Educating the consumer is very big on helping the consumer make an educated buy and driving
repair orders for that dealership or that repair shop up.
Welcome back to Beyond the Wrench.
My name is Jay Gannon and I am your host.
Today's guest is Mark Poulsen, a veteran marketing and sales leader with more than 25 years
of experience.
He's spent the last decade in the automotive world, including helping Ford launch Omnacraft
globally and now works with AutoNet TV to help shops better educate and connect with their
customers.
Excited to have him on the show.
Welcome to the show, Mark.
How are you?
Thanks, Jay.
Glad to be here.
I'm doing great today.
Thank you.
Good.
Good.
Before we get things kicked off, for those that are watching the show rather than
just listening, you'll see that Mark has a really cool collection of golf balls really
displayed behind him.
Tell us a little bit about your collection there.
Yeah, so I've been playing golf for a long time.
I have a son that is a college golfer and so when I started playing with him and
we started going to these courses and I just started collecting golf balls and
so I collect one at every course I play.
Those are just from the pro shop, not ones that I hit, but it's a fun little
collection.
I have everything from pebble beach to abandoned dunes to little dinky places that I go to shows
at and play.
Just grab golf balls everywhere I go and you'll see it has just a few slots left.
Those are actually full.
I have balls I just haven't put them in there and I actually just ordered another
case.
So it's a fun little hobby.
What is your favorite golf course ever?
That's a tough one.
I really like abandoned dunes because it's on the coast of Oregon and it's really fun.
Pebble Beach is also a really nice track.
There's so many Jay, it's really tough to choose, but if I had to choose one I would
probably say probably Pebble Beach.
Yeah, hard to beat that.
I am a terrible golfer so I feel whenever I golf with somebody that's good, it's really,
really embarrassing because I'm not great.
I don't play often.
I think probably 10 years or 15 years ago I was in a league and I got pretty good that
year, but nothing like one of my best friends is a zero handicap, just really, really,
really good.
I'm not a scratch golfer by any stretch.
It is such a tough game and you have to be disciplined, you have to be actually playing
pretty consistently, right?
It's not easy.
It's not.
I mean I'm not a scratch golfer either like my son, but I am about a five, but I love
the game and it's fun, it gets you outside, it's in the nature and I'll agree with
you it is frustrating at times, but you know the funny thing about golf is you hit
just enough shot, enough good shots to make you want to keep coming back every time.
Like you hit that one good shot and you're like, this is easy.
I don't know why I don't just hit that shot every single time.
Yeah, golf isn't like that.
That's not how it works.
So you're obviously not golfing as a profession.
You are very involved in the automotive world and are very well connected.
We just had the pleasure of having lunch together last week at SEMA
and Apex was a lot of fun to see you and so many others down in Vegas.
But I want to learn more about your journey and how you got to where you are
when you're coming out of school.
Are you looking to get into the automotive world or what were you looking at?
No, you know, it's interesting because as I was going to school,
I as right as I started to get close to graduation,
I worked for a medical device manufacturer as a purchasing agent.
And one of our customers found out that I was getting ready to
graduate with a degree in marketing and came to me.
He owned a printed circuit board manufacturing facility.
And he came to me and we were they were manufacturing
printed circuit boards for the the units that this
physical therapy device, medical device manufacturer was selling.
And came to me as in a discussion about purchasing
and stuff and came to me and said, hey, I hear you're graduating.
I'm looking to expand my business.
Would you have any interest in becoming a sales guy for me?
And we talked and started just as I was graduating.
It was a better thing.
It was a better gig for me than the purchasing deal made more money.
And so I started with him and graduated.
I worked for that company.
It was a local company in Utah.
And then that grew into one that was more of a national company
that was based out of Phoenix did that for a few years.
And then I really my sales career really took off when I got
the opportunity to work for a reminder service for the dental industry.
And it was a text reminder service and that you give when you go to the dentist.
And it was called Smile Reminder then.
And then it eventually evolved into a company called Solution Reach.
And I worked there for quite a few years.
And that's really where my sales career took off.
And that kind of that company kind of a whole bunch of changes in management
and a private equity company bought it.
And so a lot of changes led me to go work for an actual dentist in an office
as a sales and marketing guy.
And then it was a pediatric dentist.
And then he decided that he didn't need all of the things that I was doing
for him that he was going to kind of take over that and just had a whole
bunch of whole network of dentists that was going to work for him.
And so that led me to working for a different company that was selling dental websites
and services on e-commerce and those types of things for the dentists.
And did that for a few years.
And that led me to a side job where I was helping a friend do some credit card
processing sales and those types of things.
And while I was still doing that, I was doing it on the side and did that for a little bit.
And that really led me to there's a local company in Utah called OptiCat.
They're really big with all of the supplier, the part manufacturers and stuff.
And I met a guy once and he's like, hey, I'm the COO of this company.
And we're looking for a sales guy, would you be interested?
And so we talked.
And one thing led to another.
And I started OptiCat.
I worked there for about 10 years.
And then a whole bunch of changes there.
They were bought out by Tech Alliance out of Germany, another big data company.
And I didn't, I didn't really like the direction that things were going there.
And then I had been working, OptiCat had been known Autonet TV for a while.
We had it as a service offering at OptiCat for our customers.
And when I wanted to make a change, I just reached out to the ownership of Autonet TV.
And one thing led to another.
And here we are almost three years later.
It's a great company.
Love what they do.
They're really big on educating consumers and about why they need to have their oil
changed or if they're steering wheel shakes or what the things are.
And one thing led to another.
And that brought us also to the education spaces where I got involved with
Rentsway and super excited to be here and glad that we can do this.
And real excited to share what we have to offer.
I am to and really dive into that consumer education piece, because I do think that as
we get into this podcast, we'll share, we'll share why that's so important because
we need to build that trust with customers, because we need to justify maybe
rising labor rates and some of the rising costs that are associated with
running a shop right now.
So we'll dive into that piece.
I am curious, was there any crossover between the dental industry and automotive?
Because that is a wildly different sector, but I'm guessing, you know, you run a
business, any type of business, any type of sector, any type of industry, there
probably is some level of crossover.
Yeah.
I mean, sales is sales.
It doesn't really matter the product that you're selling, but there is some
crossover.
I mean, you know, a lot of dealerships in the auto industry use
text reminders and those types of services similar to what what a dentist would
do to remind you of your service appointment.
And so there is a little bit of crossover and, you know, but again, when
you're selling sales is sales.
It doesn't really matter the product marketing is still marketing doesn't
really matter the product.
And so it doesn't really matter what industry you're in sales and marketing
go hand in hand and one leads to another, but it's still ultimately you
still have to get customers.
You still have to market.
You still have to sell and it doesn't really matter what industry that is.
Sales and marketing is the same across to any industry, whether it's
dentists, whether it's selling the dentist, whether it's selling the
parts companies or it's selling the dealerships, whether it's selling
lumber to the home builders.
Sales is sales and marketing is marketing.
Everybody has to have that.
If you want to sell products, if you want to increase your brand and
the brand recognition, you have to do marketing.
Social media has really been huge in that.
And that's really helped a lot of people that are small become and act
like they're big.
And so, you know, there is a lot of crossover.
It doesn't really matter what industry.
It's it's all it's all one in the same.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
Now, tell us a little bit more about AutoNet TV.
I think most of our industry probably has an idea of who AutoNet TV is.
You're in a lot of shops across the country.
Tell us a little bit more about what that's all about.
Yeah, so AutoNet TV started in about 2009.
And the whole goal was to help dealers educate their customers and the
repair shops.
It began with because we believe that if today's consumers understood
the benefits of automotive maintenance, it'll help build trust between the
service visor and the customer, which then which will then aid in
increasing sales.
And so AutoNet TV is we produce our own content.
We have a full production studio.
We do anything from 360 images to custom videos to 3D animation,
motion graphics, those types of things.
But we are in probably all close to 18,000 shops across the country.
We're in all of the Napa auto care centers.
We're in some Napa part stores.
We have relationships with AutoZone or Riley Federated Pet Boys.
We're in a lot of OEs.
We're in every Nissan and Infiniti.
We're in Hyundai.
We're in Kia.
We're in Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.
We are in Ford.
We are in Mitsubishi.
And we're just continuing to grow because people are starting to see the
need to have this consumer education stuff playing in the waiting room
or on a menu board behind a service advisor desk or in a showroom to
really educate the consumer on the benefits of automotive maintenance.
$60 billion, the reports say the $60 billion of service goes
unperformed every single year because there is a trust factor.
And the trust factor comes with turnover at the automotive repair shop.
Not because they're not educated, but because that soccer mom that has to come
into the dealership or the repair center to get their oil changed, they find
problems and it's a car.
There's always going to be problems.
No car is perfect out there.
And so when they come in to get their oil changed, that's what they're expecting.
But then they find that there's a cabin air filter that needs to be replaced.
And so they go to the soccer mom and say, hey, your cabin air filter needs
to be replaced and she's like a cabin air filter.
My car has a cabin air filter.
Yeah, your car has a cabin air filter.
Well, it needs to be changed.
Well, let me call my husband.
He calls the husband and the husband says, our car has a cabin air filter.
Yeah.
And so they do the service and then the next time she comes in
to get her oil changed and she wants to deal with that service advisor,
they're not there.
So there really becomes a massive trust factor because unfortunately in the
automotive industry, repair shops have a bad reputation of trying to rip people
off by performing services that aren't needed.
And that's an unfortunate thing that we have to deal with in the automotive
space, but and when you look at the numbers of 60 billion, that reflects
that distrust.
And so the whole purpose of AutoNet TV was to put content that is consumer
friendly, that's fun and educating to educate them on, yes, your car has a
cabin air filter and why here's why it needs to be changed.
And that helps educate them on the services that they're that the
dealership or the repair shop is selling them.
And it really gives them a peace of mind and a comfort that knowing that
dealership or that repair shop is not ripping them off.
They build a relationship with them and that's what and ultimately it drives
sales because as they're sitting there watching, you know, if they're if
they're looking having a break job done, educating the consumer on the
difference between ceramic brakes and regular brakes and disc and disc
brakes and pads and rotors and helping educate them on all of these
different things that go into having your car safely stop is a huge factor
because there is a massive difference in brakes and you can't if you the
repair shop is going to sell you what fits your car and will do the job, but
there is a massive difference in how the car stops and the length of
distance that it requires to stop and performance brakes and those types
of things. And so educating the consumer is very big on helping the
consumer make an educated buy and driving repair orders for that dealership or
that repair shop up.
You mentioned the trust factor with customers.
I think a lot of times some of this perception from customers comes from
decades past where maybe we had this kind of we had this outside perception
that it was a rip off or that there were shops that were shady and to this
day there are shops that are shady, right? Shops that don't treat their
people well and as a shop, I think everybody's goal, especially if you're
listening to this show, I'm guessing you're not in that shady group, right?
I'd hope that you're not in that shady group, but I think
it's whether you're a technician that's out there or you're a shop owner or
a dealer principal or a general manager, whoever you are, one of your
biggest goals is to gain that trust so that when you do recommend that
cabin air filter, that they ultimately believe that you're acting in
their best interest, right? Which you should be. I think I firmly
believe that as a shop, your job is to really kind of do the same
thing a doctor does, which is when they're performing a physical, which is
just kind of give you an update as to how you're doing or how your
vehicle is doing and how do you report that back in a way that is
trustworthy and doesn't feel like you're trying to rip that person off?
It is with building trust with that client. I think video is a great
way of doing that. I've seen firsthand the content that AutoNet TV
puts out and it is really, really helpful for that person that might
have that insecurity or that unknown kind of, I don't know, nervousness
that are these people trying to take advantage of me or are they
trying to help me with my vehicle and making sure that my family is safe,
right? And so that trust piece I think is only going to get more
important as we move forward. I think you and I both know there's
increasing pressure on labor rates to go up for profitability of shops.
We need that profitability to be able to buy the tools we need to take
care of our staff and we know how hard it is to find technicians.
We need that profitability to be able to pay these technicians.
So all of this kind of works in this ecosystem to where at the end
of the day, we need customers and we need customers to be able to be
profitable enough to be in a successful business. So I think it's
really key. That video piece is a big piece of building trust and
loyalty within your customers. And when I look at it, I can't say
it enough. I mean, that that trust side is such a huge, huge
piece of our business.
No, you're 100% correct. You don't want the the soccer mom to
feel like it's a grudge buy. You want them to feel like she's
buying it because she truly needs it to make her families keep
her family safe, and that you're have their best interest in
mind. Because nothing is worse than leaving a repair shop or a
dealership with uncertainty about whether you made the right
decision. Because they're if that's the case when they leave,
they're going to think about, can I go to the guy down the
street and have a better experience? And let's be honest,
Jay, if if you're playing videos in your shop or in your
dealership, that's educating the consumer, you that probably
means you do have their best interest in mind because you're
educating them, rather than having them just take your
word for it. You are truly educating them to make them help
them make an informed buy.
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dash assist. Link is in the show notes.
Do you get any sense as to whether it's popularity of
video or you know, where is it that maybe we lose customers
a little bit on the trust side? Is it when the inspection
comes through and they see all of the stuff that they need
to do? Or is it more of any particular type of job that might
drive that that insecurity? You know, is there anything that you
see in particular on the video side that might help us
understand where we could do a better job at at building some
of this trust?
There's a couple of things. I don't think it has it's not
job specific by any stretch of the imagination. I think it
comes from the fact of consumers are not educated on a car. It
gets them from point A to point B. They don't know what I mean,
let's be honest, some people don't even know what type of gas
they have to put in their car. But they don't understand the
parts. They don't know understand how things operate.
They know that they have to change their oil every 5000
miles, they have to have their tires rotated. But when
it when a car goes into a service bay, and they have to, it's
inspected by a digital alignment tool, and it gives them the tire
depth and it gives them all these other things about an
alignment. And I think the consumer gets overwhelmed when
there are so many things that could potentially be wrong on a
car. If you if you walk in the service advisor walks over
and says, Here's your inspection report, we have
about five things that need to be fixed. The only the first
thing that a consumer is going to think is dollar signs. Holy
cow, this is going to cost me a fortune to get my car fixed. And
so they end up having to fix it because they want their family
to be safe. But it becomes at that point, because they're
not educated, it becomes a grudge by. And the last thing
you want us for them to have that grudge by because
it's like going to the doctor, the dentist like you
mentioned, everybody has to go to the doctor, the dentist. The
big difference between going to the doctor and the dentist and
having your car fixed is they trust that doctor or the
dentist. They don't necessarily trust that service advisor
because as I stated earlier, the next time they go, that
person may not be there anymore. And so there is a massive
technician shortage as you mentioned. The other thing that
we need to educate consumers on not only about everything that
goes on in their car is the benefits of going to a shop
that has ASC certified technicians, because there are a
lot of shops out there that that doesn't mean anything to
them. And so they don't have certified people. That tells
me that they're not going through the proper training to
the continue education. They're just there fixing the car
not saying that they can't do a good job because they
probably can. At some point they were trained and
certified. But that is a big factor now that a lot of
people need to understand that going to a shop or a
dealership that has certified technicians means the jobs are
going to get done properly. They're staying educated. And
they're doing the things that they need to do to ensure
that your safety is of utmost importance to them.
Man, I couldn't have said that better. And I feel like all of
this stuff as we're trying to justify ourselves as true
professionals, you know, we hear that complain a lot with
technicians, right? Where maybe they don't feel the respect
from the outside world or even our inside world from a
professionalism standpoint, from a respect standpoint, you
know, and you'll get a lot of arguments against an ASC or
even sometimes factory certifications in terms of well,
anybody, you know, anybody could pass that doesn't mean they
could fix a car or vice versa, right? Like I've seen people
fix cars without needing the certification. I think maybe
taking a step back from that argument and having the
conversation around, you know, from a shop leader
standpoint, it helps us out so much as an industry when
we have that credential to be able to show and and
something to be able to sit down with a customer and say,
hey, you know what? We do have an ASC certified technician. I
think it gives you maybe a little bit of an assurance that
this person is properly trained. This person does know
what they're talking about. And as we want to go to where
we want to go in this industry with that trust factor and
maybe be seen more in the light of a doctor or a lawyer or
dentist or whoever from that professionalism standpoint,
that certification can mean a lot. And so as you're talking
through that, I couldn't agree more. I think it's very
important. And at some level, I think it's important for our
industry to get on the same page, right? The whole the
whole origin story of ASC as a whole with manufacturers
coming together to start it because they didn't want the
government controlling this. We have to understand like,
we have to get our ducks in a row as an industry. These are at
times very dangerous pieces of equipment running down the road
that if they're not properly repaired, could put somebody's
life in danger. And so as we kind of go down this path, the
more we want to keep the government at bay, because I
think we've all seen how the government can maybe
interfere or not run things the way that we would hope they
would. I do think getting our industry on the same page in
recognizing whether it's, you know, it's ASC. I do think there
are, you know, the factory certifications and the training
that happen at the dealer level are great. There's more
and more on the independent side that are getting better
and better. But a universally accepted credential, I think
is essential for the long term success of our industry as
a whole.
No, I couldn't agree more. I mean, we still have to educate
people on what ASC means. Yeah, because I don't think they
there's definitely a misunderstanding of what
that means. But let's be let's be honest here, you're not
going to go to a doctor or a dentist or a lawyer that
hasn't gone through school, doesn't have credentials, and
doesn't stay up with everything that's going on
that's current. Your car costs a lot of money. I mean,
cars anymore, 30, 40, $50,000 on the low end, you know, and so
why would you want to take your
equipment that costs a lot of money
to a shop that doesn't have certified technicians? You
wouldn't go to a doctor that didn't have credentials. You
wouldn't go to a dentist that didn't go through school
forever. Why do you think that your car shouldn't go
through the same process?
Well, I don't know about you, but every time I go to the
doctor or dentist or even my eye doctor, they have their
credentials hanging on the wall in the doctor's office
that I'm sitting in, right? Like I think every single
medical professional that I go into, if it's their kind of
home office, they've got their plaques up on the wall,
they've got their degrees up on the wall, they've got
you know, everything to show you that they are
qualified to do what they're doing to you that day.
I don't know why we're any different there.
We shouldn't be any different. We every certified repair
shop that has ASC technicians should have ASC
certificates for all of their techs hanging on the wall.
They should have signs in the windows that says they
have ASC technicians. There's no difference here. And to
me, this all starts in the high schools and the trade
schools, because we need technicians. And technicians
is not there is a bad misnomer in the schools that
technicians are still it's still turning wrenches. You
know what technology is evolving just as fast in the
automotive spaces that is in the healthcare space. And
it's not just turning wrenches anymore as you are
well aware. Computers are running cars now. You don't
have to turn wrenches. You can make a lot of money by
being a technician that knows how to program cars and
those types of things. It's not just turning wrenches.
And we have to get that message out that it's not
just about fixing a car and turning wrenches. It's
about keeping people safe via computer. There every day
cars have more and more and more electronics. There
could come a day when you don't need a wrench to fix a
car.
That's kind of wild. I I think you see that evolution
more and more. And it does, to your point, I think
create this opportunity to appeal to different skill
sets of kids too, right? I think, you know, for me
growing up, I was a terrible student. I think the
industry appealed to a lot of us back of classroom types
of students that weren't what I would call overly
interested in school. So, you know, I think as as
you grow this industry, you've got to appeal to
the all bright kids, right? And maybe even if
they're not good in school, I've got a lot of
friends that were probably similar to me that
weren't the best students in the world, but have
turned their careers into something very, very
successful. I think we've got to have a combination
of that along with, you know, maybe that that kid
that is looking at an engineering career, but
starts to have this real deep passion for
vehicles. There's a huge opportunity for us to
stand out to that person that might be going
the four year route. And even if they go the
four year route, I've seen it more and more
where there have been young people that have
gone the four year route and then have come back
to work in our industry as a technician. So I
think, you know, just the general appeal to
young people. You talked about ASC in getting
involved with young people just in in general,
right? Like I think being able to show off
the professionalism of our industry at that
young age in the high schools is vital
because even if they're not coming to work
in our industry, that's a really good
opportunity to start to showcase the talented
people in our industry. And maybe that helps
with that trust factor as well, right? When
you're starting to get young people exposed
to what it is that we do, maybe getting a
peek behind the curtain at an early age
probably isn't the worst thing in the world.
No, I agree 100%. Think about who the
most respected people are in the world.
It's your service members, they wear
uniform, your doctors, your dentists,
they all your healthcare professionals,
they wear uniforms. Guess what?
Technicians wear uniforms, too.
Well, I was just on a podcast earlier this
week on somebody else's podcast, my good
friend Curtis Gardner. And we had this
discussion at length in terms of
professionalism in the industry. He is a
technician, a working technician. And we
talked about the need for technicians to
step up their games as well. And if they
want this level of professionalism, they
want this label, they have to act like it,
too. We're out here trying to fight for
the good of technicians. And we always
talk about the social media comments on
our TikTok, right? So, Wrenchway's
TikTok. Sometimes the comments we get
out there are like, okay, guys, can we,
you want this professionalism, you want
this pay, you want all this respect,
it kind of goes right in line with what
we talked about with certifications in
that you have to act like it in order to
get that level of respect, right? And
there are some, to me, one of the coolest
things, and for me growing up as a bad
technician, I talk about that a lot in
the content we do, there is nothing
more beautiful than a very polished,
very professional technician. And you
see their toolbox all organized and
clean. And they just act like a
professional. And they have a lot of
respect of other people. If you're in
that spot as a technician and you're
wanting to grow within your career,
there's a lot of opportunity for you to
get better. And maybe you're starting
to read books on self-development,
you're starting to just act like a
true professional. That's what it's
going to take for us as an industry
to kind of take that next step. I
think certifications fall right in
line with that. Oh, no, 100% they
do. And, you know, talking about the
uniform and being professional, what
could be more satisfying than knowing
that you could save someone's life
just by taking care of their vehicle,
changing their air filters, changing
their oil, rotating their tires. They
seem like simple things. But those
are the things that fail on cars that
could potentially save someone's life.
And so there's nothing more
professional to me than a technician
that takes pride in the work that he
does, goes home at the end of the day
and says, you know what? I did a really
good job today because I could have
saved. I worked on 10 cars today and
that is at least 10 people's lives I
could have saved today because I take
pride in the work that I do. I'm
staying up on technology. I'm staying
up on training and I love what I
do. Those are the kind of people that
we need in this industry that want to
take pride. And guess what? They're
going to be rewarded by great pay
checks by doing and being
expensive, being respectful and
taking care of those consumers
because they're going to come back
to you every time they need a repair.
I think it's interesting as you're
talking through this one huge
opportunity. We talk about that
customer level trust and I'll kind of
pivot a little bit back to that
because when we talk through
maintenance, you would think this
would be a very simple concept for
customers to understand, right? It's
the same as your home. It's the same
as your teeth. It's the same as
anything that if you don't take care
of it, it's not going to last.
Your vehicle's not going to last and
you're going to have some expensive
repairs. Something as simple as that
oil change at 5,000 miles like you
were talking about. I love whenever
we're able to give a customer a
visual of what lack of maintenance
looks like because they might have
heard or maybe they haven't been
properly trained on how important
something like a simple maintenance
is. And when they go in and maybe
they get that inspection back and
they're like, well, they're saying
we need ball joints now. And with
ball joints in some other
suspension work, we need an
alignment now. And you know, I
think as you go through that as a
customer, you're like, oh, this is
expensive. But what they don't
understand is if they don't do that
stuff, it gets real expensive,
especially as vehicles get more
sophisticated, more expensive.
That visibility to be able to
show them the impact of
maintenance is an absolutely huge
thing. And it's not just me as a shop
now saying it. Now you've got some
visual proof of this isn't this is
some important stuff.
Yeah, that's where videos come
in and they play a huge factor
because now technology is such
that when almost all dealerships
or repair shops do some kind of a
digital video inspection, they
walk around your car with
their cell phone or they have
equipment that does that. But
technology is such now that
Autonet TV is actually integrated
in a lot of DVI platforms where we
can send the customer, the
consumer, a video that talks
about that specific service that
needs to be done and why it's
important. If you send them a
30 second one minute video about
why that cabin air filter needs to
be changed and what the
ramifications are if you don't
change that air filter, it seems
like a really dumb example. It's
a it's an air filter and it's
inside of your car. But the
pollutants and everything that
come through those air filters
are huge factors. And if you
have if you're sensitive to
those types of things and have
allergies in those types of
things, that's an important
factor. And so sending the
consumer a video about the
repair that needs to be done
and educating them, they're
more likely to say yes to that
repair because now they
understand the importance of
why that needs to be done. You as
a technician could sit there and
talk to them till you're blue in
the face, explain it 10
different ways, and they're
still not going to get it. The
internet and technology has
evolved so much that
everybody wants to watch
videos now. They want to
watch 30 second reels. And so
if you can get that service
explained to them in 30, 45,
60 seconds, you're going to
win.
I couldn't agree more. Now one
thing as technology continues
to evolve that we're going to
have more challenges and
trying to explain to a
customer are all of the
complications that come along
with Ados. And I want to
talk through that in a little
more detail because this is
something where a customer
truly isn't used to having
their sensors recalibrated. And
this might seem like a, you
know, we're talking about that
trust barrier that we have
between shops and a customer.
That's a huge challenge in
trying to, you know, from a
shop standpoint, explain that
if you don't do this, that
is another potential risk. And
so on top of car repair or
any type of repair being
very expensive already, now
you're adding another layer
to this and maybe a layer that
there's not a lot of
understanding on, right? I
think there is a lot of
opportunity for shops to help
educate customers on this in
that this isn't going away.
This is something that's going
to be a staple in our
industry for a long time to
come. You just have to be,
you have to as a customer or
a consumer be able to
understand why that's
important to you.
Yeah. And nobody
understood. I mean, Ados
is evolving as fast as any
other technology. But
let's clear the air here.
Ados, 99% of the consumers,
and I would say a lot of
shops and technicians don't
understand Ados because
it's new and it's
technology. And let's be
honest, it is the all of the
safety features of your
vehicle fall under this new
Ados systems. And so you
have to be taking
continuing education. You
have to be trained on these
systems because it's not
just your lane departure
signals, and it's not your
backup cameras and your
forward looking cameras and
your adaptive cruise
control. Those are big
components of this. But
it's a lot of cars have
stuff built into the
windshields now. Like I
have a Subaru that you
can't just replace it
with any with a normal
windshield. You have to get
a specialized windshield that
costs three times the price
of a normal windshield
because it has all of these
safety features built into
it. And so for the consumer
to be educated on Ados is
almost, if not more important
than the technician
understanding, because those
are the safety features of
your vehicle. And if
something is not working,
most of the system is not
working. And so you need to
understand that if you're
signaling to go left or
right and your lane
departure things are not
working, it's more than just
that in probably most cases.
It is a whole system that
needs to be recalibrated and
reset. And it's a lot of
it's in your infotainment
system that sits right
there. And you can see
the diagnostics and a lot of
those things you can see
as a consumer right in your
infotainment system screen.
But it's still like speaking
Chinese to us because we
don't get it.
Well, I think that's that's
part of the problem, right,
is maybe our industry
doesn't even fully understand
it. At some level, there's
been I've gotten a lot of
feedback from industry folks
that were like, even the
OEs aren't on the full
understanding of it yet,
right? And an example we
had from one of our prior
podcast guests was like, if
you had somebody that bought a
new F 250 and put a
lift kit in it, the proper
procedure as of right now is
to take the lift kit out, do
that the calibration and
then you're I don't know if
you're supposed to put the
lift kit back in or not, you
know, it's just makes zero
sense because then if you
were to if the lift kits
back in, you're changing
all the angles, you're
changing everything again.
So I do think there's some
level of uncertainty at the
OE level yet, or maybe just a
lack of getting what the
engineers know out to the
general public. I think from
a shop standpoint right now,
or if you're that technician
and you're out to a cocktail
party, if there are
opportunities to proactively
help explain this to
customers in ways that are
bite sized that help them
understand it, it's going
to help you out a lot in
the future because this is
going to continue to get
more advanced. There are
going to be a lot more
uncertainties or just
a uneducated people talking
about this, right? You know, I
think the more you can get
out in front of it in a
proactive fashion, that helps
when you do, you know, give
that estimate and it's got an
ADOS calibration on that
estimate and they're like,
what what in the world is
this, right? Like, I think
we have to be a little bit
more proactive in relation to
educating the general public
on ADOS.
No, we definitely have to
and part of the problem with
this is the technology is
changing so rapidly that what
you learned last week is
still probably accurate, but
there's so many other things
that could go along with
that that you have to do.
And you know, as well as I
do, Jay, that you can't
explain this well enough to
a consumer or a customer for
them to understand it. You
have to show it to them.
If you show it to them
through a video, they're going
to understand better.
I'm not I'm not going to ever
say that they're going to
understand it fully because I
don't think any of us are
going to understand it fully,
but you're at least going to
help them understand why
the calibration is important
because even on my Subaru, if
I have to have the windshield
replaced, I have to have
the whole system recalibrated.
You can't just change the
windshield and say, oh, we're
good to go. No, you have to
recalibrate the entire system
because the windshield works
with the mirrors and the
they everything works and the
cameras and they all work
together as one system.
And so that's why the S in
Ados stands for system.
You have they all work
together. And so you have
to educate the consumer and
the customer, your customers
about why calibrating that
system is important because
if one piece of that system
doesn't work, none of it works.
For example, for example, I'll
give you an example here.
My 21 year old golfer that
lives in Oregon calls me the
other day. He has a 2020 Ford
Escape titanium calls me
other day and says, Dad, I
got this TPM TMS warning on
my on my car. And I said, well,
go get your tire, go have
discount tire or a tire less
swab or whoever's up there,
put air in it. So he goes to
the tire place and get some
filled and they recalibrate
it. And they're like, your TPM
sensors are bad. And so he
calls me like, Dad, they say
the TPM sensors are bad. And
I said, well, what look at
your dashboard and tell me
what it says? He's like, Dad, I
have so many things flashing
and blinking on my dashboard
that says it's all out of
whack. He's like, I can't even
get my phone to connect to my
car because the TPM sensors
are not working. And I said,
okay, you're going to have
we're going to have to
replace the TPM sensors,
call the call the store and
get a quote on replacing
the TPM sensors. Once that's
done, then we're going to
have to call forward. And
you're going to have to take
your car in and have the whole
thing recalibrated. Because I
said the tire plate the tires
company could replace your
TPM sensors and they can
probably recalibrate the TPM
sensors. But those are all
tied to a million other
things that in order for
your dashboard to not be
blinking and flashing
everywhere and get your phone
to connect, you're going to
have to go to forward and
have that have it
recalibrated. And he's like,
wow, Dad, this is really
complicated. And I said,
you know what, it is
complicated. And the fact
that you don't understand it
and you have to call me is
fine because you're only 21
and I get that. But you're
pretty tech savvy, you're a
21 year old kid that grew up
with technology. If you don't
understand this,
in the public is nobody's
going to understand this.
Yeah, that's the that's
where we need to educate
people on ADOS and
everything else that goes on
in their car. I mean, EV is a
whole nother topic of
conversation that's going to
have to happen at some point
because these batteries that
are in these EVs,
everybody's like, oh, it's
saving the saving the
environment. And oh, I'm
saving, you know, I don't
have to I don't have to put
fuel in my car. And guess
what, the the batteries
that are residing in these
EVs are deadly. They are
very dangerous. And people
don't understand
how dangerous these batteries
are. And so there's a whole
another thing with EVs and
electric vehicles that has to
be taken into consideration.
And it applies to hybrids
too, because they still have
part pieces of the electric
along with the gas piece of
that. And so, you know,
there's a lot of things
that we have to educate
the general public on in the
automotive space, because
they're not understanding.
Well, and I think you
had mentioned this earlier,
but the education of our own
industry, right, in making
sure that we all know what's
going on. And it's harder
than ever right now in
trying to stay on top of it.
If you are a technician out
there that is working your
tail off to stay on top of it,
or if you are in leadership
and you're trying to, you
know, read every article
that's out there or read,
you know, listen to every podcast
or whatever it is that you're
trying to do, you run short on
time. It is really, really hard
to stay abreast of everything
that is going on,
especially when you consider
that these changes are
happening, happening rapidly.
They just keep happening.
Every day is a new evolution
of something, right?
And it's only going to get
harder to stay on top of this
stuff. It's a real challenge
for those of us in the
industry to keep our thumb
on and really have a pulse,
a finger on the pulse of what
is going on.
My first comment to that would
be thank you to those that are
working hard to try to stay on
top of it because that that
shows that you care, but
you're 100 percent correct in
the fact that it is
changing rapidly.
I mean, there's this old
adage with computers that I
could go buy a computer at
the store today. And by the
time I walk out the door,
it's going to be outdated.
That's exactly what's going on
with cars right now.
You literally could go buy a
2026 car right now,
drive it off the lot and
get home. And there could be a
software update for your car.
It is changing that rapidly
that it's hard.
It is very, very hard to stay
up.
At some point, it'll slow
down and it'll level out.
But everybody's trying to
come up with better
safety systems and more advanced
systems to gain an edge
and to get market share.
And again, the government
is involved here because
it's a safety factor
and the government needs to be
involved, you know, on these
types of scenarios because these
are safety systems.
And so
thank you to those that are
trying to stay up because it is
tough.
But from a consumer's
perspective, these safety
systems are there to keep you
safe.
And that's the reason that they
have been implemented and you
can't buy a car right now without
a safety system because
it's that it has been proven
that they are that much safer.
Oh, absolutely.
As we get closer to the
conclusion of this and it's
been such a wonderful
conversation really
about that customer
awareness piece and building
that trust, which I think as
an industry, we need to keep
chipping away at we need to
keep working at.
Now, as we kind of get towards
the end here, we do have
a few questions for you
that are more of these rapid
fire type questions.
And
just kind of a little
off topic. But first
question is what is the first
car you ever owned?
I worked on when
I was growing up on a seventy
two Ford Ranchero with my
dad, big old boat.
But what a fun car it was.
We had a seventy two Ford
Ranchero.
We had a sixty five
Ford Fairlane 500 convertible
and we had an eighty three
Camaro and the Camaro was
the first car I drove
when I got my driver's license
in high school. But I had
plenty of experience working
on that car.
Had lots of experience
working on the seventy two
Ford Ranchero.
But man, that sixty five four
lane fair Ford Fairlane 500
convertible. That's cool.
And that that thing was a big
boat. But man, what a ride.
You're seeing I see more of
them. I feel like on the show
car scene now more and more
of those fair lanes coming back.
Next question.
This might be a little tougher
one.
Who is your industry role model?
Oh.
That's a tough one.
That is a tough one.
That is a very, very tough one.
You know what? The person I learned
the very most from all to say
that's the person I learned the
very most from about the
automotive industry and
how things operate is actually
the president of ASC now Dave
Johnson. Because when I first
met Dave,
greatest, most humble guy in the
world.
And he was the one that helped
us.
He was in.
He was key in the Ford Omni
Craft project that I helped
launch. And I learned so much
about automotive and
distribution and global things
from Dave when he was at
Ford and we were working on the
Omni Craft together that
really helped shape the
career path that I have now
because he was just key
in teaching me
and helping me learn everything
about the automotive space from
a big, big company
perspective.
He's absolutely one of the best
absolutely one of my role models
as well. And I think
so many people that have worked
with him have a similar experience
to you, right, where it just
a very humble, very smart,
very fair person.
And and yeah, somebody
that we I think all look up
to in this industry.
Last question, name
your favorite piece of the
technology you recently
discovered.
That's a tough one, too.
The marketing team really brought
some some tougher questions.
No kidding.
No kidding.
You know, one of the coolest
technologies I've seen lately
are coming
in the alignment
and the collision space.
There are some cool technologies
out. I mean, Hunter's been
around for a long time and
their system is awesome, but
there's some new
alignment companies out there
that are that just have
towers of cameras.
And as you drive through the bay,
they're snapping camera so
fast that it's getting
a 360 of your car.
Even though it's not going around,
it's getting a 360 of your car
and it's looking for
dents and alignment
issues and all of these things
that can all be done
just in these little towers
with these cameras and these
fast computers that that
technology is growing rapidly
in its and it's amazing
what technology
is doing in in
all the alignment space and in
the collision space.
That's a great answer.
And I think we talk so much
about the technology of the
vehicles themselves, but
the tools that are coming at
such a rapid pace for all
of our technicians to be able
to use is
it's just insane.
And I have to give Mark credit
here because this is
fairly new segment of our show
and I'm still a little rusty at
asking those questions.
I didn't prep him with those
questions. He came up with those
out of the top of his head.
And and I apologize for that,
Mark. Normally, I try to at least
give those questions a little bit
ahead of time so that you have
some time to think.
So a lot of credit to you for
coming up with those off the top
of your head.
Hey, no problem. Thank you.
I mean, I love
I love impromptu questions.
I'd rather not be prepared
because it's it's more genuine
to me. Let's be honest.
Very authentic questions
answers to those questions.
So I appreciate you working
with me on those and also
just appreciate everything
you're doing for the industry.
We've been able to work together
here the last few months.
I've really appreciated getting
to know you and the entire
team at AutoNet TV.
Shout out to Mima because they
were the reason that we met in
the first place in Detroit.
So just
very grateful for our relationship
with you and the entire AutoNet TV
team and look forward
to seeing what we can do.
It's a we're hopefully
going to be doing some really cool
stuff with the schools here
soon and some more to come on
that. But just wanted to say
thank you for that.
Thank you for being on the show.
Thank you for everything that
you're doing.
Yeah, and I'm grateful that you
asked me to be on the show
and I'm grateful for our
relationship as well.
And grateful for all the good
things that Wrenchway is doing.
I mean, your school to assist
program and we're really
excited to be part of that
because that is what's going to
drive the future and get more
technicians and education
into exactly the topics
that we talked about today
because those those are the
future.
And we all know that those
kids do not learn by reading
a textbook.
They learn by watching and
gaining knowledge through video
and that's going to be the
future and that's placed
perfectly into what AutoNet TV
does. But the things that
Wrenchway are doing to
connect
dealerships with schools and
students is
by far the best program I've
ever seen and kudos to you
guys for changing focus
and realizing that that is
where things need to happen
and where things can
make the most impact.
Yeah, I appreciate that.
And and you along with
so many other folks that have
helped support us in this
journey to kind of maybe take
a little bit more of a long
term look at this and and
try to hopefully have an impact
at the core rather than trying
to duct tape this thing
together. So I really
appreciate the support again.
Thanks for coming on the show.
Hope to do it again sometime
soon.
Thank you for having me
any time. Love to love to
be on it.
That wraps up another episode
of Beyond the Wrench.
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Wrenchway is an online
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About this episode
Mark Poulsen, a seasoned marketing expert in the automotive industry, discusses the critical role of consumer education in building trust between repair shops and customers. He highlights how AutoNet TV uses engaging video content to demystify vehicle maintenance and advanced safety systems like ADAS, helping customers understand necessary repairs and reducing skepticism. The conversation also covers the importance of technician certifications, professionalism, and attracting young talent to the industry. Mark emphasizes the evolving technology in vehicles and repair tools, stressing the need for ongoing education to maintain safety and customer confidence.
Marc Poulsen, National Accounts Manager, shares how AutoNet TV helps shops build trust with customers and why it’s essential. Learn why showcasing ASE-certified technicians matters, the public’s misconceptions about the technician role, and the challenges of explaining maintenance and complex repairs to customers.