Hard Shop Life: Recent Episodes
The GMan and Coach J
We are here for the hard working men and women of the Automotive, Trucking, and Motorcycle community. Our goal is to pass on all the information and knowledge we have collected, and continue to collect, over our 50 combined years in this industry.
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan discuss the importance of taking action and making decisions, even if they are not perfect. They emphasize the need to constantly adapt and try new things in order to grow and improve. And give you their 3-1-2 method, which involves analyzing three different options and choosing the one with the least risk to test and evaluate. You should always seek to grow, procrastination stems from the fear to act.
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan talk about the big difference between micromanaging and managing the expectation. They advise that the best way to lead your team to success is through continuous reinforcement of the mission, and holding yourself, and your team, to a high expectation.
We have all seen that number one advisor suddenly drop off, coming in late to work and seeming uninterested in their job. It isn’t because they forgot how to do their job. They are most likely experiencing burnout. We’ve all experienced it before ourselves, but how you treat burnout with your employees can greatly improve team morale and decrease advisor turnover. So, in this episode, Coach J and The GMan talk all about burnout and how you can best handle it.
In this episode of Hard Shop Life, Coach J and G-Man explore the widely-used but often limiting benchmark of 30% net to gross, questioning its potential to stifle growth and success. Too frequently, this metric is hailed as the ultimate measure, yet in reality, no single metric operates in isolation. Achieving a thriving business requires a holistic consideration of all metrics. Focusing solely on one metric blinds you to emerging opportunities. Embracing discomfort, letting go of outdated beliefs, and tackling challenges head-on are pivotal for substantial business growth. By shedding old beliefs and embracing new opportunities, you can set your business apart from the competition.
In this Best of episode, Coach J and the GMan discuss the negative impact A La Carte selling can have on customers and your ability to close. The automotive service experience is already a confusing and anxiety causing event for most people. Our job is to take as much anxiety out of their experience as we can — great service departments can turn it into a positive experience. The big factor of customer anxiety is the unknown expense they may incur to fix or maintain their vehicle. So when it comes time to sell, the presentation can make or break your sale, and A La Carte selling will lead to more customer anxiety .
Understanding your service departments potential will dictate every way in which you operate your business. Once you know what is possible, then you are able to visualize what your operation looks like at its true potential. How many employees do you have? What goals are you setting? and the big one.. What is your customer experience like? These questions you have to ask yourself, and answer, and honestly evaluate what will take you to that next level. To unlock your true potential, everything you do has to be in service of achieving that number. In this episode, Coach J and The GMan talk about how to find your stores true earning potential, and how you can move closer to it.
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan discuss the current news, good and bad, in the automotive industry. They both have first hand experience being a leader in their Service Department during good times, but also. during very tough economic times, such as 2008. These times will make our business change. It does not always mean it’s going to be worse, and the businesses who make it through these times, usually come out doing even better than before. Coach J and The GMan go through their experiences in these times and give you actions you can take to succeed through it.
Are good salespeople born or built? Coach J had natural talent, and some would say he was a “born salesperson”. In this episode, GMan talks to Coach J about what made him a superstar advisor, and if it was his natural charisma or a skill he had to learn. They also discuss how anyone can learn how to be a great advisor, no matter your natural abilities.
Often Coach J and The GMan stress the importance of personal development, but in this episode they get into the importance of personnel training. Investing in training and development will help your team improve their skills, and handle the stresses of the job better. When you continuously train and reinforce the training, it ingrains these good habits into your workforce. As stick with the continuous training of your staff, over time you’ll build a skilled and motivated workforce, that is much more likely to stay with your company.
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan discuss the concept of winning and what it means in your service department. They stress the need of setting goals, celebrating small victories, and continuously striving for improvement. It’s ultimately important to have a winning mindset and empathy in leadership, in order to lead a winning team. To know you are winning you must be constantly pushing past mediocrity and striving for excellence, and even then you will still ask… Am I Winning?
In this episode, Coach J and the GMan take the five things you can do today to have the biggest improvement on your Service Departments performance. These strategies are used by your hosts in dealerships all over the country and they found them to be the most impactful. Listen in to learn what they are and how you can start using them today.
In this episode, Coach J and the GMan explore what happens when your top performer becomes your boss! When you have a team member that you believe you can’t live without, you run the risk of that person becoming entitled. That entitlement can turn a good employee into a bully and eventually into the person that runs the show. Once you put yourself into that position it becomes extremely difficult to lead, and almost impossible to gain back that control. Our hosts talk about their experiences first hand on how to gain and stay in charge of your department.
In this episode, Coach J and G-Man discuss the differences between being strategic vs tactical in business. They discuss the separation between the two ways of thinking/executing and how both are used together. They emphasize the importance of thinking strategically and systemically to achieve desired goals. Listen in, you may be using tactics and not be thinking strategically everyday.
The most important thing when it comes to executing change at any level of your dealership, or any business, is YOU. It is impossible to expect change or improvement of the business, or the team you are leading, without first changing what you are doing. As a leader you give life to the purpose, create the culture, and build for the future. So, if you come in everyday doing the same things, the same way, you’re going to end up right back where you started. When you set out to change a result, in any form, the first thing you need to look at yourself in the mirror, and understand what is it that lead me to this result. It’s only when you start to view things differently, and change YOU, will your result change. Your Hosts, Coach J and The GMan, get introspective this episode talking about change and those who want it.
If you don’t have a scoreboard consider this… Would you set off on a long road trip without a map? Could athletes compete without knowing the score of the game, and would anyone even watch? There are many essential aspects to building and running a successful service department, but the Scoreboard sits #1 on the list. The Scoreboard is such a powerful tool that it alone can give your team, and departments, results a sizeable boost. The affects are two-fold. It will increase the competition in the drive pushing the advisors to be at their best, and to look at who is doing better. While also giving the leader a road map to success. You have to know where you’ve been, and where you are to know where you will end up. In this episode your hosts, Coach J and The GMan, dive deep into all the ways having a Scoreboard will benefit you, and discuss another feature of their scoreboard they wouldn’t go without.
What is the price of success? Is it money? Is it your time? Does it cost your energy? Maybe it’s at the cost of swallowing some pride. It could mean all of these things to one person and something completely different to the next person. The factor that will never change, is winning and success will cost something. Now this isn’t saying you need to give up the most important things in your life. But in order to succeed, in order to win, you must ask yourself… What am I willing to pay?
It’s 2023 and Hard Shop Life is back! As the New Year comes in, so do new challenges to overcome and new goals to hit and grow the business. The market is changing, new car inventory is no longer scarce, used car prices are coming off inflated highs, and by all definitions we are in a recession. Dealerships and owners will start to lean on Fixed Ops to keep everything steady. But there is no reason to fear, now is time to separate yourself from the pack and build a bulletproof service department to capitalize when times are rich. So In this episode, our hosts give you tips on what is most important to focus on in your dealership, and service department, in 2023.
We are back! And in this episode of Hard Shop Life we are discussing how you can maximize your employees effectiveness by accentuating their different personalities, and strengths. Not everyone who works for you will be like you, and thats a great thing. A dealership is a symphony that has to seamlessly work together, but to create a musical masterpiece there have to be competing instruments. Some employees will only care about a bigger pay check and some will care more about hearing they are doing a good job. Some employees are innately outgoing and good with people, and some are inherently very structured. Knowing what makes your people tick can fill in the gaps in your skillset and help you to maximize the positions you have, and therefore your department as a whole.
A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan answer the questions they get asked the most by the listeners, and the people they meet while traveling the country. They cover everything from technology, technicians, and the industry as a whole to their biggest mistakes while working with dealerships. If you ever had any burning questions
What does it mean to inspect what you expect? As a manager not only do you have to be the example, but you also have to set the standards by which your advisors operate. Now our hosts have used this saying in many different ways, but the desired result is always the same, to control
By its definition a “tool” should help you perform a job. Hammers drive nails, wrenches turn nuts and bolts, and computers can increase productivity (sometimes). It seems that lately the tools that are sold as “the next best thing” to improve service advisors sales or technician productivity, have become “tools of torture”! No one is
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan interview another Superstar Advisor, Yordano. He has been in the business for around 8 years, and within six months of moving dealerships has quickly risen to the top. Everyday he strives to learn more, is the first one in and last one to leave, and comes in
Gas prices are through the roof, EV’s are booming, and around half of all full-time workers work from home. Now, what does all this mean for an industry reliant on people driving, buying, and repairing their cars. In the field, Coach J and The GMan are hearing a mostly “Doom and Gloom” perspective from almost
Whether you are Parts or Service, how are you supposed to maximally run your department when the other manager won't play along? Coach J and The GMan along with their return guest, Luis Romano, discuss and share their first hand experience on both sides of the playing field. The collaboration of the fixed operation departments
In this age of information technology, all of us have computers in our pockets capable of calling, texting, email, and many more forms of communication. Let’s also include all the money your dealerships spend on software to do the same. Yet, the biggest complaint we hear from customers in our industry is a lack of
On this episode of Hard Shop Life, Coach J and the GMan talk with long time friend, and client, Luis Romano for an update on the reinvention of his San Francisco service department. In this update we bring you up to speed on our current progress, discuss some issues that are "new" in this post-COVID
Today we brought you something very unique for the first Advisor interview of the Season! In this episode, Coach J and The GMan interview Superstar Advisor Bree. Bree is not only a brand new advisor (starting mid 2021) with no existing clientele, and no prior training; but she is new to the dealership life entirely!
“The territory is not the map”. What you can see is not all that is there. So many of us in the industry don’t have someone to show us what we don’t know, and it’s very difficult to visualize what you can’t see. But when your back is up against the wall, your GM is
Why is ELR (Effective Labor Rate) such an important topic everyday in Service Departments across the country? Well, ELR is how we make sure that we are holding gross and charging the correct value for our services, but more importantly that we aren't just giving away our factory trained technicians time for cheap. Think of
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan have on Fixed Ops Director Luis Romano to update and discuss their on-going "David vs Goliath" project. In part 1 they talked about how you go about launching this huge undertaking. Now Luis and our hosts discuss how the project is going almost 60 days in, and
In this episode, Coach J and The GMan interview Superstar Advisor Ron Connor. Ron gives us insight on what it's like to not only be a top tier advisor, but also a leader in the drive. He believes confidence is one of the most important attributes for an advisor to have because without it, the
"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." - Ronald Reagan Leaders in Service Departments across the nation can struggle to lead their teams to success. Not because they don't know how to do their jobs or
Recently Coach J had an experience with Tesla (specifically the service department) that wasn’t exactly what he expected, nor would you expect of an ultra-modern company like Tesla. In this episode, Coach J and the GMan talk about this experience, and about how service departments can make or break a car brand. They also talk
In this episode, we have yet another Superstar Advisor, Tony Vincent! He will go to any extent to help and provide his customers with the best service he possibly can. However, when he found himself fixing cars in the drive, he realized he may have gone too far with his stellar service, and didn’t have
Many of us know what it's like to be handed "the keys" to the store, and then sent off to run the show. It can be an incredibly daunting task. How does one man take on a project infinitely bigger than just himself? Well, this episode GMan and Coach J have on our return guest
Whether you've been in this business 20 years or are just starting out, this episode contains a couple golden nuggets you'll want to use. Veteran and superstar advisor Jeremy sits down with GMan and Coach J to talk about what makes him one of the best advisors in the country. He strives every day to
This week we sat down with a few of our favorite people who are also the best parts managers in the country. The conversation was around all the mistakes made in parts departments every day. We ended up narrowing it down to the 7 Deadly Sins! Let's see if you agree.
Everyday the average person is loaded with over 34GB of data, which is enough to fill a laptop within the week. Our brains take in so much information, hours and hours of content, and thousands of messages a day. In short, our brains are overloaded with data and even more so when you are juggling
In this episode, GMan and Coach J talk about intuition vs. intention, but there is no argument or debate, no battle between what's right and what's wrong. These traits don't (or shouldn't) compete. Intuition and Intention are two sides of the same coin, and without one you may be missing a large chunk of the
Our second of many Superstar Advisors, but he is not number two by any means. Cesar made the move from Southern California all the way to Iowa for his family. Like many of us, 2020 was not his year, and he was never able to get his numbers up, despite the dealer as a whole
What does it look like to have complete synergy between Service and Parts? A Fixed Operations Director as an unbiased mediator for conversations between Service and Parts Managers? Well no, but there really isn't just one solution to this problem. However, one thing is for certain: PARTS AND SERVICE NEED EACH OTHER TO SURVIVE! And
In this episode, GMan and Coach J are tackling the BIG issue. The one keeping many dealers from profitability, slowing down your shops, and racking up thousands of dollars every month in lost opportunity. There is no easy fix, and in today’s environment we have to think outside the box to solve it. We are
In this episode, GMan and Coach J are tackling the BIG issue. The one keeping many dealers from profitability, slowing down your shops, and racking up thousands of dollars every month in lost opportunity. There is no easy fix, and in today’s environment we have to think outside the box to solve it. We are
In this episode we are kicking off our five-part Superstar Advisor Interview series with the best of the best, Chuck Suter. Our hosts stole his preparation method and used it in the first step of JDI’s Advisor Mastery Training. He doesn’t believe in selling and still crushes it every single month. Learn how he has
GMan and Coach J are addressing one of the most asked about topics they hear at every dealer they visit, Special Order Parts. Advisors are frustrated with parts, and parts departments are frustrated with advisors all over the country. But it doesn't have to be that way! Fixed Ops is only as strong as it's
"A body in motion stays in motion; a body at rest stays at rest". We are in a unique time, our hosts GMan and Coach J are seeing this around the nation at every dealer they help. Companies everywhere are struggling to hire anyone, whether its porters, advisors, managers or technicians it doesn't matter, and
In this episode of the podcast, G-Man and Coach J talk to NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, and extremely successful entrepreneur, Fran Tarkenton. Playing in the NFL for 18 seasons, Fran set multiple career records and was widely regarded as one of the best to ever play the game. Shortly after his retirement he was
In this episode Coach J and GMan wrap up their interview with one of the G.O.A.T.’s of the fixed operations world, David Paterson. You don't want to miss this rare chance to get an insight into one of the most successful people in the fixed operations industry.
In our new weekly segment we are going to talk about the books we are currently reading, and the books we think are the most important. At JDI we are constantly sending out books to people in our coaching group and consulting program because we believe you can never stop learning. Our goal is for
In this episode Coach J and GMan interview one of the G.O.A.T.’s of the fixed operations world, David Paterson. He started in the industry at just 15 years old as a mechanic, and worked his way to running and building the most profitable Honda service center in the world, which is still #1 to this
By its definition a “tool” should help you perform a job. Hammers drive nails, wrenches turn nuts and bolts, and computers can increase productivity (sometimes). It seems that lately the tools that are sold as “the next best thing” to improve service advisors sales or technician productivity, have become “tools of torture”! Do not take
Let’s talk about how you are getting work to your technicians. In the automotive industry this can make or break your service department's bottom line! Keeping technicians producing is the one of the most important requirements of a service department. But are you using a dispatching system that is holding you back? Constantly we tell
Mark Twain once said, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Aside from improving your job satisfaction, can this approach actually improve your dealership KPIs? In Part 2 G-Man and Coach J talk more to our special guest, Benjamin Dykstra, about prioritizing your customer
Mark Twain once said, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Aside from improving your job satisfaction, can this approach actually improve your dealership KPIs? In this episode of the podcast, G-Man and Coach J talk to our special guest, Benjamin Dykstra, about prioritizing
In this episode, G-Man and Coach J go deep with our return guest Doug (aka. Mr. Relentless), and discuss Your Foundation, Talent and Purpose. In order to master the drive, you must know yourself. What are your key principles? What are you naturally good at? What gets you up in the morning, and keeps you
What is the Columbo Method? To learn about tho origin you are going to have to turn to Google for that. In summary Columbo, a TV detective from the 1970's, repeats the same, seemingly trivial, questions at erratic intervals often while pretending to be dumb or forgetful, luring the murderer into making a mistake or
This comes up more than you would think! Problems that come up every day in our service and parts departments and make tensions between the customer and the employee very high. When this happens someone will “blow their top”. Typically the customer will pop first and start to use expletives and insults as a tool
In this episode, Coach J and the GMan have a roundtable discussion with some special guests around the concept of Do The Work. GMan shares how Coach J and his Do The Work speech inspired him and others during a meeting of automotive professionals. GMan tells the group how each experience in his life was
In this episode, Coach J and the GMan speak to Charley. Charley is a Parts Manager. Actually, he's a Fixed Ops Director who comforts in the title of Parts manager because, he doesn't know if he can take the pain of more responsibility with a bigger title again. Like many managers in the automotive industry,
In this special episode Coach J and the GMan interview one of the top Honda service managers in the country. On a normal day he's responsible for 150 customers, 100 employees, 250 used cars and more than a million dollars in sales. All this and he still finds time to help the owners open a
In this episode Coach J and the GMan discuss the merits of having a Business Development Center (BDC) in your dealership. There are some obvious benefits, better phone presence, improved follow up, increased appointments, etc... But there is a benefit that most dealers and managers miss... And this one thing can transform your business!
In this episode Coach J and the GMan explore the importance of the standards service department metrics. The old saying is "garbage in and garbage out". If you allow your data to get messy then you have no roadmap for change or improvement. Its a common trap that a lot of dealers fall into, in
Is it time to change change Flat Rate pay for automotive technicians? Some are doing radical things in these radical times
Hi Performing employees, especially advisors, can be a pain. Most of the time they are testing manager's limits. Not to mention all the people that complain about them. In this episode GMan and Coach J talk about how It takes special leaders to be able to coach high performers for team success. Imagine Michael Jordan
In this episode GMan and Coach J invite Ben Dykstra from Dealershiplife.org to go head-to-head on the topic of BDCs. They discuss the importance of a sales call ringing into the BDC compared to the service call. Ben believes that a sales call ringing into the department is far more important than the service call.
In part 2, Coach J tries to flip the script on Ben by putting the example into a Variable Ops scenario. Again, both GMan and Ben share their intense opinions on how leaders should lead. Ben gets pi$$ed when Coach J and GMan make the excuse of stereotyping the younger generations as "millennials...They're just millennials."
How a millennial's manager mindset is NOT all their fault. They just take things literally. Gman and Coach J are joined by Automotive Sales Training expert Ben Dykstra from Dealershiplife.org
LISTEN! Coach J confesses something to GMan that would have forced GMan to FIRE Coach J as an advisor.
Coach J and GMan tackle the dealers programmed for Ala Carte service. Customers want it more!
The Winner vs. Winning - One gets the trophy and the other has hopes of the trophy. Which matters?
On this episode Coach J and the GMan explore what happens when your top performer becomes your boss! When you have a team member that you can live without you run the risk of that person becoming entitled. That entitlement can turn a good employee into a bully and eventually into the person that makes
Coach J was one of the most award winning and highest performing service advisors in the business. G-Man says that Coach J had was born with a natural talent to perform while he had to be trained on a system to win on the service drive. In this episode, G-Man and Coach J share their
In this episode, Coach J shares how much he’s failed when using one of these two methods of leading people. G-Man dissects WHY Coach J failed to lead people and get the results he wanted when using this failed technique. Listen and learn how using one or both of these approaches, in a strategic way,
G-Man tricks Coach J into thinking that this episode is about “ducklings following the duck.” Coach J is sadly mistaken only to be enthralled by its eye-opening message. G-Man “peels the onion” of this psychological twister on how managers misunderstand and FAIL to perform at a higher level because they fail to follow this one
In this episode G-Man shares his story to glory at a store that was rejecting his serious efforts to redevelop the culture of a broken department. G-Man and Coach J examine how a mindset to improve people’s lives can outweigh and break through the “comfort culture” of mediocrity that stifles high performance. Listen to how
"Those service advisors only know one thing, you have to discount my parts to sell the job. Its weak and someone needs to do something about it!"
When I was coming up in this business I never had more than 1 rack. It wasn't until I started traveling the country, from service department to service department, that i learned a technician could have more than 1.
In this episode we talk about a fight between a service advisor and a technician. This episode is about more than just a fight between coworkers. This happens because of elevated tension that is not dealt with by the leader. The life of a technician can be a hard one. Scrapping for hours every day,
That's why we are here...to share our stories and YOURS! To create a community of people who understand this can be a HARD SHOP LIFE!