A short Service Drive Revolution episode (hosts: Chris Collins, Don, Jeremy) answering listener questions about advisor training and inspection software. For training, hosts recommend advisors invest in their own development (seek training elsewhere, pay for coaching, attend unrelated trainings to learn transferable skills) and emphasize creating systems rather than relying on dealers. For inspections, hosts recommend starting with a consistent paper-based process before digitizing, prioritize technician ease-of-use and visual/photo evidence, and note that software alone won't fix systemic problems; Chris mentions an upcoming proprietary digital inspection for coaching/franchise clients.
Chapters
So, Don, do we have any good questions this week?
Oh, such good questions. My entire life revolves around these questions. So, you know, I take them very seriously.
So full time job.
Full time job. So, you know, I. I am the arbiter of whether or not these questions are any good and I declare they are good.
So far you've been pretty good on it.
Thank you.
What's the first one?
The first question comes from Thomas. I am looking to get some more advisor training, but my dealer is not a training kind of dealership. Do you have service advisor training separate for the dealer experience? I am very impressed by the podcast and the info in there. I have made it. I have made my way to number one at my dealer because of the information, but I am hungry for more. Please help. It's hard in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is hard in Lincoln, Nebraska. I've been there. FYI, I forwarded this to Carol to follow up on the training part. But though it was positive feedback for the podcast, whatever that means.
Awesome. Good job, Thomas. Way to move to number one. I got a question though. Was it your dealer's not a trading dealer or a training dealer?
It says. It says trading with a D. With.
A D. That could be a typo.
It could be.
It could be a typo.
So what, what's the question here, Jeremy?
So the question is, how do you, as a service advisor?
You don't speak in Spanish.
No speak espanol. How do you, as a service advisor, get training if the dealer, principal or the shop owner doesn't want to provide the training?
Well, I got an idea.
What is it?
Go to a dealer that does.
Come on. We don't.
Well, absolutely. How do you find those dealers?
We got a list.
I was just gonna say, we have a roster here at cci.
Just call us up. There's hundreds of them.
No, I'm gonna challenge every advisor out there. And you should invest in your own career. You should put your own money into your own training and not wait for the business owner or the dealer principal or service manager to provide it. I remember when I was 18 years old, I went to one of my very first seminars and I went to the back table and I said, I want to buy that. And it was an audio course or whatever. And the instructor said, well, I'm not going to sell it to you. And I said, why? He says, because your dad has it. And I was like, well, that's my dad's stuff. I want my own. I'm going to create my own library. So I invested in my own career at a very early age. And I encourage everybody else out there to do it. I mean, if you're an advisor, you can pay for your own coaching. It will pay you back because even if you're not on a performance based pay plan, you are. Because if you don't perform, you're going to get fired. So keep your job.
Yeah, I agree with that. What's so the most I've ever spent in a year on training for myself is about 200 grand.
In different things. Not a one.
No, no.
But yeah, collectively. When I added it up at the end of the year, when I was doing my goals for the next year, looking at what I did, I spent about 200 grand in a year. And I remember when I was an advisor, this is a totally true story. I took my vacation, my one week vacation and I went to F and I training.
Are you serious?
I'm dead serious. So the community college in Seattle used to have this great F and I training. The trainer was amazing. And you were in Washington to do F and I, you had to be certified. So I went to the training and learned so much about selling and processes and they videotaped us in that training. So you had to present on video. It was mortifying. I'd never worked a day in F and I in my life. Mo everybody else in there were in F and I trying to get their license.
Right.
And I went just because I wanted to learn about it. I, I've always been a fan of going to different kinds of trainings. Even if it, if it seems like it doesn't apply to whatever I'm doing. I always learn something absolutely crazy. Right?
That's awesome.
Yeah, I think it was, it was like, it was like 1500 bucks and I got my certificate. I could have been an F and I, you know, until you found. I could have been there until 1 o' clock at night on a Saturday.
You found out the schedule that they work, right?
No, I knew the schedule. I just kind of wanted. I don't know, I just wanted to see and I don't know. Back then I wasn't gonna go on vacation. I wasn't gonna go somewhere, so. So. Okay. I don't know if we answered that question. No, we did our best on.
We did Thomas.
Of course, of course. We always have more questions. It's a non stop gig. I hate my life. I mean, I love my life. Please don't fire me. This one comes from Kyle. Hi, Chris. I am researching inspection software. I am a service advisor for Dave Smith. Alfa Romeo And Maserati in Coeur d', Alene, Idaho. Very French of you. And we currently have MPI but do not use it consistently. What digital inspection software do you recommend? I would like to see us use one that is easy on the text and helpful for our guests. Sincerely, Kyle.
Kyle, first thing is, I would love to know what you think about the fact that Coeur d' Alene is going to be voting Democrat pretty soon with all the Californians that are moving there.
You did have to go there, didn't you?
It's one of the top places.
Absolutely.
So like, I don't know, almost 200,000 people left California for Dallas, Nevada, Florida and. And Idaho, like Idaho is getting peppered with all the Californians. Just a funny side note.
So crazy.
My feeling on inspections, my friend, is that the digital inspections most of the time slow the process down because we don't have a consistent system. And if you can't do it with paper, you can't do it digitally. So I always start with a good old fashioned two ply paper inspection sheet. Getting the text to do it right under the car. It's easy, it's fast, stapled to every ro. But if you can't do with paper, you usually can't do it digitally. Now if you get good at paper, you'll be good at it digitally. But I think we buy this software a lot of times thinking it's a magic pill and that the software is a system. Garbage in, garbage out, my friend. It's not a system.
Well, it's interesting too, because he mentions a company, but then he says it just doesn't get used consistently. So you're right, the system is the concern there. And whether it's paper or digital, you've got to have consistency in that inspection and it's got to be part of the overall sales process too.
So whether it's digital, I find it's hard to get the techs to adopt the digital one. And I've told like less who used to own MPI and all that. Like when they would try to get me to endorse them or whatever, I'd be like, pay me and I'll fix your thing. But your system doesn't work. It's cumbersome at parts, it's not intuitive, and it's unrealistic that to think a tech's gonna go back and forth to the computer while they're doing it. Paper, so easy and quick for the tech. And so we want to make the process easy for the tech. I find that it's hard to get technicians to be consistent if they don't have a real system for that. So you can even do paper and then input it in the computer, that sort of thing. But, yeah, you got to focus on the system and gamify it. That's a big part of it, too. Make it fun.
Yeah.
Well, put some games behind it.
If it. If a digital process takes longer than paper, the text is going to throw the tablet or the. The technology down and go back to paper. Because remember, their money's made by producing hours. The other thing, forget the digital checklist. It's all about visual input now, whether it's show and tell. I love your, you know, your instant inspection, the process you have with that, get the customer in the car and show them what's going on with it. But digital photos are key, so you've got to have a software that can get the photos in there. You don't want to overwhelm the customer with too much information. But we've got to have a process that works consistently. And if you have one in place already, try to make that work first. And then if you need a really good, robust digital inspection system, just check with Chris Collins Inc. Because we have our own coming out soon. You didn't know that, did you know?
Is it paper?
It's digital. It's a digital inspection.
Oh, really?
You know, I spent. I literally had a company which I won't name, which is one of the bigger ones that I was doing my own. Chris Collins. Whatever. Now we. We're. We have one coming out for instant inspection, but it won't be available to the public.
Why not?
I don't think so.
Okay.
Just for our coaching clients.
Yeah. And franchise owners. Any. Any other questions, Don? Or is that it for this week?
That's it for this week, Chris.
Don, you did a great job. I want to tell you. You're doing a great job. We really appreciate you being here. You're getting a lot of fanfare, a lot of good feedback.
Absolutely.
You're making it more fun. You definitely read the questions better than I did. I can't read to save my life. I got glasses. You don't need glasses. His eyesight, even at his age, is still good.
And the fact that you don't drink leaves more alcohol for us. So thank you.
Thanks, Don. We'll see you again next week.
Thanks a lot, Chris. See you later.
Thank you so much for watching this clip of Service Drive Revolution. Now you can catch the full episode on YouTube, iTunes, or Spotify or wherever you can consume your podcast. If you have any questions, go ahead and post them in the comments below. Make sure you subscribe and hit the bell icon so you're notified when we post new episodes. I'm Chris Collins and you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at Chris Bulldog Collins and I'll see you again on the next episode.
