Auto Repair Shop Owner's Daily Dose 73: Set Standards and Stop Tolerating Subpar

Set Standards and Stop Tolerating by Rick White, President 180BIZ

 What will I talk about today? We're going to talk about a disconnect. What are shops starting to see? I am so glad you asked. Businesses are changing and things are starting to pick up. The car counts are coming up. But many of the shops are the same or even worse than before the pandemic. But, how could that be? What's going on? And I'm going to tell you exactly what is going on in two words. You haven't set a standard. So standard is the first word. You have not set a standard. You haven't set a new standard for your business. And because you didn’t sit down with everyone to say what you're going to do, everyone thinks it’s the same stuff they did before. And that's why this isn't working.

The second reason it's not working is that you're tolerating. That’s the second word, tolerating. You must stop tolerating subpar performance. You've must look at this as the time to get better. Now is time to set the new standard and then grow people to that standard in a very short amount of time.

When you set that standard, it's all about capacity and capability. What is the potential for your shop? It's easy to figure out. Look at the techs that you have and grade them. Is the tech an A, B, or C tech?

• An A tech can do everything, including diagnostic in a timely manner. The standard is to produce 10-12 billable hours per day, based on an 8-hour day.
• The B Tech can do all the mechanical stuff but might struggle with electrical issues. The standard is to produce 8-10 billable hours per day, based on an 8-hour day.
• Then a C tech is basically brakes, shocks, exhaust. The very basic stuff. The standard is to produce 6-8 billable hours per day, based on an 8-hour day.

Once you understand what your capacity is, the capabilities come in a couple of different formats. What are your techs capable of? What is your shop capable of? How many hours? How many hours are you booking a day? How many vehicles are you booking a day? Step up what you believe is possible. If you don't, you are going to be doomed to repeat yesterday.

Please stop doing this. Set yourself up for this kind of growth, this kind of expectation. Don't sit here and think, I wonder if I can look at it like this is going to happen. How do I make it so right? So, step back refuse to deal with yesterday any longer. Create your future. Understand the future isn't created in the future. Your future is created today. So set that standard. If you need help with this, reach out. It's time to grow. It is no longer time to just get by. It is time to thrive. You're only going to do that with a higher standard and zero tolerance. That's it. Higher standard, zero tolerance. Let's rock. There you go. Nice. Short, sweet, and to the point today, go out there and make a difference. Be the change you want to see in your world. Stop being mediocre. Stop doing the same thing every day. How can you grow? How can your team grow? How does your business grow? Those are the questions to ask. God bless.