Growing Your Repair Shop Through Diagnostic Excellence with Zeb Beard
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Down here, we don't, we don't get to sell near as many brake jobs and front end jobs and that kind of thing. I hear these guys talking about the percentage of their work that's front end and brakes. And I'm like, man, I'd starve to death if that's all I did was, you know, suspension and brakes. You can't do it here because we don't. We don't wear that stuff out or doesn't rust out or what have you.
Yeah. So rust up here is a thing. I'll send you the. The picks. It was, um, because we don't. It almost ends up like you don't do a pump anymore. You got to do a pump. Some lines, uh, you know, like, there's a lot of filler neck a lot of the time, which is getting really hard to.
Everybody goes, well, uh, you know, if you're doing all that, you're. You should be doing the job faster because you're not trying to save anything. It's actually the opposite way because if you're trying to repair the lines, well, that becomes like, am I doing the whole line all the way from the front, the engine, back to the tank, or can I just put a section in? Like, that's all the stuff that now becomes more, almost like doing additional diag. Like, how much does this, what seems like a basic re and re job need in actually order to finish it? And that's like, my boss, him and I are getting better because he's like, well, the book time is this. And I'm like, it's 15 years old. So, you know, let's throw that out the window and. And. And go another hour because of rust, man.
I can't. I can't understand it. I would think you'd have to run 100% multiplier all the time up there with that.
Well, and that's the thing. You talk to some people, right? You've seen in the groups, they talk about, well, anything older than ten years, we don't touch our. Most of our stuff is more than ten, honestly, when it comes in, like, that's. And that we're not low, we're not cheap door rate, but that's just up here. That's the kind of clientele that most people, if it's six years or newer, you never, you never see it. It goes to the dealer for everything. Like, it's. It's probably a lease.
And they just don't. Couldn't be bothered driving around trying to find somebody to, you know, treat them any different. So most of our stuff is ten years or older, probably closer to 15. And we do, we have, like, part of our business as well is that we, we do undercoating, spray oil undercoat for, you know, to prevent. So not everyone is a trash bag in terms of rust, but there's a lot of them that are like rock. And then it's, you know, every job becomes, when you look at it, pickup trucks especially, is the frame bad before we even do the pump, you know, because if the frames bad, like, there's not really much point. You know, you can put the pump in to keep the guy driving the truck, but you really, it changes kind of how you approach this job, you know, whereas the frame is good. Like, we've got one, the guys, you know, well, his fuel gauge doesn't work, the level sender shot, but he needs a whole pump.
And because again, you know, it's rotten on the top. You're never going to be able to service just a sender in it. And then I show the pictures of this one. You'll see it. The locker in the top of the tank was literally so rotted to the pump, you couldn't turn it around. I had to cut it off. So there you are, just like with a, with a die grinder and a chop wheel cutting on the top of a tank. People look at me like you're crazy.
But it's like, you know, I sprayed.
It all down with water.
I got it filled with water. Like it's, you know, but it's. That adds a ton of time. Like, I spent more time getting the pump out of the tank than I did the tank out of the truck. Right.
So that's one thing down here, we don't. We, I mean, you can lay a bare piece of metal out in the. And it can lay there for a year and won't have any rust on it. And, I mean, we're in Arkansas, it rains and we got humidity and all, but the vehicles just don't rust here. And it's, it's great. I mean, I guess I, I don't really, I didn't really understand how big a problem rust was until, until, you know, with, with Facebook and the groups and all that kind of stuff. And then every now and then we'll get a, we'll get a vehicle that's been up there a little bit. And I posted, when the change in the industry group first came along, I posted one in there, and it was a troll.
Nobody really understood that it was a troll, but it was one that had just a little bit of rust on it, but it was still more than what we're used to dealing with.
Yeah, you're one of those guys that you just grabbed a wheel bearing and you take it right out. Oh, yeah, yeah. We guys like you.
Yeah.
I mean, it's. It's incredible, the difference. And it's, you know, it always didn't make sense to me how somebody that never had to fight like that says, oh, well, the labor time is well within the reason. And then we look up here, and it's like, I can't make time on that wheel bearing.
Like, what do you mean?
I can't make time on that wood bearing. Like, you know, you've seen the Subarus and some of the Fords are really bad for seizing in. And I haven't had to do a Subaru or Ford yet, but I've had to do a lot to them and everything else, and, uh, they just, like, you see the guys that put the hub shocker on there and a big sledgehammer and everything else, but, you know, we're one of the first up here that was like, you look at some of them like, well, you might better quote the whole damn spindle because it's not, by the time you get it separated. And I never understood that point either, because guys would be like, we had 9 hours into it. We finally got the bearing it, we saved the spindle. And I'm looking at that gone, wow. What's the point? What you built or you build for, like, it was supposed to be book time is three. You build four, you had eight in it or nine.
What's the sense? Like, there is none. There is zero sense to that. Yeah, it sucks that, you know, that customer, because of where we live, might have to buy a spindle and a backing plate and, you know, parking brakes and an e brake cable and the whole thing. But it's just the reality of it. Let it be somebody else's hero, you know? You want to do that. I just. I couldn't. I didn't care if I'm paid hourly, but as soon as it starts to reflect on the production or my pay, I ain't about that.
You know, somebody can come out and faster and do it than me, by all means, I'll sit there and help and watch and try to learn. We know that ain't happening that way. You know, like, there's just. I've got enough experience that if I. If somebody's gonna do that kind of work faster than me, they're they're. They're full of it. They're not, you know.
Yeah. Well, on the flip side of that, too, though, down here, we don't. We don't get to sell near as many brake jobs and front end jobs and that kind of thing. I hear these guys talking about the, you know, the percentage of their work that's front end and brakes. And I'm like, man, I'd starve to death if that's all I did was, you know, suspension and brakes. We. You can't do it here. Cause we don't.
We don't wear that stuff out or don't rust out or. Or what have you.
You're lucky to get two years out of a brake rotor up here. Honestly, whether you drive the car or not, it don't really matter, you know, the f 150.
My f 150 has got 112,000 miles on the original brake pads.
Never happened up here. Never happened. It's just. Just don't. The. The rotor goes away too fast, and then the pad is seized and shot. Right. Um, and, you know, you can service the damn shit, but it doesn't.
It doesn't change what's happening, right. The rotor still just is constantly a wet and absorbing so much of that salt and brine. And brine's a funny thing. Brine is like, we talk about salt, but brine's like this calcium. It's almost acidic. What they're now putting on some of the roads now, because, again, it's supposed to be better for the environment than the salt in terms of what the salt does to the water runoff and all that nonsense. So they use this brine, and, like, the guys that run it on the road, that actually the trucks that sprayed on, because it's sprayed on those trucks only last two years, and there's nothing left of them. Like, when you see what it does to a truck, you're like, nope.
You know, we ran into some of that. I don't know if you remember on my facebook page when I was grading the ass off the road, we had some of those Brian truck. And that's the first I'd ever seen that. They were drizzling this stuff on the road. And I was like, what is that? But it was. It was Brian. They actually had tanker trucks, 18 wheeler tanker trucks that were running the roads before the ice storm hit.
Yeah.
And that reminds me, I need to go. I hadn't washed my grader since then. I need to go get it and wash it.
You might better shop for a new grader. By now.
I hope not.
I mean, industrial equipment is different, right, in the kind of metal. I mean, you know, this. I don't have to tell it to you, but I worked a cat dealer at a caterpillar dealer a long, long, long time ago, and it's amazing what those machines can work in. And, you know, like, we all had a little aerosol can of caterpillar yellow paint, you know, and you might just, like, hit it with a little bit of grinder and spray the paint right back on. Right. And it was good to go. Like, you didn't see rust. Like we see on a.
On a frame or something up here. Like, one of our friends was talking. They just did an estimate on a truck. Big estimate. Truck going, trucks on the hoist. Put the truck down on the ground, go lift the truck back up in the frame, buckled where they lifted it. So that big estimates now gone. Right? Like, how do you, you know, how.
Do you call the customer and say, man, we bent the frame on your truck?
Yeah, right.
But I mean.
And I'll see. I've seen it for years in the groups, especially up here, people are like, well, you're lifting in the wrong spot.
It's the frame of the truck. Right.
But for Canada, after a certain year, you're like, oh, you should try not to lift there. Where else we gonna lift it? Right.
Only.
Right, like, that's, I guess, the only way you do it, then.
I guess so. But if it won't hold the truck to pick it, if it for the hoist, does it really need to be on the road?
But the customer will tell you. He'll say, you broke it.
Yeah, I know. I know how that is.
Yeah, the customer. That was your nightmare customer. Right. What's your. What's your favorite customer?
My favorite customer? Yeah, man, seriously, I have some great customers. I have some customers that have been with me the entire 18 years, and these customers, I don't call them with an estimate. They bring me the truck.
Yeah.
And they have a few things that they. The reasons they brought it. But anything else that I find on that truck, I can fix it. And I don't even have to call. I don't have to sell them anything. I just do it and send them a bill, and they send me a check. And I'm very fortunate. I have.
I'm gonna say I probably have 30 or 40 customers like that that I don't even have to call. If they bring me something, I just fix it.
Yeah.
It doesn't matter what it is. It could be a $20,000 invoice and I don't even have to call them if I don't want to.
That's amazing. I mean, it's, it's, it's so refreshing to talk to. How old are you?
I am 45.
Yeah. So, see, it's, it's, I don't want to say you're young because, but, you know, you're not, you're not quite the old wood yet. Right. And so it's so refreshing to talk to somebody in about our age group, you and I, because I'm 48, you're 45. That's got that finally, the way they've been talking for the last ten years of what we had to do this industry, to talk to somebody like yourself that's so confident in it and does it and has done it and it's working for them that it's, you're insights. Always such a fresher breath there. Yeah, a fresh, you know, perspective is what I should say, because it's like a breath of fresh air.
There you go.
Because, yeah, my, my words sometimes, but because it's, it's, you know, we talked to, I want to say the age group right now, you're seeing it sometimes is like, it's younger guys than us that are really struggling right on the, on the hustle bus, and they're not, you know, hitting the numbers that they thought. Right. It's just like you said, the shop owner goes out, starts or the technician, so goes out, starts. A shop doesn't have their numbers. Right. Doesn't really get it. Or you see the really old people, older shop owners that are very fixed in the ways. Right.
They've made it work for so long. Right. It's, their level of successes is, is success and it's good. And they, they don't want to hear it. Right. And I don't want to say you're right in the middle, but you're, you're definitely part of the change. You know, your attitude is so, and it, a lot of it is just your confidence. Right.
You, you back up what you say. That's what, that's what.
Well, that's, that's how my customers, a lot of my, you know, some people, they'll see me when they meet me right away, they'll say, oh, that guy, he's, you know, he's arrogant, he's this, he's that. But my customers, the ones that get me, they love it. They're like, I love your confidence. When you tell me something and I try to argue with you. You shoot me down, and. And that's what I need, because you're confident in what you do, and I don't have to wonder or, you know, is he doing the right thing to my vehicle? And so that went. That wins a lot of customers that way.
Yeah.
But a lot of these guys, I see them in the groups, they make this stuff a little too hard. You know, if they're. If they're struggling, if you're struggling in your business and in your shop, and I've been there. I mean, there was a time I would come in to my shop every morning, and the first thing I would do is lay flat on my face and pray to God to find a way to get me out of there. I did that for. I did that for a long time. Nobody knew about that, but that's the first thing I would do. I want it out of there so bad.
But if you're struggling and you want to turn your shop around and you really don't know how, the easiest, quickest thing to do is make sure that you're billing 100% of your time. If you're in your shop 40 hours and you're the only tech in there, make sure you're billing out 40 hours. At least 40 hours. If you do that, it. It can cure a lot of problems, and things will start turning around.
Yeah, because.
No, because I've done it. Yeah.
And what's. What's impressive to me about you is you didn't get here, I want to say, with a ton of coaching. Right. In terms of, like, it just seems like for you. I don't want to say it was like a common sense thing, but it was like you just kind of put your foot down and said this. There's got to be a different way. And that's how you went about it. You've had some coaching in the past, right.
It wasn't really for you.
Well, I hired a coach. When I needed a coach, I couldn't afford one, so I pulled myself out. I got my business going, and I'm gonna think it was in 20. It was right before I started working on this building. So it was about three years ago I decided, I'm gonna try this coaching thing out. Cause everybody's ranting and raving about how great it is.
Yeah.
And I could afford to do it and it be a failure. So I said, I'm gonna try it just to see. I don't want to. I don't want to miss out on something. I think I know what it's all about, but I'm gonna try it.
Yeah.
And I tried it and it. It's not for me.
Yeah.
There. And I picked a bad one to start with. I'm not gonna go into all that. I think pretty much anybody that's seen me around knows what it was, but yeah, it was. It would have changed my whole identity. It would have changed my whole shops identity and it wasn't for me. Now, after that, I was against. I was totally against coach.
I was like, man, that's all a bunch of bullshit. I don't want no part of it. But later on, I met some coaches personally and talked to them and took some of their classes. I still. I take their classes at vision. I don't think I'll ever hire a coach again.
Yeah.
But I have some coaches that I really respect and listen to everything they have to say. Bill Hoss is one of them. I listen to everything that guy has to say. He's. He is a great coach. And, and then Cecil Bullard's the same way. I listen to everything. If Cecil Bullard wants to say anything, I'll listen to it because he knows what he's talking about.
Those two especially, I really have a lot of respect for. I don't think I'll ever hire a coach like that. I talk to on a regular basis. But if I like, when I go to vision or things like that, I will take their classes.
I think when you get to the level where you're at, I think it's, it's not as vital, I think.
Right.
Have one as somebody, maybe that's like struggling or starting out. I wish that, like you said, that it wasn't such a cost prohibitive thing for so many people because I think there's so many of us that start a shop and that's when you need the coaching. Right. And what I've seen with these groups, and sometimes it gets frustrating in the group is because I'll read somebody their post and I'll be like, are you even paying attention to what we're talking about in here?
Right.
You're essentially through the groups. A lot of people are getting coached without having to get a coach.
You know what I mean?
Like, it's. And it's just, it's learning through osmosis. It's like I said, yeah, the other person can make the mistake. I don't have to. I still learn something from that person. They don't do what that person did. Right. And I see other people, it's like, oh, you know, we, we band aided an engine and, you know, it's back.
What do we do? And I'm like, I'm gonna pull my arrow going, you know, mother effort.
What do you mean?
What do you do? How'd you get here in the first place? That's the important question, is how did you get here? Because if you start to look at what that shows you, how they're operating, is why you had to get there. And then if you start to understand that, you can start to guide that person to like, okay, so this is what we never do again, but this is the reasons why, and this is the reasons why you're here, is because you were not doing a, B and C. And then that's more important than just trying to. Somebody trying to say, stop doing engine work isn't the answer. Somebody that can sit to them and say, don't do the engine work because of this example, that example, this person's example, and everybody puts their hand up and says, like you, I had a job that went south really bad, cost me a ton of money, but nobody seems to pay any attention. Zepp, in the groups, it seems to me sometimes like we're all learning little bits, and it's slowly, you can see the change, but the engine thing just is like, you know, yeah, you can.
When you start reading it, you're like, I can see where this is going. This is, this is where you messed up right here. This sentence is where you messed up. And I know where this is going to go without reading the rest of the paragraph. And the thing about, like, the coaching thing is, is you're not going to hire a coach and he's not going to come in, and he doesn't have this secret formula that you've never heard of. All this information is out there. It's in the groups. Most of the coaches, even before you sign up with them, will tell you most of this.
They're just there to help you along and make sure you do it. So these guys that are struggling, all they have to do is get in these groups, listen to the podcast. The podcasts are full of this type of information. Just listen to the podcast and start. And you're not going to change it overnight, but just start making little changes. Stop taking those engine jobs. You can see a trap. If you've been in business for several years, you can see a trap coming.
Yeah, I fired a customer today. Sunday. I fired a customer Friday. There was a six, seven powerstroke engine that was bad in here, and I fired that customer right there. I mean, yeah, I wanted that job, but I didn't want it that bad.
Yeah.
You know, I called him, told him cylinder five was down, and I told him I was sending him an estimate. He called me back, he said, why don't I need a block? I said, excuse me? He said, I need a block. I said, well, that's, you know, that's a long block, which is rotating assembly. In addition to the block, you get a rotating assembly. Valve, train heads, all this stuff. Why do I need all that? Don't they make rings?
Yeah, you told me that.
I said, sir, I think you need to take this truck somewhere else.
Yeah.
And it's sitting out front. He's coming to get it Monday. Yeah, but guess what? I'm still getting my 2 hours diagnostics.
Yeah. Because why not? It was made it clear to him that that's what he was going to pay for.
Yeah, he knew it up front.
Yeah, he knew it upfront. He didn't expect it would be for free. Right?
So waving the dark. I hate that word. I want to punch something when I hear somebody say, waive the diagnostic fee or, or had it in the labor. Yeah, if you get the job. Oh, I hate that.
But see, we have some people that, like our coaches that teach people to do that.
Yeah, yeah, I heard. I heard some of that at vision. I'm not gonna say who. And turned me off on him big time, because my shop, that's something else that I didn't go into. I have another key person that I met in, you know, in my journey, and my shop is heavy diagnostic. I mean, that's kind of how we got on the map is our diagnostic capability. And his name is Kevin Markle with pro auto tech. I took one of his classes.
I think. I think it was zero seven or zero eight, something like that. And I didn't even. I didn't even know what a lab scope was when I walked in there. I knew the Modus, I had the solace, you know, which is the only one I could afford. But you walk on the snap on truck and there's the Modis, it's above the solus. And I always ask the snap on guy, what's the difference between the Modis and the solus? And he says, well, it's got a lab scope.
And I.
That's only thing I knew about a labs guy. I didn't know what it was. So I walk into this class and snap on brought him in, or my snap on dealer brought him in, and I walk in there and sit down and he's you know, talking about what the class is going to be about. It's going to be about lab scope. And I'm like, okay, cool, I'll finally get to learn what this thing is. And the first thing he starts on is relative compression test. And I'm telling you, my mind just blew when he told me that I didn't have to pull spark plugs anymore. I didn't have to, you know, look at a gauge and spin it over and, well, where throttle blades open, all this stuff.
And I, and mostly diesels that I work on. I mean, if you got to buy a compression set for diesels, that's a ton of money. And so when he told me I could check this electronically with one tool and I didn't have to turn any bolts, I didn't have to do anything that changed my life right there.
Yeah.
So he was another person that, everything he had to say, I ate it up, I would listen to it, whatever he had to say. And we, we ended up being great friends. We're, we're best of friends now, and. But he was a key player in my life, and that made my shop diagnostic heavy. That's what I really. And he was the one that taught me on the, the two hour base, everything, everything I diagnose starts with a two hour base. We go 2 hours, and then if we have to go more, we'll call you and get more time. But most everything starts with a two hour base.
And that 2 hours, I don't just check the problem, I go, I have a series of things that I do in that 2 hours. And, and so almost every vehicle that leaves here has a two hour diagnostic charge on it. But the 2 hours, the 2 hours you're guaranteed, that is what the problem is. I got into it with one of the guys in one of the groups, and I think I ended up blocking him cause he's pain in the ass. But he said, you can't guarantee. He said, you can't guarantee your diagnostics. I said, oh, yeah, yeah, I can. If I can't, I need to quit.
I need to stop what I'm doing. I need to stop this job. I don't need to be, I don't need to be a diagnostician anymore if I can't guarantee my diagnostics.
Yeah.
And so that's kind of how we built this place, and that's how I can afford to have a good diagnostician is because I make sure that I get my diagnostic time.
Yeah. I always likened it to, you want to be able to eliminate about 95% in the first, you know, 45 minutes.
Right.
And then that next, whatever that. Whatever you're given after that, we. We kind of roll with about an hour and a half for most of the stuff is you want to be getting at that last 45 minutes. If it's an hour and a half or the last hour or whatever, however you want to do it is you're getting into that realm of, like, is this thing fixable or not? Right. Because it's like, is the part available? Is the customer going to invest in an engine? You know, there's nothing worse than the, like you said. And I can think back to my days at the dealership where, you know, we had hardly any diag time. When I think about guys that are still out there and it's like, well, we. We tuned it up and it still misfires, you know, and I think now to.
To how much better it's gotten with lab scopes and, you know, pulse sensors and stuff like that, to be able to show the customer that you can tune the hell out of this thing and it ain't gonna matter. It's broken, that needs it. And then the customer says, okay, that's good. Thank you very much. I'm not going to put that it's a, you know, ten year old car. It's got some rust or whatever. Thanks. And they feel that's value.
Right? When we've already put now $500 in plugs and coils on or something, and it's still got a miss. That's when the customer feels like you've invested in the car because you now owe them a fix. Right? You told them this fix would was the fix. This fix is not the fix. Now you owe them a fix. I'd rather collect no diag and give them no fix. Or I'd rather collect diag tell them what the fix is and have them be 100% on board with not fixing it or fixing it. I don't want to guess.
Right. Guessing is. And sometimes we have to, like, intermittent suck. Like, I'm chasing an intermittent on a caravan right now, but there's so much. And it's like, I tell people all the time. Sometimes they look at me like it's a pride thing or I got two heads, but I go, if you tell the customer, it's going to be an injector job, and an injector job is out of their realm of what they want to invest in this. Are you not done? At that point, you're pretty much done like you've given them the answer, they just are not choosing to execute on that. It doesn't mean that we now then all of a sudden, well, can I just do one injector? Can I do the injector fairly cheap? Can I put a cheaper injector in? Can I, can I shave some time? Because, you know, like we've done 2 hours diet.
No, no, the diet to get to where we were is what it is. And it's a separate thing. Like you said, people that roll it in just drive. I don't even know how they roll it in, Zeb, and cover it up.
Well, I don't want to. I want my customer to know what, what I did. Yeah, I want my customer, I explain, I go really in depth with my explanation of my test and what we found. I show them screenshots of the lab scope, you know, that kind of thing. And everybody's like, they don't understand that. Maybe not, but they can see what I did. I remember the first time, the first class, it was that same class that I'm telling you about after he explained the lab scope and all this stuff. And then he starts talking about he's, you know, he kind of does a little bit of business coaching in there with it.
And he says, we, you know, I'm going to teach you in this class how to go through these cars and, but you've got to bill out 2 hours on this. And I looked at him and I said, man, you crazy as hell. I can't bill 2 hours to tell somebody what's wrong with their car. Now I look back and that was the stupidest thing I could ever thought. But, but back then, that's the way I thought. I thought, man, I'm just plugging up. I thought, like customers think, man, I'm just plugging up a scan tool and they're not going to pay me 2 hours for that. He said, yes, they will.
He said, I'm going to show you how. And he's taught me that when my customers come in, if I have one that comes in and bows up about the 2 hours, usually I can calm them down by saying, look, here's what you get in this 2 hours. And when I make it around, when I get through this 2 hours, when I get done, you're not going to buy any parts that you don't need.
Yeah.
And when they, when I tell them that, that's when it really clicks. Because these other shops around here, they replace parts until the problem goes away.
Yeah.
They don't, they don't diagnose anything. They replace parts until the problem goes away. So all these customers are trained to think that these shops are just going to throw parts until their problem goes away. But when I tell them, I say, look, you don't, you're not gonna, you're not gonna pay for any parts that you don't need. If I put a part on your vehicle, it's because it needs it, because it was something wrong with it or it was leaking or whatever. And, and I have won some really tough customers by telling them that. And you'll see it. You can almost see the little gears turning when you say that.
You can see it all click into place. And I have very few customers that leave here without, without agreeing to pay my diagnostic charge. You know, they, I don't, I always make it clear upfront what I'm going to charge. So I have a few drive off and not leave their vehicle, but it's very few.
Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome, man. That is because we've been working for so long to try and get that to be, you know, almost the norm. Right. And I can finally see, I think, how it's, you're not seeing too many people say anymore, right. In the groups I can remember, even when I started in changing the industry in ASOG, you still saw a couple people put their hand up and go, well, I do free diag, you know, or I rolled it in and now I think they're all scared. They've either left or they don't.
They don't admit to that because you saw the comment threads, it just lights up.
Right.
With people.
Well, the big trend now, the big trend now, I saw this at vision. The big trend now is a free 15 minutes, complimentary. And I hate that, too. I don't like that one. That's where you just like what we were talking about. You go out in the parking lot.
Yeah.
And you scan codes or you look around on it in the parking lot and give the customer idea what they're looking at. I mean, everybody can do their own thing. It's a free, it's a free country. But I don't do that. You leave your vehicle here, you drop it off. We have it a full at least 24 hours. There's a few exceptions, but we have the vehicle 24 hours. We take it in the back, away from you.
You don't see it, you don't get to come in the back. We don't have any windows in this place that look into the back and, and we do our thing.
Yeah.
And then when we get done, we call you and we explain everything. Yeah, we don't, we don't do this parking lot deal. I don't like that. I have a few customers that I will, you know, if, if we just worked on it and they leave and the check engine light comes on.
Yeah.
I'll run out there right quick and make sure it's nothing we did and then we'll schedule them to bring it back. But as far as a new customer pulling up or, or a customer that hadn't been here in a while or whatever, if it's not something we just worked on. Yeah. You're going to leave it 24 hours at least and we're going to do the full deal on it or we're not going to do it.
Yeah. I saw somebody talking about, now they've shifted from doing initial diag to checking the cars for free, still paying their technicians. And where the argument comes into this is they have been able to dial back their marketing because the customer, they feel like the customer is getting value. The tech still getting paid. Right. So they've got this number now where it's like the tech was given an hour diag the customer. I didn't charge the hour for, but I didn't spend $20,000 last month in marketing. And now my arrow has stayed the same.
My gross profit stayed the same because I cut the marketing thing. Like, I'm hearing people talk about this.
And I'm like, yeah, but they're starting a bad thing. They're training those customers.
That's what I was just about to say. It's, if you had your customers here, you're going to attract suddenly a different type of customer because this customer, you're, you're still fixing the car, the car is still leaving. But now that customers telling everybody about, hey, and what he said is, we had one slip through that was not our customer. Not our type of customer. Well, I look at that and I go, you had one this week, you're gonna have five next week, you know, ten the week after that. Right. In two months time, you're gonna be having 30 a week. Because they keep telling everybody, oh, it was nothing to check my car.
They looked at it for free till we get all these people, like, so I came there because you checked it for free. But like, what do you mean I can't bring my own parts? Right? Like, what do you mean I can't bring the estimate from somebody else and you guys beat it by ten.
Well, maybe, maybe all that stuff doesn't make sense to me because that's not my customer. My customer is the premium customer, the one, like I was telling you, that drops his truck off.
Yeah.
And I fix whatever I want to on it. I don't have to call him. I don't have to do anything.
Yeah.
And that's. That's the customers that I like. And, and maybe that's the difference. I don't, you know, I'm not, I'm not after the. The customer that would typically go to Jiffy Lube and that kind of thing. I don't, I don't deal with. I was in a, I was in a class with that coach I was telling you about that I lost all respect for. That was one of his, that was a quote, direct quote.
He said, jiffy Lube got it right. That's what he said. He said in that way, jiffy Lube got it right. And I thought to myself, I said, maybe he got it right for those customers, but not for. Not for the customers that I have.
What do you, what do you guys do for marketing anything at all? Or is it all like this kind of word of mouth?
Man, I'm gonna tell you, word of mouth is always been my, my, my thing. But, but everybody knows me from Facebook. My facebook is huge. I mean, people come in here that don't even have facebook and want to talk to me about what I posted on facebook.
Right. Strokers diesel.
Yep. And, and I don't, I don't do these. All the guys over here putting a brake caliper on and these typical things. Well, you, you, we've been friends for a while. You see what I post. That kind of stuff is what generates. Yeah, that's what generates for me. I've tried some radio ads.
I've had a television commercial for a long time. It did a little bit. But mostly, mostly facebook is what. Where everybody knows me.
Yeah. That's awesome.
I can go. I can leave here and go and go to a town 200 miles away and somebody there is going to know me because they saw me on facebook.
Yeah. It's, it's a, it's a huge, powerful tool if we all use it better.
But I can think back. I can think back to 2005 and dreaming about a way. I mean, how could, how could, like, I've got a picture on my phone, a screenshot that I took. In the last 90 days, my facebook page has reached 5.5 million people in 2005. How much would it have cost to get your business in front of 5.5 million people? And I did it for free.
Yeah, yeah. Crazy, eh? Yeah, that's the whole thing. When I see people that are spending thousands a month in marketing and then thousands a month in coaching, and then I see sometimes the processes in the shop needs so much work.
Yeah.
I just look at that and go, why don't you just spend the money in the shop to get the processes up? You won't even need the marketing or the coaching. But, you know, it seems to be that's where the ego steps in and they go, like, I'm not going to necessarily hear it from those people.
Well, we live it, we live in a time where everybody has seen everything. So if you can make your shop different, that's, that's the best marketing tool you can get. I mean, if you got a picture of a guy changing oil and, hey, we have a 15% off all change. You see those all the time. And you can. I couldn't tell you, I couldn't tell you even who, who posted it, you know, because you see it so much.
Yeah.
And, but, yeah, you see, like, my guys riding skateboards, you know, instantly who that was.
Yeah.
You know.
Yep. For sure. So what's, um, what's the next year hold for strokers and zeb?
Well, I'm gonna try to get this shop put together. I still got to get it finished, put together and, and get some more staffing in here and, uh, kind of, kind of settle my life back down. The past three years has been pretty wild. Get this thing built and, uh, cut back on some of the spending, man, I'm telling you, money's been leaving this thing like it's. We started. When I started this project, um, I thought 2 million was going to cover it. And I think we're up getting close to four and a half million right now. So.
Got to cut back on. I gotta cut back on my spending a little bit and, uh. Yeah, but cut back on some steak dinners and stuff like that.
But dude, I love your, I love your, your, your guts to do it, you know what I mean? There's just so many somebody that won't and so many, you know, because there's, there's lots of people, I think that, no disrespect to you, just as talented as you are, you know what I mean? And just has got the same kind of mental. The hustle and the, and the way they want to do the business, but they just, just scared. Right. And you, I've never heard you once say you're scared of anything in this business.
I guess when I when they, when they put me together, they left that part out, that, the fear of failure, they left it out, I guess, because I'm, I've never been afraid of failure of anything. If, if you give me an opportunity, I'll take it.
And I don't even think you take it. I think you build it. I think.
Yeah, I just, I just go for it. And I've always been that way, and I never have really had a bad failure. So it may be coming, but I've been 45 years and hadn't had one yet.
You're that kind of guy. I think if you'd have wound up in the chicken barn, you'd have been like, chicken salad, chicken. I really think you're that kind of guy. And that's, I mean, that's an awesome thing to be able to do. You know, it's, it's such a, we need that more of that attitude in this industry is just not fear because, I mean, I think the worst is, you know, for you, is if strokers folded tomorrow, you'd just roll into something else.
Oh, yeah. I'd get back up and do something else. I can't stop.
No. Well, I'll let you go. I don't want to take any more of your time up. I, you know, this was something that, it took us a while to get here because we had some schedule issues, some audio, but, I mean, this has been great. And, you know, next time we'll have you on again and, you know, maybe susie will want to come along as well.
All right.
Some of that backstory. If she's comfortable. She's not. She's not, but, I mean, we'll give her a try.
She's not much on public. I'll get up in front of anybody and talk. I'm not afraid. But she's, she's kind of. Now that's, that's one thing about her. This business is, has really grown her as a person. When I first met her, she was really standoffish and really shy, and I've never been that way. So she started hanging around me.
She got a little better and a little better. And then when I opened the business, she had to start helping me and she had to start talking to more people and more people. And in the last year, she has come a long ways on that. She's, she's selling work every day. She's talking to these people and just like I would, and I'm really proud of her with that.
It's, it's definitely, you can see it's a team, right? When I. When I hear you talk all the time about her. Right.
It's.
It's so much. She's such a vital part of the other team.
She really is. I couldn't do it without her. She. Yeah, she's been with me since the start. We got married in 1999. December of 99 is when we got married. So we've been married a long time, and we weren't together. Let's see.
We met in. Around New Year's of 98, I guess it was. So we were only together for a couple of months, and we already knew we were going to get married. It was kind of like those, the Burris is when you had them on her. Their story reminded me so much of ours. And when I would work on the side, she would come and help me. She would either be there helping me or handing me tools, or if you couldn't help me, she would just sit there and. While I worked on cars and.
And so, yeah, it's. It's definitely been a team thing. And now she's the. She's. She's the more. The. The more sane one of the two. So she kind of keeps me, she kind of keeps me reined in if I come up with some crazy scheme or, or she kind of holds me back on spending money, that kind of thing.
She's more tighter on the money than I am, so it's. We work pretty good together in that way.
That's awesome. I I. You remind me. You and, you and Benji are so similar in some regards. Right. Just, I think if you.
Have you got.
Have you met him?
No, I just heard that podcast, and I loved him instantly.
You're gonna, you're got. You're gonna hit him off. You guys are gonna hit it off for sure. Yeah, it's, it's, it's. You guys have a lot in common, really quite a bit, and it's. It's pretty cool. I think he'd love the heck out of you, and I think he'd really enjoy him.
Well, his son works with him, too. And see, my son, my, my son works for me. He's. He's. He's pretty much my top tech.
Yeah.
And, uh, he's still a nuts and bolts guy. I don't know if he'll ever be a dag guy, but he is like the best nuts and bolts guy you've ever seen. A 68 RFE transmission. He can do one. I really. I mean, he's better than me and I'm the best, but somehow he is better than me. He can do one so fast.
Yeah.
And so whenever. Whenever Benji was telling about, you know, and his son was on there, when they were talking about the fights they had, and that kind of. It reminded me so much of what we've done. It was this same thing.
Yeah. Well, if we can all get to. To an event next year, whether it's ast or something like that, I'll be sure to get everybody to sit down together.
I want to go to ast. I think. I think I'm kind of contractually obligated to go. Zach, he. I had to take him to three training events I think was in the. The deal, so I think we'll probably have to go to ast next year.
Well, that's where I'll be for sure. That looks like it might be the next one that I'll be at. So, I mean, and it's. That's the one that I'll be at every year, no matter what now, because that's what started all this going for me, was going there. Right.
So it's so hard. You like this year? I would have bailed on vision this year. I had so much going, moving in the shop and all that, and I'd already said, zach, you know, I already paid for Zach to go, and I was almost to the point I was gonna send him by itself. And then I've got a group of friends, and we kind of. I kind of started a little chat group as a, you know, it's kind of a joke. Last year when we went, it's good Eric merchants in there, a handful of us in there. We call it vision Kings. But anyway, those guys, they.
It's. They appear, pressure you into going, you have to go. If they're all going, I have to go. So, yeah, I ended up going to vision this year, and I'm glad I did. It was. I probably got more out of it this year than I did last year.
Yeah. Eric's a super guy as well. Him and I, when I. When I met him at AC, we hit it off right away. He's super guy. Super.
He came to stay. He came after he left vision, he kind of made him a road trip, and he came and stayed with me for a few days here.
Yeah, he's a super guy.
I will. I'll let you go, though.
I'll let you get to your dinner, so.
All right. All right, man. I enjoy talking to you anytime.
You'll be on again for sure.
Definitely.
And we'll talk a lot more. Hey, if you could do me a favor real quick and like, comment on and share this episode. I'd really appreciate it. And please, most importantly, set the podcast to automatically download every Tuesday morning. As always, I'd like to thank our amazing guests for their perspectives and expertise, 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 changing the industry podcast. Remember what I always say, in this industry, you get what you pay for. Here's hoping everyone finds their missing ten millimeter, and we'll see you all again next time.
About this episode
Zeb Beard shares insights on running a successful repair shop, emphasizing the importance of diagnostic excellence in a rust-prone environment. He discusses the challenges of working with older vehicles, the significance of proper billing for diagnostic time, and the value of building trust with customers. Beard highlights his approach to diagnostics, including a two-hour base fee, and the necessity of clear communication with clients. The conversation also touches on marketing strategies, the impact of social media, and the evolving landscape of the automotive repair industry.
Original notes
In this installment of "The Jaded Mechanic," Jeff Compton welcomes Zeb Beard, a revered figure in the automotive service industry. Zeb underscores the importance of accurate diagnostics, sharing that a two-hour diagnostic base not only bolsters customer trust but also underpins the financial health of the shop. Zeb also highlights his unique customer service philosophy, stressing the benefits of serving premium customers who rely on his expertise without second-guessing his decisions. Throughout the episode, both Jeff and Zeb delve into their regional differences in vehicle maintenance needs, with a particular focus on the challenges posed by rust and its influence on repair strategies.
00:00 Vehicle maintenance and undercoating for older trucks.
04:43 Challenges with Subaru and Ford wheel bearings.
07:10 Road brine corrodes trucks and harms the environment.
11:01 Refreshing to converse with a confident, like-minded peer.
13:13 Struggling business owners seek simplicity and guidance.
17:25 Guiding others through learning from past mistakes.
21:35 Surprised by new lab scope test method.
25:54 Intermittent issues and customer choices in repairs.
26:50 Customer understanding through detailed explanation and demonstration.
32:11 Customers can attract a new type of clientele.
33:19 Prefers customers who seek personalized service.
36:48 Building shop, need staff, reducing spending. Costly.
40:24 Met in '98, married after a few months.
44:07 Please like, comment, share, and download the podcast.
The Jaded Mechanic Podcast
Jeff Compton
0:00
44:50