Why Auto Repair Shop Owners Should Keep Score

Keeping Score by Rick White, President 180BIZ

Are you keeping score? I know you are. Everyone keeps score. My question to you is what are you keeping score of? Sometimes it's that your day didn't suck. That is a form of keeping score. Getting to the end of the day without killing someone is keeping score. There are two things I really want to talk about.

1. First, you need to keep score. That's one of the reasons why you feel like there's one step forward, two steps back when you're growing your business. It's because there's not a consistent focus on what's important. You start out focused and you move forward. And then suddenly you get distracted that takes you a step backward. This inconsistency wears you down. It wears down what you believe is possible. It wears down who you believe you are.
   
   But believe that you are capable of so much more than what you're currently doing. Every one of us has untapped potential inside of us. We just need to start measuring. We must start keeping score. If you are keeping score inside about how many days, how many problems you have had and it’s eating you up, it's stopping you from creating to your potential. That kind of scorekeeping is so limiting.  So, the first thing is to keep score intentionally.
   
   
2. The second is to score the right things. Most people use sales numbers as the scorekeeper. And that's great. You should have a goal with a sales number.  But there are two kinds of tasks. There's an outcome task and then there's an action task.  An example of an outcome task is “I want to do a hundred thousand dollars in sales.” What are the things that I need to watch and do to reach that goal number? It might be to watch the number of evaluations I do, watch the number of invoices. Wait a minute. I must watch my attitude.  I must make sure that I'm coming into every day recognizing my potential. I must come in every day and keep score on my focus. When we start looking at the behaviors and the activities, that's what we keep score on.  It’s the results, the outcome that I want, the million dollars, or the hundred thousand dollars a month. That's an outcome that you want.
   
   Remember that all you can do is influence that outcome. It's a dance between you and your customer. What is it that I can control? I can control the things I do and I can control the way I feel. I can control what I bring to the front counter. I can control who I bring to my shop. As the owner, I can control whether I'm looking at potential or problems.  I can control whether I'm focused on that hundred thousand and the things I must do. I see shop owners that spend the whole month focusing on a hundred thousand. But it doesn't magically appear. We get disappointed and we get let down. And we feel like a failure and we do nothing else. That’s because we're not focused on the right stuff.
   
   So, you have task goals, then outcome goals. What tasks do you need that will help you move up and grow your business to the potential that it has.  That’s what you keep score on.  For example, if your labor rate is at a hundred dollars or better with a good B Tech, you should be selling about $55,000 a month per tech. So do you understand what I'm saying here? The reason why you're not succeeding is that you're not keeping score on the right things. So, I'm going to ask you, please sit back and figure out the tasks you need every single day that will influence those sales.  What tasks will you need to create an environment that makes it easy for your customer to say yes?
   
   Focus on the right stuff every single day. It’s not enough to only look once a week or once a month. It's not enough. You must look at feedback every single day so that you can get incrementally better every single day. If you're 1% better every single day, you’ll be 21% better at the end of the month (based on 5-day weeks).

Are you going to start letting your potential dictate your future? Or are you going to keep letting your past define who you think you're capable of becoming? Your past does not equal your future. Start keeping score. If you need help with this reach out to me, [email protected]. I'd be happy to help you with this because you deserve it. You work hard.

If this video has helped you, if this video has lit a fire under you this morning, I'm going to ask you for a favor. Please share it. Let other people get the same message. There's so much negativity going on. We need all of them, need a shot in the arm to see the potential, to remind us to see the potential. Don't let the noise going on outside dictate what you believe is possible inside. There's always a way. We just need to figure it out. I believe in you. I want you to have an amazing week.

God bless and go make some money.