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The First Course Correction of the Year ​[E240]

The First Course Correction of the Year ​[E240]

Chris Cotton Weekly Blitz Jan 12, 2026 5 min
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About this episode

January often brings high hopes for shop owners, but reality can quickly set in with inconsistent car counts and other challenges. This episode emphasizes the importance of course correction rather than panic when things don't go as planned. Listeners are encouraged to assess their assumptions, recognize small wins, and avoid emotional decision-making. Practical advice on follow-ups and maintaining marketing efforts is shared, highlighting that discipline and patience are key to navigating the early year struggles in the automotive repair industry.

Topics: course correction shop management marketing strategies emotional decision making follow-up tactics assumption assessment momentum building
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This is the automotive repair podcast network.
It's your weekly blitz with Chris keeping you in the game.
Let me ask you something. It's the second week of January.
How's that plan going? Not the written plan.
The one that looked amazing on January 1st. I'm talking about real life,
the schedule, the car count, the tech mood, the cash flow,
your energy walking into the shop this morning.
Because if you're like most shop owners,
you've already had at least one moment where you thought, well,
that didn't go exactly how I pictured it.
And I want you to hear this loud and clear right out of the gate.
That's not failure. That's life giving you feedback.
Today's episode is about what great shop owners do next.
Not when things collapse, but when things drift.
This is your first course correction for the year.
So here we are. It's January. It's reality check time.
You know, January is a funny month in this industry.
Everybody comes in with big intentions. You know,
this is the year we fix the numbers. Finally, after 30 years, you know,
this is the year we get disciplined. This is the year the shop runs without me.
And then reality shows up. Car counts inconsistent,
weather messes with schedules, customers are recovering from holiday spending,
texts or easing back into the rhythm, you know,
marketing that you finally just got started in December,
obviously hasn't fully kicked in yet. And here's the trap.
January doesn't reward optimism. January rewards process.
So the mistake I've seen most shop owners make is assuming a slow start
means a bad year. A rough first week means the plan was wrong or worse.
They start second guessing themselves. Doubt creeps in.
They think they were wrong. So nope.
What's happening right now is normal variance and strong operators
don't panic. They adjust. This is where we get tactical.
If you do nothing else this week, I want you to sit down with a notepad and I
want you to answer these three questions. Honestly,
what did I assume that turned out to be wrong?
But I need you to be specific. Car count assumptions, staffing assumptions,
cash flow timing, customer urgency. Assumptions aren't bad.
They're unavoidable, but unexamined assumptions create stress.
Okay. The next question I want you to ask yourself,
what's actually working better than expected?
And this is where most owners fail.
You'll focus on what's missing and completely ignore one advisor who's
crushing it, one marketing channel that's producing,
one process that's finally sticking, you know,
momentum hides in small wins.
Your job is to notice them and reinforce them.
The third question I want you to ask, what am I overreacting to?
Let's be honest. One bad Monday, one declined estimate,
one off tech day, one slow morning.
Most January mistakes aren't strategic. They're emotional and emotional
decisions made in January get paid for all year long.
You know, this next part really matters. Week two of January is not the time to
slash prices, kill marketing, change pay plans,
micromanage your advisors or rewrite the whole playbook.
And so here's the line I want you to remember.
If the strategy made sense on January 1st, it deserves more than 10 days.
Discipline isn't stubbornness. It's patience with intention.
Let me give you one tactical move for week two. You know,
this week I want you to double down on follow up, not discounting,
not panic promotions, but follow up, declined estimates,
unsold work, missed opportunities,
DVIs that never got a second conversation.
There is more money sitting in your CRM right now than most shop owners
realize. If you sat down and knew all the stuff that got declined dollar for
dollar, you'd probably puke. I need you to get in there,
double down on follow up and make it happen.
One of the biggest mistakes shop owners make in January is pulling back on
marketing right before it starts working.
That's why I trust and recommend shop marketing pros.
They understand this industry, they understand seasonality,
and they don't chase shiny objects.
What they do is they build consistent long-term growth strategies that actually
survive months like January.
If you want marketing that supports your shop instead of stressing you out,
check them out at shopmarketingpros.com. Again,
that's shop marketing pros, marketing built for shop owners who plan to stay in
business. We talked about that. Let me leave you with this.
Momentum isn't built by perfect starts.
It's built by fast, intelligent course corrections.
This week isn't about starting over. It's about staying in,
staying calm, staying disciplined, staying committed to the plan with some
smarter adjustments. If you're still standing in week two of January,
you're not behind, you're right where leaders separate themselves.
Thanks for listening to the weekly Blitz. If this episode hit home,
share it with another shop owner who needs to hear it and I'll see you next
week. I need you to stay focused,
stay intentional and keep moving forward. Have a great day, everybody.
Best conversations in the industry start here.
One expert advice on running your shop. Well, Chris is listening.
Check the show notes for his email and send him your topics.

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