“Charlie, you killed it today.”
I’ve heard that from my team on days when I couldn’t tell you what I did to deserve it. I didn’t solve a problem they’d been stuck on, sell a big job, or make a tough call. As far as I could tell, all I’d done was roll up my sleeves and spend the day in the bay next to them.
It took me a while to understand that was what they were thanking me for.
Most days you’ll find me in our PMI bay. We call it the rack attack bay, and if you want to know what’s going on in our shop, that’s the place to stand. I meet almost every customer who walks through the door, and I see every car that comes in. By the time one of my technicians picks up a job in a back bay, I already know what’s going on with that car. He can take it from there without me coming around an hour later to ask him for an update.
I could give you half a dozen business reasons to spend my time in that bay, but the truth is, I love the work. What I didn’t appreciate until two of my guys told me was how much it mattered to them, too.
What makes a technician want to stay?
Mad Dog has been with me for 15 years and Corey for about seven. They’re two of the best in this industry. When I’ve talked with them about why they’ve stayed, they’ve both brought up the same thing. Year after year, they watched me get down on the floor and get dirty right alongside them. So when the shop gets busy and I say, “Let’s go,” they know that includes me.
Your version of that might look different from mine. My partner, Todd Hayes, can’t fix a car, but there isn’t much else in his shop he won’t do. When everybody’s tied up and the phone rings, Todd answers it. I’ve watched him walk a customer under a car, show them what needed fixing, and sell the job right there. Think about what the person at the front counter gets to see in those few minutes. The next time they have to explain a repair to a customer, they’ve got a pretty good idea how Todd would handle it.
How to put this into practice in your own shop
If you own a shop and most of your day gets eaten up in the office, start with one question. When everybody has their hands full, where would one more person make a difference? That’s where I’d spend an hour this week. Here’s how I’d use it.
Pick a spot where you can see how the work moves. For me, it’s the PMI bay. For you, it might be the front counter during morning drop-off. Stay long enough to follow a customer or a car from one person to the next. Where does somebody have to stop what they’re doing and wait for an answer?
Take one job off somebody’s hands. Answer the ringing phone. Walk a customer out to see what the technician found. Pick something your team actually needs help with and see it through, so the person you stepped in for can finish what they were doing.
Let someone see how you handle the hard part. If you want your team to get better at explaining repairs, bring someone along the next time you talk to a customer. Let them hear the words you use and the questions the customer asks. Afterward, ask what they noticed. Now you’ve got a real conversation to work from.
Follow up on one thing that slowed the team down. Maybe a technician is waiting on a piece of equipment. Maybe somebody could use another run-through on a job. Ask what would help, then come back with an answer. If you own several shops, put your next visit on the calendar before you leave so you can see whether what you did helped.
How do you lead from the floor when you own more than one shop?
Mad Dog knows he can catch me in the PMI bay between cars. When you own a second or third shop, the people at those locations need a chance to catch you, too. That’s why I’d put those visits on the calendar and plan them around the work.
If mornings are hectic at one location, get there for drop-off. Spend an hour at the counter, answer the phone, and see what happens when three customers walk in at once. Before you leave, ask the person who works that counter every morning, “Was today pretty typical?” They’ll tell you whether you happened to walk in on a wild morning or whether it’s like that most days. If they tell you where they could use a hand, now you know what to follow up on when you come back.
I want my team to be able to run the shops without calling me for every decision. We’ve worked hard to get there. What I like about that freedom is that I can spend a morning at the counter or an afternoon in the bay, doing the part of the job I’ve always loved.
Years ago, if you’d asked me what I’d accomplished on a day like that, I’d have said, “I don’t know. I worked in the bay.” Mad Dog and Corey remembered those days well enough to tell me they were part of the reason they stayed. I’m glad they told me.
