In her Friday morning session entitled “Being the Odd Duck: When Your Business Model Doesn't Line Up with the Flock,” Heather Williams, co-owner of Xcel Service and Repair LLC. in Clarksburg, West Virginia, talked to auto repair shop owners about the harmony of running a business and living a life.
She honed in on ways shop owners can adapt and streamline their processes to meet modern communication loop needs with customers through text, how appointments are scheduled, and with vendors in ordering parts online. She stressed the need for shop teams to continue using updated software and better tools, and to emphasize more training to keep teams current on today’s shop management and customer service technologies.
“As the industry changes, we must also learn to be adaptable,” Williams said, adding that shop owner’s core values and goals should remain constant, however, “they should be more than just a sign on your wall.”
Those core values she defined as principles and ethics that guide the company and overall goals she classified as what you’re aiming at in business.
“Your overall goal is your overall goal, but how you achieve it may change,” Williams stated.
Being Teachable
Williams reminded attending shop owners that even if they know something there’s always room for improvement. She said today’s technology teaches that we have to adapt and stated that many older generations of shop owners don't like change, but can acknowledge that there’s always more to learn. She added that while the Internet is an invaluable resource, you need vet information and be selective about where you gain your knowledge.
Be Accountable
Williams noted that accountability partners are valuable assets to helping shop owners achieve more and they should seek out someone who they trust to help them to get things done. “They need to have your best interest at heart and understand your business. You need someone who is going to be committed. They need to walk along with you and help you out,” Williams added.
Being supportive and having good communication were two traits she believes a good accountability partner should have. “Your accountability partner needs to be a good friend, a professional coach, someone that you can trust to talk about issues and decisions and who can give you good feedback,” Williams said.
She added that on the flip side, shop owners need to also be encouraging toward their young employees—build their trust, too.
Know Your Limitations
Shop owners need boundaries—personal and professional. Willians recommended shop owners read the book “Boundaries” by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, saying that shop ownership can be overwhelming and that boundaries help people set correct priorities. When you have the right priorities, it’s easier to set the right boundaries.
She distinguished between having them in your head and having them written down, stating that it’s easier to figure things out it’s written down.
“Priorities in our head don’t always come across,” Williams said.”Look for the priority and arrange from there. Then put it in writing.”
She encouraged shop owners to use the tools they like best to help them get it written down, be it paper and pen or an app. Once you prioritize your life and your business, this will help you know how to respond before taking on large projects.
She said one of the hardest things shop owners have to learn is when to walk away and take a break; when a thing doesn’t have to be done today. “It will be there tomorrow. Leave it undone,” she said.
Integrity and Reputation
Williams defined integrity as who you are when nobody is looking and reputation as the beliefs about you held by others. She noted that once tarnished, reputation is hard to get back—particularly with customers.
“Own up to mistakes, and if the mistake was within a customer, find a way to make it right with them,” Williams said. “I think good customer service comes from the core of integrity. If Mrs. Jones comes in for front brake pads, put on front brake pads.”
She said that’s how you establish trust. She said integrity should be maintained by everyone in the shop—starting top down with management. Williams shared that she has let go of techs who couldn’t live up to the shop’s expectations. “It’s not their reputation that gets tarnished, it’s yours,” she said.
She mentioned living by the 9-to-2 rule, which is when a business gets something wrong, customers tell nine people about it, but when you do something right, they only tell two. She used that to reinforce the need for shop owners to be above board daily. “Integrity naturally leads to a good reputation,” Williams said.
Avoid Burnout
Burnout, as explained by Williams, is defined by exhaustion, reduced efficiency, and short mental distance. She encouraged attendees to think of strained mental health challenges as they would a car’s warning lights—to stop and get a reading when burnout appears.
She said setting boundaries, realistic goals, learning to say “no” and delegating tasks, which is hard for Type A personalities with perfectionist tendencies, all help prevent shop owners from burning out.
“(You should) set aside time for self-care and learn to ask for help around the shop from friends and family,” she said, adding that she enlists her mother to file paperwork at the shop since she enjoys the task. She said shop owners can also hire college students to help with marketing.
Wiliams talked about the need to take days off and suggested that shop owners find an activity for decompression and relaxation—noting that men struggle with this most.
“I would encourage you to find little ways each week and to do something every day. Find little ways to perform self-care for your mental and physical health,” Williams said.
She added that exercise matters and that shop owners need to get good about sleeping. She said shop ownership is stressful and sleeping with problems on your mind can be hard.
Willians shared a story of when she went through burnout 10 years ago juggling her roles as a shop owner, youth leader at church, camp director, and parent. She had to resign as youth leader and camp director to make time for self-care and healing to avoid prolonged burnout,
“Once you hit burnout, you’re likely to struggle with it again and again because of the pattern you’ve built. The only way to avoid burnout is to break the patterns to allow time for self-care.”
