Ratchet+wrench Radio

For Aaron Stokes' monthly contribution to Ratchet+Wrench Radio, he discusses everything to consider when selecting your right-hand man, whether that be promoting someone within the company or hiring from the outside. By following his steps, you can find the perfect manager that will facilitate your vision as leader of the shop.

Implementation, and simply getting things done, has been the theme of Judi Haglin's success as an owner, consultant and ambassador for the industry. Here's how Haglin, the 2018 Ratchet+Wrench All-Star Award winner in the Executive category, built her operation alongside her husband, Dana.

Rissy Sutherland discusses the importance of developing relationships within the industry with Becki McGinnis, owner of Autovantage Service Center, and Todd Westerlund, CEO of Kukui. McGinnis and Westerlund also discuss unique ways to grow an online presence and how to measure success with Sutherland.   

Carmates is a sort of online marketplace for automotive repair shops, similar to Openbay and RepairPal. And many shop operators have raised issues with companies that offer these kinds of services. Today on Ratchet+Wrench Radio, co-founders Raju Sagiraju and Surik Torosyan explain how Carmates works and address those concerns voiced by shop owners. Editor's note: Ratchet+Wrench is aware that Raju Sagiraju was recently involved in a lawsuit. Sagiraju pleaded no contest to three felony counts of securities fraud and three felony counts of grand theft. He was sentenced to five years in jail, but was pardoned soon afterwards. Carmates is separate from that court case.

Digital inspections can streamline the courtesy inspection process and lead to improved efficiency and ARO—but how do you make a seamless transition into using the software? Dan Garlock, owner of Silver Lake Auto and Tire, is here to lay out everything you need to consider, from choosing the right software to making it part of the repair process to achieving a return on investment.

On this month’s edition of the Lead Podcast, Aaron Stokes discusses how shop owners can motivate the rest of their employees if they're feeling fatigued or uninspired. As Stokes says, believing in your vision and passing it on to your employees is a great way to get the rest of them on board, even when you or your shop is in a rut.  

This month’s episode of the How I Did It Series features Frank Leutz, the owner of Desert Car Care Chandler, in Chandler, Ariz. Beyond building a $1.6 million operation, Frank is the host of Wrench Nation, is an industry consultant and coach, and runs a successful YouTube channel. He’s always committed to trying new marketing and operational methods to evolve his business, which is currently tracking year-over-year growth of 15 percent. Leutz details his career journey, how he grew Desert Car Care Chandler and how other shop owners can implement creative marketing tactics to improve their own operations.

Jon Thompson, owner of 14 locations in Illinois as a part of Butitta Brothers Automotive, joins the show to discuss how a shop owner can obtain a business loan before acquiring another business. He goes over how shops can find the right bank to partner with and the right documents that need to be prepared. Thompson also details how smaller or newer shops can work around a collateral shortfall.

In this month's edition of the Lead podcast for Ratchet+Wrench Radio, host Aaron Stokes discusses how shop owners can cut out distractions and eliminate time wasters in the shop. He details how shop owners can plan out their priorities in advance, and how they can manage distractions like text messages or emails. 

In July’s edition of Ratchet+Wrench Radio’s Grow Podcast, host Rissy Sutherland revisits one of the major issues facing the industry today: the technician shortage. Jay Goninen, CEO of technician recruiting service Find a Wrench, and Kyle Holt, president of SRSandco Automotive Partners share their thoughts, including how shops can always be recruiting, help young people understand what the industry is all about, and build a pipeline for entry level technicians.

Jeff Odom oversees 24 full-time employees at his shop, Evergreen Autoworks in Mill Creek, Wash., and over the years has learned how to onboard his employees swiftly and efficiently. He’s learned how to get his entire team involved in both the hiring, and initial training process, to best set up his new employees to be successful. Odom goes over the most important aspects for any shop owner to think about when implementing an onboarding program.

Jeff Matt owns the six-location Victory Auto Service & Glass operation in Minnesota. He details how he grew his network and offers advice for any shop owner looking to expand.

No two shops are the same, and various factors can determine a shop's efficiency numbers. However, there are universal tips that can improve one of the most crucial KPIs that determines profitability. To help, Andy Fiffick, owner of 10 Rad Air Complete Car Care locations in the Cleveland area, lays out how he builds his shops from the ground-up for maximum efficiency and how he coaches his team to maximize the KPI.

Is there truly a technician shortage? According to Grow host Rissy Sutherland, there are just as many if not more men or women entering tech schools. The issue is there aren’t enough people staying in the industry after tech school. In June’s Grow podcast, Sutherland speaks with two members of NASTF’s Road to Great Technicians board, Jill Saunders and Donny Seyfer, whose objective is to recruit new technicians, train them, and communicate their findings to the industry.   Saunders and Seyfer detail the work they’re doing with NASTF, and how shop owners around the country can get involved.

In this month’s edition of the Lead podcast with Ratchet+Wrench Radio, Aaron Stokes discusses how shops can get through slow days and slow periods. Stokes discusses the misunderstandings most shop owners have about slow periods, how to best prepare for them and how to keeping your cool and keep your staff in check when you experience a downturn.

This week, Ratchet+Wrench is launching the “How I Did It” series, where we look at some of the most successful shop owners throughout the industry, and the obstacles they overcame to take their business to the next level. Our first guest is Brian Sump, a former professional athlete who had no business experience prior to owning Denver-based Avalon Motorsports in 2007. Since that time, Sump has turned the German-specialty shop into what a number of industry consultants consider to be one of the best repair facilities in the industry. Additionally, he launched Klasse Auto Rentals to supplement Avalon, and launched a second facility, Denver-based Urban Autocare in 2015. Sump goes over the calculated risks he took to take his businesses to the next level, and discusses how he improved his business acumen as he slowly grew his shop.

In this week's Innovate podcast, Chris Cloutier, shop technology expert and owner of Golden Rule Auto Care, joins the show to discuss the timeline of a shop's technology.  Cloutier created his own site to go over this topic, and he walks through the timeline's three stages, including where your shop is now, and where it can be. The further along on the timeline you are, Cloutier says, the more efficient and productive your shop can be. Stage One (3:26): Stage one covers the vast majority of today's shops. This is the inescapable technology, like your shop's website, or online reviews.  Stage Two (10:10): Shops in stage two know they need to embrace technology, and leverage it in their day-to-day operations. These shops have already embraced software like automated workflow, or digital vehicle inspections.  Stage Three (30:04): These shops are in what Cloutier calls the advanced category, and are the 1 percent. These early adopters may have already included cloud based SMS software, or telematics into thei

What do customers think of when they see your logo? In this week's episode of the Lead podcast, Aaron Stokes discusses his thoughts on branding and how you should represent yourself to your surrounding community. 

On this week’s Grow podcast, Rissy Sutherland brings in two guests to discuss a vital marketing tactic for any shop—developing a presence on social media, specifically Facebook. Tim Rodifer, owner of Milex/Mr. Transmission in Johnson City, Tenn. has built up a following of nearly 10,000 likes on Facebook. He now receives about 20-30 new customers per month, mostly done through internet advertising like Facebook and pay per clicks. Rodifer discusses the important balance in getting new customers through Facebook without losing the old, along with putting out Facebook ads that get the biggest return on investment. Additionally, Rodifer shares the lessons he learned in how to build relationships with his customer base through social media. Dorothy Freeman Self, founder of DFS Creative Concepts in South Carolina, discusses the importance of social media and why it’s a worthy investment for any business. She’ll go over how a shop can establish an audience on Facebook, and how you should create content that reso

Over his 17 years as a shop owner, Greg Bunch, owner of five Aspen Auto Care locations throughout central Colorado, has mastered the art of measured business expansion. In this week's Innovate podcast, Bunch details everything a shop owner considering expansion should keep in mind. Bunch says that, from reports he’s seen, 58 percent of shop owners want to be out of the business by 2020. In the next few years, there will be a tremendous opportunity for shop owners who want to go multi-store by buying out competitive shops. To reach this point however, it’s vital to focus on building your business’s foundation, to ensure that success can be duplicated somewhere else. Bunch details how your shop can construct a “franchise manual,” and how you can find another location that best positions your brand for future success.