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The Gain Traction Podcast features top tire and auto repair professionals, shop owners, industry executives, and thought leaders.
00:00
We joke that we're The dentist that you can't feel. You know, you show up for that cleaning and next thing you know, he's done. You got a cavity, right? You didn't prepare for that cavity. You weren't prepared to pay for that cavity. But nonetheless, here it is.
00:12
Welcome to The Gain Traction Podcast, The official Podcast for Tire business. I am Mike Edge, your host and I have The privilege of interviewing The Tire dealers, shop owners, counter sales reps, technicians, industry executives and other thought leaders of our industry. This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. Tread Partners is The leading digital marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing for multi location Tire and auto repair shops. Tread Partners works with clients that have hundreds of locations, down to five locations. Get a professional, unbiased opinion and let Tread Partners review what you're doing. It starts with a simple conversation. To contact tread partners, visit treadpartners.com so let's get started. Welcome to The Gain Traction Podcast, The official Podcast retired business. My guest today is Brad Griffin, owner of Griffin Tire and Auto with two stores in Charlotte, North Carolina.
01:03
Brad, welcome to The Gain Traction Podcast.
01:06
Hey Mike, thanks for having me.
01:07
Yeah, I'm glad to have you. I love The Charlotte area, by The way. It's just, it's a, it's just a really cool area and then to be able to. I've been able to go on Lake Norman there too. So it's a. That's a special place.
01:20
Yep, it's. My parents actually live up on The lake. It's, it's somewhere I grew up and I've come to love.
01:26
That's awesome. No, it is, it's. It doesn't it. What I liked about it too. Look, you can see me digress here, but what I like about it is it's all The houses are on The lake. You're not far off. You know, sometimes Corps of Engineers gets involved and you know, houses are way back off lakes and stuff like that. Especially in Kentucky. We've got The Corps of engineers on a lot of lakes. But there, man, you could be down on The water in a beautiful big hole.
01:52
So it's a little different on Lake Norman because it is man made. Duke Energy, who is The power supplier of our area, owns The lake and they basically started permitting. Gosh, I don't have my dates mixed up, but there are towns below Lake Norman that existed before The 60s, before it was flooded. But The intent was to generate power for The Charlotte area. And obviously, you know, when it first came out, people weren't going to live on a lake, especially a power lake, you know. Now of course, to your point, you know, a lot of The NASCAR drivers, there are multi million, maybe even billion dollar homes on Lake Norman and they're to your point, just right up against The water. So there's The seven, I think it's 716 if I'm not mistaken.
02:38
But that is The elevation to where The water tops The dam. Everything below that Duke Energy ohms, everything above that is, you know, property owners that live next to The lake. So it's definitely a different concept because it is a man made lake than what you would see in The mountains.
02:57
And I didn't realize that. That's really cool though. It's an interesting setup. Yep. Well, so you grew up there. Did you always know you wanted to be in this business?
03:07
Well, I always knew I was around The business. Between growing up in The shops and growing up in my grandparents, my mom's family's utility construction business, I was either going to be dirty or I was going to be dirty. So graduated from UNC Wilmington in 2010, came back and started working for a real estate company that specialized in kind of specialty properties, mountain views, rivers, lakes, that kind of thing. But in 2010 The Housing and property market was not going The direction it needed to go. So, so we had a company, another actually family owned company, Gerard Tire here in The area, approach us about buying some old stock in a building that they had that was unoccupied. We ended up buying The building, opened our second location and The rest has kind of been history for me.
04:00
Nice. So you got two locations and don't you guys have a little different angle in The market too, don't you?
04:08
Yeah, we're our location. Our Brookshire location, which is where I'm at currently, has been here since 1989. Our family's been doing business in Charlotte since 1961. And The other side of The family definitely took a retail approach to their business. We do it a little bit differently in trying to look more at The commercial side of The business. Where we're at, we're surrounded by a number of suppliers, whether that be plumbing, electrical, you know, blue collar type businesses that need their vehicles running in order to take care of their customers. So we have tried to shift more of a business to business application and try to prioritize getting The vehicles in and out so that they can continue doing their business.
04:53
To us it's beneficial because you're either dealing with somebody who needs a vehicle or you're dealing with a fleet company who also understands that The company needs The vehicle back. So you're not having to negotiate with someone who's trying to make a decision, you know, whether they're going to buy eggs or an oil change this month. You're just trying to prioritize getting The customer taken care of and obviously The vehicle works itself out.
05:17
So when you go to market and you're asking for business, do you get these folks in a contract of some sort?
05:25
No, we try to approach it like anything else. You have a loss leader, right? Oil changes used to be The loss leader. That was a low profit item that brought customers back every three to five thousand miles with oil change intervals going up. Now we're looking at Tire rotations and tires being those things that bring customers back on a regular basis for rotation specifically. So we have become very competitive on tires and basic services in order to know, bring those customers in to do more high profit services as far as repairs and maintenance go.
06:01
I got you. So you guys. And do you have rep. So do you have reps out there that are.
06:08
You're looking at him.
06:11
Nice. What do you, how do you go to market then? I mean, do you, are you knocking on doors, picking up The phone or networking in The community? How, how do you do that?
06:19
Yeah, I mean, like I said, we've been blessed to be in The Charlotte Market since 1961. So, you know, our name in The automotive repair industry does carry a little bit of weight. So, you know, I'll usually start with a call, try to get, you know, a name obviously and then go and knock on doors and try to meet with that person face to face and show them that we can offer value to their business.
06:41
Yeah. How many people do you guys employ?
06:46
We have 17 currently between The two locations.
06:49
How many are like in The mechanical side and tech side?
06:54
So each store has three technicians generally one primary technician and two general service. But that general service can range from entry level learner to a B tech that can do basic brake services, alignments and those types of things. So we have learned since COVID that it's easier to train than it is to find. With a lot of older technicians deciding that was a great time to get out of The industry, it's been hard to find someone who is a true diagnostic technician. Yeah, you know, even dealerships have moved to a compartmentalized kind of process where, you know, one guy is The diagnostic technician, then you've got five guys around him that do nothing but change parts. Yeah, you Know you, The person you speak with, you know, when you go into The dealership, they're great communicators, but they know nothing about cars.
07:45
Yeah.
07:45
And know we try to have everybody from The counter to The Tire guys know what they're looking at so that anybody can have a reasonable conversation with The customer. We try to.
07:58
What. So I, I, I'm. You still do some retail, right?
08:02
Absolutely, yeah.
08:03
You kind of have to. And I would say a lot of your customers, I've heard this from other commercial dealers are like, yeah, I do retail because all my clients want to bring their cars or their wives cars here too. So we, you know, you still have that frontage. Is there a particular, you know, Tire that you like to sell brand that you guys represent?
08:24
You know, The Tire, The best Tire is The one that fills The need of The customer and provides a profit to us. There you go. You know, we've seen a lot of The manufacturers think that they can go direct to consumer and those things seemingly fail pretty quickly because, well, Michelin is a good example. Right. You have customers that come in, ask for Michelin. They don't ask for price because they understand it's an expensive Tire. That is a very small percentage of The buying population. Most people are looking for value these days. We end up competing more with used tires than we do with, I'd say that Michelin customer, for example. So trying to find somebody at a Tire that gives them longevity but also a good price point is kind of The name of The game.
09:14
You know, we try to use mileage warranties to do that. I've done some kind of quick basic math comparing up, I'm gonna say a 30,000mile used Tire that has no defects. Right. Which is rare to a 70,000mile like a Uniroyal Tiger paw. A good entry level Tire quality built by Michelin. But when you compare The dollars per mile of each of those tires, it's actually twice The price to buy The used Tire.
09:42
Yeah.
09:43
Now The cost of that up front is significantly different. The 30, 35, $40 used Tire versus let's say a $90 new Tire. The upfront cost is definitely significantly different. But when you look at The miles per dollar, you are definitely better off buying a good product and servicing that product, you know, making it last.
10:04
So what about one of these tier three companies that produce a really good Tire with a, you know, 60, 70,000 mile warranty?
10:11
Those have become our bread and butter.
10:13
Yeah, yeah.
10:15
There's a number of products you know, Nexon makes a good product. They're probably, you know, tier three, tier two now. They've actually improved their product drastically. In fact becoming oe on some new vehicles.
10:27
Wow, that's a big deal.
10:28
You know, we do a lot with Hercules. That's been a great Tire for us. They're usually costs, you know, less than their competitors and Nexon or something like that, but still offer The same mileage warranty. And you know, most of those tires historically have been built by Cooper.
10:44
Yeah, no, and look, everybody that listens to this show has probably heard me say this several times, but you know, at one time it felt like I was managing a fleet of five or six cars with my kids here. And you know, as a dad, I'm looking for value. Right. I mean, you know, I'm not putting Michelin on what my kids cars were. I just want something that's safe, you know, and, and give me a little life, you know. And, and we've had some pretty good experiences with, I don't mind saying it, but like Fortune is, is a brand that we've used and really didn't notice a difference like, you know, from a tier one or whatever and.
11:24
Sure had a. Yeah, when you get into looking at specific numbers, you know, stopping links and you know, those types of things, that's where a top tier Tire will do a little bit better. Yeah, most people don't see themselves in those scenarios enough to understand The difference that it makes.
11:45
Yeah, no, I agree. And, and, and The interesting thing is obviously I get to talk to a lot of Tire people in general and you know, The bottom line is The quality of Tire that you got from a tier one 10 years ago is now The tier three is there, you know, what it was, what a tier one was three years ago. So I mean it's like, it's a lag but it's not like from your standpoint of, I think as a consumer it's, you know, as a dad that had a lot of cars that I had to take care of. I just looking for value, man, you know what I'm saying? And I could see your circumstances as well.
12:25
Just in The Charlotte market and what you mentioned, The substantial market is that way, like what would you percentage, would you say shops that way with you.
12:36
As far as value goes? Yeah. Oh, everybody.
12:39
Okay.
12:40
There are 10% of customers. Maybe you might see more than that in super affluent areas. But people that come in say Hey, I want this size, this Michelin Tire and let me know when it's done. Most people, especially with tires because they are so expensive are value shopping and to your point, there are brands like Salen, there are brands like Nokian that are kind of coming out and The quality of those lower tier tires has improve so much that there really isn't drastic differences. To The layman, you know, when you go out to a Michelin training center and they put you on this Tire versus this Tire on a skid pad and tell you, hey, go do this thing, you can very easily see The difference.
13:23
But for again, most consumers, price, value and something that's going to, you know, again, you know, last long enough to cover its cost, more or less is all they're looking for.
13:35
That's interesting. We on, on our parent company as tread partners and on that side of The business we've, you know, we dealt with auto repair operations that are getting into Tire cells and they'll ask our opinion. And you know, some of them have gotten into it before we met them and you know, they're based on The market. They're in there, they think they need to sell Michelins and we're like, hold up, that's not your market. You know, and they're like, wow, you know, it's one that we know it's The bit, one of The best tires. We want to carry it. Well, first of all, you don't do them to really compete in The Michelin market. They can get that Michelin probably a little bit better somewhere else price wise. But you're not a Michelin. You don't have that Michelin perception.
14:19
So it's kind of like why don't you sell what you can make money off and give a great value to your customer and pick a brand out there that and we can recommend, here's some people you should call, interview them, carry The brand you want to carry, see what they'll give you know, and perks and things like that and programs and you get a hold of your local distributor or whatever. But it's just interesting when you're taking somebody that's just strictly automotive repair into The Tire market. It's not like we take them there, but we give them, we do give them advice because they do ask us. It's, it's kind of fun conversation actually.
14:52
Yeah, and I'd bet that probably stems from The loss of The oil change loss leader. You know, they're having to sell Tires now to bring those customers back on a recurring basis. Well, faster than 10,000 miles.
15:06
It's. This is funny. I've gotten to know this guy over The last several years. He's a. He's a Tire sales trainer. He just trains people how to sell tires. But him and his dad owned. I've had him on The Podcast, too. Him and his dad have owned five stores in Northern California, and they end up selling them AAA. Darren McClay is his name. He's been in The Podcast, but it's been a couple years. And he's funny because he said, when I was growing up, you know, he goes, we did auto repair. We understand that auto repair is where we make our money. He said, but tires is The relationship that builds The glue. He said that cements everything. He said. My dad had this one theory. He said, never, ever let a Tire still go. Don't let it walk The door, out The door.
15:47
If we have to, we'll lose money on it, but we're not letting that customer build a relationship with somebody else and then risk losing auto repair opportunities. Right.
15:57
You know, that's what drives them back, like. Yeah, he's exactly right.
16:00
Yeah. So I just curious, is your philosophy The same?
16:04
It is. And like I said, we've gotten very competitive on our Tire pricing, especially for these commercial accounts that we're bringing in. Because, again, we. Those are The things that provide value. Right. The Tire seems to be The easiest way to show value because, quite frankly, most people don't know enough about their cars to understand The repairs. Yeah, they just know it's expensive. You know, we. We joke that we're The dentist that you can't feel. You know, you show up for that cleaning, and next thing you know, he's done. You got a cavity. Right. You didn't prepare for that cavity. You weren't prepared to pay for that cavity. But nonetheless, here it is. So it becomes a. It becomes a matter of, do you trust The dentist that told you have a cavity, or do you go get a second opinion somewhere else?
16:44
Brad, that's a great example. I mean, because everybody knows nobody wants to go to The dentist, right? But when you do go, you do it. You. You need to go just to get. Take care of yourself. But if you. You always get that, you know, you might get that surprise, and then, you know, you're out more dollars. And you hate that part, too. But you also hate that little drilling bit that goes in your mouth. Yeah, that.
17:07
That syringe, The whole. The whole painful piece.
17:10
Well, it's so interesting because,.
17:14
I.
17:14
Mean, everybody knows that, but it feels like. It feels like that drill is this big going in your mouth when you feel it. And it's. And when he pulls it out and you actually see it's just. It's The littlest bit. Yeah.
17:25
You know, so kind of to add to that, I know I mentioned The other side of my family that was more retail oriented. They sold out about 10 years ago to one of The big box stores. And my dad's cousin, who ran that business for a number of years, he and his wife decided to build and open a brewery. And so they built this beautiful brewery. It's probably one of The best looking in our area, built a good product, and opened just as Covid hit. So their business model changed drastically. They ended up going through The cans and all of The things that they purchased they thought would last six, eight months in a matter of two months, because they couldn't bring anybody in The building. They could sell product to go. That was all they could do.
18:11
So once he finally got opened to where people could come into The business, we sat down, we're having a beer, and I said, man, I said, you've succeeded. And he looked at me like I was crazy because he had clearly succeeded in running a great business, selling a great business for a great profit, and essentially retiring to go do what he wanted to. But that's how I explained it to him. I was like, you're now selling happy. I said, everybody who walks through those doors doesn't come because they have to. They come because they want to.
18:37
Yeah.
18:37
You know, and, you know, that kind of opened his eyes a little bit because again, we don't sell much that's happy. You might get a lift kit or some wheels and tires or, you know, something along those lines. But that's a small percentage of business. Most of what we do is not fun, not sexy, but you gotta have it.
18:55
That's so interesting you said that. So I had a conversation with a friend of mine The other day, and he was asking about our business, and I said, look, you know, we got The Podcast. I told him everything I do here and everything and whatnot, and why we do it. Lift The brands up, participate in The market and The people behind The brands. But I said, on The marketing side, The tread partner side, what's so interesting? I said, The reason I like it so much, it's not a happy sell for our clients. I mean, we understand, but it also is one of The fastest marketing results.
19:27
In other words, like if, if someone sees, you know, they go online and they look up auto repair near me or engine repair light near me or whatever The term they're using, and they get those results in a Google results search page. If you're not there as a company at that point, you don't get that business because they're, they're going to use that short list to file through and, you know, compare and contrast, and that's your opportunity. But if you're not in that list that day at that moment, because it is an issue. What makes this marketing fun is that it's not a shopping mentality. Usually it's a need mentality. And usually The decision is relatively quick after they start looking because they got a problem, they need it fixed today.
20:14
Yeah, they don't want The problem, but they got to get it taken care of. So it's not a happy thing. It's just a must do. And they act more immediate. Now, Tire sells, maybe a little more delay, but not that much because they still don't. It's not something that's for The common driver out there. They're not excited about, hey, I'm ready to buy my tires. You know what I mean? It's just rainy.
20:39
Rainy days are still busy, though.
20:43
That is. I mean, think about that. It's just like umbrella cells, right. When you need it, that's when you think about it.
20:49
Yep.
20:50
Yeah.
20:50
And people didn't know my tires were worn out until I hit that puddle earlier this morning. Turns out I need tires today.
20:58
That's such a great example. Oh, man. But does that make sense on The marketing side? It's kind of like.
21:05
It does.
21:05
It's more connecting and it's The negative. The negative about The industry is, yes, you're dealing people's problems, but The positive is you're fixing them, you're facing them, and it's a need business. That's what I love about The business. And you're helping people genuinely when I love this business because, look, The vehicle means so much to their life. I mean, it's not just a work vehicle for somebody to go back and forth to earn The income, but The family to transport, to take a trip on all these important things in their lives. And, and really, Brad, you guys on The front lines, you are a big part of that.
21:39
Yeah. And that's our approach. You know, I tell our people at The counter, focus on taking care of The customer. Value their dollar value, their time. The car is going to get fixed. You know, I've got The confidence in our team. Changing tires, replacing parts on an engine, we're going to take care of that. But valuing The time and The dollar of The customer is what brings them back. You know, if, if a customer comes in for The first time, and The reason I mention this is because I hear it from so many of The big box stores. Customer comes in for The first time, they get whacked over The head, they're not going back. And I think The big box stores understand that, which is why they whack them over The head.
22:14
They've spent so much on marketing to get that person through The door that they have to rec dollars.
22:19
Yeah.
22:20
You know, we take a little bit more slow and methodical approach probably because we've been in our industry in Charlotte for as long as we have that. You look, I want to provide you value. Right. And by having a $120,000 marketing plan, I have to make those dollars back plus The dollars I was making originally. So we try to take it as a, a personal standpoint. You know, we live in a world of widgets. And that bothers me to no person to person. When I call, you know, The company that houses our server, you know, I gotta call somebody that knows nothing about our business or our server, they gotta type it into a widget. That widget goes up a tree. Somebody up there answers The question, it comes right back down The tree and I get a single online answer.
23:07
If there's any follow up to that question, it has to go back through The widget, back up The hill. Back down The hill. Yeah. And you know, my wife works for one of The big banks here in Charlotte and you know, hearing some of The conversations, just her side, The one side of it, and The inefficiencies that are in some of these big companies. It blows my mind coming from The small blue collar industry that we're in.
23:32
Yeah, well, you're on The ground and you like making decisions when you see them need to be made. And they have to play that game of COVID your butt and they gotta have that committee every safety in numbers. How are we going to make this decision? Are we sure we want to do this? That type of, it's that corporate mentality. It is, yeah. Just talking in our industry in general, how have tariffs affected you?
23:57
I mean we take a cost plus perspective to most of The things that have a cost like that was affected by tariffs. I will say that we have been purchasing more from dealerships as far as replacement parts go than we have ever before.
24:13
Interesting.
24:14
You know, The quality of aftermarket products has gone down. The cost of aftermarket products because of tariffs have gone up.
24:22
Yeah.
24:23
So. And unless it's a truck, people aren't buying cars right now.
24:28
Yeah.
24:29
So dealerships have kind of sharpened their pencil on pricing and support for independent dealers as well. So you know, if we're looking at a particular part and it's, you know, 5% more at a dealer, we will get that part over The aftermarket part because there's a high probability one that aftermarket part is boxed wrong, produced wrong, something that may affect The efficiency of our day. And again, our goal is to take care of The customer dollar in time. That $5 additional or 5% additional is not a big deal when it comes to getting that car out today versus tomorrow.
25:03
Absolutely. How do you, or are you involved or you know much about The Right to Repair Act?
25:11
Yep, we've been involved in that. So we are a former top pros dealer. They did a lot to try to push The Right to Repair Act. So we were on board with that with them. But it's definitely something that we're seeing more and more as a need, quite frankly because you have manufacturers that are doing everything they can to limit our access to information in order to kind of push us out of The industry, for lack of a better term.
25:38
Yeah, it's just, to me, I just don't see how, why were fighting this. When you realize that The dealerships couldn't handle The volume anyway. I mean it doesn't make sense but you know, obviously The manufacturers have a lot of power up there in D.C. and it's, I think it's a war of attrition right now. We're just going to have to keep pounding on that and I bring that up so that The audience knows to get involved with their local state representatives in your state, your state representatives, state senators, etc, then also your US Senators and US Representatives and then you can go to The TIA and their website and get involved that way as well. Entire industry association. And I encourage everybody to do that.
26:20
Yeah, I think they have a great link that gets you straight through to your local rep. That's how we.
26:25
Glad you brought.
26:26
That's how we got directed.
26:28
Yeah. Well, on a personal level, I like to ask people this, but different, you know, different questions related to, I don't know what, what you like or whatever. But what's your favorite hobby?
26:42
Well, I've got two kids under five, so that's pretty much taking most of my time right now. But I, I do try to get out and ride side by sides. I enjoy. Obviously, there's an automotive factor to that. I used to race cars. There's a little bit of fun and driving that's involved in that. And then, you know, a lot of The fun is, well, like in anything, we watch football to see people get hit, we watch NASCAR to see people.
27:07
Wreck cars to get thrown off. Right.
27:10
That's right. So we go off roading to watch somebody do something that they're going to need help getting out of. And, you know, that's something.
27:17
I love your honesty.
27:18
Well, somebody told me not long ago that men today don't have collective tasks, for lack of a better term. So if you think of, you know, The whole group getting together to go take down a mammoth, you know, thousands of years ago, or, you know, Amish people, for example, getting together to raise a barn, there used to be a number of things that men got together to do, and now you don't have that. Yeah, you might have two guys stand around a grill and have a conversation, but that's about it. Unless you have some kind of group task.
27:56
I think that's interesting. You brought that up. I think it's interesting that men do need and want The ability to have camaraderie about. The more physical The task, The more bonding there is, I guess you'd say, or that camaraderie. And it is interesting because when you think about sports, especially contact sports, those groups of men, especially when I was growing up, you do have a bond with them. I mean, you. Just because you sweat and bled with them and it's, it was rough and tough and all that stuff, but. And then you win or lose together, that, that. But when you get to a certain age, then all of a sudden that's now what, you know, I'm gonna stand around a grill and, you know, that's just not The same.
28:39
And The world has compartmentalized us so much now that, you know, we're all stuck to this, you know, this thing we carry around. Yeah. So it's not a matter of getting together to do things anymore. It's a matter of, you know, hiring a service provider to do that thing for you.
28:54
Yeah.
28:54
You know, so that, that's part of The enjoyment I get also from riding side by side is again, Going out and, you know, hopefully not being The person that does something stupid, but inevitably it happens.
29:07
Well, you mentioned that before The show started that you like to do it up in The West Virginia. Give them a little shout out. They got a lot of trails up there, I guess.
29:15
Yeah, The Hatfield McCoy trail system is, I joke. It's kind of The Disneyland for off roading east of The Mississippi, obviously. Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, The Appalachian Mountains have a lot of trails that are great for a lot of different things. Off roading, hiking, biking. You know, there's a lot of great world to see out there. Now you get further west and you end up with dunes and red rocks and that kind of stuff, which is also fun. But as far as The east coast goes, unless you're into deep pits of mud, West Virginia is about The best you'll find.
29:51
That's awesome to hear. And before I let you go, what's a quote or a mantra of something somebody maybe given you over time or maybe you thought you found one that you just said? It just sticks with you. It sticks to your core about who you are?
30:05
Well, like I say, we try to focus on The people, you know, take care of The customers, take care of our team. We feel that, that drives business.
30:13
Yeah.
30:13
You know, we've been successful for a long time in Charlotte and hope to continue to be in The future. And we think that people are what drive that.
30:22
That's awesome.
30:24
My, my grandfather and my father who both operated this business before me, both recommended I start writing a book when I first got into The industry. And I didn't really understand what they meant by that. But The people that you meet along The way, for better or for worse, are interesting. You know, we have a number of people who come to our shop that, you know, are third generation, you know, customers, as I'm The third generation, run The business. And then we also have what I call a third owner Cadillac car. And if you're in The industry, you probably know what I'm talking about. It may not be a Cadillac at all, but what it is a car that has been purchased brand new. It's typically a luxury vehicle, a high end vehicle of some sort.
31:10
The first owner drove that car to 100, 120,000 miles, to The point where it started needing maintenance. Then they said, I'm done with this car. They sell it to The second person who starts to maintain The car, realize The expense involved in maintaining The car. So they get a Little bit done and decided, I'm done with this car. So they sell it to The third owner. The third owner wanted a Cadillac, right? Wanted a Cadillac, but he's not really able to afford a Cadillac. Probably should have bought a Honda Accord, you know, a great vehicle, a serviceable vehicle, but he wanted a Cadillac. So he buys this used Cadillac that's probably got approaching 200, 000 miles on it now.
31:47
It's, it's been behind on its maintenance for some time, and every time he comes into The shop, it's over a thousand dollars, you know, and it's not his fault, it's not our fault. It just is what it is in The life of this vehicle. And trying to educate a customer prior to being a third owner, Cadillac car driver is very important to us as well because, you know, you present and let them decide, but when you're presenting a thousand dollars each time they come in The door, The decision gets a lot harder and we try to avoid those conversations as best we can.
32:19
Amen. That's a good one to leave on. Well, I'm glad we got to have you as guest on The Gain Traction Podcast.
32:28
Yeah, I'm happy to be here and thank you. Thank you so much for The time.
32:30
Yeah, Brad, it's been a pleasure to all our listeners out there. We, we know, you know, we love you. Come back, see us. We'll be back next Wednesday. Hey, folks, Mike Edge here with The Gain Traction Podcast. Real quick, we get a lot of people ask us, they know Gain Traction, but who. Who's Tread Partners? Well, Tread Partners is our parent company and they're a marketing agency dedicated strictly to Tire and automotive repair shops. Anywhere from five locations all The way up to hundreds of locations in primarily one field that is always a pain for most people is paid search or PPC or Google Ads. We see enormous amount of waste in it and we see inefficient spend in it. If you want to know if you're doing well or not, give us a call. We'll help you. We'll audit your account.
33:12
We'll look under The hood and tell you if you're doing things The right way or The wrong way and help you optimize that spend. You can reach me and I'll direct you in The right direction@mikedpartners.com or feel free to go to treadpartners.com The website. To all our listeners, thank you for being part of The Gain Traction Podcast. We are grateful for you. If you'd like to find more podcasts like this, please visit gaintractionpodcast.com if you'd like to make your guest recommendation, please email me@mikereadpartners.com this episode has been powered by TREAD partners, The leader in digital marketing for multi location, Tire and auto repair shops. To learn more about TREAD partners, visit TREADpartners. Com.