DO NOT Work a Job You Hate! Promotive Will Help You Be Happy at Work

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Good isn't good enough anymore.

Hey, I'm Jeff with the Jada Mechanic Podcast,

and if you're a tech tired of settling,

it's time to meet Promotive.

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The one where your skills are celebrated,

your future is prioritized,

and your work actually excites you.

Picture this.

Your shop hosts paintball tournaments and cookouts,

invests in your growth,

and runs like a well-oiled machine

where every other team member has your back.

Selling a dream?

Promotive makes it real.

They're your advocate, your ally.

Your ride or die in finding the workplace you deserve.

Ready to turn your grind into something sustainable

and unstoppable?

Then hit up the link in the show notes below

to get started, or go to gopromotive.com slash jab.

Who are they mad at if they're on a highway,

broke down, no air conditioning with their wife and kids?

Who are they mad at?

They're mad at the last person who worked on that car.

Yes, yes.

Even if you did brakes on it,

and the AC is sitting around the side of the road

not working, they're mad at you.

Yes.

Right, because that used to drive me crazy.

Good morning, everybody.

Welcome back to another exciting episode

of the Jade Mechanic Podcast.

We're still here at Asta 2025

and beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina.

And I'm sitting here with a couple of friends of mine

from our wonderful family at Promotive.

Ethan and Stacey, how are you guys this morning?

Good, good.

Doing great.

Yeah.

They've got Starbucks in front of me,

so they're on the same vein than I am.

They need that caffeine first thing.

Yeah, you're my people.

When people come in with an energy drink,

I'm like, what's wrong with you?

So this is obviously, Stacey, is this your first show?

Yes, it is.

Okay, because I was going to say,

because I was at Apex last year and saw Ethan,

and I've seen you several times.

You're a new face to me, so that's pretty cool.

I was at SEMA last year and just briefly spoke with you,

but yeah, I kind of stayed behind the scenes for a while.

SEMA is a trip.

That's an experience, right?

It is.

It's almost overwhelming.

That is the craziest show I've been to yet.

I feel like you could just walk and then keep walking

and then never see the end of it.

It's insane.

I don't think you go to SEMA

and see all of SEMA in the four days that it runs.

I don't think that's even technically possible.

Not to see it like you could run by and glance at everything,

but if you want to stop and talk to people,

so I got to hang out at the promoter booth last year at Apex

and see SEMA.

That was pretty sweet.

I like that.

That was a lot of fun.

So you know, but it's the same thing,

like trying to get from one venue to the next

in the shuttle and the Tesla loop.

Did you do the Tesla loop when you were there?

I did not.

You got to do that when you,

if you're going back in November,

you got to do that.

Okay.

What's the Tesla loop?

So that's the, it's essentially like all these Ubers

that are outside of the convention center.

Okay.

And if you want to go from one side of the convention center

to the other,

instead of walking the five miles down the sidewalk,

you go walk down the escalator flight stairs.

And Elon has boarded out all these tunnels

underneath downtown Vegas.

And they run only with Teslas and literally,

so they're all the roads or highway.

It's essentially a highway.

The cars are all driving themselves.

Like there's somebody in the driver's seat,

but the car is driving itself down through these roads.

Oh man.

So it's, it's a trip.

If you're like just to see it,

it's pretty cool.

We're going to have to try that.

Yeah.

We saw the drifting event.

We saw the Google dolls.

Yeah.

You know, that was kind of the highlight for me,

but I didn't even know about the Tesla stuff.

Yeah.

It's, it's down belief and it's,

it's all free.

Like, you don't have to pay to get in there.

So, and I mean, it's just they're,

they're contracting Uber drivers with the Tesla

to sit there all week and run people

from wherever they want to go.

ABC, D&E.

That was pretty trippy because I spent more time

in a Tesla seat last year

than I have working on as a mechanic

because they don't come into a lot of the shops I work at.

So, yeah.

Yeah.

So, and what do you think?

There's something new.

Yeah.

What do you think of this event this year

that's our new, that's different, isn't it?

It's, it's pretty cool.

Yeah.

You know, this, this so far has been amazing.

Yeah.

I think it's, it's still got kind of that tight knit feel,

but it's also big enough

where you can meet a lot of people.

Yeah.

You know, events been good,

locations great.

Like this is my first time in Raleigh.

Yeah.

My, my uncle lives up here.

So I traveled from Denver, Colorado to get here.

Long journey, but this place is beautiful.

You know, it's starting to get chilly up in Colorado.

Did you drive down?

Oh, no.

You flew.

No, I flew down.

Yeah.

I've made the drive.

I'm, I'm good on that.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I would much prefer to drive,

but I mean, like we were talking, it's, it's a,

somebody says like an 18 hour drive to come from,

like where I would cross the border,

say at New York and then come down.

It's an 18 hour drive and I'm not,

ready to do that yet.

Yeah.

That's too, that's too much.

That's a multi-day trip right there.

So tell me a little bit about how,

what's new and exciting at Promotive?

There's so many great things at Promotive.

It's, uh, we've implemented a few programs to help enrich our shops,

and we're really excited about where we're headed.

Pull the, if you just pull the mic a little bit,

there you go.

Yeah.

Now we can hear you.

Can you hear me?

Yeah.

That beautiful voice right there.

Yeah, I hear.

Yeah.

So we've implemented Paige.

Okay.

And Paige is our virtual recruiter,

and she is pre-screening up to 50 candidates a week.

And the crazy thing is,

we have candidates talking to her for 10 minutes.

The average is anywhere from nine to 11 minutes

that they're talking.

And they're like, yes ma'am, no bam.

And it's a virtual,

but the great thing about it,

it's 24 seven now.

So we don't miss.

Right.

That candidate, that fantastic candidate

that wants to come and find a new beginning.

That's awesome.

AI is an amazing thing.

It really is, you know.

And it's going to get crazier.

I think like the big benefit of using this

is obviously we're not missing anybody,

but our recruiters can pick up where the AI left off.

And they can fill in the gap.

So it's speeding them up.

It's making us more efficient.

It just kind of helps out all around.

So it's exciting.

And I am assuming the response to Paige

has all been pretty positive so far.

It has.

We find that maybe they apply at three in the morning.

They get a text of, you know,

contact page and she rolls right into it.

So it's at their convenience

that we're able to get a prescreen in.

So super excited.

There's lots of mechanics.

I hate to say that at three in the morning

that are awake thinking about like,

you know, making a change.

It's crazy, right?

But that's sometimes what happens.

It's just the way it is.

So yeah, very cool.

Yeah.

We don't want to lose them.

We don't want them to think that we can't help them out.

Yeah.

And, you know, Promotive is,

I think is such a powerful tool

because of what you guys do.

You know what I mean?

Like it's, especially for the technicians,

like I'm starting to see a lot more texts

that in order to find the workplace

that they want to be,

they're moving farther away.

It's not just like you can throw,

it isn't like the 60s

where you could go around the corner

and get another job at another shop.

And they're all pretty much the same.

As the landscape is getting wider

in terms of varying levels

of what you want to do in this industry

or the technology you want to be exposed to,

some people are moving states, you know, away.

And that's a big commitment and a big change.

And I think it's pretty cool

that something exists now

that if you want to, you know,

oh, I want to find a job in North Carolina.

The old ways is you kind of had to get

to know somebody on Facebook.

And then maybe the interest was there

that you would think about trying

a working interview or whatever come down.

Now, Promotive is like,

if you're willing to work to move, excuse me,

we can help you out, you know?

Yeah.

That's powerful.

We just had a gentleman relocate

from I believe the West Coast to North Dakota.

Wow.

Yeah.

I've had him relocate across the country

from Alabama to Reno.

It's crazy to me,

the amount of people that are willing.

And what I find is

if their kids have just graduated

and they're ready to spread their wings

and go to the place they've always wanted to work at

and we find them a great job.

And the benefits that some of these shops

offer are second to none.

So, you know, these shops are aggressive

and they want quality tax

and they're willing to take care of them.

Yeah.

And those are the shops we want to represent.

And I think that's, you know,

and there's no, I mean,

there always are, you know,

people that think you're going to fit.

It's just like a relationship.

You know, you go on a couple dates

and then all of a sudden you realize, like,

I can't see myself spending, you know,

the years with you.

So, I move on to the next thing.

And unfortunately, sometimes jobs are like that.

I can tell you I've moved around a lot

in the last three years

and it's a personality thing

more than anything else.

It's just like, I don't,

we don't click on where you see me

and I see myself going, right?

And that's totally fine.

It's just, it's pretty cool that,

okay, you know,

promotive doesn't immediately drop me

because that relationship didn't,

you know, work out.

They just kind of,

we continue the relationship with promotive.

I think that's awesome, you know.

We really push the culture of the shop.

So when we're working with the shop owner

and we do an intake call,

we dive deep into what their culture is,

their expectations of,

do they expect ongoing training?

I have some shops that insist upon

so many hours a month.

They insist upon traveling to SEMA

or vision or whatever it may be

so they can learn and grow.

Most automotive conferences, unfortunately,

only focus on one side of the shop.

But Tectonic 2026,

presented by Tectmetric, is different.

It's built for the whole shop.

Owners, advisors, and technicians

all have sessions designed for the work

they actually do day to day.

It's three days in Houston,

packed with workshops, panels,

and over a thousand people

from the industry are set to attend.

You don't need to be a Tectmetric customer to qualify.

Hit up the link in the show notes below

and check out Tectonic 2026.

Register now while you still can

to get the early bird pricing.

There's people out there

that don't want to do that.

And that's okay.

But that's the requirement of a certain shop.

And so I stress to the shop owner,

even though they're not a good fit for you,

did they show up on time?

Were they professional?

Were they, you know...

Did they fix the car?

Absolutely.

And so let's get them into a place

that they feel good about what they're doing.

Yeah.

And because I think it's important

for you guys to stay neutral.

Yes.

You know what I mean?

Like a lot of the time,

if you're talking to shop owner

after shop owner after shop owner,

and I hear it all the time.

Like in my channels,

the shop owners are like,

there's no good techs out there.

And I talked to a lot of technicians

who are like,

I can't find a shop that is worth

rolling my toolbox into.

So I mean, it's on both sides, right?

It's not a situation of like,

I'm trying, we're trying to pit each other,

you know, in a battle royal.

It's a situation of it's like,

what do you need me to bring to you?

Cool.

Okay.

That's, I need you to bring competency.

I need you to bring reliability.

You know, I don't,

I don't want you to be missing a day of work every week

because you're sick with something,

all of those kinds of things.

And in turn, if I'm going to work for you,

and you're going to task me with

relatively new cars to fix and stuff,

I need training.

And I, you know,

and at the training,

if you want to send me,

you know,

five hours after work to train,

I want some pay for that,

because otherwise I could be with my family.

This is what a lot of technicians tell me is,

why don't you train?

I want to spend time with my family.

Okay, cool.

Totally get that.

So it's part of them if you're like,

if you're going to send them to training,

pay them for the training,

let them have that five hours

towards some holiday pay,

you know, that kind of thing.

Time off, like all that stuff.

It's, it's,

we have to be more flexible in this industry now

because it's becoming flexible

what it takes to,

to do this business.

So we as people need to be flexible.

I need to be better,

more rounded on it as of my skill set.

And in turn,

you have to be a little more understanding that,

like we're willing to meet you halfway.

But you have to,

the way that you used to expect everything,

you're just going to do it.

They're not interested in that anymore.

You know what I mean?

It's, we understand the relationship,

but it's, it's,

we talk about team,

but a lot of people don't really know

what that truly means.

You know,

I think that's where,

again, what I like about you guys

is you're really qualifying the shops.

That's important.

You know,

I think honestly it's,

it's both sides.

So Promotive obviously got started

to help technicians, right?

Keep them in the industry

because there's not a lot of young guys

coming in,

a lot of the other guys are leaving,

but it's also on the shop side.

So a lot of people come to me

because I'm the only one that

basically signs them on

and take them through our process.

And so I lay out the expectations,

everything in between,

and a lot of them don't know

what to offer at all.

And, you know,

I give them feedback on it

in the moment.

I tell them,

your account manager,

your point-to-point person,

they give you pretty much everything

you need.

They guide you in the direction

in order to get you

what you're looking for.

You know,

sometimes to stretch,

some people can't make it happen,

which is fine, right?

We can deal with what we have to deal with.

But it's also on the technician side

because a lot of them

don't know what they're worth.

Yeah.

You know,

like maybe they're really

a great A-level technician.

They're getting paid super low.

The culture is bad,

but they don't have it anywhere else to go.

That's right.

They talk to our recruiter and then,

oh my gosh,

my eyes are opening.

Yeah.

You know.

So it's both sides.

We're just kind of playing matchmaker.

Yeah, I get,

now my phone,

again, through my platform,

I get my phones blowing up with people.

Like I heard this episode and,

you know,

I'm working in a shop and

this is what I do all day long

and I'm only getting paid this amount.

Yeah.

And what should I do?

Well, I don't know, right?

Because I'm,

again, I have to remember,

and it's hard sometimes

because I'm only talking to the technician.

I'm not talking to the owner.

We all have a,

maybe an inflated idea

about how really good we are, right?

And that's fair.

That's human nature.

You don't want to beat yourself up.

Go, I always need to do better.

But, you know,

when I talk to them,

it's like,

I kind of only know the local market.

And if they say they can do these kind of jobs

and they're only going to pay it,

I go, well, you're underpaid for the market that I know of.

But I don't know where their market's like, right?

And so,

it's blowing up all the time.

I'm like, what do I do?

Realize right now,

for every five technicians

that are leaving the industry,

there's only one coming in

right now.

Every day,

five leave, one comes in.

So, you're in a super high demand.

So, if you're not happy,

don't just sit there and dwell on it.

Reach out to somebody,

promotive,

and say, hey,

what can you help me?

And they'll show you

like there's other shops in your area.

Wow.

I didn't even know that shop was there.

I remember, like,

I tell the story.

I remember seeing an ad,

somebody contacted me.

And I'm like,

I didn't know shops in that area paid that well.

Why?

Because they don't always talk like, you know,

it was one of the highest paying people around.

I didn't know that.

And if you were to look at the facility,

you would never assume that either.

That's the other ripple to this.

And, you know, from technicians,

we're very,

we're very visually oriented.

So, if it looks like you don't have

high pay,

we're not probably even going to bother.

Appearance is a,

you know,

if it looks like a junkyard,

you're not going to work there.

Simple.

I have a shop that actually offers

the technicians and their family

home doctor visits.

Yeah.

I mean, you talk about thinking outside of the box

and I have shops that have

side-by-sides four-wheelers

to where the guys can take it for the weekend

and go have fun.

I mean, they do stuff together.

And I've had technicians leave those shops

because they didn't think they deserved

to be in that good of an environment.

Yeah.

That blows me away.

We're still a very,

how do I say it?

It's almost like you went through trauma.

Yes.

And then you get into a situation

and you're like, when's the ball going to drop?

I can't believe that these shops exist.

And they're out there.

They're unicorns right now.

And on both sides.

There's same as I've had,

talked to shop owners who are like,

I hired this young person

and it is amazing how good they are.

Or it's amazing how dedicated they are,

how reliable,

how what I can task them with

and I don't even have to hold their hand through it.

They're just amazed.

Yeah.

Because we have to step back sometimes and go,

when we're in these groups

and we're in these conversations,

we're talking to 1% of the people.

There are a lot of people

don't even necessarily know the group is out there.

So there's all kinds of people

that are not the norm

or the stereotype

that we're not even reaching

because they just are living their life, right?

There's definitely the next,

Brian Pollock and all that,

to those amazing techs

that I know Brandon Stechler and keep working.

There's the next ones

are already in shop somewhere.

And it's just how are they,

we're going to find them.

Well, you have to make them aware

what you have to offer.

And I think sometimes shop owners,

for a long time,

it was just like, well, I put an ad up.

There's so much more to marketing yourself

than just putting an ad up.

You know, like you said, go back to like,

side-by-sides that you want to take home for a weekend.

Here's the side-by-side stuff like that.

Like I'm of the point where it's like,

if somebody was to say to me,

we have two shop dogs in the shop.

But like, I might work there for a dollar or less

just because I get to pet two dogs all day long.

Like it's, you know, you work at a shop

that has three running around

and all of a sudden you go to one that doesn't.

It's like, I really miss the dogs.

You know, it's just little things like that.

Like how are you about, you know,

you know, lunch every Friday?

Oh, I would love that.

We ask those questions.

I mean, I dive in and say,

do you have lunch and learns?

Do you bring vendors in to say,

hey, if you do this one thing

when you're doing breaks and calibers and everything

just to help just one little thing

to give them confidence.

I didn't know that.

And yeah, and you brought up the pets,

shops with cats, dogs.

Stacy has an interesting story from the other day.

I'd love to hear that.

So I went into a shop.

The shop is amazing.

They believe in training.

The staff, you can feel the positive energy.

You walk in.

They had no idea who I was.

Beyond friendly.

So the shop owner was taking me upstairs

to his training room

and there was this cat malnourished,

laying on the steps.

He had no idea where it came from.

I'm now the proud owner of Beamer.

Very cool.

Right on.

Yeah.

So isn't that amazing?

Yeah, right thing to do.

And he's a he's a good cat.

But getting, you know,

getting back to the shops,

the shop owners that understand,

that keep moving forward.

And when we talk to shops

and we bring up training,

we bring up,

or bring up,

are you clean and organized in your,

in your area?

Do you have a clean parking lot?

Do you have,

do you have a place

where they could sit down and have lunch?

I mean, similar things like that.

You know,

I don't think they understand

that the techs are looking at this.

And I mean,

we have technicians that say,

I don't need to train.

I've been a technician for 20 years.

And it,

that person's kind of set in their ways

to the point where

how are they going to grow

and how are they going to grow with the shop?

Yeah.

That's that's a,

from the technician in the room,

I can tell you that that's a really,

I'll say it,

it's a really poor attitude.

I mean,

there are people out there

that like

can learn it as they go.

And they don't necessarily need to invest

all these hours in training

to to to get the job done.

But how efficient are they?

Well,

yeah.

Now,

and that's,

that's the whole thing with efficiency is,

is it's like,

sometimes it's just,

we were having a conversation with this yesterday.

Sometimes the,

the age old technician,

there's just an intuition factor

that can save you a lot of time

and you look very efficient.

But when you're handed new technology

that you've had no experience on,

and you think,

I don't need to train

because I've been a technician for 20 years.

Guess what?

That doesn't matter

because that new technology

that you're faced with,

I don't care how good your process is and everything,

you have to learn how it works.

And if you're learning how it works on the job,

there's sometimes we just all end up doing that.

But if you could have had the opportunity

to learn how it was going to work

before one lands in your bay,

that's only to your advantage

and your employers.

So that's a caveat for

shops that don't want to train their people

in technical training.

Come on,

wake up.

And as your technician,

when somebody offers you training,

take the damn training

because it's only to your benefit.

I look back in my career

and it's like the only thing I ever took

from some of these jobs

was what I learned

while I was on the job

or what the training that I got.

Because it made me better

for the next employer.

I don't advocate for people

having to move around,

but think about it that way.

Otherwise you get stuck in that rut

where I've been a technician for 20 years.

You might be the same technician

that you were 10 years ago.

You're just older and slower

from a skill set

and an understanding and a knowledge set.

Is that what we want?

No, we don't.

People that are hiring us don't want that.

I don't want to bring them that.

Yeah, training is valuable.

Yeah, well, I mean,

whether you do it now

or you do it later,

everything's going to be evolving.

Technology is going to get crazy.

Man, wait till we have flying cars.

Well, it's...

Yeah, you know,

you could have to be training at some point.

Otherwise you're not going to be able to work on anything.

If in 1985,

when I was 10 years old

and somebody told me

there was going to be a driving,

a car that would drive itself by 2025,

I'd have said, you're crazy.

And yet, how many do we see now?

All the time.

It's...

Yeah, go to like Silicon Valley.

I mean, probably every five cars

there's a Tesla, right?

It's insane.

They're everywhere

and they're going to be gaining popularity

as time goes on.

It's just going to happen.

And 40 years was not overnight,

but 40 years still feels like a blink

when I think about like at 85,

all those cars are going to drive themselves.

No, I'm not.

I'm 10 years old.

I'm starting to feel that's never going to happen.

And yet now when I'm in the industry,

I go, that's perfectly...

Viable.

It's already happened.

You know what I mean?

It's cool.

So yeah, you cannot be the same tech

you were 10 years ago

and still think you demand the same value.

Yeah.

You can't.

So, you know, you want big money,

bring big training,

bring big ability

and it'll take care of itself.

What does some of the things

that when techs approach you

and say, this is what I'm really looking for,

it's not just about pay,

is it, Ethan?

No, definitely not.

You know, pay is, it's eye candy

on all the job boards.

You scroll down, you see the numbers.

Okay, X, X, X.

All right, this one's in my range, right?

They're looking for a lot more.

It's culture, it's cleanliness,

especially with benefits.

PTO is a big one.

Yeah.

Right.

I think a lot of shops,

they don't know

that they have to compete

with the dealerships, right?

Especially if you're looking for a technician,

maybe they're not happy with or at,

the culture's changed,

the ownership has changed,

whatever it is.

Those are the people

that are good technicians, right?

They've been working,

they're up to date on all the skills.

They're not going to leave a dealership

to go have one week of PTO

after a year of being there.

You know, they've got three weeks built up,

they've got a family at home,

they've got vacations planned.

Yeah.

They're just not going to do it.

Yeah.

You know, so like the health

and medical and stuff like that,

that's great to have, right?

It's fantastic.

Some of the times I'm speaking

to shop owners,

a lot of their technicians will have,

they'll be on their wife's plan

or something like that.

So it doesn't really make sense for them.

Yeah.

The PTO though, that's directly,

you know, that's directly for the technician.

And so that's a big one,

pays obviously big.

What other ones are there, Stacey?

What are the big ones?

So the training,

it goes without saying,

but then I have shops

that do four-day work weeks.

Yes.

And they will rotate it.

Their shop will be open

Monday through Friday,

so they'll flex it

to where the guys can do

four-day work weeks.

That is huge, huge out there.

Some shops close at noon on Friday

to where they can start a weekend early.

We have owners that will take their teams

to different events,

that sort of thing.

But I think flexibility,

I ask the question

when I'm talking to shops,

if you've got a tech

that's kid is traveling baseball.

I mean, there's just times

you don't want them to miss that.

Yeah.

And they're pretty adamant about that.

They're willing to work with them

as long as the tech gives back

what they're giving them.

Yeah, 100%.

Like, I had a great conversation

with Josh Barnell.

And it was because Josh and I,

from the Limitless Leadership,

we talked about how

like a lot of technicians leave

and pay isn't the number one thing

they're looking for.

And of course,

my comment thread blows up.

It's certainly always about pay.

No, man.

I worked for less money now

than I did a year ago

and I'm in a happier place.

Why?

Because somebody is not like,

push, push, push,

and I'm not watching the

the wheels fall off the wagon every day.

You know what I mean?

It's a little bit smaller operation.

It's like, I stay in my lane

and I let people do things.

It doesn't like more and more

is being put on me

because they're not putting it

where it should go.

And that's that for me

is a culture thing.

And it's not that I wish any ill to them.

It's just like some,

you're not a good fit everywhere.

And it's not about the

money.

I am when you're young,

yes, right?

You want to,

you want to get that nest egg started?

You want to buy a house

and have kids and all that kind of stuff?

I'm 50.

Like I've already learned

how to survive on what I have.

I'm looking after my future.

I don't need to at $1 difference in pay.

An hour doesn't matter.

Does not matter.

You know,

and people need to get past that.

Like if you can go to work

and make a little bit less money,

but you feel so

like appreciated

and so

viable to the team and valuable.

Man, that is worth way more

than I think a lot of us

are even realizing now.

And again,

from the technician standpoint,

some of us are so beat up

with the culture

that we've been exposed to

that it's almost like

you come out of those bad relationships

and you get into the good one.

You're like,

I don't know what to do here.

Like,

and it'll happen guys,

like and gals,

keep your head up.

It will change for you.

You will,

you just have to learn to trust again.

That's the key thing.

A positive environment.

Not worrying if a wrench

is going to be thrown

across the room.

Safety.

Yeah.

The environment,

the positive attitude,

the driven personality,

somebody who wants to laugh.

I have shops that say

we want them

to be able to laugh with us.

Yeah.

You know,

you didn't get that feeling

in other shops,

but you can walk in

as a consumer

and fill the tension

if the shop.

Is not doing what they should be doing.

Yeah.

I've seen technicians

and it's simple as like,

the music was very,

I'm like that.

If I'm working in a building

and the music is very,

very, very loud

and yet everybody's expecting

me to be able to concentrate,

I can't do that.

And then it's like,

so the technician may say,

okay, I want to,

I want to have headphones in

or earbuds in.

No, that's a safety thing.

We don't allow that.

Okay.

All right.

Like,

so or,

and you know what it is,

a lot of it is they play it up

as it's a safety thing,

but the surreality is that

they hate that they have to come up

and top somebody on the shoulder

to get their attention.

They feel like it's disrespectful.

Meanwhile, that person,

maybe on a certain part of the spectrum,

where like I am,

when it's very loud,

noisy music,

it's distracting for me

from what I'm trying to do

and I'm trying to get the job done.

But other people,

like they thrive in that environment

of loud and camp.

It just depends on who you are.

But to say,

no, you can't wear a headset

while you work because like,

that's nuts, man.

If we have to learn

to be a little more open-minded,

because I've seen texts

that will quit over that.

I don't like the music

that's contemplating here.

I ain't working here.

And again,

not to tell anybody

how to run their business,

but sometimes

if the customer is walking

through the back,

like it has to happen.

They want to see the car

and I don't necessarily,

I don't like the show and tell idea

all the time.

I think it's,

but when they come in

and they're hearing

some really loud music and stuff,

it's not necessarily saying

the best thing about your business.

Doesn't look to make the best image.

So, you know,

when somebody wants to have headphones in

because I think that's a better image.

So, well, I think

with Promotive,

like our goal is longevity

with technicians, you know,

the getting them in the shop is one thing.

The stars have to align

for most shop owners on their own

just to get them in the door.

But once they're in,

you know,

the real challenge kicks in

of keeping them.

And, you know,

we obviously want them to be in the industry.

We want them to be with the shop

so they retire ideally.

But if the culture is not there,

if they're not going to last,

you know, plain and simple,

you're only going to put up

with something for so long,

whether it's, you know,

you know, the shop attitude,

the music, stuff like that.

If the culture is there,

everything else can be where it needs to be.

They'll be there for a long time.

Yeah.

Right. So, that's why it's so important.

Can I ask you a question then

comes from my standpoint,

I sometimes think about it.

And maybe, you know, you've never,

but is there a point

when you're looking at a shop

and they're saying maybe they've been

with you guys

a couple of months or whatever year

or something and they're like,

every person that you've brought me

seems to want to leave

or doesn't last or doesn't work out.

What's the earmarkers that maybe

they are the problem and not the tech?

Those are tough conversations.

Right.

We're trying to change the industry.

We're trying one shop at a time,

one tech at a time,

and just saying,

look, you have to offer training.

Yeah.

You have to do this

or you're going to

lose the race, so to speak.

I do have shops that are that way

where constantly sending technician,

they don't like them for whatever reason

or they get hired

and they leave within a few months

and it's not the pay.

It is truly,

you get them on board with the pay,

you try to explain,

it's got to be a positive,

it's got to be clean,

it's got to be safe.

You want your kids to be able

to go in there.

And so it is tough conversations

and some of them

will take that advice

and run with it,

but it's really hard to change

what they've been doing for 20 years

and it's not going to happen overnight,

but it's a conversation

that we have,

you know,

every time we talk to them,

you know,

hey, did you do the training?

Hey, did you,

hey, did you,

and you know,

we're partners with them,

but we also need to have

a safe environment

for our technicians.

Yeah.

It's,

and there is a lot,

that's just,

I don't even,

I don't even think about that

or touch on it enough

because it's just,

it for me is like,

at my point in my career,

if it's,

there's no question about it.

Like if it's just somebody says,

go over there and do that.

And I go,

no, I'm not climbing

above 10 feet

without being tied off.

You know,

you can call me a sissy

all you want or whatever.

I'm not a person

that loves heights.

So, you know,

I'm not going to get on a ladder

and go up 18 feet in the air

to change a light bulb fixture.

Yeah.

You know,

you get me a harness

and strap me in

and somebody sits there

and holds a ladder.

Yes, I'll do it.

But just like,

I need that done real quick.

This is where the safety thing

comes in is

because we're always,

when we're rushed,

we're like,

I need that done real quick.

You know,

jack that car up in the parking lot

and get under there

and do that part

because we screwed up

and we don't have a choice to do it on.

There's a whole other ripple there

that comes into the effect

of not just the efficiency

of the job and the time

and the just the,

it's the safety side of it

because it's like,

before you know it,

he goes out there or she

with the just the jack

and no jack stand

and something happens,

heaven forbid

and somebody gets hurt.

There was a,

there's a local shop

to me back home.

So it's a truck shop,

highway truck.

Now they're having

a really hard time

hiring people,

right?

Really hard.

So they've been hiring,

essentially what I call

a 310S,

which is not a motor technician

where I come from

and they're trying

to fill 310T spots

while they hire 310 to S,

sign them up

in the apprenticeship program

and they can now mentor

and work there

and legally it's all good.

Well,

this young lady then

starts doing

air brakes on a truck.

They involve removing

the big brake chamber.

She has not been shown

all of the risks

and inherent dangers

that can come with that

and there's an accident

happening,

she gets hit

in the side of the head

with a,

with an exploding

air brake chamber.

Now,

she's going to be okay.

She didn't die.

But that's a kind of accident

that kills a technician

every year,

that very scenario.

Now,

you can sit there and go,

well, like,

she's young.

That happens.

Right.

She hasn't been exposed to enough.

But the reality is

somebody that shouldn't even

be trying to

like give her that job

unless somebody is mentoring

right there going,

whoa,

stranger danger.

Watch out.

You know,

and that's the kind of things

that where we think about safety,

we don't think about it

until it's already

after the effect.

And that's,

we need to stop that.

Well, I'm Russian,

need this job done.

It can be the same

in the automobile space.

You go out,

no jack stand,

jack stand breaks,

jack stand fails.

Somebody does.

Why?

Because the part didn't show up

on time or something like that.

Safety.

Yeah.

What do you think about

the hoses

that are laying around

on the ground

and somebody's not paying

attention,

trips and goes.

So I've been in shops

for many, many years

and you see different things.

You know,

some of it's out of your control.

Some of it,

it can't be helped.

But just being cognizant

of it,

and you can see

I can give you examples

of shops that have worked

their way around it

and understood

the importance of safety.

But we just want

the technicians going in,

when they leave at night,

they felt like

they made a difference.

Yes.

They felt like

they contributed

and they felt

like they were appreciated.

We get those type of shops.

We're gonna,

we're gonna do everything

we can to find them

the right candidate.

And a clean shop

is a safer shop.

Yes.

Oh yeah.

100%.

You know, like

I can remember

if I worked next to a bay mate

and our hoist was there

and they were not rolling

their airline up

that it was done.

It was laying between the two hoists

and I'm walking over their airline.

It wasn't long before

I would take their airline off

and throw it in the trash can

and say you need to roll

because I have to walk here too.

And if you can't be bothered,

it's just little things like that.

You go,

you're being a jerk.

I'm not being a jerk.

Like,

I don't need to trip

and fall in that

because it's gonna be some,

at some point,

I'm gonna be looking over my

shoulder talking to one person

as I'm trying to get somewhere else

and you didn't roll it up

and I'm gonna step on it and trip.

And then what happened?

So it's the little things, right?

Like it really is.

What, um,

how do I,

how do I say that?

When,

when a technician is,

is coming to apply

for a job,

what advice can you give them

on how to go

about that process?

Be on time

and show up.

Yeah.

Is that still a big one?

Because I know in past interviews

I've had it

where people are like,

we have technicians and they,

and they go through the process

and use Promotive

and we,

we work to find them

and then they don't show up.

Yeah.

We've had it to where the recruiters

have been talking

to the candidate,

driving to the interview.

And then a half an hour later,

I get a call from the shop

saying Joe never showed up.

Where'd you go?

Where'd you go, Joe?

What happened?

Right.

What happened, Joe?

I,

part of me thinks

they just get nervous

about the interview.

I mean,

I've really changed my thought process

on why people ghost.

I think there's several

key factors in it,

but it's so disheartening

because the shop owner

clears their schedule

to be able to talk to them

or the shop foreman

or whoever it may be,

especially if they're

an A level tech,

they're super excited.

They feel like,

okay, this could be the guy

or gal

that's going to fit that need

that I've,

I've had open.

And when they don't show,

I don't understand.

Yeah.

Just like they don't understand.

And so

we try to get a hold of them

afterwards.

And a lot of times they'll

they'll give us a reason

why they didn't show.

But I think deep down there,

just afraid

to make a change.

Goes back to that,

you know,

trauma some.

Yeah.

That trauma thing, right?

Like, and for me,

like I'm just,

I'm,

I'm not different,

but I'm confident enough

that like,

if I'm one out of where I am,

there's no way I'm

missing the appointment.

Like, and I'll challenge my,

my listeners that

maybe have ghosted.

Like, don't,

don't do that A

because you look like a schmuck.

You know,

it's unprofessional,

but B,

like you're,

you're just,

if you needed to

go back maybe later,

maybe in six months time,

you really need to go.

And they're still running

an ad six months later.

They're going to remember

that you didn't bother to show up.

Oh yeah.

And even if they give you a second chance,

there's no second chance

to make a first impression.

They're immediately going to

wonder for a long time

how reliable really are you?

Yeah. Well,

I,

I speak to a lot of shop owners

and I ask them,

like,

do you have a list of people

that you've talked with

in the past,

whether it's through indeed,

do you have a bench

being built,

stuff like that?

Yeah.

A lot of them say,

I have a list of people

I would never want work

again my shop.

Right.

Which I totally understand,

right? But that's the thing that sticks

is the one that don't show up.

They have a bad experience.

In reality,

maybe that did happen.

Maybe one of those technicians

didn't show up for an interview

for something crazy.

Maybe they're a good tech.

Yeah.

You know,

a good person just had a bad day.

And so I think

using a company like Promotive,

we keep up with them.

We check in,

we keep tabs.

Things change over two years.

Yeah.

A C tech could become an A tech.

Yeah.

Same thing.

So, I mean,

that's,

that's kind of where we come in

is we can help the shops,

we utilize what they're doing

on Indeed.

We use their bench.

We take them through our process.

And then there's a little bit

of a benefit there.

So.

Yeah.

I know it's funny in my realm,

you know,

because I'm in a smaller little area

so we all talk,

right?

We all talk to the tool trucks

and you'll move

and somebody will,

the tool truck driver will tell you

who filled your spot

from where you were.

Yeah.

And you're like,

and I mean,

we all get to know each other

from a reputation,

but it's like,

you think,

oh, that's good for them

that they managed to get that person

because like,

that's a,

that's a win.

Or you just shake your head and go,

that's not going to work.

I just know.

Because you know,

then exactly like,

if you've left that place,

you know what they told them.

And you know that person,

that technician,

they're like,

they're not going to fit there.

And the list,

like you said,

the technicians,

some of them in my area

are known to the other

shop owners of like,

I wouldn't hire that guy.

A lot of your resume,

they look at it and it's like,

oh, you worked at John's.

And they know John

on a first name base.

He's in the Napa program

with them or something.

They call up John,

go, what was this technician

really like?

I've looked at his resume.

What's he really like?

He would come in 20 minutes

late every morning.

Super smart.

Friday afternoons,

I couldn't get any work done by him.

You know,

that kind of stuff.

And then that shop has to look at

and go,

well, I might be an owner.

It was like, yeah,

Friday afternoon,

I'm in Coast mode too.

But the,

supposed to start at eight,

strolls in at 825,

815, 830.

Like,

yeah,

it's not a good look for you.

And that people are becoming less

tolerant of it.

I joke,

my mentor,

one of the first ones I had,

he never started at eight o'clock.

Ever.

But if you needed to be working there

till eight at night,

he was there.

But he never started on time.

He's just one of those quirky people

that like,

you know,

he didn't,

didn't just couldn't do it.

Could not do it.

Well,

I was speaking with a shop owner

yesterday.

He's in California.

I'm not going to say who or where, but

same exact situation.

You know, he's a great shop.

But two of his technicians

showed up late.

They took insanely long lunch breaks

and they'd come back in

and he'd confront them and,

you know,

he was the bad guy.

Shop owner was the bad guy.

Yeah.

And so he dealt with it.

He pushed it to the side,

kind of shrugged it off for so long.

And then now,

he made a decision on it.

He's like,

I've had enough of this.

All right.

Let me go see what my options are.

And there's a lot of options out there.

Sure.

It's good that there's automotive

recruiting companies out there.

You know,

we're not the only one.

It is fairly new though.

You know, just in general,

this idea of automotive recruiting,

especially for a lot of older guys

that are kind of,

you know,

in their ways,

they're happy with what they've been doing.

Like you said,

for the past 20 years,

things are changing quick.

You know,

you kind of got to hop on the bus

before it takes off,

kind of thing.

Yeah.

Now,

so when you see

shop owners and they're like,

I need a technician.

So punctuality aside,

reliability,

what's the things that they're

still asking?

I really need somebody,

him or her,

to be really strong in what?

Diag.

Very strong in Diag.

And they want somebody

to hit the ground running.

They don't want to have to,

if they have that position open

where they've got an apprentice,

great.

They're,

they have people in place already

that's going to help train them.

But the majority of the shops

are looking for somebody

to hit the ground running

that can be a decision maker.

They don't need,

hey, Ethan,

can you come over here?

I'm not quite sure.

They want that person

that can do that car

from start to finish

and just do it right

the first time.

Now parts break,

you know,

I get it.

I understand all of that.

And they are too,

but they don't have time

to hold hands

with a technician.

But Diag

is the first

constantly.

I get that.

And I,

as somebody that,

that I did a large portion

of my career,

that's what I was good at,

what I focused on,

and what I actually really enjoy doing.

That's the challenge, right?

I'm a big champion.

I advocate for that all the time,

that you have to be smart on that.

Because,

and I'll meet shoppers and like,

listen,

I do the Diag.

I just need them to bolt the parts on it

and then all the bolts go tight.

You know what I mean?

They can't forget stuff.

Totally cool.

I get it.

But we're talking about a unicorn

tech in it as an owner

that's still in the building

and it's like they're handling it.

These shops that are trying to

hire Diag techs,

and I see it shops are like,

I need a Diag tech.

What's your training budget last year?

My what?

Training budget.

Like I've been the Diag guy

and I haven't gone to training

in five years.

Okay.

But your guy that you're now

or gal that you're hiring

as a,

as a Diag tech,

they want the training budget.

They want to know,

I'm expected to know this

because they're a bit nerdy.

Right?

So they want to know the new technology

and they want to be trained

on the new technology.

And you go,

so a lot of when I see that

they want Diag techs is,

they don't really know what they want.

You know what I mean?

Like they want somebody that can do it,

but they don't know how to attract it.

They don't know how to cultivate it

when it's there.

They don't know how to look after it.

It's like getting an animal or pet

and not knowing how to feed that pet.

Yeah.

And then we can talk about the pay thing.

The Diag guys that I know,

they only want to work certain

pay plans.

Don't forget about the latest scan tools also.

That's right.

If they want a great strong Diag,

they've got to have the tools to support it.

And the Diag techs that are coming,

a lot of them have some pretty expensive

tooling of their own.

And they're going to bring it into your shop.

You're going to have to pay

for those tools to come in the shop.

If you, for instance,

we'll talk about this.

If you are,

I need a Diag tech.

And a lot of what we do in Diag now

is just software programming.

If you're not equipped to do that

and they come in with that,

whatever you thought you were going to

offer is pay,

probably put it up 25%

because if they're going to bring

those tools in that you don't have to

provide,

well, let's do the math real quick

on what that tool is worth

and all that jazz.

It's going to cost you more.

And if all of a sudden you,

I can't afford that,

well then what,

you can't really afford to be doing

Diag in your shop

because it's a package deal, right?

They're going to come in and expect,

I can fix this car

if I have this tool.

Oh, we don't have that tool.

Oh, I have that tool.

Do you think I'm just going to bring

it in to help you out?

Not really.

That's not really what we're

signing up for.

It's not a partnership, right?

I work for you type of thing.

We have a technician I just

spoke to last night

and he wants to constantly,

his shop is like,

oh, we're going to send it to the dealer.

We're going to send it to the dealer.

Don't spend a lot of time on this.

Don't spend a lot of time on that.

He's now starting to,

where I'll be frank,

the shop that he works in

is under $100 an hour.

There's no service information system

in the shop.

No identification,

no protoman,

no all data, no nothing.

Did they still write on paper?

Yeah.

So, and I'm not trying to run this

shop down,

but here's the thing.

We have a young person

who's a very competent young person

in terms of getting the parts

on a car

in a real timely manner.

They're good.

Now, they want to grow

and not see so many cars

go to the dealer

because that's,

after a while,

it's like,

that car left,

I never knew what fixed it

because the customer doesn't

call you up and go,

hey, it went to the dealer

and the dealer did this.

My car specs,

they don't bother to fill you in on that.

You just might see the car

six months from now

for a set of tires

or brakes or whatever.

If you should be able to retain

that customer back,

that's all in the conversation.

So when we're not

like investing

in the true

dyague sense of the word,

what they need,

you're,

you really don't need

a dyague tech.

You need probably another

B tech

and you stay in your lane

as a shop owner.

And you go,

what does he mean

as a shop,

as a stay in my lane?

Stick to what you're good at.

Tires, brakes,

wheel alignments and stuff.

Don't get into the dyague thing

because the dyague guy,

Orgal is a different kind of animal

and will bring a different skill set

and the way we pay them,

the way we treat them

is going to be slightly different.

So people are listening,

I want a dyague tech.

I know you do.

Everybody wants one.

Everyone.

But when I go and interview for one

and I go,

this is,

they go,

you want to get paid how much?

Not.

Not flat rate?

Nope.

Well, are you that good?

Yeah.

I am.

You know,

okay.

Or that's not going to work for me.

You have to be flexible.

Right.

And it might mean changing,

bringing in a second tiered labor rate.

So when I'm doing dyague versus

nuts and bolts kind of stuff,

I have to charge more,

frankly,

because I'm paying that unicorn

right there

to get the job done.

It's,

we got to be willing to bend.

You know.

Yeah.

And some shops,

they just,

they just don't know.

They don't know what to do.

They don't know who to bring on,

what's going to fit their shop the best.

And so it takes time.

Like they'll come to me,

I need a dyague tag.

It's 90% of my conversations.

Wow.

I didn't think it would be that high.

It's that high.

And,

you know,

sometimes they give it a couple of weeks,

they sit down,

they think about it,

they talk it over with their wife,

they get back to me.

I actually need a BTEC,

you know.

And so,

great for them for figuring that out on their own.

But when you talk to your account manager,

this is something that we run through.

Right. We make sure everything aligns.

You know,

if you need feedback on what to offer,

who to bring on,

maybe we'll go in this direction versus that.

We're great for that kind of thing.

You know,

the account manager,

Stacey, one of them,

she kind of works central part of the United States.

She works with a lot of shops,

a lot of good shops.

And so she's kind of seen

what works for some people,

what doesn't really work,

where this needs to be versus that.

And so that's where the benefit of having her

being your account manager is,

is she can give you a guidance on that kind of thing.

The thing that we do,

we say pivot a lot,

but when we meet the shop initially,

they tell us what they're looking for.

They give us the whole rundown.

I want five years experience of this.

I want three years of that.

They give me the whole rundown.

Fan-astic.

Get the job posted,

couple weeks go by,

or however long it is.

We send them candidates.

No, that's not what I'm wanting.

The thing I stress to them is,

okay,

let's go back and look at what you originally wanted.

That was your baseline.

That's what you thought.

Well, now that you've interviewed

those type of candidates,

you really,

that's not what you're wanting.

Let's change it up.

Let's get it back.

Okay, maybe I only wanted this, this, and this.

Fantastic.

We're going to change it immediately,

and let's start getting those candidates into you.

Because a lot of them think they want this

when they really need that.

Yeah.

And that's the big conversation I got.

Because I want to stay neutral

between the tech and the shop owners.

I want to be able to show both sides

and perfect of what they really need.

But a lot of that is even tough too,

because it's just like saying

to that technician over there,

I understand you struggle with this,

but I need you to be better at it.

Well, when the shop owner,

it's like,

I understand that you want to go here,

but you can't go here yet.

Because you just like,

you need people to go there.

And when you bring those people on,

they'll help you get there for sure.

That's the tech's job is to help a shop,

profit and flourish and grow.

That's ultimately your job,

fix the car and help the shop owner

hit their goals.

But it's the flexibility side on the owner.

The leadership role now falls in a place

where you have to really then

make the harder choices.

And I think it's just the way it's going to be.

Right?

A lot of,

I'm not saying shop owners can't go out in the Bay

and get the car fixed.

I know they can.

But if you need somebody

that has a skill set that you don't have,

and you need them to go out into the Bay

and fix the car,

they are going to cost money.

And they're going to cost time

and just takes time.

There's nothing more frustrating.

I talked to a lot of Diag Techs.

I'm one.

And they go,

I can only sell around an hour Diag.

That's not feasible anymore.

Like we,

others European car that got towed in

has got 20 codes on and four different warning lights.

That's not an hour.

That's a four hour process.

Well, they can't afford it.

Okay.

So you believe that?

No problem.

That's fine.

But here's the reality.

Like that Diag Tech is the type of person

that doesn't want to see half a job done.

So if you say them,

I just want half a job done.

They're like,

I thought I was here to fix cars.

Because in our crazy brain,

leaving with one warning light on

isn't a complete job.

I took a car that didn't run

and it leaves with the ABS light on.

In my mind,

I fixed what the customer wanted,

but I'm still dissatisfied

because the car is not going out

to the standard that I wanted to go out at.

This is the kind of,

when we hire these people,

be prepared for some of that.

If you're a shop owner

and you're like,

you're okay with that.

Think about what you're trying

to really offer

and be honest with yourself

about who then you need.

It's tough.

It really is.

Like I feel for both sides,

I really do because I understand,

but it's the conversations

we're going to have, you know.

Diag is a,

it's a slippery slope.

It's not,

it doesn't fall,

I believe,

in the same kind of metrics

and scalable as just a work,

an oil change attire shop doesn't,

it doesn't work.

You have to be much more flexible

and you have to be,

that's where the advisor side of things

becomes very important

because they have to have

those tough conversations

that it's like,

your BMW has been to three other shops,

including the dealer,

and it's still broken.

I've got somebody

that can fix your car 100%.

But here's like,

are you really committed to this?

Because that person

will need this amount of time

that will cost you this amount of dollars.

Do you really want to go with that?

Yes?

Cool, let's start.

No?

Okay, have that hard conversation.

You can't just treat it

like another job

and go up there and go,

yep, okay, Mrs. Smith,

we'll start now.

Our labor rate's $150 an hour.

We're going to start at one hour

and then we're going to call you.

That don't work.

It does not work.

They need to ask the question,

how long are you planning

on keeping your investment?

If they're going to dump the car

and move on the car in six months,

their mindset is completely different

than I'm going to keep it

for another five years.

So, okay, let's talk about that.

Asking questions.

I'm good for that.

That just happened to me the other day,

like a couple of months ago,

my 2014 Ford Focus.

Okay, congrats.

Yeah, well, no,

not in this situation.

It had a transmission issue

and I've had this for-

I'll try to not look so shocked

because I mean they are very problematic.

Oh, that's good to know before I bought it.

That's great.

No, that's great.

Either way, no, no, no.

A couple of months ago,

I had transmission issue

and I'm going to have this car

for a couple more years

and the guy asked me that

at the front counter.

He's like, well, what are you

planning on doing with this car?

It's only worth probably

10 grand right now

if I were to resell it

and the transmission repair was three.

Yes.

Right?

And so I made that purchase

because while he asked me that question

first off and I realized

I'm not going to go out

and buy a new car right now.

I love this car.

Right, so that's a pretty big question right there.

And we can't assume

that the customer is only going to one.

We could have a whole other episode

on this whole thing.

But who are they mad at

if they're on a highway,

broke down,

no air conditioning

with their wife and kids?

Who are they mad at?

They're mad at.

The last person who worked on that car.

Yes, yes.

Even if you did brakes on it

and the AC is sitting there

on the side of the road

not working, they're mad at you.

Yes.

Right, because and I used,

that used to drive me crazy.

And now I realize that to them

the car is the car.

They don't understand the different systems

in the car

and how they can be related

to one another.

And I don't expect them to.

Right, but it's where instead of being like

what are you stupid?

I can't mess up your air conditioning

by fixing your brakes.

We have to go.

Unfortunately, I'm sorry

that this has happened.

We would not have caused this.

What can I do to help you?

You know, get back on the road,

get back in here.

What do you need me to do?

That's how you start that conversation.

Right.

That's where an advisor is so pivotal.

Let's kind of shift here.

You're placing,

you can place advisors as well in shops.

Right.

Yes.

How does that go?

I'm assuming it's a different kind of

conversation than trying to find a tech.

It is.

It's very much different.

They're looking for that salesperson.

They're looking for the people person,

the bubbly personality,

the person that can make eye contact,

the person that is just excited to see them

walking in the door.

And I understand we're not going to do that.

That person's difficult to find,

but you want them to fill,

the customer to fill warm

and so glad they came in

because they're there for a reason.

And they're spending money

and they're not happy.

Yeah.

So you want somebody that makes them

feel comfortable for being in there.

And that salesperson,

I've had some shops get away from the actual

service advisor experience

and they want a person

who's maybe in the hospitality.

Yeah.

That's not afraid to talk to people,

not afraid to talk about issues

to deal with things head on.

And you feel an energy

with some of these service advisors

and I'll have a recruiter call me

and say I've got a good one.

They're just so easy to talk to it

and so personable

and they want to learn the industry.

And like, okay,

so I'll send them over

and the shop owner will call and go,

wow, you know,

they were easy to talk with.

They seem coachable.

Yeah.

That sort of thing.

But they've got to start

from the very beginning.

These are the questions you have to ask.

Are you okay multi-tasking?

Are you okay with driving the ship?

Yeah.

Or the bus or whatever you want to say.

But service advisor,

it's a special person

that can get out there

and make the entire difference to that shop.

Yeah.

It is the most like,

I catch some flak for it

because like when we talk in the industry

about I need this training,

technicians need more training.

And I put my head up and go,

like I've been able to fix a lot of cars

without necessarily getting a ton of training.

But I have run into countless service advisors

that need so much more training

and I'm not talking about understanding

how the car works.

Like I've had employers are like,

I want them to understand

what all the parts do.

No, no, no, no, no.

I want them to understand

that when the customer comes in,

they have to be empathetic to understanding

and be able to relate to the discomfort

and how they feel.

But I need them to not be to that level

where they're emotionally discounting,

trying to give money back,

trying to make the price as low as possible

because that's what they think the customer,

that's what they need.

That may seem like to you

when you're talking to them

that must be the solution,

but it's not.

We need to give them the best repair

that we can give them.

Price then doesn't even fall into the top three

of what they're looking for.

So we have to be training our advisors

with good coaches

and good people empower them and say,

this isn't about making them your friend

and avoiding the easy conversation,

the hard conversation.

And fortunately, you're giving more bad news

than you are good news.

Oh yeah.

So you have to be comfortable with that dynamic.

If giving people bad news

makes you uncomfortable,

don't sign up to be in this customer service realm

because you're not going to enjoy it.

It's the one thing that people,

you can go have a bad experience at the restaurant

and if you smile your way through it,

they'll probably still come back as a waitress,

as an example, right?

I'm comparing the waitress to the thing.

If you come in here

and you think you're doing the right thing

by shaving $300 off the estimate

and putting on a cheaper part

or allowing the customer

to start to dictate the process

and then the car breaks down six months later

because you put on a really crappy

AC compressor,

they will not remember

that you are trying to do their best interest

and save the money.

They are going to be mad and feel ripped off.

That's shop owner and service advisor

because a lot of the times

that hat's worn by both, right?

Shop owner is oftentimes running service.

You got to get that out of your head

that this is about trying to do it cheap.

And I've worked with some

that like the advisor

did not want to have hard conversations.

Well, if you put your technician in the backward,

they're expected to make chicken salad

or chicken shit

because the parts that you want to put on

are you're asking for a divide to develop

between your technician and your advisor.

Nobody then gets along

because I want to do it at this level.

You want to do it at this level too

but you can't do it at this level

because your sympathy carries it.

It gets in the way.

Don't do it.

I think they need to ask the questions again

of, okay, we see today your breaks are,

we've got to replace those.

We know your AC is going to go out

in the next couple of months.

Why don't we set up an appointment

for you next month?

And this is roughly what the cost is going to be.

Prepare them.

Give them options that you have

to be honest and upfront of saying,

this is what's going to go wrong with your car.

Too many times I hear about service advisors

while they only came in for this.

They don't want to hear.

Again, that causes problems

down the road when that vehicle breaks down.

They may not have the money now

but if they know, hey, I've got two or three months,

they can plan for that.

Give them financing options

or whatever it may be.

But at least inform them.

If you inform them,

they're the ones who have the right

to make the decision.

They don't make the decision for them.

And informing is not just saying,

hey, by the way,

when we did your all change,

we noticed your breaks are getting low.

You're going to need to think

about breaks in the next three months

because the customer's like,

in any one ear or note the other.

Because if it wasn't presented to me

as like a number amount,

I'm not thinking about it

because I'm just the last $200 extra

that I had I'm paying for the swallow change

right now, today.

And I go on with life.

But if you follow that 300% rule

that we talked about it

and you table it and you present it to them,

now it becomes something that they schedule

and plan and expect.

It doesn't catch them

because if you don't give them that

in four months time

when the breaks are sounding awful,

they're going to whip in and go,

why didn't you tell me my breaks were so bad?

Well, I did.

I just mentioned it next time.

I don't remember that.

But if they have a piece of paper

or an email or something that says,

within six months,

expect a price amount of this,

they're planning for that.

They're expecting it.

It doesn't catch them off guard.

And that helps because

how do I say this?

I don't want them going to my competition.

I want to be their only service provider.

And they know that they have an expectation

they're going to come to me.

If all of a sudden they're out of town,

and they're on a road trip

and their breaks start to make noise,

if you think people won't pull over

and get that handled immediately

because they don't want to drive down

the rest of the summer freeway trip,

they will.

And then you're like,

you lost a sale

because instead of being a true advocate for them

and saying, hey, guess what?

This needs to be done before.

You just, in passing in the conversation,

mentioned it.

That's not true advocacy

for our customer or our car.

You think about it.

When we go to the Dr. Dennis

wherever, they always schedule the next appointment.

Oh, always.

Always.

When I take my dog into the groomer,

they always schedule the next appointment.

Why in the auto care do we not do that?

Because we're scared to, 100%.

I don't want to be upsold.

This is not upsell.

This is, unfortunately, cars are a wonderful invention

that are in a constant state of decay

and wearing out.

So you love this car.

We want you to love this car.

We want you to have a nice, reliable, safe vehicle.

Unfortunately, that means that this is,

we can kind of look at and go,

this is the next foreseeable thing

that is going to happen, right?

The tires that are low now

are going to be lower in six months

or the ball joint

that's a little bit of play right now

in six months

or a couple of potholes later

is going to be a lot more play.

We need you to be aware

that this is the thing

that you need to be budgeting for.

Everybody, and see,

what's always been my rub is,

everybody goes,

the customers don't have the money for it.

Some don't, true.

But you also, there's a realm out there

that shows that the customer,

when it gets to be three years old,

five years old or whatever,

and they're done making,

just about done making payments on it

and we hit them with a repair bill

that's all the stuff that needs to be done.

They just go and get another car

and make payments on it.

We know in this economic world,

that's not smart.

I'm not saying it's wrong for everybody

if you have the means.

Give or go for it.

But when we all of a sudden

tell ourselves and believe that

for the last five years, I don't,

they don't have the money,

they don't have the money.

They found money to replace the car.

That could have been your money

on the repair side.

I don't want to see salesmen thrive.

It's crazy that sounds right to work,

right, because I work.

But I want to see service.

I want to see technicians make money.

I want to see shops make money.

You don't do that by,

unless you truly advocate for them and say,

this is something to be expected to,

to don't just put gas in it and drive it.

There's much more to that.

Oh, I don't want to be upsold.

We're not upselling.

Any closing thoughts, guys?

Oh man, this has been great.

This is my first podcast I've ever done.

Really?

Yeah.

So I was going to have no expectation,

but I'm glad we did it.

Like it was a great conversation.

I actually learned a lot too.

Any, any.

So one little thing,

advice that you can give to the people

that are going to contact promoter.

What would it be?

Oh man, a little bit of advice.

Indeed is not the only thing out there.

Okay.

I think everybody agrees.

Well, 99% of people agree it sucks.

Yeah.

It's hard to use it sucks.

Yeah.

But really the big thing with promoter

is we're putting the best people in front of you,

the shop owner to make a decision,

and on the technician side,

we're just helping you out.

We're the helping hand.

You know, we'll get you to the spot

you need to be to find that forever home.

Stacey, same question.

I just think we're so passionate

about this industry, all of this.

I, you know, I hope when you talk

to anybody from promoter,

you can fill our energy, our drive,

our passion, because we just want

to make a difference out there.

We want to change technicians' lives

for the better, and we want to free up

the shop owner's time.

It's just so important,

and we're just grateful to be here.

Yeah.

Yeah, 100%.

I appreciate the heck of the promoter.

I don't always, sometimes it's

busy and chaotic to reach out

and say hello to everybody once in a while,

and I mean to do better with that,

but I can't think enough

for how important you guys are

to what I'm trying to do,

and I'm blessed to have you guys

in my corner.

It means so much to me.

I wouldn't, I don't just align myself

with just anybody, right?

I want to align myself with people

who have the same kind of goals

and mission is to make this industry

better, and like, you know,

if you have any kind of questions

or need help, reach out to promoter,

and they will help you as best

as they can, try and give you

the next place to go in life.

As a technician, service advisor,

any of those positions that we know

and love in this industry,

reach out to them, they can help you

with all kinds of things.

So thank you everybody

for listening today.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Great guest.

Thank you.

Yeah.

I hope to see you again.

I'll see you at SEMA.

Yeah, I'll be there.

Awesome.

Look forward to it guys.

All right.

And I hope that you'll please

join us again next week

on this journey of change.

Thank you to my partners

in the ASA Group

and to the Change in the Industry podcast.

Remember what I always say,

in this industry,

you get what you pay for.

Here's hoping everyone finds

their missing 10 millimeter

and we'll see you all again next time.

DO NOT Work a Job You Hate! Promotive Will Help You Be Happy at Work

Tesla

autonomous driving

air brake chamber

Ford Focus

transmission issue

transmission repair

brakes

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