Don’t let the title of this installment fool you; while many may think I’m going to discuss how to create a place where customers want to come, the truth is I’m going to focus on ideas that will help make your business a place where talented people will want to invest their careers. I don’t profess to have all the answers, but I do have the benefit of hearing from many of you at conferences and classrooms across the country. Tack on my 46 years of being committed to this industry, and one might say that I have formed a few ideas and opinions along the way. In the last episode of this byline, I attempted to lay open the “way we’ve always done business” with the goal of helping us convict ourselves of not staying in touch with changes in our society, community and technology; if you haven’t read that article I suggest you do so. I laid open the status quo that we find ourselves in with respect to the way we do business and the way we treat talent. In this episode I’d like to suggest solutions to these topics and encourage you to discuss these in your circles with your peers, as that is where you’ll find the encouragement and support you need to put these ideas into action.
In a previous article, I focused on the transient nature of techs in our industry and the challenge to attract new talent to our bays. The issue of creating a pipeline of talent assumes we get folks in the pipe to begin with and keep them in the pipe for their entire career. More important is the idea that what’s in the pipe must always be in motion. Let’s stay with that theme and apply it to a few examples. Let us first start with an issue that affects all technicians in our industry and is a huge barrier of entry for people entering our world; tools! The tool requirement needed to properly service today’s vehicle mix that are in your shops is massive and unending. While wrenches and sockets may seem inconsequential, they aren’t the main hurdle. The cost of diagnostic technology and the variety of suppliers prevent you from being able to control processes and outcomes for your customer. Take a look in your own bays and take inventory of each technician’s tools and equipment. What do you see? Does everyone have all the special tools needed to service the vehicles you maintain? Oh sure, Joe has that special tool that everyone borrows, but what if Joe is using it? How about diagnostic scan tools? Joe has a Snap-on, Fred has an Autel, and Mary has a IDS, wiTECH, TechStream, GDS2 and an HDS. Consider what your teams diagnostic strategies look like. Can they be the same? Are the results the same? Are all techs efficient? Now consider how Mary looks at her career at your shop compared to Joe and Fred. She has the upper hand when it comes to diagnostics on Fords, Chryslers, GMs, Toyota’s and Hondas. I’m also betting she has wheels on her toolbox. Speaking of toolboxes, take inventory of those in your shop. I’m betting at least one tech has that big box full of tools. They are probably proud of accumulating $60,000.00 worth of tools over their career that are displayed in a box that costs as much as your average car. You may have even hired them because their box and tools were so impressive that you thought “they must be a great technician!”. But I’d like to remind you their box still has wheels. And if you don’t provide a career vision for them and don’t reduce their cost of doing business, you’re going to see those wheels roll on out of your shop.
Let me ask a few questions about the above scenario. First off, who set the standard that you need to have $60,000.00 worth of tools in order to be successful in this industry? Second, who set the standard that technicians must own their own tools? I don’t expect you to know as this happed organically over the last 100 years, but it is time to break the standard. If you look at any new shop built in this country by new vehicle dealers and progressive independents both large and small, you’ll find built-in tool boxes complete with the necessary tools and diagnostic equipment, along with the required lifts and other associated items required to equip the production department of their business for success. There are computer terminals in every bay, and there is an integrated business system that provides each bay with information, point of sale, and everything the technician may need during their day. Everything is provided and is served to the technician so they can be productive, efficient and successful. The technician brings nothing to the bay except a great attitude and their talent. Finally, the tool boxes have no wheels! Imagine being a technician that gets to come to work in a high-tech space and feels a sense of worth and importance because everything in the building is focused on enabling their talent in a way that provides value to the customer. They don’t have to spend their earnings on tools that benefit the business, but get to use the tools provided by the business that enable them to succeed. If you were a high school student and were looking at our industry as a career option, what would you think of this industry if you walked into the shop I just described? What would you think if you walked into your shop?
Let’s take the scenario one step further. To keep the talent flowing through the pipeline there must be a means of energy to move them along, as well as an end game. This energy is best provided by a structured education program that engages everyone in your business. A new technician or service advisor should feel like they are stepping on an escalator that will allow them to grow in skill and worth with a career vision that matches their goals. For example, if your business is going to survive the next 25 years, you need to have a growth plan that includes adding locations through greenfield or acquisitions. By far, the best way to instant success in a new location is to have talent in your current building that can take the reins and drive your business model to perfection instead of hiring an all new crew and trying to instill your model in them. With that in mind as you create your education program, the idea of installing career pathways for each role in your business begins to make sense. For a technician who at some point in their career wants to own a shop, you can create a pathway that, over time, immerses them in all aspects of the business via working in every role so they are proficient in your business model. When you build or acquire a new location, that former technician is now ready to extend said model in lock step with your vision.
At the end of the day this in an industry that is changing rapidly. The advancements in vehicle technology are mandating the way we do business, grow people and invest in assets. The future is bright for those that recognize the fact that you must grow in order to scale the cost of technologies, systems and talent needed to serve your customers. I hope this discussion around removing a couple of the “we’ve always done it that way” road blocks spark discussion and result in amazing growth for you and your team.
