Yeah. And thank you for letting me do that. I love to do that. I just look at the pictures. I know, it's a good picture. Ever since I was a kid.

22:22Yeah. Pete, this is fabulous. You got Wrangle to come in here to tell you. It is a great story. And I would hope that if you're listening and you're an auto care and you just said, oh, this is nice, send us that, and you didn't think about what else you could do that would impact the souls that work in your business. Yeah, it's going to be even bigger this year.

22:48Like I mentioned, we're doing more on the communication side so that you know all year what you're building towards. Your team, you know what they're building towards. But then we're working more closely with our tools and equipment suppliers to really bring some cool promotions and good stuff for you guys to make the money go even further for your teams. I really am excited that we finally have something that is a giveback to the technicians.

23:12I mean, it is so hard to give them recognition. It's so hard to do something that's positive. They're working so hard and so diligent in this space. That I thought it was honestly one of the best things that the industry's done in a long, long time. So this is why I was so adamant about it— don't have it be us, right? Like, when Pete was sharing it, like, we can't do justice to what he did, right?

23:36So Pete is a great example of what we're talking about we need in this industry, of mentorship and being just a good human, right? This was our way of being able to help him with that. And he gets full credit for it. But when he's actually attracting new talent to come into his business, he can use this and say, because of my partnership with Napa, I'm able to do X, Y, and Z, and this is how it benefits everyone on the team.

24:05That's taking the ball and running with it, which was exactly what we envisioned with it. And honestly, and I go back to like October and November when it was just so daunting on this team, right? When you hear this, it makes it all worth it. I already knew it was worth it, but then it just really solidifies like, yeah, this was the right move.

24:25Yeah. So I have this wild idea because my brain never sleeps. Here we go. Yeah, I know. And I know that there's an awful lot of shop owners out there that have tool allowances and/or something for their people. It may be monthly, something on this truck or that truck. Here's the idea. The idea is double. Meaning I got this rebate coming in because I supported NAPA and it's $8,000.

24:48I want everybody to know what we're going to do with it. But you know what? I'm moving some of the monies that we're spending in other places on tools and equipment for the company. And I'm going to take that $8,000 and make it $16,000. Yeah. We had some shop owners do that. Really? Yeah. Wow. That's why what we were saying earlier, we were able to actually build this to be flexible, to be whatever, however you want it to be.

25:08It's your gig. When we first rolled out with this, it was Tech Tool Rebate. And our counsel said, well, what if, to the point we were making earlier, what if we've got service writers that also work on their cars and they want to get some tools or, you know, they're toying with going back to the back of the house. And so we changed it to Team Tool Rebate for that exact reason.

25:27So to really enhance the flexibility. Okay. Is it October to October? So year 1, we rolled it back to January. So it was January through September. And then for year 2 and on, it'll be October to through September, they get paid in October. It's nice because the owner needs to get it, know what it is, and figure out what to do with it.

25:45And I love Pete's idea. Don't make it a Christmas gift. It's part of the culture of why you're here. That's what I love about the flexibility, because for some shops, that's a really nice way. That is great. I'm not saying not to. Yeah, but I love the fact that if you're a great Christmas player already, right, don't miss the power that Team Tool Rebate could be.

26:07By including it in Christmas. 100%. Yeah, you know, guys, we do do a tool credit for our technicians. You know, we do it in a ticket format, and we have a couple of tool trucks that they're allowed to redeem that. That's still going to go on. We didn't want this to be the— but this is going to be the celebrated reward, right?

26:25Yeah. And I think that's the difference. Damn. Okay, there's a couple tools I think I need. Hire me. Come on over. So your warranties are going to go through the roof. So I have this really wild thought. Anybody on their wish list, buy something for home because you can buy a tool to bring home, you know, a gun, a Rapid, the things that you'd want to have, maybe a— I don't know, does Carlisle have leaf blowers or stuff like that?

26:54No, they do. Yeah, they have it all. Yeah, that's what I have it all. That's one of the reasons why we were able to do this, because we are a full-line tool and equipment distributor. Yeah, yeah. And that's why even with some shops that elected to have service managers, service writers do it, they did use that as a way to buy Christmas presents for dad.

27:12Yeah. Or whatever. I mean, Milwaukee, Carlisle, like that's the benefit. Imagine this, somebody's listening to this and saying, okay, I gotta get off, off my top dead center and really do something with this because imagine getting a Carlisle catalog and walking around the shop, shaking people's hands and saying, here, we're working toward this. Yeah. You may wanna start looking at that. What we did last year and what our program is to give you something this year.

27:37Let's assume it's not going to be any less. So once you start looking— yeah, so awesome. Well, so here— all right, I'm going to share this one thing because this is what it reminded me of, and I'm going to show my age. So sorry. When I was a kid, Toys R Us— you've never heard of them? You've never heard of them? Oh yeah, we're not that young.

27:59They did a Christmas spree where you could spend 5 minutes in the store and you could load up your cart with everything you wanted in 5 minutes and then you just got it for free. That's kind of what the team tool rebate reminds me of. Like these techs are working in the bay and then all of a sudden somebody drops a Carlisle catalog in front of them.

28:18A spree. Yeah. And just like, hey, you have $800 or whatever it is, like go buy shopping. Yeah. It's so funny. It's so fun. I think if I was a technician and Pete or Jake just walk around and say, hey guys, I just want to tell you, like, here's how much you get. And let's face it, in our world, tools are so cool, right?

28:39Like, there's nothing sexy about a starter or an alternator, right? Techs are like, okay, I gotta have it. Yeah. But you drop the latest and greatest Carlyle widget or Milwaukee tool, they go bananas over it. And so that's what's so fun about it. It's the Tools R Us shopping basket. Exactly, exactly. I love it. If anyone was behind the scenes to figure out what it took to bring on Pete and do this episode, I'm so glad we worked it out so that you could be here.

29:08Oh, it's going to cost me because as soon as we get out of here, I'm so pissed at you. Your Diet Pepsi's sitting right there waiting for it. Oh, perfect. But thank you so much for being here. This was a joy to hear, and I think it's all about the creativity of what you can do with your supplier. And every once in a while, I think we look at things as black and white and they're really colorful, and you need to do things with stuff like that.

29:28Yeah, I agree. Lauren Briggs, Jason Rainey, Pete McNeil, thanks for being here, man. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Napa. Thanks for being on board to listen and learn from the premier automotive repair business podcast, Remarkable Results Radio. Get your episodic education on the ARP N listing app at automotive repair podcast network.com. Also enjoy the podcast on our Carm Capriato YouTube channel.

29:52Carm is all for advancing the professional automotive service industry. Until next time.