This is an episode of Service Drive Revolution (SDR #202) hosted by Chris Collins with guest/co-host Christian. The episode frames the main topic—five reasons dealerships lose customers to independent shops—while spending substantial time on their new leadership training: its manifesto (compared to an unforgettable piece of art), plans for delivering it in Florida, and personal anecdotes about their venue (a building with no parking and no air conditioning) and travel frustrations. Detailed enumeration of the five reasons was announced but not contained in this chunk.
Chapters
Welcome, everybody, to the big show today. We're going to talk about why dealerships lose their customers to independent shops. And the list is very personal, too. Let me introduce you to Christian. Say hello, Christian.
Hello, everyone.
He's got a story and it's very personal. He's very upset.
But it's very relevant. So we're going to go through five reasons why we, as dealerships lose our customers to independent shops. We. We're going to talk about an upcoming trip we have, and we're going to clarify something that was in a lot of the comments from a show we did earlier. What is the definition of net to gross? We're going to go through that for everybody. That and much, much more. Coming up on this edition of Service Drive Revolution.
Before we get to the other stuff, we are headed to the beautiful state of Florida again. I feel like we keep going back and forth.
A regular occurrence for us, too. And.
But we've had a couple.
You could say friends, you could say clients, a little bit of both, that have let us practice our leader, our new leadership training on them.
And then this is how it's kind of gone. Like, there's some. There's some things to it that are a little different than what people expect. And so in the beginning, they're like, what did we get ourselves into? And then by the end, they're enlightened. They're enlightened. But years ago, we can't. We came up with this manifesto that's. It's more internal, but it was that if you go to an art gallery and you look at a piece of art and you enjoy that piece of art, you stare at it for hours. And as soon as you leave the art gallery, you no longer can recreate that piece of art in your mind.
Right. Right.
So if you go to an art gallery and you look at a Picasso, what would be a piece of art that you would enjoy?
Oh, you could certainly say Picasso. I also really like the water lilies. It's at the museum in New York.
Like the Monets or.
Yeah, the Monets.
Okay. For me, there's one at LACMA called the Orator. Remember I showed you that one?
Yes.
I used to go stare at that before they tore the building down. Now they have it in a weird room, but I used to go sit there and just stare at it for hours. And when you leave, you can't recreate it. Like, you can stare at it for hours, but it's so unique that there's no way you can reimagine it. In your mind. And that is what a lot of training is like. Is like you go to training, but then when you leave, you go back to your old problems, you go back to your old habits. And it really isn't that effective. You might have some new ideas, but it's really not that effective. And so our manifesto that we wrote years ago was just like a piece of art in a gallery. When you're there with it, you can see it, but when you leave, you can't recreate it. Our training will be different. It will stick with you, it will change you, it will empower you, it will weaponize you, and it will make a difference. And we're not just training people to be managers. We're training people for life. It transcends. Because if you learn a skill and start to have success with that skill, then it raises your self esteem and then you become a better father, a better wife, a better citizen, that sort of thing. So they've been nice enough to let us try this leadership training, but the leadership training is different because we're trying to get a different effect.
That's right.
And so we're approaching it in a different way. And we're actually building right here where we sit. The reason why we bought this building with no air conditioning and parking is.
So that was a nice little slide.
So we have, you know what I've been telling my. My friends, and they're talking about their investments in crypto or whatever. I go, well, we. We specialize in buying and turning around buildings with no parking.
Right.
Give me, like, what? This building literally has no parking.
Oh, that's funny. And I do.
By no parking, I mean zero. I don't mean there's too little parking spots. The building goes right to the street. Our neighbors are on that side. There's a. An apartment building on that side. There is no parking. I park sometimes on the sidewalk, but I usually get a parking ticket. So it cost me 60 bucks or whatever. I don't know.
It's almost worth it, but.
Yeah, almost.
It's funny, like, the whole no air conditioning thing kind of has me thinking about that because this trip is. I've got mixed emotions about it because I love the leadership stuff. And I think that every time you've.
Done well, you're going with me.
Yes. So I'm going to.
Because you've been helping me. And Christian is a great partner in the sense that he is paying attention to the effect it's having. And he has really good ideas. And so, you know, it's Priceless for me to get his feedback because he's experiencing it as it evolves, and he's, you know, he's had some good input in it. So you're going with me nicely.
So that part I really enjoyed.
Also, you get to hang out with me.
Yeah, we have. I don't think there's ever been a time we've gone somewhere and not had fun out of something, but I do.
I'm glad you feel that way.
Yeah. Because sometimes. Sometimes you get a little grumpy, especially on the Florida trips.
Oh, I'm grumpy already?
Yeah. I feel like you're already dreading it.
I already know the feeling when I get off the plane in that tube that connects the plane to the airport. The humidity, the heat in Florida, I already hate everything about it. And then I'm trying to figure out what to wear. So last time we were in Florida, I brought suits. I literally put on the suit, and I was sweating in the hotel room, and I hadn't packed any. Like, I really struggled. So I don't know what to pack. Like, I can't show up and do this leadership thing in dolphin shorts and a tank top.
Probably not. Although they'd appreciate it. Yeah.
But it's not the right frame. And so. Yeah, I don't even. I hate everything about it already. Why can't we do it somewhere?
Like, why can't our friends live in the cool climate?
Well, like, in Maine, they're like, oh, my God, it's so nice today.
It's 80, right? 77.
It's. Yeah.
And 4%.
So I'm unbearable to travel with, though, right? I'm a prima donna a little bit. The older I get, the less patience I have for anything.
I think that the thing that's funny is that. That every time we go somewhere and then you get off the plane, first thing is, if I'm not with you and you've gone by yourself and you get off the plane, you text me like, oh, the humidity just hit me. Like, it could be. It could be 10 in the morning. And I'm like, oh, Chris landed. That's great. And then the other thing is, is that, like, immediately after you get off the plane, you're like, why did I do this? And I. Every time we go through this little thing, it's like, you're like, I agreed.
To do it, but why did I do it?
Yes, you agreed to do it. You're good. And then I'm there, like, trying to reconvince you why you took the job took the opportunity in the first place. And then when you're done, you're like, I'm so glad we did that. We should do it again. And I'm like, no. Please, no. It's funny, though.
I've gotten better at saying no to everything.
Yeah. And I think that it makes it more special when you go somewhere at the end of the day.
