September 24, 2018—The last two days of the 2018 Ratchet+Wrench Management Conference covered marketing topics, workflow solutions and workshops with renowned, industry veterans.
Day Two of the conference kicked off with a conference keynote from Jeff Butler, millennial expert and public speaker. Butler’s TEDx appearances have positioned him as a new, authoritative voice on hiring, retaining and leading the younger generation of workers. As a millennial himself, Butler spoke on the auto service industry's talent crisis and what attendees can do to attract millennials into their shops.
The day included four more "How I Did It" talks, which featured Mitch Schneider, Aaron Stokes, Chris Cloutier and Mike Davidson. The day ended with sessions on How To Build a Culture that Keeps Employees, Charging for Diagnostics, Ratchet+Wrench Talk Panel on e-Commerce and the Future of Auto Repair, and roundtable discussions.
After a lengthy day of learning, attendees were able to network and let loose at the Big Networking Party, sponsored by Kukui. Attendees went to Carlisle for an eclectic dinner and enjoyed a "duel" with Felix and Fingers, Chicagoland's premier dueling piano troupe.
The 2018 conference wrapped up on Saturday, Sept. 22. Some industry experts that presented included Ron Haugen, owner of Westside Auto Pros; Ryan Clo, owner of Dubwerx; Avid Autowerx and Just Saab; Greg Buckley, owner of Buckley's Auto Care; and Sunil Patel, owner of Motorwerks of Houston.
A two-hour workshop concluded the day's learning. Attendees were able to sit down with industry superstars like Aaron Stokes, Brian Sump and Rissy Sutherland to identify shop bottlenecks and how to fix them.
