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When I first started my shop,  I was turning wrenches with my team, selling at the front counter, and running the place. But, no matter how busy I was, I would always walk around the counter and sit on the couch next to our customers. I would talk with them, not only about their cars, but I would also find out what’s going on in their lives.

I did this because I care about the customers just as much as I care about their safety when they’re driving on the road. And I teach my team to genuinely care, too.

When it’s time for them to present an estimate, and a customer is sitting over on a couch, they don’t call that customer over to the counter. Instead, they walk around and go over to that customer.

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Doing the presentation side-by-side creates a bond and a level of being equal.

The biggest secret that I have for shop owners is to hire a coaching company. I wish I could go back in time and do this earlier, but I hired a coaching company back in 2017.

There are so many coaching companies that are out there, and they really push that customers are numbers. But I wanted to find a coach that values their employees and customers the way I do, someone who builds a relationship with people, because me building a relationship is what got me where I'm at.

My passion for auto repair started off in my garage. It was the coolest garage in the neighborhood. I had pull-down air-hoses, and it was kind of like a little dream shop. All I did was have car hobbies and help friends work on their vehicles.

There were so many of my friends that went and talked to my wife and said, "He's got to open up a real shop one day, and you've got to encourage him to do it.”  

Before joining the auto repair industry, I was in the restaurant industry, but I always worked on cars as a hobby in my spare time. Being in the restaurant industry was very time consuming. I was working more than 100 hours a week.

I thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant industry when I had the time for it, but then my son was born. When my son was 6 months old, I was kissing him goodbye when he was in his crib, and I realized I hadn't seen him while he was awake in almost 6 months.

Eventually my wife said to me, and I’ll never forget this, she said, “Mike, you need to open up a shop. You have the passion for it. Working on cars is what you love, and I can tell you’re happy doing it.”

So I did it. I opened up my own auto repair shop. It wasn’t easy though. I worked more than I had ever worked before. That was 22 years ago now.  

When my husband Dana and I started Haglin Automotive, our loyal customers found us from The Yellow Pages.

Things have drastically changed since then thanks to all the technology advancements. Online reviews and Google play a big part in whether a customer will set foot in your shop or return for future repairs. 

At Haglin Auto, we always adjust to meet customers, and whether they’re a return customer or a new customer, we prioritize how they feel.

It’s important to meet your customers where they are. We even offer customers free vehicle pick-up and delivery service, free shuttle services, and free loaner vehicles.

But, more importantly, we make sure they understand their repairs and can see everything that’s going on with their cars.

Build Trust with Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVIs)

Haglin Auto has been around for 41 years in the Boulder area, and twice a year 30,000 people come in and out because of Boulder University of Colorado, so we’ve always had an influx of students.

And in order to cater to our college students, we started implementing DVIs. 

The reason we made the change in the first place was because our service writers would call a local college student and say, “You car is doing this, this, and that,” and a lot of the times a student would respond with, “I don’t understand,” “I’m not the one paying,” or “Let me call my mom or dad.”

From there, the student would make a phone call home, they would ask questions, and then the student would call back with questions. 

Traditionally, there are four pillars to an auto repair shop that all support one another: the shop owner, technicians, customers, and service advisors.

The integrity of the shop depends on each of these pillars in different ways. The shop owner needs to make the right calls and put the right systems in place for technicians and service advisors to do their jobs. Technicians must stay focused on repairs. And loyal customers keep the lights on.

By effectively leading your team, service advisors can support the other three pillars of the shop—and in turn, achieve balance and improve the quality of your job. Getting started in your Service Advisor career, or looking for some tips? Here’s how to lead your team with intention.

Haglin Automotive Owner Judi Haglin is committed to the auto repair industry. Not only has she helped out locally with Colorado’s Automotive Service Association (ASA), but she’s currently on the board for ASA National.

‍Judi took some time with us to outline her vision, discuss her experience as a woman-owned shop, and paint a picture of the future of the auto repair industry.

I believe that we should make the world a better place by leaving it better than how we found it. 

Growing up, my dad would always say to me, “If you borrow your neighbor's shovel, make sure that it's clean and in better condition when you give it back.” That’s always stuck with me. 

I take that same mindset and apply it to the automotive industry. If I’m asked to join an organization, I will leave it in a better position than when I got there. I can take organizations that are struggling and figure out how to make them more profitable. 

‍“I believe that we should make the world a better place by leaving it better than how we found it.” 

When I was asked to assist with ASA Colorado, the first thing I did was look at the training events, schools, instructors, and students.

I looked at what was working and what wasn’t. Once I shed light on the benefits of working with vendors and getting the word out to local independent auto repair businesses, we ended up having 600 people attend a training event we put on. I was able to help put ASA Colorado on the map. 

Shop owner Judi Haglin runs Haglin Automotive by strategically monitoring her shop’s automotive metrics.

I have an Elementary Education degree from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), and my husband, Dana, has a Saxophone Performance degree. I know, random combination, right? Well, once my husband and I graduated and we got married, I worked at a kitchen in a retirement home. After that, I got a job for a few years managing a McDonald’s.

Both of those jobs really taught me about policies and procedures, but they also helped me a ton when it comes to numbers. They helped me gain the ability to put all of that together and learn how to run my own business.  

I operate Haglin Automotive by the numbers. Knowing how the business is doing on a daily basis is great. And it’s amazing when you share the things that you gain. I share my knowledge of numbers with other shops through 20 Groups so they can run their business by the numbers, too. I believe that when you get to a point and you're successful at one thing, whatever that one thing is that you do really well, share it. Share it with the world. 

8 Metrics and Reports That Judi Haglin Uses To Run Her Shop  

I could go on and on about how metrics and reports have helped me run our business. I could also go on and on about which specific reports have helped us get to where we are. But there are a select few that I will make a point to check weekly, if not daily. 

1. Effective Labor Rate from Tekmetric’s End of Day Report 

2. Labor Hour Inventory   

3. Gross Profit from Tekmetric’s Profit Details Report  

4. Realtime Service Writer Report

5. Customer Lead Source

6. Lifetime Visits from Tekmetric’s Customer List Report 

7. One Time Visit Ratio

And finally…

‍8. The “Closing The Back Door” Report

We have a policy in our shop called “Closing The Back Door.”

Here’s how it works: if you have 500 new customers that have come into your shop and you’ve serviced 1,000 repeat customers, in reality you should have serviced a total of 1,500 customers for that year.

But a lot of the time it’s not 1,500 because a lot of your previous customers didn’t come back. 

At Haglin Automotive, we’ve picked up new ideas and found new ways of doing things over the years. We’re always looking, we’re always helping, we’re always training, and we’re always learning. We’re lifelong learners.

‍“You want your team to be a family. You have to be there for each other.”

We pay for lunch every Friday for our team meeting. Sometimes we have a meeting, but sometimes we just eat together and have a good time.

It’s important to always treat your employees like family. You want to get to know them on a personal level, listen to what their goals are, and help them reach their dreams.

We want to give each of our employees a career path. Whether they want a house, kids, retirement, anything, you can always ask yourself how you can help them get there. You want your team to be a family. You have to be there for each other.

Over the fall I planted a few pumpkin seeds and was expecting only a handful of pumpkins. But, to my surprise, we ended up with a whole pumpkin patch.

There were at least 60 pumpkins in our yard. So what we ended up doing was inviting our team over to do a pumpkin patch event. It was really fun.

Our team brought their kids and we did a pumpkin carving contest. It was a blast, and we all got to talk and get to know one another on a more meaningful level.   

‍“We want to give our team a clear path.” 

We find people who are interested in learning auto repair and we teach them the trade.

Not everyone who walks through the door needs 30 years of auto repair experience. We focus on bringing our team up. 

And as they climb the ladder, we train them on our shop’s values, our shop’s culture, who we all are as a team, and who I am as a business owner. 

We also teach them The Haglin Way:

‍Honesty and Integrity

Do the right thing in every action we take. Build on the foundation of being honest.

Do What Is Right—Every Time

All services recommended will be in the best interest of the customer, the vehicle, and the company.

Family 

Treat our employees and clients as our family. Strive to understand their situations and needs, and to exceed their expectations.

Everything Speaks

Lead by example and show your excellence. Everything has your signature. Sign in bold ink.

Bring It—Every Day

Approach every task with energy, focus, purpose and enthusiasm. 

Personal Growth

Empower each individual to grow and change, creating synergy and excitement while enriching their lives and realizing their own personal potential.

Technology and Industry

We work in an industry of constant change. The better and faster we are at adapting to change, the stronger and more successful we become as individuals and as a company.

Tekmerchant now includes the industry’s first “buy now, pay later” feature, allowing customers to complete vehicle repairs and pay over time with no risk to your shop!

The Tekmerchant platform offers flexible, forward thinking solutions that allow shops to save time and effort when managing funds and customer payments.

Shop owners can share invoices and accept payments via text and email, enabling the customer to pay directly from their smartphone and pick up the vehicle when it is convenient for them.

Additionally, customers can leverage Tekmerchant’s “buy now, pay later” feature using Affirm and Klarna. This is an industry-first solution that is familiar to customers who use it in other industries. 

Concurrently, Tekmerchant improves shop owner accounting processes by automatically integrating all partial and complete payments into the point-of-sale.

This feature, added by popular request from shop owners, integrates with Tekmetric’s existing payments reports for real-time tracking and reporting. 

Chargebacks are something that no shop owner wants to deal with.

Your business relies on big-ticket sales, and chargebacks on those sales can squeeze your margins.

When a guest goes through their bank or credit card company to get a refund, whether it’s because they were unhappy with the repair or not, it can leave shop owners in a bind where they might have to eat the cost of the labor, parts, and profit.

There are some cases where business owners can make a case against the chargeback, but it can be a lengthy process and most banks and credit card companies will side with the cardholder who’s making the complaint.

Protecting your business from chargebacks doesn’t start when the payment is processed, nor does it end with being reimbursed for a single chargeback. The best way to protect your business from chargebacks is to establish clear, open communication with your guests and adhere to a consistent and secure payment process.

Always Get Your Guests’ Consent Before Doing Work

When your service advisors take guests through the repair order, they should listen carefully to what the client wants; service advisors can never be too careful.

If that means spending some extra time to review the repair order with the guest, it’s time well spent.

A little more time spent on the front-end can save you a lot more time on the back-end. Once the RO is thoroughly reviewed, you can get either written or verbal consent for the work and the cost. It’s worth keeping in mind that it’s easier to document written consent.

Using a shop management system like Tekmetric where the guest can see the courtesy inspection and click through and select the work they want and the work they want to put on hold can set clearer guidelines for both the guest and the service advisor.

Establish a Transparent Relationship with Your Guests

Providing excellent customer service is good practice for any auto repair shop, but it also goes a long way toward preventing chargebacks.

Let your guests know that you’re committed and dedicated to fixing their problem, even if that means taking their vehicle back into the shop if the guest is not 100% satisfied.

If you make it clear to your guests that they can come back to you about any concerns, they are far less likely to go to their bank or credit card company first. And it’s better to do a little extra work to ease the mind of your guest than it is to give away an entire repair order for free or go through legal hassles.

If your shop doesn’t already have one, consider establishing a clear and easy return policy and make it visible to guests via signage or with messaging on repair orders.

Simple policies such as “If you’re not satisfied, call us, and we’ll make it right” can go a long way in terms of letting guests know they should go straight to you if there’s something wrong.

“My way or the highway.” I think that’s a mentality that many new shop owners—heck, new bosses in any industry—have with their teams when they first start out.

I sure did.

When I opened my shop, I had my own idea of what I wanted the place to look like, my own idea of how to run an auto repair shop. Look, 30 years ago, I was all about growth. But nowadays, things have changed. People’s belief systems have changed.

When old guys like me try to apply the old “I’m the boss” methods of leadership, it just doesn’t work. So, I had to learn to change my mindset.

It wasn’t an overnight thing. I learned tidbits of wisdom here and there and had to connect the dots.

But over the years, I’ve developed some principles that I think every shop owner can use on how to run an auto repair shop.

1. Train Leaders, Not Managers

For years, I trained people at my shop to be managers—store managers, assistant managers, office managers. It seems like a pretty straightforward thing to do. You’re busy, you need people to help you run the show, so you train them up to be managers. 

One day, I was talking to another shop owner at a conference, and he was talking about growing leaders, and making everyone on his team a leader, even his youngest guy. 

And I realized “Wait a minute. I don’t need managers. I need leaders.” 

Managers finish to-do lists, unlock the doors at the stores, and think about what they need to do. They help the customers. But leaders do something different. They grow the people around them, set the level of talent, set the level of excellence. Leaders focus on inspiring others, on setting the bar higher.

I had to change my entire thought process on leading a team and creating leaders. I figured since I was already training managers anyways, I could change direction and instead start a leadership training series for my team, totally voluntary.

Al’s Book Recommendations 

I got Simon Sinek’s book, Leaders Eat Last, and used it as the curriculum for mentoring my people. Of course, as a team, we still need standard operating procedures.

But the focus is now on leadership, not just processes.

• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
  I believe this is the foundational book anyone who wants to transform their leadership mindset should read.
• Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine
  By Mike Michalowicz
  Tremendous financial book that everyone in school should read. It'll change your financial picture big time. It's so simple but it absolutely works.

• Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
  I'm currently basing some of my leadership training on this book. It's a fantastic dive into what strong leadership is.
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear
  A pretty cool book that'll teach you great tactics for building habits.
• Lessons from the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World's Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life by Dennis Snow
  A fabulous, practical book about customer service.‍

Build Out Your Team To Support Your Operations

Today, I have eight people on my leadership team across both my locations (including my two daughters—one is the Operations Manager, the other handles admin and customer service. They bounce between the two locations, just like me). 

But the whole “train leaders” mentality was an adjustment for me. I mean, I’m the guy that always had the microphone and wouldn’t let anyone else use it. But now, getting my team’s comments and input is important. You have to be a good moderator to engage people, even the quiet ones.

You’ve got to go, “Hey, we just talked about how we wanted to do this customer event” (or this, that, and the other) and then ask, “What are your thoughts? I wanted to hear what you have to say.” 

After all, I helped them develop as leaders for a reason. If I don’t get their input, what’s the point? I want everyone to bounce ideas back and forth. If I just turn an idea down, we could be missing something that makes the light turn green for our shops.

2. Invest in Your Team

Investing in your team doesn’t always look like getting people to read a leadership book. Nor should it. I know people get this mental image of shops being a place where “tough guys” with big personalities hang out and work on cars.

But shop employees are people, and everyone needs to feel loved and appreciated. That’s why I created a place where everyone feels like they can get help when they need it. 

Our biggest investments are in people.

In 2021, we sent two of our managers to the ATI SuperConference. It was the largest one ever. And the material was so strong. It was all about coming together in unity and considering everything about your shop: your team, your people, what your direction is. It was constant information, just an overload of good ideas.

It cost an extra $10,000 to send two more people to the conference. Some people might think that’s a lot, but a lot of shop owners are spending that much on equipment that might be outdated in two or three years.

The knowledge my team picked up at the conference will help them for the rest of their lives. We’re definitely going to keep sending people back. 

Believe in your people.

You have to believe in your people as professionals and not give up on them even if things look bleak.

A while back, I noticed that one of my employees was struggling. I could have fired him. The “old me,” that newbie shop owner thirty years ago, probably would have.

But instead, I put him on probation, gave him some time to take care of some things, and told him his job would be there when he got back.

During his probation, I focused on helping him confront the challenges he was facing and work through them.

It worked.

That employee is now moving forward in his career at the shop. Had no one helped him see that he could rebuild himself, he would have squandered his career. If I’d fired him instead of helping him, he would probably be in even worse shape today than he was back then.

But don’t just invest in your people when times are bad. You have to invest in them when times are good, too. Part of being a better leader is becoming a better person, and to become a better person, you have to lift up people in all areas of their lives, personal and professional.

Celebrate your wins, too.

I celebrate different “wins” with my employees. For example, I wanted my technicians to get ASA certified. Some were sitting on the fence.

So I said that getting the certification would lead to a promotion. When one of my technicians passed his two tests, we threw him a party with cupcakes, balloons. It was a good time.

I want my legacy to be that I made a difference in people’s lives. 

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Last year, one of my parts vendors called me and said they wanted me to buy from them.

I thought to myself, “Ok, but what are my guys gonna get out of it?” So I cut a deal. I told them, “I want rebates. You’ve asked me to increase my purchases. I did the math. This is how much I need to buy a month. I’ll hit these three tiers. And when I do, you can increase the percentage of my money back.”

With those rebates, I put half of it back into the company and the other half into employee events. 

I also got them to foot the bill for some team-building events. That parts vendor paid for a night of go-kart racing and food and a night of top golf and more food for me and my team!

They also paid for our Christmas party, and with the rebate money, I got everyone Visa gift cards and other gifts.

Next on the list? Go to a nice hotel in Colorado Springs and hit up the golf courses and swimming pools. These are the kinds of experiences I want my employees to have. 

3. Listen With the Intent to Listen, Not With the Intent to Reply 

To invest in your team as much as you can in the best ways possible, you have to change how you listen to people. 

I used to listen with the intent to reply, not with the intent to listen. These days, I listen with the intent to listen, not with the intent to reply. 

It’s natural to want to listen to see where you can jump in during a conversation. We’re all people and people like to contribute. Getting out of that habit is hard. 

But it’s important to break it. Because when you listen with the intent to reply, you’re not truly taking in what the other person is saying.

You’re not really making them feel heard. And in turn, you’re doing yourself a disservice. You’re missing out on things that can really change the way you approach things at the shop for the better. 

Tekmetric is honored to be nominated for the Top 20 MOTOR Awards 2023 for two of our recent updates: Tekmetric Multi-Shop and Tekmerchant!

“Through the years of the MOTOR Top 20 Awards,” said MOTOR Executive Director of Marketing, John Lypen, “and, before that, MOTOR Magazine’s Top 20 Tools Awards, we have received submissions of countless outstanding innovations from many organizations. This year was no exception, and we’re pleased to celebrate these contributions to the industry and share them with our audience.” 

We were recently chosen as G2 Summer Winners for Auto Repair Software thanks to the amazing shop owners, service writers, and technicians that use Tekmetric every single day. And we're looking to take home another win with your support!

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After squaring away the basics and launching your career as an automotive service writer, the next step in the process of learning how to become a service writer is to gain hands-on experience within the automotive industry.

1. Find the Right Environment To Support Your Service Writer Career

Environment will have a major impact on the potential for your career to grow, flourish and shape in new ways.

You should consider whether you’d prefer to work in an independent repair shop, auto repair franchise, or dealership environment. Each work environment has its own perks and unique culture which might affect your decision.

You may also want to consider looking for a shop that has your career growth in mind, and one that has the right foundation like a cloud-based shop management system in place.

Features like texting your customers their inspection results have revolutionized the way service writers can interact with their clients.

And there’s also the team dynamics to think about. You might ask yourself: do I want to work for a high-volume brand with a large staff and management hierarchy, or would I prefer working with a smaller crew with more of a team feel?

Asking questions about a shop’s values upfront during the interview process can help ensure the work environment is a good fit for you and save a lot of headaches down the road.