Motivating Service Advisors During The Coronavirus Crisis (Service Drive Revolution)
Chris Collins and Jeremy discuss how to keep service advisors motivated when the coronavirus shut down dealerships. They cover what happened to car sales during lockdown, why driverless cars matter less now, and concrete ways managers can support their teams through the crisis.
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Foreign.
Welcome everybody, to Service Drive Revolution. We are so excited about this show today, and you should be as well, because it is jam packed with content. How are you doing, Mr. Jeremy?
I am doing good. Things are moving forward. I feel that we're moving away from the stuckness of life and things are beginning to gather some momentum.
Hey, I got. So if you're listening to this, I'm putting up. I have a collection of old vinyl and I just got this, which is to be a salesman by Zig Ziglar. And I thought of you, Jeremy. This thing is. What's the date on it? 1969.
Man, that is a classic right there. Yeah, I have a friend that would pay you good money for that.
Well, I think that I have a vinyl collection of old.
You know, training like that, that has gotta be worth a lot of money. But I scour the Internet, ebay and different websites, and whenever they pop up, I get them. I have some weird, weird stuff too.
I think I've showed you this one before. How to let your wife help you succeed in selling by Chuck L. Lapp, PhD.
Is that really the title? That is really the title. Oh, my gosh.
How to let your wife help you succeed. And there's wives on there interviewed. When you listen to it, and it's from a time that you and I never experienced.
I'll tell you that that was probably produced in the 50s or 60s.
Yeah. I don't see a date on the.
Back, but put my glasses on and see. Let's. Let's take a look at that.
Yeah.
1964.
Which seems not old enough for what's on here. It's crazy.
You know, if we released that today, we'd probably get a lot of protesters out on the street about that title.
Yeah, well, I don't. When you listen to it, it's not. I don't know, it's not in line with my thinking, but it's fascinating. I mean, whether. Whether things resonate with me or not, I still listen to them and I still like to see how people did training and how they set it up, how it was delivered, how they wrote it. Because, you know, we're in the business of training, Jeremy. That's what you and I do on top of you owning a shop. That's what we do. And so I'm a student and I like to go back in time and see. And that one's just odd. Like, it was just odd to me.
We are a. We deliver results. That's actually what we do. So we deliver results. Yes. We train.
But semantics, Jeremy, that's semantics. Honestly, we do deliver results.
So was it you? It was Christian and I that were talking about this the other day. I think Christian is like, they need to bring back cash for clunkers. And I read this morning that that is the thing coming back. You know what they call cash for clunkers in Germany? So car sales in Germany during the, you know, recent little epidemic or whatever we call it, Corona destruction.
Well, how far ahead of us are they on the curve? Because they're opening up again, right? Yeah, they're a month or two ahead of us.
At least a month. Yeah.
So what did car sales do?
So their car sales were down 52%, which is weird to me because our car sales are down 90%.
I think that's because you have dealers in the US that say, no, I can't sell you a car. And they could also.
I think some of their cars over there are sold by appointment. Right. So you order a car, it comes in, you might still, you know, take it or whatever. I don't know.
But, you know, that's interesting because next year we're taking our shop and we're going to a membership only. We're going to close our doors to the public because we're going to totally change the way that we do automotive repair. But, yeah, over in Europe, they do things. The business model is totally different than how it is over here. We seem to chase a lot of things here, and the business over there seems to be more regimented and more structured.
So the question I asked you, Jeremy, is what do they call cash for clunkers over there?
I do not have a good answer.
Scrappage. Scrappage program.
It's a call. The scrappage program.
Scrappage program.
Okay. And you know that's coming here, right? That's going to be another thing that they pull out. The government's going to approve.
Well, I think it's a good idea because the average car is going to be over. The average car on the road will be 12 years old here, coming up, which is the oldest it's ever been, it was 11.8. And this. This coronavirus.
I'm sure it's going to push it over because people aren't buying cars. Right?
You know. Yeah. And it's interesting. I just had a sales presentation today, and the customer has an 09 Impala. And to get the car fixed, he's looking at about $5,700.
Whoa, slow down. In 09 Impala.
Yeah.
What's an 09 Impala worth?
On Kelley Blue Book, 3100 to 4100. And it needs 50, what, $5,700 worth of work.
So six grand worth of work.
Yes. And it's interesting because when you're in that scenario, you know, we talked about trust and being that trusted advisor for the customer and being there when you're in that environment, you know that you have the pinnacle of the decision right in your hands, and you can sway it one way or another. And, man, I always go back to. I just always, you know, deal with those situations and how I would want to be treated, because I never want to be the service advisor that closes the sale. But the next week, you see the customer in the grocery store and you're like, oh, I'm not going near him, and you turn around and go the other way. Right, right. You know, you just. You got to help the guy through. And I, you know, you ask a ton of questions like, okay, if you are going to fix it, how long you going to drive it? Is it your only car? You should have all these questions answered, you know, well, ahead of time.
Yeah. You're good at that anyways. I've heard you. You ask that anyways, right?
Absolutely. And this is. It's just. It's just interesting to see this cash for clunkers thing coming. It's interesting. I think it's a little different this time, though, because that's not going to re. Stimulate the economy as big as this thing is. And the cars that are actual clunkers today, they're actually. They don't pollute like the old ones did. So we're in a different area now with emissions and all that. So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens.
Yeah, but.
How do I say this.
The right way? You own an independent shop.
Yes.
A person who owns a car dealership wants people to buy a new car.
Yes, they do.
You don't know. It's not necessarily in your best interest for people to buy new cars because you mostly get them when they fall out of warranty.
Right?
Yeah. So, yeah. And that's the thing.
So if it's like asking Smith and Wesson what they think of the nra.
Of course they oppose it. Right?
No.
Sorry, I had to bring some laughter into today's call. Chris, it's interesting, but would you.
Would you.
That sounds like my cue. All right, so I'm walking home the other day, and I see this police car and there's a duck getting in it. And I figured that the duck probably did something Covid related not wearing the mask or something like that. So I asked that police officer what did the duck do? And the police officer said he was smoking quack.
Our in house zoom hacker. Christian driver. That was a Christian drive by.
He was smoking quacker. It's pretty funny. Anyways, I don't know, I think that you're. You might be biased is all just a little bit.
Yes, I agree. To take that sale out of my shop would hurt. But that means that I'm a very poor businessman because there's new maintenance out there. And did you know that in our on demand training we actually can teach advisors how to sell maintenance on new cars and not just oil changes?
Yeah. Did you know that the average car sitting right now, the average car of all the cars out there in the whole country needs about three hours worth of maintenance or work?
Does that just. Does that, does that just get you super excited? Would you call that a woody? Do you get a woody from that?
I feel something going on in my loins for sure. Absolutely. That's sales lingo there. So three hours. So that means if I have a 1.5 hours per ro, I'm actually batting about 50% or 500% in baseball terms. But there's more that doesn't include any of the additional maintenance and upsells that could be done on the car. That's just average repairs on the car. Right.
So you're saying that's just what they actually need.
You're correct. Don't take me down that path.
Okay.
You know, that's that. What was our friend that went to jail for that?
Oh, man.
Are my long lost uncle Don Rito.
Yeah.
Where's he at? I miss him.
Hey. The Ford in Plymouth, Michigan, the Ford factory, the employees are testing out a system where they wear wristbands and if they come within six feet of each other, it vibrates.
Really? I can see that.
How do we get that? How do we get to be in that program?
I could see that getting so abused. Hey, come here. Yeah.
If it's a rubber band. Yeah, we could have so much fun with that.
Hey, Chris, where's your wristband at? I don't see. Oh, I have it on. It's just not on my wrist.
Hey, Jeremy, could you get over here?
Two feet. Do not go any further than two feet away from me.
Stay right next to me the whole day. That's funny. A new way to get to bond cultures within workplace and make team unity happen.
I think at that same factory, bless them, they're making ventilators I think something like that. It's awesome that our car companies are the saviors and that sort of thing where they can quickly adapt. Pennsylvania is passing a law where they can sell cars online. Good for them, which I think a lot of people don't understand, means that they're kind of bypassing the finance laws. Right. That you can. Because most of the time in the dealer agreement with Ford or BMW or whoever, you'll have to have a salesperson there, an F and I person to deliver the car. And I think they're saying that it can just be notarized and you can actually sell a car and do the paperwork through the computer, which is the future anyways. We all know that. But it's requiring a notary, I think. But.
I think that a positive thing that will come out of this is that car sales will become easier for the consumer because industry that's slow to change will have to change very rapidly out of. Out of survival.
Well, yeah, and I think so with car sales, I think you're right. The sales process has to change and you can do all the legwork. I've never understood this. The traditional sales model for selling a car is backwards, right? They get you into the car, you like it, then they put you in a finance and beat the hell out of you for like four hours. Right? But they make you wait six hours before you get into finance. So for most consumers today want to have that stuff ready to go, and. And then they just want to show them, get the keys and go. So I think this is something that consumers have wanted and now society's making it happen. So, you know, I just wish that Trump and his team over at the CIA that, you know, secretly let out the COVID virus in China would have thought about this before they just, you know, launch this virus out. Because although we did need to, you know, do social distancing and slow things down, man, I miss going to a restaurant. Like, they should have thought this out.
Like, okay, you're missing Cracker Barrel.
I'm still missing Cracker Barrel, man. You have no idea. Like, my cholesterol is down by like 40% because I've been eating a lot healthier.
But, you know, it's like, so, hey, restaurants, you're going to have to be prepared. We're going to have the tables 20ft apart. You're going to have one server per table. They could have done a lot of things a lot different now. It's just. It feels like everything's stuck right now. Just nobody knows what to do so.
Yeah. By the way, bro, there's no way that Trump let that out. There's no way he's brokenhearted. When you. I've watched a couple of his press conferences. You know, he lost. You know, he lost one of his really close friends to Corona.
Did he really?
Yeah. So there's no way.
He.
He was so into the economy, and things are going so good for him.
This is not. This is not what he wanted. Trust me.
I agree. Well, the virus that they let out actually didn't have wings on it. It's the Chinese modification side that got it over here to the United States.
You're deep. You're deep into that conspiracy. Hey, I got a new podcast that I love. I'll send you a link to it, actually. But the kid is. He's at mit, and he's. He's kind of at the forefront of AI.
Nice.
And how I. How I landed on him is he had that Eric Weinstein. Have you ever listened to Eric Weinstein? So he had Eric Weinstein on and Amazing interview. And then I went back and watched the first interview he did with Eric, but in there, they were talking about an interview with Elon Musk. So this kid, Lex Friedman, that's his podcast. I actually watched it on YouTube, but he has a podcast and he does it from mit. I think he. He had Elon on. And every time I watch Elon, it. You, like, you think one thing and then he explains it, and you, like, you're just like, I think so small. Like, I just think so small. And his metaphors, even, like, you can tell he's used to talking to stupid people like me. Like, he has a metaphor. He's okay dumbing it down and talking slow. But it's unbelievable. Like, so they're. That one of the. One of them, they're talking about driverless cars, right? And Elon's like, well, the car I'm driving now can drive itself.
And he. He says the. The thing about driverless cars, I.e. the Pro is the problem is, like, how much safer does the driverless system have to be than humans for it to become something that's accepted by the regulatory, you know, the regulatory body. Like, does it have to be two times safer? Three times? And he talks about. And I remember when I. When we went up with the elite group and toured the Tesla factory, and they took us for a ride in a. In one that drove itself. So got on the freeway, and I do remember just thinking, like, how this thing just is, like, perfectly in between the lines and he's like, if you watch a human driving on the freeway, there's a little swerve to everything we do. And he's like, at some point people are going to be thinking like, can you believe that people used to drive cars? Like people used to get in cars and point them in a direction and, and go. And how dumb and unsafe that was compared to the, the AI and the systems that. That they have. And he likens it to his metaphor in there is a elevator operator. Like, the computer is way safer than an elevator operator. You would never want an elevator operator anymore. Or that whole crazy mechanical system with cords and wires and all that, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
Like, that's where his head is. Where his head is at. And I never, I never thought. Yeah, not too long from now we'll be thinking like, can you believe we used to drive? Like, how can you believe that. That people like Christian used to be able to like, do whatever they want with a gas pedal and a steering wheel?
Well, you know, I mean, it's proven that people that are not originally from California are not as good of drivers as those people from, from California. And when I travel, I don't know about you, but when I travel to other states, I watch how people drive and they are just all over the place, super slow, bouncing off the walls, you know, just. They, they.
Yeah, but California is like, that's advanced calculus driving here. This driving here is like us. Well, I liken it to, to when I was a kid growing up in Mexico, right? So I was a missionary's kid until I was 13. I. I lived in Mexico. Guess what I was really, really good at?
Driving.
No. We didn't have tv, we didn't have radio, we didn't have a record player. Nothing. Guess what we did all day in Mexico? Kids. What did kids do?
Kids are out playing soccer, playing outside, right?
Soccer. We played soccer. So then I moved to Washington State. Guess, guess what I'm really, really good at compared to everybody else?
Soccer.
Soccer.
Because in Washington, soccer, something kids do. It's really cute in Mexico. Soccer is, is a way of life. Like the level of playing and thinking and mindset and studying and practice in Mexico compared to Washington is like, I, you know, I was one of the best, best players in the, in the state when I was a kid. Because. And it's, it's the same sort of thing. Driving in California is like, if you're not aggressive, you'll never get anywhere you want.
Yeah, exactly. You'll. You'll go backwards instead of forward for sure. Absolutely.
Yeah.
So feel like this is a good.
Time for me to chime in.
So what do you have for us?
I got nothing. Wait, Christian, I got something for you. Hold on, hold on. Oh, he's back. Okay. Um, do you know that Teslas have karaoke?
Because you have a Tesla.
So I've been singing in my car this whole time without actually having accompaniment?
Well, I don't know. In that interview with. With Lex Friedman, he's talking about one of his favorite features on a Tesla is Tesla karaoke.
That's a good thing.
Does a Tesla have an app store?
Well, it's got its own app, for sure. And then there's a lot of things you can do within that app. It's pretty crazy what they're like you had said earlier, they're so far ahead of everybody else almost with everything. Like, you can set up for your car to get picked up for service. You can set up everything just through the app. I can turn my lights on, honk my horn.
You can buy the driverless thing, right? You can just buy it.
I just have to hit a button and then I can be driverless. But yeah, really fun thing is, is that sometimes I'll hide ways from my car, and when people walk close to it, I'll honk the horn at him. That's kind of cool.
You can set it up to do that.
Oh, yeah.
Will you do me a favor and be like a reporter roving on the street? Can you report back to us? What the hell is Tesla karaoke?
Most definitely. I will look forward to the assignment.
Okay. Thanks for nothing.
Speaking of driverless cars, I think society's ready for it. I'm ready for a driverless car that, you know, the 40 minute commute that I have to the shop from home. I can be so much more productive than I already am if I had the car driving for me.
So by productive, you mean taking a nap?
What's that?
By productive you mean taking a nap?
I wouldn't take a nap. No, it's a work. Right.
Well, I would nap for sure.
Like, absolutely more than we do now.
I fell asleep. I fell asleep in a car. So easy. But that's me.
Okay, Voice of God. I'm calling up God right now. Voice of. Do you think we'll get Scottish God or American God? Jeremy?
I think. I don't know. I'm curious to see.
We're gonna have. We have some good questions. Let me remind everybody that if you post a question on YouTube, send it to us on LinkedIn, Instagram, email infohriscollinsinc.com and we read your question on the big show. We will send you some swag which consists of a service drive revolution T shirt, hat, coffee mug, three ring binder, folder, notepad thing, a bottle of hand sanitizer. It's funny, the building that we're in here, they came around and handed out sanitizer and it's just basically rubbing alcohol.
Oh, that's all it is.
I have the real stuff. This is the stuff I'm using. This lavender organic. It's pretty good. But how about questions? God? Is God there? Did God leave us?
The voice of God has many questions.
Good. I thought God. I thought God had left me for a minute. Okay, let's hear it.
God abandons none of his children. This first question comes from Lincoln Delve. After a recommendation, I started watching some of your videos and using them in training of our after sales teams. Our CSI scores do not match the efforts we put in. We have started to use in our training the CSI Ask Up Front video which is starting to make a difference in our culture. My aim is to get every service advisor enjoying what they do and enjoying being a part of a team who want to win and be on top. I am just wondering what will hit the spot and how will we do it. I am currently thinking of a challenge where I may need your help if I can get it past hr. Once we are back. Our CSI scores do not match the efforts we put in. We have started to use in our training the CSI Ask Up Front video which is starting to make a difference in our culture. My aim is to get every service advisor enjoying what they do and enjoying being a part of a team who want to win and be on top. I am just one from this COVID 19 disaster. I am thinking of a weekly challenge which will keep them on their toes. Maybe a quiz. What are your thoughts?
First of all, God, when you go back and read the question, does it say ask up front or commit up front?
The question says ask up front. What will hit the spot and how will we do it? I am currently thinking of a challenge where I may need your help if I can get it past HR. Once we are back from this COVID 19 disaster, I am thinking of a weekly challenge which will keep them on their toes. Maybe a quiz. What are your thoughts first?
So that's one thing we're getting a little bit wrong here and I just, I want to point this out because these little things matter. Little little hinges swing big doors so well. God, when you go Back and read the, the question. Does it say ask up front or commit up front?
The question says ask up front.
Okay, so that's one thing. We're getting a little bit wrong here. And, and I, I just, I want to. It's commit up front. It's not ask. We're not begging for it. We're saying we're going to, we're going to. So remember that. It's, it's about committing up front. Point this out. Because these little things matter. Little, little hinges swing, big doors.
So.
And a lot of little things can affect this, right? Our tone, when we do it, how we do it, and the follow up and then our performance. So it's commit up front. It's not ask, we're not begging for it. We're saying we're going to. This comes, you know, this, this comes from when I was a service advisor and we barely got any surveys and the surveys. So I was writing service for Cadillac and they would send them in. They were the handwritten ones. Do you remember those, Jeremy?
I do, yes. Tear them off, send them in.
Three months after a customer came in, you would, all of a sudden the service manager would get email that, you know, your CSI was basically two or whatever because somebody trashed you on a survey and you never had any good ones because really only the people that complained sent them in and they took their time to send them in. And so what we kind of figured out as a strategy was we need to get good ones. And so we didn't want to beg at the cashier for them. So we were just saying up front like, hey, we're going. This is going to be an amazing experience. And if for any reason it's not an amazing experience, please tell me because I want to know. Because I want to fix it. Because I want to be your service advisor. I want to be your person in the car business. And so if you're not comfortable and for any reason you feel like I haven't lived up to it, please let me know. And committing up front, not asking.
The thing that I would say about that is I would play different games with your advisors. Like I would start with the Smile game. So the Smile game is just being out there. And if you're playing our regular games, because I'm, I'm assuming you're in on demand. So if you're playing a daily game in the drive, I would say that anytime you get a customer to smile and laugh at the car before you take them to ride them up, you get a mark on the board so you get to play the game and you get five bucks.
So it's going to get the advisors connecting, petting the dogs really building rapport with the customers and putting the customers in it. They're going to have to break the ice. We're going to have to put the customers in a different, in a different mindset. And then once I played the Smile game for a couple days, then I would play the commitment game where I would be roaming the drive at peak times. And whenever I hear an advisor commit, do the commitment, then they get a point and they get five bucks. Right. So just like training, potty, training a bulldog. So my first bulldog was Rocky, who I tell the pet, the dog story about. But one, one story I don't know that I've, that I've told a lot that's funny is growing up I had shelties and I had pretty smart dogs. In fact.
Joelle, who works with us here, Jeremy, is getting a dog and it's called an Aussie poo. It's one of those designer dogs. So it's a poodle in an Australian shepherd. I think cute as can be. Like, Google it. They're cute as can be. So she, she's getting one of those. It's coming. And she just mildly in passing on zoom one morning in our morning shift meeting says, oh yeah, those are classified as Einstein dogs.
Do you know what an Einstein dog is?
I don't, I don't.
I, I don't either. But I can assume a bulldog is not an Einstein dog. I'm just telling you right now, bulldogs are, they're classified as non sporting. And if you look at the list of how smart dogs are, you're gonna have to go really, really far down the list to find a bulldog.
You follow me? Right.
So I'd add shelties. Shelties means maybe, I don't know. I know border collies are up there. They're always one or two with poodles. Shelties are like border collies. But when I, when I got one of the shelties, they were almost potty trained out of the womb. You one time you smack a newspaper and say, don't do that there. And that's pretty much it. Well, when I got Rocky, he, he would literally look at you, lift his leg and piss on the couch and you're like this, like this idiot, like, you know, like newspapers. Nothing, nothing worked. And so we're taking the, the, the, this crazy bulldog puppy to training it at a police dog school, which that's a stretch in and of itself, right? And we asked the trainer, we're like, hey, this, this dog does not want to be potty trained. Like, what do we do? Like, we did the thing where we crate trained him and then move the pads outside. That didn't work.
All that.
And he goes, oh. He goes, no, you can only train bulldog as a trainer. We're like, hey, this, this dog does not want to be potty trained. Like, what do we do? Like, we did the thing where we crate trained him and then move the pads outside. That didn't work.
All that.
And he goes, oh. He goes, no, you can only train bulldogs with treats. He was totally right, bro. Like, literally three days later, Rocky hugs with treats. He was totally right, bro. Like, literally three days later, Rocky would come get you. He'd be like, hey, get the treats. We're going outside. I got a piss.
Bulldogs are actually smarter than what they get credit for because they have manipulated the system and other dogs have not.
That's good. Have you ever seen the Andy rooney bit on 60 Minutes about that?
No, I haven't.
That's what he says. He's like. Because he has a bulldog and he's like, I can't believe bulldogs are so low on the list. He's like, who wants a dog that sits when you tell him to sit or rolls over? Like, you know, would come get you. He'd be like, hey, get the treats. We're going outside. I got a piss.
Bulldogs are actually smarter than what they get credit for because they have manipulated the system and other dogs have not.
That's good, but. Yeah, but ends up bulldogs are pretty smart if there's food involved, all of a sudden their IQs light up and they know what they're doing. But this dog used to come and be like, hey, treats are over there. Go get them, because I got to do business in the back. Unbelievable lesson, right? It's kind of the lesson of gamification in a way. So when you play the smile game and you play the commitment game with your advisors, what you're going to find is they're going to be like, hey, boss, come out. Are you going to watch me? You're going to watch me and they will be begging you to watch. Have you ever seen the Andy rooney bit on 60 Minutes about that?
No, I haven't.
That's what he said. Do something that you couldn't get him to do before with all the reminding and everything. When you make it a part of the game and you're spiffing them. So that's what I would do. Just like if you have a dealership and you want to sell more cars, the games would start with demos. Every time you get a demo, you get a mark on the board. I'll play a hand. Says he's like, because he has a bulldog. And he's like, I can't believe bulldogs are so low on the list. He's like, who wants a dog that sits when you tell him to sit or rolls over? Like, you know, but yeah, ends up, bulldogs are pretty smart. If there's food involved, blackjack, whatever. That's how I'd get you to sell more cars. It's the same thing in service.
It's all about the petting, the dog, the connection and the commitment. So long winded answer to your question. But that's what I would do is I would start with the smile game and then I would switch to the commitment game. It's going to require you to be out there in the drive to do it, but just make it a part of the normal game that you're already doing. All of a sudden their IQs light up and they know what they're doing. But this dog used to come.
Absolutely. Then I would just add to that. Part of the question was that we're not getting the CSIs for all the hard work that we're putting into. And you can't just have that short term thinking about it where, hey, we're going to go out today and then we expect the services to show up tomorrow. It's got to be something that's here. And if you look at your advisors, the ones who are consistently low are going to consistently not have the inward.
Desire and be like, hey, trust treats are over there, go get them. Because I got to do business in the back. Unbelievable lesson, right? It's kind of the lesson of gamification in a way. So when you play the smile game and you play the commitment game with your advisors, what you're going to find is they're going to be like to.
Serve and then they're basically transactional based. So I would look at if you're.
Not, hey boss, come out. Are you going to watch me? You're going to watch me and they will be begging you to watch.
Getting the results that you want. It's probably in your execution and the customers can see that it's fake and not genuine. And then you really got to go deeper with your team and really pull them into what is it, you know, where's your passion at? How do you actually execute on this and deliver. And you know, Kris, for me, it's when I'm on my A game at my shop, we can see literally 10 to 25 stars of review come in every single week. But when we don't perform, we might get one or two or none. And it's. So if you're not getting the service, you got to look at your execution because you're probably not executing the way that you need to.
Awesome. Okay, do we have another one? Voice of God.
The voice of God has another question. Good morning, sir. My name is Josh and I'm a longtime follower. My dealership has changed our pay during this virus to an average of last year's weekly pay for my fellow advisors and techs with a guarantee of 40 hours a week. Since this has started, I've seen my fellow advisors and techs become lazy and make comments about how it doesn't matter I'm getting paid and do something that.
You couldn't get them to do before with all the reminding and everything. When you make it a part of the game and you're spiffing them. So that's what I would do. Just like if you have a dealership and you want to sell more cars, the games would start with demos. Every time you get a demo, you get a mark on the board. I'll play a hand.
But at the end of the day, the customer is suffering due to this. What are some ways to get everyone fired up and motivated to perform? Thank you for your time.
That's a heartbreaking question. That's character. I mean, isn't it funny that in time, Blackjack, whatever, that's how I'd get you to sell more cars. It's the same thing in service times like this where there's stress on the system. That real character comes out in people that you. That you would think that way. It's like, you know how people say, Jeremy, that money makes you, you know, makes you an. And I always say, like, money doesn't make you an. Money amplifies holes. Like if. If you're a jerk already and you get a lot of money, you're just an amplified empowered dude jerk. But if you're not a jerk and you get money, you're not going to be a jerk. And so this is about character. Like, if you don't understand that during it's. It's all about the petting, the dog, the connection and the commitment. So long winded answer to your question. But that's. That's what I would do is I would start with the smile this time. When nurses are on the front lines and doctors are on the front lines and people are putting their lives in at risk and our job is to keep them in dependable and reliable cars. And you can't see that there's a person behind that car that's a mom or a dad or a son or a daughter or a nurse or a doctor, whatever. And you, you're just indifferent to the fact that those are humans that depend on us. I don't know, I, I'm at a loss how to fix that. It's character, that game. And then I would switch to the commitment game. It's going to require you to be out there in the drive to do it. It's a character flaw.
It is a character flaw. And I think, you know, the other thing that we have to do but.
Just make it a part of the normal game that you're already doing.
Is.
Possibly look at colonizing Mars. You know, SpaceX is launching with NASA here real soon. What?
No, I'm serious. This could be the new norm, Chris, where we live in a social.
We're going to send these people to Mars.
Well, yes, we have to look. So look at it this way. Like our forefathers left England because of taxation and they wanted a free land. So we came to North America, right? And there was absolutely. And I would just add to that part of the question was that we're not getting the CSIs for all the hard work that we're putting into and you can't just have that short all this beautiful land and there's nowhere else for us to go. So if this is the new norm and people are used to just getting enough to get by and they're happy with it. Yeah, you're right, that does show their character. And the sad part is this is if enough people buy into it and they like term thinking about it where hey, we're going to go out today and then we expect the services to show up tomorrow, it's got to be, you know, something that's here and if you look at your advisors, the ones who are consistent and they usher in the new socialistic regime, we're going to have to go to Mars because there's nowhere else for us to go. And we're going to have to start a new colony that is a capitalistic based economy again. It's the only place we can go. I don't know, is there anywhere else we could go?
You know, your sister told me that your brother is even crazier than you.
And Low are going to consistently not have the inward design that I should.
Follow him on Facebook. Like, he's super, super, super, right.
I wouldn't do that.
I want to follow like, she's like, if you really want to see crazy. Right. Like that you're like, you're middle as far as your family's concerned. Is that true?
To serve. And then they're basically transactional based. So I would look at.
If you're not like, you're virtually Bernie Sanders of your family.
Yeah, yeah, There we go.
Yeah, yeah. Because you're way more. You're. You're way right for me.
That's funny.
That question is interesting. Yeah. You've got guys that are. But here's. Here's the flip side to that. This is going to show you who your producers are getting the results that you want. It's probably in your execution. And the customers can. Your technicians that are only getting 40 hours a week. The guy that is used to doing 80 to 90 because he shows up at 5am and he's got eight cars ready to go and he's ready to produce, see that it's fake and not genuine. And then you really got to go deeper with your team and really pull them into what is it, you know, where's your passion at? How do you actually execute on this and turn the workout. His hands are tight. He can't do it right now. How do you think he's feeling and his paycheck suffering. There are some dealership technicians that are used to making 150 to 200,000 a year, and they've been relegated to 40 hours a week. Come on, give me a break. Let's get things rolling again. Let's go.
You know, one thing I might do in that scenario is I might put pictures of people in the shop. Customers with their kids, like, take pictures and put them in the shop. So the techs understand and the advisors understand that there's people behind those cars. We're not. The car is a commodity. What technicians are. What technicians are doing is way more than, you know, maintenance and repairs on a car. It's way bigger than that.
And you gotta deliver. And you know, Kris, for me, it's. When I'm on my A game at my shop, we can see literally 10 to 25 stars of review come in every single week. But when we don't perform, tune into that.
It's, it's, it's special. And like, if you don't think it's special, you should, you should spend A little time rethinking your approach and your.
You know, we might get one or two or none. And it's. So if you're not getting the surveys.
You got to look, no, you'll be happier as a person if you understand that what you're doing is giving your.
Execution because you're probably not executing the way that you need to.
Awesome. Okay. Do we have back? It's not just about your hourly rate. And oddly, you know, like my grandpa used to always say, if you always give people more than what they paid you for, you'll always be in high demand. Oddly, you'll make more money, too, by default if you start focusing on taking care of people and, you know, having a little more care. Care for it. But. Oh, that question breaks my heart.
All right, all right. God can wait. I've got a good one. I've got a coronavirus joke. It's going to take up to 14 days for you guys to get it.
Another one. Voice of God.
The voice of God has another question. Good morning, sir. My name is Josh, and I'm a longtime follower. My dealership has changed our pay during this virus to an average of last year.
I got it right away.
Wait, so I'm going to get it on May 5th?
Just set a reminder in your calendar from 14 days. Christian's joke. You'll laugh then, too. It'll be funny. It'll remind you.
I laugh every time I hear Christian joke.
What's the next question there?
Here's weekly pay for my fellow advisors and techs with a guarantee of 40.
God.
The voice of God has one final question. Dear Chris, I'm a service advisor that was furloughed at the end of March. I'm stuck at home, and I feel as though my fire has been extinguished. I've lost my purpose in life. My passion bucket has run empty. I really look up to you guys. How can I get out of this funk?
Yeah, it's tough right now. I know. I get it's not just advisors. It's a lot of people, man.
That breaks my heart, man, hearing that somebody's passion bucket is empty.
And, you know, it's hours a week since this has started. I've seen my fellow advisors and techs become lazy and make comments about how it doesn't matter I'm getting paid. But at the end of the day, the customer is suffering due to this. What are some ways to get everybody?
It's interesting. It's not just for the employees. I think everybody's kind of in that stuck Mode. Right. We're in middle ground. We're not out of it yet. There's talk of opening up, reopening, not reopening. Well, we may have to shut down. We don't know really what's. There's so much uncertainty right now. It's crazy. And people literally feel stuck. So I think if you're in that.
One, fired up and motivated to perform. Thank you for your time.
That's a hard situation.
One of the things that I would do is look at your professional development and use this time to be the best advisor you possibly question.
That's character. I mean, isn't it funny that in times like this where there's stress on the system, they can make sure that.
You'Re completely up to speed with all the new model specs. You know, your packages are ready to go. You should be role playing and practicing every single day. Get it. Take in as much as you can so that your saw is absolutely razor sharp when it's time for that switch to get flipped back on and that you're there also. You know, Chris, it's interesting. I've noticed. It's a lot of people have forgotten their goals right now. Like, you know, we used to have a regimen.
Real character comes out in people that you. That you would think that way. It's like, you know how people say, Jeremy, that money makes you, you know, make right.
You'd get up in the morning, you do your reading, you do your morning ritual, set your goals. You'd go out and conquer, have an exhausting day. You'd come out, you're like, yeah, I conquered today. And now people are just like. They feel like, I don't know, poi. Is that what they call it in Hawaii? That mushy, gray, just bland stuff that's like, blah, right? And I get back to setting goals.
Makes you an. And I always say, like, money doesn't make you an. Money amplifies.
And get your goals dusted off. Really use this time to keep that mindset sharp and then go out.
Like, if. If you're a jerk already and you get a lot of money after it.
And then, you know, find a way to get unstuck as fast as you can.
Yeah, it's hard, right? What. So what sort of goals would you set right now if you can't go to work? Like, would you set a goal for learning? Or, like, what would you do? Like, I know I personally. Two things. Just an amplified, empowered jerk. But if you're not a jerk and you get money, you're not going to be a jerk. And so this is about character. Like if you don't understand that during that we've done here that I think really has helped. One is, and this was Christian's idea and it ended up being genius for. For quite a few reasons. But we started having.
Morning this time when nurses are on the front lines and doctors are on the front lines and people can call at 7am Pacific with, with everybody on the coaching staff.
And just talking and we're doing some competitions, we're reading stuff together and sharing what we learned. But just the fact that I are putting their lives at risk and our job is to keep them independable and reliable. I have to, to get up every morning and be on this call at 7 makes me have a purpose. And then we have another call at 8:30 with, with the, with the rest of the team. And those two calls, oddly in the morning give me a reason to get up. I get to interact with the team. I see progress. We talk about the cars and you can't see that there's a person behind that car. That's a moment or things that we could be doing. And I really, really believe that that has kept me sane. I know you're still going to work every day, so you have that. But if you're not going to work, maybe one lesson for service managers or dealers out there or shop owners is even if your people are furloughed or a son or a daughter or a nurse or a doctor or whatever and you, you're just indifferent to the fact that those are humans that depend on us or laid off, maybe you should still have a call every day early in the morning so they have to get up, they have to be dressed. Because I found there was a time where I was, I left my, my gig and I was buying a dealership. And buying a dealership is kind of a slow process. And it. From the time I left my gig till the time I, I don't know, I. I'm at a loss how to fix that. It's character that.
I closed on a dealership was about a year. And I remember one day it was noon and I'm in my bathrobe with a glass of wine painting a bulldog. And I was like, I might have lost some perspective here that it's noon and I got a glass of wine and I'm gonna turn. It's a character flaw.
It is a character flaw. And I think, you know, the other.
Thing that we have to do into an alcoholic. I haven't even showered. Like, that's one thing that I'm hearing from a lot of friends is they don't even shower for days. Like they're just laying in bed.
Is possibly. Look at colonizing Mars. You know, SpaceX is locking up head.
They're not showering. They don't. And so somehow you got to give yourself a reason to get up and interact with people on Zoom or on FaceTime, something. But you, you got to set some, some.
Some sort of goal that you, that you have to do something every other day, that you have to get up and shower.
NASA here real soon. What?
No, I'm serious. This could be the new norm, Chris, where we live in a social.
We're going to sit and be ready for.
Yeah, and I think the other thing too, man, is what about, you know, you're going to go back to work, right? You were going to be in this industry for a long time. We're creating our trust fund and right now be the greatest time to go.
Back and send these people to Mars.
Well, yes, we have to look. So look at it this way. Like our forefathers give gratitude to the clients you've served. So somehow get permission to go on site, get permission to get your customer list that you're, you know, the reason would be you're going to reach out to them and thank them for their past service. And just again, like we talked about on some of the calls in the past, how are you doing? But you know, send 10 handwritten thank you cards out a day.
You know, that's a good idea.
Yeah. So, you know, you spend an hour doing that. And here's, here's one thing one of my mentors always taught me. So when you send a personal thank you card out, always trying to find something about that person left England because of taxation and they wanted a free land. So we came to North America, right. And there's all this beautiful land and there's nowhere else for us to go. So if this is the new norm and people are used to just getting enough to get by and they're happy with it. Yeah, you're right. And their behavior that stood out to you, like, you know, so. Hey, Chris, this is Jeremy from XYZ BMW. Hey. I've always admired how you're so gracious when you come in and you always have a smile on your face. You know, I miss seeing that smile. I can't wait to help you again with your car. Just hope you're doing okay right now. That does show their character and the sad Part is this is if enough people buy into it and they like them like that, you know, a small momento that you remember them and man, just think about what that could do for somebody right. Right now. That could be the. Just the touch that they need.
Yeah. And maybe if, if worse comes to worse, maybe, maybe go volunteer somewhere. Volunteer where they're handing out food or.
Well, I don't have my mask here. It's up front. Get your mask and get your goggles on, get a face shield, get a lab coat, go down to the grocery store and practice petting the dog. But staying six feet away, you could do that. No.
And they usher in the new socialistic regime. We're going to have to go to Mars because there's nowhere else for us to go. And we're going to have to start a new colony that is a capitalistic basic.
Yeah, but how do you know, keep going? How would you do that?
Well, so let's just say that you're there to help. One of the things I would do to break the ice to somebody is can I help you out with your groceries? Like maybe go talk to the manager to see if you could be somebody that could assist customers getting their groceries out to the car because maybe they're shorthanded. Who knows?
Oh, I mean, I don't. I think. Jeremy, it's so easy right now if you want to go help restaurants deliver. Like there's a lot of restaurants that are delivering to older, you know, senior citizens that can't go grocery shopping.
The economy again, it's the only place we can go. I don't know, is there anywhere else we could go?
You know, your, your sister told me that your brother even crazier than you and are, you know, really, we want to protect them from getting the virus because it would be game over for them if they have, they already have emphysema or whatever it is. You can, you can volunteer to deliver food and you're not even touching anybody. You're picking up the food, taking it. And I should follow him on Facebook like he's super, super, super, right. Dropping it on their porch and waving at him. But it's a pretty safe thing to do. But you're helping and you're being a part of the solution. But I'm, I'm just telling you, like in my experience, whenever you start to feel down and depressed, go help other people give. Do something to give back and that'll cure you really, really quick.
Absolutely. Hey, if you're a service advisor at a dealership Set a goal to be the highest salesperson at the dealership next month and sell more cars than anybody else. And watch how that raises your ranks at the dealership.
That's hard to do, but. Yeah, that's a good. That's a good one.
It is not hard to do. Selling cars is easy. You just have to get in front of somebody that wants. I wouldn't do that.
I want, I want. I want to follow. Like, she's like, if you really want to see crazy. Right. Like that, you're like, you're middle as far as your family's concerned. Is that true? Like you're virtually Bernie Sanders of your family.
Yeah. Wants a new car. That's it.
Jeremy, this was really fun.
Absolutely.
And I love, I love those questions, but I do feel like people are getting. Getting a little depressed and I just. It.
Time.
Time will fix this. Summer will make the virus go down a lot because the.
Yeah, there we go. Yeah.
Yeah. Because you're way more. You're. You're way right for me.
That's funny.
That question's interesting. Yeah.
The type of virus it is. And I've read a lot of stuff on this. It's, you know, it's covered in fat. That's how it like moves around. And heat makes that melt away. And so just like the flu. It doesn't really go around as much in the summer. So better times are coming. We're gonna figure this out. We're strong as a country. You gotta.
You've got guys that are. But here's. Here's the flip side to that. This is gonna show you who your producers are, your technicians that are only getting 40 hours a week. The guy that is used to doing.
You know, you gotta focus on the good.
Our drive by last week was great. That helped my mental. Not mental stability, but my mental state a lot. So. Thanks.
What was it about?
Remind me what not to say to yourself. Remember the words that we shouldn't be saying. Like what? I can't. I can never do that.
I honestly don't remember.
It was a great one. The drive by just going.
Let's leave them with this thought. There's this old ancient.
Indian story about.
A young kid, 80 to 90, because he shows up at 5am and he's got eight cars ready to go and he's ready to produce and turn the workout. His hands are tight. He can't do it right now. How do you think he's feeling? And his paycheck suffering. There are some dealership technicians that are used to making 150 to 200,000 a.
Year and a chief mentoring this young kid to kind of become a man. And the chief says the. The secret is that there's two wolves inside of you and one wolf year.
And they've been relegated to 40 hours a week. Come on, give me a break. Let's get things wrong.
He's going to want to feed jealousy and anger and disappointment and entitlement. And there's another wolf inside of you that's fighting for happiness and success and, and everything that's positive. And, and the little kid says to the chief, well, which, which wolf wins?
And the chief says, the one that you feed. Hold on.
Again. Let's go. Go.
You know, one thing I might do in that scenario is I might put pictures of people in the shop. Customers with their kids, like take pictures and put them in the shop. So the tech. So just be very aware that if you're feeding negativity, if you're feeding depression, if you're feeding news and all the negativity, then that's the wolf that's going to win inside of you. Get up, get out. Find positive things, help people, serve, give back, be a part of. Be a part of the solution. And don't watch the news all the time.
It's.
I honestly, I haven't watched the news in four days.
You see the same thing if you turn it on today as you did four days ago.
Bro. You're listening to those crazy right re. Right wing radio stations. What are the understand and the advisors understand that there's people behind those cars. We're not. The car is a commodity. What technicians are. What technicians are doing is way more than shows. You listen to.
I don't. I listen to Service Driver evolution with Chris Collins.
The stuff you listen to makes Hannity look like Bernie Sanders.
It doesn't. Come on. You think I'm. Yeah, it's all good. I need a haircut. I'm gonna cut my hair. Can you tutor me tonight?
What if they try and try and take your guns? Jeremy, what are you gonna do?
They can pry my guns from my cold, dead fingers.
You can't have my guns. I fought really hard for those damn things.
You know, maintenance and repairs on a car, it's way bigger than that. And you got to tune into that. It's, it's, it's special. And like, if you don't think it's special, you should, you should spend a little time rethinking your approach. And you know they're going to try.
To take your guns Jeremy, hey, you know, they're. California already won. You know, they. We sell our guns. We have no ammunition to put in it, so it's. That's how you take our guns away. One thing, one bullet at a time.
How much ammunition do you need?
Enough.
I'm telling you, if, if things start going start. If things start going crazy, I'm going to Washington. I do not want to be in California.
I would want to be where you're at. Man, you were like in ground zero in downtown la.
Trust me, I've been thinking about that a lot. And I've been thinking about moving a lot. I don't. The. Just the spread of things like this here is crazy. There's 18 million people here.
I'm on the backside of that. I'm far enough away that if you'll.
Be happier as a person, if you understand that what you're doing is giving back. It's not just about your hourly rate. And oddly, you know, like my grandpa used to always say, if you always give people more than what they paid you for, you'll always be in high demand. Oddly, you'll make more money too. By default. If you start focusing, your part falls in the ocean.
I have oceanfront property. I'm totally handling it.
Yeah, no, I've, I've. I've been thinking about that long and hard lately about getting out of here. Well, thanks everybody for listening. We hope you have a great week. Remember, feed the right wolf feed positivity and we'll, we'll come out of this and we'll see you. We'll see you this Friday with our drive by.
Nice.
Thanks for watching this episode of Service Drive Revolution. If you have any questions, go ahead and post them in the comments below. Make sure you subscribe and hit the bell bell icon so you're notified when we post. New epic on taking care of people and you know, having a. A little more care care of soaps. I'm Chris Collins and you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at Chris Bulldog for it. But. Oh, that question breaks my heart.
All right, all right. God can wait. I've got a good one.
I've got a corrupt and I'll see you again on the next episode.
Coronavirus joke. It's going to take up to 14 days for you guys to get it.
I got it right away.
Wait, I'm so. I'm going to get it on May 5th.
Just set a. Set a reminder in your calendar for 14 days. Christian's joke. You'll laugh then too. It'll Be funny. It'll remind you.
I laugh every time I hear Christian joke.
What's the next question there?
God.
The voice of God has one final question. Dear Chris, I'm a service advisor that was furloughed at the end of March. I'm stuck at home, and I feel as though my fire has been extinguished. I. I've lost my purpose in life. My passion bucket has run empty. I really look up to you guys. How can I get out of this funk?
Yeah, it's tough right now. I know. I get it's not just advisors. It's a lot of people, man.
That breaks my heart, man, hearing that somebody's passion bucket is empty. And, you know, it's interesting. It's not just for the employees. I think everybody's kind of in that stuck mode, right? We're in middle ground. We're not out of it yet. There's talk of opening up, reopening, not reopening. Well, we may have to shut down. We don't know really what's. There's so much uncertainty right now. It's crazy. And people literally feel stuck. So I think if you're in that situation, one of the things that I would do is look at your professional development and use this time to be the best advisor you possibly can, make sure that you're completely up to speed with all the new model specs. You know, your packages are ready to go. You should be role playing and practicing every single day. Get it. Take in as much as you can so that your saw is absolutely razor sharp when it's time for that switch to get flipped back on and that you're there also. You know, Chris, it's interesting. I've noticed it's a lot of people have forgotten their goals right now. Like, you know, we used to have a regiment, right? You'd get up in the morning, you do your reading, you do your morning ritual, set your goals. You'd go out and conquer, have an exhausting day. You come back, you're like, yeah, I conquered today. And now people are just like. They feel like, I don't know, poi. Is that what they call it in Hawaii? That mushy, gray, just bland stuff that's like, blah, right? And I get back to setting goals, man. Get your goals dusted off. Really use this time to keep that mindset sharp and then go after it and then, you know, find a way to get unstuck as fast as you can.
Yeah, it's hard, right? What. So what sort of goals would you set right now if you can't go to work. Like would you set a goal for learning? Or like, what would you do? Like, I know I personally two things that we've done here that I think really has helped. One is, and this was Christian's idea and it ended up being genius for, for quite a few reasons. But we started having a morning call at 7am Pacific with, with everybody on the coaching staff.
And just talking and we're doing some competitions, we're reading stuff together and sharing what we learned. But just the fact that I have to get up every morning and be on this call at 7 make makes me have a purpose. And then we have another call at 8:30 with, with the, with the rest of the team. And those two calls, oddly in the morning give me a reason to get up. I get to interact with the team. I see progress. We talk about things that we could be doing and I, I really, really believe that. That has kept me saying, I know you're still going to work every day. So you, you have that. But if you're not going to work, maybe one lesson for service managers or dealers out there or shop owners is even if your people are furloughed or laid off, maybe you should still have a call every day early in the morning so they have to get up, they have to be dressed. Because I found there was a time where I was, I left my gig and I was buying a dealership. And buying a dealership is kind of a slow process. And from the time I left my gig till the time.
I closed on a dealership was about a year. And I remember one day, it was noon and I'm in my bathrobe with a glass of wine painting a bulldog. And I was like, I might have lost some perspective here that it's noon and I got a glass of wine and I'm going to turn into an alcoholic. I haven't even showered. Like that's one thing that I'm hearing from a lot of friends is they don't even shower for days. Like they're just laying in bed, they're not showering. They don't. And so somehow you got to give yourself a reason to get up and interact with people on Zoom or on FaceTime, something. But you got to set.
Some sort of goal that you have to do something every other day that you have to get up and shower and be ready for.
Yeah, and I think the other thing too, man, is what about, you know, you're going to go back to work, right? You are going to be in this industry For a long time. We're creating our trust fund. And right now, be the greatest time to go back and give gratitude to the clients you've served. So somehow get permission to go on site, get permission to get your customer list that you're, you know, the reason would be you're going to reach out to them and thank them for their past service. And just again, like we talked about on some of the calls in the past, how are you doing? But, you know, send 10 handwritten thank you cards out a day.
You know, that's a good idea.
Yeah. So, you know, you spend an hour doing that, and here's. Here's one thing one of my mentors always taught me. So when you send a personal thank you card out, always trying to find something about that person and their behavior that stood out to you, like, you know, so. Hey, Chris, this is Jeremy from XYZ BMW.
Hey.
I've always admired how you're so gracious when you come in and you always have a smile on your face. You know, I miss seeing that smile. I can't wait to help you again with your car. Just hope you're doing okay right now. Something like that, you know, a small momento that you remember them and man, just think about what that could do for somebody. Right. Right now. That could be the. Just the touch that they need.
Yeah. And maybe if. If worse comes to worse, maybe. Maybe go volunteer somewhere. Volunteer where they're handing out food or.
Well, I don't have my mask here. It's up front. Get your mask and get your goggles on. Get a face shield, get a lab coat, Go down to the grocery store and practice petting the dog. But staying six feet away, you could do that, no?
Yeah, but how do you know? Keep going. How would you do that?
Well, so let's just say that you're there to help. One of the things I would do to break the ice with somebody is can I help you out with your groceries? Like maybe go talk to the manager to see if you could be somebody that could assist customers getting their groceries out to.
