Why Women are the Secret Weapon in Auto Repair Shop Hospitality [THA 474]
Remarkable Results Radio Podcast
Why Women are the Secret Weapon in Auto Repair Shop Hospitality [THA 474]
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Concept
independent automotive repair
Independent automotive repair shops are places where you can get your car fixed that aren't part of the car brand's official dealerships. They often help with many types of cars and might be cheaper.
Term
service advisors
Service advisors are the people at the repair shop who talk to you about what's wrong with your car and then tell the mechanics what to fix. They help make sure your car gets the right repairs.
Term
technicians (techs)
Technicians or techs are the mechanics who fix your car. They find out what's wrong and then repair it.
Car
Chevrolet SSR
The Chevrolet SSR is a special kind of truck that looks a bit like a car and a pickup truck mixed together. It was made for a few years in the early 2000s and is known for its cool, unusual look and the fact that its roof can fold down like a convertible. People talk about it because it’s different from most trucks you see.
Concept
acquisitions
Acquisitions happen when one company buys another company to grow bigger or add more services. In car businesses, this means buying other dealerships or shops.
Term
script
A script is like a set of words people use when talking to customers to help make sure they say the right things and get the customer to agree to a service or sale.
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This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.
Hey everybody, Carm Capriotto,
a remarkable results radio in another Town Hall Academy.
So good to see you all.
Do I have a podcast episode for you?
Really, really do.
We're going to talk a lot about
focusing on the business case for women in the auto industry.
We're going to highlight their superior communication,
multitasking, and leadership skills,
because they do have that.
Woman, Excel.
As service advisors driving higher ARO,
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Hey, welcome back everyone.
Let me introduce my great woman panel.
Excited about this.
Amy Bartell from Bartell's auto.
Hello, Amy.
Hello, hello.
Thank you for having me.
Good to have you here.
Sarah Albrecht is here.
CFO dynamic automotive seven locations out in the great state of Maryland.
Have you gone to Virginia yet?
I have been to Virginia, but we're not going to Virginia yet.
We'll see.
Stay in Maryland.
Very good.
I know your ownership team very, very well.
Great friends.
Melissa Parker is here from Harrell's auto.
Hello, Melissa.
Hello, again, Korm.
In fact, I think you're the current CFO and have you transitioned to the COO yet?
No, but that'll happen this year.
It'll happen this year.
Well, you ladies are absolutely 100% dialed in and look at.
Here's a question for you all and please chime in at any time, ladies.
And I don't have one particular lady that I'd ask this to our woman more effective communicators,
relationship builders, which ultimately couldn't can reflect on the relationships we have on our counters.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, we pride ourselves in auto hospitality.
That's what I train my guys on on a regular basis is, you know, auto repair is just our product.
But what we're selling is the customer experience.
We're selling auto hospitality.
We're selling that five star experience to the customer, making them want to come back.
And how do you do that?
You build relationships.
I don't even have to talk to the car about the car to our customers.
I'm talking about their life, their children, their hobbies, what they enjoy to do and doing in their free time.
It's building that rapport, building that foundation that's most important.
And I do think that as women, we are in tune to that more often.
We pay attention to the details.
We notice a beautiful necklace, some really cool glasses or a bumper sticker on a car.
You know, so being able to have that attention to detail to them build that relationship is huge.
You just hit me up over the head.
So if I was a male service advisor and a woman walked in with a beautiful necklace,
I would probably not want to say anything.
That's very true. Absolutely.
And you know, the men do walk a fine line, right?
You walk a fine line of giving a compliment and is this going to be perceived as a compliment?
Or is this going to cross the line?
So as a woman, I do think for woman to woman, it is a lot easier to have those candid conversations
and to just give a compliment and go, that's a beautiful dress. Where'd you get that one?
You know, so it definitely is a different relationship.
So a guy's not going to go out and say, hey, did you get that at Macy's?
I don't know. Some guys may. Some guys may. Don't discount them.
Who was shaking their head, Melissa? I think you were shaking your head listening to Amy.
I think we just naturally think about those things like the bumper sticker.
Is there a car seat in the back car? You know, stuff like that.
Like what are they using this vehicle for?
I think women are naturally more curious and more naturally in tune to asking those questions, right?
Like they're going to do it on their own.
I think it's just a more natural, like, you know, automotive hospitality.
I think women just naturally are asking those questions, diving into their customers.
And that's just, you know, the first, you know, step in, you know, women in automotive, right?
For, you know, our whole podcast, that's just our natural inclination and how we deal with customers.
Yeah, absolutely. And you know what? I was actually also thinking of when I was having a conversation with our team members about the cleanliness of our lobby.
And it's also something that when you speak of auto hospitality and wanting to make sure that the presentation you're giving to the customer
is not only great from a customer service level, but for the customer experience level, how beautiful is my lobby?
How clean is my bathroom? How, you know, does it look like you're walking into an auto repair shop?
Or does it look like you're walking into the lobby of a hotel, the lobby of, you know, into my home, into my living room?
Because that's what I'm going for, right? And I think that, again, as a woman, you pay attention to more of that detail of,
I need to plant in that corner to make it look more homey. You know what I mean?
We just tend to have that more often than men do. We pay attention to those details more often than men do.
So having that woman's touch in the auto repair world is a whole different ball game.
It brings in a definitely a different level of attention to detail.
Especially in a male dominated film. Absolutely.
I think that just like separates because we're just naturally looking at it more, you know?
Like my number one thing, and it is like, is the bathroom clean?
Always.
You know? And if the bathroom is clean, I'm happy. And so I feel like we just naturally do a better job of that.
And I would say, I mean, fair minimum, 50% of our customer base is female.
So I feel like woman to woman, like it just builds that trust naturally too.
You know? So I would say it's probably higher than 50% of our customer bases
of the ones that are like bringing the vehicles and making these decisions,
especially where I'm in, I'm in a military market in the majority of our locations, right?
And these guys are, you know, PCS throw overseas and they can't make these decisions.
So it really is women forward.
I was looking at our statistics, like before we got on here, and I was like, oh gosh, like what is our female ratio?
You know, like, is that our secret sauce that I didn't even know about?
Besides myself, as the COO, we have another woman on our leadership team.
And of our 10 locations, we have three female store managers, three assistant store managers that are female.
And I think it's like 40% of our service advisor staff is female, which I think is very high and should be higher.
But I think it's incredible. And I think it's a real testament to the automotive hospitality.
You know, like you are saying Amy, it's incredible.
The only thing I'd add is the smell. I've had comments from customers on Google.
They're like, your shop doesn't smell like a shop.
It smells good when I walk in.
I don't think they smell it anymore. Gear oil, like, oh, that's one of my least favorite smells.
It's like they don't even notice perfume to them.
And I love the Google reviews that are like, oh my gosh, it smells good and it's clean.
Like I wasn't expecting this experience.
And another thing I've noticed up at the front, when someone walks in like, hi, how are you doing today?
You know, and I'm just talking to them where any of some of the male counterparts that work here, they walk in the door.
And they're like, hi, how can I help you? I'm like, oh, welcome. How's your day going?
Like straight to the point. Let's get this over with like, I'm just having a conversation.
Wait a minute, ladies. Can't you sit down with your male service advisors and say, when you speak to your wife, what makes her happy?
You know, you just can't be you when you come in at the end of the day.
You got to be a little of her if you want her to make you a decent dinner on being sexist here, maybe.
But there's got to be a way it's brilliant.
You don't talk to your wife like that, do you? Wouldn't that be perfect to say?
I like that.
I think men naturally want to fix things.
You know, versus like, I don't know if you've heard those kind of quotes, like if your wife or your friend, you know, your significant other is having a hard time.
It's like, do you need me to listen or do you need me to offer solutions?
And nine times out of ten, I just need you to listen, you know?
And so I think they're, but men, they're natural inclination as to I'm going to give you solutions and try to fix it.
You know, we've got a ton of service advisor training out there, which I believe is one of the most important in our industry today.
And I wonder if there's a little side hustle going on inside of these formatted service advisor trainings specifically for our men out there.
And I'm not talking about a soft touch.
I'm just talking about letting them empathize with, as I'm hearing, this is how you really need to talk to a lady.
I think they need more of like a social psychology class.
They don't read body language very well.
Like there are things I'm always watching.
I've got cameras.
I'm always listening and coaching on the backside.
And I think just like a social psych class might do them some good to start reading intuition.
Like the lady steps back from you, you don't step towards her.
She's stepping away for a reason, like meet on the eye level.
If she's sitting, you should be sitting like they're standing towering over them.
And I'm like, stop, that's intimidating behavior.
I think you would have to start at the basics and rewiring a little maybe.
That is powerful.
Yeah.
And even to kind of go along with that.
And I think this is just something in human nature in general, not gender specific.
But I think so often when we're going through the process and the sales process, we forget to actively listen.
And we are automatically, we know what our next script is.
We know what our next move is, right?
I mean, the industry is very predictable.
Sales are very predictable.
You know what objections you're going to get.
But you're always on the defense waiting for that next cue instead of actively listening to, well, what really was the objection here?
What really is, you know, the obstacle in getting this vehicle repaired?
She's not saying no or he's not saying no because they don't have the money.
Not now doesn't mean I don't have the money.
It could mean also, I don't have the transportation, you know, so instead of asking more questions and being more of an active listener,
as I think sometimes also the biggest hurdle is that we're just going through the motions instead of really listening to our customers.
I agree.
I also think this is an interesting idea that, like, I think our industry and, you know, independent automotive repair, even in dealerships,
you know, a lot of those people that are service advisors or have been service advisors or, you know, communicate with customers,
like they were techs at one point, too.
You know, which is mostly male, you know, and it's like a natural progression for them, you know, because that's a very physically demanding job, right?
And so I think that it's interesting as we, you know, come over just because they have a lot of car knowledge doesn't necessarily make them a good sales person
or a good person on the counter, not that they don't have value, but maybe not in that seat.
And I think that the, you know, the three of us, we are, you know, I wasn't personally a technician, you know, growing up.
And so I think it's interesting that, like, as we, like, shift our focus to trying to, you know, hire some more sales focused people,
they might not necessarily be in the industry as well, you know, whether it's SSR or anything like that.
I think that's interesting, too, because we've done several acquisitions and the service advisors were the technician, you know, they were doing everything.
They were in the back and maybe not as much now recently, but acquisitions we were doing five years ago.
Like it was like, who's selling the work, the technician.
And it's like just close to that, obviously, too.
But we want technicians doing what actually generates money, which is fixing costs.
Fix the car, right? That's a really good point, Melissa.
And that's why we actually, we have been now hiring outside of the industry purposefully and specifically, you know, out of restaurants.
I have one of my best customer service individuals, he knows nothing about cars, absolutely nothing about cars.
He works the front counter and he is pure hospitality because he comes from the restaurant industry.
He was, I think, an assistant manager and then I was a bartender assistant manager.
And I said, I don't need you to know anything about cars.
I got guys in the back who can fix the cars.
I just need you to build relationships with my customers and make them feel at home and welcome.
And so we found a lot of restaurant guys and gals that are really helpful.
Okay, let's stop for a moment and ask what our listener wants to know is where are you finding them?
Is it Indeed or are you writing specific ads or do you carry business cards with you when you go to restaurants?
Business cards in person.
Here's the thing that I've learned about Indeed.
And I think the most important thing about Indeed is that you can get great names and great individuals off Indeed,
but they're not going to be the A players that we want on our team because they're looking for a job either because they don't have a job
or I mean, some people on Indeed are currently employed somewhere.
So those can be good ones as well.
But a lot of them currently don't have a job.
I want somebody who is actively working, who loves their job, who loves where they are.
So I can go and sell the dream of I can provide you with the best opportunity for generational wealth and help you grow within this industry with my family.
I want to go sell them the dream.
So I have found that everybody that I have employed were happy in their jobs, were happy where they were,
and it took me selling the dream to get them to come over.
And those are my A players.
Those are the ones that show up and want to learn the concepts and are passion driven and have a high sense of agency.
Those are the ones that really join the NFL team and join us on the next level.
I will say for Indeed though, we've shifted.
I think we've attracted some more females because you see automotive as service advisor.
It sounds like a really seasoned position and a seasoned industry and it's like, I don't know anything about cars.
And so I think we've shifted in how we are recruiting and I think it just naturally is attracting more women because it just kind of removes that barrier.
Doing like a CSR focus versus a service advisor, just a sales position.
And women are naturally better at sales anyway and think about sales across any other industry.
It's women.
I totally agree with you.
We're going out and we're trying to find those people and actively recruit,
but you also have those things kind of going on in the background and we've changed that and we've had some really good success with it.
I agree with what Melissa said in making those adjustments.
Texts do make great estimators and we've already started shifting what we're doing here and having your front counter people be customer service reps.
They don't need to know.
They just need to be able to ask the right questions and answer the right questions and having those technicians that are facing out of technician life as an estimator.
They're great at looking at parts.
They're great at knowing what labors are.
Not so great talking to people.
So pass that off to someone else.
Have that person do that sale.
That's something that we've been currently working on, restructuring how we are doing what we're doing because just because you're a phenomenal writer doesn't mean you're a phenomenal salesperson.
Yeah, we kind of fell away from having CSRs for a bit and we're just kind of falling back into it.
The purpose of us having ventured away from CSR was the disconnect of building that rapport and having that foundational relationship with the customer.
At one point, you know, it felt like a disconnect that I had the CSR then gathering all the information, building that relationship.
And then I have a service advisor calling to make a sale and it didn't feel like that relationship translated.
It didn't feel like it felt then more salesy just to hear from the service advisor and to not actually continue on that relationship that was built when they first walked in.
So we did do away with our CSR for a bit and we just recently brought that position back to one of our locations.
The biggest change and the biggest shift that we've seen is we've now kind of enmeshed that position with the service advisor position in the sense of, you know, we have that CSR giving shop tours in the facility.
So they're bringing the customer back.
They're introducing a customer to all of our service advisors and go, you know, you may end up working with Steve, you may end up working with Tyler.
They're all saying hello.
They're all waving, shaking hands.
They meet all the technicians just breaking down all of those barriers.
So now the customer, the CSR is basically served as this bridge for the customer into the next position of the sales happening.
Yeah.
And it's actually been really helpful.
We've seen great success with it.
So we're probably going to start venturing towards having CSR at our other two locations, just on how well it's worked in our swiggle location with again, the restaurant came in and it's just really laid the hospital.
It's a hospitality thick and it's been wonderful.
We have great friends out in Ohio.
Bill Hill, Leanne Best, and they have got the greatest CSR on their counter and they have got this.
Your name is on a board and when you come in and there of course is the candy bowl and the kit for the kids fairly.
And she's the most bubbly thing in the entire world and you just feel like you're part of the family.
The estimators are sitting in the back in this cubicle inside the shop doing all the heavy lifting.
She sets the tone and she builds the relationship.
I have to go back to something you talked about a few minutes ago, which prompted me to remind myself about episodes we've done about is your bathroom as good as the Ritz.
And we've done episodes on that and we have gone to the point where it doesn't matter owner or anyone.
The owner says, I'll clean the bathroom.
If it doesn't come up to standards, no matter what time of day that I come in, I want to lead and show people how important that is.
And we've also done episodes on aromatherapy.
I'm trying to remember one of the stores that my wife adored only because in the walk-in lobby of the store in the mall, it smelled so good.
I just got to pass by.
I got to walk in and smell.
Yes, because sense affect your mood.
It's so true.
It is so true.
I mean, I can be in the worst mood, smell something good now.
Okay, I feel a lot lighter.
I feel happier.
Sense are huge.
I totally agree.
So, okay, we got our ladies on our counter.
They're obviously must be aware of the marketing that's being done to try to bring people in.
Are they charged with understanding what's going on and what's coming in in order to keep them?
Because the story goes, and I've heard this data actually a couple of times in the last three weeks, 70% of the phone calls that come in.
People want to do business with you.
And we on our counter turn that off because we don't know how to handle it.
We do phone script training with all of our employees.
So, we use the anytime presentation with every single one of our employees and they are obligated to memorize, make it second nature, make it part of their subconscious that every time that phone rings, we do anything and everything it takes to get that customer in.
Whether they're asking for a price on a repair or whether they're just asking if we have an appointment available.
Yes is always the answer.
Doesn't matter the question.
Yes is the answer.
We do extensive training daily training on those phone skills because we can spend all the money in advertising we want to get that phone to ring.
But it means nothing if we're not getting that car into the shop.
So absolutely anytime script I would say is our number one most important tool.
I agree.
It's people not realizing that they're saying no it's that conditional yes right.
Hi can I come in and get my breaks checked out at four o'clock.
Oh yeah but you know like my guys leave you know and it's like that's a no even though.
Absolutely.
Yes and so it's like shifting that and it's just you know it's that's why scripts are so important and it just takes the thinking out of it and it just keeps it top of mind.
Unbelievable how much you don't realize how much you're saying no even though technically the words yes are coming out of your mouth.
Yeah absolutely even something as simple as you know I'd like to schedule an oil change for Saturday well is now a good time.
I don't want to give them even the opportunity to change their mind and go somewhere else or whatever the case may be from now until Saturday.
Just always offering the sense of urgency creating that VIP experience by making them feel so important you called me and I want to help you right now.
That's how important your phone call is to me so not Saturday now.
Boy that is so powerful it happened to me recently.
I was a recall for a doctor and I said listen I can't make that thing but would you like to come in today and that sense of urgency that I didn't have but they found an open and an opportunity.
It made me feel try to get an appointment with a doctor right it's like whoa could I possibly be you know the governor of the state.
I felt that important even though it didn't work for me I love the point.
And exactly like how important did that make you feel in the moment you and you never anticipated it right and I think that that's the thing that catches most customers off guard is they're not anticipating the come on in right now I'll take care of you right now.
They are anticipating it's going to be weeks out it's going to be a week out you don't have time today and to just create that VIP you are that important you called me today you called me for help and I'm here to help you right now is so huge.
Here's my takeaway don't make it a chore to do business with us.
Right absolutely.
I know your numbers that's another one I always tell every miss phone call and every loss lead like eight hundred and sixty three dollars to get the phone to ring for a new customer so there's eight hundred sixty three down the drain.
What's your arrow eight hundred dollars there's another eight hundred dollars down the drain like just double everything because you lost that opportunity and now you have to get two more to make up for that one.
And even if it wasn't a no like Melissa said and Amy said like absolutely yes absolutely yes that is the only answer you are allowed to respond with them in the door.
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Okay ladies let's cover the elephant in the room.
Are you sharing numbers with your people do they have particular goals you know you say or do they know what it means and how it works and how it develops and my wife's not good with numbers.
There's a feeling that we have the loving and the soft version of trust in family and relationships but they don't get the numbers side and that's got to be wrong.
Yeah you've got to be transparent with numbers.
Absolutely.
I share all of our numbers with our staff.
I will bring in a P and L and show them last month's numbers and the good bad and ugly.
And you know I'll show them you know what how much I'm spending on advertising.
I'll show them how much came went to the bottom line.
I think the more that your staff know what you're spending and how you're spending your money and what every dollar means.
The more buy in you get from them the more they understand that you know just because we had a 500 K month that doesn't mean that we took 500 K to the bank you know and I think that numbers are really important that a lot of people don't understand and so we teach them.
I bring them P and L's and I show them exactly and I teach them that this is what this is what it costs to run the business and this is why I need your top tier a player execution.
I think it's super important that you know I'm we're just as transparent with our customers as I will be with my employees.
Absolutely.
That is the name of the game.
That's the integrity.
Okay.
Can you see a difference between growth and ARO or the size ticket between the guys and the ladies.
I actually have my stats right here.
Yes Sarah.
Oh I landed perfect Sarah.
Of course she did.
We have seven stores three are ran by females three ran by males or I should say four ish and we've got a team of a female and a male that run one store so that one's hard to cut in half.
But my number my top three stores for ARO and hours per hour are all female led all of my females their AROs are $191 and 17 cents more per ticket and hours per hour is 0.72 more poor ticket.
I did an average of the last five years for good data and I'm looking at 6705 as an average for my top three female led shops and my feet are my male led shops for 2588 is their ARO that is a huge huge difference and then hours per hour 0.2.
And below that at 1.53 I'm a big KPIs and PNL share with everyone on our teams.
I love industry standards and having those information for everyone we all know 2.5 so 2.25 they're right at that cusp of pushing that level so it's irrespectable.
You're looking at hard cold facts.
I don't mind because you said that Sarah and I looked and it was like total invoice for last month you know and I think this goes not just to sales.
My top three were women for last month and I think that really goes towards our ability to multitask just you know since we're on a women's podcast.
I think it you know operationally I just think we are much more capable naturally.
I'm not saying you know men can't do it.
I'm not trying to say that yet I'm just saying we just naturally do those things already where we're you know multitasking all of these things.
And I just think that we I think women handle the volume of it a lot more which is why Amy and Sarah and I I mean.
On like a band at that level like we're wearing so many hats you know what I mean and it's I think it's just because women are naturally better multitaskers.
Every time I listen to the episodes that of course I host I'm always so into it heavy heavy into it and I'm looking for a theme maybe a possible title of the episode as we discuss this I figured it out I wrote it down.
I think you're going to like it.
Ladies are our secret weapon.
I like it.
I like it.
Don't you think a whole bunch of guys be looking at this.
I think I may have listened to that.
I have to watch that.
It's sad that like in this industry.
I mean I sat in a room and somebody I asked why don't you have more female service advisors.
And they told me that women are I mean we've been trying my own positives but like it was painted in a negative light women are distractions for the men which you know is not true.
Women are emotional you know and I'm sure.
So are men.
It's wild to me and so I just think that's just.
It is a secret sauce and you would think you know what people would tap into this more.
Why is it a secret.
I think is the real question.
I think she brought up a really important point I'd love to go deeper on you know the whole thing of distractions and emotion what else ladies do.
We look inside the shop is that the dynamic isn't right and that's why you know I've got to have it's got to be an all male group.
I've done some females before and it didn't quite work.
Well there's probably circumstances involved in all of that especially if you're so darn happy and you've got the stats to prove it.
This is probably 15 years ago we were interviewing a tech gentleman and one of the owners was like Sarah runs the shop like would you be able to work for her and he said absolutely not refuse to work for a woman.
And he walked out.
Yeah I was like came by like see you later.
I have a female technician here at my location.
Everybody works together great.
If you have a toxic environment it's probably a toxic person that's making it that way because they're old school or they were raised differently.
There's some underlying thing that's happening.
All of my teams are absolutely amazing.
I've had female leads move from one to another and bring a team from toxic to all found together and absolutely amazing.
I want to say it's old school because I think some younger people still have it in them as well.
But I think it's an old school mentality that we should be in.
Oh at one of our stores someone told me I should be in Bible study or sewing circle and I shouldn't be at work.
I was like whoa that was two years ago two years ago.
In 2026 it's really wild that those are the things.
I'm a firm believer you can have your cake and eat it too in this instance.
I'm married.
I have two sons.
I have two boy dogs.
I thrive in a male environment but I am also actively trying to surround myself with women because I think we are what you said Sarah.
We are the culture drivers and I'm not saying that every woman is going to be a fantastic asset or into your culture.
But I think when you do have somebody that fits in your culture and knows what they're doing that they are the culture driver of your shop and they're your biggest advocate.
You know what I mean?
I don't know why it's a secret crime but it is a secret sauce I think for the three of us at the very least.
I love when you said you dodged a bullet by saying could you work for a woman?
And you just literally you could have lost that store had you not in an interview process say to someone by the way let me give you the outline of our leadership team here.
We have Sally who is our manager and if all of a sudden the person does that you know it looks at you shocked and nervous.
You've just gotten the signal that this opportunity it seems to have done this podcast or doing this podcast about ladies is to open the eyes of our industry just a little wider.
I think we see the amount of females that are coming in as clients and maybe we're not necessarily stopping to say as leaders I think I need to put a female on my counter because of this because it is a tough.
I can't imagine you're a zero female shop.
You see all these females 55 60% of them coming in living life multitasking doing all this stuff and all of a sudden I've got to stop and find a female for my counter the next hire I make.
It's almost like pushing the rock up the hill and I'm trying to be sexist here but a lot of established owners.
I'm not even sure that they could make that heavy lift.
I think they need to though because if they don't even when you have couples coming in most of the time it's 80% of the women that are making the calls they're balancing the checkbooks they're running the homes.
I don't know about you all but my husband has no idea what's happening or what's on the grocery list like he's just be bobbing through life.
I'm the one you know making all the decisions and getting everything done and I think the even if the guys are coming in here they're like well let me call my wife first make sure we have enough money for this or if it's okay or I might need to pick Johnny up from school I don't know until she tells me.
If you just listen oh they're going back to I think what Melissa or Amy said if you just listen listen to what is being said it is loud and clear what is being said.
Well I think it's women's natural ability like I love my husband he's super supportive and super involved in our home life and I'm not trying to you know diss him but I say this with a couple of my girlfriends all the time.
Can you imagine how successful I would be if I had a wife at home.
Oh my gosh I talk about this all the time.
Oh my god.
I just need a sister wife to you know just rule the world's life would be so much easier.
Let's just say you know dog on my husband.
Right.
Women are incredible.
I wish I had a wife at home.
I second that to 100 percent I would be world domination would nothing would be slowing me down.
I get it all the time because they're like oh Sarah like we have this event this night and this event this night.
I'm like I have to like do the laundry they're like what and I'm like I get that your wife takes care of everything at home like I'm the wife at home as well.
So like I gotta go do the things.
It sounds you know full time job heavy into a difficult job to be on our counter in an automotive and still balance.
Soccer moming and laundry I mean let's make an assumption that there's a lot of husbands that are helping out a lot more so that the wife can have a really good strong lifelong job.
Is that going out more than we really know.
I think between you know men and women but it's also division of like conquer what you're good at.
Right.
Like for me in my home like I'm good at you know managing the money and you know schedules and so I think women are just natural.
Just goes back to why they're maybe writing more tickets right.
Just natural multitaskers you know what I mean.
And so like I think the world is completely different than it was you know from you know 1950 to you know now traditional you know housewife like women didn't work then really.
Unless they had to and like what's it going to be in you know 2050 you know probably completely different than it is today which I think is incredible too.
I think about what it would be like in 30354550 those years down the road and it scares me a little bit.
And it's nothing that scares me because I would be afraid to walk down that aisle toward these you know future days that we have it scares me to think what it would look like.
And again let's go back to 50s and 60s and the 70s and 80s every decade had its own thing going on.
And I'm trying to figure out what the 2020s are going to look like you know because there's a lot of junk going on out there but let's just kind of wrap this up in one particular way.
What do we tell young women about this industry and this particular job be it a CSR or a service advisors role or job and let's hope we can take this episode push it down maybe into some educational think tanks and say hey listen this is Automotive Field.
First of all it's a high tech field when it comes to specialist technicians working with their hands and computers and all of that and diagnostics.
Some people are built just to give me the problem I want to fix it.
Not like just doing a break job from years ago so give me the problem I want to fix it.
And our counters are all about relationships and trust and the things that as we are saying in this episode you've made a point of how powerful the ladies are in that role.
What do we tell our young people Automotive and any I think trades in general are not being pushed in schools you know and the opportunity to make incredible living and come up if you have just an ounce of drive and willing to learn.
This is extremely lucrative career extremely rewarding it's a it's a hard industry to be in don't get me wrong but I think it we push on young people like you either have to go to college or you know join the army and like the trades in general you know are just kind of an after thought I think just pushing out that
like this is a really good living in any trade service based industry and opportunity especially because the supply for it is so low right like the opportunity for it is just incredible and it doesn't matter if you are a technician working with your hands or maybe
you know that bubbly bartender that wants to transition from working nights to just working during the day you know like you're a great communicator and you've got great people skills like there's a place for everybody.
It's really attractive you know and as a female like I mean Sarah and I we were at a conference last week or last month.
And you know the line for the men's room is out the door the women's room there's three of us and there's fantastic like come on guys this is you can rule the world yeah join us right.
You can have your own meeting in there Sarah your perspective to young people sir.
Across the board just communication and people skills definitely see a shift and you know service based industry in the United States moving forward as you know trends are showing you need to be able to communicate whether internally or externally.
They need to learn how to talk on the phone to communicate especially those younger ones having a 17 year old who doesn't even like to pick up the phone because it's scary.
Really work on your people and communication skills because you could land anywhere like Melissa and Amy are saying you can come run my front counter from I was a hairstylist look at me now like.
Learn how to talk to people learn how to listen and be open and happy and choose joy every single day even though it's hard you will shine through.
Before I get to you Amy I gotta make a comment on what Melissa said about skilled trades and part of my whole language shift in improving the professionalism of our industry is not to call ourselves skilled trades but having skilled careers.
Yeah think about that think about the schools that the kids can go to to learn everything from hairdressing to veterinary school to.
You know woodworking and electrical and automotive and these centers say that they're skilled trades.
We have been so schooled with over all these years as our parents that's just a trade is such a trade I need you to be a professional I'm sorry we are professional.
You guys exemplify what professional automotive repair is all about and if you're going to go to school for anything to everyone's point here the kind of income that could be made with the right top tier shop who cares about their people.
Who wants to pay him and have him be part of the goals and the KPIs and we take some of that wealth home with you because you know we've got it we all learned it together to find those kinds of shops.
And someone would ultimately say if they were CSR service advisors at your store is that I don't work I don't have a trade.
I'm in a career in front of shop and back of shop it's a career that's going on the responsibility that you have for people so.
I can't say that enough that we sometimes say the wrong things at our counter and we flop all these acronyms everywhere and the client doesn't have a clue what we're talking about.
We don't want to be up there we want to be down here in the real world of let me just take care of you Mrs Smith that's a beautiful dress from Macy's.
Exactly.
Amy your last word.
No that's so funny you said that Carm because that's exactly what I was thinking is that in what I wanted to mention is that it's so often that people think of the auto industry as this dirty industry right.
The industry has such a bad rap and has such a bad name to it and unfortunately there's still those shops out there that don't help us to change that.
But I think that the coolest part about this industry is there is a place for everybody you know whether you are that outgoing person who likes to build relationships with people and you are going to be great in sales and.
You can succeed at this or if you don't like to talk to people but you love to tinker and take things apart and put them back together.
I mean the opportunities that exist in this industry are just so far reaching and so under discussed and under talked about that I just think it falls short on so many people.
I mean I can't tell you how often people ask me what I do you know my kids school or whatnot and oh I'm in auto hospitality you're in what.
And that's how I'm framing it because that's what I want to change this auto industry has such a bad name I want it to be the auto hospitality industry.
And I think that that makes it seem so much bigger and greater than just talking about auto repair it puts that shiny star on it that it should have on it.
Because think about it no one's going anywhere without us y'all need your car so we are that important we are that critical to day to day operations for every family out there.
So why not wear it with a badge of honor and talk about how this is one of the most lucrative careers you will ever have.
So I speak so highly to what you said Karm it just makes all the sense in the world and I just we got to change the rapid house that's for sure.
Change the rap.
Damn I got to get a beat going with that I love that Amy.
It was Amy Bartell.
I'm Melissa Parker.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for being here.
This is great.
Appreciate it.
Thanks car.
Thank you.
About this episode
Exploring the unique strengths women bring to auto repair shop hospitality, this discussion highlights their superior communication, multitasking, and leadership skills. Female service advisors excel in building trust, especially with the majority female customer base who often control repair decisions. The panel shares insights on how women naturally enhance customer experience through attention to detail, relationship building, and creating a welcoming environment. They also discuss the challenges men face in customer interactions and suggest training focused on empathy and social cues to improve service advisor effectiveness.
Original notes
Thanks to our Partners, NAPA TRACS, Today's Class, KUKUI, and Pit Crew Loyalty
Watch Full Video Episode
In this episode, Melissa Parker, Amy Bartel, and Sara Abrecht join Carm Capriotto to discuss why women are the automotive industry’s “secret weapon.” The panel explores the concept of automotive hospitality, focusing on relationships, empathy, and customer experience as key drivers of trust, loyalty, and profitability.
They share how hospitality driven environments, strong listening skills, and hiring from service focused industries elevate the customer experience and strengthen shop performance. Sara also reveals data showing female-led shops achieve higher average repair orders, highlighting the business impact of communication and relationship building.
The conversation challenges outdated industry perceptions and calls for a shift toward hospitality centered operations, encouraging shop owners to embrace these principles and inspiring more women to pursue leadership roles in this evolving, people first profession.
Timestamps
(00:00:00) - Introduction and Guest Welcome (00:03:15) - Defining "Automotive Hospitality" (00:06:00) - The "Ritz-Carlton" Standard (00:09:45) - Men vs. Women: Fixers vs. Listeners (00:14:15) - Hiring Outside the Industry (00:18:20) - The Role of the Customer Service Rep (CSR) (00:21:00) - The "Anytime" Presentation (00:27:45) - The Financial Case: Women Drive Higher ARO (00:30:15) - The "Secret Weapon" & Workplace Culture (00:34:30) - The Household Decision Maker (00:37:45) - Rebranding: From "Trade" to "Skilled Career"
Melissa Parker, COO, Harrell’s Tire and Auto
Amy Bartel, Owner, Bartel's Auto Clinic
Sara Abrecht, CFO, Dynamic Automotive
Thanks to our Partner, NAPA TRACS NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Today's Class Optimize training with Today's Class: In just 5 minutes daily, boost knowledge retention and improve team performance. Find Today's Class on the web at https://www.todaysclass.com/ Thanks to our Partner, KUKUI Stop juggling multiple marketing tools. KUKUI’s integrated platform delivers 4x better website conversions, automated follow-up, and real-time ROI tracking. Get industry-leading customer support with KUKUI at https://www.kukui.com/ Thanks to our Partner, Pit Crew Loyalty 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 at https://www.pitcrewloyalty.com/ Connect with the Podcast: - Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableResultsRadioPodcast/ - Join Our Virtual Toastmasters Club: https://remarkableresults.biz/toastmasters - Join Our Private Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734687266778976 - Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/carmcapriotto - Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmcapriotto/ - Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remarkableresultsradiopodcast/ - Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RResultsBiz - Visit the Website: https://remarkableresults.biz/ - Join our Insider List: https://remarkableresults.biz/insider - All books mentioned on our podcasts: https://remarkableresults.biz/books - Our Classroom page for personal or team learning: https://remarkableresults.biz/classroom - Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/carm - Special episode collections: https://remarkableresults.biz/collections - The Automotive Repair Podcast Network: https://automotiverepairpodcastnetwork.com/ - Remarkable Results Radio Podcast with Carm Capriotto: Advancing the Aftermarket by Facilitating Wisdom Through Story Telling and Open Discussion. https://remarkableresults.biz/ - Diagnosing the Aftermarket A to Z with Matt Fanslow: From Diagnostics to Metallica and Mental Health, Matt Fanslow is Lifting the Hood on Life. https://mattfanslow.captivate.fm/ - Business by the Numbers with Hunt Demarest: Understand the Numbers of Your Business with CPA Hunt Demarest. https://huntdemarest.captivate.fm/ - The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast with Kim and Brian Walker: Marketing Experts Brian & Kim Walker Work with Shop Owners to Take it to the Next Level. https://autorepairmarketing.captivate.fm/ - The Weekly Blitz with Chris Cotton: Weekly Inspiration with Business Coach Chris Cotton from AutoFix - Auto Shop Coaching. https://chriscotton.captivate.fm/ - Speak Up! Effective Communication with Craig O'Neill: Develop Interpersonal and Professional Communication Skills when Speaking to Audiences of Any Size. https://craigoneill.captivate.fm
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Carm Capriotto, AAP
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