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The Gearbox Podcast brings on industry professionals to explore the day-to-day operations of owning and operating a shop. From common frustrations to industry-wide shifts, this podcast covers it with fun and insightful conversations.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:13]:
My name is Jimmy Purdy, shop owner, master tech, transmission builder, and the host of the Gearbox podcast. Here I talk with new and seasoned shop owners, as well as industry professionals about day to day operations within their own shops and all the failures and successes that come along the way from what grinds your gears to having to shift gears in the automotive industry. This is the gearbox podcast. I like all your signs in the back.
Jeff Compton [00:00:39]:
Yeah. It pisses. It pisses people off, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:43]:
Why?
Jeff Compton [00:00:44]:
Well, cause a lot of people don't like Mopar, right? Cause they immediately think it's like, well, they're tired of doing, you know, cams on three, six penis tires, or they're tired of doing.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:54]:
That's not Mopar. Come on.
Jeff Compton [00:00:56]:
Well, sure it is. It's still. I mean, what is I think when.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:00]:
I think of Mopar?
Jeff Compton [00:01:01]:
Well, no, but, you know, some of these, they're. Some of these guys are new, right? They're like, think. I mean, I'll always love the product because the product taught me.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:13]:
Yeah. They think. They think SRT is Mopar.
Jeff Compton [00:01:17]:
Well, SRT is the last throwback to what Mopar is about.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:21]:
There it is. I like that. I like that a lot.
Jeff Compton [00:01:25]:
You know, you said that. Well, it is like, think about, you know, way back in the day, right? So, like, our grandparents or grandpappies or our parents, depending on your age group, those cars were always the ugly ones, you know, that had weird suspensions and weird electrical problems, but they were fast as hell, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:44]:
Weird colors.
Jeff Compton [00:01:45]:
Yeah, weird colors. Yeah. And, you know, but, I mean, I didn't get it until I first worked with a guy that was an old mopar nut. And, like, he, he would, he'd want to fight you. If you said that a Chevy small block was better than a 340.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:04]:
Yeah, yeah. Those are the good days.
Jeff Compton [00:02:06]:
Yeah. And you'd be like, how can a 350 small block not be better than the 340? He's like, well, I never put anything smaller than a four barrel on a 340. A dumb kid. And it was like, yeah, but it's, you know, how many cars did they actually put them in? Nowhere near as many as, you know, a small block went in, went in a Chevrolet product. Not as. Not even close.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:31]:
It's still better than the Ford guys because they just want to kiss you on the mouth.
Jeff Compton [00:02:34]:
Well, those guys, you know, some of the established Ford, you know, how many die hard Ford guys have I talked to that had the old, like, they. They would build a 351 or be working on a 351, and they'd get, you know, all that screwed up because it's like, well, is it a Windsor or a Cleveland? Like, how do you not, if you're that big of a die hard guy, how do you not know the difference? You know? Like, I don't claim to know the difference right off because I grew up in a house where you couldn't even park a Ford in the driveway. So I don't consider myself expecting to know. But you know, these people. It's like, oh, yeah, well, we bought one, and then it wouldn't run, and we got rid of it, and it turns out we just had the firing order messed up because, you know, we had it set for a Windsor instead of a Cleveland. So, yeah, that's.
Jimmy Purdy [00:03:24]:
That's fair. But mopar, no car. I mean, I got. I think the town I grew up in, it was. I mean, it still is. Yeah, I got. I mean, and it's like the cost of these cars, right? Like anything Mopar Dodge. It's crazy.
Jeff Compton [00:03:40]:
Well, you seen that guy on YouTube. I can't remember his name, but his tv show is graveyard cars, right? And he's the one that's like, so, yeah, I mean, everything has to be exactly the way. You know, there's probably not a. Is there a handful of people in the whole world that know the product line as well as he does that vintage in terms of the grease, pencil marks and all that? I can't. I just can't get my head wrapped around it, you know? Like, I'd rather see somebody with, like, you know, something that was never a coot, it was just a barracuda. And they just went, that's fine. I'm good with that. And, you know, tore it up and jammed in some modern, you know, Chevy 350.
Jeff Compton [00:04:18]:
Yeah, srt. Srt eight swap. You know, and it's, you know, the purists would be just puking in the corner because of what they did to the car. But I'm like, yeah, I love that. You know, because, I mean, I don't have to worry about scratching it. I don't have to worry about depreciating the value. That's the thing that killed it for me because I used to love Hot Rod magazine, and that was the dream, was to go on the power tour and see all these guys. Once I started to meet some of these people that are like, you know, that level of dedication to the hobby, I really started to not like them because everything is about an investment portfolio as a car.
Jimmy Purdy [00:04:58]:
Yeah, that's true.
Jeff Compton [00:05:00]:
What I'm not about. So then, as I got more into the Chrysler thing and started to work on more jeeps. The jeep people, I can kind of resonate a little more now. The jeep people, some of it is filled with diyers that just talk crap nonstop about the, all the dealers should warranty this because I rolled it over at Moab and technically it's trail rated so it should still be warranted. Crazy nonsense like that. But I mean I could resonate more with them in terms of they actually wanted to use the investment. The, the guy that just wants to park it and wipe on it with a diaper. Um, I can't get my head wrapped around ro, I just can't.
Jimmy Purdy [00:05:39]:
You gotta, they gotta hire someone to go like drive them around the block once a month just to make sure, you know, like, I mean whatever, teach their own. I would never harp on any sort of enthusiast, but I'm on your page. Like the thing's made to drive and break and then fix it.
Jeff Compton [00:05:57]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:05:58]:
Like wash, rinse, repeat. Right.
Jeff Compton [00:06:00]:
Who else besides Jay Leno is their videos of like walking down the side of the interstate? Cause that left him there, right. Because he's actually out using it and you know, it's going to get towed back to his shop. He's got a full staff of people that's going to fix it, machine, whatever part, because they can't get parts for him. Or like hats off to the guy, you know, he's about the only enthusiast and I think about in the market that I actually have, like he would have my, I don't want to say respect, but like I give that guy a thumbs up.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:29]:
Yeah. To be in the spotlight and be doing it and that capacity. Right.
Jeff Compton [00:06:35]:
If Richard Rawlings drove by me tomorrow and, you know, knew who I was and waved I'd probably like turn my head cuz I mean, you know, I'm just, I'm.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:45]:
You don't want to get you some of that.
Jeff Compton [00:06:46]:
No, he built up, you know, he built himself a brand and he built himself a business.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:54]:
But I mean on that, on that note though, yeah. He's not, I don't know, I don't know the guy so I don't know if I could personally say. But the brand that he's built I think is what's important. I think like building a brand is what really, really sets yourself apart. And he's not worth tons of money, but he did really well for himself.
Jeff Compton [00:07:17]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:07:17]:
Building a pretty decent hot rod shop. And he's got, so I had a local guy here, he's been on the show before, Kyle. He went to Texas and checked out the plan. And he's a fabricator. I mean, he can build cars, and he was impressed, to say the least, about the actual production that goes on. So I don't know if it's necessarily like a pimp my ride. Right. Like, in West coast, customs has come a long ways, too.
Jimmy Purdy [00:07:40]:
Like, they got it. They got a decent shop, too, but they really have a fabrication shop over gas monkey garage. It's pretty impressive. But, like, what you're saying with having that kind of respect between Jay Leno and Richard Rawlings is just two totally different. Two totally different people, right? Like, it's just a different mindset, different total everything. It's hard to even put your finger on what the differences. But I don't know. I've.
Jimmy Purdy [00:08:07]:
I've thought a lot. It's funny you brought that up, because I've been thinking about Richard Rawlings a lot, especially in the last few years. And, like, at first, it's kind of gimmicky, but then it's like, well, he's actually building, like sema, you know, he's got some cars there that are actually pretty solid. Like, damn, they put this thing together in a month. Like, so he's running a legit shop. I mean, he actually has a legit shop that he's running. But it is kind of gimmicky. Cause he's got hot sauce and freaking energy drinks.
Jimmy Purdy [00:08:33]:
But it's like, building that brand, and it's like. Like, man, how do you find. How do you find that line to be. Not to be able to market yourself, but not be gimmicky like that, you know? And, like. And that's my whole thing now, building my. My shop. And same with the podcast. We're.
Jimmy Purdy [00:08:48]:
We're building these podcasts, and it's like, how do you get to the point where you're not feeling like you're salesy, pushy, gimmicky, and you're still giving valuable information, but you don't want to be like, you know? You know what I'm saying? It's. It's.
Jeff Compton [00:08:59]:
I totally get it. And to go back to, I guess, why that I have the respect for Jay Leno is because, and I don't know how many people know is Leno used to be attack, right? He was. I forget if it was, like, mercedes or BMW. It was one of those european brands. And he was like, he actually worked in a dealer before he got his comedy career really going, right? So he's, you know, he. He has the. And I'm not going to say that Rawlings can't do probably an oil change on a car or take some tires off or something like that. But, I mean, I guess that's just the difference to me as well.
Jimmy Purdy [00:09:30]:
The vibe, like, that's like, below him. Like, he gives off that vibe. Like you'd ask him to do something like that and he'd be like, that's below me. He talks, talk someone like Jay, he's like, I'm. I'm in it. You know what I mean?
Jeff Compton [00:09:40]:
Cool.
Jimmy Purdy [00:09:41]:
I'll do it.
Jeff Compton [00:09:42]:
Raleigh, very much a used car salesman. Greasy kind of vibe to him sometimes, whereas I don't get that from Leno. Right. And I keep going back to in my head. Cause I think about this stuff when I can't sleep, you know, I'd love to hear the backstory on why me. Remember his tech, Aaron? Why Aaron left? Right? And what was the whole reason for that? Like, do these guys, when they leave and they try to go out on their own, are they trying to just, like, build hot rods and make some of that money closer to the pay that what Richard Rawlings makes, or are they just like, is it strictly, do you think, artistic differences? And, you know, Rawlings wants to work on too many mopars, and I want to go on a completely different thing. You're more linked up with some of the guys that are in that than me behind the scenes without giving names. Do you think some of the guys, what's the reason that they leave a shop like that? Is it the stress? Is it the pay is not good enough?
Jimmy Purdy [00:10:34]:
They're an interesting. Yeah, I mean, of course, you'll never know.
Jeff Compton [00:10:38]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:10:39]:
But I think in that specific example, and I think it's got to be specific on each one. Right? Like, Kaufman, he wanted to go have fun, you know? And I think on the other side of it, you got someone that wants to promote a business and promote a brand. Yeah. You know, and, yeah, I think it's just two totally different directions of what's going on. And then, and then you got an added pressure of a tv show. Like, can you imagine a tv show in a shop? Like, we already all have problems, right? Like, we're. There's no shop out there that's perfect. And we're all trying every day to, like, find a shop that that is, you know, have mutual respect, build a shop that gives mutual respect.
Jimmy Purdy [00:11:17]:
But there gets some comes to a point where it's like, there's two ideas that kind of clash. Like, this isn't going to work. In our shop, you know, and I can't force you to do it, and you can't. So there's always going to be that friction of that tension at some point. But then, like, you put it under a microscope with a freaking tv show there, right? And it's like, who, I mean, who knows what even kind of pressure that puts under everybody. And it's like, you can think about. We can sit here and think about it. Like, oh, it wouldn't be that bad.
Jimmy Purdy [00:11:41]:
But, like, realistically have someone following you around day to day in your shop with a freaking video camera, and we all see videos, you know, like, enright's really good. He almost shows, like, his day to day operations right in the shop, and it's like. But to have someone else be recording that you're not, like, really ready for, I don't know, that's just. We're already kind of stressed, you know, on a day we always don't get things right, and that's fine, but we're still have, we still have egos, we're still like, you know, and it's like to have someone like, and then you make a mistake and then they blow it up, then you find it all over the Internet and all over YouTube, and you're like, I mean, I'm cool with making a mistake, but this is getting a little out of hand. It's got to, like, get under your skin a little bit.
Jeff Compton [00:12:22]:
And it's great tv. I'm sure when they film, you know, the, the interaction that goes down between, say, the parts were supposed to come in and they don't come in, and there's the owner just chewing the arse of the manager because the parts coming in, which it's got nothing to do with him, he's not reliable, responsible for it, right? He did his job. That makes great tv. But I already know how I'm wired and I'm sensitive to, whoa, whatever is my fault, I'll stand up. And no one's harder on me than myself. This is what I tell my, my boss all the time. No one's harder on me than me. No one, right? I hold myself to a really high standard of what I'm gonna do now.
Jeff Compton [00:12:57]:
I don't claim to be able to do it all, and I'll tell you flat out when I'm gonna suck at before you even give it to me. But when they, when they go in and it's just like, oh, I'm having a bad day and I chewed your butt and I'm sorry, and but the tv cameras there, and they're going, keep going, keep going. Is getting really good, right? Like, I would lose my. I would lose my shit. I couldn't do it. Like, I. Right there.
Jimmy Purdy [00:13:17]:
You know, not to say you're not unique, but it's not a unique trait. I think. I think that's the missing. And in the automotive industries, 99.9% of techs out there are very hard on themselves already. Right? Like, you don't, you don't get into this field. You don't get into this industry, make a few mistakes, and then come back the next day without being hard on yourself and getting better, because if you're not hard on yourself, you don't get better and you're not going to do it right the next time. Right. So I think that's a trait that is kind of missed by a lot of owners, a lot of leaders, a lot of managers.
Jimmy Purdy [00:13:47]:
They just assume that, that they know more than the technician because the technician is under everybody, right?
Jeff Compton [00:13:54]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:13:54]:
You know, and it's like, so I'm just going to go yell at him so that way he understands what he did was a big deal and that he made a mistake, and I need to make sure he knows he made a mistake or she made a mistake. Am I right? Like, it's like, and that's like, the go to, like, and we all have it. We all, like, have somebody that's, I don't know, underneath us, but somebody that we. That might be shadowing you or a kid or it's like, whatever. And it's like, that's the instinct is to, like, make sure they understand that they made a mistake. It's like, I think they know they made a mistake unless they're four years old, you know?
Jeff Compton [00:14:28]:
Yeah. You know, and how do you do that? How do you show them that? Like, okay, we have to talk about that there was a mistake made without, like, killing the. The passion or the motivation or the drive to tomorrow be better than you were the day before? Because I know for me, when that very quickly it escalates to where it feels like you're nitpicking, you know? And I think that's where some of the texts, when I talk to them, they always feel like everything is nitpicking and, you know, that kills motivation. Right? It's. Most of us, I think we want to be told good job a lot. I think a lot of us have that, that want or that need, no matter how good we get at this. You want to be told good job. I do you know, I want to be told, like, it's like, if I solve a really complex diag that had everyone else stumped, I don't necessarily need $2 more an hour, because I got through that a lot of time.
Jeff Compton [00:15:27]:
The weight that would really carry with me is if the boss said, wow, I wouldn't have got that. I wouldn't have figured that out. Great job. I'm glad that I have you to do that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:15:38]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:15:38]:
That's all it really sometimes takes, you know? And I think people hear me say, you got to throw money at the problem. You do. But sometimes I think, what do you think, like, so, you, as an employer, are you good at that, or are you kind of, like, do you struggle with showing praise without getting to the point of where they think they could walk all over you 100%?
Jimmy Purdy [00:16:05]:
I mean, I. I have hard, very hard time with it, and, I mean, I wouldn't even say I've gotten good at it. I think I've just realized the problem in just the last year.
Jeff Compton [00:16:14]:
Okay.
Jimmy Purdy [00:16:15]:
Right. Like, I haven't even started to, like, develop the skills to become good at it. I've just finally realized that I suck at it, you know, and not like, I'm going out there, you know, hey, pick this up. Do that, do that, whatever. I'm not, like, yelling at any. I don't yell at anybody, even though everyone always thinks, like, I just don't want you to yell at me. Like, I've never yelled at anybody ever. But I guess it's something about my face.
Jimmy Purdy [00:16:36]:
They just think, like, the look I give them. Right. They just. They have this. This. I give off a vibe like I'm just gonna blow up at any minute. I don't know what it is. It's my.
Jimmy Purdy [00:16:45]:
What do they call it? The. The RBS.
Jeff Compton [00:16:48]:
Yeah. Resting. Resting B face. Yeah. I mean, the little bit of time you and I spent together, I don't pick up that vibe off you, but, I mean, I don't work for you. Right. So let me counter Jimmy with the question. When you say you're not great at praise for your employees, how are you with your own family?
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:06]:
I would probably say not much better.
Jeff Compton [00:17:08]:
Okay.
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:09]:
I think it's definitely my own thing, and, you know, so it's not a.
Jeff Compton [00:17:15]:
Thing that you're weak at. It's just.
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:16]:
It is. Yeah. And it's a. It's a vulnerable situation. I think, for me, thinking about it, it makes it. It feels like it's vulnerable. Like, if you open up and say, hey, you did a great job, it's instantly like, oh, that makes. That means I'm not as good as them or they're better than me.
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:31]:
And, like, there's that vulnerable kind of weird area where you're just being straight up vulnerable. Right. And that's okay, though. And I think a lot. For a long time, we used to have the meetings where we'd say, hey, look, so this is where we're kind of failing. And that's because you did this wrong. You did this wrong. You did this wrong.
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:48]:
And we just labeled it as constructive criticism. Right? We're like, hey, this is for you guys. This is to help you. This is everything you're doing wrong. I mean, that whole conversation was wrong. Like, every part about it was the not the right way to go. Right. And so I've realized that's what I've realized that was wrong.
Jimmy Purdy [00:18:05]:
And so walking around and just kind of giving small, little, hey, what's going on here? Oh, man, this broke. And this went wrong. It's like a good example. We had a tech break, a AC compressor, doing a head job on a. On a dodge, a hemi. Forgot the little bracket bolt that bolts down to the head on the backside. Yep. So giving a little pry, trying to get it out of the little twist bolt, and broke that snap the back off.
Jimmy Purdy [00:18:28]:
And he was pretty, you know, devastated is a big word to use for it, but he was beating himself up about a little bit. I'm like, look, we're doing a head job. This guy spending a good amount of money. Well, check it out. Now. His ac is going to be ice cold, so he's going to be pretty stoked. Like, you know, just try to, like, find that little bit of, like, positive in that situation and just use that instead of being like, well, next time, maybe. Maybe take the new compressor and look around and see if there's any, because that would have been my previous way of doing it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:18:57]:
Well, why don't you take, you know, why don't you look around? Why don't you find a diagram? Instead of prying on stuff, don't use it. And just thinking about the ways to fix it in that. In that situation, instead of being looking at the, well, this is already. It's already broken. So how do we find a positive out of this? Well, the positive is he's getting a brand new ac compressor for, and it's warrantied for three, three years, so he's going to be stoked, you know, and it's such a better way of looking at that to try to bring a little positivity. Because like I said, he's already beating himself up. Like, he's already feeling bad about it. He already.
Jimmy Purdy [00:19:28]:
By the time he came to me and told me he had been thinking about it for ten to 15 minutes, guaranteed, you know, and that's the stuff that we don't see as owners. Like, we just see him come up, I broke this. And it's like. And just in your mind, you think he broke it, walked right over to you, but he didn't, right? It's like he spent 1015 minutes feeling sad, you know, bad about it, thinking about what he could have done different. He already went all through all that. So, okay, he fixed the problem in his mind. Hopefully he did. And so let's find the positive to get him moving forward.
Jimmy Purdy [00:19:54]:
Cause the last place I need him to be right now doing a head job is beating himself up over this AC compressor. Like this. $250. Like, whatever, man. Like, there's. There's like, that's not a big deal, so.
Jeff Compton [00:20:06]:
And see, I think too many owners snap to immediately when he walks over and apart's in his hand or whatever the. And he says, I broke this. I think it's the snap reaction to immediately think. Even as humans, they think to the last time he broke something, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:20:21]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:20:22]:
And it completely overshadows. He made me a hundred hours the last two weeks, you know what I mean? Or he generated whatever, right. Or he. He solved, you know, the problem in the shop that nobody else could get their head around, or he just shows.
Jimmy Purdy [00:20:35]:
Up every morning, I mean, even his.
Jeff Compton [00:20:37]:
Basics, and he, you know, we talk all the time. We see it in the groups. Owners talking about, I want that superstar tech. And I think all the time. And again, I don't always get enough time to ask some of the owners because I tend to network way more with techs than I do owners. But what's your take on the idea that even a lot of owners might say they really want that superstar tech? How many owners do you think would have a problem if they brought in a tech who was, by all accounts, better than a tech than they ever were or ever would have been?
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:12]:
Oh, that's a good angle.
Jeff Compton [00:21:14]:
You know what I mean?
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:15]:
Ego wise.
Jeff Compton [00:21:16]:
Yeah. Like, do you think that they could. They. Do you really believe them when they say, I'd be. I'd be great with it? I don't see that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:23]:
I think they think it's going to fix their problem.
Jeff Compton [00:21:26]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:26]:
You know, it's just like when you're in a tough diagnosis and. And your brain, your brain wants to find the problem, the answer to the solution.
Jeff Compton [00:21:34]:
Mmm.
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:34]:
Pcm, right? Soon as it someone. Soon as someone says it's probably the pcm, you just can't get it out of your head and you just know, you know what? Maybe I'll just try a pcm and see if it fixes it. And I think that's the superstar unicorn tech thought process for shop owners. Man, my numbers are down. I can't get guys motivated, whatever it is. If I got a superstar in here, they're going to motivate everybody. They'll see what can really happen. Like all these thoughts and thoughts of grandeur and everything start popping in your head.
Jimmy Purdy [00:22:04]:
Like, if I get guy in here pushing out 100 hours a week, that'll change everything. Sure, sure it will, but so will if you cultivate a good environment and have three b level techs that are all just kicking ass, too. It's just, there's so many different ways. Like they say to skin a cat, right? Like, for lack of better terms. But I think that's just the tech mentality of, like, you just, you hear you, you see that grand prize and you're like, if I got that, that's the answer to my problems. But on, on your point of, like, the ego, I think that's, that's a good one to bring up, too, because you don't know until it happens. You know, you, like, if you got a guy in there and your tech turned shop owner and your tech, your 20 year tech, and you're good at what you do, but you got a guy that goes in there and does it better, and then he starts showing up at 9930, 10:00 he starts taking an hour and a half lunch, he starts calling the shots a little bit. How do you handle that? He's.
Jimmy Purdy [00:23:00]:
And in quotes, he's better than you, right? So do you even want to push back? Are you going to be the leader? You need to be to give structure to your other four technicians. But you're like, this guy pumps out a hundred hours a week. I need to make sure he's happy. Dude, those four other techs there, if you got rid of that poison, that cancer, they're going to put, you know, put out way more than he ever will, right? And it slowly gets to that point where he just starts pushing. He's like, wow, I'm better than, than the boss. And that's like the technician thought too. Like, I'm better than the guy that runs this place. Like, I can do what I want.
Jimmy Purdy [00:23:34]:
And it's like once that thought creeps in, it just, it's all downhill and then, yeah. How do you, how do you manage that? Like you've already lost?
Jeff Compton [00:23:42]:
I think you manage it by, because I know what the dealer like, I was, if we were in that, those slow months, I took an hour and a half, two hour lunch, a lot of the time, you know, because if we could all look at the schedule and we knew there was no appointment for the afternoon, there was 18 of us, right. We knew that, like, there was already, you were some, some places run it on a sheet. So it's like if you had a job and there's eleven guys ahead of you before you get another job, because we're low on appointments or whatever. It's, it's January. It's February up here. Nobody's spending money to fix cars. You'd look at it and go, okay, I'm gonna leave it, you know, 1130 for lunch, and I'll be back around 130, right. And you might go and do some errands or something like that.
Jeff Compton [00:24:27]:
And you'd come back, and sometimes it'd be like the service manager go, oh, well, we had cars come in while you were gone. Okay. Nobody told me that there were cars coming in. Like, when you're strictly flat rate and you're not getting, you're just sitting on your toolbox anyway, scrolling on your phone, and you can go and run an errand and save some time, get something done, or just sit down and, you know, have a meal that you're not eating as you're working. I think that, you know, that people take that as a sign of disrespect, and yet I don't see it as that. I see it as, it's like, well, you know, I'm letting that tech maybe have a little bit extra time when we're not balls to the wall booked, you know, a ton out. And that sometimes I think just having that relaxed atmosphere goes a long way to keeping that person comfortable in the culture of what is going on in the shop. Because I know for me, I'm already in a negative headspace if it's like those lean months when there's not a whole lot of work and I'm flat rate and I know my pay is going to suck for the next January and February.
Jeff Compton [00:25:39]:
So if you come at me and say, I got to stand there and.
Jimmy Purdy [00:25:42]:
Wait and think about it, think about.
Jeff Compton [00:25:45]:
It, dwell on it, I think it's much more effective to maybe just kind of be like, okay, you know, don't go around kicking, you know, the Hornets nest and stuff. Now when we're talking about guys that are on a guarantee, that's a different ripple. But I mean, it's like, to me, I look at it like if I'm flat rate, I am 100% a contracted employee within. That's how I see it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:07]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:26:08]:
Have work for me. I'm not going to paint the wall, you know, paint the workbench all for unpaid.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:15]:
Right.
Jeff Compton [00:26:16]:
Because of what you want it to look like, I'll gladly. If you want to put that in a work order and open it up and we discuss the time, I'll do it for you. But like, just for the whole appeasement of your image. Nah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:29]:
And I do that. We do productivity bonuses. And if we have the guys cleaning or whatever, it goes on for their. It goes towards their productivity. Right. So I don't. I expect them to clean their mess, but if it's kind of over and beyond, if they're vacuuming, you know, around the lifts, if they're torque in the racks down, if they're doing stuff like that, they get time for that. That goes towards their productivity bonus.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:50]:
Right. And it's similar, like you're saying with flat rate. And I think. I think flat rate is not a bad thing because it can be used in certain situations to fix those kinds of. And I didn't by any means mean, like, that slippery slope of taking an hour and a half lunch or showing up late is necessarily a bad thing, but it's that pattern that I watch as an owner that starts developing that, okay, I need to talk to this guy right now. Like, there is no, like, end of the month meeting. Like today, I'm sitting down, we're having a conversation because there's something going on. Right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:27:18]:
It's just kind of that progression that I watch when technicians start trying to, you know, maybe in their bad mood, something's going on, but they don't want to talk about it. I got to force that conversation and be like, look what's going on? Someone at home, do you need to get paid more? Like something's going on and you're starting to have the resentment or push that disrespect. And you probably, you've probably seen other guys do that where they start kind of pushing back at management a little bit because they're upset or deterred about something. Right?
Jeff Compton [00:27:46]:
That guy, yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:27:47]:
And it's like. And. And then you're kind of hoping someone pulls you. You're kind of hoping someone pulls you aside and talks to you in a little bit. I mean, for me, I was like that. I was that hot headed technician that was like, I'm not going to go talk to this guy, but I'm not going to do anything he says until he takes me aside and has me. Yeah, it's just weird, like how their mind works like that, but it does.
Jeff Compton [00:28:07]:
Well, I think it works that way because it's like human nature is, you know, and I don't want to go down a whole, like, astrology thing, but people are different, and some people are. We have memories like elephants, and then other people. Stuff just rolls, you know what I mean? We just forgive and forget and go on. I'm one of them elephants, right? So if I can remember a month ago when you screwed me on something that can set in emotion, different attitude and a different way of approaching it, and, you know, you don't have to come and grovel and kiss my feet and, you know, apologize, but we do have to, at some point, have a conversation about, okay, you've seen me slack off. I'm showing you I'm not giving you 100% anymore. If you're really a leader and a manager, you're going to come and ask me why.
Jimmy Purdy [00:28:58]:
Yeah. You'll be watching me. You'll be seeing this. Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:29:01]:
And if you don't, I'm going to feel like I matter even less because I felt like I didn't matter when you already, you know, whatever, didn't pay me for something.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:11]:
Right.
Jeff Compton [00:29:11]:
But if you don't have the balls to come and talk to me about why my attitude has changed, and maybe some people in the, you know, the old heads would be like, it's not. Listen, you're my employee and I'm the employer, and I give you.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:22]:
Isn't a pay. Isn't a paycheck enough?
Jeff Compton [00:29:25]:
You're. I expect if I'm acting that way and you've seen it, you're gonna. We're gonna have a conversation, right? Because if we're not gonna have a conversation, I'll go have a conversation with somebody else. And normally that conversation winds up being, hey, somebody's trying to hire technicians and they're paying $0.50 more, a buck more, the same amount. But they're booked, you know, constant there. That's who they're gonna have that conversation with. So if you retain an employee, you better have the conversation. You know, and it's.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:55]:
Yeah, it definitely, definitely nailed the. The mentality of that. It's. Yeah, I think. I mean, maybe it's a technician thing, maybe it's just, I don't. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's hard to say exactly what it is. Somebody will say, oh, it's because you're immature or whatever, but it's not. We all do it, right? And some of us can get over it, you know, some of us have different coping skills, and.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:18]:
And you start realizing this as a manager and even just, like, having relationships with people, like friendships, you just realize people have different coping skills and, you know, you just pick up on the mannerisms and you understand it. But it's really hard as. As an owner to, like, have these different. You're trying to blanket everybody, and you're trying to make this, like, one blanket statement for everybody, and it doesn't work. It never works, you know? And you can't say, well, I need to have a conversation with all the guys once a month. Well, you don't. Some of the guys are like, why? Like, I'm good, man. Like, and they're like, hey, I'll let you know if something's going on.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:53]:
Like, yeah, but I just want to make sure we're talking. Like, dude, I'm telling you, you're wasting my time right now by having these conversations. Then you got the other side of it where it's like, oh, man, it'd be really nice if we could sit down once a week and talk, right? And it's like, everyone's so different.
Jeff Compton [00:31:07]:
So what is it? What's been your experience when you do see the morale or the enthusiasm or attitude or whatever word you want to use when you see it change in your shop and you, as the employer, what has traditionally been, or most of the time, could you say the majority time? What causes it, Jimmy?
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:23]:
For the good or for the bad?
Jeff Compton [00:31:25]:
If the. If the attitudes getting worse or changing for a negative, why be honest?
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:33]:
Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:31:34]:
Everybody wants to say it must be stuff at home, but let's. It's not always stuff at home, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:39]:
No, it's not. And a lot of the time, you won't find out. You ask and they won't tell you. So you really have to kind of be. You have to detect, be a little bit of a detective about it. Change different things, change different ways. You talk to them a lot more praise, maybe praise them a little bit. Maybe sometimes.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:59]:
They did do a really awesome job on something, and they didn't get any praise for it. So you got to look back a little bit. Like, hold on a second. Let me flip back through the ros here and see what was done.
Jeff Compton [00:32:08]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:09]:
See. See if something complicated that used to stump them before didn't now. You know, for the most part, I've been pretty absent when it comes to that. And I've had a pretty high tech turnover since, you know, since the dawn of time for me. And just not paying attention is being a big one. I know a few times it ended up being drugs and alcohol, you know, so that that's one that I've really been able to capture. And I can see patterns, and you can see. See how their mannerisms are, and you start realizing, okay, they're up drinking all night.
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:41]:
They're just not 100% there. And that's just a whole different. I mean, there's no way for me to manage that. I am not a. I'm not there. I'm not a counselor. Right.
Jeff Compton [00:32:49]:
It's tough.
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:50]:
It is. But I think the mentality shifts is definitely just lack of involvement from just straight up lack of not paying attention. So you start watching it kind of go downhill, and you're like, dude, this guy's just been having an attitude. He's starting to kind of yell a little bit. He's grunting. You know, you got the guy that starts grunting because he's getting. And so you got to pay attention that. And then right away, just, like, just involve yourself, and not by any means, like, hey, so I need you to stop doing that or what's going on? It's just, like, just straight up involvement.
Jimmy Purdy [00:33:23]:
Like, hey, how's this job going? How's everything going here? And you start realizing the short answers, right? And then you can start developing, like, okay, what's going on here? What's he upset about? Um, overloading. Overloading technicians is a big one. I think that shifts their dynamic. Most guys say, I want to get in there, and I want to tear everything apart. I want to do all the engine jobs. I want to do all the transmission jobs. I want to do all the high level diags. So you give them all that, and then all of a sudden, their brain just goes 180.
Jimmy Purdy [00:33:50]:
This is way too much. I don't want all this. I'm stressed beyond belief. I got this apart. I got this apart. I got. I can't figure this out. And they're just, like, stressed.
Jimmy Purdy [00:33:58]:
And that's a big shift, too. It's like, okay, so I got to pull you back a little bit, and then, yeah, it's tough because then they got a job apart, and you got to put another technician. Okay, I need you to finish this because he's losing his shit.
Jeff Compton [00:34:12]:
You know, you've heard me talk about, like, it's been popped up with Lucas when, when I see this trend of absentee owners then, and yet you talk about how so many times the motivation goes away because they're not just being praised. How do, like is that. I would think that that's would be a great big red flag for why maybe absentee owner isn't necessarily the great thing. Because as somebody that you just put in as a manager, are they ever going to be able to praise the authentically, to the level, the way it should be done if they're just an employee themselves versus if it's your business and you go out there and praise them? You know what I mean?
Jimmy Purdy [00:34:53]:
That's, I mean, and that, that'd be great question for, for you working in that role. If you're working for somewhere for five or six years, and then all of a sudden you get a manager come walking in the door and the owner is like, all right, guys, this guy's running the show. See ya. You don't care what this matter. Like, you want the owner, right, to come up and say you, hey, thank you for supporting our, our family. Yeah, right. Unless it's a. And we've seen these guys, the managers that come in and they just really kill it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:35:25]:
They know how to talk, they know how to build that. And sure, there is that, but it's such a small percentage. Like, how are you ever going to be able to do that? Right? And I think most guys, like, they see the new guy come in as the manager, quote unquote, and then the owner decides to step out. This guy's got it. Like, that's never going to work. I mean, not never, but it's like, really, who's this guy? He's got nothing to do with anybody, you know, unless it's the owner's wife or it just directly tied to the owner in some way. There's that disconnect of, like, it doesn't matter how many times he praises you, says, good job. You want the guy that runs the place to come and be like, look, I appreciate you.
Jeff Compton [00:36:02]:
Yeah. And then we've got to, I think what happens in this industry too much is you've got even managers that don't feel compensated enough, don't feel paid enough, and all of a sudden what is supposed to be their job to be, like, uplifting and motivating and rewarding to the staff is all of a sudden going around the same way, going, yeah, man. Like, we're all getting screwed here or, you know, this place sucks. I can't even look at, he's on his fifth vacation, this, you know, this year.
Jimmy Purdy [00:36:27]:
Oh, my God, that's a whole different. Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:36:29]:
Start to see that talk come up and then you start to see the owners and it's like, well, I mean, you think you have a manager that's, that's leading. You think you have a manager that's, you know, filling your shoes and hypothetically in the shop. But are they really, you know, how.
Jimmy Purdy [00:36:46]:
Would you ever know?
Jeff Compton [00:36:47]:
We don't, because you look at the numbers ago productions, you know, all productions where it was last year. But, man, to be the fly on the wall to know what's really being said, you know, and some people may immediately label that as insubordination. And I don't necessarily see it as insubordination so much as it's like, okay, the whole team, you know, you could look at it as like a sports team and the owner can look at it and go, okay, we've got a captain, a manager and the whole team. And they all think it all sucks and they all think they're not being treated properly versus if you have the coach, you know, who's uplifting and, you know, you guys killed it. I mean, I think that's where this gets missed sometimes, is the absentee thing is away working on the business. And I think that that's sometimes what happens is before you know it, there's a turnover in the shop. The turnover starts to go up and people go, wonder why that is. I think your manager really, you think you've hired a manager that's going to go out there and make them feel good.
Jeff Compton [00:37:49]:
But I think a, that's a tough role to walk into as a manager. If you weren't there through the thick and the thin, the fire, to get us to this level, you walk in, you're a foreign entity. And then if you turn around and it's like you're bringing that attitude of we're all getting whatever not treated properly. That's how you poison a whole business. Not just like, you know, one person.
Jimmy Purdy [00:38:12]:
And it's a slow poison. It's a slow poison, too. Right. You know, and I think a lot of times in business aspect, you know, you, you look for trends, you look for patterns, you look for things that are immediate. You know, marketing is a little different, but for the most part, you can start picking up on things. You can, you can see that you're heading a certain job. There's certain technician. It's taking them longer than somebody else.
Jimmy Purdy [00:38:36]:
So you find these patterns and. And with that situation, if you have an established crew and then you bring in some bad manager, you're just. It's like an iv dripping of poison. Right? Like, it's just two years later, all of a sudden, everybody's got a completely different attitude, and they're all looking around, you know, and they're not going to find the job the next month or in six months. Like, they're still good. Right. But eventually, soon as that first one leaves, it's like everybody's gone, you know, like. And all it's.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:09]:
All it takes is that one. One person.
Jeff Compton [00:39:12]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:13]:
To eventually make that. You know what? I'm. I'm over this. It's been a year. Things haven't changed. It's getting worse. I don't know where the owner's been, and they're all thinking the same thing, and then all of a sudden that one leaves and it's like, all gone. You just lost everybody.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:26]:
It's crazy. You know, it's. I mean, best way to put is cancer. And it's like. And being absentee, how do you even. You're not even diagnosing your own business to know if there's cancer going on. Exactly. Mike Allen was just talking about that, about, you know, going from absentee back into the shop and realizing how important his role is to just be there.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:47]:
Right. And to lead the team. And you just can't, you can have a manager, but you. They're never going to be a leader. They're not paid to be a leader to manage.
Jeff Compton [00:39:56]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:57]:
So who leads the manager that leads the team. Right. And so. And then what do you, do? You want to hire someone that is going to take your place? Well, they're just going to run their own shop.
Jeff Compton [00:40:06]:
Yeah. Well, and that, and that's it. Because, you know, we all say all the time, I want you to, like, don't, you know, yes, you can refer to me, but you're in charge. You know, you go out there and you. You do what you think is right. I love that line. You do what you think is right. And then it's all of a sudden, it's like little things crack start to happen, and all of a sudden, the culture is changed.
Jeff Compton [00:40:30]:
Culture has gone away. Whatever you want to say. How do you reel that back in? You don't. Right. It's almost like you start over. And I was. When you talk about the tech that leaves, I was that tech. I left.
Jeff Compton [00:40:44]:
And within, like, a year and a half the other kind of top tier guys in the dealer left, you know, the guys that could do what I. What we were doing. This. This handful of us, we all. We all got fed up. And so, you know, I keep saying to techs all the time, when you leave, you leave a bigger ripple than anybody wants to admit. Right? Because either you. You.
Jeff Compton [00:41:11]:
If you take your skill set and your skill sets very valued, we know what's going to happen. Some shops just stop doing a certain type of work, right? It's like if you have a guy that can rebuild a transmission in a shop and all of a sudden he's gone. Maybe you don't take that type of transmission in anymore.
Jimmy Purdy [00:41:26]:
You don't rebuild transmissions anymore.
Jeff Compton [00:41:28]:
No, but as an example. Right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:41:31]:
No, see, what. Yeah, I know what you're saying.
Jeff Compton [00:41:33]:
Or gears. Like, we've only got one guy that set up a set of gears, and all of a sudden he takes his toolbox and he goes somewhere else. Do you still book the gear set in, right. And you struggle through, or do you, like, how does it change your business? It can change it. So when guys leave, this is what I tell tax. You don't realize the ripple that you affect when you do it, because even you will make the ripple, but most will not admit it. Right. That as an owner or manager.
Jeff Compton [00:42:01]:
Yeah. It really changed how we had the show.
Jimmy Purdy [00:42:03]:
The show must go on. Right. So. And that's the struggle. I have a lot, too, and I've lost some. Some really good talent. I've gone through many technicians, and it hurts every time. Right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:42:15]:
And even if I got to let him go, it's always like, what could I have done different? Should I sent him to counseling? Should I done this, should I done that? Whatever. And I can't dwell on that, so I have to just move forward. Show must go on. And I got to show up the next day like nothing happened. And part of that is keeping the rest of the team together. Right. And showing that. I don't know.
Jimmy Purdy [00:42:34]:
I mean, you want to have an effect on you because you want them to know that they are important and you don't like when people leave, but also, you have to know, you have to make it like that was the right direction for the business. Like this person left. And that's the best thing for the business.
Jeff Compton [00:42:51]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:42:51]:
Even though it's not, maybe 100% was right. And some things are gonna change. You can't say, oh, man, now that this tech's gone, I don't know what I'm gonna do. Oh, my God, you'd say that to the rest of the crew, like, that's not what we wanna. That's not the culture we want. As soon as he leaves. But it's like, as an owner, having those systems in place as well, where if we did a rear end differential job, okay, so how do we do this? Right, and you do step by step procedure, right? And so that way, somebody with a little bit less skill can step in there and just follow that procedure step by step. And sure, there's, you know, you can look up online, you can watch a video on how to do it and all that, but this is how we do it here.
Jimmy Purdy [00:43:29]:
And that breeds that leadership, confidence. And just like you. You had just said, like, go do it the way you do it. And I'm guilty of that. You know, when they ask me a question, hey, how do you look? Well, what do you think? And I always turn the question around. If I get a question about a procedure and a repair, like, well, what do you think? Like, what's your opinion? And it's not necessarily like, that's what I want you to do, but I just want to see what the thought process is. Like, where exactly are you right now that you're asking me this? Like, what would you do if I was not here? And then you get the answer, like, okay, I like that. Or, hey, what if we think about doing this and it's just a five minute conversation about trying to get us both on the same page? Are we always going to be.
Jimmy Purdy [00:44:10]:
No, but it's just trying. It's just trying to figure out the mindset and get a little bit more of a critical thinking aspect going on where I don't have to be the go to for everything, but yet we have enough of a common ground so that they can make that decision and say, okay, this is what Jimmy would do. I think, to my best ability, I think this is how Jimmy would do it, you know? And even though, like, written sops and having those procedures is like, this is how shifting gears garage. This is how we do it. Even though you watch this online or, you know, you saw a YouTube video about it, and this is the way we'll do it. And watching a high level tech go through it and do that repair, like, I like the way you're doing that. Let's just write that down into a written procedure, and then that way, we're all on the same page. And that way, when he leaves, it stings, leaves a hole.
Jimmy Purdy [00:44:55]:
But it's like something that we can slowly, eventually start filling back up. And not by any means sound cold if a technician's got to leave the building. But it's. It's. It's difficult from the owner. It does change everything. It's like, damn, man. There's the business side of it, but then we're people.
Jimmy Purdy [00:45:12]:
It's like you're with this guy 10 hours a day, you know, or girl, right? And it's like, that sucks. And it's not like they come by and say hi. It's not like we're friends after we're calling each other and hanging out. It's like, no, that's it. Like, as soon as he walks out the door with his toolbox, that's the last you're probably ever going to see or hear from him again. It's like, ouch. That hurts a little bit.
Jeff Compton [00:45:35]:
Um, can we pause for a second? I got to go put my. My dog is barking.
Jimmy Purdy [00:45:39]:
That's fine.
Jeff Compton [00:45:39]:
So I, she didn't bark for the first 46 minutes, so that's okay.
Jimmy Purdy [00:45:44]:
I'll just let it roll. That's fine. We'll edit it. All right. I'll say her, talk to myself.
Jeff Compton [00:45:57]:
Sorry about that. So she was doing, she was doing so good. Then all of a sudden, it's like she must have woke up and realized it's like, oh, crap, I don't want to be alone.
Jimmy Purdy [00:46:10]:
I got a 200 pound English massive. That's like that. It's like if I show up, if I get home late, he, like, side eyes me.
Jeff Compton [00:46:18]:
She's got such separation anxiety. It's ridiculous. Like, it's nuts. I going back to your topic there, my boss, and I don't want to say the new job, because I've been there since September, but it's still relatively new. He has a lot of questions for me, but what does he think about this and that in the business? Right? And it's, right now, I don't want to say I'm struggling with it, but it's. I have to. I'm very careful about how I answer some things because he'll ask me, like, you know, we got talking, he says, I'm going to invest in thinking about investing in Adas. And I immediately, I'm like, mmm.
Jeff Compton [00:46:58]:
You know, to me, that's a big outlay for, I think a lot of shops still haven't recouped the investment. And I know it's not a popular opinion to have, but I think that a lot of them, it's still not.
Jimmy Purdy [00:47:07]:
Paying well, you know. You know, Ford's getting rid of their self parking.
Jeff Compton [00:47:10]:
Yeah. So, and I said to him, I said, if we talked about it, you know, and I said, so think about if all of a sudden they go to dynamic calibrations again or back to or whatever, instead of so much of this static, we're going to have this window of cars where, you know, are going to be in a certain age group where a lot of these maybe second and third owners are not going to fix that stuff anyway because they don't fix the tpms, they don't fix an abs, and they don't fix an airbag, and they don't fix the check engine light thing still drives, it's still driving. And I said, I think the money would be better spent maybe on getting into a different thing. More programming, more keys, right? And he says to me, he says, well, I don't know, because he says, adas. And I said, we remember we had that Toyota just last week, and I said the rear camera had to be replaced, and we replaced the rear camera, but we couldn't calibrate it because there was an ADas thing and we'd already sold, already quoted the sublet, it would go to the dealer and whatever. And I said, did that customer pay for the. No, because what he wanted was a working backup camera. He got it.
Jeff Compton [00:48:09]:
But every time now, so it goes in reverse, a little message comes up saying, hey, has to be the, you know, c dealer. So I said, if we can't even sell that to that customer, and it's probably like, you know, a five year old Corolla hybrid, we can't even sell that calibration to him through a sublet that we're hardly marking up at all, making hardly any money on. How many more customers are we going to be faced with that as that car ages out even further? I said to me, I would invest in programming or keys. And so it's just questions like that, Jamie, when they're asking me now, I'm sitting back and I'm like, yeah, how do I answer this without hurting anybody's feelings, right? Or getting my, putting my foot in my mouth saying, oh, well, this is what you're doing wrong right here.
Jimmy Purdy [00:48:55]:
Like, yeah, I think that's like, how.
Jeff Compton [00:48:59]:
Are you taking input like that as an owner?
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:02]:
I love it. I mean, the more I can get, the better. Like, I just like the insights. I like to hear what there's going on in their mind, and I think more of it's just making them part of the decision making process moving forward. And so I'm pretty bad at just springing new things on, you know, you go to these seminars, we go to ast. We go to freaking sema apex. I learned this stuff. I spend a week or a few days just buried deep in this stuff, and I'm sold, right? And I come back, I'm like, this is what we're doing.
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:32]:
No one's got any idea of anything. They don't have. They don't have the involvement that I had in the last few days, you know, so I just spring it upon them. Like, we just switch the shop where we just switch the inbound. We just switched. Like, what else do we do? I implemented, like, three different things just this year, you know, and brought in a new technician, and it's like, so every time I hire somebody, we let them know, hey, we got interviews tonight, guys. We'll see how it goes. And I let them know, hey, we sent out, you know, we sent out what you call a proposal or whatever.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:05]:
Okay, so we'll see. We'll see if he accepts it. She accepts it. We're talking to them. Hey, so he's starting on this day. Just let you guys know there's gonna be a new guy. So we try to involve the process as a business instead of just, like, springing the stuff on, because I already have a hard enough time as I get excited with a new system or process. Like, we need to implement this when we get back.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:25]:
And, like, so the conversation we have to involve them is, like, we're starting this program tomorrow, or, like, today, you know, and I try to avoid that as much as I can, you know? And so the same thing moving forward with different and new ventures. We just had a hunter alignment rack delivered yesterday, so we got the pro line hunter scissor, like, but they've known about that since day one. I bought it back in SeMA last year, and they're all excited about it. Like, alignment's a great idea. We don't do alignments. We have a lot of vehicles. We need. We do work on that, need to be aligned after we're done working on it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:58]:
So it made sense. And I've had the same conversation with them about adas, and we implemented it on our inspection. So if a vehicle comes in, we do a full scan when we do our dvis, and we needed a section in that to say, adas. Does it have adas? And there's any ADAS codes? And then they had asked, well, what do we do if there's codes? Like, we don't do anything. We just document it and then we find out how many people ask about it, and it's like having that market research, I think is what's more important than just saying, hey, I think we're missing something here. Maybe we should buy all this equipment and get everybody trained and then make them start doing it and see how. Why don't you just, like, ask some questions, you know, do a little market research, put it on the DVI? How many of them come in with a code for adas and then we have a conversation or, hey, do you have any interest looking into that? No. Okay.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:48]:
I don't think this is a good, you know, not to pinpoint this one example, but I think moving forward, that's just kind of how I like to analyze the situation moving forward and then bring it up to the guys. Just before I did the alignment. Hey, I'm really thinking about an alignment rack you got, what do you guys think about that? Which is a tough conversation because how long are these guys going to be here? One of the techs that was really excited about it, he's, he's since gone, right? So it's like, that's another thing where owners, I think, for me to have a hard time, like, why would I ask these guys? I don't know how this is a ten year commitment for me. Is it a ten year commitment for them? I don't know, and I wouldn't expect that out of them either, so, but it's still important at the time. We're a team and we're moving forward together. Hey, do you guys have any, you know, interest in this? And I'm not just going to go on your note of like a transmission builder. I'm not going to start building transmissions because I got one tech in the shop that can build transmissions and start marketing and doing all this and, and changing course of the whole ship on under the impression of having one technician that can do it. I have never found a transmission builder to replace me, so I've slowly taken that out of my business because it's, it's, I have to do it right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:52:56]:
And I can't run the business and be building transmissions 24/7 so it's definitely important to get the feedback. But I don't think it's like the end all, be all, you know? But I mean, I don't know. Like, I, I think it's fun to involve everybody and get them excited about it and like, not just like have an alignment rack show up. Like, what the hell is this? Like, we're doing alignments now, guys, yeah. What?
Jeff Compton [00:53:16]:
Yeah, yeah. I'm.
Jimmy Purdy [00:53:18]:
It's.
Jeff Compton [00:53:20]:
It's. So I think that it comes back to why it's important to have strong skill set in your techs. Right. Not put too much. You know, we hear sometimes the. To talk about how they don't want to, you know, hire a, you know, an Atech, because, like, if I hire one, there's so much of, like, I set up my business so that what that Atech can do. And all of a sudden, if I lose that Atech, you know, where I think it's. It's.
Jeff Compton [00:53:49]:
Everybody says they want one, but I don't think a lot are getting enough to be able to feed one, if you know what I mean? Like, it's. So you've got an ineffective labor rate, say, on a lot of the work that he does or she does is because it's just no, there's no skin on the bone. By the time you pay him or her that top wage on that, you know, job that a, b, or c could knock out, there was really no point in having even it in the shop.
Jimmy Purdy [00:54:15]:
I said to him, yeah, you know.
Jeff Compton [00:54:17]:
So if you build into adas and you got a guy that's like, oh, I love adas, or I love programmer, I love keys. And all of a sudden, whatever happens, you know, let's even take the, the argument. Let's say something happens. You know, they just get up and leave. What happens if they just all of a sudden hurt themselves and they can't work in the shop anymore? We've got a tech that's like, I started in September. He'll be out almost a year with a broken foot. That's going to be. It's going to be like nine months.
Jeff Compton [00:54:41]:
So he hasn't come back in the shop. We still don't even know what he'll be like when he comes back. I mean, I've never worked for him, with him. So say, hypothetically, you had a tech that all of a sudden was, and goes out on an injury report. You know, to use the sports analogy again, what does that do to the, to the, you know, and you talked to, you alluded to. It's like, okay, we have processes that can allow it, but, I mean, there has to be.
Jimmy Purdy [00:55:07]:
It doesn't fix it. And here's a controversial one where a big kind of eye opening one for me, which, looking at it from another angle, sounds a little controversial, to say the least. You don't want to set your business up to revolve around one person, one body. Right. And even though, you want everyone to feel important. You know, everyone is part of the team, and I don't take lightly that. I really do believe the more people you get together, you just don't want numbers checking in and checking out every day. You don't want guys in the corner waiting to have management come up and say, hey, what are you doing standing over here? Like, you want everyone actively involved to be a team, to push together.
Jimmy Purdy [00:55:47]:
But with that being said, if your quarterback goes down, you better have a backup quarterback. Right. So you better have systems in place to kind of take up that slack as they do that. And also, you don't want to revolve everything around this one person. Oh, man. We did, you know, we did a million dollars last year. Oh, that was because, you know, tech a was cranking out $30,000 a month.
Jeff Compton [00:56:09]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:56:09]:
Right. It's not a good place to be. It's a great place to be, but it's not a good place to be. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, because that's not sustainable.
Jeff Compton [00:56:16]:
No.
Jimmy Purdy [00:56:16]:
And even though it feels great. Oh, we really kicked ass this year. Yay me. I'm really doing a good job. I'm the leader, and I'm the best. Right? Dude, it was one tech that was just cranking workout. What happens when he leaves? Does your leadership and your skills and your sops and your systems still allow the business to gross that kind of money the next year? Or is it just because that one came in and was a rock star and that dude, like, go find another one of those. And I think go back to the beginning of this was like, that's what most guys want to do.
Jimmy Purdy [00:56:48]:
They don't want to work on all that other stuff. They just want to find that rock star to knock out $40,000 a month to get their sales to where they meet their end goal. Right. Then he leaves, and it's like, there's a tech shortage. I don't know what I'm going to do. Whoa, really? That's your answer?
Jeff Compton [00:57:06]:
I I don't, you know, I guess I got to be open on Saturday now, right? Or I went from a four day back to a five day. Stuff like that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:57:12]:
Like, yeah, that doesn't fix anything, though. That's just a band aid target. I mean. Yeah, and that's the problem. Like, oh, if I had more cars. Well, why don't you get your average ro up? Oh, that's a lot of work. That means I got to do inspections, and that means I got to quote everything out, and that means I got to have these lengthy conversations with clients. If I just had more cars and just did more oil changes, that'll bump my, my, my gross up.
Jimmy Purdy [00:57:38]:
Like what? I mean, sure, that's fine, if that works. I would never. I don't know. I don't know everything, right? But I just know for me, what I want to do is build relationships with clients, have a high standard, average ro, right. And be able to get that work in the door, spend the time with it, and not have the high turnover like that. That's been my goal since day one. Like, get that. It's a fine line, though, because you get the ros up a little bit and you start scaring people away.
Jeff Compton [00:58:08]:
But I just was going to ask you about that because, like, we've seen the conversation that's kind of been happening recently in the. In the groups about the 300% rule and so different people are implementing it. And what, you know, I talked to a good friend of mine Monday night on training and the shop that he works at, who, I know that owner quite well. He's talking about sometimes, like, they'll have a customer come in for, say, they did an oil change on it last month, two months ago, three months ago or whatever. Or it's a, you know, a person that it's not due for any other work, but they need a wiper blade, right? Or they need a pair of wiper blades. They're. They're racking that car and inspecting that car while it's in for a pair of wiper blades. What's your.
Jeff Compton [00:58:47]:
And they're doing it because it's like he's got a coach telling him there's too much unperformed work going out on your customers cars. That, to me, is not the solution. You know, it. To me, it just kills the efficiency of your text, first of all. Right? It just kills it because you're not. You're. You're giving them. What kind of value are you giving them to the customer when you're doing that level of inspection on a, on a job that's pretty.
Jeff Compton [00:59:16]:
Is there anything more mundane and routine than a set of wiper blades to be put on? Anything? Not really. Right. To me, it's twofold. You're killing the efficiency of your technicians and then, secondly, you're looking really aggressive to that customer when they're in for just a set of wiper blades and you've got that thing on the hoist and you're looking at this oil leak and, oh, look at that. Your brakes are at three mil, I think we've gotten to the point where we might have to just pull that 300% rule in just a little bit. What do you think about that?
Jimmy Purdy [00:59:47]:
I think I'm on. I'm 100% in your mindset. Um, or 300% to say fairly. No, it's, it's. I think it's about building that in your business to, as an average, and there's got to be exceptions. But you as the owner can't be taking these coaches verbatim and just like. And just being Mister robot, right? Like. And just like the owners look at the technicians and say, well, what do you think? Right?
Jeff Compton [01:00:17]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [01:00:17]:
Not just constantly getting a leadership, like, constantly like, this is what you do every single time. So it's got to be a little bit of like, well, what do you think? What do you do? And then that comes to the. Down to the empathy of the owner itself. And just like you said, not taking every vehicle and that needs wiper blades and then selling this hard sell inspection. So this year we took our inspections because they're all paid. I don't do free inspections because I want to make sure the technicians are paid. So every car that comes in, we just do an inspection on it. And most of the time we can catch the reason why the vehicle's at the shop.
Jimmy Purdy [01:00:50]:
And then the rest of that year, it's a free reinspection. So if they have anything happen, any noise, any leaks that pop up, bring it in and then we'll do a free reinspection. Right. Like you're good for that year. But after twelve months, we have to do another paid inspection. So that's what we've done. And now this year we've taken that hundred and $50 inspection and lowered it down to $99 and really just dialed into just the mechanical safety aspects of the vehicle. Not looking at wipe away, not looking at all that other stuff, just looking at mechanical.
Jimmy Purdy [01:01:18]:
And we have that conversation. Look, what do you want us to do? These are your two options. How deep do you want us to go and kind of leave a little bit more up to the client of like. Because I. I don't like that and I don't like the hard sales either. And I don't like the free inspection because that's what it breeds. If they do a free inspection, that technician needs to find something and that service advisor needs to sell something for them to get paid bottom line. Right.
Jimmy Purdy [01:01:41]:
And they can be paid hourly, but at the end of the month they know the sales reports or they should. They didn't sell something on that car that affects them. And I don't want that. I want that to come in, and they're already paid. You're your times already accounted for to inspect this vehicle, quote that vehicle out. And sure, some of them are a little harder than others, but some of them are easier than others. So it all comes out in the wash at this point in time. But moving.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:04]:
Moving that price point down a little bit is kind of in your mindset of what you're talking about is, like, this direction I want to go, but it's got to be small increments, because I can't just. I still can't have vehicles come in and just say, hey, we'll throw a set of wiper blades on there because it's so hard to get compensated for that tech time. And it's like, I'll just tell them, hey, go down to O'Reilly's, and they'll put them on for free for you. Like, and I just. I'll just tell them, like, in your example of wiper blades, I just. You know, if you go down to O'Reilly's, they'll put them on for free in the parking lot. It's the same with batteries. If you go buy a battery to Reilly's, they'll install it for you in the parking lot.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:37]:
That's probably what you're going to want to do. If you want a cheap oil change, go to Jiffy Lube. Like, I just. Like, I'm not going to, like, pull in this work that's going to, in quotes, rip off the client or make them feel like they're ripped off in two weeks when they're shopping around for prices or they hear from their neighbor or their buddy, oh, you got charged $200 for an oil change? Yeah, right. Like, I don't want that. I just tell them, look, if you want us to do it, this is what it's going to be. I'm telling you right now, it's expensive. Go to Walmart if you want it cheaper.
Jimmy Purdy [01:03:06]:
That's going to do it. For this episode of the Gearbox podcast with Jimmy Purdy and Jeff Compton. From the jaded mechanic podcast. Next week, hear the conclusion of their conversation as we'll pick up right where they left off on the Gearbox podcast.