We’ve all had those moments when we were daydreaming in the shower and fantasizing about a bigger house, a new boat, or a shiny new spouse. (Did you read that right? I think you did!) We long for some of these dreams so much that we end up daydreaming about them repeatedly. But, unfortunately, we…
Something happened a few weeks ago that knocked me out of my seat. I was speaking with a shop owner named “Rose” who was concerned about the performance of her shop. She was down in gross profit dollars for the month and suspected that her service manager “Nick” wasn’t fully engaged. Rose recommended that we…
Everyone looks for a magic solution to take their business to the heights they desire. A magic pill that will make everything run smoothly, providing the results with high profits that you, the owner, have dreamed about having from owning your own business. Wouldn’t that be wonderful — lead me to the pill dispensary right…
Since the beginning of time, there have been salespeople. That’s right, whether exchanging stones of different sizes, trading pelts for goods, or using currency like we do today, there were and always will be salespeople. There are good and bad examples we can reminisce about relating to personal experiences we had or characters in movies…
In the book Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, he calls your business “an out-of-control cash-eating monster.” Unfortunately, that is all too true for most automotive repair shop owners. Time and time again, we see business owners come to ATI not because they have a failing business but the opposite — they have an outwardly successful…
The minute details of a perfectly executed process are what fall between the cracks. There are always internal and external barriers that get in the way of performing a process consistently. The goal is for the process to be easily repeatable and based on discipline to enact at every opportunity. Stay True to Successful Processes…
Charles Schwab was the Jeff Bezos of 1918. He was one of the richest men of his day, and the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, one of the largest producers of Steel during that time. Yet, despite being the “top shop” of his time, he felt something was missing in his business. He scheduled…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — or is it? As an auto repair shop owner, you may be looking at your holiday planning with trepidation. Either you’re busier than ever and trying to figure out how to manage the workflow while at the same time honoring employee requests for time off, or…
What a great feeling it is to have the highest topline sales year we’ve ever had! The success should make us reflect to acknowledge what got us here. Being fully staffed, training for service advisors that got around customers’ “No’s,” cutting discounts in half, and other tactics are some of what made this happen. Of…
‘Isms come in many forms: racism, ageism, sexism — all communicating bias or discrimination to the group of people each ‘ism targets. I am sharing an example of racism and discrimination I witnessed. Situation Observed A manager huffed and puffed upon hearing the name of a customer while an associate was confirming a reservation over…