Ep 152: She Grew from Zero to Eight Shops in Four Years?? | Jesse Jackson
With Jesse Jackson
Now playing — The Limitless Leadership Podcast
About this episode
In this episode, Josh chats with Jesse Jackson, CEO and founder of Mango Automotive, about her journey in rapidly scaling her company from zero to…
Key takeaways
- —Rapid growth in the automotive repair industry can be achieved through strategic acquisitions.
- —Creating a fun and positive workplace culture is essential for employee satisfaction and retention.
- —Shop owners should consider forming co-ops to increase their business's value and exit potential.
- —Asking questions and maintaining a growth mindset are crucial for personal and organizational development.
- —Understanding the importance of customer experience can significantly impact a shop's success.
Frequently asked
- What strategies did Jessi use to grow Mango Automotive?
- Jessi grew Mango Automotive primarily through acquisitions, rapidly expanding from zero to eight shops in just four years.
- How can shop owners increase the value of their businesses before selling?
- Shop owners can consider joining co-ops to standardize operations and potentially sell for higher multiples than the typical market value.
- What is the significance of a positive workplace culture in the automotive industry?
- A positive workplace culture enhances employee satisfaction, reduces turnover, and ultimately leads to better customer experiences and business performance.
▸Full transcript
to just call upon Elon Musk. Like he says, you know, it's like being the CEO is sort of like eating glass because you get all the worst problems come to you. So you're just eating glass all the time. But I don't know, I wouldn't have it any other way. You are only limited by your creativity. You're listening to the Limitless Leadership Podcast, the podcast designed to help automotive repair shops learn how to lead, coach, train, and manage their team better by sharing proven techniques and thought provoking interviews from industry leaders.
Are you ready to transform your leadership skills by tapping into unrecognized potential to achieve limitless results? Let's get ready for liftoff. It's time to go from great to greater. Here's today's episode. Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Limitless Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Josh Parnell, and before we get started, don't forget to like, comment, subscribe. Do all the things you need to on social media to help this podcast impact people and build leaders.
And speaking of leaders, I'm joined by a fantastic leader, one who I've been excited to interview. I was actually surprised to, to hear about maybe having her as a guest on the podcast, but she is the CEO and founder of Mango Automotive. Our guest today is my friend, Jessi Jackson. Jessi, thank you for being here. What's up, Josh? What's up, Jessie? Love the J's there.
All the J's, all the J's. Well, Jessie, if you would, go ahead and share with our audience who you are, what you do, and how you do it. I'm Jessie, the founder of Mango Automotive, and we have grown from zero to eight figures in three years, and now we're at eight shops. So zero to eight shops in four years, and it's been, you know, it's been a fun ride.
It's been pretty quick. I think when you, you know, look at the trajectory of most shops and how fast they grow. In fact, I applied to an SBA program that's sort of like a little mini MBA that the SBA runs for free, and they called me up after I put in my application and told me that they thought that my application was fake, that the numbers were made up because they never— wow— that quickly.
So that's sort of— we've grown primarily through acquisitions. So that's the power of acquisitions. And I, I, we can talk later, Josh, but now I'm also doing something in, in the co-op space where I think your listeners who are shop owners, it could give them an opportunity to sell for a much higher multiple than they might currently be trading at. Excellent. So we will definitely address that later on in this conversation.
I'll first ask you, Jessie, what got you into this industry? Promotive believes great shops deserve great technicians, and they built a recruiting model designed specifically to deliver that. Their team understands today's technician landscape and the challenges shops face trying to hire in a tight labor market. Promotive manages the entire recruiting effort from start to finish. They source talent proactively, qualify candidates with intention, and maintain clear communication with both sides.
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Funny story, but I mean, I think I grew up in the shop world. Like, one of my grandfathers owned a hitch shop and my other grandfather owned an aviation repair shop, so maybe that felt comfortable to me. But really, my trajectory went from environmental engineering to product, like B2B software, and then the last software that I was in just happened to be in the automotive space.
So I knew a ton about the space and saw an opportunity to help owners essentially retire out of their brick-and-mortar automotive repair shops as the industry is undergoing, you know, yet another transformation, however fast or slow, into the possible electric vehicle world. And so I, I made the leap into acquiring brick-and-mortar automotive repair shops for fun. Josh, for fun. For fun. Well, that you, you use that word fun to describe the, the ride so far, the ride being from zero to eight figures.
In 3 years and 0 to 8 locations in 4 years. And you said it's been a fun ride. I can also imagine it's probably been other adjectives other than fun. Can you describe what it's been like to be a part of that rapid exponential growth in a short amount of time? Look, Josh, I have 7 kids and now I have 8 shops.
I do not like to be bored, so I love me some thrill. I think for me, acquiring automotive repair shops is just where I've been getting my kicks. Like we all have to have our thing that excites us. So, but yeah, I mean, to, uh, to just call upon Elon Musk, like he says, you know, it's like being the CEO is sort of like eating glass because you get all the worst problems come to you.
So you're just eating glass all the time. But I don't know, I wouldn't have it any other way. And that having fun is sort of like part of the culture we built. Because I've been, you know, at jobs where I wanted to cry every day, and life is too short. I don't want to have that experience in my life, and I don't want our employees to have that experience.
I mean, it's not all rainbows and unicorns. Like, life is hard. But at the end of the day, I want it to be a place where people enjoy being because they spend a lot of hours there. I love, I love that concept. I love the fact that that is one of the things that's important to you. Um, fun is actually one of the core values limitless leadership as well.
Um, especially in an industry like, it's, it's a dark industry, like let's call it what it is. I mean, there's a lot of negativity, there's a lot of toxicity, there's a lot of jaded, frustrated people, um, who, who have never known what it's like to, to be a part of an environment where it's a healthy culture, where fun is a part of the equation.
What is it like to instill this level of fun and other amazing pieces that you do with your brand that creates a culture. You've created and cultivated a culture where people want to be a part of it. It's not like your typical, and I shouldn't say typical, but I'll say we're familiar with other shops and we look at it and we're like, oh, I could never be a part of that organization.
How is Mango different? Yeah, I think a typical shop, I'm sure none of your listeners, but you know, a shop that I have been to, you walk in, there's a pot of burnt coffee on the counter and a couch that has oil stains on it and a 10-year-old Sports Illustrated that's offending over 65% of your customers. And then in the back, the owner's screaming at the tax and threatening them and they don't have health insurance.
There's hardly any other benefits. So I think in that way, Elevating both the customer and employee experience is pretty straightforward, right? Like, there's no magic to having a waiting room that people actually feel comfortable sitting down in and treating your employees with respect and offering them benefits. This isn't like some revolutionary idea. It's just deciding that it should be applied in our industry.
You mentioned 7 kids, 8 locations. I mean, I feel like you're start— you're gonna have 8 kids to match the 8. Look, I mean, I don't— I know we lived in the 7 and 7 world for— how long was I there? For almost a year, which was cute. But no, we've— it was cute. They will never match again. Yeah. Okay. My wife and I have 4 kids, and I know how hard it is with 4 kids.
I can only imagine 7 kids. Um, so hey, hats off to you. Last year was the peak because everyone was still in the house. Now they're starting to age out. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Go to college. So things are actually ramping down a bit. Sure. Okay. Well, so things are ramping down in terms of the kid department, but in the location department, I would imagine it's the other way around.
Um, what, what does the future look like for Mango? Leading a shop can be isolating. Especially when you're trying to grow and still take care of your people. Tectonic 2026 brings together shop teams who care about the same things you hear on this podcast: coaching, accountability, training, and building leaders at every level. Expect hands-on workshops, role-based sessions, and honest conversations you can take back to the shop on Monday.
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It's about putting the right team in place. It's about choosing the right vendors to make you a pro, making pro moves. And when I think about the pros, I think about Shop Marketing Pros. The know, like, and trust factor, that's a real thing. And Shop Marketing Pros understands that. That's why I wanna recommend Shop Marketing Pros to become your marketing partner in your shop.
They get to know, like, and trust you and your business to then help your audience get to know, like, and trust you too, and bring your shop to the next level. So when I talk about making pro moves, this is the kind of move I'm I'm talking about. This is the kind of standard-setting partnership that's going to elevate your shop. So if you're ready to become a pro in your shop, visit shopmarketingpros.com and partner with the best.
Good question. So we've grown totally organically with almost, you know, no backing, almost no investment funds. As most of you probably already know, when you're less than 2 years old, you're completely unbankable to begin with. So, you know, on the backs of my personal credit cards, I think is, is how we got started. And that has definitely affected the speed at which we can grow.
Um, a lot of shop owners— the statistic varies, but I, I think it's at least half of shop owners right now are looking to retire in the next 5 to 7 years. So there's a lot of opportunity, and we actually need shop owners to step up and be willing to help out their fellow shop owners by taking over those shops so that shop owner can retire, right?
It's real sad when you see a shop just close its doors. Um, so that's all of us that are already in the space thinking about how we can help each other out. Um, so I, I think we're continuing to build our existing shops, and on average when we acquire a shop, it grows by 30% year over year. Wow. So in those four walls, and then we put the acquisitions on top of it.
But right now our focus is actually on something else that I think is really interesting. So Josh, are you familiar with multiple arbitrage? I'm not. I've heard of both words. I cannot tell you what either of them mean together. Okay, so I— the concept will be familiar to you, and it's familiar to probably anyone who owns a sizable automotive repair shop that's been approached by private equity or strategic.
So they come to you and they say, look, Josh, like, your shop is doing $500K in profit. I'll pay you a 3x x profit, or sometimes we use this term EBITDA instead of profit. I'll pay you a 3x on that. So your shop is essentially valued at $1.5 million, which is cute, but you could just work at it for 3 more years and get that $1.5 million.
So like, sure, not that interesting. But, um, what are they— and if anyone here— what if anyone listening wants to sell for a 3x, like, call me, I'll buy you. Um, but then what are they doing really? We just just saw a sale, I think it was in January, in, in the automotive repair space that was a 16x. 16x? Yes. And why did they sell for, for 16x?
Well, they had 20— they had amassed $20 million in profit. So this is multiple arbitrage, right? You, you buy at a 3x and you sell for as high a multiple as you can get. You know, 16 is the highest we've seen recently. So then how much money are you making? You're making that, that entire span, 16 minus 3, you're making a 13x on your money.
So that means that repair shop that I bought from you, Josh, for 1 point— that I paid 1.5 for is— I'm going to do my math wrong here— 7.5. I made $7.5 million on your shop if I acquired it. Yeah. And it feels like that's not very fair. And, you know, maybe I gave you some small percentage in it, right? Like 10% so that you could get what we call a second bite of the apple.
So you participated in a small percent of the resale of the business. So we decided if they can do it, we can do it. And this has been sort of our story. Like, we're scrappy. We came into it with no funding, like no money, and And now we see private equity gobbling up shops and they have nothing. They don't have the experience that you have.
Like they might run your shops into the ground, but they just have financial backing. Yeah. They got the money. $30 million in the bank to execute this strategy or $100 million in the bank. Um, and it used to be, Josh, like in 2020 or 2021, you could partner with some friends and just say like, oh, those are my buddies, we're all going to sell our shops together and we want to hire multiple, right?
Because if you hit, you know, maybe $2 million in EBITDA, you might be able to sell for a 7. So that's a doubling, right? But now the industry is really saying, okay, we're not doing that anymore because you guys aren't on the same systems. You're not doing the same, you know, your employees aren't run by the, the sort of same handbook. You don't have the same financials.
So we're not hodgepoding shops together anymore. They have to be a real unified organization to sell at these higher multiples. So, and, and what we found over the course of just talking to so many shop owners looking for shops to acquire is there's a lot of shop owners who would like to retire but need or want a higher multiple. So in order to do that, we've formed the co-op, what we call it, the co-op, where We are partnering with other shops and we're essentially all agreeing to sell together.
And what this looks like for the first 12 months is we're just finding partners. So we're finding who those partners are. And once we amass $10 million in EBITDA, we call that trigger one. At trigger one, we will all become one company. So we'll have a stock exchange where we exchange the existing company's stock for the co-op stock. Okay. And we'll spend about 12 months what's called seasoning the business.
So combining, making sure all of our financials are done together, making sure we're running off the same employee handbook, making sure we're using the same systems and the same tech stock. And then we will all exit together. And it, you know, from our initial projections, it looks like our owners, instead of selling for a, a 3x, will be selling for a 9 or 10x.
So that will be about 3 times their value in the current market. And our goal is just to help everyone win. How does leadership change after TriggerOne? Because when, when you're saying all of them now are combined, um, and then we're, we're all operating off the same employee handbook and we're all doing what I, I'd imagine very similar or maybe the same processes.
Things are, things are run the same. How does that change leadership, uh, across one trigger to the next? Exactly. So until trigger one, everyone, there are certain, you know, tech stacks and systems and processes that we ask our, the partners to put in place so that we can have that work done. Um, after trigger one, our sort of financial and human resources, um, pieces are, exist in corporate, I'll call it, right?
Like they exist in the co-op. And when you were an owner, you're now still an owner, but you know, a smaller slice of a bigger pie, which is going to be much more valuable to you. But we are looking at each owner and what they want, right? So you might have an owner that has a manager in place and, you know, wants to retire that gets replaced by a district manager.
You might have an owner in place that has managers in place and wants to grow in the organization that actually becomes that district manager. So at trigger 1, everyone will get their offers essentially, right? This is your, your, your profit, how we're valuing the company, and this is the percentage of shares you'll get. Um, and this is, you know, what the, the leadership can look like for your company as we move into that seasoning process.
So even though we're banding together before trigger 1, every owner at trigger 1 still has the opportunity to make a choice. Like, this is, you know, exactly what I want. I'm super excited about this. I'm definitely doing this. Or anytime before trigger 1, you can decide, you know, actually this doesn't work. I want to pass this to my son. Or, you know, it's not exactly what I want.
So part of the magic will be putting together the regions and the district managers and the ownership or, or the, the leadership of the company moving forward through the seasoning process. Got it. Okay. And, and, and how many How many shops on average are you looking at in terms of being a part of this multiple arbitrage system? We're looking for about 40 shops to— okay, the co-op.
Yeah, so it's a— that's a pretty big— that's a pretty big number then, 40. And then, and now question: do they all have to be in agreement with how things are going to be running and operating after Trigger One? Do they all have to be in agreement? I mean, I'm not very good at politicizing, so we don't have to be in agreement, but we do all have to do, we have to agree to do things the same, even if we don't like it.
And I think this is sort of, I mean, Josh, that gap between selling for a 3x and a 10x is, you know, in the example I gave you, the difference between selling for $1.5 million versus $5 million. So even if you don't like using our software, like, are you willing to do that for $3.5 million extra dollars? I mean, I can learn to like it, you know, I can learn to like that because it does the, the piece about having, you know, these things uniform is going to control in part the multiple that we're able to achieve.
And so I have a mentor that says like every million helps, so like every extra million helps. So like, you know, and, and even a fraction of a multiple achieved because we're all in alignment, I think is valuable enough that, you know, everyone will be able— be willing to make, you know, adjustments to how they do things. Yeah, we can, uh, no, no, no, that's, that's good.
I actually forgot what I was gonna, gonna ask, but I That I appreciate you sharing that. Um, I am going to ask you to share how our audience can get in touch with you, but I'll wait for that towards the end. So that's just a teaser for all of you listening. You just got to keep on listening to this amazing guest that we have.
And if you're not, if you're listening and not watching, you can also tune in to YouTube at The Bearded Leader and you can watch this entire episode on YouTube. Oh my God, I don't know what's, what is happening. This is awful. Cut, cut. Whoa. I do not know what— That's staying in. Was that you? Was that you saying thank you for choosing Mango Automotive?
No, but that's our hold music. Awesome. Okay. Well, so let me ask you, Jesse, because I asked about how leadership might change from one trigger to the next. Of course, this is a leadership podcast. If I were to ask you, what does leadership mean to you? How would you answer that question, Josh? I feel like when I listen to you talk about leadership, it is very sophisticated.
And like, you just told me that you broke it down in a half-day session at the Vision Conference. So I'm like, okay, that's a lot to say about leadership. So I don't know why you're asking me, but I, I have just two rules that are, uh, not as exciting as your rules. Is my connection Just froze, huh? No, you're good, you're good.
Um, my rules are just have fun, which we already talked about, and no assholes. And both of those are because life is too short. And maybe I have another rule that's not an official rule of the company but is something I personally implement, which is to hire people that are better than me. Oh, preach! Yeah, I think, you know, as I look at my career and how I've grown, I Josh, I used to build websites, and when I say I built websites, I, you know, sold the website and designed it and built it and coded it, like all the things.
And when I was thinking about growing, I realized there was no more space for me to take on additional projects. So I had to add someone, and that person was a designer that I added, and it was So scary because not only was I paying that per— I had to pay them my salary, like it was coming from somewhere, right? Yeah. So it was coming out of, you know, my pocket to pay them.
So that really put pressure on me in the other areas of the business to ramp up. But I just thought, I'm really good at this. Mm-hmm. And not in a conceited way, but my clients are happy. Like, this is one of my strengths. So I think I realized in that moment, like, I just had to feel good about it. I had to hire someone that's better than me.
And I did that. And that's sort of been the policy. Like, our district manager, he epitomizes the Mango culture better than the founders do. We're like, okay, yes, like, you are Mango culture. Like, we love you. And I, at every step of the way, it's just find someone who is better at that than me and I guess not surprisingly, I can always find someone that's better than me.
Well, I mean, I hear the humility and the modesty in your voice, and I appreciate that. I feel like that's, you know, those are some attributes of strong leadership skills. And there's a, you know, Steve Jobs was famous for a number of reasons, but one of the quotes I love that he shared was, at Apple, we don't hire people to tell them what to do.
We hire them so they can tell us what to do. And I wish more leaders saw the value in hiring people who are better than us, who know things, you know, know more, know more things than us, who, who are, uh, um, more qualified, have a better skillset than us. It is not a scarcity mentality that we need to be operating with.
It, there's an, there's an abundance mentality that we can learn and grow from. And I'm just a big believer in the fact that we can go fast alone., but we can go way further together. And multiple minds are better than one. So when we can bring on people who are strong in areas that we may be weak, that's a, that's a huge opportunity that you're capturing.
So I applaud you for that. Um, by the way, the reason I, I like that, I've never heard anyone say I'm sophisticated. I'll just say this, all I do is leadership stuff, Jesse. So that's why you might hear some sophistication in my voice. Um, but the reason I'm asking you is because you grew from 0 to 8 locations. And zero to eight figures in a very short amount of time.
It's because you're awesome and you're great at what you do, and that's why you're on the show. So thank you for being here. You mentioned— Josh, I thought of one other thing that I— Oh yeah, come on. I think my entire job is to ask questions. Oh, and like, preach. Come on, Ryan, my partner, he's amazing and he comes from the industry.
Thank God, because I could not do this without him. But my, from the time that we partnered, my job is always like, to say, well, why do we do it that way? And sometimes he says, well, that's the way it's done. And I'm like, okay. But Brian's amazing because Brian's never attached to his opinion or how it's been done. He just wants to find the best way to do it.
So he's always open to this exploration of, okay, like, that's the way everyone does it. Well, should we be doing it that way?, or is it not the right way? Like, could it be done different? And I think, you know, as I look at how I lead people in our organization, I, I ask a lot of questions because I don't know the answer.
Well, there's, there's power in being curious. You know, when we're in curious mode, we're in learning mode. By the way, Jesse, when you just said, when I lead people in the organization, and then you, you put air quotes around lead, you can drop the air quotes please. I mean, You are leading people in your organization. Okay. I think, Josh, I don't think of it that maybe I just don't think of it that seriously.
It's not like I have imposter syndrome, but I'm just like, everyone in my organization is doing their job. Everyone's doing their thing and we're all working together. And yeah, maybe I'm the one who had the original vision and is sort of driving it and asking these questions, but maybe I'm by the air quotes, I think I'm trying to get away from this.
Traditional organization from the 1990s where the boss says, we're doing this thing and you better do it. Like, that's not the kind of organization that I believe in. So I have a hard time using terms that can— I, I think lead is better than like being the boss or being in charge or some way, but it's still, to me, leaders have made me feel bad ways about myself, and I don't want our team to feel that way, although I'm sure sometimes they do.
Anyway, it's just my, you know, my reaction to that sort of typical, like, organized waterfall organization. Sure. Well, and I appreciate the, the clarification, and, and I— because I don't hear imposter syndrome at all from you., but what I will say is we get to give leadership a positive tone of voice, a positive name. And I, I'm, I'm convinced because of your rules that you have and because of the, the, the, because the fact that you, you implement fun within your organization, your team doesn't feel the weight of your title.
They feel the energy and influence of your leadership. So that's why I'm saying drop the air quotes. I mean, like, it's okay to say that you're leading them because because you're not like bossing them around. You're like, you're leading them in a, like, in a very positive, fun manner. And that's probably why you have your general manager, who is like the epitome of Mango.
Yeah, your DM. Like, that's, that's amazing. And, um, so kudos to you for that. By the way, when you mentioned that your, your job is to ask questions, if I could applaud that anymore, I would. Um, I, I have this, I keep this book on my desk. So for anyone who's, um, not watching this episode, if you're listening, I'm holding up a book called The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier, and it has 7 powerful questions for any coach or leader.
And in my opinion, they're synonymous with one another, but too many of us as leaders are not asking enough questions. We're constantly giving directive after directive after directive, but that doesn't mean we're providing clarity and direction, and we can provide direction through questions. So, Please, if you're listening, if, if, if all you take away from this episode, which I know you won't just take one thing away, but if all you took away was there's power in asking questions, I can't emphasize that enough.
I love that you mentioned that, Jessie. Um, we do not ask enough questions as leaders. And so I, I really, I, I like, I really like you now. At first I was like, yeah, yeah, she's great. Now, no, like you're, you're like, you're a strong leader. This is awesome. The, I think The more you know, the more you don't know. And, and maybe that's cliché, but you become more comfortable in your not knowing.
And I remember a time like when I was on the C-suite, but I felt like I had to have all the answers for my organization in order to be seen as whatever it was, competent. I think I just wanted to be seen as competent, but being at the very head gives you the ability to let that go and to just ask the question because ain't no one gonna fire you when you're the owner of the business, right?
You don't have anything to be afraid of by asking the questions. Well, let me ask you this, 'cause I, I, I like that you're, that you're addressing this topic. Uh, I, I'm a big believer in improving yourself versus proving yourself, and a lot of us feel the need to prove ourselves. When you're in the C-suite, with the organization that you're with. And I, I'm hearing you say to some degree, like, uh, yeah, I wanna prove myself.
Like, I wanna prove that I'm capable, competent, and confident. Speak to the listening audience who is not the owner, who feels the need to prove credibility, prove something, but the opportunity, like you're, you're an owner of a fantastic organization. What are you looking for in your own team members? Outside of them feeling the need to prove themselves? There's one thing that we look for in Mango team members, and this quality, we say if they have this quality, we will definitely hire them and keep them.
And if they don't have it, we won't hire them if we know they don't have it. And if we find out that they don't have it when they're employed with us, that it just never works out. Any guesses, Josh? Oh, I mean, integrity comes to mind, um, but yeah, I mean, I'm intrigued. What, what is it like? That one for us, it's a growth mindset, because I can put you in courses to teach you how to sell or how to change those brakes or whatever it is.
We can teach you that, and we have Mango University, um, where we put our employees in courses and we send them books to read. Ones they choose because we believe that we're all on a personal journey. But if you think you know everything, I can't teach you. Um, so like, those are the ones where we found that's just not a match for us.
And it— because we're growing so rapidly in our shops and through acquisitions. So if you want to grow along with us, it's perfect. But if you don't want to grow, it's just not a match for us. You know, there's a lot of shops that but just stay the same all the time. And, and you might be a great match there and a great leader, but for us, you have to really realize, or, you know, be willing to say that you don't know everything and be willing to, to learn and be better.
Because we're all like— the version of me that said I was gonna start Mango, Jessie 6.0, whatever you want to call me, couldn't run Mango now. Like, and in a way, I think that's why when we set audacious goals, it feels scary because you're aware that there's, there's a leap between where you are now and where you have to be to accomplish those things, and you're not there yet.
But being comfortable not being there yet is, I think, what sets apart people who achieve big things, right? Like, I'm, I'm now, you know, Jessie 8.7, and, and I'm here. But, you know, that Jessie 6.0 certainly couldn't be running this 8-figure organization. Realization. She just didn't know what she didn't know. But part of the fun is in not knowing. I— what's the saying, Josh, about like, um, kind of like you're, you're dumb enough to do it because you don't know?
Like, so I, I call it blind optimism. Yes. Because as an entrepreneur, like, I, it's like I'm, I'm, I'm like, I don't want to— I avoid negative self-talk, but, but I think you guys can hear in my voice, I just call it blind optimism. Like, yes, I don't know what I don't know. I'm just gonna go and just— I'm gonna will this to victory.
Yes, like, I have no money, I've never owned an automotive repair shop, but it's fine. Like, I'll just buy 8 of them, it'll be great. Yeah. And in some ways, if I had no— you know, if I truly understood what I didn't know, there would have been more fear in me. But I just had, yeah, the blind optimism. That is brute force.
I'm just gonna muscle through this. Yeah. I, I like, I don't call it fake it till you make it. I say face it till you make it. But the reality is we're never gonna make it. I mean, we're, if we're committed to being lifelong learners, we're gonna think like a rookie. We're never gonna make it. Jesse, there is a lot of power in what you just shared, and I don't wanna just glaze over this topic.
Um, what you described is quite frankly the, the, the reason why everyone should have a coach. You mentioned earlier that you have, you have a mentor who said, uh, every million matters. Um, or something along those lines. Every, every million helps. But he's funny because no matter what amount it is, it could be like $1,000 or $3.3 million, and he'll answer that amount.
So it'll be like, every thousand dollars helps. Gotcha. Okay, every 3.3— it's usually big numbers with him though. Yeah, every 3.3. And he's right. And, and there's power in, in having someone to help you in that journey from Jesse 6.0 to Jesse 8.7. Um, there's power in having someone who can help you identify blind spots. Let me ask you this, because as a coach myself who serves this industry as a, in, in the leadership lane, what we provide is, um, an interview guide for our clients for them to hire their CIA team members, people who are coachable, intelligent, who have the right attitude.
You're saying have a growth mindset. What, what we provide is a 5-page hiring guide, and if anyone who's listening wants this guide, just Reach out, josh@limitlessleadership.co. I'm happy to send it to you. Send it to me. I'm interested. Yeah, I'll send, I'll send it to you. So, um, yeah, josh@limitlessleadership.co, and I'll send it to whoever's listening. Um, but there's 40 to 45 questions in this document that help you identify if, is this prospective hire coachable, emotionally intelligent?
That's the intelligence I'm looking for. And has the right attitude. Let me ask you, how do you determine if these prospective hires have the growth mindset that Mango is looking for? Josh, I think it's really hard. And one of the challenges in hiring is you get such limited time with someone before you bring them on. When in the tech world, it's a little bit different.
Like you can ask them to do a project for you that you pay them for, or, and I think at Mango, we try to play with the idea of bringing on someone for a half day. So that we learn more about them, but that's not always compatible with their current job, right? That's not always an option for them. So I, I would say Brian and I lean a lot on our instinct.
I mean, we try to ask the right questions. One question to sort of suss out the attitude piece that we ask is, I'll say, Uh, what do you love about your current job? Which is, is a softball question because I'm asking them to tell me the positive. But you will be— you probably wouldn't be surprised, but so many times the response is only the negative.
They go straight to the negative. And that is something for me that I know isn't a match because that's, to me, more indicative of how you see the world. Look, we all move on from jobs, and some bosses are crappy, and some commutes are too long, and there's— we have reasons. And sometimes we just need to get paid more. There's lots of reasons to move on.
But if you can't see the light where you were, it might be your perspective on the world. So I love to walk through that. And then one thing that I do during an interview— Josh, I'm curious if you have this— but that makes people so nervous is I with a service advisor or manager, I just do a role play. Okay. So I'll say, okay, Josh, um, pretend you're, you're working at Mango.
You're behind the front desk. I'm like, I'm a little old lady and I'm walking into the shop and you be the advisor and let's walk through it. And I'll say, okay, I got this postcard. It says you fix everything. I need a new heater box door on my Miata, but the last shop said they couldn't find one? Like, can you fix that?
So I set it up for them and sort of see how they play with that role play. Um, I'm telling all my secrets, so if anyone's listening to this and they're applying for us, oh, smiling is the number one most important thing, which I think sometimes people just get so nervous and you have to feel for that. But for sure, our best managers, you know, smile through that exploration and ask questions and they might even, you know, they do their best, but then they might ask questions afterwards, right?
They'll say like, how do you do this thing at Mango? And that asking of questions during an interview is a sign about a growth mindset, right? Yeah, that's good. Not feeling like you have all the answers, but that you might have questions. And there's a lot of interviews I do that there's not a single question posed, even when I say, okay, great.
So I've asked you so many questions. Like, do you have any questions for us? So nuns are like, no. I mean, you're even saying, I've asked you so many questions, now it's your turn. Um, you know what's interesting is the— so the very first question I ask every client on every coaching call, and they know it's coming because, because I do this with every single call: what are some of your latest wins?
And very much like the question that you had about, um, what did you— what do you love about your last place of employment? When I ask, what are some of your latest wins? I mean, you would guess this, Jesse, they start going into the, the negatives, the, the losses, the things that they've been challenged by. Here's something that I think that you— I've noticed you do very well.
In the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, what we learn is that the sweetest sound to any person in any language is the sound of a person's name. Jesse, you've called me by name at least a dozen times in this interview. I know how important that is to me because of how it makes me feel. I imagine you do that intentionally.
I know that I, I, I'm guessing that you do this with your team members. I'm guessing that you do this with prospective hires. There is power in naming someone, um, looking in, looking them in the eyes, smiling like you talked about, calling them by name. It shows that you are showing up in a different kind of way. And a quote that I love from Maya Angelou, she said, I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Yeah. You make people feel a certain kind of way when you, do all the things that I just described that you've been doing in this entire episode. So, I applaud you for that. Thank you for doing that. Thanks, Josh. That quote inspired something that I wanna share, and sometimes I just wanna share things that we do because I would love to see more people in the industry do them.
Yeah. And we, okay, Mia is, Mia Mango is our little character. We're Mango Automotive. So, Mia Mango is a little mango. She has arms and legs and a smile, and she's a mango body. And so we, we play off of her in what we think are kind of fun ways. So one thing that we do is Mia Money, where we give each advisor, each employee that's interacting with customers, a minimum budget.
And we say, you need to spend this every month to delight a customer. I love that. And I think it's just really fun. And sometimes we get away from it and we have to go back and, you know, remind ourselves that we're doing that, but it's, and it's kind of, oh, whatever. Maybe you think it's silly because we bought that customer, they told us their favorite wine and we bought it for them, or that guy, his car broke down and he's traveling across country, so we paid for his hotel.
But I think at the end of the day, it's just an acknowledgement that we're thankful for what we do and it allows us to make a living. And because of our customers, we get to, you know, make a living and But it's human, right? It's nice to make people smile. Yeah. It's like you and I'm not intentionally saying Josh, but like we're talking to each other.
So, you know, maybe there was a time when this was intentional for me and now it's just ingrained. Like you and I are having a connection and we're human. And that's so easy to forget, especially for our teams who are interfacing with customers and they're busy. Right? They have a million reasons to forget because they're thinking of like, I need this car done at this time and that part hasn't arrived.
And I have to take a call when I'm in the middle of talking to this technician. There's a million reasons to forget. But I think as a leader, the important— you gotta come back to the basics. So whether we have our 6 non-negotiables in the shop for how we do things and on, on the customer and employee-facing side, like what are the basics?
It's what you're talking about. Remember that we're human. Smile, use somebody's name, and you'd be surprised how many times you forget. I mean, sometimes I'm trying to get something done on the phone with someone and I'm not being human with them. I'm just hammering them. Yeah, let's get this move forward. So even for me, for everyone, we have to come back to the basics and remember like we're human and make that connection.
That's so important. Um, You mentioned having a mentor. One of the questions I ask every guest on this podcast is, what is the best advice you've ever received from a coach or a mentor? I'll ask you the same question. You are only limited by your creativity. Oh, elaborate please. Yes. So oftentimes we, I think especially when I was younger, because I, my parents didn't have businesses, I didn't come from this world, I didn't understand how to be successful.
I thought that there was a way that things had to be done, and I think we think this a lot, right? Like whether it's how you're operating your business or how you're acquiring things. So, and, and even so, for me, because we're acquiring other businesses, I thought that I would be very limited in how I could do deals by what you do legally to acquire a business.
This sort of idea that there was something I knew, or I didn't know, but was how things needed to be done. But at the end of the day, when we acquire a business, it's all about what does the owner want or need, and what do we want or need, and is there overlap? And if there's not overlap, it's fine. Like, we tell the owner, I hope you get that.
You know, you, you want $5 million for your business. We used to tell them it's worth $1.5. Like, I can't give that to you, but I, I really hope you find it. And if I find someone who's doing that, I'll let you know. Yeah. And that's sort of, you know, why we have the co-op now, to— for those owners that need or, or want to, um, make more money upon their exit but can wait 2 years, which is our, our time horizon for that.
So everything I've done has been out of the box, right? I didn't go to the SBA and get a loan and acquire businesses. I worked with owners to understand what they wanted in their lives, how they wanted their lives to look forward and thought about how I could get that for them. And the co-op is the same story. Like, this exists in some, I'm sure some iterations, but it's not a common thing that's being done with owners.
How do we help owners get a higher multiple, um, so that they can exit their business a bit more wealthy and in a better place? And I think they deserve that. You built this business for 30 years, 40 years, and You know, you're only going to get 3 years worth of profit. If that's okay for you, great. Call me. Like, I'd love to buy you.
And if it's not okay for you, great too. But how do we get there? And it's just a matter of thinking creatively about the problem. There's, there's always a solution. It, it's just a matter of whether you can think of it and then whether you, you're willing to, or you want to execute it. So I, it can apply to anything. You know, if you're thinking about what your lobby looks like, use your creativity.
If you're thinking about what you say to customers on the phone, use your creativity. If you're thinking about, you know, how you can work with your automotive repair shop neighbor down the street, like, let's get creative and get out of the box because the confines that we think exist in business, in the world, often don't. And this goes for employees too. Like you, might feel like you're not happy in your role or you want it to change.
Have a discussion, ask the questions, like those things, things can happen that aren't the standard par for the course, how someone tells you your life is supposed to go if you're willing to think about it. Jesse, this has been an incredible conversation. I really appreciate you being here. Hopefully this will not be your only time on the podcast. I'd love to have you back in the future.
Can I ask you to share if someone is listening and they are considering selling and they're interested in the co-op or they're interested in just a 3x deal? I mean, hey, you'll take, you'll take, you'll do that too. How can our audience get in touch with you? Okay, so the best way is going to be to send a text to Kevin, and Kevin is my VP of Biz Dev.
So he is really running all those conversations for us and he'll set you up on a call. With me. So his phone number is area code 505-441-4779. So that's the best, most expedient way, but I am happy to also share my email address. But as Josh knows, I ignored his email from 9 months ago. I am not the best at my email, but if it— if Gmail decides that it's important and puts it in my primary box, I'll read it.
But my email address is jessie, J-E-S-S-I-E, e@mangoautomotive.com. And also, Josh, I love to tell people— this is— I'm going to give you advice. Target emails me like 12 times a day. Like, you can send more, more than one message. I got to get— I, I got to get better at that. I, I try not to be a pest, but I, I've had so many people say, Josh, you just keep on sending me stuff until I tell you stop.
I mean, so I, I will, I will. That is— let's talk about that on the next podcast. That is truly like one of our mantras is like, until someone tells me to kick rocks, I just keep going because we're busy. We're all busy. Like, if you're a pest, I'll tell you to go away. Well, very good. Well, so if, if you're listening, uh, you can email Jesse, uh, try at your own risk.
I mean, you know, she didn't, she didn't like my email, but hopefully she likes yours. But at the very least, you can reach out to Kevin. Jesse, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Uh, this is gonna, this is probably gonna air after Tectonic, but I just want to say I'm looking forward to seeing you next month in Houston at Tectonic.
And, um, we will keep in touch, my friend. Okay, awesome. Sounds good. Thanks, Josh. Thanks, Jesse. Bye. Take care.
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[00:49:00] – Call tracking connects marketing performance with actual appointment conversion. 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/fv9ewVBoSks 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: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or good night. Thank you for joining. So excited for us to have this conversation today with some really good friends. Everyone, this is to be an interactive webinar. So you're sitting there, you've got questions, you've got concerns, type them into the chat. We wanna be able to ask those questions of our panel today as we are talking about a very interesting topic. And with us today, first, is our good friend, Mr. David Boyd of Inbound Communication. David, how the heck are you, brother? David Boyes: I'm great. I, I, uh, I fully intended to have my jacket on, Jimmy. Jimmy Lea: Man. David Boyes: So excited to be here. We Jimmy Lea: coordinated on this and everything. David Boyes: I know. I, uh- Next time ... I, I was, I was lucky as, as busy as we've been at Call Inbound to, uh, uh, get up and, and organize and dress today. So I really, uh, it's always great to see you and of course, um, uh, we got to visit a little bit out at, uh, Worldpac STX and, uh, man, I tell you what, your wardrobe is always top notch. Jimmy Lea: Hey, thank you. Thank you. We're glad you are dressed today, just don't stand up. Thank you very much. David Boyes: Great. Jimmy Lea: And joining for us in our conversation today, David, is Tanika, Tanika Hayes with, uh, Haynes with Browns Automotive. Tanika, how the heck are you, sister? Tonnika Haynes: I'm doing good, guys. What's going on? Jimmy Lea: Staying alive. Good to see you. Great to see you. Also at STX, what did you think of the, the conference there with Worldpac? Tonnika Haynes: It, it was really, really good. I was not prepared for the size of it. There was a lot of people. People were peopling. So, um, once I got adjusted to all of the crowds and everything, I enjoyed it. I hadn't sat in a class in a really long time, like at an expo. Ooh. I'm usually just walking around and being nosy, but I picked up some good nuggets, so it was great. Jimmy Lea: Beautiful. That's awesome. Well, if, if the STX was a large conference to you, I would suggest that you really prepare yourself months in advance if ever you come out to SEMA and Apex in Las Vegas. Tonnika Haynes: I will be there this year. Oh, good. I keep hear- hearing that, so I don't know what meds I need to be on to take, To take it all in. But Jimmy Lea: we'll- You- Tonnika Haynes: I'm excited about it ... Jimmy Lea: we, we will talk about that because there is more than you can see within a week, and you really only have three days at Apex, four days at SEMA. You want to map out where you're gonna go, who you're gonna talk to, who you're gonna see- And for you, Taneka, schedule some time to sit down and chill Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. I'm gonna have to definitely do that. You're talking about, um, scheduling times. I'm gonna schedule time to go sit in the corner and recoup. Uh-huh. So where's Taneka? She's in the corner. Jimmy Lea: Yep, and, and I- It's David Boyes: scheduled time ... Jimmy Lea: I, I'm gonna work with you on that because I know the corners, I know the places where you can go and, and find some solitude. Tonnika Haynes: All right. Jimmy Lea: I am. Well, our conversation today is in preparation for making your shop better David, I'm gonna kick it over to you, brother. Let's start this conversation with Taneka. David Boyes: Yeah. Let's, uh, let- let's kinda move into this. You know, we're, uh, talking about communication, and there are so many facets that impact the customer experience. I think that it's important to know that, you know, there are tools and there are, uh, from an owner or, and manager's perspective and from a service provider's perspective, there are ways that we rally around making communication better. Um, you know, one of the things that is common at all shops is, uh, the customer phone call. Tonnika Haynes: Oh, yeah. David Boyes: So you winced a little bit. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: Uh, how many times do we, you know, talk about our phone skills, uh, getting better on the phone, understanding the customer, understanding their needs, addressing their needs? And there's so much, you know, revolves around, uh, the phone calls and, and the way that our advisors and our front office team handles these. Maybe you have a CSR, maybe you have, you know, a service manager. Um, but people are, are answering calls all day long, and this becomes important that we understand who's answering the phone- Mm-hmm ... how they're communicating, what, what's the message that's being shared. Every time that phone rings, uh, that, you know, we like to say that's money calling. So Taneka, let me just ask you, you know, what, what are some of the challenges that you see or the, uh, the successes that you have with your team when it comes to managing and, and, uh, getting better on our phones? Tonnika Haynes: I wanna start by saying, um, I think I listened to my first phone call at my meeting with Jen- Jennifer, with the Institute. I'm currently coaching with the Institute, and that is life-changing- Yeah ... to listen to your team answer the phone. So if anybody's out there and they have not done that, they have not listened in on a phone call, figure out a way to do it. I don't know if it's gonna be a little paper cup and a string, but figure out how to do it. Um, and then I, listening to my own phone calls, and I- I'm the boss, right? I still cringe. And so you never know what's missing from those phone calls, what, what, what is standing out. You know, my team, we would not even ask for the appointment. Like, "Would you like to bring this in today?" You know- Oh ... you ask all the questions, they go through the scripts, but then we found that they were not saying, "Hey, would you like to get that done? Would you like to bring that in today or tomorrow? What works for you?" They were leaving it all to the client to say- Jimmy Lea: Mm-hmm ... " Tonnika Haynes: What's next? What's next?" Hmm. So they were answering the phone, and they were s- being very polite, but they were not closing. They didn't have a lot of words with closing. And so with inbound, I've been able to coach- You know, when you listen to yourself and you're like, "Ooh, ooh." And you can say, "Do you see what you did there?" Or even, 'cause you know, the team can listen to their own phone calls. "Oh, I see what I did there. I see where I dropped the ball." So that was, opened up a whole bunch of eyeballs around here. Well- It's like, "Oh, it's Monday, it's time to listen to phone calls." Like, "Ah." But you just increasingly get better over time. Jimmy Lea: Oh, it's so true. And, and the ability, Taneka, the ability to have calls from today- Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm ... Jimmy Lea: or from yesterday or, or even the day before. Uh, there was a time a decade ago when we would have to listen, as coaches, we would listen to calls. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. We're trying to find a coaching call, a call that is coachable, and this might be a call from two weeks ago, three weeks ago. Mm. The advisors are going, "Dude, oh man, that's forever ago. No, man, I, I don't do that anymore. I'm not like that." But David, I, I think you kind of solved a bit of that problem with your phone services. David Boyes: Yeah, thanks. It, you know, it's, it's important to, to recognize. I think every owner I've ever talked with has a similar issue. It's... And a lot of it rev- revolves around time, right? Are, are we aware of what's actually happening- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... David Boyes: on the front line? Mm-hmm. And, uh, some of it is, uh, I wanna keep this a little bit at arm's length because I, I can tell you as an owner, I will have an emotional response when I listen to that phone call. And Taniki, you brought up a great point. For owners and managers here that are on the phone, please listen to your own calls. Yeah. Do it at least one time. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: Well, twice. Have to Tonnika Haynes: bite the bullet. Just do it. David Boyes: Yeah. Just do it. And, Tonnika Haynes: and, and be ready. Just like- ... just like, "Oh, that is me." Yeah, that is you. David Boyes: Do it- Yeah do it twice because the first time that you listen to a call, uh, it's gonna just be weird, right? So listening to myself on recordings is always weird, but there's this heavy lift of time, right? Am, am I aware of what's actually happening on the front line, and how are we interacting with customers? And then do I have, do I have a mechanism to understand what's my expectation? As an owner, um, you know, it, it's important to establish that expectation. Maybe you're working with a call coach, maybe you've been in trainings yourself. It's, it's ideal to have a method by which you're going to measure your call handlers. And, um, you know, we wanna be professional. We want to build confidence and, and build rapport with these customers. It doesn't have to be fast, but typically- Mm-hmm ... you know, an incoming call from a customer is likely an appointment setting call or a status call. We're gonna set that status call, uh, bucket aside for a second 'cause we wanna be in front of, uh, status calls instead of having customers call us. But if you're listening to these and you have that rhythm around it, uh, we understand how these small habits can build on one another. Am I, am I smiling when I answer the phone? There's something physically that hap- When I, when I physically smile, there's something that is noticeable in the way that I'm communicating. And, uh, am I, am I clear? So what are the expectations? You know, uh, if you watch your advisors, I have, uh, my little cordless handset here. If they tuck their phone in like this, and, and you know, they're, they're trying to multitask Listen to those calls because likely it's very, very difficult to hear on the other side of this. So listening to calls, uh, helps us understand how, you know, how we conduct ourselves, how we conduct business, how am I representing the business that I, you know, that I'm working at as a professional. But also, what is the customer hearing and what is the customer's experience? So, um, these are, uh, important points, and it starts by listening. Jimmy, you brought up a, um, an important aspect here. Historically, we would listen to call after call after call after call to try to find something I can use to coach. So Taneka, you might do this. You've got a call recording system. It doesn't do much but just record those calls, and now I have to go through this, this process to identify a coachable opportunity. And this is now I think where we can move effectively into technology, right? We all hear so much about AI today, and what's really nice about, uh, having, you know, a, a phone system that records is now you have an asset, and you can use that asset to do something more with it. And we can use AI to help that heavy lift of time and, you know, take 90% of the time requirement off. So instead of having to spend 30 minutes, I might have to spend two or three minutes to take that call, sit down with my service advisor, go through this, and have a meaningful, constructive conversation about the things that work well. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. I, I love, David, that your software makes it so easy to find these coachable calls so much faster. A- and Taneka, that's just gotta be a lifesaver for you as well, coaching your service advisors. Tonnika Haynes: It is. I remember, um, speaking with a friend, fellow shop owner, and he's like, "I need you to set aside a time." And so what I did is on my calendar, on Wednesday, that's the day that I sit down and we go over phone calls. And so, you know, you got the dashboard, and that dashboard will say, "This is a coachable call. This is a coachable call." And it is a habit for me as the owner/manager, um, to make sure that I'm staying on top of it all the time because we'll slip into old habits, right? So me listening to the calls and bringing the service advisor or, um, or bring Jay in and say, "Hey, let's listen to this. Let's see how we can get better." You know, you continuously improve on it, and you don't slide back into old habits. Because I'm not on the phone as much anymore. If I have to answer the phone, I know personally, and everything's at stake for me, I slide back into old habits. So we all are capable of it, and so having that dashboard in front of us and said, "Hey, this is a call you need to look at," the service advisor or the person answering the phone does not feel like they're being picked on, but they're being improved upon. So, "Look, I'm just lifting you up. This is what we can do. Do you see how we can make this better?" And it's a we, it's a us, it's coachable, it's there, it's real, and, um, I really enjoy th- that part of the dashboard. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love that. How often, Taneka, do you send, "This is a really good call"? This is a really good call. I Tonnika Haynes: like a really good call How often do you send that to the team? You know what? Yeah. I probably should do that more. But when I see a good call, I, I, I like to share it. And when I get a good review, like I l- literally just got a good review based off of a bad situation that we were able to turn around with proper communication, and the customer l- literally said, he's like, "The communication... The problem was still there," he said, "but the way they handled it and the communication was key." So he was not satisfied when he left, but the way that we dealt with it afterwards, and that recording of how we guided him through the process, and how we, you know, we apologized, we came up with a plan, apologized again, and kept it moving, and that was a great coachable call. It's like, this is how you handle a bad situation. Look how we won here. So yeah, those are just as important as the, as the losses, as the bad calls. "Hey, this is a good call. G- this is a good call." That balance is super important. Yeah, it balances it. Yeah. And then, you know, it's like, okay, I did that right. Even when that client is a client that does not belong to you, and you can hear them tell the customer, it's like, "Hey, you know what? Appreciate your call, but this isn't the place for you." And that's not the word for word, but, "Hey, you handled that good. Thank you for saving us from a nightmare." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: Amen. Share it with your team. So you gotta share the wins and the, the misses. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And, and, uh, for a lot of people, I think they struggle in the creative. So if they can hear it, that it's already been done, they can duplicate. Sure. They can mimic. They can do the same thing over and over and over again. So the more we send these beautiful calls, "Oh my gosh, you guys did so well on this phone call. I, I love this part, this part, and this part," they're able to duplicate that, and they'll do it over and over and over again. And then, then you're- The mistakes that are being made become much less because you're showing, you're, uh, mirroring to them these are the really good calls that we wanna hear. Tonnika Haynes: And, and sharing that when you're going over a call, you got the good call here, we can work on this call, but this is another good call. You know, we talk about giving that sandwich. Yeah. And so that's another opportunity you can give that good sandwich. So when it's time to come in on Wednesdays and listen to your phone calls, you're like, "Ooh, I know I got one coming and I think I know which one it is." And then you're like, "Yeah, but you got this one too, so you won here, and, uh, we missed on this one, but next time it's not happening." Right? Right. So it's, you know, it's all in coaching. Jimmy Lea: Oh, David Boyes: it's so true. You just said something that's super important, and, uh, ooh, I think I know which one this is. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: Um, there, there's a lot to unpack there. I, I, I love the, the good with the bad. We'll talk about that more too, but, um, creating the awareness. So consistency wins, and, um, I'll say it again, be consistent with the process because consistency wins. And when you have that rhythm where it's familiar and it's expected, we're gonna sit down and we're gonna listen to calls, we're gonna go through this, identify the opportunities, um, it's not good and bad calls, it's, you know, it, it, uh, we call them top calls or champion calls and coachable calls. So a coachable call isn't inherently bad. Maybe we even got an appointment. Tonnika Haynes: Mm. David Boyes: Right? But there's, there's opportunities. So, uh, when we have that rhythm and it's expected, what's really important about what you just said is the awareness. So when I go to pick up that phone, is this the call that Tanika's gonna be talking with me about tomorrow or, you know, Wednesday, whatever our rhythm is? It, it will begin to create that moment of pause that as an a- an advisor when I'm picking up that phone, I can take that breath. Yeah. I can, I can, uh, let that, uh, you know, that technician that just blew me up Tonnika Haynes: Let 'em David Boyes: go. I can let that slide off. I can shake that off. Yeah. And I can focus for a moment to make sure that that customer knows right at this moment they are absolutely the most important person to me right now. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: So that's an important message to convey over the phone, our, uh, the, you know, the way that we speak, the words that we use, my en- excitement and enthusiasm about being on that call all comes through. So as we get through this rhythm and we develop the consistency and it becomes normal, now I've got that awareness on my team that, hey, this next call I'm taking, I'm gonna have the moment of pause to focus because this might be the next one that, that we're reviewing. I want this to be a positive call that, that Tanika's coming to me and saying, "You did really well on this one. Let's continue to develop this," and, you know, replicate the things that are working well. Instead of, "Hey, there's some opportunity here. You know, you didn't ask for the appointment. You were, you know, pricing over the phone. You said 'no'." No comes out in a lot of ways, doesn't it, Tanika? Where- Tonnika Haynes: Oh, yeah ... we, David Boyes: we might be telling somebody, uh, "You know, I'm really busy right", or, or, or "W- we, we're really busy right now, I can't get you in until Friday." Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: That's, that's, we might as well just say, "No, I can't help you." Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. You, that's, that's all they heard was the no. Um, even if you give... And, uh, everybody knows that I'm, I'm big on nos. Like, I can give you a no where there's some healthy nos, but then there's some nos and you have the customer saying, "Hey, um, m- my brakes are making the noise and it just started." And he's like, "Oh, no, I can't see you till Friday." He's like, "Yeah, but I'm gonna die before Friday. I wanna see somebody now." Um, so you don't, you have to learn how to coach them and say, "Yes, so bring that in. Let's take a look at what you've got, and then we'll come up with a plan." You didn't promise that it was gonna be today or tomorrow, but you said, "Bring it in. I'm worried about your safety. Let's see what you've got." Yeah. "Let's see if you should really be concerned about that check engine light. It might be a EVAP code." They don't know that, "But go ahead and bring them in." So and then you, like you said, the cadence in it. This, I'm not gonna make you any promises over the phone, and I would literally say that. "Hey, I don't wanna disappoint you by making a promise that I can't keep. So don't- Yeah ... don't make me, don't put me in that hole. But I need you to go ahead and bring that in to me as soon as you can. Um, and let's scan it. Let's see what you've got, and let's see if you should really be worried, if you can make that trip or we need to bring you in right away. We will help you come up with a plan." So just that solid no. "No, I'll see you Friday." Jimmy Lea: He, " Tonnika Haynes: Meh. No you won't." Yeah. Like, so that's support. That's Jimmy Lea: my- David Boyes: It, it becomes very collaborative in what you just said. Hey, let, let's make this about you, let's make this about your safety and your confidence to drive that vehicle. Maybe you gotta get across town and your commute is 30 minutes. Let's make sure that your vehicle is safe, and then once you're here and we make sure you're safe, let's talk about, uh, when we're gonna have that on the schedule. We'll get that vehicle in Tonnika Haynes: and prepared. Yeah. What are the next steps? Yeah. So let's go ahead and get- let's get your nerves calm- Mm-hmm ... and then let's come up with the next step. Let's come up with a plan. Us, us, us, we, we, we. So Jimmy Lea: yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. I love it. And, uh, you talk about s- building a solid foundation for this, the solid foundation for their skills so that the, the ongoing training you're doing really builds on that foundation. Uh, we've got a three-day service advisor with the institute. We're gonna give a shout-out to the institute here right now. So everybody grab out your smartphones, scan the QR code if your service advisor needs a solid foundation. Thank you, David. If you need a solid foundation- Registered now ... and you need to start with... Yeah, get registered. I know you've been to a couple of these, David, 'cause- I have you've talked about all the skills here just really, really well. If your service advisor needs that and you need to go from zero to hero very quickly, this is an intensive that you wanna send your service advisor to, and it will be at headquarters in Ogden, Utah. Fly right into Salt Lake, and, uh, and we got you set up there in Ogden. So, yes, David Boyes: scan that. It's a beautiful drive up from the airport. This class is, uh, it, it, it will help establish the, the fundamentals to build on. Yeah. So you come here, it's, you know, it's boot camp, right? We're, we're going to make sure that we're establishing the expectation and give you something to build on as the owner. Send your service advisors in here. Uh, they'll get those fundamentals, and then you'll have, you know, these, these mechanisms, uh, to improve them over time. I promise you it'll be a, a real game changer for your frontline. Tonnika Haynes: Well, you know what? Beautiful. I wanna piggyback on that. Um, and I wasn't coached to saying this. If they've already been, send them again. Jimmy Lea: There you go. Mm. Tonnika Haynes: Send them again, because here's the thing that I know, and I'm just gonna make it simple. I want you to think about your favorite movie. Like when, when I was in the 20s, for me it was Friday, the movie Friday. And then we watched that movie every Friday after work with the crew that I worked with, and it was just the most ignorant movie and the best movie for my generation. Each time I watched that movie, I would see a different thing. So I want you to think about your favorite movie and, or v- your favorite comedy. Each time you'd watch it, you would pick up something else. So it was like, "Oh, I didn't see that that last time." So even when it comes to training, "Hey, I did this three-day class and I did it a year ago. I grew." Jimmy Lea: Do it again. Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: Do it again. Do it again. You, you're never too mu- uh, there's never too much coaching. So just do it again and you'll see it from a different angle. I just wanted to say that. Yeah, 'cause, um, there's been some classes that I, I take, and not just this one, but other classes, like, let me take that class again. Yeah. And you're like, "Aha. I didn't remember that from last time." Yeah. I didn't implement that from last time, 'cause we, you guys tell us, and coaches will tell you, "Just go and implement one thing. One thing." I mean, watch those changes, and then the next time you take the class, let's do one more thing, maybe two, and get, get a little bit better. Right. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. So speaking of training, ASTA, A-S-T-A, is coming up here real soon, Taneka. Real Tonnika Haynes: soon. We're less than 30 Jimmy Lea: days out. Let's give them a shout-out. Tonnika Haynes: Shout out to ASTA. Those are the people, not the people that made me, but it's my just one, my just one thing that I took away from there each time has helped build me to where I am. And I am, I cannot say I would not be where I was without them. But I would not be where I was, where I am without them. From those, those people that I met, the village that I met, meeting you, meeting my first coach, just meeting my, my industry brothers and sisters that I can call on at any time when I'm about to flip out, or when I have a win. 'Cause you know as owners and when, when you're a little higher, you can't share your wins with everybody without some jealousy. True. Yeah. So when you have a win and you have that community to call on. Mm-hmm. So yeah, ASTA is the place to be, September 24th to 26th, right here in Raleigh, North Carolina. So I hope somebody shows up. And, uh, I wanna meet some... Well, I know Jim. I'll be there. Jimmy will be there. You will not miss him. David Boyes: He'll have the jacket. Tonnika Haynes: He will have plenty of jackets on. It is a fun atmosphere, lots of community, lots of learning and growing. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna have a jacket war, so anybody who wants to play. David, you're bringing your jacket, so David Boyes: who wore Jimmy Lea: it best? Yes. Yeah. David Boyes: Yeah. I, I wanted to make sure that we were gonna f- uh, be able to carve out some time to do the who wore it best. Tonnika Haynes: Oh, David Boyes: always. I think, so B- Benji will be involved. Brett will probably be involved, right? Mm-hmm. And, uh, you, you two- Mike Allen ... Mike, okay, Mike, yep. Tonnika Haynes: I, I, I feel like we should have a girls version of this, 'cause you know, if the women got involved- Jimmy Lea: We always lose Tonnika Haynes: I mean, we would just throw you guys under the bus. Jimmy Lea: It's true. We tried that, Tanika, and you swept it. Yeah. You swept it. There, there was no- Tonnika Haynes: I don't wanna do that to you guys ... competing with Jimmy Lea: Tanika. Tonnika Haynes: I don't wanna do... Yeah, I don't wanna do that to you, so we'll, we'll figure it out. Maybe I'll make a f- couple phone calls and text messages and see what's up. David Boyes: Yeah. Speaking of phone calls. Speaking of phone calls. Tonnika Haynes: Throw that back in. David Boyes: I have a question for you. Yeah. Yeah. That's, hey, I couldn't have asked for a better softball there, but that's great. Um- ... thinking, thinking about the coaching process, you know, I, I, I had mentioned before it can seem a little uncomfortable, even as an owner. You know, listen to two calls, because that first one, you're gonna be so- Mm-hmm ... consumed by how weird I sound on the phone, right? So, but when you, when you started this with your team, what, how was it received? What were some of the, the challenges, uh, do, you know, h- what feedback did you get about listening to calls and going through the analysis? Tonnika Haynes: So I wanna say that when I first did it in, in coaching, so in a group setting, and you're listening to your team, so they call in, they have to do a call and they'll record a call. And so it's like, "Oh, well this time she did this, and this is the excuse." You wanna come up with excuses. You wanna defend- Right yourself. I wanna defend my shop. And so that service advisor's gonna wanna defend him or herself. Like, "Oh, well, you know, that customer and this was that." I was like, "No." So you get past that, and it's like, okay, like I said, you give the sandwich. Okay, so this is a great call. You tell me what you could have done, could have done better in this call. Right. 'Cause I don't wanna be in... 'Cause if you go into attack mode and say, "Oh, you should do this better, and you didn't follow the script, and you, you, you, you, you," you're gonna get somebody that's gonna put up a guard and be like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I did my best." So I'll say, "I know you did your best on this, this one call, and you did a great job on this call. What happened, brother?" Balls in your court. Tell me how you can improve on this. Mm. What do you need from me to help you improve here? Was there a distraction? What was, what was the problem? So I kinda feel like I can teach them to self-coach. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Tonnika Haynes: I'm, I'ma give you a whole toolbox. You've got this toolbox. You know what a good call to- sounds like. Like, you also have a mirror. There's a mirror right there. Look at yourself. You've got reminders. I've got sticky note reminders on each, each person saying, "Don't forget to ask for the sale." What happened? "Oh, man, I was distracted, I sh- I should've..." Yep, you should've put the mouse down. You should've put the mouse down. So usually people will first get defensive, same. Mm-hmm. Um, then the defense mechanism starts to come down. Say, "All right, okay, so how do we fix this so next time I cannot find a bad phone call?" Jimmy Lea: Bingo. David Boyes: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: I love it. It, yeah. I love that you have a mirror there and you have sticky notes there helping as well, Taneka. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. That's, that's so good. ' Tonnika Haynes: Cause we forget. And- And it's okay- Oh, we do ... 'cause we get busy. But the Jimmy Lea: more Tonnika Haynes: we work on it- And I, Jimmy Lea: I, you... I'm certain that you guys have heard this before, that a fake smile is better than a real frown. Tonnika Haynes: Yes. David Boyes: Yep. Tonnika Haynes: Yes. And I'm really good at that. And so I've learned that because I've been doing it a very long time, so people know that I can really make you... I could, like, really fuss you out, and I would sound so sweet 'cause I'm smiling at you the whole time. "Well, you know what, Jamie? I think that was the stupidest thing you've ever said." Jimmy Lea: And if you do it with a smile, you can Tonnika Haynes: get away with it. And you're doing it with a smile and, and when you're shaking your head. So that smile makes a difference. And when I'm- It does ... picking up the phone out of an emergency, if they are busy up front and I'll see that phone ringing, and I pick it up and I'm not ready personally, I'm not ready to answer that phone, and it's a client that knows me, and I'm not smiling, I will get a, "Hey, Taneka, what's wrong?" You Jimmy Lea: okay? 'Cause Tonnika Haynes: they, "You okay?" And I'll say, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was distracted." 'Cause that's usually what happens, you're distracted, or that service, that, um, technician just rubbed you the wrong way or something's happened at home. So but once you put that smile on- You just fake it till you make it. And now you, I usually don't like to say that, but sometimes you do have to fake it till you make it. Like, yeah, absolutely. And use those words of, those positive words. Absolutely. Let's look into that for you. Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Sure. I love it. Love it. We talk about the phone call and how much it's worth. Uh, Bimmer PhD Motorsports is saying, "Can we dig into that a little bit?" How much does it cost to get that phone to ring? How much does it cost to acquire a new customer? You talk about the mindset and you talk about the service advisor- Mm-hmm ... and the smile that's needed to be there, fake or real. How much is that phone call worth, Tanika? Have you analyzed any of that in your shop? Tonnika Haynes: So that was actually a, um, something we did in the 20 group with my coach Jen. We went through that and we calculated how much it costs to sh- get that phone to ring. And I really wish I was prepared and I had that number for you. But once you realize that number, share it with your team. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: And then, uh, the institute probably has, um, a blueprint on how to figure that out. So you're looking at how much your website is, your Go- Google ads, any form of marketing that you have out there, down to the phone bill. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: How much does it cost to make that phone ring? And once you see it as the owner, you're gonna be like, "Whoa." And you share that with the team. Like, every time that phone rings, it costs me this. And then also think about your ARO. Jimmy Lea: Mm-hmm. Bingo. Tonnika Haynes: And every time- Yep, yep ... we do not get a y- yes, and we don't get that client through the door, we lost $850. Potential $850, potential $1,100. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Tonnika Haynes: So once we start thinking about, you know, everything, everything's not about money. It is That Jimmy Lea: we keep score. Tonnika Haynes: It is how we keep score. Yeah. Like, you know, we, we talk about we've got the metrics on the dashboard. Numbers don't lie. People do. Your emotions will. David Boyes: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: It costs me $75 every time that phone rings. Mm-hmm. And when you ring it, and when you land that deal, that's a potential 850, or whatever your ARO is, or whatever- Yeah ... that's what it is. And that's, and how long does it take to get that one client to get through the door? Yeah. And also think about how long you can hold onto them as a client. How many years Jimmy Lea: are you gonna- Tonnika Haynes: What's the lifetime value of the client? What's the lifetime of that client? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: So that smile when you answer the phone, yeah, that's worth a lot of money. Jimmy Lea: Tens of thousands of dollars. Tonnika Haynes: Tens of thousands. So go ahead and put your Vaseline on your teeth- Jimmy Lea: Mm-hmm ... Tonnika Haynes: and, and start a- smiling. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. That's an old theater trick. Yes. Are you a, are you a musical theater person? Tonnika Haynes: No, but I just know about- Where are you pulling that from? ... Vaseline on your teeth and, 'cause you get tired of smiling. You, you know, at the conference, you have this whole muscle thing. You're like... Jimmy Lea: Uh, yeah. Tonnika Haynes: Keep s- keep, just keep smiling, smiling, smiling. Jimmy Lea: That's right, David Boyes: Dorothy. Those are important numbers, uh, to know how much does it cost to get that phone to ring. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: Uh, in some cases it can be, uh, you know, several hundred dollars depending on really all of those factors around generating those phone calls, and then what that ties into when the phone does ring, um, and we don't ask for the appointment. Has that $850 or $1,100 just walked over to my competitor across town? Yeah. But it also sets the stage when we're talking about coaching and development to bring it back to what's in it for me. As a service advisor, you know, most high performing shops are incentivizing their advisors on these, you know, these GP numbers and, you know, there might be other metrics on Google reviews, maybe have spiffs for these different things. It all requires us to generate the appointments and get those vehicles in so that we can have an inspection and we can, you know, generate the, the estimate and ultimately have a sale, and then make this an amazing experience for the customer so they're gonna come back next time. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: Uh, at the very front end of the phone call, you know, it, it takes X number of dollars to make the phone ring. When that phone rings, the customer, if they're a first time caller- Uh, they're likely y- we as, as a business are likely setting the stage within that first 15 to 20 seconds for the length of our relationship. So based on those initial interactions, we're going to begin setting the stage of how well this customer visit is going to go, uh, how much that we're developing trust with this customer. Do they trust me as an advisor? Do they trust this business, that we're experts and we're gonna help them, and we're gonna do so in a, in a fair and meaningful way? And then also, uh, we're going to set that basis for a repeat customer. Jimmy Lea: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: So that, that's where we get into the, the longevity of our relationship. Interestingly enough, so much of this happens at the very first moments of that very first phone call. And when we acknowledge that as a service advisor, I'm like, "Oh, that does tie back to the paycheck I get." As a business owner, "Wow, that ties back into the stickiness of my customers." I love, you know, repeat customers. I love repeat business. So we wanna drive these skills up front. Uh, Taneka, you talked about, you know, sitting down and going through, um, some of these calls and the, the service advisor reaction. Have you really developed and, you know, share your expectations on how you'd like the, the phone answered? I'm not asking about a script. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: But like that flow, right? We don't wanna create robots. Right. What have you done at, when you, you know, train and develop your team on here's what I would like to hear from you? Tonnika Haynes: So I haven't honed that in 100%, but I, I do know that we wanna thank them for calling. David Boyes: Mm-hmm. Tonnika Haynes: We wanna know how did you find out about us? Great. Is this your first time calling? How'd you hear about us? So, so we can track that, right? Yeah. Was it a repeat? Was it a neighbor? Was it a Google? How did you... Was it a postcard? How did you hear about me? Um, what can I help you with, and how soon can I get to it? Can you bring that in today or tomorrow? And, um, and smile. So I have these little things that I want them to say that's on the side- Yeah ... of their computer, and I don't want you to sit there and read and just say, "Oh, well, yes, sir, how can I help you today?" I want it to flow naturally because that's who we are as a shop. We- we're not a scripted shop. We're, we're a bunch of goofy people, actually. People. We just happen to fix cars. Um, and that's who we are. Yeah. And I want that to come through. I want you to be friendly. I want you to re- when they come in with the cat or the dog or whatever, please not a cat, but the dog. I want you to put in the notes, this is, this is that customer's name and this is what their dog's name. If they refer to their, their car, "My car's name is Pearline." If you called my car by his name, I'm not taking it nowhere else So I want you to build that relationship. And so I don't have a script and I don't have a formula yet, and maybe I should work on that. And, um, we do have like a SOP. Yeah. Probably should do a better job at that. But then what you just said made me raise my eyebrow, like, I should do better with that. But we do have some things that I'm, that are non-negotiables. David Boyes: You've got your flow there, which is great. Mm-hmm. And I think you're, you're doing better in that than, than- Yeah ... uh, some owners that, that we talk with. I encourage, I encourage everybody to have a flow, right? Yeah. We, we wanna kind of go through the conversation. I'll tell you the number one, um, deficit that I hear within the first probably 10 seconds of a phone call is asking for the customer name, right? So- Right ... "Thank you for calling ABC Automotive. How may I help you? Um, yeah, I can help you with that. My name's David. What's your name?" Jimmy Lea: Mm. David Boyes: It's so simple. Yeah. And, uh, I listen to call after call after call. I mean, these, they, they pop out because of our AI call analysis, but where we go through this whole process and we've had a 90-second call or a two-minute-long phone call, and at no point ask the customer name. Tonnika Haynes: Right. And then you assume that the name on a caller ID is their name. David Boyes: Mm-hmm. Right. Tonnika Haynes: That, that's a problem, too. I know that we were doing... I was doing it as well. Yeah. I would do it as well. David Boyes: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: But, um, and, and with that, I had a little challenge saying, "Hey, I want to see you guys' name on the, the review." Yeah. And it really bothers me when a client calls to check on their car, and I have to, have to answer the phone, "Hey, who was your service advisor?" "Uh, I don't know." What? David Boyes: Mm. Tonnika Haynes: They need to know your name. David Boyes: Mm. Tonnika Haynes: So I had to make sure that everybody had their own business cards when the car was dropped off. "Hey, my name is Stuart. This is who you should call to check on your car. Everybody here can help you, but I'm the main person." So I think a lot of people just don't do that, and say, "Hey, well, my name's Tanika. Who am I speaking with?" Great. "Have you been here with us before?" David Boyes: Mm-hmm. Tonnika Haynes: You know, if it doesn't pop up on the caller ID, "Have you been here with us before?" Yeah. But the caller ID pop up, that's a game changer. Am I skipping ahead? Should we not go that far yet? David Boyes: No, you're fine. Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: Thank you, David. Yeah, just be ready. Yeah, be ready when, when David Voigts calls Brown's Automotive, and you call and say, "Brown's Automotive. This is Tanika. Hey, David, how can I help you today?" What is that? What are you doing? You knew I was calling. You know, like- Yeah ... yeah, caller ID exists. People forget about that. David Boyes: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: But- They do. They do. But it, it's just extra special. Yeah. And that's what the caller ID... I know one thing I do when the customer's walking in, and if I know I have a blue Toyota Coro- Corolla coming in at 9:00. "Who is this coming in?" Yeah. "Hey, Mrs. Such-and-such. Good morning. Oh, hey." Instead of saying, "Can I help you?" Yes, you can help me. That's why I walked through the door. David Boyes: Mm-hmm. " Tonnika Haynes: Hey, M- hey, Mary David Boyes: Jane." Or, "Hang on a second. I'll be with you in a second." Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. No. David Boyes: Don't do that. Tonnika Haynes: Don't do that. David Boyes: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: So, um, there's a lot to be said about customer service, and there's a lot to be said about s- calling people by their name. Jimmy Lea: Amen. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: It creates familiarity. Yes. And, uh, when, when we have familiarity, we have a relationship. Mm-hmm. It's in- it's potentially implied. But people love to do business with, with the, the folks that they have a relationship with. Mm-hmm. And they're inclined... You know, this is the fun thing about consumer behavior and human behavior, is when I have a great experience, I wanna rally my friends around that too. I want to include them in the joy that I get to experience when I come see Tanika and her team. Yeah. So I'm gonna- I, I'm gonna be much more likely to tell folks about it. If I have a meh- Meh ... average experience, it's probably not gonna come up in conversation. I'm not gonna stick my neck out there. But, um, how do we do that? Well, we address people by their name. We know when they're calling, right? I might even be pulling that up in my shop management system or my CRM. Just the s- the second the phone rings, it's gonna pop and present that information. "Yeah, I saw you were in three, three months ago, and we had looked at, you know, X, Y, Z on your vehicle. Should we add, add some additional time to take care of that this time?" Right? It, we have an awareness. They have confidence in us. We know them as a person. We know their vehicles. And now we're, we're joining together with our customers. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Uh, at, at a common goal, right? And it comes back to their safety. Well, Tonnika Haynes: so what'll happen is you'll get a client, and, um... Sorry about the background noise. That's all right. You'll get a client, and they're not thinking about their car. They, they, they've grown to love you. They've grown to know you. They know you by your name. And then you made the recommendations last time. They trust you enough that they are just gonna be like, "Okay, whatever. I'll talk to you about it next time. Tanika's gonna remember that for me." Say, "Hey, Miss Mary Jane, you remember we talked about..." "I don't remember we talking about." "Well, here's a copy. I'm gonna send that over to you. We're gonna look at it, these things again." Yeah. It's just like having a whole system, and then you become that person. It's like I don't have to remember what my car needs 'cause Tanika and her team have the history, and they know me by my name. David Boyes: Mm-hmm. Tonnika Haynes: Right. And they're gonna take care of me. David Boyes: The paradigm shift there is I, you know, as a service advisor, I'm the expert. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: As the service manager, I'm the expert, right? You've come to me because of our and my expertise, and I'm sharing the belief that you wanna be safe and you wanna care for your vehicle. So allow me to make these recommendations. Allow me to, to keep that, those notes about our previous interactions so that when we meet to, when we meet again, we can make sure that w- you know, we're, we're not starting from zero- Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm David Boyes: that we already have this information available, and we're going to improve that experience. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: Um, on the, on the call coaching side of it, um, you know, I, I think at some level you've kinda normalized it in your shop, and I'd love to learn more about how, you know, how did you do that? It's, it's not typical, I would say, that people are just, like, rallying around, "Let's listen to calls," right? 'Cause part of it is, you know, the exposure or this kind of fear of judgment. But once you normalize that and make it consistent, um, I'd love to know how you've done that and, and keep the, uh, the Big Brother mentality out the door. Tonnika Haynes: Well, I don't, well, we've got cameras, and we've got these things recording the calls. And, and first of all, these calls are not being recorded to get you. These calls are recor- Yeah ... recorded to cover your butts from that crazy person that swear they didn't say it. Mm-hmm. These calls are recorded to make you better. Um, I remember Chad say, "Hey, just put it on the calendar. Just put it on the calendar." It's like ha- having that one-on-one for the first time. Nobody knows what to say or to do. I'm not trying to attack you. I'm just trying to make you better. So let's just... I listened to my call. Be vulnerable. Me. Hey, Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... Tonnika Haynes: you don't wanna listen to your call. I didn't wanna listen to my own call. But let's, let's do this. It's just on the calendar. And like I said, the defense will just break down a little bit at a time, and I found that with my one-on-ones again. Like, we do a first Monday one-on-one. If I was late or if I skipped the one-on-one, they're like, "Well, why did, I didn't get my one-on-one. Am I in trouble?" They look forward to it. Everybody wants positive reinforcement. Amen. So if you keep it positive, and then some- like, "Hey, I looked at 10 of your calls, and out of the 10, only 3 of them were coachable." Or, "Hey, you remember when we started out, how you would have, like, a 11 bad calls out of 20? Dude, you only got two this time." So make sure we measure it, okay? Schedule it, measure it, keep it going. Know you're uncomfortable, they're uncomfortable, and just say- I don't wanna do this. Nobody wants to do it. Nobody wants to lift that... Well, a lot of people don't wanna lift the heaviest weight for the muscle gain. Mm-hmm. It's gonna be painful, but it's gonna get easier. It's gonna be easier for me and you as the coach and the coachee, or is it a coachee? Whatever. So, I mean, it, it's... I don't know if there's an easy way to put it, but I just know that you just keep doing it, you be consistent, and you let them know if you're uncomfortable. Like I hear shop owners say, "How do you start this one-on-one stuff? How do you start this coaching stuff?" You just start it. And you're just like, "Ooh, hey, I don't know what I'm doing either. Let's do this together." Yeah. "Let's, let's get better together." Like, I'm listening to my calls too. We're all getting better together. So I would just say start it, put it on a schedule, make it, make it pop up, show up. Yeah. Wednesday, coaching calls. Jimmy, one of the- Schedule it. It's ready to go. David Boyes: Yeah. That, that's perfect. I, I, I love the perspective too. And Jimmy, one of the, you know, the things that I share with owners consistently is be consistent. Mm-hmm. So I think the, the technology drives that, right? We're delivering an email with, you know, here, here's a, a top call, here's a coachable call. Here's some additional information. So delivering that is important, and the technology really helps us drive that consistency in this case. So, um, when that, that email comes out, here's a call example, you don't have to do anything with that today, or you can. If you don't, there's another one tomorrow, right? Mm-hmm. And we wanna create that normalcy. And th- this is the part that drives change, is one, you know, we're, we're making this normal. Yep. And Tanika, you were just talking about that, right? We're gonna put this on the calendar. People begin to expect it, right? It becomes normal for them, and that's a super important milestone in the coaching, training, and development process, is that sense of normalcy in the shop. And then, um, u- understanding the expectations and, you know, where do we have the opportunities. Um, Tanika, you know, one, one thought that comes to mind here is, you know, you'd mentioned at the beginning, like ask for the appointment. As you began doing this, you know, what, what did you begin to understand and, and see happening across, you know, the phone calls and across your organization? What patterns began to emerge? And really, what's that aha moment you had where you're like, "This is bringing value to me while I'm bringing value to my team"? Tonnika Haynes: Ooh, that's a good question. So when we start asking for the appointment, you know what? The calendar filled up. David Boyes: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. So the marketing was working. And, um, but the big aha moment... Ooh, that's a good question, Dave. You got me on that one. Should have text me that before you asked me that one. I'd been ready. David Boyes: My Tonnika Haynes: apologies. Phone with you. Aha moments with phone calls. I don't know. I, I really, I can't answer that one for you, but what I do wanna say before I forget the chance, don't get the chance to say it, when they're sitting beside each other up front and they're lis- 'cause they're, everybody can hear everybody's phone calls. Mm-hmm. I can hear them say, "That was a good one. What was that one about?" Or like Stuart would tell Hailey, he's like, "She's, she's had a lot of good phone calls here lately. I can hear the change in the way she's handling the phone calls." So again, um, may have got a little bit off subject, but them helping each other and encouraging each other. Maybe they can only hear one end of the phone call, but there's some key words like, "Oh, you killed that one." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. " Tonnika Haynes: You killed that one." Or making that sale on the phone call. Yeah. "I heard how you delivered that BVI. I heard that delivery. You gave them the good sandwich," and they said yes. Like this morning, she was like, "She said yes to everything." It's like, "God, it's working." Imagine that. Love it. Imagine doing a training, following the instructions, and it actually working. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Gotta David Boyes: love that. It really is the aha moment too, right? Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. David Boyes: You're, you're going through, you're driving consistency. You have, you know, some form of flow and expectations, and you're learning from one another. I love the fact that- Mm-hmm ... they're listening at least to one side of each other's conversations- Right ... in real time. Tonnika Haynes: I David Boyes: think I'm lucky Tonnika Haynes: with that- And then getting to populate from that ... with my team. David Boyes: Yeah. Tonnika Haynes: I think I'm lucky with my, 'cause they're, they're not in competition, and, um, it's like how do you keep them... I don't know. God blessed me with that, but I'm just lucky that way. But encouraging each other- So. Jimmy Lea: It's good. That's good, Tanika. You, you've set up a solid culture there, solid people. They've got great results. You're listening to the phone calls. Consistency, like David's talking about. You know, um, hearing one side of the conversation helps a little bit, but if you, if you, as an owner, if you're only listening to half the conversation and you are not booked up three, four, five, six, seven, eight days in advance, chances are you're missing the other half of the conversation, and you need to listen to it. So you do need a device, a program, a, a hardware. You need a, a phone system that allows you to listen to all sides- Mm-hmm ... of the conversation. You've g- just gotta be able to do that. You gotta be able to do that. Now I'm gonna give another shout-out here as we work in our marketing. So a lot of times I hear shops talking about their marketing. "Well, my marketing's not working. I'm not... It's not working. It's not working." A lot of times it comes back to the phone call. Mm-hmm. How well is the phone call being handled or treated from an advisor? But speaking to the marketing part, we've got a shout-out here for the institute is holding a marketing intensive this October 26, 27, 28. Tanika, I just got off the phone with Brett Faidley. He is signed up. He is coming out for Mars Conference, so if you wanna get signed up as well, sister, we'd love to have you out here. Tonnika Haynes: I gotta get a real flashy jacket for that one. Jimmy Lea: Uh-huh. Tonnika Haynes: Pull out my Jimmy Lea: rhinestones. Right behind that Mars Conference. So if you got your smartphone there in front of you, grab out your smartphone, turn on your camera. There's the QR code right there. Oh, man. Flash the QR code and get registered. The, the, uh, the Mars Conference is going to be awesome. It is a conference where when you are done with the workshops, it's a three-day conference. When you're done with that three-day conference, you have 2027 mapped out, ready to go, and you know what you're gonna be doing month to month throughout that whole next year. It's super awesome. I, I love the Mars Conference. David Boyes: I do too. So Jimmy Lea: come- David Boyes: I was at the last one. Excited to be there. I'm, let me just say I was there as a participant at the last Mars Conference. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. David Boyes: And, uh, one, getting to, you know, to interact with so many, uh, friends across the industry was great, but also, uh, you know, I, I, I don't own a shop. I own a, uh, communication business. I took so much away from that that I immediately applied. I can speak from my own experience. Uh, and I know, uh, you know, many of the participants there that took those components right back to their shop and made immediate changes. So it is, uh, it's not just a, um, it's not just a workshop where you're gonna come away with a flashy workbook and put that in a dusty cabinet somewhere and never do anything with it. I promise you, you attend the Mars Conference, and, uh, you will come away energized and ready to make a real difference in your shop Jimmy Lea: Yep, for sure. For sure. Tonnika Haynes: All right. Like I s- I'm never gonna be at work if I keep coming, following you around, Jimmy. David Boyes: Just imagine your wardrobe, though. Tonnika Haynes: Oh, I know. It'd be so good. Jimmy Lea: It'd be so good. Tonnika Haynes: But no, we'll see. I, I'm thinking about that. I thought about what we talked about the other day, but we're not gonna get off subject 'cause I do that a lot. David Boyes: It can happen. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. David, what else? What else can we talk about with phones, phone systems, programs? Um, can we track our marketing using your phone system? David Boyes: Yeah. Uh, just on that very note, you know, the, uh, uh, we'll talk about this a little bit this year at Mars as well, but, you know, market tracking is important, right? We, we spend a lot of money, and understanding the performance, uh, is important. So with our phone system, you know, we can provide, uh, market tracking numbers if you have different campaigns, mailers, text messaging, website, uh, related, uh, leads that you're generating. Um, we can certainly provide unique numbers. The customer experience is the same, and the, um, you know, the shop experience is the same, except you have all of this additional data about, you know, how many calls were generated. So that's important to know, and, uh, it's also important to, uh, use that as a, you know, a good baseline of information about your capacity to manage phone calls in your shop. So when we look at some of the, uh, the other performance metrics, how long does it take us to answer the phone? Are we answering the phone, right? Jimmy Lea: Mm. David Boyes: In order to ask somebody for the appointment, we have to first answer the phone. Uh, and if you're spending this money on marketing campaigns, there are a variety of reasons, and I'll just tell you one example that I hear often from owners is, you know, they put out a marketing number and they, you know, advisors, uh, might believe that it's, you know, it's generating bad leads, something like that, so they won't answer that phone. Um, but we wanna, we wanna understand, uh, the behavior of what's going on. Is it something that we can control? Um, are, are we effective in the marketing campaign? What information do I have around that? And then additionally, uh, running that into the call analysis, uh, so that we understand are we, are we converting these, right? If we're generating the leads, are we actually generating appointments? And then, uh, from that point, if you know you have the appointment, you can measure your performance, uh, go forward. So there's a lot of data that we can capture, um, other than just sending in all of these phone calls to the main number. Jimmy Lea: I love it. David Boyes: Mm-hmm. Jimmy Lea: I love it. I love the, the phone is such a powerful tool. I love when we can multitask that tool and do multiple things with the, the same tool. Very cool. Very cool. But i- if there a- any questions, comments, concerns from our audience, we would love for you to type those in. If there's questions for David or questions for Tamika, go ahead and type those into the comments section. While they're doing that, I will say if you are trying to keep up with me, good luck. But you can find it on our website. The website page is, uh, wearetheinstitute.com/events. That's all of the events that are coming up here in the very near future where you will see the institute participating and locking arms with the industry to help elevate the industry. Our motto, our mantra is, better business, better life, better industry. We're gonna lock arms with you as a shop owner so that you have a better business. The net result of you having a better business is that you have a better life. Tonnika Haynes: Mm-hmm. Jimmy Lea: And not just you have a better life, your advisors have a better life, your technicians have a better life. Your, uh, your partners have a better life. Your spouse Your advisors' significant others, their spouses, uh, their, their technicians and their spouses, the, and their children. Everyone elevates, everyone breathes better, everyone sees a bluer sky and greener grass when we have a better business, a better life, and our commitment is that we will help this become a better industry. Looks like there's a couple of comments that did come through. Oh, no, that's Raleigh posting out the webpage for the events. Yeah. Uh, super awesome. Super awesome. Uh, last final thoughts, final ideas. David, we'll start with you. Tanika, then to you. Yeah. That we can help this industry grow. David Boyes: Tanika, thank you for joining today and, and sharing your experience. It's super valuable for, for me as a provider to our industry that, uh, we understand how we're driving impact. So thank you again for that. Thank you for your trust and support. For the, uh, the audience, uh, Call Inbound is our company, callinbound.com. Uh, we provide communication services, uh, call tracking information, uh, advisor call handling performance metrics, and AI call analysis. But above all, we're part of the industry, right? So, uh, I got my start with, uh, with the institute in a 20 group. Got, you know, very ingrained in the industry, uh, while I was building my company. And, um, you know, I'm proud to say that I'm part of the, uh, not just the automotive aftermarket, but the, the service repair industry. Thank you, Tonnika Haynes: gentlemen. I wanna make, make sure you know that I appreciate your company. Um, I don't know how many employees you have, but it seems like they're all just sitting in the same room waiting to help. I can send an email and I get a response so quickly, and it's always been consistent great service, so I do appreciate that. And, uh, anybody that's on the fence, whether you, you know, I'm like, "I don't wanna listen to phone calls, that's just another thing for me to need to..." Do it. Listen to the phone calls. Start with yourself. Start with yourself as the owner. I always say start, start with yourself. I always assume that I'm the problem, then I can work from there. Listen to your phone calls, and if you think you're good and then you listen to them, you realize how bad you are, think about how bad your team is if you're not coaching them. So get them in coaching call services or what- whatever. Listen to the phone calls. Get everything in order. And not only will you make better sales and better connections, more appointments, but I really truly believe that it could save you a lot of heartache. Yeah, they record bad calls, too. Bad calls from the other end that you're, you know, that you need, I hate to say for court, but anything. It's like, "Hey, sir, we've got that call recorded and that didn't go quite the way you're saying it's gonna go." So that's another part to it that could, that could be very important in your shop. We call that David Boyes: the replay booth. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. David Boyes: We'll take that to the replay booth. Tonnika Haynes: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: It, it, it's an important to CYA. Exactly. You gotta cover your own behind. Tonnika Haynes: There's a great... That's a great tool for that. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Yep. Yep, for sure. Well, with that, thank you very much. David, thank you for being here. Taneka, thank you very much for being here. Tonnika Haynes: Any Jimmy Lea: time. Look forward to seeing both of you very soon at our next conference, and to give you a big hug and say hello. Uh, bring your best jackets, David. Say Tonnika Haynes: less. Gotcha. Say less. Back in the David Boyes: studio. Jimmy Lea: Yes, yes. Very much looking forward to working with all of you in the very near future. And for everyone that is listening, thank you so much for joining us today as we talk about building a better business, a better life, and a better industry. My name is Jimmie Lee. I'm with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence, and we're here to lock arms with you and make a difference. Click on it. Come find us. We're here to help. How can we help you? Let's make a difference. Talk to you soon.