A lively discussion unfolds at the ASDA 2025 convention, featuring shop owners sharing insights on investing in ADAS technology and the importance of quality service in small-town automotive repair. Tommy Markham highlights the strategic decision to offer ADAS services locally, reducing the need for long drives to distant shops. The conversation touches on the challenges of finding skilled workers, the significance of cleanliness and professionalism in shops, and the evolving landscape of the automotive industry post-2020. The camaraderie among the guests showcases their shared commitment to excellence and education in their craft.
Thanks to our Partners, NAPA TRACS, Today's Class, KUKUI, and Pit Crew LoyaltyWatch Full Video Episode
How much should you invest in your shop? Forget the spreadsheets! We’re challenging the conventional wisdom of ROI with three industry titans who discuss building resilience, culture, and high-tech expertise in any market. We sat down at ASTA 2025 in Raleigh with Matt Fanslow, Tommy Markham, and Zeb Beard to dive deep:
- The Constableville Paradox: Hear from Tommy Markham about investing in full ADAS calibration equipment for a town that "has exploded to 300 people" and has no stoplights. His motivation? Simply "doing the job right" and ensuring local body shops don't have to flatbed cars 35 miles away. Tommy also stands firm on pricing, refusing the "$99 alignment dilemma."
- The Zeb Beard Investment Strategy: Zeb Beard reveals why traditional ROI calculations are sometimes useless: you can "talk yourself out of buying anything". His massive 62,000 square foot shop (which once had clouds inside and includes nine bedrooms) is itself a "worldwide marketing tool." When in doubt, Zeb’s famous advice is always: "Pull the trigger!"
- Navigating Volatility: Since COVID, Zeb notes that business graphs now fluctuate wildly between record high months and record low months. The solution? Being resilient and focusing on "doing the right thing."
The conversation also explores the balance between working in and on the business, the importance of continuous learning, and how authenticity and integrity keep shops resilient through economic swings.
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https://astausa.org/pages/asta-expoThanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS
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"My nephew is very good. I've trained him the way I want him to be. I mean, he programs Nissan's does eight-os calibrations."
Nissan is a car company from Japan that makes many different types of vehicles, including electric cars. They are known for their technology and reliability.
Nissan is a Japanese automotive manufacturer known for producing a wide range of vehicles, including sedans, SUVs, and electric cars. They have a reputation for innovation and technology, particularly in the area of electric vehicles with models like the Nissan Leaf.
Alignment is when a mechanic adjusts the angles of the wheels so they are straight and not tilted. This helps the car drive better and the tires wear evenly.
Alignment refers to the adjustment of a vehicle's suspension system to ensure that the wheels are positioned correctly relative to each other and the road. Proper alignment improves handling, tire wear, and overall driving safety.
"Well, now that turns into ball joints and they know what you're going to do it right."
Ball joints are parts of a car's suspension that help the wheels move up and down while keeping the car stable. They are important for a smooth ride and good handling.
Ball joints are pivotal components in a vehicle's suspension system that connect the control arms to the steering knuckles. They allow for smooth movement and flexibility of the suspension while maintaining the vehicle's stability.
"Initially it was I want to be able to diagnose cars, misfires, whatever, drivability problems."
A misfire happens when an engine doesn't work right, causing it to shake or lose power. This can be due to problems like bad spark plugs or not getting enough fuel.
A misfire occurs when one or more cylinders in an engine fail to fire properly, leading to a loss of power, rough idling, and increased emissions. It can be caused by issues such as faulty spark plugs or fuel delivery problems.
"Initially it was I want to be able to diagnose cars, misfires, whatever, drivability problems."
Diagnosing cars means figuring out what is wrong with a car when it doesn't work properly. Mechanics use tools to help find the problem.
Diagnosing cars involves identifying issues or malfunctions in a vehicle's systems, often using specialized tools and equipment to analyze performance and detect problems.
"Initially it was I want to be able to diagnose cars, misfires, whatever, drivability problems."
Drivability problems are issues that make it hard to drive a car smoothly. This can include things like the car stalling or not accelerating properly.
Drivability problems refer to issues that affect a vehicle's performance and handling, making it difficult or unsafe to drive. These can include poor acceleration, stalling, or unusual noises while driving.
"It was like a DVA. Not I can't call it a DVI, but it was kind of like a vehicle inspection, right?"
DVA is a way to check a car's health using computers. It helps mechanics find problems quickly and easily.
DVA stands for Digital Vehicle Assessment, a system used for evaluating a vehicle's condition through electronic diagnostics. It helps technicians identify issues and maintain vehicles more efficiently.
"Not I can't call it a DVI, but it was kind of like a vehicle inspection, right?"
DVI is a detailed way to check a car's condition, often using computers to keep track of what needs to be fixed or checked.
DVI stands for Digital Vehicle Inspection, which is a more detailed inspection process that often includes a checklist of items to evaluate, sometimes using digital tools to document findings. It's commonly used to ensure vehicles are safe and functioning properly.
"But that ends up being more of what pays for it than the original intent of buying the frickin thing."
ROI is a way to measure how much money you make back from what you spend. In cars, it helps you see if spending on repairs is worth it.
ROI stands for Return on Investment, a financial metric used to evaluate the profitability of an investment. In automotive terms, it can refer to the benefits gained from spending money on vehicle repairs or upgrades compared to the costs incurred.
"...there is no four dealers for a lot of miles just to put the word out that I, you know, FDRS IDS, my vehicle security credential."
Ford is a well-known car company that makes many different types of vehicles, including trucks and sports cars.
Ford is an American automotive manufacturer known for producing a wide range of vehicles, including cars, trucks, and SUVs. The brand has a long history and is recognized for models like the F-150 and Mustang.
"...that I, you know, FDRS IDS, my vehicle security credential. So I can relearn that systems on fords, stuff like that."
FDRS IDS is a special tool that helps mechanics fix Ford cars by letting them check the car's systems and security settings.
FDRS IDS stands for Ford Diagnostic and Repair System Integrated Diagnostic System. It is a tool used by technicians to diagnose and repair Ford vehicles, allowing them to access vehicle security credentials and relearn systems.
"...ke a teeter totter of emotion. We could go down a rabbit hole. Right. Because yeah, just the psychological..."
The Volkswagen Rabbit is a small car that people enjoy driving because it's easy to handle and good on gas. It has been around for a long time and is known for being reliable and practical for everyday use.
The Volkswagen Rabbit, known as the Golf in many markets, is a compact car that has been praised for its practicality and fun driving experience. Originally introduced in the mid-1970s, it has become a staple in the automotive world, often discussed for its blend of performance, efficiency, and versatility.
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This is the Aftermarket Radio Network. Hey, welcome everyone, Carm, Capriata, Remarkable Results Radio, at ASDA 2025. I've never seen a convention center. This big, this open, it's the luck going on here. Thanks to Ryan Regan and his entire staff from ASDA Automotive Service Tire Association here in Raleigh and in the southeast of the US. Look at, we've got a great and very interesting group of characters that are going to
race this episode for you all in just a minute, but thank you so much to our great sponsors. Support them, please. Hey, let's face it, your shop management system is the most critical tool in your shop, and NAPATRAX will move your shop into the SMS Fastlane. When on-site training, six days a week support and local representation. Find NAPATRAX on the web at NAPATRACS.com. Hey, how well does your team know their stuff? Test their automotive skills with the today's class of basic,
advanced or service advisor quizzes. It's a quick, effective way to spot gaps and grow stronger teams. Take the quizzes now at today's class.com forward slash TC Quiz. Shop owners stop juggling multiple marketing tools. Kakuwi's integrated platform. They deliver four times better website conversions, automated follow-up, and real time ROI tracking. Get industry leading customer support with Kakuwi. That's K-U-K-U-I dot com.
You're probably tired of chasing new customers who never return. We understand pit crew loyalty ends the one and done cycle, turning first visits into lasting reliable revenue on the web at pitcrewloyalty.com.
Hey, welcome back. My team. None of them need an introduction. Not one of them need an introduction except for maybe use hub, but we'll cover that and thank God Tracy fixture here before we started this year.
It didn't need fixing. I want that on the record. It was fine. The way it was. I found those here from diagnosing the aftermarket ABC podcast Riverside Automotive. Good to see you, man. Good to see you. It's been a long time.
We have a newcomer to the podcast never been on before. How you doing? Fantastic.
Tommy Markham from Markham's Automotive in Constable. Constableville. Constableville, New York. North and Utica somewhere.
It is north. Utica. It's a super busy place. The population has exploded to 300 people. No, wait a minute. Do they have cops or constables? See, that's you're one of the few people that's actually asking that.
Just because I've seen Mary pop right and every time I order parts from a source outside of my normal parts. Distributors, I have to say constable like an old cop. So they spell it correctly. Constableville. Constableville.
Wow. 300 people. Do you have a stoplight at all? We do not thank God. So you can get from one into town to the other faster.
We roll through the few stop signs we have. We don't even stop for those there. Roll and just roll. Roller. Nobody's coming. It's on it. My kind of town.
Good to see you, Tommy. Thanks for coming with us. That beard's here. Stroker's Monticello Arkansas. You were telling me it's turning into fall or winter.
Yeah, we don't have too much of a fall. It goes pretty much from summer straight to winter and then back to summer again.
Yeah, but his shop has its on zip code and on climate. That's not even a joke. We have had clouds inside the shop before.
Yeah, you had his own clouds. You guys think I'm sarcastic all the time? I'm very honest. That's called an inside climate. Yes. I love that. Did it ever rain in the shop?
It almost did. They had a fire and that was the kind of response. You were on with us. It visioned this past last year.
So if anybody wants to have a hilarious, uproaring, good time. Go to my website, RemarkableResults.biz, find any one of the search bars and type in Zeb and have a blast. Thanks for being here.
While we were waiting to go live, Tommy was telling me that he invested in ADAS for the 300 people in the town.
Do they appreciate this? They do because it's a very lengthy drive to get somewhere else to have it done.
So it was primarily geared toward the local body shops after months of extensive talks with them guys.
Because they had to flatbed these cars 35 miles away to have the service done.
Well, it's because they don't have stoplights and they roll through the stop signs.
They has a lot of opportunity to do ADAS celebrations. There is a lot of deer hits. Lots of deer hits.
I think it's a brilliant thought. Think of the strategy. I'm going to sit down and talk to the people in town and say, I'm willing to do this. Are you willing to send me your work?
Well, it wasn't just about the calibrations for me. There's a few things. One, simply being able to properly repair cars that I'm aligning.
I love that. That was number one for me. And the stupidest sounds return on investment. Wasn't that important to me. It was doing the job right.
And I'm losing the programming and everything else from the body shops and their alignments and everything because I can't do the calibrations. So now I get all of it.
I think we have to stop for a moment and pause and have there be a moment of silence and realize that Tommy explained so many profound and powerful things.
I want to do the job right. That's a scary thought.
That's the way it's got to be. No kidding. And that's why there's so many people saying that the alignments 99 or the alignments 399.
And they say, well, the guy down the road will do it for 99 and he's gone and no one stops for a moment and explains what the do right rule is.
I agree. Yeah. And I'm not doing alignments for 99 dollars either. I mean, as you're at the wrong place.
Exactly. So we've been talking a little bit about that. And I think I've gotten on my soapbox a couple of times about this and just let what Tommy said sink in.
And why people say, well, I don't need to do this. And we're getting lazy almost because we don't want to invest.
Well, you probably have the poster child for it over with Zeb ROI. I don't think for any of us is a big factor.
Like, not direct. We're not sitting there weighing like, oh, man, you know, how many calibrations am I going to do to try to get this money back?
It's more than that. It's saving the programming jobs and all the other jobs that would get sublet because you don't have the ability to complete the job.
Zeb's building. You can't just sat there crunching numbers like, I don't know why I'll take the pay this building enough.
He didn't care. He just built the freaking thing and it's paying for it's off. And he's going to add on.
How big is it? 62,000 square feet.
Oh, that's way too small. It is. We fill it up quite off. I've never been good about doing this ROI stuff. It never adds up.
You can keep crunching numbers until you can talk yourself out of bad anything by going by ROI.
I'm known for doing the opposite. So ROI means nothing to me. If I can pay for it or start making the payments on it, I'm doing it.
I'd love to see your toy closet. I can't imagine. I got to come down there and just I probably spent what eight hours just looking at everything.
Yeah, we got room. You don't even need a hotel. We got nan bedrooms in the shop.
You talked about that in the last episode. It's not an Airbnb. It's an Airbnb in warehouse. Something like that, right?
Yeah, your ultimate eight us just doesn't seem like such a big investment. I'm pretty anymore. I feel like a peasant now.
Tommy, how big is your place? 5,000 square feet. You got to step up.
I could fit like what? 30 of my shops in his office.
Let me take something. Tommy shop is super nice, especially the part where he just put the eight us in the lab.
He's like a doctor's office in there. It's amazing. And what's wrong with that? Think about the profession that we're in.
There's nothing wrong with it. I'm a little anal retentive about cleanliness of my shop as well.
So it looks better in pictures probably, but that's all right. I mean, for village of 300 people, I guess it's the best you're going to do.
Cleanliness. Yeah, it's got to be clean. You just speak of my language about the professionalism of our industry.
There's not enough people stepping up to do that. There isn't. It has to be clean and it makes a huge difference.
So I was younger. I didn't think it did, but it makes a huge difference. Just people's perception to you.
Tommy, where are you finding the people to work in the shop?
I'm not. See, that's the other problem. I have my nephew that works for me and my youngest sister is now going to be my frontman.
And there's a lot of other roles. I'm going to fill for her is I'm going to try to turn her into my DVI guy maintenance equipment guy.
Wash my alignment rack every two weeks with car wash mop the floor and she still do good. So and she'll be able to do all of it. So it's family.
Yes. Are you still working inside? Are you working in the base? Oh, yeah. I want to get to the point where that's all I do.
I don't want to deal with people anymore. I don't make her do that. You know, and that's not a bad decision.
People say you got to work on your business, not in it, but there's not a lot of people that were designed to be on.
You can do both. Yeah. You can tell it very much just like that. And I don't disagree with it entirely.
But nobody's ever going to care about your business the way that you do. And nobody's ever ever going to care about the quality of the product
as you do. It doesn't matter what you pay them. I'll die on that. How about you?
Yeah, me too. There's a lot of talking industry now about working on your business instead of in your business.
Of course, here we go again with the opposite. I'm the opposite of that. I want to be as deep in my business as I can get that for me that's working in the back.
And I can hire somebody and train somebody to do a lot of the things on the business, but the part deep inside my business.
That's where the magic started. That's how I started the business. It was because of me what I do in the business.
So I'm going to keep going with that. It's situational. You're in a small town. You don't have access. A ton of access to quality people
where you could have taken this place and have six or eight people working for you.
You may have a different attitude at that point. I mean, if you had some really top people in the base, but I get what you're saying,
you don't have to die on the hill. It's situational. It works.
It is situational. I don't think, and this is not disrespectful any of the local people I live around.
There's some very smart people that I'm friends with or in my community. They're just not highly skilled automotive technicians.
So there's no pool to pick from. And the best I'm going to do is use my strengths to my advantage, which is my technical ability.
I don't need to be in my office dealing with customers. I don't need to do the things that I'm going to be delegating finally after years.
My nephew is very good. I've trained him the way I want him to be. I mean, he programs Nissan's does eight-os calibrations.
He's been in the industry for three years. How many people do you know that have been in the industry for three years that you can say,
go calibrate that radar. It's done. It's done right per service information. You know, I'm lucky to have him.
You taught him well. Yeah. You mentored him. You continued to do that in your effigy. So he's doing it how you would want.
Right. Yeah. And he just knows how it's got to be. He knows everything that we talk about when I come to these things.
I can't get him to come here, of course. But why? I think that he thinks he's not smart enough, no matter how many times I tell him that he is.
Yeah, but isn't that the reason to go to further your education?
Right. Maybe just intimidation. Maybe just not comfortable. I don't know. Right. Listen to this. I want to kill me.
And no, what's his name? Stephen. Steve. Listen to me.
Matt, give him the word, Matt. The word Jutsam. Yeah. That's another episode.
Didn't let's not go in the deep end of the pool right now, but it's amazing to stop and think that you've got an uncle
who's given you this self confidence in all that you can do, willing to teach and train you.
But says listen, you got to learn something new each and every day, each and every day.
So if you come with me with all these other peers like you, you go to these five or six classes and you pick something that you come back, we're all better for it.
I'll teach you what I'm here for. You teach me when you came to learn and the whole culture of the continuing education loop works better than ever.
And in fact, the magnet that your business is in that surrounding area gets stronger. Oh my God.
You're improving the magnet by this continuing education smart enough. What does that even mean? Yeah, I mean, I could be wrong on that.
I just maybe he's just not super comfortable because maybe he doesn't know all you guys the way I know you. So maybe that's the thing.
But I mean, he does his own self learning at home. I don't watch some self-made art.
So that immediately thrusts them into a top tier. I agree. Just like that.
So he's already demonstrated the capability of doing certain tasks repeatedly and accurately and presumably efficiently.
And now he also dedicates personal time to further that he's an elite company immediately.
I agree. He will watch like it's more of the YouTube guys, but he knows the ones to watch because of me like which ones that you should be paying attention to.
I mean, follow Zebs page. He talks about that anytime. You know, like the six seven timing stuff.
You know, he fully understands all of it. He was very smart. He builds his own gaming PCs.
He's the one that moves the files around when we program Nissan. I don't know what he does it. I know what to do with the car. I don't know how to move the files around.
I just never learned how because I didn't have to. He does it.
Well, he's bashful maybe. Yeah. That's what I was going to talk about.
I remember the first training class that I ever went to that I really remember.
And I was the same way I was intimidated when I walked in there because I thought everybody in here is going to know more than me.
If I say anything, it's going to show them that I don't know what I'm doing and all this kind of stuff.
And once I got in there and sat down and listened to some of the going back and forth, I realized we were all on the same page.
We all weren't the same skill level. And it's intimidating to go for the first time.
But once you go for the first time, if you go in there with the right attitude, then you want to go that first time is pretty tough.
Yeah, I totally agree. The first big boy one I ever went to is what 2019 to super Saturday.
I was scared to death that I was going to meet Paul Danner.
I'm like, this guy is going to think I'm so stupid.
And now, these personal friends of mine, it's just cool.
We're all the same. We're all here for the same reasons. But the first time you go, that exactly what you think.
If I say something stupid, these guys would be like, who's this guy? And what's he doing here?
That's what I think. Some of them still do probably.
I think once you get to the first one, that's what you need to do.
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You said something so interesting, he said the words big boy, and that could be why it keeps some people away.
They just don't believe they belong or can't even handle themselves in the big boy choir.
I think it's intimidation. I had myself talked out of it a half a dozen times, and I was like, no, I gotta go check this out.
Because I've been watching Paul's videos for years, and that's how I heard about things like vision, this, that and the other thing.
And I see that supersaturday was coming up, and I'm like, oh, six hour drive, I gotta check it out.
I almost didn't go, and I went and truthfully it's probably the biggest turning point in my career.
I mean, that's why I'm here now.
Just making the first step truthfully Paul Danner.
I mean, he's heard this a million times.
Paul Danner's the reason I'm sitting in this booth right now talking to you guys.
What did he do?
Put content out for me to research, and then look more and more and more and more until it led me down this path.
Just his content got me here.
Simple as that.
Yeah, he sucked the energy right out of the room with that.
No, I was just sitting on the side of everybody's true story.
No, I was sitting on the side waiting for Matt or Zeb to chime in, and I think this happens more than we realize in our industry.
But does it look unreachable?
An event like this or an event like is it untouchable for someone to feel that they could get there and hold their own whatever that means?
Well, I don't want to gloss over a detail with his story and other stories that we've heard time and time again about many other educators.
Or not even just that.
Just let me technicians or shop owners have attended a big boy conference and they run into Zeb beer and they're just rubbing elbows with them and find inspiration.
So Tommy inspired by Paul Danner.
How many freaking times have we heard inspirational stories about John Thornton?
I was ready to quit the industry.
I was going to go drive that freaking fork lift or whatever it was anything that had anything not to do with cars.
And then I sat on a Thornton class changed everything.
Well, it's showing up to the conferences where you get to see these people or meet these people.
That's putting yourself in a position to succeed.
Tommy finds scanner Danner made probably subscribe to premium.
Oh, yeah, I still fit.
I will watch life.
That's worth every penny.
So he's on a positive trajectory of his skill set improving improving improving.
And then because he hears about super Saturday.
And he knows Paul's going to be there.
And he finally, that's enough to put him over the edge to go bumps into him.
Maybe he doesn't become friends with them, but he bumps into him.
It finds him inspirational.
Tommy sitting there talking to him.
He's also got the side benefit of being friends with Paul Danner, which isn't a bad thing.
Yeah, I mean, it made a lot of friends.
You know, Zeb here.
Although he is slightly a bad influence when it comes to, you know, our management.
Yeah, I sent him a screenshot of that.
I have so many friends I could introduce.
Wait a minute.
When you told him you were going to buy an eight ass thing, he told you to buy four, right?
No, I sent him a screenshot that I was so stressed out about.
I was actually broxing my teeth together at night as I'm a screenshot of the estimate.
I don't even think I hit the send.
And he was already right back.
Pull the trigger.
Okay.
Well, guess that I didn't answer that.
Well, the first thing he's going to like name my money.
Yeah, I mean, literally no more than send it.
Pull the trigger.
Okay, I guess that's what you guys were buying a Hunter Steven.
That's what we're doing.
Well, right.
But were you when you pulled the trigger when you followed that advice with were you thinking
all encompassing like you now your thinking's changed where you probably what hesitate to pull
the trigger before because you've got the follow up work.
You got the not necessarily related directly to the eight ass calibration center.
Yeah.
And I would do it again in a heartbeat now looking back.
I mean, I had myself stressed out.
I think it was just because I had paid the shop and all the contents off.
So mentally, you think all the lights at the end of the tunnel.
Right.
No, it's not.
You know, I just I paid almost as much for that aligners.
I had an entire real estate in my shop while liner slash Ados combo.
But it's another thing.
People don't maybe talk about it realizes the marketing value of that, especially in a small town.
Everybody knows I have that.
Everybody's looking at what's in their head.
Anytime they're thinking about an alignment.
Well, now that turns into ball joints and they know what you're going to do it right.
No, and they don't mind doing what it's worth.
It makes me think about the stories shop owners waiting back in the day would drop 3040 grand on that big sun machine.
And you'd ask them like, why'd you buy it?
Initially it was I want to be able to diagnose cars, misfires, whatever, drivability problems.
But the freaking machines had a kind of a checklist in it.
Right.
And you go and check the wiper blades and the belts and the hoses and all that.
It was just a check box.
It was like a DVA.
Not I can't call it a DVI, but it was kind of like a vehicle inspection, right?
But it comes on a printout back in the day where a computer printout meant something.
And now it's like, oh, actually this and whatever $30,000 investment isn't to diagnose a misfire.
It's to sell all this other stuff because people see it on the printout and go,
oh, the computer said it needs wipe relief.
You better do that.
So you never had a concept or any idea of that as being part of the ROI of this big investment.
But that ends up being more of what pays for it than the original intent of buying the frickin thing.
Yeah.
I totally agree.
I think the marketing value of some of this stuff is missed on people when they start talking ROI.
I mean, I don't know if you're on a busy strip in a major metropolitan area and everybody's advertising is $79 alignment.
But that's not my case.
Right.
It's not the way it is.
Like people know that I'm serious about doing it right.
Keeping the place clean, investing in the proper training, tooling, and equipment to do it.
It's all marketing.
Do you market a lot in your time?
Zero.
I've never advertised once in my life.
If you ever told anyone or sent a flyer out or put a poster on your counter that you now can do,
calibrations.
Well, we have posters on the counter and now I use Facebook of course.
But the only time I think I can remember, I advertise that all is our local four dealer closed.
And there is no four dealers for a lot of miles just to put the word out that I, you know,
FDRS IDS, my vehicle security credential.
So I can relearn that systems on fords, stuff like that.
Only just to make people aware of it, they don't have to drive 50 miles to get somebody to fix their four vehicle.
How many small towns have a shop?
That's sophisticated.
That cutting edge.
That knowledgeable.
Well, see, I'm the same way I'm going to town about 8,000 people.
And Tommy's right about the marketing thing.
Like my big building is mainly a marketing tool.
I'm known worldwide for that giant building.
You know, these other shops, they spend money on flyers and all this.
Well, I'm using that same money instead of spending on a piece of paper.
I have something real that I can use to make money.
But it's also a marketing tool.
And the same, I did the same thing with my alignment machine about the biggest nicest one that they have.
Just so I use that as a marketing tool.
I can straight up say that nobody in the area has as big and as nice and as new an alignment machine as I have.
You have capabilities beyond what anyone would imagine.
Right.
Well, you get to say yes.
Yeah.
Right.
People call up.
And then when the other shops find out, I don't know how many other shops are around you.
Anything programming and obviously eight hours I get.
And some of the tough digs, the other guys will send to me.
I get a fair amount of work from other shops.
Yeah.
So now that by itself starts elevating your while people perceive you, starts raising you up to that top.
And now you're the bar by which all the other shops are measured against.
Right.
You're the expert.
I don't think you would ever have a competitor to calibration.
Because you get to say yes.
I don't think I will for calibrations because I mean you guys know you're not doing it all with pick your aftermarket scan tool.
I don't want to mention anything.
Get hate over it.
But any of them, you need OE tools in certain instances.
You need training.
You need to be pretty savvy.
You need the willingness to invest.
And you need to be able to just say, I'm going to give up a 25 by 50 spot in my shop for this.
You got to meet all them marks to do it.
Right.
So I don't think I will ever see any local competition to that probably ever.
Did you have this space?
Oh, yeah.
You did.
Yeah.
So I still have four lifts on that side of the shop.
We have six bays altogether, but I have 25 by 50 spot.
And I flush them out of their rack is all dedicated to it.
Now you see the liner and eight house calibrations.
What are you buying new?
Is that anything coming in?
I think coming up not right now.
I'm kind of on the short leash right now.
She's been kind of tough.
So I can't just go below money like I did in years past.
Hmm.
I've been hearing that.
How has your year been time?
Well, it's already been probably the most expensive.
And challenging year my entire life.
And I still got another eight or 10,000 bucks worth of eight hours tired of the stuff
like the buy for the end of the year.
I don't want to finish the year with any money left over.
You know, make sure I use every last bit of that.
How's your business, Matt?
At Riverside?
Our setting records.
It's just record setting.
But again, I can't not mention.
I just think it has to do with geographics that were located an hour away from metropolitan
areas.
Support.
So dealer supports minimal.
You become the only game in town because we've made the investment in factory scan tools,
eight hours calibration.
You name it keys immobilizer.
Nobody else is clone in modules.
Nobody else is opening modules up and pretending they know what they're doing and fixing
them.
Anything like that.
And so we say yes when everyone else says no and then get those referrals.
So when we're other shops are kind of parking lots a little sparse.
Ars is stacked.
What kind of training you're going to take here, Tommy?
I was doing eight hours this morning and it shouldn't be this afternoon.
But I'm here.
I think tomorrow was a Keith Perkins.
Keith Perkins.
Is he the key immobilizer?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm doing that.
And man, I have to look at my tag right here.
Oh, Brian and Jim's class in the afternoon to control alt fix.
And then Saturday morning's German cars.
And Volkswagen in the afternoon.
I think I'm going to be with you guys in the afternoon anyway.
So I'm messing the VW class for the case study thing.
Doesn't necessarily break my heart even though I do like hockey class.
Yeah, I don't want them to think I don't want to come see him.
But obviously, I got ball and told them doing a case study.
So I'm doing that instead.
Nice.
Nice.
Are you here for anything or just to hang out?
No, I'll take as many classes as I can.
I got Brian and Jim's both of theirs.
Yeah.
And then with Matt, we got the tech talks.
Oh, you're doing that.
Let's talk about that.
Did you do it at vision?
Yes, I did.
You did.
Are you doing the same one here?
I'm doing pretty much the same.
Okay.
I'm going to try to go into a little more in depth and slow down because I get going too fast.
Okay.
So tell me about the learning curve that happened at vision.
You're up there.
Did anyone say slow down or did you feel you should slow down?
I felt I should slow down, but I couldn't make myself do it.
Okay.
It was tough.
But now you're coming with a new set of brain waves to say that I'm not going to rush.
I got one under my belt.
So I've calmed down a little bit.
All right.
And I'm going to cover the same material, but I'm going to try to cover it a little better.
I don't have one of my props.
One of my props that I use is a return harness for Duramax diesel.
And I brought a new one to vision.
So I went in there in the park room to get another one we keep going on the shelf.
And we'd used it last week and so you forget to order another one.
So missing my prop.
I'm going to be okay.
Do you think you would ever be a conference trainer in the future?
I could.
I'm a pretty confident person.
So.
Okay.
Do you ask me do you think you can do something?
I'll say, yeah, I don't matter what it is.
I think I can do it.
How does he do?
I slept through it.
I don't remember.
I'm just kidding.
I'm telling you that he just doesn't want to go on record.
I get it.
No, it was freaking phenomenal.
He did a phenomenal job.
Yeah.
Everybody's stayed engaged and knows what he's talking about.
And he talks real.
It's a real talk.
It's not just this, you know, sometimes people change their tone when they get up there
and they kind of go into a little bit of a presenter type mode.
Zeb is Zeb.
Wherever you find Zeb.
And I do it here too.
I turn the twang down a little bit.
No, no, no, no.
It sounds like fried chicken.
What else?
No, no, no.
I turn it loose.
Zeb, a story in basic training.
My drill sergeant was his name was Sergeant Peters.
And he was from the south.
I'm from the north.
He was tough, but he was funny in a sarcastic way.
And I had to do pushups because I used to laugh when he would say things.
But the reason that I listened to him so much is because he had that southern.
And you just said the word twang.
But he had that southern feel to everything he did.
I love to listen to that, Matt.
I was just thinking though, for some of you listeners that was well after the north and south
were fighting each other.
And that's kind of a jerk thing to think.
The word twang.
No, you're talking about where you're.
Oh, north and south.
I think that I'm from the north, but I'd love to listen to.
Let's call it an accent.
I can't hit not a jumbled accent.
That's that you can't understand a word of English.
But I think you would be a person who would listen to you.
You're just not the normal speaker.
You've got that.
Well, it's an advantage because you can be funny without being funny.
Everybody's going to laugh at the way you talk.
So if there's a little in there, if you're struggling a little bit, you can do say something.
And it's you don't even have to try to make a joke.
And it's going to be funny.
So you can throw that out there to kind of get you back the only.
I can imagine you open your opening line.
Hey, I'm sorry.
I'm having a bad hair day.
Yeah.
It's so many things that I can do.
Yeah.
He's got a popular accent.
I don't think it's quite as popular as like British, but it's not as bad as Minnesota.
Like that's the least favorite accent.
Minnesota.
I don't think so.
It is.
I can prove it.
Go ahead.
Let me get some studies out.
What are you talking about?
Oh, yeah.
We need studies.
Yeah.
Here it is.
I do.
I got just speaking Minnesota for me.
I have been the whole time.
Say what?
Say bag.
Big.
No.
So we got to do where we're going to make him say hog because it's hog where I'm from.
Yeah.
And it's called where he's we have a bunch of hog.
Now Tommy's got his own accent too.
Carm, you don't notice probably because you're you live close.
He lives in New York.
Yeah.
I know how to handle Coles himself, the wood choke.
We had it up on this show.
His nickname is the wood choke.
Yeah.
Hogs are hogs around from their hog, their hogs were wheat from.
Right hog hog.
H hog.
With H let me tell it to H WG.
Hall.
Try.
Hog there you go.
There's a hundred percent.
Hold the W.
Yeah.
They said bush hog.
In the bush hog in the back of the tractor.
So glad to have you here. What do you see for the future of your businesses? You're just
going to keep storming ahead. You say you didn't have a super year, but it's got to come
back.
Oh, yeah. Well, I'm down a guy. See, I've got one guy. He's in the military. He's in the
Marines. And he was in the Marine reserves. And then he got deployed to Japan for a year.
So he left in November, and he'll be back this November. And yeah, I have this huge building,
but I only have two texts beside myself. How's the echo in the building? Hey, Charlie,
early, early. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty big in there. But I like to have about 10 base
per tech, the way we do it. I do all the diagnostics. And then it gets past those two guys
to do all the nuts and bolts. But you're also working on big stuff. Well, not always. That's
a big misconception. We do everything from little cars all the way up to, we did stop
it like five fifties. Dodge fifty five hundreds. But the past year, when we got in the new shop,
we've started taking some big trucks again, you know, the class eights. Any farm track?
I try to stay away from it. I started taking a few and I've got a one right now when I
get rid of it. There won't be any more combines. They're on menagerie. Yeah. It's business
steadiest. Yeah. I don't want to get back in it. If I had my choice, I would only do
automotive, just automotive. Well, just think about the whole deal with John Deere and the
lockdown. Yeah. Right. It's problematic. Yeah. Wow. But that's a discussion for a different
day and different time. And I was just thinking the access to parts for these farm tractors
and stuff. The parts, if you're working on a major brand, actually, the parts are a pretty
good situation there. Like John Deere in case New Holland, you can get parts pretty good.
Out of the ag stuff, agriculture stuff, I would say John Deere's got the best parts support.
Now it's on the construction side cat by far. My cat dealers are great because I have a bunch
of cat equipment myself. And they have what's in my area. It's probably like this across the country.
They have drop boxes. So you call in order parts and each little city around little towns,
they'll have a box. And if it's less than 50 pounds, the parts guy will drop your
box parts in that drop box at night. And then it's got a cat lock on it. If you know anything about
cat equipment, they're covered in padlocks and they have a cat key. So you just go to your,
and it's kind of the honor system. You go to the drop box and get your parts. And you don't have
to go all the way to the dealer. They're waiting on them. So your new business is coming word
from people. And the business isn't what it should be because economy, politics, all this
crap that's going on. It's a little bit of confidence. But I'm gonna say and Matt and Tommy both,
because they've been in business a long time. Business was pretty steady and pretty predictable
up until 2020. Big deals and blame everything on COVID. But something changed in 2020. And used to
like if I put my gross sales on a graph, it would be a pretty straight line through the year.
Now it goes like this month by month, month by month, there may be too much. You might have
two good months and then you have a record high and then turn right around and have a record low
the next month. And I can explain it. I don't know. It's been like that since 2020. I don't know.
And I've talked to a lot of other business owners and they say the same thing. And it does have to
be automotive. It can be anything. And we're all seeing the same things as 2020. Everyone said
oil, I think about what's on the news. And the power that some of these things be at war or all
that I don't want to get political now. But there's something happens and it becomes the biggest
thing of the day. And it's almost like a depressing thought for people that they gotta get the
car fixed. But what's going on with this? It's almost like a teeter totter of emotion. We could
go down a rabbit hole. Right. Because yeah, just the psychological aspects of the way we get our
information nowadays and how it's angled at us and how the corporate media, along with social media,
supercharge our fears and pitch other against one another and supercharge our tribalism and super
charge our cognitive biases. Oh my God. Yeah, you pretty much just took an entire thought out of
my brain and split it into that mic almost verbatim. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, I 100% agree with what
you just said. But it's not a bad thing. I mean, it evens out in the end of the year. It still
comes out the same. It's just you have to be resilient enough to where if you have a record high
month, you need to be able to make it through a record low month directly after. Wouldn't it be
something if we had nothing but good news happening to see where your chart's going to go?
And instead of this wishy, washy, good news, bad news, timeline syndrome that's going on.
And I think until the economy really gets flying, I think we're going to have to be stuck with that.
If you're the type of shop that does the right thing, you're always going to make it. Your number
one interest is doing the right thing. You can't lose that's that's a sense. That's a great
close. Thank you. I mean, that was powerful. Thank you. I think I for being here appreciate that
beard from Monticello, Arkansas, where it's now winter. No, not yet. Oh, not yet. No, it
usually winter doesn't start till the very end of November or it turns the AC on in the shop.
All right. We get a rain cloud. Yeah. Stalkers diesel and automotive Tommy Markham from
Markham's automotive, Constableville, New York, where we have four seasons, almost winter,
winter, still winter and construction. Me too. We're four, maybe three hours down the road from
you. Yeah. I think we get a hair more maybe just as Ontario's bigger. I don't know. Yeah, I think,
yeah, we don't get the number, the amount of snow that you get. Yeah. Buffalo is always the
considered the snow capital in the world because we had a blizzard. There's people there.
1977. Yeah. There's people there. And Matt Fonzel from diagnosing the aftermarket
A to Z and Riverside Automotive in Redwing, Minnesota. And the nugget. I don't know if you've ever
seen the movie Arthur. Yeah. The Lee Morrie wanted to carpet road island. Right.
Seb wants to build a shop to cover all of Arkansas. Okay. That's right. 62,000. Let's build
a 10,000 just quick addition. World domination. That's my motto. World domination. Thanks, guys,
for being here. Thank you. Thank you.
Thanks for being on board to listen and learn from the premier automotive aftermarket podcast.
Until next time.
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