Just One Thing

Today I’m going to talk to you about the second most overlooked area in a typical auto repair shop. The first area is your finances, not knowing where you're headed. That is a really dangerous place to be. The second most ignored area is invoicing, your documentation. Neglecting this part of your business is costing you money and exposing you to potential legal action. Over the next four broadcasts or so, I’ll talk to you about your current documentation and how you can improve it to be more successful. So listen along to find out more!

Over the last three weeks, we've talked about effective communication. We talked about a framework that allows you to engage and attract the people that are in your life. The first step is to understand and appreciate. The second step is to identify. Last week we talked about the third step (I massaged this a bit), brainstorming. This week is the fourth and last step - bringing it all together. Spoiler alert! . A great leader doesn't have all the answers. A great leader has a destination. Intrigued? Finish the series by listening to this episode.

We've been talking about having effective conversations with our team, with our family, whoever it might be. Now it's time to ask a very simple question. What do you think we can do about it? You know, what are our options? When you do this together, it's collaborative. This saves you from going out to them and dictating what needs to be done. Instead, what you're going to do is come together either as a pair or as a group or as a team. For my advice implementing this approach, listen to this week's episode.

We started this conversation last week about being able to communicate more effectively. And there's a few things I want to talk about today. The reason why your communication is not as effective as it could be is because you're coming to the situation from your perspective, which makes sense. It's normal. But for you to be effective, you must be able to see the other side as well. That's what we talked about last week. So, the first part of effective communication is understanding their world and appreciating it from their perspective. The second part of effective communication is to identify causes of a particular situation. If you want to learn how to sharpen your skills so you can improve your business, keep listening. There's more gems of wisdom dropping in this episode!

What I want to talk about today is the frustration of communication. Do get frustrated when you're communicating? You know where it seems like you're talking to a wall or it seems like things don't change. And it's just so frustrating where people aren't listening, or they are not doing what you want? Do you think that you could talk to a wall and get a better result? What I will do is break down communication over the next few Just One Thing episodes. I want you to understand some communication basics. Listen on and let's get started.

We've talked about daily and weekly numbers. Now let's talk about monthly numbers and then annual numbers. You have to know where you are going - but also when you've stalled. So let's dig in - keep listening!

Let's talk about weekly numbers. These are numbers that we're going to step back a little bit. And instead of being on the ground in the forest, we're going to climb the trees and we're going to see it a little bit further. The first weekly number to keep an eye on is your gross profit number. Now I'm using that term weekly based on payroll frequency. If your payroll is weekly, then you can look at your gross profit every week. If you do it bi-weekly or bi-monthly, then that's going to be the triggering event to be able to look at gross profit. There's no number more important than your business besides billed hours, then gross profit. Gross profit is what pays the expenses and creates your net profit. So you've got to make sure that gross profit is on task every single time. Don't wait until the end of the month. Don't wait till the end of the year or the quarter to look and see how you're doing. That’s too late. If you're looking at it weekly, you can effect change within that month, and it can make a difference. Keep listen along - and learn!

In a previous blog, I talked about not having a destination and how important it is to have the clarity that destination brings. That clarity creates focus. That clarity creates blinders. That clarity is kindness. And then once we have that and we start digging our trench. Now, something you might not know about me. I've had many careers in my life, but one of them literally was digging ditches. I learned that you must stick your head up every once in a while to see if you’re still on track. Well, to make it easy, we used to string a line from where we were started to where we want to go. That line helped us stay on track and focused.

I want to save you from the difference between direction and destination. Think about walking in a specific direction. It’s just that, a direction. A direction is very broad. I could go pretty much anywhere That's okay, but it doesn't help. What you want is a destination. Let me explain why. When you have direction, pretty much as long as you're facing the right way it works and it can be confusing. What I want to talk about is destination instead of direction.

We're so focused on making a sale and on getting those numbers. I need to talk to you about one word and that word is TRUST. You're never going to get someone to do something until they trust you. You're never going to be able to get what you want until they feel like you're giving them what they want. If you make recommendations and can't tie that recommendation to something that they exactly want you're in trouble. I think about trust all the time and it's such an important ingredient to relationships. Every relationship has a trust account. What are you intentionally doing to make deposits in everyone's trust account? In your wife's, and your husband's, and your boyfriend’s, and your girlfriend’s, and your kid’s, at work with your clients’, with your team? What are you doing to intentionally create an environment for trust? Why do I say it that way? Because trust isn't something you demand. Listen on.

Are you focused on that person in front of you and their needs, or are you focused on what you need? Are you focused on what you’re lacking? Are you focused on your payroll? Are you focused on your bills? If you're focused on those things,  there’s a psychological term called perception of self-interest. If I'm your client or customer perceive a high level of self-interest on your side, it makes them wary. It makes them cautious. It makes them not trust you because are you doing this for them? Or are you doing this for you?  I know you want a relationship with your clients. But as long as you're focused on you, your needs, your problems, your issues, your growth, you can't be in a relationship because your world ends right here at the end of your nose. It's not possible.  In order for you to grow that relationship, your focus has to be 100% on the person you want to serve.  Keep listening and I'll share with you my secret sauce.

When you're focused on selling you're pushing your agenda. Instead, focus on the buying process, on what triggers the buyer, on what helps them make the decisions. How can you influence that? All of a sudden you're on the same side as your customer and you're helping them. You become an assistant buyer. Number one, what lessons can you learn from being a customer? Number two, no one likes to be sold. Everyone likes to buy. How are you creating a buying experience? How are you creating an environment that helps you influence your customer? So that's number two. And then number three, as you learn these lessons from your buying experiences, understand that people tend to sell the way they like to buy. This is important. People tend to sell the way they like to buy. Which is fantastic. As long as you're talking to someone that's just like you. But what happens when they're not just like you? What happens when they want a different experience? Are you curious enough and aware enough to pick up on that and then provide it? Want to learn more? Listen on.

Today I’ll talk about sales. Remember, whatever you chase runs away. I’ll say that again. Whatever you chase runs away. How many of you have ever had a puppy get by you and run outside? Each time you go after that puppy, it runs away. And you know, the other day we got two new kittens and we had to get them to the vet. I actually had to have Brenda help me because one of the kittens was being a little cantankerous. Every time I got close it would take off. So, we literally had to corner the poor little guy, get him into the carrier so that I could get them to the vet. This is what happens when you chase something, it runs away. And I've got to tell you that when you're chasing money, it runs away too. When you're in sales, when you're chasing money, it runs away from you. Please hear me say that. It's not your goal to make money here. Because if that's your focus, you're focused on you, not your client. If you're focused on money, you're desperate. People can smell desperate. And I've been guilty of this too. In the past, when I was slow, I had the hardest time making a sale. I struggled to close that sale. And when we were really, really busy, people were buying like nuts. I'm telling you right now, it's because they smell your desperation. They smell your focus, your perception of self-interest. So, I'm going to ask you to stop chasing money. Recognize that money is a by-product. Profit is a by-product. Bob Burg says it really well. Profit is the thunder to value’s lightening. You must give amazing value. Another thing I heard about profit is that profit is the applause of your clients for a job well done. But when you're focused on yourself and what you get, you're no longer in a relationship. You're not talking to your client. You're not putting their needs and goals ahead of what you need and people can smell it. So, what I'm going to ask you to do is stop. And focus on your customer. Want the secret? Take a listen.