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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.
Adam Montiel [00:00:00]:
That sounds good. Look at you. Got a little. Nice little setup here.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:02]:
Thank you.
Adam Montiel [00:00:03]:
Dope.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:03]:
I tried.
Adam Montiel [00:00:04]:
I love it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:04]:
It's a budget friendly.
Adam Montiel [00:00:06]:
It works, dude, you know what? Now you can do all kinds of things. Budget ballin'and, it still sounds. I produce a podcast for a friend of mine as a favorite. It's called Midlife Surfer. He records it on his phone, and, like, you listen to it, he gets great listens, he gets people donating to it. He records it. Literally talks into his phone. I keep telling him, give him something like this.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:28]:
Yeah, the p four, the zoom.
Adam Montiel [00:00:30]:
It works. It's great.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:31]:
Mobile. Yeah, I mean, you can use the pc based one, but I feel like the sound quality through any sort of. I don't know, I mean, there's a lot of expensive ones, too.
Adam Montiel [00:00:41]:
No, totally. I have the rodecaster, which I love.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:43]:
Yeah, that's probably the next step, but. Yeah, I don't know.
Adam Montiel [00:00:47]:
It's got mic processing in it, too. It's like, it's pretty dope.
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:50]:
Yeah, you're right.
Adam Montiel [00:00:52]:
How many listens are we getting per episode?
Jimmy Purdy [00:00:55]:
Ish, off the record, between us asking me some.
Adam Montiel [00:00:58]:
Well, you don't have to air this part.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:00]:
Yeah, I don't know. Looking through the algorithms is really tough to see, but the downloads. Right. So I just see the downloads.
Adam Montiel [00:01:08]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:08]:
So I've had 2200 downloads.
Adam Montiel [00:01:11]:
Totally. That's awesome.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:13]:
Yeah. Good for you up to this point.
Adam Montiel [00:01:14]:
That's fantastic.
Jimmy Purdy [00:01:14]:
That's this year. Yeah, no, it's pretty good. I don't understand the numbers. Like anything new when it comes to any sort of business in the world, you're trying to figure out the numbers, and you're like, what does this mean? Is this good? Is this bad? I know, and I was like, is anybody listening? What's a download? And then it's like, you have 22 active listeners. I've had 2200 downloads, but 22 active listeners, I don't understand what they define.
Adam Montiel [00:01:41]:
As an active listener. Maybe that's someone who's, like, listened to. I don't know either. Yeah, I mean, 2200 complete over all the episodes. And then you figure maybe there's. Because I'll see, on mine, it's like, oh, you have. They just define it differently. It's like, maybe like people who listen to 65 or 70% or more of the episode, the timing of episodes is a whole thing too.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:04]:
Got to listen to the whole thing too. Right? Kind of like YouTube.
Adam Montiel [00:02:07]:
YouTube is a whole.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:08]:
I don't even understand YouTube.
Adam Montiel [00:02:09]:
YouTube is another one. YouTube is like, you get credit for a view, if they've watched, like, I don't know, two to 9 seconds or something, you know what I mean? But then your algorithm goes up if they reach 60, 70% of it, or of course, if they finish it, get to the end.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:21]:
So that can even increase everything, all that stuff. Watching the numbers is like, so difficult.
Adam Montiel [00:02:30]:
For me because we do this because we like it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:32]:
That's the only reason why I only started kind of watching it as of recently as far as the numbers, because I was kind of curious. I wonder what it's doing.
Adam Montiel [00:02:39]:
Sure.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:40]:
And then it's like, oh, you got listeners in 50 different countries. It's like, really?
Adam Montiel [00:02:43]:
That's crazy.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:44]:
Cool, Brad.
Adam Montiel [00:02:45]:
Good for you. Yeah, see, that's cool.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:47]:
How did that happen?
Adam Montiel [00:02:48]:
Yeah, and I'm only speaking one language.
Jimmy Purdy [00:02:49]:
Yeah, but don't think about that. It's like the first time I ever got on the radio. You start instantly thinking about everybody listening, right? Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:02:57]:
One of the best things I learned about radio, I don't know if we're on right now or not, but one of the best things I learned about radio is to consider that you're just talking to one person. And in the beginning I had somebody tell me, like, okay, who is your demographic for, say, this radio station? Maybe like 32 year old female, whatever. Put a picture of a 32 year old female right in front of you and talk to her so you don't say words like, and I encourage you with this podcast, avoid words like everyone. Hey, y'all. Hey, everybody. You all out there? No, you're talking to one person. You're talking to the other person listening to us right now. And when you treat it like that, it glorifies all the amazing magic of radio that secures it as a broadcast medium.
Adam Montiel [00:03:43]:
But as an intimate medium, that's what's most important. Radio is an intimate medium.
Jimmy Purdy [00:03:49]:
I like that.
Adam Montiel [00:03:50]:
You just treat it like you're talking to one person. Use words like you.
Jimmy Purdy [00:03:55]:
That's good for the psyche, too.
Adam Montiel [00:03:57]:
Totally. Yeah, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:03:58]:
Yeah. It helps you relax a little bit.
Adam Montiel [00:04:00]:
I encourage people to look at their social media that way, too. Sometimes you'll see people who do a post on Facebook, like, have you all ever. People think on their social media that they're like, broadcasting to a trillion people. Like, no, you're not really one person. It's one pair of eyes that you want to absorb that, embrace that, whether like it, comment on it. You're talking to one person. That's the way I look at it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:04:20]:
Yeah, that's great. I pushed record a little while ago. Just so.
Adam Montiel [00:04:25]:
I don't care.
Jimmy Purdy [00:04:25]:
We're just rolling. So I guess on that note, let's get the introduction, because I'm really good at that.
Adam Montiel [00:04:32]:
Go ahead.
Jimmy Purdy [00:04:33]:
So, Adam Montiel here. Local. So radio broadcaster.
Adam Montiel [00:04:41]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:04:41]:
Extraordinaire. I would say.
Adam Montiel [00:04:43]:
That's very kind.
Jimmy Purdy [00:04:44]:
So someone I've listened to growing up in this area for really a long time. Yeah, yeah. Your up and Adam program, man. It was like there had been at least a year. I answered my phone every day at 08:00 in the morning with no. Oh, yeah. Just waiting for it. And then people call me like, what did you just say?
Adam Montiel [00:05:04]:
That is.
Jimmy Purdy [00:05:04]:
Damn it, I didn't win.
Adam Montiel [00:05:05]:
You made my day with that. That's pretty funny. Yeah. So for you listening, it's like there was a promotion we did called the cell phone salute. You'd sign up for it, and then when that time would roll around, I would go off the list of all the people that signed up, just call one at random. And if they said, hey, I'm Jimmy and I'm up. And Adam in the morning, they would win whatever prize from the sponsor it was or whatever. But, yeah, great bit.
Adam Montiel [00:05:31]:
It was fun, it was cool. And I can't believe you're, like, answering your phone like that. I was so awesome.
Jimmy Purdy [00:05:36]:
I couldn't have been the only one, right?
Adam Montiel [00:05:37]:
No, not at all. No, there had to be. It's so funny the stories I hear of that, but it's been a minute since. That's a great cell phone salute. I love it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:05:46]:
Who calls you at 08:00 in the morning? For the most part, cell phone. Okay, well, this has got to be. But I selling cars all the time, and so I was like, I always have random numbers calling me local eight, five numbers then.
Adam Montiel [00:05:59]:
Everyone's got caller id now. So then you got to hide the number star 67 or whatever you do.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:05]:
Well, for you doing. I guess that would only think would make sense. Otherwise they would know right away.
Adam Montiel [00:06:10]:
Sure.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:10]:
And the whole thing is like, to get them to say it to people that aren't right.
Adam Montiel [00:06:13]:
Yeah, but then what we would do is if they didn't say, hey, I'm Jimmy, or whatever their name is, and I'm up. And Adam in the morning, we would mess with know. We crank call them. And that would bring up mean, because I've been doing prank calls since I was a know, like, old jerky boy.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:27]:
Oh, that's fantastic.
Adam Montiel [00:06:28]:
Yeah. So we would seriously mess with someone and just try and string it onto one. They either got it or it just got so far where I just let them off the hook. It was great.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:38]:
That's enough punishment for today.
Adam Montiel [00:06:40]:
I know, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:40]:
Yeah, it was funny. I just went down a rabbit hole. The Jerky boys this last weekend on YouTube, and they got the mechanics kit one. It's like, oh, my God. It's just so verbatim of like. Yeah. And I want to say it's like, exactly what happened we deal with every day in the shop. But it's like, man, it really strikes the.
Jimmy Purdy [00:06:59]:
But it's like, it doesn't matter. They're so good with all their different industries. Like, it strikes a chord with everybody. You know what I mean? Us. So I wanted to bring in and talk about a little bit of marketing, and then obviously you don't have a whole lot of mechanical experience as far as.
Adam Montiel [00:07:14]:
What makes you say that? I don't look strong and able.
Jimmy Purdy [00:07:16]:
You look strong and able.
Adam Montiel [00:07:17]:
What are you trying to know? I did tell you.
Jimmy Purdy [00:07:19]:
Well, you came in on a bicycle, so I figured your car didn't run.
Adam Montiel [00:07:23]:
No. It's funny because my dad was so, he's still around, but he's so great at cars. And the two things I regret. I remember telling you this on the phone when we've met, the two things I regret, not really just absorbing from him was one, Spanish, because he's from Mexico City and I don't speak fluent Spanish. I know enough to get me in trouble, but I don't speak fluent Spanish. And then his knowledge of cars, which I always been admirable in any dude who can look at something, identify. I mean, I could change front brakes or something, but I'm coming to you with a wheel bearing issue with my fiancee's car. My dad was always really good at that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:08:05]:
That seems to be kind of the pattern, too, as far as, like, learning and we're kind of losing that generation.
Adam Montiel [00:08:13]:
Well, cars don't want you to work on them anymore. You open the hood, it's like a shell, and you don't even know what's inside anymore.
Jimmy Purdy [00:08:19]:
Yeah. And how do you feel on that side? As like, a client and you're looking to go buy a new vehicle? Is that something that keeps you away from a new vehicle, wants you to keep an old one on the road?
Adam Montiel [00:08:28]:
I mean, a new vehicle has its pluses because ideally, you won't have to see professionals like you for a while, hopefully. Right, because the car is going to run good. But no. And I feel bad. I really enjoyed meeting you because it's nice to meet people in an industry where for a long time, your industry has been unfortunately kind of marred with, be cautious, they're going to get you. Or you'd see those consumer advocate stories of, we sent a woman into the mechanic shop and look what I'm sure.
Jimmy Purdy [00:08:59]:
Those are 2020, right?
Adam Montiel [00:09:01]:
Yeah. When you take an expertise that you have that not a lot of people do, it leaves a lot of room open for that kind of stuff to go down. And that was kind of one of those things that people had to worry about. So that's why it would leave my dad to say, your front brakes, that I'm like, come on, it's why you got to know how to do x, y and z. So, no, I really revere people who have that kind of mechanical spirit and acumen that you guys do.
Jimmy Purdy [00:09:28]:
Yeah, well, I appreciate that. And then on that note, it's like being able to take care of basic maintenance items. It's so important. That's why I do the radio show, too. Right. It's like if you want to call in, you want to learn it. And I think there's a big stigma in the industry of guys trying to help or girls, if they become skilled in the trade, they don't want that knowledge being like, it's a secret. Don't tell anybody how to do proprietary.
Jimmy Purdy [00:09:54]:
Yeah. Right. And it's like no help because not everybody has the mechanical aptitude to take what you're going to tell them and go replace their brakes. Right. Go replace the transmission. There's so many intricacies of the vehicle to diagnose, to repair that. Yeah. You could look up a YouTube video and watch it and learn.
Jimmy Purdy [00:10:11]:
It's like you're not going to go do a timing chain on what exactly.
Adam Montiel [00:10:15]:
No, and I appreciate that because you've seen that especially like in Paso, I'm sure over the course of this show, know, draw some lineage to my experience, whether it's in broadcasting or in the wine industry. And what you see people here in the wine industry, and it's part of the reason why this area has grown so exponentially is just that, open hearts, open sellers, open minds. They're willing. Oh, you need a bulldog pup. Oh, I got you. Or you need this. I got you. They're open to it.
Adam Montiel [00:10:43]:
And there's other wine regions like, say, like Napa or this or that. You don't see that camaraderie among people or just the willingness to take down the curtain and just be real. So honestly, that's another reason why you specifically, I was taken to you in a way, because you are like, hey, let's just bring down these curtains. Let's just be real. Let's educate people because the smarter they are, they can make more informed decisions. So when we need to come to a place like shifting gears, shoot, we can.
Jimmy Purdy [00:11:10]:
Yeah. The parallels through the industries are other than maybe the medical field, right? Yeah. But even still in the medical field, they're practicing medicine in the law field. Right. They're practicing law like I'm practicing working on cars every day.
Adam Montiel [00:11:27]:
I really do liken it to those two things because both of those vocations and professions that you mentioned are very. You can google just as much to get you in trouble. If your mom's in the hospital and you're visiting her and the doctor gives you the line items of what they're dealing with, you start googling. And that could be a great blessing, and it also can be a great curse. And same thing with your car. When someone doesn't know what, they just know that they want their car to run and soundly. Right. So, no, I mean, really, you're talking about an acumen and a knowledge base that is very much on a unique level as say, law, medicine, winemaking.
Adam Montiel [00:12:10]:
Sure.
Jimmy Purdy [00:12:10]:
Right. I mean, they're learning how to take a certain varietal and mix it and blend it. Everyone's trying to become the best winemaker, right? Like, you want your wine to taste good, right?
Adam Montiel [00:12:21]:
Yeah, you want to taste, right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:12:24]:
And you don't know if it's going to be good for years and years and years later. So you better be skilled. You can't just make this creation. Hey, I got this wild idea.
Adam Montiel [00:12:33]:
You can't just be good at winemaking. You got to be good at farming. Don't even start winemaking until you can farm because it all starts in the vineyard and it all kind of starts like, what? You're talking about maintenance, right? I'm guilty of needing an oil change probably right now in my car.
Jimmy Purdy [00:12:50]:
Everybody is.
Adam Montiel [00:12:51]:
There are things that we are guilty of that we could be doing better to make that end product the way it's supposed to be treating our cars or whatever.
Jimmy Purdy [00:12:59]:
It is the best. Yeah. Part of it's just not having the time. Everyone's busy. We all have other things that we should be doing. So part of it's like, okay, well, I could do this maintenance, but I'm going to just take it somewhere where I can trust to have it done. But then there's the other side of it was where eventually you're not going to be able to figure something out. Eventually there's going to be a code.
Jimmy Purdy [00:13:16]:
There's going to be a problem. There's going to be a broken bolt that you like. Eventually you're going to need someone that's very skilled to be able to maneuver, do whatever it takes to complete that repair. Right. And so for me, hiring, like, a plumber to do my water heater at my house. Yeah, I could probably put a water heater in, right. It's not the hardest thing in the world. But what happens when I have a leak that I can't figure out? I got a stopped up drain that I can't declog.
Jimmy Purdy [00:13:45]:
Right. So I'm going to just have them do the water heater and then I have someone to call when I have a major problem. Because I think a lot of people wait, right. That's like not having a doctor and then needing to go get heart surgery. Right. You don't even have anybody you know how to call or trust or you're just going right in for the most.
Adam Montiel [00:14:06]:
Right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:14:07]:
You know what I mean?
Adam Montiel [00:14:07]:
Yeah. It's totally true.
Jimmy Purdy [00:14:08]:
With a car, like, they just suspend this vehicle maintenance, and then their transmission fails. It usually comes to us, right, because we're a transmission specialist. But there's not a lot of other options. They just have to get it fixed. And sometimes they're in the middle of the valley and it's like, whoever's close, right? It's like you don't have someone you can call. You don't have a shop that you've been using for the last ten years. You don't have this network that you've built by just getting your maintenance done. Right? Sure, you could do it cheaper, but it's all about making the connections, right?
Adam Montiel [00:14:38]:
It totally is. I'm so glad you put it that way because it's almost like a vet. Like, a lot of people look at their vet. We have a dog. They look at their vet as like, oh, it's my vet. Like, it's almost like my doctor. Well, I look at a vet like, I got one in paso, I got one in pismo, I got one in slow. And I've gained relationships with them over the last, like, 1015 years where I could text any of them right now.
Adam Montiel [00:15:00]:
And then it's like, if something happens to Georgie, could we go there? Do we go here? And then you trust them? Because, you know, again, here's veterinary practices are like, what we're talking about, law and medicine, and, like, you don't know what you're doing. All you know is you want your dog to be healthy and happy and be okay. And you know that these are likely going to be like your car, like your law services and like your medicine services. They're likely going to be expensive. So how can we find a person we trust? How can we dial it in and be as educated as possible? If you can do that for a customer, you are by far further than a lot of other people.
Jimmy Purdy [00:15:41]:
I really think so, yeah, absolutely. It's a lost art, for one.
Adam Montiel [00:15:47]:
Does it feel like that to you?
Jimmy Purdy [00:15:49]:
I do. I've always felt like I've been a little different.
Adam Montiel [00:15:54]:
Really? That's interesting. I almost, like, want to start interviewing you now because it's really interesting aspect of it because, I mean, there are mechanics and garages everywhere, and it's interesting to see how one stands out from another.
Jimmy Purdy [00:16:08]:
It's difficult, too, to continue on that path. And, you know, it's the right thing to do. The hard part is you want to be fair, right? And being fair in your mind is giving everybody a cheap, cheap service, right? Like make it as cheap as possible. But you realize that's not the way you can pay your employees to have trusting employees and trusting technicians and technicians that you can pay to go to training and learn the latest and greatest and buy the nice tools to get the job done, right, and not half ass stuff. And it's this evolving process over the years where you realize, like, the only way I can get the shop and the technicians to do the job right, diagnose the vehicle correctly is to get the money. And there isn't a tree out back, right? Like our dad's always taught us, no money tree in the back. So the money has to come through the door. But with that, then you got to provide the service so that the clients coming in are happy with paying for that service, right? Because you can't just up your prices and say, okay, well, I got to charge this to pay for these guys.
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:13]:
That's not how it works. Now. You have to raise the level of competence in the office and have people that are smiling all day that answer the phone with a smile, that are not like, hey, I'm in the middle of a quote, I'll call you back. Right? No, you can't do that, right? And so the whole shop has to elevate. And for a long time you look around and you're like, hey, what's this guy doing? What's the guy's charging? How's this guy doing? And you walk into their shop and see how they're communicating with their customers. And then when you start realizing that doesn't matter anymore and you just start focusing on what you're doing and what you have to provide to get that money through the door, to pay your technicians, to keep the business evolving, you don't care what anybody's doing anymore. I do not care what that guy charges per hour, because it doesn't matter to me. This is what I want to do.
Jimmy Purdy [00:17:55]:
This is what I have to charge to pay my guys this and much, because this is how skilled they are.
Adam Montiel [00:17:59]:
But you also have to be fully cognitive of, some folks are going to be shopping around, right? And maybe they don't get the blessing of working with you and having you fix their car. Obviously, you guys know what you're doing here and stuff, but even someone who, like me, who I am very much like, I want to meet the person I want to feel. Where are we going? Ask some questions. I ask way too many questions. I always have since I was a kid. Those things weigh into me going, okay, let's bring our business there.
Jimmy Purdy [00:18:30]:
Yeah. And the communication process is the most important part. If I don't have the time to conversate with you, then you're probably going to go somewhere else anyway. So even if I was the cheapest in town and I got to be out there busting my knuckles and working alongside with everybody else just to get enough cars out to pay payroll, I'm not going to have the time to have a conversation with you and tell you, hey, this is our process. This is what we do. You're more than welcome to go anymore. So it's like having that breathing room and that time to engage with the client is how. It's like a full circle.
Jimmy Purdy [00:19:00]:
Right? One thing we always charge enough to be able to do that.
Adam Montiel [00:19:02]:
No, totally. You're right. One thing we always talk about in radio is, like, smiling. Like, if you're reading a commercial, you smile because you literally can hear.
Jimmy Purdy [00:19:10]:
Isn't that crazy?
Adam Montiel [00:19:11]:
A smile? And when I was talking to Leanne, I've never talked to somebody who I could literally hear a smile coming over the phone, talking about my car and how much I'm going to have to pay for and when can I get it in? And she is just happy and enthusiastic, and I could tell she is smiling on the other end of that phone. I literally heard it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:19:31]:
Yeah, it's pretty cool. That's gold. And to keep that. I don't know how to put that in the words to train. That's. That's the most difficult thing. Right? And it's just like anybody's on broadcasting on radio. There's just a subtle nuance of being able to have someone come on the radio.
Adam Montiel [00:19:54]:
It's like hospitality.
Jimmy Purdy [00:19:56]:
It's like that one flavor in that wine. What is that?
Adam Montiel [00:19:58]:
You can teach someone how to be hospitable, but real hospitality comes from your chest. It comes from your heart. You know what I mean? And when someone has that, and yes, of course you notice it in wine, and whether you go stay at that nice hotel or the beautiful restaurant, but if you can come to a place that man, I'm fixing, because fixing your car is by all accounts a stressful and not a joyous situation, man, it's like going to the dentist. I got to do it, but I'm not looking forward to it. And when you can have a pleasant experience and have real hospitality being afforded to you. What was the first thing you said? You're not even open right now. First thing you said was like, you like coffee? Oh, no, I like water. Okay, there's some water right there.
Adam Montiel [00:20:38]:
You were hospitable right from the beginning.
Jimmy Purdy [00:20:40]:
Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:20:40]:
You know what I mean? Those things matter.
Jimmy Purdy [00:20:42]:
Yeah. And it parallels back to your first comment of having that stigma in the industry of, like, the guys are always mad, they're smoking a cigarette out front, and they're like, hey, what do you need? Well, it's because he doesn't have any money. He's behind on everything. And he's like, why would he be hospitable when the business isn't being hospitable to him? It's just like this vicious cycle.
Adam Montiel [00:21:01]:
Sure.
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:02]:
And you don't need to charge an extravagant amount, but you just need to be involved with the numbers. And it goes back to the parallels of the podcast and learning the numbers. And how do I make this make sense? What does all this mean? And that's the hardest part. And everyone doesn't want to suck, right? But you're going to suck the first time you do anything. You're not going to understand it, and you're not going to understand it for a very long time. And even still, the numbers of this day for the shop, I know enough to now make a little bit of sense of it, right. But it's always a learning process. I'm not a CPA, I'm not a bookkeeper, but I can have a conversation with them now.
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:37]:
And that's step one.
Adam Montiel [00:21:38]:
Do you still find yourself stumped? A certain car, make, model, or just a situation? In a car you're driving, you hear like a, you hear something like 99% of the time, you know? Exactly. Oh, that's a wheel bearing. Oh, that's this. Do you ever go like, I have no freaking clue what that is?
Jimmy Purdy [00:21:58]:
Yes and no. That's a really good question. That's interesting because I don't think about that too much, but it does happen. And that's another one that brings up, because they bring the car and, oh, you want to diagnose it. It's going to be x amount of money and we're going to have probably an hour or 2 hours, whatever. Wow. You're going to go drive around the parking lot. You'll know what it is right away.
Jimmy Purdy [00:22:17]:
It's like, yeah, but you don't.
Adam Montiel [00:22:19]:
That's work like that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:22:20]:
It doesn't work like that. I'm sorry. That's my experience and I'm not always right, so I've done that before. It's like, oh, that sounds like wheel bearing. It's a little different, right. And you pull it apart and you look at it and you're like, oh, okay. It is a wheel bearing. Or it's like, this wheel bearing looks fine, actually.
Jimmy Purdy [00:22:36]:
That's part of the process. And with automatic transmissions, right. I've done enough of them where I can drive them and I can feel something wrong. I'm like, oh, that's going to be the 35 Reverse piston cracked in the drum or that feels like a bad converter. That feels like whatever. I got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to find when I tear it apart. Am I right? Like half the time, maybe, yeah, sure. There's no way.
Jimmy Purdy [00:22:59]:
I'm sure. If it's gotten a reverse and it's a certain model GM, it's like most likely the reverse band is broken.
Adam Montiel [00:23:04]:
It's like a back surgery going, I definitely think that's c five or.
Jimmy Purdy [00:23:06]:
Yeah, but until you get in there, of course, you don't know, right? Some are easier than others to get in there, but yeah, I try not to think about that stuff. I'm definitely the type of technician mindset where if I hear something in the car, turning up the radio a little bit and I'm going to go ahead and I mean, on my own car, right. I don't need to stress about this. I'm going to go ahead and not worry about that. And I have that in my mind where once it gets to a certain point, okay, I got to address this now. Right? Anybody else? I can't give that recommendation out. And it brings up a point because I get some people hey. Think I'm going to be fine then? Well, if it was mine, it would be fine because you know cars and it's like that genetic wall, right? I just know it's going to get to a point where I can.
Jimmy Purdy [00:23:48]:
Okay, now it needs to be addressed, but most people, they're not going to really know when it's that bad. So it's like, I can't recommend you doing anything. And I get that call all the time too. Hey, it's doing this and that. Should I just drive it there or should I get it towed? It's like, I highly recommend you just towing it in because if you're calling me, it's bad. You know what I mean?
Adam Montiel [00:24:07]:
Sure.
Jimmy Purdy [00:24:07]:
Most people drive their cars till the brake pads wear through the disc rotors. How long has this been making this noise? About a week. No.
Adam Montiel [00:24:14]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:24:15]:
Bs. So if you're calling me, it's probably pretty bad. But then sometimes they come in, it's like, that's not even that bad. What are they whining about? Right. It's an interesting question because I get stumped and it's just about the mindset of just move on to the next thing. And when you're new, not new, but when you're green, you want to be right all the time. If you don't get it right, it's just like this gut blow and you're like, oh, I suck at what I'm doing. I shouldn't be doing this.
Jimmy Purdy [00:24:45]:
And you start rethinking all your life decisions, like should I really be an auto technician and maybe I should go bake cupcakes? Or you get all these over time. You just learn like you're going to be wrong and you just move on to the next step. And it's all about in the diagnostic process of proving your hypothesis, right, you have a hypothesis and it's all about just getting in and proving that you're right.
Adam Montiel [00:25:10]:
Do mechanics normally admit when they're wrong to the customer of that car?
Jimmy Purdy [00:25:14]:
I do. I think that just comes with experience and being humble, being honest. Being honest? Yeah. I mean, I think that's the biggest thing in changing the industry is something that we are actively trying to do. And if you're going to sit there and lie because you can't swallow your own pride, then you should get the hell out of the office or you shouldn't have contact because that's not right. And sometimes you make a mistake and then you try to cover that up with something else. Oh, it ended up being this and that. And the other thing is like, no, man, it's always going to find you.
Jimmy Purdy [00:25:46]:
People know when you're lying. And even though if they're not automatically or automotively equipped, they understand they can split a lie. You can hear it.
Adam Montiel [00:25:57]:
Yeah. You feel like something doesn't sound right here.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:00]:
Totally. Yeah. There's con men out there that are really good at conning that and making, but it's like, at the end of the day, it's usually going to come back around because guess what? They're going to leave and they're going to go ask their dad or they're going to go ask somebody else that's maybe a little bit more mechanically inclined.
Adam Montiel [00:26:13]:
Right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:13]:
And they're like, that doesn't sound right. And that right there, you just lost that client forever. They're never going to come back.
Adam Montiel [00:26:19]:
No.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:19]:
Right. But if I walk up and say, hey, look, so I was wrong. I'm going to go ahead and compensate you for this. We got to keep moving forward. I'm going to need a couple more days. Most people are going to be pretty cool about that. Oh, that was pretty cool. He actually admitted he was wrong.
Adam Montiel [00:26:31]:
Right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:32]:
And then they're going to give you extra time with a vehicle, too, because most guys get wrapped up, they replace the component, didn't fix it. And they're like, oh, I told him this was going to fix it. He's supposed to pick it up by five, and now you're rushing and it's like, why are you stressing? Just relax. It's just a car, man. It's just a car. Get him a rental if you need to. Just relax, you're wrong.
Adam Montiel [00:26:53]:
That's a good point.
Jimmy Purdy [00:26:54]:
And I tell the guys that all the time, too. You're not paid to be right. I mean, we're paid to do the job, right?
Adam Montiel [00:26:59]:
Make sure nothing catastrophic to be perfect.
Jimmy Purdy [00:27:02]:
No, exactly. And that's what I tell them. If you're wrong or you break something, you just come tell me and we'll go figure out how to fix it.
Adam Montiel [00:27:08]:
That's cool.
Jimmy Purdy [00:27:09]:
And it's like then we stop the presses and I go communicate with the office because I'm kind of like in between, right? So I kind of like the foreman of the shop in a sense. So it's like they can come to me, hey, this happened. This happened because if they go to the office, as far as being mechanically inclined in fixing a situation, that's probably better for me to get in there because maybe something. Hey, you know what? I have this extra part laying around. I got this. We can make this work, but it's just communicate, like, come tell me about it. Let's contact the client. Let's let them know, and then we can decide what the next step is going to be.
Jimmy Purdy [00:27:44]:
And that's just something bad goes wrong.
Adam Montiel [00:27:46]:
You got to be pretty creative. I mean, I came in here with a bottle of wine that I wanted to open for it, and I didn't have a wine key. And we're just like, can we get creative with this? And I saw you get a screw, and it's like, there it is. I mean, we opened $100 bottle of wine with. That was pretty sick, dude, that was awesome.
Jimmy Purdy [00:28:03]:
I mean, that's part of it, too. And that creative mindset, I say this a lot, and maybe I take a lot of too much pride in what I do, but I feel like my automotive mindset has allowed my creativeness when it comes to stuff like that to figure out stuff like way beyond vehicles. I just look at things different, and I've realized that through the years, and as I got more and more involved in the automotive field 1015 years ago, it was like every couple of years, I realized I just look things at different. People would be sitting there, opening a door, right? Like, this is just an example. You walk into a grocery store or a door, and everyone's, like, pulling the door open, pulling a door open. Pull. And I look down, there's like a stopper. So I just open the door.
Jimmy Purdy [00:28:46]:
I put the stopper in, and then everyone's walking. Things like that. I just look at things a little different. I just watched 15 people sit there and navigate this door, and it's like, just put the stopper in. There we go. Or like, something's broken. The smoke detector going off. It's like, just take it off.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:00]:
There's a battery in there, and everyone doesn't want to touch it. I don't know. And maybe it's just me, but I just feel like, so you're the kind.
Adam Montiel [00:29:06]:
Of dude, like, if you're in that hotel and your smoke alarm is doing that chirp every 2 seconds, all the.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:11]:
Batteries coming out, you're getting up on.
Adam Montiel [00:29:13]:
The bed, you're reaching up there and doing it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:15]:
If the thermostat is over, I'm pulling the COVID off. I'm seeing. Okay, well, it looks like the resistor wire is broken. And put it back on.
Adam Montiel [00:29:19]:
Click.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:21]:
I'm not calling anybody. Figure it out.
Adam Montiel [00:29:24]:
Exactly.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:25]:
And I don't know, maybe it was like growing up kind of poor and learning how to fix the things that are around you.
Adam Montiel [00:29:30]:
Was that your dad or what?
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:33]:
Yeah. My dad was, like, the ultimate handyman. That's cool. He was mechanically inclined, but he was by no means a mechanic. And as I've evolved in this, I was like, I think about some of the things he taught me. I'm like, oh, my God, he's one of those guys. But it's like he figured it out, and he was, like, the con man kind of ish. So I got the story.
Jimmy Purdy [00:29:55]:
He'd always go in, and he'd like to just mess with people. I think we were talking about this when it started recording.
Adam Montiel [00:30:01]:
He's still around.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:02]:
No, in 2018.
Adam Montiel [00:30:05]:
Oh, man.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:05]:
Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:30:06]:
Sorry to hear that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:06]:
Yeah, thanks. So he'd go in and pay for something, and he'd start strike up a conversation, and he had a gifted gab. He could talk. So he'd put, like, a 50 down, right? And he'd start conversating, kind of slip it back, and he'd have a 20 in his hand. And when they reached out, because he'd kind of pull him back. So he'd hand him a 20, and he'd, like, keep eye contact act, and all they saw him was a 50. He didn't see the switch of the 20. Right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:29]:
And then they would change him out, and he changed them out for the 50, and he handed him a 20, and I'd be sitting there like, that's a crime. It was a different day and age. That's 25 years ago.
Adam Montiel [00:30:45]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:46]:
That's a great story. Yeah. Going out and buying cars with him. He'd always like to buy used cars. And it was, like, smart at it. Well, he's so embarrassing. He was like, we're leaving then. And it was like the ultimate, like, negotiated.
Adam Montiel [00:30:57]:
Because he wasn't afraid to walk away.
Jimmy Purdy [00:30:58]:
No, not at all.
Adam Montiel [00:30:59]:
My dad would tell me that all the time. Don't be afraid to walk away.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:01]:
Yeah, I can't do that.
Adam Montiel [00:31:03]:
My dad would say this. He who cares the least is in control. That's a good quote. In a lot of ways, in business, you can find that to be true. You don't get unless you ask. He who cares the least is in control.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:17]:
Yeah. It's old school mentality.
Adam Montiel [00:31:20]:
Sure. It certainly is.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:21]:
I feel like that's, like, old generation. We're like, yeah. Facebook marketplace. Right.
Adam Montiel [00:31:24]:
We're talking about our dads.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:25]:
Yeah. You list something. It's, like, high. Is this available 100,000 times?
Adam Montiel [00:31:30]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:30]:
Right.
Adam Montiel [00:31:31]:
I know. It's so funny.
Jimmy Purdy [00:31:32]:
People just want, like, owner right now, and the transactional mentality is like what we've been bred as consumers in the last ten years. And that's the other problem when it comes to the automotive field, is you're shopping for an auto repair like you shop for someone on Amazon and you're just calling around because you think the only thing that matters is price. But that's not even it. You just don't know how to have that conversation. Like you don't know what to ask. When you call a shop, what do we ask?
Adam Montiel [00:31:57]:
I want to know because, I mean, look, otherwise you're kind of coming into it thinking, hopefully this is your hope. Place a, place b, place c, all know how to change. Let's say we're talking about wheel bearings, but stipulating that all places know how to do it and correctly.
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:17]:
Right.
Adam Montiel [00:32:17]:
How do I find the one that's going to give me the best service and the best price?
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:21]:
That's the question of all questions.
Adam Montiel [00:32:22]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:23]:
And that is like the communication thing. Right. And it's like the one thing that's probably overlooked the most is like, is someone going to answer the phone? Right. And then what do they say when you ask them what the price is? What's their warranty? How do they warranty it? Is it parts and labor? Is everything in house? Right.
Adam Montiel [00:32:40]:
So these are the questions to ask?
Jimmy Purdy [00:32:43]:
In my opinion, yes. And it's hard. And honestly, the person answering the phone should be able to navigate that conversation because everybody is a little different. And so to have an SOP, a standard operating procedure that when you answer the phone, you're just going to parrot the same phrase over and over and over. You can't do that. Everybody's in a different mindset. Some people are kind of stressed. Some people are frustrated.
Jimmy Purdy [00:33:03]:
Some people are calling for somebody else. Like, they don't even have those answers. And so it's really up to the shop to kind of set up a line of defense in a way where you're kind of walking through. Okay, well, do you have the VIN number or the license plate? Oh, no, I'm calling for some. Okay, well, whoever's paying for the. Right, like, let's start with that. Don't call for somebody. And as sad as it is, that kind of weeds out the clients that it's like you're never going to get there.
Jimmy Purdy [00:33:31]:
They're going to look for the guy on Craigslist, they're going to look for Facebook. And that's fine. There's a marketplace for that. Literally. Just let that be.
Adam Montiel [00:33:39]:
Is Craigslist a bad place to go. If you could find someone who on Craigslist says, oh, I'm six times certified. I work at a place full time, but just want some extra money. It's a job that, look, you could probably do it in a driveway. Is that a bad idea?
Jimmy Purdy [00:33:53]:
No, I don't think so. The bad thing is they're not regulated, but a lot of shops aren't either. Like, just because you walk into a brick and mortar doesn't mean they have a business license, doesn't mean they have insurance. It just means they pay rent.
Adam Montiel [00:34:05]:
Right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:34:06]:
You know what I mean? Right. They're not certified. You can go buy a set of Craftsman tools, and you can be a mobile mechanic on Craigslist, or you can go pay rent on a spot and move in.
Adam Montiel [00:34:18]:
Do you find a lot of mobile people on Craigslist are like, a dude who might have a job, like, here during the day, but then just moonlighting for some extra cash.
Jimmy Purdy [00:34:24]:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:34:26]:
So they probably know what they're.
Jimmy Purdy [00:34:27]:
Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:34:28]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:34:29]:
And that's another tough topic to talk about because the shop's not paying them enough for one. So that's the main problem. But where does it end? How much money do you need? Everybody wants to make a million dollars. Everyone wants to make $100 million, but do you need it? And so some guys are paid pretty damn well, and they're still looking for work. Like, why are you doing this? And obviously, there's a goal, and there's a vision, and that comes back to the owner taking ownership of their shop and say, hey, what's your goal in the next five years? And that doesn't even need to be in the auto shop. That can be anywhere, right? Like, where do you want to be in five years? You want to go buy a yacht? You want to sail the world? What's your goal here? Let's make that happen. And if it's achievable, let's figure out how to make that happen. And that's another part of leadership that is really missed in the auto field, because you just assume you hire a tech and they're going to come in, they do the work, and then that's it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:35:24]:
And then you're frustrated by everything else in the world because you as a technician have opened a shop, and so you have a technician mindset. You don't have an entrepreneurial mindset. You don't have that. Have you ever read the book the e myth?
Adam Montiel [00:35:37]:
You know what? I had a boss at a production place in Thousand Oaks who was super into Emyth.
Jimmy Purdy [00:35:43]:
Okay.
Adam Montiel [00:35:44]:
And although I had a lot of aspects of this boss that I didn't quite care for, he was an alcoholic. But he would talk about being system dependent over people dependent. And it's probably the biggest lesson I've learned from him. And I will tell this to people, like, if you win the lottery and moved it to Heaty, or if you more morbid or macabre is like, you get hit by a bus, you're going to hear, like, is your company able to move on because of systems, or is it all because of you? I have a place I'm a fan of in Pismo beach called puffers. Charlie Puffer has this bar called puffers of pismo. It is fun. He has live music. He's got great wine selection.
Adam Montiel [00:36:27]:
But Charlie Puffer is so magnanimous and just this electrifying individual that if I'm going to puffers, I want Charlie Puffer to be know. So his place is very people dependent. Now, he knows this. We've talked about this on the air with him and stuff. So I'm not saying anything that he's not aware of. But in the event of something happens to Charlie Puffer, something happens to puffers of pismo. So if you can have. And I think Emyth, one of the tenets of this was being system dependent, and I really glommed onto that, and I thought Emyth's preaching of that was very spot.
Jimmy Purdy [00:37:04]:
I mean, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Adam Montiel [00:37:07]:
No.
Jimmy Purdy [00:37:07]:
Like, if you want to own a shop and be fishing by noon every like, then do that. Hire one employee or whatever. Whatever your goal of success is, is your goal. You don't have to look at your neighbor and be like, I need to own a $10 million shop, or whatever. It doesn't matter. But if you want to progress, that's, like, part of it. And it's like having the technician, the entrepreneurial, and having those three different mindsets, right, where you're either going to be the worker or you're going to be the entrepreneurial spirit. Right? There's a third one in there, and I'm drawing a blank on the stupid thing.
Adam Montiel [00:37:44]:
That's usually how it works in Emyth.
Jimmy Purdy [00:37:46]:
Yeah, there's three different personalities. I know whoever's listening is definitely, like, screaming at it right now.
Adam Montiel [00:37:54]:
Yeah, right.
Jimmy Purdy [00:37:55]:
Anyway, so the point was having that technician mindset and not looking back at that 30,000 foot mark and being like, oh, this is my business, and I need to set these systems in place to make sure that it constantly evolves and I'm putting sops in place and all that kind of stuff. That's kind of like the big problem with technician moving into ownership is they don't take that leadership role and they can't see past that and they don't set it up and ask their technicians, hey, man, we're probably going to spend a lot of time together for the next ten years, hopefully. What do you want to do?
Adam Montiel [00:38:30]:
And there's a difference between bosses and leaders, too. And some people who are great leaders might not find themselves in a position to be a boss or even be, maybe even a manager. But you can tell people when they're born leaders or maybe have curated leadership qualities and they talk about some of the things that you're talking about now, we're not just talking about the efficiency, the bottom line, the acumen. We're talking about talking to our. Yeah, the culture, right? Like, hey, what are your goals? Or how can we, like, you got this problem, come to me. These are leadership qualities. So I think it's great, honestly, to hear conversations like this happening in an automotive garage, which I imagine a lot of people, and I'm sure maybe most people listen to this, are somewhat familiar with the industry. But for folks that aren't, I would really encourage them to listen to a conversation like this because it's really cool to hear that someone who runs an auto garage is taking these things into consideration.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:27]:
You have to. And manager. That was the last one, so I knew you'd get it. Yeah. The third personality was manager. So you can be entrepreneur, you can be a manager, you can be a technician. Right? We all have these three mindsets in our head and it's all about delegating. And you're right, the manager takes care of that culture and you have to breed it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:39:45]:
And then you have the technician that wants to work, you have the entrepreneur that does all the other crazy stuff, right? Like, oh, the marketing, the dreaming. And sometimes you get stuck in one of those phases and you're missing it and you either got to hire that position or you got to look back into it. And so step one is like hire the technicians and then be the manager to take care of the technicians, right. And then it's like you can have an entrepreneur in the business or you can continue on doing that. It just blows my mind reading that book and seeing and hearing that, and it's like, oh, wow. Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:40:19]:
How do auto garages market themselves? I mean, are there certain things that. Is it like getting into the auto trader?
Jimmy Purdy [00:40:26]:
I was hoping to ask you that?
Adam Montiel [00:40:27]:
Yeah. I mean, I know a lot of my thoughts on marketing and getting yourself out there building relationships, but I'm so curious, just from the inside, what do you notice already happening on the marketing standpoint? Yeah. Or how you distinguish yourself from the garage next to you or the garage down the shop.
Jimmy Purdy [00:40:47]:
The ultimate question. And it's so hard to do that in a 32nd or 1 minute radio ad. It's so hard to do it on a flyer. Everybody just price, just be cheaper than the other guy. $10 off, $20 off. I'm guilty of it. I mean, it's just the biggest thing. People like to see money off, right? And you can preach till you're blue in the face about your quality.
Jimmy Purdy [00:41:10]:
And like, I'm going to answer the phone with a smile and we're going to take care of you and we'll call you back. It doesn't matter. Like you said, people are consumers and they're price conscious and they're just looking for a price. And just like, perfect example, shop a, b, and C all know how to do the brakes. It's all exactly the same, right? So you're just looking for the price on the industry side of it. We know that's not it. Some guys aren't replacing the bracket pins. They're not lubing the slide pins.
Jimmy Purdy [00:41:38]:
They're not retracting the calipers properly. They're not flushing the brake fluid when they should be. They're not torquing the caliper bolts. There's just so many nuances when it comes into just simple as a brake job. Right? And you can even say, like an oil change. Some guys don't even, they're not torquing the drain plug. They're over crushing the washer on the drain plug. So the next time you do it, you got to replace the drain plug.
Jimmy Purdy [00:41:59]:
Okay. So it's not that big of a deal, right? Drain plugs, five or $6, but if you have that car for 200,000 miles else. Or do you just replace the drain plug every time and make that part of your service? Or are you filling the oil filter? Are you filling the oil filter with oil so you don't have a dry start on the engine? All these things that are coming into play when it comes to having a quality service behind the scenes, and that's simple stuff.
Adam Montiel [00:42:24]:
And it's all behind the scenes. Like, the customer doesn't know that. You might save a few bucks if you don't fill the oil filter. You might save six, $7 or whatever. But like, man, if you just fill that oil filter up, you give me a better product with longer lasting ability. You know what I mean? So it's interesting. And again, without knowing, you could even have a good rapport with someone or trust somebody on the front end, in the front office. But if you don't know what's going on behind the scenes, and certainly we're talking about vets, lawyers, doctors, you guys, we don't know the ins and outs to even know, to ask, are you lubricating my support pins or whatever you said?
Jimmy Purdy [00:42:58]:
Exactly. It is. And that's part of the industry that really. I mean, it drives me nuts, and a lot of other people, too. And it's like, whose fault is that? The technician doesn't know better. And if he does know better, then that's shame on him. But then it's like, is it the owner not teaching the tech? So where's the disconnect here that we don't know? And it's usually training, and the training is expensive. They can't afford it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:43:21]:
And the turnover. And we have a tech shortage. Supposedly, we don't have enough technicians. So it's like you're allowing these auto technicians to get away with stuff that you normally wouldn't because there's no one to replace them. And it just goes on and on and on. But the point is, always looking for the price. If their price is severely less than anybody else, or even a little less than somebody else, they're cutting a corner somewhere.
Adam Montiel [00:43:44]:
Really.
Jimmy Purdy [00:43:45]:
There has to be. There's just no way. Parts are extremely expensive. You can't get cheap parts. There's no wholesale parts. Right. And here's the big secret. The parts at O'Reilly's and Carquest Napa is the same price we get, and we mark them up.
Jimmy Purdy [00:43:58]:
Bottom line, that's all there is to it, really. Absolutely. We do not have any sort of dealer. Instead of, you can do like, world pack and they'll help you a little bit. And there's a little incentive. If you have a certain amount of parts that you're selling a month, they'll give you a little kickback. But the price that we pay is the price that the walk in pay. There is a list price that most auto parts stores will sell it at a list price, but for the most part, they'll put it under an account and it's like a few dollars less.
Jimmy Purdy [00:44:26]:
Yeah, but it's not a deeply discounted wholesale price.
Adam Montiel [00:44:29]:
Right? Like a full on wholesale retail.
Jimmy Purdy [00:44:30]:
No. And part of the auto industry is reselling that part for a 55% to 60% GP. And you have to, because your hourly rate would have to be $300 an hour if you didn't upsell your parts. So you have your percentage on your labor, and you have your percentage on your parts, and then altogether, that's what gives you your gp, your gross profit, and then you take your net at the bottom, right after everything else. But, yeah, the parts we get, that's what we pay. We mark them up. And same with the labor. We take our hourly rate, and we basically take our lead technician and we take our overhead and we do the math and we say, okay, to take what we need off the top, this is the hourly rate we need to be.
Jimmy Purdy [00:45:15]:
And that takes into account our 55 and 60% GP on parts. Now, we saw a lot of transmissions. Well, that's 120% markup. You can't do that on a transmission. Right? $2,500. You're talking about selling a trans for, like, four grand. You can't do it, right. So then you lose your profit, your percentage on that trans.
Jimmy Purdy [00:45:33]:
So then that goes over to the spark plug. So now you're selling a $3 spark plug for $25. Well, you can't do that either, because you know damn well you go down there and you can get them for $5 apiece. Right? And so then you have to find this. And it's this constant dance of making sure that you're not. Yeah, it's a dance.
Adam Montiel [00:45:50]:
Is it insulting if I come to you to fix something on my car and I say, I'm going to grab the part, I'm going to bring it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:45:57]:
Into you, I want to dive into that. So what is the mindset behind save.
Adam Montiel [00:46:02]:
Money on the part?
Jimmy Purdy [00:46:02]:
Okay, that's fair, right?
Adam Montiel [00:46:04]:
It's a reason.
Jimmy Purdy [00:46:06]:
I don't know if I call it insulting. It's definitely a douchey thing to do. No, I mean, there's nothing wrong with. Everyone wants to save money, but it's a no go. I mean, for us, we don't do that. And a lot of other shops don't.
Adam Montiel [00:46:18]:
It's like when I go to the vet and my vet says, you need to get this, and I go, okay, do you care? Because I could walk out with this medicine for my dog from your place, and it's going to cost me $140. Or I can go to Costco with your prescription and I can get it for $65. Yeah, I choose to do that.
Jimmy Purdy [00:46:34]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Adam Montiel [00:46:35]:
I mean, don't hate you guys won't do that. Why? Because there's, like, a liability if you get the parts or whatever.
Jimmy Purdy [00:46:41]:
Or what? You could point a finger at that. There's a little bit of that. Our quality service is three year, 36,000 miles nationwide warranty. We have to buy the part and install the part to get that doesn't matter. Some parts claim their lifetime warranty if it fails, whatever. The bottom line is, our algorithms, our math, everything that we've done, the hourly rate that we've come to, is all based on the fact of taking these parts and making our percentage on it. So, installing a part that we didn't buy or doesn't have our markup on it, our hourly rate would have to be $300 an hour to make that job profitable. Right? So if we just did, like, a labor ticket with no parts on there, that screws the whole everything.
Jimmy Purdy [00:47:21]:
Right?
Adam Montiel [00:47:24]:
So if someone does come, even though they may just be trying to save themselves a little money, still respect the work you're about to do to the car. I'm understanding from you that's really not a fair thing to do, because not for the business. You've already equated all these numbers out just so.
Jimmy Purdy [00:47:42]:
Right.
Adam Montiel [00:47:42]:
So that's interesting to know. Okay.
Jimmy Purdy [00:47:46]:
What's a way to put it? I mean, you win some and you lose some, right? So it all comes out in the wash. It's really at the point where we've had it mathed out, where it's like, we know we're going to make whatever our net profits that we want to make at the end of the year, 20%. Fantastic. That'd be great if we get 20%. But it's like, whatever it is that we're trying to achieve for that year, it's like we've got all that algorithm. We got to figure it out. Is one or two going to kill that? No, but it's like, you can't make a habit of that, right? It's like, this is our procedure. This is our process.
Adam Montiel [00:48:23]:
There might be exceptions, but there's still the rule.
Jimmy Purdy [00:48:25]:
Yeah. And it's like, in that situation, it's hard to make that exception because it just screws the numbers up. And then you're looking at the numbers, and now next quarter, you realize that your percentages are down. So now you bump up your labor rate or you bump up your percentage to make up that difference. And now you've just cheated this person out because they could have paid a few dollars less.
Adam Montiel [00:48:45]:
Do you have difficult clients that will do that? Customers that will just. Oh, man, here comes Jim, he's such a pain in the ass with that damn car. And he's always doing this. Do you have certain people that are just, like, nightmares to deal with?
Jimmy Purdy [00:48:58]:
I don't know about nightmares. We got pretty good. Yeah, that's good. It's just the human interaction. It's just like, sure. See anybody?
Adam Montiel [00:49:04]:
It's like a roll the dice. Right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:05]:
Yeah. And it's about what's going on that day. Like, I don't have time for a conversation today, and, you know, I'm about to be talking for about 30 or 45 minutes today. And you just do it. And it's like, I've realized that's my job. That's what I do. Just get in there and do it. Yeah, there's a blacklist.
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:22]:
I mean, there's plenty of.
Adam Montiel [00:49:23]:
You have a blacklist?
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:24]:
There's definitely. We don't. Yes and no.
Adam Montiel [00:49:28]:
So there's like, if he comes in.
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:30]:
Here or she comes in here, it's a DNR. Do not repair.
Adam Montiel [00:49:35]:
Wow. You got a DNR. Do not resuscitate. If their car is dead. Do not resuscitate.
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:40]:
Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:49:41]:
DNR. Wow. Do not repair. So they come in now, even if they're coming in with their six Acura MDX or they're coming in with their 65 mustang. This is just a difficult client. Don't do it. Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:49:54]:
And it's about the interaction and the communication and. Yeah, we can't, like.
Adam Montiel [00:49:59]:
Like, he was rude to the Gallup frankincense. Or he was.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:02]:
You spend ten or 15 minutes on the intake, ten or 15 minutes on the outtake. And it's not like I'm, like, counting the minutes, but that's part of the process.
Adam Montiel [00:50:09]:
You take payments. What if someone's really struggling and did a big job on their car?
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:12]:
So we do, like, synchrony. So synchrony has. How do we use it? Now, there's credit card companies that work with autoshop specifically qualify for something. Yeah. You know the synchrony carry card for dental work.
Adam Montiel [00:50:24]:
I've heard of.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:25]:
Have you done.
Adam Montiel [00:50:26]:
Not to bring it back to pets, but there's, like, care credit or if you're doing your vet.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:30]:
Same thing. Yeah, same thing.
Adam Montiel [00:50:31]:
Okay. So you fill out some. You qualify for it, and then. Okay. Got it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:35]:
Yeah, they pay us and then they pay back the twelve months. No interest or whatever it is. But, yeah, we don't do, like, the even checks. Checks are getting hard to take.
Adam Montiel [00:50:43]:
Really?
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:44]:
Yeah. Well, the biggest thing is the chargeback.
Adam Montiel [00:50:47]:
Oh, yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:48]:
So they'll run a $2,500 credit card, and then like three days, four days later, they'll do a chargeback because they.
Adam Montiel [00:50:54]:
Call their credit card company to cancel.
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:55]:
It and they're just upset about the repair.
Adam Montiel [00:50:57]:
Oh, what do you do? You go after them, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:50:59]:
There's nothing you can do.
Adam Montiel [00:51:01]:
Nothing you can do.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:02]:
Nothing you can do. No, you can't take them to small.
Adam Montiel [00:51:03]:
Claims like, no, I just did this.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:06]:
If it was a $10,000 chargeback.
Adam Montiel [00:51:08]:
But that puts them on the DNR, though, for sure, right?
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:10]:
Oh, that's a for sure DNR.
Adam Montiel [00:51:11]:
It's got to be DNR because it's.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:12]:
Like stealing from you or, I mean.
Adam Montiel [00:51:15]:
Unless you really did something that they really have a rightful argument to make. And if you didn't go to the mat and try and address it with them, but if you went to the mat, tried to address it with them and all this stuff, I feel that's like stealing from you. That's not cool.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:28]:
It is stealing. Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:51:29]:
If you came in good faith, did the repairs what you thought in good faith, and are just merely having a disagreement with the customer, it should be able to be resolved.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:39]:
Right.
Adam Montiel [00:51:39]:
If they just straight do a chargeback, I feel that's like taking work that you've done, and then it's stealing from you.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:43]:
Yeah. Not even a phone call. And it's the same with, like, yelp reviews, Google reviews.
Adam Montiel [00:51:47]:
Oh, man.
Jimmy Purdy [00:51:48]:
You know what I mean? Do you ever get that with your radio program?
Adam Montiel [00:51:53]:
Do you get, like, listeners, they will swear that they heard you say something that you can prove you never said? Literally, it's on public airwaves that are recorded every time my mic is on. So we'll go back and listen to it. I can prove I never said it, but people, because we call this in radio, there's a thing called perception is reality. It might even be for you, could probably apply that to customers of your business, too. If you think something. You know it. I heard it. I know it.
Adam Montiel [00:52:23]:
It's there. It's real. Where it's like. Well, no, not, but. So that perception of reality is definitely part of it. But also, there is no Yelp review page for Adam Monteel as a radio host or a broadcaster, thank God.
Jimmy Purdy [00:52:37]:
Right, so you didn't get, like, letters to the studio?
Adam Montiel [00:52:40]:
Oh, sure, here and there. But mostly they're good. I think by far the majority of my 20 plus year radio career, the amount of. Look at one of the worst things where I got feedback from was I made a joke in the new year about people who do dry January they always want to tell you about it. If you're doing dry January, it's like you have to tell everyone about it. And I'm like, these dry January people, they always got to preach to you that they're doing it. They don't feel fulfilled unless they tell three people a day all month long, they're doing dry January. Just making fun of it.
Jimmy Purdy [00:53:15]:
Right?
Adam Montiel [00:53:15]:
It's morning radio and I figure we're trying to talk to other people. Other people that are like that. Crossfit people. Crossfit people got to tell you that they're into the Crossfit. Sorry, brothers are Crossfit. Or, I can't, I'm going to CrossFit. Or people who don't have a tv in their house. People who don't have a tv in their house.
Adam Montiel [00:53:31]:
They love to tell you, no, we don't have a tv in our house. They just love to tell you. And then I said, vegans. Vegans freaking love to let you know that they're vegan when people do not.
Jimmy Purdy [00:53:41]:
Care on their arm.
Adam Montiel [00:53:42]:
Yeah, right. So, of course, I never got a surge of emails from people who don't have tvs in their house. I did not get a surge of emails from people who do Crossfit. I didn't even get a surge of emails from people who do dry January. Who do you think I got a surge of bitchy emails from? Vegans, the non meat eaters, they love to go to task. And just so it's like letters to my general manager. And of course, we're all just sitting back reading these, just like laughing at it. But these vegans they love, he shouldn't talk about.
Adam Montiel [00:54:16]:
And again, it was a joke.
Jimmy Purdy [00:54:18]:
Yeah, it's a joke on mine, the whole thing.
Adam Montiel [00:54:21]:
And it really just proved my point. Like, here we go. So there you go.
Jimmy Purdy [00:54:25]:
It's nice to be able to laugh at it. It's hard not to take it personally when we get even if it's like, without even any context behind it. It's like you get that star review and it just like, hits it. Like, what? Really?
Adam Montiel [00:54:37]:
Well, because you care. I mean, I don't know you all that well. I met you just a couple of days ago. But it's like you can tell when there's like a sentient dude or gal. Like, I care about what I do. This is what I'm good at. It's the talent that God gave me. I'm using it to feed my family and support where I live and support my livelihood.
Adam Montiel [00:54:55]:
And if you're going to come ish on it. That hurts.
Jimmy Purdy [00:54:59]:
Yeah. And circling back, it's like not even. Just not even getting the chance to fix it. It's like, everything was fine, the day is good. We closed out the till. Whatever. We're going home, and then the next morning, there's a review.
Adam Montiel [00:55:12]:
Did you even call me?
Jimmy Purdy [00:55:13]:
There wasn't even, like, an argument or what happened, and I don't know. They picked up and they left.
Adam Montiel [00:55:17]:
And unfortunately, we are in an area and at a time where because of yelp and all these things are almost like this opportunity for a person who goes to a restaurant to become a food critic. You're not a food critic. You went to a restaurant. So if you're going to talk about your one, even if I have a one experience that's bad at a place I will never go, give them a one star Yelp review. Now, if something happened to me, heinous, at a place that was like, literally, I want other people to know this so they don't engage in the same thing. I don't think I've ever done it, but I certainly would. I wouldn't be above it. But if I have one bad place experience at a place, I'm not going to yelp to tell the world about it.
Adam Montiel [00:55:59]:
No. Because some places have bad days.
Jimmy Purdy [00:56:01]:
Yeah. I mean, if you didn't actively have a conversation and I'll speak up.
Adam Montiel [00:56:05]:
I mean, I would speak up anyways.
Jimmy Purdy [00:56:06]:
Right. You talk to them, you say, hey, this happened. And if they just denied your request to make it better, yeah, that could probably serve to head that direction.
Adam Montiel [00:56:14]:
You walk out the door, you're like, see you on Yelp.
Jimmy Purdy [00:56:18]:
But I get that a lot, too. I get the ones that they want a price or they get upset, and it's, you know, do you want me to give you a review on Yelp? And it's like, are you threatening me? Right? Like, are you seriously? We are mediating this right now, and now you're throwing bad review into the ring.
Adam Montiel [00:56:34]:
I understand that's not a fair thing for you to hear, but I almost think that you would be best to educate them in that moment. Be like, you know what? It's really not something that. I love that you said that, but it's really not something that you just wield around like that. Because your Yelp account isn't a sword that's meant to threaten me, because, first of all, I'm not threatened by it, but also, it doesn't make you look good. Now, I will go to somewhere, and I'll be like, by the way, this was a fantastic stay and I'm going to leave a Yelp review. And they go, oh, my God. Because a positive Yelp review. First of all, 100 people could have a great Yelp, great experience somewhere.
Adam Montiel [00:57:09]:
But only one or two people might leave a good Yelp review. But so many people might use and wield that account as a bad thing to punish or be punitive. And it shows really more about them than it does about the business. Now, that doesn't mean that when I go to a hotel, I don't check out what Tripadvisor says. If I'm looking at a hotel and I see eleven comments that mention bedbugs, probably not going to stay at that hotel. But I'm also reading some of these. Like, we were doing a trip. We did a road trip through Mendocino county in the fall.
Adam Montiel [00:57:42]:
Stayed at all these little different, like, b and b's, little farm places. Just fun little spots. And some of the ALP reviews, I loved this owner because anyone that said something a little bit off or kind of ripped them because they're like old school, they had old school microscopes. It was a really kitschy place. It was cool, lots of character. But some people were like, everything in here is old or everything. And it's like, that's the point. And the way the owner would just meticulously, politely just eviscerate them, it was, like, comical.
Adam Montiel [00:58:15]:
I'm like, you got to read these Yelp reviews. Odds. This is so good. I'm telling my fiance. And she did it with such a loving heart. You couldn't go, like. Because she could have been even more venomous to them because they were so just punitive, the way they brought stuff up. But the way she did it was just so artful.
Adam Montiel [00:58:32]:
It was so artfully worded.
Jimmy Purdy [00:58:33]:
I love it. Yeah.
Adam Montiel [00:58:34]:
So, man, the Yelps. A lot of friends that own restaurants and stuff, like, yelps are just. I feel bad for a lot of. And then what happens when someone gets in the news? Someone gets in the news for something. Their business. People leaving Yelp reviews for the business have never even been there. You've seen.
Jimmy Purdy [00:58:52]:
Absolutely.
Adam Montiel [00:58:53]:
Yeah. Yelp has a whole division now where they will, like, you call a place and they'll shut it. Okay, we'll shut down things for this because of XYZ, because something happened in the news or whatever at a local friend that just happened to. Yeah, totally.
Jimmy Purdy [00:59:05]:
People just leaving reviews just to try to get their name.
Adam Montiel [00:59:08]:
They read about a company in the news for a news article and they go, what's a way I can hurt this company from a state away? I'll just leave a Yelp review for that place.
Jimmy Purdy [00:59:15]:
Well, that's the other thing, too. You have the secret shoppers, you have a different business. That's like, they think we're competition and then they want to leave a bad review because your competition, man, you have a lot of learning.
Adam Montiel [00:59:30]:
No, it honestly shows more about their insecurity. And those do blow. They really feel like a blow to the stomach and it sucks. But in the end, a person like that, they're just not happy. It sucks. And, yeah, they got you that one check for them. But in the end, they're going to come out a loser. Like a star.
Jimmy Purdy [00:59:52]:
Yeah. And it's part of the industry, too, where we get a lot of shops that show up, or like you said on the Craigslist, you get these mobile mechanics rolling around and they're doing it half price. And it sucks, right? Because we know there's something getting missed. They're either not paying themselves enough, which they should be making money, right? Profit is not a bad word. They should be making money. They should be buying tools, they should be bettering their self education, buying a nutrition, whatever they need to do with their life, but they're not. So eventually they're going to fizzle out. In the meantime, we're losing this business and people aren't getting a quality repair, right.
Jimmy Purdy [01:00:27]:
And we get these vehicles in all the time. Hey, I've been going to so and so for the last two years and everything should be good. But now he's not around anymore and we look at like, oh, man, this thing needs a lot of work. Oh, really? He said he's taking care of everything. He's like, no, all your maintenances are out. This part wasn't installed right. This isn't done right. And that's the problem with the vehicles.
Jimmy Purdy [01:00:47]:
They will keep driving. And that's another hard thing to say. Well, does it need to be done right now? It's like, if it was mine, no. Right, but it's like vehicles just keep rolling, they just keep going, right. And it's like, that's when it gets really expensive, it starts damaging other components. And especially with fluids, you lack your maintenance and your fluids. Yeah. You could probably go ten years on transmission fluid, but then that's it.
Jimmy Purdy [01:01:11]:
But if you were to service it every three years, during those ten years, you'd get another ten years out of it. You know what I mean? Yes. And so it's just this progressive that all of a sudden, 1015 years down the road, the vehicle is trashed, right. In this day and age, we're getting a lot of that stuff. Getting back on the road. Well, no, let's fix everything. It's going to be like 15 grand to do this. And it's like an one Chevy pickup.
Jimmy Purdy [01:01:31]:
You sure you want to do that? Absolutely. I'm not buying a $60,000 piece of junk. I was like, that's a fair point.
Adam Montiel [01:01:38]:
What do you think about EV cars? Are these easy to work on? Are they a pain in the ass? It feels like just from a cost standpoint, they're more expensive to have. There was an article I read recently where the average cost of an EV vehicle is equal to, like $17 a gallon. As far as gas, of course. Who wants to do a road trip and have to sit in a parking lot for an hour or two?
Jimmy Purdy [01:01:59]:
I have no ill will against evs. I think there's a prime opportunity. I think it needs to be shoved down everybody's throat.
Adam Montiel [01:02:08]:
Agreed.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:08]:
I think it's like a great option, and I think it will blossom as any other great thing in the automotive industry does if it's treated properly.
Adam Montiel [01:02:17]:
If it's in the free market.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:18]:
If it's in the free market. Exactly.
Adam Montiel [01:02:19]:
Forced down your throat, am I not?
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:20]:
Yeah, I don't want anything to do with it. Why do I. Like with solar was doing great until the government mandated it, and now all of a sudden, it's like, I don't want that. Why? Well, because there's government subsidies. Don't want anything to do with that. Right. And you lost a huge amount of people that were going to do it.
Adam Montiel [01:02:34]:
Totally.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:34]:
Yeah. No, the government's not here to help me. Sorry.
Adam Montiel [01:02:38]:
Made a great point.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:39]:
I'm not doing it. And that's the problem with ev. We're already on the fence, and then you just pushed a bunch of people off. I love the technology. Hybrids, hybrids, and priuses. Sure, you can shit on Prius all you want, right?
Adam Montiel [01:02:52]:
Pick up and go those things.
Jimmy Purdy [01:02:54]:
Well, it's not even that. It's just the technology behind it is just like. It's so cool to really dive in to see how they're able to take an electric motor and regen and have the brake regen and then turn this motor from a generator to an alternator and have this transistor board that does it seamlessly. Where you hit the gas, you're using power, right? You release the gas, it's instantly generating on brake gen like that. And you can sit there and go, gas, brake, gas, brake, gas, all day long, and it's just switching back and forth. And the amount of technology to make that work is so mind blowing. It is crazy that it doesn't get the recognition it deserves, in my opinion.
Adam Montiel [01:03:38]:
We rented a wagoneer for our big road trip. That was a fun suv to drive. And it's like you get to a red light, and this was not a prior hybrid by any stretch, but you get to a red light in these new cars now, and it feels like the car is off. And then as soon as you hit the gas lightly, it sounds like the car is starting.
Jimmy Purdy [01:03:56]:
Oh, yeah.
Adam Montiel [01:03:56]:
I'm like, what went down there?
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:00]:
The start stop technology.
Adam Montiel [01:04:01]:
Crazy.
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:02]:
Yeah.
Adam Montiel [01:04:02]:
And then the whole idea of you kind of, like, drifting on the roadway, it's like, I got you a little.
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:08]:
Buzz in your seat.
Adam Montiel [01:04:08]:
What is going on? Or the steering wheel kind of moves. I don't know if I like this or not.
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:12]:
Right. Yeah.
Adam Montiel [01:04:12]:
Cars are a trip, especially the way they're evolving.
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:15]:
Yeah. And you have to stay up on top of that stuff. You have to pay your technician, because there's no letter that we get. Right. They don't send us a letter. Hey, this is the new stuff, and this is how you fix it. No, you have to actively, as a technician.
Adam Montiel [01:04:27]:
Wow.
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:27]:
Go seek that education and that training and learn how to do that.
Adam Montiel [01:04:32]:
So, new things, like, right now, like, if I call, you, say, hey, my 2023 wagoneer, I don't feel like when it's supposed to whip me back into the lane after I fall asleep, it's not doing it quick enough. Do you say, actually go to the dealership? That's some new warranty.
Jimmy Purdy [01:04:46]:
Yeah. I mean, obviously, there'd be a warranty in 2023, but to your point, that would be like practicing law, practicing medicine. Bring it in, and we'll take a look at it. But then you got to have the adas machines, and that's the big lasers that calibrate all your laser points. Right. So you have to have this equipment that's extremely expensive to be able to calibrate it. And that's a whole nother conversation about the different levels of that calibration that it requires. I mean, you can do, like, a two wheel alignment or a four wheel alignment.
Jimmy Purdy [01:05:13]:
It's not the same thing. Right. And you can have someone align your vehicle with a tape measure, or you can use a hunter alignment machine. Right. They both say they're doing alignments. Right. And they're both 159 99. Right, right.
Jimmy Purdy [01:05:25]:
And that's where it comes into that consumer point. Like this guy's doing it with a freaking tape measure and a two x four. And this guy's got an $80,000 alignment machine. Which one do you think is going to get it dialed? And when we get into this delay delineation and lasers, if that laser is two degrees off, just think about how far it's shooting when you're 100ft down the road. And if you're expecting this vehicle to stop for you, if you're not paying attention, because that's the next thing we're all going to forget how to freaking pay attention because the car is stopping for you.
Adam Montiel [01:05:55]:
Right.
Jimmy Purdy [01:05:56]:
And you don't get that laser calibrated correctly and you're just two degrees off. You're talking about 100 meters off down the road.
Adam Montiel [01:06:02]:
That's a trip. I never even considered that.
Jimmy Purdy [01:06:05]:
The laser calibration is the technician's discretion. It's not a safety feature right now. So there is no standards. So you're literally calibrating it to the technician's standards. Now there is placards and it's a pretty foolproof system. They're obviously trying to make it as dummy proof as possible. So the guy doing it's like, okay, I need to point it here and here we go. But it's still a thing.
Jimmy Purdy [01:06:26]:
Like you can calibrate it and get the computer to say you're good to go. Right. And then down the road you go. But it's off. There's actually reports of guys going down after getting calibrated and there's a trash can that's maybe 6ft off the curb. Right. Well, that auto stops. The laser is not pointing.
Jimmy Purdy [01:06:42]:
It hits that trash can and it stops the car in the middle of the lane. Yeah.
Adam Montiel [01:06:46]:
Do you feel like manufacturers are making cars harder for you and your compatriots to work on?
Jimmy Purdy [01:06:53]:
I don't know if it's the harder. They don't want people touching it. They want it to even you. They want to go to the dealer. They want it to go back to the manufacturer, go back to the dealer, do their checks and balances, make sure everything's in house so they can keep track of what's going on. They don't want the independent shops, their right to repair act. Right. They're trying to make it.
Jimmy Purdy [01:07:09]:
So that's a law. That's a law that's trying to be passed so that all the proprietary information is only from the dealer, the manufacturer. Right.
Adam Montiel [01:07:16]:
So like the manufacturers are lobbying for this?
Jimmy Purdy [01:07:18]:
Oh, yeah.
Adam Montiel [01:07:19]:
Do you guys have good people lobbying for your.
Jimmy Purdy [01:07:22]:
I. I'm behind it.
Adam Montiel [01:07:24]:
Are you cool? Good.
Jimmy Purdy [01:07:26]:
Like the Vegas to SeMA show we're at, they were promoting it there. And you can donate to. Yeah, there's a lot out there that as you. I mean, it's hard because people take advantage of it, too. So you donate to a fund and you're hoping that it's going to that, right? You're hoping, but, yeah, it's like with the smartphones, it's the same thing. They want to take their proprietary information and make sure only Apple can deal with it. You can't open the phone. You can't deal with it.
Jimmy Purdy [01:07:52]:
You can't fix it. But I own this phone.
Adam Montiel [01:07:53]:
As soon as you do, you lose the warranty.
Jimmy Purdy [01:07:55]:
But we've already got away with it. Right? Like, they've already done it. You own that phone. I own my phone. And we can't fix it or we void our warranty and it's right in front of our eyes. It already happened to, like, $1,000 piece of equipment that's in our pocket.
Adam Montiel [01:08:09]:
Like, great point.
Jimmy Purdy [01:08:09]:
And it's just around the corner before it gets into our vehicles. And it's like, oh, you have heated seats? Well, there's a subscription for that. And you have to make sure you come to our dealership to have it fixed or have it renewed or have whatever. Right. So all that new technology going on, these vehicles. Yeah. They're going to make it proprietary so that only the dealer, only the manufacturer can deal with it.
Adam Montiel [01:08:28]:
Do you think you have a good chance of beating that, you and your colleagues?
Jimmy Purdy [01:08:33]:
It's a nationwide thing. I just hope consumers, I just hope everybody realizes what's going on.
Adam Montiel [01:08:40]:
What's the craziest car you've ever worked on? You ever work on a car where you're like, I just don't want to mess this up because too nice of a car like a Lamborghini, Rolls Royce?
Jimmy Purdy [01:08:49]:
I think every one of them. I feel like that's.
Adam Montiel [01:08:51]:
Yeah. Really? Yeah, of course.
Jimmy Purdy [01:08:52]:
But the nicest car. I don't know. I think it's just personal preference at that point.
Adam Montiel [01:08:58]:
You ever test drive a car a little longer than normal just because you like it?
Jimmy Purdy [01:09:03]:
Another good garage question.
Adam Montiel [01:09:07]:
Got all the questions, dude.
Jimmy Purdy [01:09:09]:
I feel like. No, not longer than I should.
Adam Montiel [01:09:12]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [01:09:13]:
I honestly don't like test driving too much. It just. People make me super nervous.
Adam Montiel [01:09:19]:
The worst thing is, like, let's say you hear a noise in your car, you're going to take it to someone like you and then when that noise won't reproduce for you. Oh, my God. It's like, come on. It's like, right when I get Jimmy in the car, the noise isn't making.
Jimmy Purdy [01:09:31]:
It's not even going to the dentist, and two stops hurting.
Adam Montiel [01:09:33]:
Yeah, right.
Jimmy Purdy [01:09:34]:
Yeah, same damn thing.
Adam Montiel [01:09:35]:
I bet you also hear some weird mouth noises, people telling you, like, it's making the sound. Like, what kind of sound? Like, it's almost sounds like it's all. I don't get that noises for you.
Jimmy Purdy [01:09:49]:
Not too much. Maybe with Leanne. And I don't front the office too much, so they probably hear that a lot more. But even when I answered the phone a lot more than I do now, I didn't get too much of that. No. People were pretty.
Adam Montiel [01:10:01]:
I did this one crank call on the air one time on my morning show, I called a piano repair person, and I said, hey, there, I got this old piano. I need someone to come by and take a look at it. They're like, oh, yeah, what's going on? And I said, I don't know. It's doing this. And I played, like, a note on a piano, and then I did, like, I have, like, a factory, almost like an old jalopy kind of, like, machine sound. Like old school, hyperbolic, exaggerated sounds. And the person was like, I don't know. What did you just do to do? Hold on, let me see.
Adam Montiel [01:10:32]:
I'll try one more thing. Hold on. And then you hit, like, the middle c or something on the piano, and it's, like, so funny. I should call Leanne. I should call Leanne. Don't tell her. I just want to call Leanne, and I'm going to do this to her. Hey, I got, like, a six MDX, and every time I push this one button, and I don't know what is.
Adam Montiel [01:10:56]:
That would be hilarious.
Jimmy Purdy [01:10:57]:
Yeah. I don't know what she would do with that.
Adam Montiel [01:10:59]:
She'd probably be nice, because the first time I talked to her on the phone, she was super sweet.
Jimmy Purdy [01:11:02]:
Yeah, she would be nice. She'd probably talk you in circles until you finally just made an appointment to bring. Yeah, just keep going around in a circle.
Adam Montiel [01:11:09]:
I love it. It's so good.
Jimmy Purdy [01:11:12]:
Well, coming. I guess the last part I want to talk about a little bit more is a little bit of marketing.
Adam Montiel [01:11:17]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [01:11:17]:
If you have any tips or tricks.
Adam Montiel [01:11:21]:
As far as marketing, I mean, look, I feel like there's a difference between networking and building relationships. I think being a part of your community, being a part. And honestly, look, the stuff that we've talked about, and the stuff I've learned about you before I jumped on the air with you. And right now, it's like, these are all the tenets of good people in the community that are doing x, y, and z for business that you want to get to know. So, I mean, I think you have a lot of these inherent heartfelt tendencies already, which are good. You're like, drop the curtain. Be open. Especially with a business that we already know is known or at least has a reputation, fair or not, whatever your opinion, for holding a lot behind the scenes and behind the eyes of the consumer is to drop that, which it sounds like you guys do.
Adam Montiel [01:12:13]:
I think also, whether we know that lens correctly or not, in the way we look at you, price does matter. So showing someone, look, yeah, I got a lot of bottom lines to worry about. We got to keep this algorithm correct and true, but we're going to try and offer you, like, the best deal and keep things affordable. I know times are tough. We got an economy right now that's only looking more unsure. But people need their cars, too. I think whether it's a lot of different aspects, too. I mean, there's the aspect of marketing.
Adam Montiel [01:12:50]:
When you have your name on the back of a ten year old's baseball team and you're, like, sponsoring something small like that, there's, like, that hometown feel. There's things when you get involved with maybe a nonprofit or stuff like that, those things create community feel beyond just like your Xyz. I mean, it'd be interesting to dig deeper into social media and see how different companies like yourselves distinguish them from each other. I think doing something that is often very heady and very above most people's circle of knowledge, having an approachable social media where it's, like, fun to watch and there's a little bit irreverence, but it also educates. It's like, hey, what am I doing? I'm consulting with a company now, a distillery for their social media. It's like, okay, let's talk about education. How do we educate you? Honestly, I would love to have you on my show. I would love to just have you just to ask, what are the questions? How can you arm a person like me to ask the best questions to get the best out of someone like you? And I think your social media can have these prongs where it's like, okay, one, it's education.
Adam Montiel [01:14:04]:
Two, it's behind the scenes. It's fun. I just recorded a podcast with this radio guy who brought a bottle of wine in, and that's how we opened it and you show it. That's why I videoed you. That'd be a funny, charming reel to show. This is what Jimmy was thinking when he was using his brain, but in a very non kind of automotive intelligent way. There's aspects of how you're differentiating yourself from your fellow competitors, but really educating and showing behind the scenes. And I think that's really important in social media.
Jimmy Purdy [01:14:40]:
And do you think the parallels of the humanity aspect of it, of trying to hide your faults through your career on the radio, was there a lot of times where you made a mistake and you tried to cover it up, or you were just like, this is the name of the game, and I'm rolling with it. So I feel like that's a great question.
Adam Montiel [01:15:00]:
Yeah, I think, one. I mean, I can answer it two ways. One, there's been many times where I've made mistakes on the radio, and you come back, you own it, because people are inherently very forgiving, and the more real you are with them, the more they understand that you're just a real dude who just happens to be behind a microphone talking to a lot of people. But sure, there are little things within that are inconsequential that you'll be like, oh, what I do? Let me go fix that. And it might not even be necessary to bring it up, but you can be on the radio and something is playing. You have one button just missing on the board up, and a phone call comes in, and a little piece of that phone call gets on the air during a song, and you get a text like, hey, by the way, I can hear that caller. It's like, it's a little embarrassing. And that you're like, that just happened.
Adam Montiel [01:15:52]:
And to the people who heard it, mentioning it, in four minutes, when that song is over, a lot of the same people aren't even there. They might have already forgot about it. It doesn't really serve you to bring it up. Now, if a big mistake happens or you say something that's incorrect, or you took a stance that maybe you have second thoughts on, I think it does make sense to own up to your audience and say, hey, look, I missed the mark on that one. Oh, my gosh. Letting. If you have a co host and something happens where you guys both take two sides differently on something and they end up being right, let them bring it back to you. But, you know, I got you on that one.
Adam Montiel [01:16:29]:
You know what? You were right, because those things work in real life. If you have a fight with your wife, and she's right on something. It makes sense to be like, honey, you were right, as always, babe.
Jimmy Purdy [01:16:40]:
I always do that.
Adam Montiel [01:16:41]:
Yeah, right. So, I mean, those things make sense because they make you look real. They make you look relatable. And when you can admit to being fallible, I think you become more affable. You become more likable, because it's relatable.
Jimmy Purdy [01:16:56]:
And I think the parallels of marketing doesn't matter what it is, but especially in the auto industry, having that social media presence and then not being so structured, I feel like we're in the time, in the generation where there was a curve in the middle, right? And I can't remember the name of the video, but there's a video that talked about, we always marketed for the curve, or we always wanted to be in the middle of this curve, this big hump where everybody came together and we're all like, oh, we work nine to five and we do this, and this is what we do. This is America. And it's like, now it's come to the point where it's like, there's these outskirts where it's like, oh, we were a social media influencer, right? We're a radio host, we're podcaster. And it's like these ends are now becoming what everybody's looking up to. They're no longer looking at politicians. They're no longer looking at these people that are in these positions of power. Right.
Adam Montiel [01:17:48]:
Yeah.
Jimmy Purdy [01:17:49]:
It's all about these social media influencers, and it's like, maybe too far. Taking a lot of it verbatim when they shouldn't be.
Adam Montiel [01:17:57]:
No, sure.
Jimmy Purdy [01:17:58]:
But it's like, I think maybe, like you said, showing their flaws and their fault is what's like, oh. Made it relatable. Like, I do the same damn thing. But you watch these politicians, and they don't skip a beat. They don't miss anything. You just don't relate to them, and.
Adam Montiel [01:18:11]:
They certainly don't admit when they're wrong, right?
Jimmy Purdy [01:18:12]:
Of course not. No, I never make a mistake.
Adam Montiel [01:18:16]:
Yes. Sharing those things, I think, is important.
Jimmy Purdy [01:18:19]:
Never told a lie.
Adam Montiel [01:18:20]:
Yeah, right. Sharing, educating people on stuff. Again, if we're, like, in the realm of social media, educating, showing stuff behind the scenes, that's kind of fun and stuff I would never get a chance to see unless, like, in your space and your thing or, hey, look, Julio was doing this, and he just. Look what he came up on in know, and, oh, my God, there's like a squirrel we found in this. Whatever. I don't know anything that kind of makes you guys like share that. And one thing I think folks mistake on their social media is they treat it like their social media feed is like this curated art piece when, oh, I know. Businesses will go, well, it's Wednesday.
Adam Montiel [01:19:00]:
We post this on Wednesday or we can't post this. It's not. I listen to Gary Vee, who is a hell of a lot smarter on this than I am. But if you have something that's worthy, just post it. Don't treat it like it's some because no one's scrolling down two months in your feed to see what you did two months ago or how just so it looks, no one's doing that. So if you got something, get it out to the people that are following you. It's not hitting all of them.
Jimmy Purdy [01:19:25]:
Anyways, back to your radio. Did you ever have a script and you try to stay to the script and you're like, if I don't stay on my script, everyone's going to know that I'm off base.
Adam Montiel [01:19:35]:
No, sometimes a script you'll try and stay on and you're like, who the f wrote this? This is horrible. And you'll try and get permission from a client. A lot of times you'll ask someone, do you mind if I kind of make this my own? And they're like, no, I hope you do because if they're paying you extra, they're coming to you for an ad. They obviously want your delivery. My voice can read whatever you put in front of me. But is that going to necessarily sell what we want to sell or get people to walk into your business? Am I not?
Jimmy Purdy [01:20:04]:
I always had the issue of not so much doing radio ads, but I'd have like, a script for the morning show. And I know the topics I want to talk about, ones are good. I would try to stay on that. And if I got off topic and I'm like, oh, I got to get back to my list. I knew everyone listening was like, knew what I wrote down I wanted to get. No one knew what the hell. It was so weird how I, if.
Adam Montiel [01:20:26]:
Great radio is happening and you are getting taken off your list, use the rest of that list for the next show.
Jimmy Purdy [01:20:32]:
Right?
Adam Montiel [01:20:32]:
I mean, it's good to have, especially if you're coming into, you're relatively new in broadcast radio. If you're coming into radio and you're God, I think it's great that you even make an outline. So, you know, like, hey, what am I going to be talking about for the next x amount of time?
Jimmy Purdy [01:20:45]:
Yeah, well, that's why when I talk about the podcast, I don't even want to script. I've learned in the first year was like, I'm not doing that because it was terrible. I'd go back and listen to myself and I could tell. I could tell I was, like, trying to do something and no one knew what I was trying to do.
Adam Montiel [01:21:00]:
You're very good at this. I feel this conversation has flowed really good for someone who's interviewing me. You were very ingratiating when you saw me asking you questions. And then it made me feel comfortable, like, hey, because I just inherently do that. And that probably would have happened anyways from what I do, one for a living.
Jimmy Purdy [01:21:17]:
But I picked up on that the way I am.
Adam Montiel [01:21:19]:
Just the way I am. I was like that when I was a sperm. I just always have been like this. But you reeled with that really well, and you hold conversation really well, and oftentimes. I just recorded a podcast with some people right before I came here, and I had their names and their websites and their stuff in front of me, a couple of ideas, but you didn't even have that. You rolled with this really well. I'm very impressed. You hold conversation remarkably well.
Jimmy Purdy [01:21:46]:
I'm just interested.
Adam Montiel [01:21:48]:
It's cool.
Jimmy Purdy [01:21:49]:
I enjoy doing this. That's the whole thing.
Adam Montiel [01:21:51]:
Yeah, that's what's cool. Do what you do with a smile on your face. You're good at it. You have good voice. It's working out well. I hope this podcast does some really exceptional stuff for you.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:00]:
Right on. Well, I appreciate you coming in.
Adam Montiel [01:22:02]:
This was fun, dude.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:03]:
This was fun.
Adam Montiel [01:22:03]:
I'm going to have you on my.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:04]:
Fun to actually meet you, and this is cool.
Adam Montiel [01:22:08]:
I'm going to have you on my show.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:10]:
I want to ask a lot of.
Adam Montiel [01:22:11]:
Questions, and I want to call into your KPRl show.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:14]:
You should. Yeah. Give me a really hard time.
Adam Montiel [01:22:16]:
Prime the pump with just some questions.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:18]:
Everybody always like, yeah. I mean, what you said about in the beginning before we were recording was that kind of tips and tricks is like just to kind of bring this full circle. That's what makes people that are skilled at what they do worth money. Not just getting a mic and talking into it, not just getting a car and replacing a part. All those little nuances. You're right, dude. You're right. That's a sprinkle of gold.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:43]:
That's like, I don't know.
Adam Montiel [01:22:45]:
That's honestly the best way you could have brought this whole conversation around. You're absolutely right, Jimmy. And a good point, dude.
Jimmy Purdy [01:22:51]:
Thanks for coming.
Adam Montiel [01:22:51]:
In, dude. Thanks for having me.