The Jaded Mechanic Podcast

Jeff Compton [00:00:01]:
Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Jaden Mechanic podcast. We're still here at ASTA 2025 in beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina, and I'm sitting here with a couple of friends of mine from our wonderful family at promotive Ethan and Stacey. How are you guys this morning?

Ethan Whidden [00:00:18]:
Good, good.

Stacy Black [00:00:19]:
Doing great.

Ethan Whidden [00:00:20]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:00:20]:
They've got Starbucks in front of me, so they're on the same vein that I am. They need that caffeine first thing. Yeah, you're my people. When people come in with an energy drink, I'm like, what's wrong with you? You know? So this is obviously, Stacey, is this your first show?

Stacy Black [00:00:35]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:00:36]:
Okay. Because I was going to say because I was at Apex last year and saw Ethan, and I've seen you, you know, several, but you're a new face to me, so that's pretty cool.

Stacy Black [00:00:45]:
I was at SEMA last year and just briefly spoke with you, but, yeah, I kind of stayed behind the scenes for a while.

Jeff Compton [00:00:52]:
SEMA is a trip that's an experience. Right. It's almost overwhelming.

Ethan Whidden [00:00:57]:
That is the craziest show I've been to yet. I feel like you could just walk and then keep walking and then never see the end of it. Yeah, it's insane.

Jeff Compton [00:01:05]:
I don't think you go to SEMA and see all of SEMA in the four days that it runs. I don't think that's even technically, like, possible not to see. Like, you could run by and glance at everything, but if you want to stop and talk to people. So I got to hang out at the promoter booth last year at Apex and sema. That was pretty sweet. I like. I like that. That was a lot of fun.

Jeff Compton [00:01:24]:
So, you know, but it's the same thing, like trying to get from one venue to the next. And the shuttle and the. And the Tesla loop. Did you do the Tesla loop when you were there? You got to do that when. If you're going back in November, you got to do that.

Ethan Whidden [00:01:34]:
Okay, what's the Tesla loop?

Jeff Compton [00:01:36]:
So that's the. It's essentially like all these Ubers that are outside of the convention center. And if you want to go from one side of the convention center to the other, instead of walking the five miles down the sidewalk, you walk down the escalator flight of stairs. And Elon has bored out all these tunnels underneath downtown Vegas, and they run only with Teslas. And literally. So they're all the roads or highway. It's essentially a highway. The cars are all driving themselves.

Jeff Compton [00:02:03]:
Like, there's somebody in the driver's seat, but the car is driving itself down through these roads.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:08]:
Oh man.

Jeff Compton [00:02:08]:
So it's, it's a trip. If you're like just to see it, it's pretty cool.

Stacy Black [00:02:12]:
We're gonna have to try that.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:14]:
Yeah, we saw the drifting event. We saw the Goo Goo Dolls.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:17]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:17]:
You know, that was kind of the highlight for me, but I didn't.

Jeff Compton [00:02:20]:
Yeah, it's, it's down below and it's, it's all free. Like you don't have to pay to get in there, so. And I mean it's just they're, they're contracting Uber drivers with a Tesla to sit there all week and run people from wherever they want to go. A, B, C, D and E. Yeah, it was pretty trippy because I spent more time in a Tesla seat last year than I have working on as a mechanic because they don't come into a lot of the shops I work at. So.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:43]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:02:44]:
So. And what do you think new?

Ethan Whidden [00:02:46]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:02:46]:
What do you think of this event this year? Our new. It's different, isn't it?

Ethan Whidden [00:02:51]:
It's pretty cool.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:52]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:02:53]:
You know, this, this so far has been amazing. Yeah, I think it's, it's still got kind of that tight knit feel, but it's also big enough to where you can meet a lot of people.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:01]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:02]:
You know, event's been good. Location's great. Like this is my first time in Raleigh.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:06]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:06]:
My uncle lives up here so I traveled from Denver, Colorado to get here. Long journey. But this place is beautiful. You know, it's starting to get chilly up and.

Jeff Compton [00:03:14]:
Did you drive down?

Ethan Whidden [00:03:15]:
Oh no.

Jeff Compton [00:03:15]:
You flew?

Ethan Whidden [00:03:16]:
No, I flew down. Yeah, I've made the drive. I'm. I'm good on that.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:21]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:03:24]:
I would much prefer to drive, but I mean like we were talking. It's, it's a, it's a, somebody says like an 18 hour drive to come from like where I would cross the border say at New York and then come down. It's an 18 hour drive and I'm not ready to do that yet.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:39]:
Yeah, that's too much.

Jeff Compton [00:03:39]:
That's too much.

Ethan Whidden [00:03:40]:
That's a multi day trip right there.

Jeff Compton [00:03:42]:
So tell me a little bit about how what's new and exciting at promotive?

Stacy Black [00:03:47]:
There's so many great things at promotive. It's. We've implemented a few programs to help enrich our shops and we're really excited about where we're headed.

Jeff Compton [00:03:59]:
If you just pull the mic a little bit. There you go. Yeah, now we can hear you.

Stacy Black [00:04:02]:
Can you hear me?

Ethan Whidden [00:04:03]:
Yeah, that beautiful voice right there.

Stacy Black [00:04:04]:
Yeah, I hear. Yeah. So we've implemented Paige, and Paige is our virtual recruiter, and she is pre screening up to 50 candidates a week. And the crazy thing is we have candidates talking to her for 10 minutes. The average is anywhere from nine to 11 minutes that they're talking and they're like, yes, ma'. Am.

Ethan Whidden [00:04:27]:
No.

Stacy Black [00:04:27]:
Bam. And it's a virtual. But the great thing about it, it's 247 now, so we don't miss.

Jeff Compton [00:04:33]:
Right.

Stacy Black [00:04:34]:
That candidate, that fantastic candidate that wants to come and find a new beginning.

Jeff Compton [00:04:39]:
That's awesome. AI is an amazing thing. It really is.

Ethan Whidden [00:04:43]:
You know, and it's going to get crazier. I think, like, the big benefit of using this is obviously we're not missing anybody, but yeah, our recruiters can pick up where the AI left off.

Ethan Whidden [00:04:52]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:04:53]:
And they can fill in the gap. So it's speeding them up. It's making us more efficient. Yeah, it just kind of helps out all around. So it's exciting.

Jeff Compton [00:04:59]:
And I am assuming the response to Paige has all been pretty positive so far.

Stacy Black [00:05:04]:
It has, it has. We find that maybe they apply at three in the morning, they get a text of, you know, contact page, and she rolls right into it. So it's at their convenience that we're able to get a pre screen in. So super excited.

Jeff Compton [00:05:19]:
There's lots of mechanics, I hate to say that at three in the morning that are awake thinking about, like, you know, making a change. It's crazy, right? But that's sometimes what happens. It's just the way it is. So. Yeah. Very cool.

Stacy Black [00:05:31]:
Yeah. We don't want to lose them. We don't want them to think that we can't help them out.

Ethan Whidden [00:05:36]:
Yeah, yeah. I.

Jeff Compton [00:05:37]:
And you know, promotive is, I think, is such a powerful tool because of what you guys do. You know what I mean? Like, it's. Especially for the technicians. Like, I'm starting to see a lot more techs that in order to find the workplace that they want to be, they're moving farther away. It's not just like you can throw. It isn't like the 60s where you could go around the corner and get another job at another shop. And they're all pretty much the same as the landscape is getting wider in terms of varying levels of what you want to do in this industry or the technology you want to be exposed to. Some people are moving states, you know, away.

Jeff Compton [00:06:11]:
And that's a big commitment and a big change. And I think it's pretty cool that something exists now that if you want to, you know, oh, I want to find a job in north carolina. The old ways is you kind of had to get to know somebody on facebook, and then maybe the interest was there that you would think about trying a working interview or whatever. Come down now. Promotive is like, if you're willing to work, to move. Excuse me. We can help you out, you know?

Ethan Whidden [00:06:36]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:06:37]:
That's powerful.

Stacy Black [00:06:38]:
We just had a gentleman relocate from, I believe, the west coast to north Dakota.

Jeff Compton [00:06:43]:
Wow.

Stacy Black [00:06:44]:
Yeah. I've had him relocate across the country from alabama to reno. It's crazy to me, the amount of people that are willing and what I find is if their kids have just graduated and they're ready to spread their wings and go to the place they've always wanted to work at, and we find them a great job, and the benefits that some of these shops offer are second to none. So, you know, these shops are aggressive, and they want quality tax, and they're willing to take care of them.

Ethan Whidden [00:07:14]:
Yeah, yeah.

Stacy Black [00:07:15]:
And those are the shops we want to represent.

Jeff Compton [00:07:18]:
And I think that's, you know, and there's no. I mean, there are, you know, people that think you're going to fit. It's just like a relationship. You know, you go on a couple dates, and then all of a sudden you realize, like, I can't see myself spending, you know, years with you, so I move on to the next thing.

Ethan Whidden [00:07:34]:
And.

Jeff Compton [00:07:34]:
And unfortunately, sometimes jobs are like that. I can tell you I've moved around a lot in the last three years. And it's. It's a personality thing more than anything else. It's just like, I don't. We don't click on. On where you see me, and I see myself going. Right.

Jeff Compton [00:07:48]:
And that's totally fine. It's just that it's. It's pretty cool that. Okay, you know, promotive doesn't immediately drop me because that relationship didn't, you know, work out. They just kind of. We continue the relationship with promotive. I think that's awesome.

Stacy Black [00:08:02]:
You know, we really push the culture of the shop. So when we're working with the shop owner and we do an intake call, we dive deep into what their culture is, their expectations. Do they expect ongoing training? I have some shops that insist upon so many hours a month, they insist upon traveling to sema or vision or whatever it may be so they can learn and grow. And there's people out there that don't want to do that, and that's okay, but that's the requirement of a certain shop. And so I stress to the shop owner, even though they're not a good fit for you. Did they show up on time? Were they professional? Were they, you know, did they fix the car? Absolutely. And so let's get them into a place that they feel good about what they're doing.

Ethan Whidden [00:08:46]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:08:46]:
And because I think it's important for you guys to stay neutral.

Stacy Black [00:08:49]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:08:50]:
You know what I mean? Like, a lot of the time, if you're, if you're talking to shop owner after shop owner after shop owner and it. And I hear it all the time, like, in my channels, the shop owners are like, there's no good techs out there. And I talked to a lot of technicians. Like, I can't find a shop that is worth rolling my toolbox into. So, I mean, it's on both sides. Right. It's not a situation of like, I'm trying, we're trying to pit each other, you know, in a, in a, in a battle royal. It's a situation of.

Jeff Compton [00:09:15]:
It's like, what do you need me to bring to you? Cool. Okay. That's. I need you to bring competency. I need you to bring reliability. You know, I don't, I don't want you to be missing a day of work every week because you're sick with something, all of those kind of things. And in turn, if I'm going to work for you and you're going to task me with relatively new cars to fix and stuff, I need training. And, you know, and at the training, if you want to send me, you know, five hours after work to train, I want some pay for that because otherwise I could be with my family.

Jeff Compton [00:09:45]:
This is what a lot of technicians tell me is, why don't you train? I want to spend time with my family.

Ethan Whidden [00:09:50]:
Okay, cool.

Jeff Compton [00:09:50]:
Totally get that. So it's part of them. If you're like, if you're going to send them to training, pay them for the training, let them have that five hours towards some holiday pay, you know, that kind of thing, time off, like, all that stuff. It's, it's. We have to be more flexible in this industry now because it's becoming flexible, what it takes to, to do this business. So we as people need to be flexible. I need to be better, more rounded on as of my skill set. And in turn, you have to be a little more understanding that, like, we're willing to meet you halfway, but you have to, the way that you used to expect everything, you're just going to do it.

Jeff Compton [00:10:27]:
They're not interested in that anymore. You know what I mean? It's. We understand the relationship, but it's, it's. We talk about team, but a lot of people don't really know what that truly means. You know, I think that's where again, what I like about you guys is you're really qualifying the shops. That's important.

Ethan Whidden [00:10:44]:
You know, I think honestly it's, it's both sides. So promotive obviously got started to help technicians. Right. Keep them in the industry because there's not a lot of young guys coming in. A lot of the older guys are leaving.

Ethan Whidden [00:10:54]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:10:55]:
But it's also on the shop side. So a lot of people come to me because I'm the only one that basically signs them on. I take them through our process and so I lay out the expectations, everything in between. And a lot of them don't know what to offer at all. And you know, I give them feedback on it in the moment. I tell them, your account manager, your point to point person. They give you pretty much everything you need. They guide you in the direction in order to get you what you're looking for.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:20]:
Sometimes it's a stretch, some people can't make it happen. Which is fine. Right. We can deal what we have to deal with. But it's also on the technician side because a lot of them don't know what they're worth.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:29]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:29]:
You know, like maybe they're really a great A level technician. They're getting paid super low, the culture is bad, but they don't have anywhere else to go.

Jeff Compton [00:11:36]:
That's right.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:37]:
They talk to our recruiter and then, my gosh, my eyes are opening.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:41]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:41]:
You know, so it's, it's both sides. We're just kind of playing matchmaker.

Ethan Whidden [00:11:45]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:11:45]:
I get my. Now my phone again through my platform. I get. My phone's blowing up with people. Like I heard this episode and you know, I'm working in a shop and this is what I do all day long and I'm only getting paid this amount and what do I. What should I do? Well, I don't know. Right. Because I'm again, I have to remember and it's hard sometimes because I'm only talking to the technician, I'm not talking to the owner.

Jeff Compton [00:12:07]:
We all have a. Maybe an inflated idea about how really good we are.

Ethan Whidden [00:12:12]:
Right.

Jeff Compton [00:12:12]:
And that's fair, that's human nature. You don't want to beat yourself up. Go. I always need to do better. But you know, when I talk to them, it's like I kind of only know the local market and if they say they can do these kind of jobs and are only getting paid. I go, well you're underpaid for the market that I know of. But I don't know where their market's like. Right.

Jeff Compton [00:12:32]:
And so it's blowing up all the time. And I'm like, what do I do realize right now? For every five technicians that are leaving the industry, there's only one coming in right now. Every day, five leave, one comes in. So you're in a super high demand. So if you're not happy, don't just sit there and dwell on it. Reach out to somebody promotive and say, hey, what can you help me? And they'll show you like there's other shops in your area.

Ethan Whidden [00:12:59]:
Wow.

Jeff Compton [00:13:00]:
I didn't even know that shop was there. I remember like I tell the story, I remember seeing an ad, somebody contacted me and I'm like, I didn't know shops in that area paid that well. Why? Because they don't always talk like, you know, it was one of the highest paying people around. I didn't know that. And if you were to look at the facility, you would never assume that either. That's the other ripple to this. And, and you know, from technicians, we're very, we're very visually oriented. So if it looks like you don't have high pay, we're not probably even going to bother.

Jeff Compton [00:13:35]:
Appearance is a, you know, if it looks like a junkyard, you're not going to work there. Simple.

Stacy Black [00:13:40]:
I have a shop that actually offers the technicians and their family home doctor visits. Yeah, I mean talk about thinking outside of the box. And I have shops that have side by sides, four wheelers to where the guys can take it for the weekend and go have fun. I mean they do stuff together. And I've had technicians leave those shops because they didn't think they deserved to be in that good of an environment. Yeah, that wow, blows me away.

Jeff Compton [00:14:10]:
We're still a very, how do I say? It's almost like you went through trauma.

Stacy Black [00:14:16]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:14:16]:
And then you get into a situation, you're like, I can't. When's the ball gonna drop? I can't believe like that, that these shops exist, you know, and they're out there, they're unicorns right now. And on both sides there's same as I've had talked to shop owners are like, I hired this young person and it is amazing how good they are. Or it's amazing how dedicated they are, how reliable, how what I can task them with and I don't even have to hold their hand through it. They're just amazed. Yeah. Because we have to step back sometimes and go. When we're in these groups and we're in these conversations, we're talking to 1% of the people.

Jeff Compton [00:14:51]:
There are a lot of people don't even necessarily know the group is out there. So there's all kinds of people that are not the norm or the stereotype that we're not even reaching because they just are living their life right. There's definitely the next Brian Pollack and all that. Those amazing techs that I know, Brandon Steckler and Pete Bergen, there's. The next ones are already in shop somewhere. And it's just, how are they we gonna find them? Well, you have to make them aware of what you have to offer. And I think sometimes shop owners, for a long time it was just like, well, I put an ad up. There's so much more to marketing yourself than just putting an ad up.

Jeff Compton [00:15:29]:
You know, like you said, go back to like side by sides that you want to take home for a weekend. Here's a side by side stuff like that. Like, I'm at the point where it's like, if somebody was to say to me, we have two shop dogs in the shop, but like, I might work there for a dollar less just because I get to pet two dogs all day long. Like, it's, it's, you know, you work at a shop that has three running around and all of a sudden you go to one that doesn't. It's like, I really miss the dogs. You know, it's. It's just little things like that. Like, how are you about, you know, you know, lunch every Friday?

Stacy Black [00:16:02]:
I would love that we ask those questions. I mean, I dive in and say, do you have lunch and learns? Do you bring vendors in to say, hey, if you do this one thing when you're doing breaks and calibers and everything just to help, just one little thing to give them confidence. I didn't know that.

Ethan Whidden [00:16:21]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:16:21]:
And yeah. And you brought up the pets shops with cats dogs.

Ethan Whidden [00:16:26]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:16:27]:
Stacy has an interesting story from the other day.

Jeff Compton [00:16:29]:
I'd love to hear that.

Stacy Black [00:16:30]:
So I went into a shop. The shop is amazing. They believe in training the staff. You can feel the positive energy. You walk in. They had no idea who I was beyond friendly. So the shop owner was taking me upstairs to his training room and there was this cat, malnourished, laying on the steps. He had no idea where it came from.

Stacy Black [00:16:55]:
I'm now the proud owner. Beamer.

Jeff Compton [00:16:57]:
Very cool. Right on. Yep.

Stacy Black [00:17:02]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:17:03]:
So isn't that amazing?

Stacy Black [00:17:06]:
But Right thing to do. And he's, he's a, he's a good cat. But getting, you know, getting back to the shops, the shop owners that understand that keep moving forward. And when we talk to shops and we bring up training, we drink or bring up, are you clean and organized and you're your area, do you have a clean parking lot? Do you have, do you have a place where they could sit down and have lunch? I mean, similar things like that. You know, I don't think they understand that the techs are looking at this. And I mean, we have technicians that say, I don't need to train. I've been a technician for 20 years. And that person's kind of set in their ways to the point where how are they going to grow and how are they going to grow with shop?

Jeff Compton [00:17:50]:
Yeah, that's, that's a, from the tent technician in the room, I can tell you that that's a really, I'll say it, it's a really poor attitude. I mean, there are people out there that like can learn it as a go and they don't necessarily need to invest all these hours in training to, to, to get the job done.

Stacy Black [00:18:12]:
But how efficient are they?

Jeff Compton [00:18:13]:
Well, yeah, now and that's, that's the, the whole thing with efficiency is, is it's like sometimes it's just we were having a conversation about this yesterday. Sometimes the, the age old technician, there's just an intuition factor that can save you a lot of time and you look very efficient. But when you're handed new technology that you have no experience on and you think, I don't need to train because I've been a technician for 20 years, guess what? That doesn't matter because that new technology that you're faced with, I don't care how good your process is and everything, you have to learn how it works. And if you're learning how it works on the job, there's sometimes we just all end up doing that. But if you could have had the opportunity to learn how it was going to work before one lands in your bay, that's only to your advantage and your employers. So that's a caveat for shops that don't want to train their people in technical training, come on, wake up. And as your technician, when somebody offers you training, take the damn training because it's only to your benefit. I look back in my career and it's like the only thing I ever took from some of these jobs was what I learned while I was on the job or what the training that I got because it made me better for the next employer.

Jeff Compton [00:19:23]:
I don't advocate for people having to move around, but think about it that way, otherwise you get stuck in that rut. Where I've been a technician for 20 years, you might be the same technician that you were 10 years ago. You're just older and slower from a skill set and an understanding and a knowledge set. Is that what we want? No, we don't. People that are hiring us don't want that. I don't want to bring them that. Yeah, training is valuable.

Ethan Whidden [00:19:48]:
Well, I mean, whether you do it now or you do it later, everything's going to be evolving. Technology is going to get crazy. Wait till we have flying cars.

Jeff Compton [00:19:54]:
Well, it's.

Ethan Whidden [00:19:55]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:19:56]:
You know, you're going to have to do training at some point, otherwise you're not gonna be able to work on anything.

Jeff Compton [00:19:59]:
If in 1985 when I was tenured old and somebody told me there was going to be a driving a car that would drive itself by 2025, I'd have said you're crazy. And yet how many do we see now? All the time.

Ethan Whidden [00:20:11]:
It's a. Yeah. Go to. Go to like Silicon Valley.

Ethan Whidden [00:20:14]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:20:15]:
I mean probably every, every five cars there's a Tesla.

Ethan Whidden [00:20:19]:
Yeah, right.

Ethan Whidden [00:20:20]:
It's insane. They're everywhere and they're going to be gaining popularity as time goes on. It's just going to happen.

Jeff Compton [00:20:25]:
And 40 years was not overnight, but 40 years still feels like a of bunch blink. When I think about like at 85, oh, there's cars. I can drive themselves. No, I'm not. I'm 10 years old. I'm smart enough to know that's never going to happen. And yet now when I'm in the industry, I go, that's perfectly viable. It's already happened.

Jeff Compton [00:20:41]:
You know what I mean? It's cool. So yeah, you cannot be the same tech you were 10 years ago and still think you demand the same value. Yeah, you can't. So, you know, you want big, big money. Bring big training, bring big ability and it'll take care of itself. What do some of the things that when techs approach you and say, this is what I'm really looking for, it's not just about pay, is it Ethan?

Ethan Whidden [00:21:08]:
No, definitely not. You know, pay is, it's eye candy on all the job boards. You scroll down, you see the numbers. Okay. Xxx alright. This one's in my range, right. They're looking for a lot more. It's, it's culture, it's cleanliness, especially with benefits.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:25]:
PTO is a big one.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:26]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:27]:
Right. I think a lot of shops, they, they don't know that they have to compete with the dealerships. Right. Especially if you're looking for a technician, maybe they're not happy where they're at. The culture's change, the ownership has changed, whatever it is. Those are the people that are good technicians. Right. They've been working, they're up to date on all the skills.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:45]:
They're not going to leave dealership to go have one week of PTO after a year of being there. You know, they've got three weeks built up. They've got a family at home, they've got vacations planned.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:55]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:56]:
They're just not gonna do it.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:57]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:21:57]:
You know, so like the, the health and medical and stuff like that, that's great to have. Right. It's fantastic. Some of the times I'm speaking to shop owners, a lot of their technicians will have. They'll be on their wife's plan or something like that. So it doesn't really make sense for them.

Ethan Whidden [00:22:10]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:22:11]:
The pto, though, that's directly, you know, that's directly for the technician. And so that's a big one. Pay is obviously big. What other ones are there? Stacy? What are the big ones?

Stacy Black [00:22:20]:
So the training, it goes without saying, but then I have shops that do four day work weeks.

Jeff Compton [00:22:25]:
Yes.

Stacy Black [00:22:25]:
And they will rotate it. Their shop will be open Monday through Friday, so they'll, they'll flex it to where the guys can do four day work weeks. That is huge. Huge out there. Some shops close at noon on Friday, Friday to where they can start a weekend early. We have owners that will take their teams to different events, that sort of thing. But I think flexibility. I asked the question when I'm talking to shops, if you've got a tech that's kid is traveling baseball, I mean, there's just times you don't want them to miss that.

Ethan Whidden [00:23:01]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:23:02]:
And they're pretty adamant about that. They're willing to work with them as long as the tech gives back what they're giving them.

Ethan Whidden [00:23:08]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:23:09]:
100%. Like, I, I had a great conversation, you know, with, with Josh Barnell and it was because Josh and I from Limited Limitless Leadership, we talked about how like a lot of technicians leave and pay isn't the number one thing they're looking for. And of course my comments. Red Bulls up. It's certainly always about pay. No, man, I work for less money now than I did a year ago and I'm in a happier place. Why? Because somebody is not like, push Push, push. And I'm not watching the wheels fall off the wagon every day.

Jeff Compton [00:23:41]:
You know what I mean? It's a little bit smaller operation. It's like I stay in my lane and I let people do things. It isn't like more and more is being put on me because they're not putting it where it should go. And that's that. That for me is a culture thing. And it's. It's not that I wish any ill to them. It's just like some.

Jeff Compton [00:23:59]:
You're not a good fit everywhere. And it's not about the money. I. I am. When you're young. Yes. Right. You want to.

Jeff Compton [00:24:06]:
You want to get that nest egg started. You want to buy a house and have kids and all that kind of stuff. I'm 50. Like, I've already learned how to survive on what I have. I'm looking after my future. I don't need to. At $1 difference in pay.

Ethan Whidden [00:24:19]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:24:19]:
An hour. Doesn't matter. Does not matter. You know, and people need to get past that. Like, if you can go to work and make a little bit less money, but you feel so, like, appreciated and so viable to the team and valuable man, that is worth way more than I think a lot of us are even realizing now and again. From the technician standpoint, some of us are so beat up with the culture that we've been exposed to that it. It's almost like you come out of those bad relationships and you get into the good when you're like, I don't know what to do here. Like, and it'll happen.

Jeff Compton [00:24:51]:
Guys like. And gals, keep. Keep your head up. It will change for you. You will. You just have to learn to trust again. That's the key thing.

Stacy Black [00:24:59]:
A positive environment. Not worrying if a wrench is going to be thrown across the room. Safety. Yeah. The environment, the positive attitude, the driven personality. Somebody who wants to laugh. I have shops that do say, say we want them to be able to laugh with us.

Ethan Whidden [00:25:19]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:25:20]:
You know, you didn't get that feeling in other shops, but you can walk in as a consumer and feel the tension if the shop is not doing what they should be doing.

Ethan Whidden [00:25:31]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:25:32]:
I've seen technicians and it's simple as, like, the music was very, very. I'm like that if I'm working in a building and the music is very, very, very loud, and yet everybody's expecting me to be able to concentrate, I can't do that. And then it's like, so the technician may say, okay, I want to. I want to have headphones in or earbuds in? No, that's a safety thing. We don't allow that. Okay, all right. Like so. Or.

Jeff Compton [00:25:55]:
And you know what it is? A lot of it is they play it up as it's a safety thing, but the reality is that they hate that they have to come up and tap somebody on the shoulder to get their attention. They feel like it's disrespectful. Meanwhile, that person may be on a certain part of the spectrum where like I am when it's very loud, noisy music, it's distracting for me from what I'm trying to do and I'm trying to get the job done. But other people, like, they thrive in that environment of loud and chaos. It just depends on who you are. But to say no, you can't wear head a headset while you work because like, that's nuts, man. We have to learn to be a little more open minded, you know, because I've seen techs that will quit over that. Like, I don't like the music that's constantly playing here.

Jeff Compton [00:26:32]:
I ain't working here, you know. And again, not to show, you know, to tell anybody how to run their business, but sometimes if the customer is walking through the back, like it has to happen, they want to see the car. And I don't necessarily, I don't like the show and tell idea all the time. I think it's, you know, but when they come in and they're hearing some really loud music and stuff, it's not necessarily saying the best thing about your business. Doesn't look to make the best image.

Ethan Whidden [00:26:58]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:26:58]:
So, you know, when somebody wants to have headphones in. Because I think that's a better image. So.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:03]:
Well, I think with promotive like our goal is longevity with technicians.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:08]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:08]:
You know, the getting them in the shop is one thing. The stars have to align for most shop owners on their own just to get them in the door.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:14]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:15]:
But once they're in, you know, the real challenge kicks in of keeping them.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:19]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:20]:
And you know, we obviously want them to be in the industry. We want them to be with the shop. So they retire. Ideally.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:25]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:25]:
But if the culture is not there, they're not going to last. You know, plain and simple, you're only going to put up with something for so long. Whether it's, you know, you know, the shop attitude, the music, stuff like that. If the culture is there, everything else can be where it needs to be. They'll be there for a long time.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:44]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:27:44]:
Right. So that's why it's so important.

Jeff Compton [00:27:46]:
Can I ask you a question? Because from my standpoint, I sometimes think about it and maybe, you know, you've never. But is there a point when you're looking at a shop and they're saying maybe they've been with you guys a couple months or whatever, a year or something, and they're like, every person that you've brought me seems to want to leave or doesn't last or doesn't work out. What's the ear markers? That maybe they are the problem and not the tech.

Stacy Black [00:28:10]:
Those are tough conversations, right? We're trying to change the industry. We're trying one shot shop at a time, one tech at a time. And just saying, look, you have to offer training. Yeah, you, you have to do this or you're going to lose the race, so to speak. I do have shops that are that way where constantly sending technician, they don't like them for whatever reason or they get hired and they leave within a few months. And it's not the pay. It is truly. You get them on, on board, bored with the pay.

Stacy Black [00:28:44]:
You try to explain, it's got to be a positive, it's got to be clean, it's got to be safe. You want your kids to be able to go in there. And so it is tough conversations and some of them will take that advice and run with it. But it's really hard to change what they've been doing for 20 years. And it's not going to happen overnight. But it's a conversation that we have, you know, every time we talk to them, you know, hey, did you do the training? Hey, did you? Hey, did you? And you know, we're partners with them, but we also need to have a safe environment for our technicians.

Ethan Whidden [00:29:20]:
Yeah, it's.

Jeff Compton [00:29:22]:
And there is a lot that's just. I don't even, I don't even think about that or touch on it enough. Because it's just. It for me is like at my point in my career, if it's. There's no question about it. Like, if it's just somebody says, go over there and do that. And I go, no, I'm not climbing above 10ft without being tied off. You know, you can call me a.

Jeff Compton [00:29:42]:
All you want or whatever. I'm not a person that loves heights. So, you know, I'm not gonna get on a ladder and go up 18ft in the air to change a light bulb fixture.

Ethan Whidden [00:29:51]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:29:52]:
You know, you get me a harness and strap me in and somebody sits there and holds a ladder. Yes, I'll do it. But just Like, I need that done real quick. This is where the safety comes in is because we're always. When we're rushed, we're like, I need that done real quick. I need that done real quick. You know, jack that car up in a parking lot and get under there and do that part because we screwed up and we don't have a hoist to do it on. There's a whole other ripple there that comes into the fact of not just the efficiency of the job and the time, and it's the safety side of it, because it's like, before you know it, he goes out there, or she with just a jack and no jack stand, and something happens, heaven forbid, and somebody gets hurt.

Jeff Compton [00:30:28]:
There was a. There's a local shop, to me, back home, so it's a truck shop, highway truck. Now they're having a really hard time hiring people, right?

Ethan Whidden [00:30:38]:
Very hard.

Jeff Compton [00:30:39]:
So they've been hiring essentially what I call A310s, which is an automotive technician where I come from. And they're trying to fill 310t spots while they hire 310s, sign them up in the apprenticeship program that can now mentor and work there. And legally, it's all good. Well, this young lady then starts doing air brakes on a truck. They involve removing the big brake chamber. She has not been shown all of the risks and inherent dangers that can come with that. And there's an accident happening. She gets hit in the side of the head with an exploding air brake chamber.

Jeff Compton [00:31:14]:
Now, she's going to be okay. She didn't die. But that's the kind of accident that kills a technician every year, that very scenario. Now you can sit there and go, well, like, she's young. That happens, right? She hasn't been exposed to enough. But the reality is somebody that shouldn't even be trying to, like, give her that job unless somebody is mentoring right there going, whoa, stranger danger. Watch out. You know, and that.

Jeff Compton [00:31:41]:
And that's the kind of things that. Where we think about safety, we don't think about it until it's already after the effect. And that's. We need to stop that. Whoa. Russia need this, John. Done. It can be the same in the automotive space.

Jeff Compton [00:31:51]:
You go out, no jack stand. Jack stand breaks. Jack stand fails. Somebody dies. Why? Because the part didn't show up on time or something like that. Safety.

Ethan Whidden [00:32:00]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:32:01]:
Well, you think about the hoses that are laying around on the ground and somebody's not paying attention. Trips and goes. So I've been in shops for many, many years, and. And you see different things, you know, some of it's out of your control, some of can't be helped, but just being cognizant of it and you can see, I can give you examples of shops that have worked their way around it and understood the importance of safety. But we just want the technicians going in when they leave at night. They felt like they made a difference.

Ethan Whidden [00:32:36]:
Yes.

Stacy Black [00:32:37]:
They felt like they contributed and they felt like they were appreciated. We get those type of shops, we're gonna, we're gonna do everything we can to find them the right candidate.

Jeff Compton [00:32:48]:
And a clean shop is a safer shop?

Stacy Black [00:32:50]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:32:50]:
Oh, yeah, 100%. You know, like I can remember if I worked next to a baymate and our hoist was there and they were not rolling their airline up. That was done. It was laying between the two hoists and I'm walking over their airline. It wasn't long before I would take their airline off and throw it in the trash can and say, you need to. Because I have to walk here too. And if you can't be bothered, it's just little things like that. You go, you're being a jerk.

Jeff Compton [00:33:12]:
I'm not being a jerk. Like, I don't need to trip and fall in that because it's going to be some. At some point I'm going to be looking over my shoulder, talking to one person as I'm trying to get somewhere else. And you didn't roll it up and I'm going to step on it and trip. And then what happened? So it's the little things, right? Like it really is. What, how do I, how do I say that? When a technician is coming to apply for a job, what advice can you give them on how to go about that process?

Stacy Black [00:33:43]:
Be on time and show up.

Ethan Whidden [00:33:46]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:33:47]:
Is that still a big one? Because I know in past interviews I've had it where people are like, we have technicians and they go through the process and use promotive and we, we work to find them and then they don't show up.

Stacy Black [00:34:00]:
We've had it to where the recruiters have been talking to the candidate, driving to the interview and then a half an hour later I get a call from the shop saying Joe never showed up.

Ethan Whidden [00:34:15]:
Where'd you go? Where'd you go, Joe?

Stacy Black [00:34:17]:
Yeah. What happened?

Jeff Compton [00:34:18]:
Right.

Stacy Black [00:34:19]:
What happened, Joe? I it. Part of me thinks they just get nervous about the interview. I mean, I've really changed my thought process on why people ghost. I think there's several key factors in it, but it's so disheartening because the shop owner clears their schedule to be able to talk to them or the shop foreman or whoever it may be. Especially if they're an A level tech, they're super excited. They feel like, okay, this could be the guy or gal that's going to fit that need that I've, I've had.

Ethan Whidden [00:34:50]:
Open for a while.

Stacy Black [00:34:51]:
And when they don't show, I, I, I, I don't understand. Yeah, just like they don't understand. And so we try to get a hold of them afterwards and a lot of times they'll, they'll give us a reason why they didn't show. But I think deep down they're just afraid to make a change.

Jeff Compton [00:35:13]:
Goes back to that, you know, trauma. Yeah, that trauma thing.

Ethan Whidden [00:35:17]:
Right.

Jeff Compton [00:35:18]:
Like, and, and for me, like, I'm just, I'm, I'm not different, but I'm confident enough that like, if I'm one out of where I am, there's no way I'm missing the appointment. Like, and I'll challenge my, my listeners that maybe have ghosted. Like, don't, don't do that. A, because you look like a schmuck, you know, it's unprofessional. But B, like you're, you're just, if you needed to go back, maybe later, maybe in six months time, you really need to go and they're still running an ad six months later, they're going to remember that you didn't bother to show up.

Ethan Whidden [00:35:50]:
Oh yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:35:51]:
And even if they give you a second chance, there's no second chance to make a first impression. Right. They're immediately going to wonder for a long time how reliable really are you?

Ethan Whidden [00:36:01]:
Yeah, well, I, I speak to a little lot of shop owners and I asked them like, do you have a list of people that you've talked with in the past, whether it's through? Indeed. Do you have a bench being built, stuff like that. A lot of them say, I have a list of people I would never want working in my shop, which I totally understand. Right. But that's the thing that sticks is the one that don't show up. They have a bad experience. In reality, maybe that did happen. Maybe one of those technicians didn't show up for an interview for something crazy.

Ethan Whidden [00:36:28]:
Maybe they're a good tech, you know, good person just had a bad day. And so I think using a company like Promotive, we keep up with them, we check in, we keep tabs. Things change over two years. You know, a CTech could become an A tech. Yep, same thing. So, I mean that's, that's kind of where we come in is we can help the shops. We utilize what they're doing on. Indeed.

Ethan Whidden [00:36:48]:
We use their bench, we take them through our process and then there's a little bit of a benefit there.

Jeff Compton [00:36:53]:
So, yeah, I know it's funny in my realm, you know, because I'm in a smaller little area. So we all talk, right? We all talk to the tool trucks and you'll move and somebody will, the tool truck driver will tell you who filled your spot from where you were.

Ethan Whidden [00:37:06]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:37:06]:
And you're like, and I mean, we all get to know each other from a reputation, but it's like you think, oh, that's good for them that they managed to get that person. Because like that's a, that's a win. Or you just shake your head and go, that's not gonna work. I just know because you know then exactly, like if you've left that place, you know what they told them and you know, that person, that technician, they're like, they're not gonna fit there. And the list, like you said, the technicians, some of them in my area are known to the other shop owners of like, I wouldn't hire that guy. A lot of your resume, they look at it and it's like, oh, you worked at John's. And they know John on a first name basis. He's in the Napa program with them or something.

Jeff Compton [00:37:43]:
They call up John, go, what was this technician really like? I've looked at his resume. What's he really like? He would come in 20 minutes late every morning. Super smart. Friday afternoons I couldn't get any work done by him. You know, that kind of stuff. And then that shop has to look at and go, well, I might be an owner. And it's like, yeah, Friday afternoon I'm in coast mode too. But the supposed to start at 8, strolls in at 8, 25, 8:15, 8:30, like, yeah, it's not a good look for you.

Jeff Compton [00:38:13]:
And people are becoming less tolerant of it. I joke my mentor that one of the first ones I had never started at 8 o' clock ever. But if you needed to be working there till eight at night, he was there. But he never started on time. He's just one of those quirky people that like, you know, he just couldn't do it. Could not do it.

Ethan Whidden [00:38:38]:
I was speaking with a shop owner yesterday. He's in California. I'm not gonna say who or where, but same exact situation. You know, he's a great shop. But two of his technicians showed up late. They took insanely long lunch Breaks and they come back in and he'd confront them and, you know, he was the bad guy. Shop owner was the bad guy.

Ethan Whidden [00:38:57]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:38:58]:
And so he dealt with it. He pushed it to the side, kind of shrugged it off for so long, and then now he made a decision on. He's like, I've had enough of this. All right? Let me go see what my options are. And there's a lot of options out there.

Jeff Compton [00:39:08]:
Sure.

Ethan Whidden [00:39:08]:
It's good that there's automotive recruiting companies out there. You know, we're not the only one. It is fairly new, though. You know, just in general, this idea of automotive recruiting, especially for a lot of older guys that are kind of, you know, in their ways, they're happy with what they've been doing, like you said, for the past 20 years.

Ethan Whidden [00:39:24]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:39:25]:
Things are changing quick. You know, you kind of got a hop on the bus before it takes off kind of thing.

Ethan Whidden [00:39:31]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:39:31]:
Now. So when you see shop owners and they're like, I need a technician. So punctuality aside and reliability, what's the things that they're still asking. I really need somebody, him or her, to be really strong in what?

Stacy Black [00:39:48]:
Diag.

Jeff Compton [00:39:49]:
Diag.

Stacy Black [00:39:50]:
Very strong in Diag.

Ethan Whidden [00:39:52]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:39:53]:
And they went. Somebody to hit the ground running. They don't want to have to. If they have that position open where they've got an apprentice, great. They're. They have people in place already that's going to help train them. But the majority of the shops are looking for somebody to hit the ground running that can be a decision maker they don't need. Hey, Ethan, can you come over here? I'm not quite sure they want that person that can do that car from start to finish and just do it right the first time.

Stacy Black [00:40:22]:
Now parts break. You know, I. I get it. I understand all of that, and they are too, but they don't have time to hold hands with a technician. But Diag is the first.

Ethan Whidden [00:40:34]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:40:35]:
Constantly. I get that.

Jeff Compton [00:40:36]:
And. And I, as somebody that. That I did a large portion of my career, that's what I was good at, what I focused on and what I actually really enjoy doing. That's the challenge. Right. I'm a big champion. I advocate for that all the time. That you have to be smart on that because.

Jeff Compton [00:40:51]:
And I'll meet. Shop owners are like, listen, I do the diag. I just need them to bolt the parts on it and all the bolts go tight. You know what I mean? They can't prevent stuff. Totally cool. I get it. But we're talking about a unicorn tech as an owner that's still in the building. And it's like they're handling it.

Jeff Compton [00:41:07]:
These shops that are trying to hire diag techs. And I see it, shops are like, I need a diag tech. What's your training budget last year? My what training budget? Like, I've been the diag guy and I haven't gone to training in five years. Okay, but your guy that you're now or gal that you're hiring as a. As a diag tech, they want the training budget. They want to know. I'm expected to know this because they're a bit nerdy, right? So they want to know the new technology and they want to be trained on the new technology. And you go, so a lot of when I see that they want diag tech is they don't really know what they want.

Jeff Compton [00:41:41]:
You know what I mean? Like, they want somebody that can do it, but they don't know how to attract it. They don't know how to cultivate it when it's there. They don't know how to look after it. It's like getting an animal or pet and not knowing how to feed that pet.

Ethan Whidden [00:41:55]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:41:55]:
And then we can talk about the pay thing. The diag guys that I know, they. They only want to work certain pay plans.

Stacy Black [00:42:05]:
And don't forget about the latest scan tools also.

Jeff Compton [00:42:08]:
That's right.

Stacy Black [00:42:08]:
They want a great, strong diag. They've got to have the tools to support it.

Jeff Compton [00:42:13]:
And the diag techs that are coming, a lot of them have some of the. Some pretty expensive tooling of their own, and they're going to bring it into your shop. You're gonna have to pay for those tools to come in the shop. If you. For instance, we'll talk about this if you are. I need a diag tech. And a lot of what we do in diag now is just software program programming. If you're not equipped to do that and they come in with that, whatever you thought you were gonna offer as pay probably put it up 25%.

Jeff Compton [00:42:39]:
Because if they're gonna bring those tools in that you don't have to provide. Well, let's, let's do the math real quick on what that tool's worth and all that jazz. It's gonna cost you more. And if all of a sudden you, I can't afford that. Well, then what? You can't really afford to be doing diag in your shop because it's a package deal, Right. They're gonna come in and expect, I can fix this car if I have this tool. Oh, we don't have that tool. Oh, I have that tool.

Jeff Compton [00:43:04]:
Do you think I'm just gonna bring it in to help you out? Not really. That's not really what we're signing up for. It's not a partnership. Right. It's a. It's a I work for you type of thing. We have a technician I just spoke to last night and he wants to constantly. His shop is like, oh, we're gonna send it to the dealer.

Jeff Compton [00:43:21]:
Going to send it to the dealer. We're going to send it to the dealer. Don't send. Don't spend a lot of time on this. Don't spend a lot of time on that. He's now starting to where, I'll be frank. The shop that he works in is under $100 an hour. There's no service.

Jeff Compton [00:43:34]:
There's no service information system in the shop. No identifix, no pro demand, no all data, no nothing.

Stacy Black [00:43:41]:
Did they still write on paper?

Ethan Whidden [00:43:43]:
Yeah, yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:43:45]:
So. And I'm not trying to run this shop down, but here's the thing. We have a young person who, who's a very competent young person in terms of getting the parts on a car in a real timely manner. They're good now. They want to grow and not see so many cars go to the dealer because that's. After a while, it's like that car left. I never knew what fixed it. Because the customer doesn't call you up and go, hey, it went to the dealer.

Jeff Compton [00:44:07]:
And the dealer did this. My car's fixed. They don't bother to fill you in on that. You just might see the car six months from now for a set of tires or brakes or whatever. If you should be able to retain that customer back. That's all of the conversation. So when we're not like investing in the, in the true diag sense of the word, what they need, you're. You really don't need a diag tech.

Jeff Compton [00:44:29]:
You need probably another B tech. And you stay in your lane as a shop owner. And what does he mean, shop as a stay in my lane? Stick to what you're good at. Tires, brakes, wheel alignments and stuff. Don't get into the diag thing because the dyag guy or gal is a different kind of animal and will bring a different skill set. And the, the way we pay them, the way we treat them, it's going to be slightly different. So people are listening. I want a diag tech.

Jeff Compton [00:44:54]:
I know you do. Everybody wants one.

Ethan Whidden [00:44:57]:
Everyone.

Jeff Compton [00:44:57]:
But when I go and interview for one And I go, this is. They go, you want to get paid how much? That not flat rate.

Ethan Whidden [00:45:05]:
Nope.

Jeff Compton [00:45:07]:
Well, are you that good?

Ethan Whidden [00:45:09]:
Yeah, I am.

Jeff Compton [00:45:10]:
You know, okay. Or that's not going to work for me. You have to be flexible.

Ethan Whidden [00:45:16]:
Right.

Jeff Compton [00:45:16]:
And it might mean changing, bringing in a second tiered labor rate. So when I'm doing diag versus nuts and bolts kind of stuff, I have to charge more, frankly, because I'm paying that unicorn right there to get the job done. It's. We got to be willing to bend, you know?

Ethan Whidden [00:45:31]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [00:45:32]:
And some shops, they just, they just don't know. They don't know what to do, they don't know who to bring on, what's going to fit their shop the best. And so it takes time. Like they'll come to me, I need a Diag tech. It's 90% of my conversations.

Jeff Compton [00:45:44]:
Wow. I didn't think it'd be that high.

Ethan Whidden [00:45:46]:
It's that high. It's that high. And you know, sometimes they give it a couple of weeks, they sit down, they think about it, they talk it over with their wife, they get back to me, I actually need a B tech, you know, and so great for them for figuring that out on their own. But when you talk to your account manager, this is something that we run through. Right. We make sure everything aligns. You know, if you need feedback on what to offer, who to bring on, maybe we'll go in this direction. Versus that, we're great for that kind of thing.

Ethan Whidden [00:46:14]:
You know, the account manager, Stacy, one of them, she kind of works central part of the United States. She works with a lot of shops, a lot of good shops. And so she's kind of seen what works for some people, what doesn't really work, where this needs to be versus that. And so that's where the benefit of having her being your account manager is, is she can give you guidance on.

Jeff Compton [00:46:33]:
That kind of thing.

Stacy Black [00:46:34]:
The thing that we do, we say pivot a lot. But when we meet the shop initially, they tell us what they're looking for, they give us the whole rundown. I want five years experience of this, I want three years of that. They give me the whole rundown. Fantastic. Get the job posted, a couple weeks go by, or however long it is, we send them candidates. No, that's not what I'm wanting. No, that's not what I'm wanting.

Stacy Black [00:46:59]:
The thing I stress to them is, okay, let's go back and look at what you originally wanted. That was your baseline, that's what you thought. Well, now that you've interviewed those type of candidates. You really, that's not what you're wanting. Let's change it up, let's get it back. Okay, maybe I only wanted this, this and this. Fantastic. We're gonna change it immediately and let's start getting those candidates into you because a lot of them think they want this when they really need that.

Ethan Whidden [00:47:26]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:47:27]:
And that's the big conversation I got. I, because I want to stay neutral between the tech and the shop owners. I want to be able to show both sides and perspectives what they really need. But a lot of that is even tough too because it's just like saying to that technician over there, I understand you struggle with this, but I need you to be better at it. Well, when the shop owner, it's like, I understand that you want to go here, but you can't go here yet because you, you, you just like you need people to go there. And when you bring those people on, they'll help you get there for sure. That's the tech's job, is to help a shop profit and flourish and grow. That's their, that's ultimately your job.

Jeff Compton [00:48:03]:
Fix the car and help the shop owner hit their goals. But it's the flexibility side on the, on the owner. The leadership role now falls in a place where you have to really then make the harder choices. And I think it, it's just the way it's gonna be. Right. A lot of, I'm not saying shop owners can't go out in the bay and get the car fixed. I know they can. But if you need somebody that like has a skill set that you don't have and, and you need them to go out into the bay and fix the car, they are going to cost money and they're going to cost time and just takes time.

Jeff Compton [00:48:39]:
There's nothing more frustrating. I talked to a lot of diag techs, I'm one and they go, I can only sell her on an hour diag. That's not feasible anymore. Like we, oh, there's a European car that got towed in. It's got 20 codes on and four different warning lights. That's not an hour. That's a four hour process. Well, they can't afford it.

Jeff Compton [00:49:00]:
Okay, so you believe that, no problem, that's fine. But here's the reality. Like that diag tech is the type of person that doesn't want to see half a job done. So if you say to them, I just want half a job done, they're like, I thought I was here to fix cars. Because in our Crazy brain. Leaving with one warning light on isn't a complete job. I took a car that's. It didn't run and it leaves with the ABS light on.

Jeff Compton [00:49:26]:
In my mind, I fixed what the customer wanted, but I'm still dissatisfied because the car's not going out to the standard that I want it to go out at. This is the kind of. When we hire these people, be prepared for some of that. If you're a shop owner and you're like, you're okay with that? Think about what you're trying to really offer and be honest with yourself about who then you need. It's tough. It really is. Like, I feel for both sides. I really do, because I understand.

Jeff Compton [00:49:51]:
But it's the conversations we're going to have. You know, Diag is, is a. It's a slippery slope. It's not. It doesn't fall. I believe in the same kind of metrics and scalable as, as just a work, an oil change. A tire shop doesn't. It doesn't work.

Jeff Compton [00:50:07]:
You have to be much more flexible and you have to be. That's where the advisor side of things becomes very important because they have to have those tough conversations. And it's like your BMW has been to three other shops, including the dealer, and it's still broken. I've got somebody that can fix your car 100%. But here's like, are you really committed to this? Because that person will need this amount of time that will cost you this amount of dollars. Do you really want to go with that? Yes. Cool. Let's start.

Jeff Compton [00:50:35]:
No. Okay. Have that hard conversation. You can't just treat it like another job and go up there and go. Yep. Okay, Mrs. Smith, we'll start now. Our labor rates, $150 an hour.

Jeff Compton [00:50:44]:
We're going to start at one hour and then we're going to call you that don't work does not work.

Stacy Black [00:50:49]:
They need to ask the question, how long are you planning on keeping your investment if you're going to dump the car and move on the car in six months? Their mindset is completely different than I want to keep it for another five years. Okay, let's talk about that.

Jeff Compton [00:51:02]:
Yes.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:03]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:51:03]:
Asking questions. Yeah, I'm good for that.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:06]:
It just happened to me the other day, like a couple months, months ago. My 2014 Ford Focus.

Jeff Compton [00:51:10]:
Okay, congrats.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:11]:
Yeah, well, no, not, not in this situation.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:14]:
It.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:14]:
It had a transmission issue and I've had this.

Jeff Compton [00:51:18]:
I'll try to not look so shocked because, I mean, they are very problematic.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:21]:
Oh, that's Good to know before I bought it. That's great. No, that's great either way. No, no. A couple months ago, I had transmission issue, and I'm gonna have this car for a couple more years. And the guy asked me that at the phone, you know, the front counter, he's like, what do you plan on doing with this car? It's only worth probably 10 grand right now. If I were to resell it. And the transmission repair was three.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:42]:
Yes. Right.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:43]:
And so I made that purchase because. Well, he asked me that question first off, and I realized I'm not gonna go out and buy a new car right now. I love this car.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:51]:
Yeah. Right.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:52]:
So that's a. That's a pretty big question right there.

Ethan Whidden [00:51:54]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:51:54]:
And we can't assume that the customer is only going to want. We could have a whole nother episode on. On this whole thing. But who are they mad at? If they're on a highway, broke down, no air conditioning, with their wife and kids, who are they mad at?

Jeff Compton [00:52:11]:
They're mad at the last person who worked on that car.

Stacy Black [00:52:13]:
Yes.

Ethan Whidden [00:52:13]:
Oh, yeah.

Stacy Black [00:52:13]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:52:14]:
Even if you did brakes on it.

Stacy Black [00:52:15]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:52:15]:
And the AC is sitting there on the side of the road not working, they're mad at you.

Stacy Black [00:52:18]:
Yes.

Jeff Compton [00:52:19]:
Right. Because. And I used. That used to drive me crazy. And now I realize that to them, the car is the car. They don't understand the different systems in the car and how they can be related to one another. And I don't expect them to. Right.

Jeff Compton [00:52:30]:
But it's where instead of being like, what are you, stupid? I can't mess up your air conditioning by fixing your brakes. We have to go. Unfortunately, I'm sorry that this has happened. We would not have caused this. What can I do to help you, you know, get back on the road? Get back in here. What do you need to me to do? That's how you start that conversation. Right. That's where an advisor is so pivotal.

Jeff Compton [00:52:58]:
Let's kind of shift here. You're placing. You can place advisors as well in shops. Right. How does that go? I'm assuming it's a different kind of conversation than trying to find a tech.

Stacy Black [00:53:08]:
It is. It's very much different. They're looking for that salesperson. They're looking for the people person, the bubbly personality, the person that can make eye contact, the person that is just excited to see them walking in the door. And I. I understand. We're not going to do that. That person's difficult to find.

Stacy Black [00:53:27]:
But you want them to feel the customer, to feel warm and so glad they came in because they're there for a reason and they're spending money and they're not happy.

Ethan Whidden [00:53:37]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:53:38]:
So you want somebody that makes them feel comfortable for being, being in there and that salesperson. I've had some shops get away from the actual service advisor experience and they want a person who's maybe in the hospitality.

Ethan Whidden [00:53:53]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:53:53]:
That's not afraid to talk to people, not afraid to talk about issues, to deal with things head on. And you feel an energy with, with some of these service advisors. And I'll have a recruiter call me and say, I've got a good. They're just so easy to talk to and so personable and they want to learn the industry and like, okay, so I'll send them over and the shop owner will call and go, wow, you know, they were easy to talk with. They seem coachable.

Ethan Whidden [00:54:22]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:54:22]:
That sort of thing. But they've got to start from the very beginning. These are the questions you have to ask. Are you okay multitasking? Are you okay with driving the ship?

Ethan Whidden [00:54:32]:
Yeah.

Stacy Black [00:54:33]:
Or the bus or whatever you want to say. But service advisor, it's a special person that can get out there and make the entire difference to that shop.

Ethan Whidden [00:54:43]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [00:54:44]:
It is the most like. And I, I catch some flack for it because like when we talk in the industry about, I need, I need, I need this training, technicians need more training. And I put my head up and go, like, I've been able to fix a lot of cars without necessarily getting a ton of training, but I have run into countless service advisors that need so much more training. And I'm not talking about understanding how the car works. Like I've had employers are like, I want them to understand what all the parts do. No, no, no, no, no, no. I want them to understand that when the customer comes in, they have to be, you know, empathetic to understanding and be able to relate to the discomfort and you know how they feel. But I need them to not be to that level where they're emotionally discounting, trying to give money back, trying to make the price as low as possible because that's what they think the customer, that's what they need.

Jeff Compton [00:55:37]:
That may seem like to you when you're talking to them, that must be the solution, but it's not. We need to give them the best repair that we can give them price then doesn't even fall into the top three of what they're looking for. So we have to be training our advisors with, with good coaches and good people, empower them and Say this isn't about, you know, making them your friend and avoiding the easy conversation, you know, the hard conversations. Unfortunately, it's, you're giving more bad news than you are good news. Oh, yeah. So you have to be comfortable with that dynamic. If giving people bad news makes you uncomfortable, don't sign up to be in this customer service realm because you're not going to enjoy it. It's the one thing that people, you know, you can go have a bad experience at the, at the restaurant and if you smile your way through it, they'll probably still come back.

Jeff Compton [00:56:26]:
As a waitress, as an example. Right. I'm comparing the waitress to the thing. If you come in here and you think you're doing the right thing by shaving, you know, $300 off the estimate and putting on a cheaper part or allowing the customer to start to dictate the process and then the car breaks down six months later because you put on a really crappy AC compressor. They will not remember that you were trying to do their best interest and save them money. They are going to be mad and feel ripped off. That's shop owner and service advisor. Because a lot of times that hats worn by both.

Ethan Whidden [00:56:55]:
Right.

Jeff Compton [00:56:56]:
Shop owner is oftentimes running service. You got to get that out of your head that this is about trying to do it cheap. And I worked with some that like the advisor did not want to have hard conversations. Well, if you put your time technician and in the backward, they're expected to like make, you know, chicken salad out of chicken shit because the parts that you want to put on or you're, you're asking for a divide to develop between your technician and your advisor. Nobody then gets along because I want to do it at this level. You want to do it at this level too. But you can't do it at this level because your sympathy carries it. It gets in the way way.

Jeff Compton [00:57:35]:
Don't do it.

Stacy Black [00:57:36]:
I think they need to ask the questions again of okay, we see today your brakes are. We've got to replace those. We know your AC is going to go out in the next couple months. Why don't we set up an appointment for you next month. And this is roughly what the cost is going to be. Prepare them, give them options. But you have to be honest and upfront of saying this is what's going to go wrong with your car. Yeah, too many times I hear about service advisors.

Stacy Black [00:58:02]:
Well, they only came in for this. They don't want to hear again, that causes problems down the road. When that vehicle breaks down. They May not have the money now, but if they know, hey, I've got two or three months, they can plan for that. Yeah, give them, you know, financing options or whatever it may be, but at least inform them. If you inform them, they're the ones who have the right to make the decision, but don't make the decision for them.

Jeff Compton [00:58:27]:
And informing is not just saying, oh, hey, by the way, right when we did your oil change, we noticed your brakes are getting low. You're going to need to think about brakes in the next three months because the customer's like in one ear and out the other. Because if it wasn't presented to me as like a number amount, I'm not thinking about it because I'm just the last 200 extra that I had. I'm paying for this oil change right now, today day, and I go on with life. But if you follow that 300% rule that we talked about it and you table it and you present it to them now, it becomes something that they schedule and plan and expect. It doesn't catch them. Because if you don't give them that in four months time when the breaks are sounding awful, they're gonna whip in and go, why didn't you tell me my brakes were so bad? Well, I did. I just mentioned the next time.

Jeff Compton [00:59:12]:
I don't remember that. But if they have a piece of paper or an email or something that says within six months, expect a price amount of this, they're planning for that, they're expecting it. It doesn't catch them off guard. And that helps because, how do I say this? I don't want them going to my competition. I want to be their only service provider. And they know that. They have an expectation they're going to come to me. If all of a sudden they're out of town and they're on a road trip and their brakes start to make noise.

Jeff Compton [00:59:41]:
If you think people won't pull over and get that handled and immediately because they don't want to drive down the rest of the summer freeway trip, they will. And then you're like, you lost the sale. Because instead of being a true advocate for him and saying, hey, guess what, this needs to be done before you just in passing in the conversation mentioned it. That's not true advocacy for our customer or our car.

Stacy Black [01:00:04]:
You think about it, when we go to the doctor, dentist, wherever, they always schedule the next appointment.

Ethan Whidden [01:00:09]:
Oh, always, always.

Jeff Compton [01:00:11]:
When I take my dog into the groomer, they always schedule the next appointment.

Stacy Black [01:00:16]:
Why in the auto care do we not do that?

Jeff Compton [01:00:18]:
Because we're scared to 100%. It's the. I don't want to be upsold. This is not upsell. This is. Unfortunately, cars are a wonderful invention that are in a constant state of decay and wearing out. So you love this car. We want you to love this car.

Jeff Compton [01:00:39]:
We want you to have a nice, reliable, safe vehicle. Unfortunately, that means that this is. We can kind of look at it and go, this is the next foreseeable thing that is going to happen.

Ethan Whidden [01:00:47]:
Right.

Jeff Compton [01:00:48]:
The tires that are low now are going to be lower in six months or the ball joint. That's a little bit of play right now. In six months or a couple potholes later is going to be a lot more play. We need you to be aware that this is the thing that you need to be budgeting for everybody and see what's always been. My rub is everybody goes. The customers don't have the money for it. Some don't. True.

Jeff Compton [01:01:09]:
But you also. There's a realm out there that shows that the customer, when it gets to be three years old, five years old or whatever, and they're done making, just about done making payments on it, and we hit them with a repair bill, that's all the stuff that needs to be done, they just go and get another car, make payments on it. We know in this economic world that's not smart. I'm not saying it's wrong for everybody. If you have the means, give her go for it. But when we all of a sudden tell ourselves and believe that for the last five years, I don't. They don't have the money. They don't have the money.

Jeff Compton [01:01:38]:
They don't have the money. They found money to replace the car. That could have been your money. On the repair side, I don't want to see salesmen thrive, as crazy as that sounds where I work. Right. Because I work. But I want to see service. I want to see technicians make money.

Jeff Compton [01:01:52]:
I want to see shops make money. You don't do that by. Unless you truly advocate for them and say, this is something to be expected to. Don't just put gas in it and drive it. There's much more to that. Oh, I don't want to be upsold. We're not upselling. Any closing thoughts, guys?

Ethan Whidden [01:02:09]:
Oh, man, this has been great. It's my first podcast I've ever done.

Jeff Compton [01:02:14]:
Really?

Ethan Whidden [01:02:15]:
Yeah.

Ethan Whidden [01:02:15]:
So I was kind of had no expectation, but I'm glad we did it. I was a great conversation. I actually learned a lot.

Jeff Compton [01:02:20]:
Any. Any. So one little thing. Advice that you can give to the People that are going to contact promotive, what would it be?

Ethan Whidden [01:02:26]:
Oh, man. A little bit of advice indeed is not the only thing out there.

Ethan Whidden [01:02:31]:
Okay.

Ethan Whidden [01:02:32]:
I think Everybody agrees. Well, 99% of people agree. It sucks. It's hard to use.

Ethan Whidden [01:02:36]:
It sucks.

Ethan Whidden [01:02:37]:
But really the big thing with promotive is we're putting the best people in front of you, the shop owner, to make a decision. And on the technician side, we're just helping you out or the helping hand, you know, we'll get you to the spot you need to be to find that forever home.

Jeff Compton [01:02:50]:
Stacy, same question.

Stacy Black [01:02:52]:
I just think we're so passionate about this industry, all of us. I, you know, I hope when you talk to anybody from promotive, you can feel our energy, our drive, our passion. Because we just want to make a difference out there. We want to change technicians lives for the better and we want it to free up the shop owner's time. It's just so important and we're just grateful to be here.

Ethan Whidden [01:03:16]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff Compton [01:03:18]:
100. I appreciate the heck of the promotive and I don't always. Sometimes it's. It's busy and chaotic to reach out and say hello to everybody once in a while and I mean to do better with that. But I, I can't thank you enough for how important you guys are to what I'm trying to do and I'm blessed to have the. Have you guys in my corner. It means so much to me. I wouldn't, I don't just align myself with just anybody.

Ethan Whidden [01:03:38]:
Right.

Jeff Compton [01:03:38]:
I want to align myself with people have the same kind of goals and mission is to make this industry better. And like, you know, if you have any kind of questions or need help, reach out to promotive and, and they will help you as best as they can. Try and give you the next place to go in life as a, as a technician, service advisor, any of those positions that we know, we know and love in this industry, reach out to them. They can help help you with all kinds of things. So thank you everybody for listening today. Thank you guys. Great guest. I hope to see you again.

Jeff Compton [01:04:09]:
I'll see you at sema.

Ethan Whidden [01:04:10]:
Yeah.

Jeff Compton [01:04:11]:
Awesome. Look forward to it, guys.

Ethan Whidden [01:04:13]:
All right.