5 Lessons Every Shop Owner Should Steal from the Top 10% What the 2026 PMA Benchmark Report ReallyTells Us [E264]
Chris Cotton Weekly Blitz
5 Lessons Every Shop Owner Should Steal from the Top 10% What the 2026 PMA Benchmark Report ReallyTells Us [E264]Chris Cotton Weekly Blitz · Jul 6, 2026
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Concept
productivity is primarily a leadership metric
They’re saying productivity isn’t just about how hard technicians work. It’s also about whether the leaders set things up—like scheduling and workflow—so the shop can run smoothly.
Inspections are the shop’s checks to figure out what’s wrong with the car. If different people inspect differently, the shop can’t estimate and fix cars consistently.
Estimate approval is when the customer agrees to pay for the proposed repairs. If that step is slow or handled differently each time, the shop can get backed up.
Parts flow is how parts move through the shop—from ordering to getting them to the technician. If it’s messy, cars wait on parts and the shop falls behind.
The point is that the best shops run on clear, repeatable steps. Instead of hoping one person is great, the whole shop follows the same process so results are consistent.
When productivity drops, leaders don't point fingers.
They look in the mirror.
Lesson number three, great shops build great processes.
One of the most important findings in the report I think is that organization and processes remain the industry's biggest weakness.
And honestly, I'm not surprised.
Most struggling shops don't have bad employees.
They have inconsistent systems.
And I'll tell you, in my shop here in town, we're kind of struggling through this right now.
We have people in that for some reason have decided to stop doing the processes and systems that we have in place.
So we're going back.
We're getting those fixed.
Okay.
I need you to ask yourself, can every technician perform the exact same inspection?
Can every advisor present an estimate consistently?
Does every declined repair receive follow up?
Does everyone know today's production goals?
Does everyone knows yesterday's numbers?
And if the answer is sometimes you don't have a process, you have individual effort and businesses built on individual effort don't scale.
Systems do.
This episode is brought to you by Shop Marketing Pros.
One of the biggest takeaways from that report is that success doesn't come from just doing one thing well.
The best shops build strong operations, develop great leaders and create consistent marketing that keeps the right customers coming through the door.
Once your inspections improve, your advisors are consistently presenting recommendations and your team has the capacity to serve more customers.
You need a marketing partner that can keep your base full with the right work.
And that's exactly what Shop Marketing Pros does.
They specialize exclusively in independent auto repair shops.
Their team understands this industry because it's all they do from custom websites and search engine optimization to Google ads, paid social campaigns, branding and long term growth strategies.
They help great shops get found by great customers.
If you're ready to match operational excellence with marketing that delivers measurable results, I want you to go visit Shop Marketing Pros today and learn how they can help you build a stronger business.
Lesson number four is owners must become CEOs.
This is probably my favorite part of the report because I see it every week while coaching shop owners.
The best performing owner spend less time fixing cars and more time building companies.
Every shop eventually reaches the owner's leadership capacity, right?
I've personally seen businesses plateau around $750,000, $1.5 million and $3 million a year.
Not because of competition, not because of the economy, not because of anything else, but because the owner never made the transition from technician to CEO.
Top performing owners know their numbers every week.
Sometimes every day, right?
We're talking sales, ARO, hours sold, hours produced, productivity, gross profit, net profit, marketing results that we've tracked and measured.
And if you don't know those numbers, you're leading emotionally instead of strategically.
The top 10% don't guess they measure.
Number five, winning shops build better teams.
The report showed another huge difference.
Top performing shops invest more in people.
That's not an expense.
That's an investment.
Career paths, retirement plans, health benefits, performance reviews, coaching, leadership development, productivity incentives, you know, all of these things.
But before most shops have a recruiting problem, right?
They have a retention problem.
So I need you to ask yourself, can every employee answer these four questions?
What's expected of me?
How am I measured?
How do I improve?
And how do I earn more?
And if they can't, your culture isn't clear.
Culture isn't pizza on Friday, people.
Culture is clarity, all right?
The big thing I want you to know is the report isn't really about numbers.
It's about habits and what the top 10% do consistently.
They maximize every inspection.
They build productivity.
They develop elite advisors.
They lead with systems.
They measure everything.
They build people and they think like CEOs.
None of that requires luck.
Every one of those things can be learned.
This week, I want you to forget comparing yourself to another shop.
Instead, compare yourself to yesterday.
Pull your numbers.
I want you to measure your productivity, efficiency, ARO, labor hours per RO, gross profit, net profit and decline working.
And then I want you to ask one simple question.
Which one of these numbers deserves my leadership attention this week?
Because that's how elite shops improve.
One disciplined decision at a time.
The report confirms something I believe for a long time.
The gap between average shops and elite shops isn't luck.
It isn't geography.
It isn't labor rate.
It's leadership.
Leadership builds better systems.
Better systems improve productivity.
Better productivity creates profitability.
And profitable shops create better opportunities for employees, customers and owners alike.
Don't read the report just to see where you rank.
Read it to discover where you can improve.
That's where the value is.
Have a great day everybody.
Rise and grind.
Keep doing the work.
I know you're headed for better days.
Keep after it.
Check the show notes for his email and send him your topics.
About this episode
PMA’s 2026 benchmark report becomes the springboard for five practical lessons on shop profitability—arguing that labor rate isn’t the separator. The bottom 10% charge more than the top 10% yet earn less, so owners should focus on operations and the “correct” labor rate tied to performance. Top shops also run higher productivity (about 60% vs 51%), rely on consistent processes, and push owners to act like CEOs by tracking key numbers weekly. Finally, winning shops invest in retention through clear expectations, coaching, and career paths.
5 Lessons Every Shop Owner Should Steal from the Top 10%
The 2026 PMA Benchmark Report is packed with data—but numbers only matter if you know how to apply them.
In this episode, Coach Chris Cotton breaks down the five biggest lessons hidden inside the report and explains why leadership, productivity, systems, and accountability consistently separate the best repair shops from everyone else.
If you've ever wondered what elite-performing shops actually do differently, this episode provides practical, actionable answers backed by industry data and real-world coaching experience.
In This Episode
Why labor rate isn't the biggest profit driver
The real reason productivity matters
How top shops build repeatable systems
Why owners become the growth ceiling
What winning shops do to retain great employees
Practical action items you can implement immediately
The numbers don't lie—and this report proves that great leadership always wins.
The Weekly Blitz is brought to you by our friends over at Shop Marketing Pros. If you want to take your shop to the next level, you need great marketing. Shop Marketing Pros does top-tier marketing for top-tier shops.
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