Automotive Report - Tech Column

Tony's Tips

Stopping a train

By Tony Nethery

All of us in the automotive-repair industry have been involved in the following situation: an irate customer calls on a Friday afternoon, and even though we know better, we tell them to pick up their vehicle at 5:00 p.m.

This almost always ends up badly, but somehow we think that at this particular time the planets will align and a train wreck will not happen.

How about this scenario: You, the owner, attend a great seminar and can’t wait to return to the shop and put what you have learned into practice. Monday morning arrives, and you don’t know about the train wreck that happened while you were away.

You arrive with guns blazing ready to change the world, only to find out your employees are not nearly as excited as you are.

Or maybe you are running full throttle every day and know the track you are on is running out, but you can’t slow down long enough to switch tracks.

Sometimes we see these things happening, but we cannot stop the train due to the momentum that has built up.

In his book, “The Twenty One Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” John Maxwell talks about the “Law of Big Mo.” The idea is to make momentum — ‘Mo’ — work for you instead of against you.

The challenge is finding a way to stop the thing long enough to steer it in the right direction. Those of us in the collision side of the business deal with the physical law of inertia all the time. When a vehicle is in motion and collides with another object, some of the damage occurs because the vehicle wants to continue forward motion.

When we decide to implement change in our business, whether it is appearance, procedure, or atmosphere, we need to be prepared to look ahead and see what inertia is going to do. The domino effect can be good or bad.

Sometimes we go to sleep at the throttle. We think that it has always worked to go down the same track and there’s no need to change now. We let the daily clacking of the wheels lull us into a state of inattention, to the degree of not seeing the danger in the distance.

If we would set a path in motion as carefully as setting up a room full of dominos, or building a house of cards, we could fall forward even if everything does not go precisely as planned.

Listed are a few ideas on how to stop the train in your business long enough to change direction.

— Know where the track is leading: Learn the numbers that give you a good snapshot of what lies ahead for your business. Study them and know what they have to be, in order for you to be successful.

Dave Dunn, founder of Masters Educational Services and Masters School of Autobody Management in Los Angeles, Calif., says that you cannot improve what you do not measure. (David Dunn, CCRM, is the collision-repair industry’s leading consultant and teacher.)

— Have a destination: Set a goal for where you want to be next week, next month, next year, and in five years.

Goals need to be obtainable for you and your employees, but make sure they stretch you some.

— Work with the guy who shovels the coal: You will only be successful if your employees buy into what you are doing. It may require that you slow down the fuel to slow the machine. There should be no hurry to win a race if it is only to crash.

— Have a good cow catcher: Obstructions will get in the way. Be sure you are prepared to clear the track for your team. Make sure you are not putting obstacles in the way of your employees.

— No right hand turns in a train track: You may need to step back and sight down the track you are on in order to make sure there are no bends you can’t handle while running full throttle.

— When all else fails just stop the thing: Nike says to “Just Do It” and I say, “Just Stop It.” Yes, it may not be stopped on a dime and sparks will fly, but if it takes that to survive the crash, then by all means, stop.

As we talked about last month, you can negotiate anything, including change.

But remember the following mantras that I try to live by: “Timing Is Everything,” and my Dad’s, “The Main Thing Is Don’t Get Excited.” And never forget that “Big Mo” can be your best friend. •

Tony has worked in the Collision Industry for over 30 years. Starting as technician and working up to manager as well as spending time as a vocational instructor and brief stints as a catastrophe adjuster, has given Tony a wide angle look at the Industry. Tony currently works as Business Development Manager for ColorMatch Automotive Refinish Centers and travels seven states regularly. Tony is also Tennessee’s busiest I-CAR Instructor and Tennessee Collision Repair Association State Secretary. Call 731-267-5627 or E-mail at tony.nethery@colormatch.com.