Advertise on podcast: Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins

Why can't your Service Department recruit Technicians—and what will happen to Fixed Ops when customers no longer think of cars as something they drive? In Service Drive Revolution #380, Chris, Hogi & Adam tackle three major changes facing automotive dealerships: the Technician shortage, the rise of AI search and the rapidly evolving relationship between people & their vehicles. Chris explains why becoming visible in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity & other AI platforms requires more than traditional SEO. Businesses need authentic content, credible media, enthusiastic customers, strong reviews, community engagement and consistent third-party validation. For local dealers willing to tell real stories, AEO creates an opportunity to compete with larger dealer groups. The team also examines how autonomous driving could transform vehicles from driving machines into mobile offices—and what that change means. Then, Hogi breaks down why most Technician recruiting fails: generic ads, an undesirable shop environment and managers who give up after trying one tactic. Recruiting great Technicians is difficult, but that difficulty can become a competitive advantage. 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS - Embrace the Difficulty: There are fewer qualified Technicians than open positions. Stop searching for a hack and build recruiting into the operation. - Tell a Better Story: A Technician ad should explain why someone would want to work for you—not repeat a generic job description. - Build a Desirable Shop: Hours per RO, customer-pay work, Advisor performance, dispatch, cleanliness and the break room all communicate how Technicians are valued. - Follow the Rule of Five: Strong recruiters use several channels simultaneously, measure results and continually adjust. - Never Stop Recruiting: "We tried that" is not a strategy. Successful managers keep improving until they produce the outcome. - Authenticity Wins Online: Real people, community stories, leadership and genuine enthusiasm outperform generic dealership advertising. - AI Visibility Requires Authority: Content, reviews, press, collaboration and outside validation help AI platforms understand and recommend a business. FAQ Q: What are the three main reasons dealerships cannot recruit Technicians?  A: They resist the difficulty, tell an unconvincing story and give up after one or two recruiting attempts. Q: What should a Technician recruiting ad include? A: Explain the available work, earning opportunity, Advisor support, shop culture, equipment and the real reasons a strong Technician should join the team. Q: What do Technicians want from a Service Department? A: Consistent work, efficient dispatch, capable Advisors, fair treatment, a professional environment and the opportunity to produce. Q: What is the Rule of Five in Technician recruiting? A: Use at least five active recruiting methods instead of depending on a single job board or advertisement. Q: What is AEO? A: Answer Engine Optimization is the work of making a business understandable, credible and recommendable within AI-generated answers. Q: Can smaller dealerships compete in AI search? A: Yes. Authentic local stories, community involvement, expertise and third-party validation may give independent dealers an advantage over generic corporate content. Chapters: 0:04 Welcome to SDR #380 0:28 Why Dealerships Can't Recruit Technicians 1:27 What Chris Learned at an AEO Conference 3:06 How Customers Are Searching With AI 4:21 The Rising Barrier to Online Visibility 7:03 Why Collaboration and Community Matter 8:08 Dealers Are Failing to Tell Their Stories 10:01 Employees vs. Dealership Social Media 12:01 Authenticity, Taste and Better Content 13:46 Becoming a Community Dealership Again 15:02 How AI Recognizes Authenticity 16:58 A New Opportunity for Smaller Dealers 18:45 How Autonomous Driving Changes the Car 21:45 When Driving Starts Feeling Like Wasted Time 23:04 Could Self-Driving Expand Your Commute? 26:08 Cars Without Steering Wheels or Pedals 29:44 Why Fixed Ops Must Embrace New Technology 31:15 Performance Cars vs. Daily Transportation 31:31 Global Markets Are Driving Vehicle Design 36:04 Three Reasons You Can't Recruit Technicians 36:46 Embrace the Difficulty 38:19 Tell a Better Story in Your Recruiting Ads 40:29 Build a Shop Great Technicians Want 43:43 Stop Giving Up After One Attempt 44:04 The Rule of Five for Technician Recruiting 46:34 The John Wick Recruiting Mindset 47:42 Turn Your Market Into an Advantage 48:21 Consistent CSI Inside SDR Academy 🛑 Service Drive Revolution OnDemand Training: https://chriscollinsinc.com/ondemand/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best-selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

Does your Service Department really need more traffic—or are you paying to acquire customers your existing process will lose? In Service Drive Revolution #378, Chris "Bulldog" Collins, Hogi and Adam break down how dealerships and independent repair shops can increase repair-order traffic without relying on ineffective blanket coupons or expensive advertising. The team explains why retention should come before acquisition, especially when many dealerships lose customers after the warranty period. They cover appointment reminders, declined-work follow-up, lost-customer campaigns, social media storytelling, local events, AEO visibility and the strategic role of a properly managed Service BDC. Chris also explains why Service Departments should stop posting generic vehicle content and start telling stories about customers, lifestyles and vehicle ownership. Plus: How to track marketing with dedicated op codes, why BDC employees should be compensated for customers who actually show up and why a great customer experience remains the most powerful traffic strategy. 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS Retention Before Acquisition: Keeping an existing customer is easier and less expensive than purchasing another one through advertising. Fix the Experience First: More traffic only exposes a broken phone process, long appointment delays, weak communication or poor customer experience. Use Multiple Reminder Channels: Schedule the next visit before the customer leaves, then use stickers, email, direct mail and phone calls. Recover Lost Opportunities: Call customers with declined work, missed appointments and overdue maintenance. Tell Stories on Social Media: Lifestyle, personality, expertise and real customer stories outperform generic vehicle photos and promotional posts. Prepare for AI Search: AEO helps dealerships and repair shops become visible when customers ask ChatGPT and other AI platforms for recommendations. Use Events to Build Relationships: Car-care clinics and partnerships with complementary local businesses create traffic, loyalty and vehicle-sales opportunities. Turn the BDC Into a Force Multiplier: Compensate BDC representatives for completed shows—not appointments—and use them for outbound campaigns and no-show recovery. Track Every Campaign: Dedicated op codes reveal whether incentives and promotions generated incremental traffic or merely discounted existing customers. Stop Blanket Discounting: A coupon redeemed by someone who already needed a tow did not create the repair order. FAQ Q: How can a dealership increase Service Department traffic? A: Start with retention, reminders, declined-work calls, lost-customer campaigns, social media, local events, AI visibility and a properly managed Service BDC. Q: Why is customer retention better than advertising? A: Acquiring a new service customer can be expensive. If the experience remains poor, the dealership pays for a customer who visits once and leaves again. Q: What customers should a Service BDC contact? A: No-shows, customers with declined work, overdue maintenance customers, lost customers and owners who have not used prepaid services. Q: Should BDC employees be paid for appointments? A: Chris recommends rewarding completed shows. An appointment has little value if the customer never arrives. Q: How should a Service Department use social media? A: Share useful expertise, customer stories, vehicle lifestyles and the people behind the department—not only promotions and delivery photos. Q: What is AEO? A: Answer Engine Optimization helps a business become understandable, verifiable and recommendable when customers search through AI platforms. Q: Why don't generic service coupons work? A: Many are redeemed by customers who were already coming in, meaning the dealership discounts work without generating incremental traffic. Q: What is the best way to increase repair-order count? A: Make service easy, answer the phone, reduce appointment delays, communicate consistently and give customers an experience worth returning to. 0:00 How to Drive More Service Traffic 2:50 Repair-Order Disclaimers and Vehicle Damage 4:53 Why Customer Relationships Beat Being Right 8:02 What Top Dealerships Do Differently 10:01 The Energy of a High-Performing Service Drive 12:15 Broken Windows and Broken Businesses 14:17 Top Dog 2026 Preview 22:14 SDR Academy and Consistent CSI 23:14 Why Service Traffic Is Declining 25:22 Retention vs. Customer Acquisition 26:24 Appointment and Maintenance Reminders 28:02 Declined Work and Lost-Customer Calls 29:04 Social Media for Service Departments 34:14 Tell Stories Instead of Posting Promotions 36:05 SEO, AEO and the Future of AI Search 38:34 Events and Car-Care Clinics 39:12 Fix the Customer Experience First 42:41 Service Advisors vs. the BDC 45:00 Recovering No-Shows 46:21 Turning Monthly Losses Into Daily RO Goals 48:12 BDC Phone Training and Role-Playing 51:30 Tracking Campaigns With Dedicated Op Codes 53:21 Why Blanket Coupons Fail 56:09 The Most Effective Traffic Strategy 59:23 Final Thoughts 📞 GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR—we answer on the show! Get special deals on our books and training at offers.chriscollinsinc.com! #ServiceDriveRevolution #FixedOps #ServiceMarketing #CustomerRetention #DealershipBDC #ServiceManager #ServiceAdvisor #AutomotiveAEO #DealershipTraining #RepairOrder #CustomerExperience #AutomotiveLeadership #ChrisBulldogCollins 🛑 Service Drive Revolution OnDemand Training: https://chriscollinsinc.com/ondemand/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best-selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution, Chris "Bulldog" Collins, Hogi, and Adam expose why traditional sales-heavy coaching fails, and prove why our proven approach defines the gold standard for Service Advisor Training. Discover why treating advisors like high-pressure retail salespeople alienates customers, and learn how true Service Advisor Training focuses on consumer psychology, building lifelong trust, and treating your desk as a business inside of a business. The team also breaks down the brutal realities of making the jump from advisor to manager, major industry shifts like Amazon's entry into new car sales, and what it really takes to master fixed operations leadership. 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS - True Service Advisor Training proves that service advisors are not traditional salespeople; their real power lies in building trust, making friends, and collecting long-term "key throwers". - Conventional, sales-heavy Service Advisor Training that forces heavy-handed closing techniques and objection-handling creates an adversarial relationship that drives customers away. - The absolute best Service Advisor Training must be backed by an operational system designed to support advisors without overwhelming shop capacity and workflow. - Moving from an advisor to a service manager is not an easier path, it demands entirely different leadership skills, high mental bandwidth, and a toolbox built for team motivation. - New managers must avoid the trap of working harder themselves instead of coaching, inspiring, and scaling performance across their entire team. - The ultimate measures of a successful service department under top-tier Service Advisor Training are sustained profitability and a world-class customer experience. FAQ Q: What makes our approach the gold standard for Service Advisor Training? A: Our Service Advisor Training focuses on customer psychology, long-term retention, and building a business inside of a business, rather than pushing aggressive, outdated sales tactics. Q: Why do most third-party Service Advisor Training programs fail? A: Most programs fail because they are designed by generic sales trainers who have never written an RO, and they are implemented without adjusting the underlying shop workflow or capacity. Q: Is transitioning from a service advisor to a service manager a good career move? A: It is a massive shift that requires deep leadership and operational oversight. Effective Service Advisor Training helps bridge the gap, but management brings heavy responsibilities as a mentor, therapist, and problem-solver. Q: What are the primary focus areas of elite Service Advisor Training? A: Elite Service Advisor Training prioritizes seamless start-to-finish customer care, transparent communication, and symbiotic technician relations to maximize net profit and customer trust. #ServiceAdvisorTraining #ServiceDriveRevolution #FixedOps #ServiceManager #AutomotiveManagement #ChrisBulldogCollins 📞 GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR—we answer on the show! 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Chris' Top-Selling Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution, Chris "Bulldog" Collins, Hogi and Adam explain why training advisors before fixing the operating system can make a service drive worse. If advisors sell more work but the shop cannot complete it, repair orders stall, promise times slip, customers become frustrated and advisors quickly stop presenting additional work. Why won't service advisor training fix an underperforming dealership service department? Because weak sales, poor communication, low CSI and declining profitability are often symptoms of broken processes, insufficient shop capacity and inconsistent workflow—not a lack of sales technique. The team breaks down what dealership owners, general managers, fixed operations directors and service managers should examine first: appointment spacing, advisor-to-technician ratios, shop loading, declined work, customer communication, technician efficiency, compensation, financial visibility and one standardized process from appointment through vehicle delivery. 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS • Diagnose the system before blaming or retraining the service advisors. • Many "declined" services were never clearly presented, were not understood or were offered after the customer arrived to collect the vehicle. • Additional sales create bigger problems when technician capacity and workflow cannot absorb the work. • Six advisors should not be operating six different service processes. • A successful advisor cannot overcome a broken appointment, dispatch or communication system. • Service department performance should be measured by customer trust and a healthy, profitable net—not gross sales alone. • Service managers need access to financial statements and net-to-gross performance to manage the business effectively. • Standardized processes protect customers and employees from daily chaos and inconsistent expectations. FAQ Q: Does service advisor training increase hours per repair order? A: It can improve sales technique and hours per RO, but that gain may not improve net profit or customer experience if the shop lacks capacity, workflow discipline or a consistent operating process. Q: Why are service advisors not selling recommended work? A: Advisors may be unable to reach customers, may present work too late, or may know the shop cannot complete additional repairs within the promised time. The cause is often operational rather than motivational. Q: What should a dealership fix before training service advisors? A: Review appointment spacing, shop capacity, technician staffing, advisor-to-technician ratios, dispatch, communication, declined-work follow-up and the complete customer process from arrival through delivery. Q: Why can advisor training make a service department worse? A: Better selling creates more work. If the shop cannot process that work, delays and broken promises increase. Advisors then abandon the training because using it repeatedly creates unhappy customers. Q: What should fixed operations leaders prioritize? A: Build a repeatable process that produces two outcomes: customers who trust the dealership and want to return, and a service department that is consistently profitable. Q: Should service managers receive dealership financial statements? A: Yes. Service managers need financial visibility to understand whether labor gross is creating a healthy net profit and whether spending is eroding department performance. CHAPTERS 0:00 Why You Don't Need Service Advisor Training 1:40 Chicago Bears, Football and Fan Loyalty 7:19 The Seattle Homeless Story 9:34 Chaos During the Los Angeles Boot Camp 13:36 Andrew Bustamante and the Top Dog Event 15:01 Tesla Self-Driving and the Future of Commuting 21:06 Can Legacy Automakers Compete With Tesla and BYD? 28:10 What Will Fully Autonomous Cars Look Like? 32:14 Why Service Advisor Training Is Usually the Wrong Fix 35:27 What Declined Service Work Really Means 38:25 Customer Experience and Service Department Profitability 38:59 Shop Capacity, Loading and Technician Efficiency 40:06 Paying Advisors on Warranty and Internal Work 42:50 Systems First, People Second 44:34 Why Profitability Must Come Before Training 48:27 Does Your Service Drive Have a Standardized Process? 50:05 Six Advisors Shouldn't Have Six Different Processes 51:18 The Fundamentals That Actually Increase Service Sales 53:53 Why Service Managers Need Financial Visibility 56:35 Final Thoughts and Closing 📞 GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR—we answer on the show! 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/  🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Chris' Top-Selling Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

Socialism in the service drive starts the same way every time: top performers get capped, weak performers get carried, and the whole shop drifts toward the middle. In this episode of Service Drive Revolution, Chris Collins, Adam Krey, and Hogi break down how to spot it early and what to do strategically to keep your service department on the capitalist side of the coin. This is the follow-up to last week's episode, which sparked a huge conversation in the comments — so this one is a live Q&A. Questions from dealers, service managers, and advisors get answered on air. What is "socialism in the service drive"? It's when pay, work distribution, and recognition get flattened so that effort and results no longer determine outcome. Hours get spread evenly instead of earned. Underperformers are protected. Your best advisors and techs subsidize everyone else — and eventually they leave. Why does it matter? Your top 20% drive the majority of your gross. The moment they realize their production is being redistributed, you lose them to the store down the street. Fixed operations lives or dies on retaining high performers. What you'll learn in this episode: - The warning signs that your service drive is drifting toward a socialist structure - How pay plans quietly reward mediocrity and punish production - Why "fairness" and "equality" are not the same thing on a service drive - Strategic moves to protect your top performers and your gross - Live answers to viewer questions from the Q&A Who this is for: Service managers, fixed operations directors, dealer principals, service advisors, and technicians at franchised dealerships in the US and Canada. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Welcome to Service Drive Revolution + today's topic 02:22 — Why we banned Kindles (you don't actually own the book) 06:14 — Adam finally joins the Apple ecosystem 09:14 — Forgotten towns: Cairo, Illinois and the Rust Belt 11:25 — Why aren't factories going where people want to work? 14:11 — No housing, no retail, no comeback 17:35 — The Bentonville blueprint for reviving a town 18:19 — The redevelopment playbook: retail first, then apartments 21:27 — Marketing lesson: go young to sell the older buyer 24:46 — Manufacturing is skipping the towns that need it most 25:31 — Q&A: Technician minimum standards with too many techs 26:19 — Guarantee opportunity, not pay 27:29 — Pay plans that reward mediocrity 27:51 — The 80% warranty / 20% customer pay trap 28:15 — Warranty reimbursement laws and why techs want hourly 30:11 — Is your advisor pay plan too complicated? 31:00 — "How many techs will follow you?" — the best interview question 32:31 — Why only 2 or 3 of 12 techs are high performers 34:07 — Q&A: Are dealers pushing for socialism? 35:18 — Why the car business runs on self-agency 36:30 — Career path: the #1 reason techs quit early 38:34 — The ASR closing percentage trap 40:29 — Chasing metrics that look good vs. make money 41:14 — Hire disciplined: look for assassins, not resumes 42:25 — Techs can already name their price 43:59 — The vocational school gap 46:43 — Dealers recruiting straight out of high schools 49:02 — Dealerships as the fabric of the community 49:46 — Older techs vs. younger techs in the shop 52:00 — The industry has to evolve or get left behind 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Chris' Top-Selling Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

Is socialism coming to your service drive? In this episode of Service Drive Revolution, Chris Collins, Chris Hogland, and Adam Krey dig into one of the biggest conversations building inside fixed operations: technician pay, flat rate vs. hourly, student debt, apprenticeship programs, entitlement, leadership, and why dealerships have to stop ignoring the people who actually produce the labor. The team also answers a live fixed ops question about labor gross percentage, posted labor rate, and Effective Labor Rate. Chris explains why posted labor rate is one of the least important numbers in the service department, why ELR is the number that actually matters, and how smart dealerships separate labor into categories like competitive labor, maintenance labor, repair labor, diagnosis, diesel, and heavy-duty labor. If you are a service manager, fixed ops director, dealer principal, general manager, technician, or advisor, this episode is about the future of your service department. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Welcome to Service Drive Revolution 01:05 SDR Live Academy and weekly live training 03:00 Top Dog 2026 and transcending the service drive 09:30 Why service managers should think bigger 13:20 Listener question: labor gross, door rate, and ELR 16:45 Why posted labor rate does not matter as much as ELR 21:00 Competitive labor, maintenance labor, repair labor, and diagnosis 25:30 How smart pricing strategy increases ELR 30:00 Is socialism coming to the service drive? 35:30 Student debt, college, trades, and workforce problems 42:00 Why the technician shortage is bigger than pay 47:00 Flat rate vs. hourly technician pay 52:30 Heavy-truck shops, car dealerships, and productivity gaps 58:00 Technician frustration and the future of fixed ops 1:05:00 Why dealerships need better systems for technicians 1:10:00 Final thoughts and SDR Live Academy invitation KEY FIXED OPS LESSON: Your service department does not make money because your posted labor rate looks good on the wall. It makes money when your advisors, technicians, managers, pricing strategy, inspection process, and leadership system work together. Effective Labor Rate, Hours Per RO, technician productivity, advisor communication, customer trust, and shop flow are all connected. FAQ: What is Effective Labor Rate?  Effective Labor Rate, or ELR, is the actual labor revenue your service department collects per flagged technician hour. It is different from the posted labor rate because it reflects the real money collected after maintenance pricing, repair pricing, warranty, internal labor, discounts, and labor mix. Why does Chris Collins say posted labor rate does not matter?  The posted labor rate is only one number. Customers care more about the outcome, the repair, the trust, and the experience. A dealership can have a high posted rate and still have weak ELR if the pricing strategy, advisor process, and labor mix are broken. How can a dealership improve ELR? A dealership can improve ELR by separating labor categories, improving advisor communication, reducing unnecessary discounting, selling maintenance consistently, inspecting every vehicle properly, tracking labor mix, and holding the team accountable to the right KPIs. Is flat rate good or bad for technicians? Flat rate can be powerful for productive technicians because it gives them more control over their income. But if the shop is poorly dispatched, badly managed, under-supplied, or unfair with warranty time, flat rate can feel broken. The pay plan is only as good as the system around it. Why are technicians leaving the automotive industry? Technicians often leave because of workflow problems, pay frustration, lack of respect, poor leadership, warranty time issues, weak career paths, and shop cultures that treat technicians as an afterthought. What is SDR Live Academy? SDR Live Academy is the live fixed ops training community from Chris Collins Inc., built for service managers, advisors, fixed ops leaders, and operators who want real-time coaching, practical systems, and ongoing training. Ready to train your service drive? Join SDR Live Academy and get access to live fixed ops training, Service Advisor training, Service Manager University, technician recruiting systems, BDC training, OnDemand courses, and the Top Dog Underground   🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Chris' Top-Selling Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

Why isn't Fixed Ops saving dealerships while vehicle sales and front-end gross are falling? In Service Drive Revolution #374, Chris, Hogi and Adam examine why service and parts departments are remaining flat when they should be carrying dealership overhead. Customers are keeping vehicles longer and driving more, yet many stores are booked out for weeks, losing customer-pay work and allowing independent shops to capture market share. The team identifies technician capacity as the primary constraint. When warranty repair orders begin matching or exceeding customer-pay ROs, it may reveal that customers who have a choice are going elsewhere. Chris explains why dealers must add technicians before the shop feels ready, price labor correctly and stop waiting for the mythical "unicorn" tech. They also challenge leaders to mystery-shop their own appointment process, reinvest in customer experience and replace systems that have barely evolved in a century. Plus: Is the AI bubble finally popping? The crew discusses failed AI phone systems, advisor kiosks and why AI works best as a tool that amplifies expertise—not as a replacement for human relationships. KEY TAKEAWAYS * Fixed Ops Should Carry the Store: When sales decline, service and parts should protect dealership profitability. * Capacity Is the Constraint: Being booked out sends urgent customer-pay work to competitors. * Watch the RO Mix: Warranty ROs exceeding customer-pay ROs can reveal technician shortages and lost retention. * Hire Before It Feels Comfortable: More technicians can improve work distribution, efficiency and available capacity. * Price Labor for Reality: Labor rates should reflect technician compensation, demand and the cost of timely service. * AI Should Amplify Talent: It can accelerate research, coding & internal systems, but cannot replace customer connection.  * Mystery-Shop the Process: Leaders often don't know how difficult their own BDC & appointment experience has become. FAQ Q: Why isn't Fixed Ops saving struggling dealerships? A: Many departments lack technician capacity, lose customer-pay work, use outdated systems and underinvest in retention and customer experience. Q: What does it mean when warranty ROs exceed customer-pay ROs? A: Warranty customers must return to the brand, while customer-pay clients can leave. A rising warranty mix may mean customers with choices are defecting. Q: Should a dealership hire technicians before its current techs are fully efficient? A: Yes. Additional capacity can improve workflow and efficiency while allowing the dealership to capture more work. Q: Should higher technician pay reduce service gross? A: It does not have to. Labor rates can be adjusted to reflect technician wages, market demand and the cost of timely service. Q: Can AI replace Service Advisors or the BDC? A: The team says current AI is better used as support. Advisors create trust, validation and relationships that automation cannot reproduce. Chapters 0:00 Live From Indiana 1:45 Why Isn't Fixed Ops Saving Dealerships? 2:35 Summer, Boats and Power-Sports Dealers 8:30 Buying Without a Test Drive 9:25 The Power-Sports Technician Shortage 1 0:20 Seasonal Service and Motorcycle Storage 17:55 Power-Sports Absorption 19:20 Parts and Service Between Two Flames 22:35 Is the AI Bubble Popping? 24:00 Tablets, Kiosks and Digital Inspection Hype 26:35 Why AI Phone Systems Are Failing 27:20 Where AI Actually Saves Time 30:40 AI vs. Human Customer Service 33:20 Use AI to Amplify Expertise 36:50 AI Is Changing Search 37:50 Why Fixed Ops Historically Carried Dealerships 40:55 Falling Sales and Flat Fixed Ops 44:00 Technician Capacity Is the First Problem 44:30 Warranty vs. Customer-Pay ROs 46:00 Add Capacity Before the Constraint 47:00 Why Independents Are Gaining Market Share 48:40 Mystery-Shop Your Dealership 50:40 Paying More for Technicians 53:25 Antiquated Dealership Systems 54:00 Consolidation and Customer Experience 57:20 Fixed Ops as a Force Multiplier 59:00 Dealership Leadership Needs Fixed Ops Experience 1:00:40 Final Thoughts 📞 GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR — we answer on the show! 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best-selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

Great service managers don't simply survive the month—they build stronger teams, improve the customer experience and create consistently profitable service departments. In this episode of Service Drive Revolution, automotive fixed operations expert Chris Collins reveals five overlooked habits that separate great dealership service managers from average ones. Great service managers: 1. Reject the status quo and continually improve their processes. 2. Know their numbers and understand how to change them. 3. Become "people collectors" who constantly recruit, develop and retain talented employees. 4. Make the customer experience easy, trustworthy and worth returning for. 5. Find coaches and mentors who challenge them to keep learning. Chris explains why dealership service departments are closed-loop systems, how tribal knowledge keeps managers trapped in outdated processes and why exceptional performance can actually make a manager's job easier—not harder. The conversation also examines service department profitability, net-to-gross, unproductive wages, CSI, NPS, technician recruiting, service advisor performance and customer retention. You'll learn why sales scripts and objection handling cannot replace customer trust, why technology such as video multipoint inspections cannot fix a broken process and why successful service managers are always recruiting. Chris also discusses former CIA intelligence officer Andrew Bustamante and his book Outsmart Everyone: Spy Skills to Gain an Unfair Advantage in Work and Life. The team explores charisma, vulnerability, intentional leadership, parenting and the ability to make genuine connections with people. This episode is for: Dealer principals General managers Fixed operations directors Service managers Parts managers Service advisors Automotive technicians Dealership and repair-shop leaders. If you want a healthier, more profitable automotive service operation, this episode provides a practical leadership framework you can immediately apply. 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Chris' Top-Selling Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com Chapters: 0:00 Introduction — Five Things Great Service Managers Do 1:02 Andrew Bustamante's New Book and CIA Wisdom 7:35 The Jason Kelce Lookalike Story 14:06 Team Travel and the Airbnb Debate 18:00 Credit Card Roulette 21:38 The Five Traits Great Service Managers Share 22:17 #1: They Reject the Status Quo 28:18 #2: They Know Their Numbers 30:20 #3: They're People Collectors 34:09 #4: They Make the Customer Experience Easy 40:57 #5: They Have Coaches and Mentors 46:10 Real Dealership Results and Momentum 50:23 Recap: All Five Traits 51:02 SDR Academy and Closing

Should your dealership replace its human BDC with AI? Not so fast. In SDR #372, Chris Collins, Hogi, and Adam break down what AI phone systems can—and still can't—do inside a dealership service department. Drawing on experience inside hundreds of dealerships, the team compares AI and human BDCs based on the outcome that actually matters: loading the shop, retaining customers, and creating a better service experience. AI can be a useful tool, but it doesn't know when a technician calls out, when a repair becomes a holdover, when the shop runs out of work, or when a customer's situation requires judgment and empathy. A trained BDC employee can react in real time, build relationships, recover missed opportunities, and become part of your dealership's future advisor bench. In this episode: • Why dealerships are rushing into AI-powered BDCs • The customer-service failures that expose AI's limitations • How one dealership chatbot reportedly agreed to sell a Tahoe for $1 • Why your BDC must understand what is happening inside the shop • How outbound calls recover declined work, no-shows, and lost customers • Why a human BDC can improve retention and manufacturer maintenance utilization  • How the BDC develops your next generation of service advisors • Where AI belongs today—and why dealerships shouldn't go all-in yet The question isn't simply whether AI costs less. The real question is whether you're trying to save a nickel today or build a stronger, more profitable customer base for the future. CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to Service Drive Revolution 01:00 AI or humans: Which BDC is better? 02:11 Driverless cars and the limits of automation 05:25 Bill Nye and Books That Changed My Life 11:49 A $600 customer-service nightmare 16:38 When airline AI can't solve the problem 22:01 The chatbot that sold a Tahoe for $1 23:00 Why AI still requires human oversight 28:19 Companies bring human employees back 33:14 The dealership BDC debate begins 34:15 Why AI phone vendors are everywhere 35:25 Are you saving money or making money? 36:46 Customers still want a real person 37:06 What a service BDC should actually accomplish 38:53 Outbound calls, retention, and declined work 40:26 The advantage of an in-house human BDC 41:26 Your BDC is your future service-advisor bench 43:40 The verdict: Is AI ready to replace your BDC? 47:09 Join the SDR Academy #ServiceDriveRevolution #AutomotiveBDC #FixedOperations 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR  🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Chris' Top-Selling Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

What if your service drive became one of your dealership's most powerful—and consistent—vehicle sales channels? In this episode of Service Drive Revolution, Chris Collins, Hogi, and Adam reveal how dealerships can turn everyday service appointments into organic sales and trade-in opportunities without making customers feel pressured. The key isn't occasionally sending a salesperson into the drive—it's building a dedicated system where sales and service operate as one team. You'll discover how to: • Embed dedicated salespeople inside the service department • Use equity mining to identify the right opportunities • Incentivize advisors to facilitate strong customer handoffs • Introduce trade-in conversations before the appointment • Acquire valuable used inventory without relying on auctions • Use maintenance programs to create familiarity, trust, and retention • Build toward the future "portfolio manager" model—one person managing the customer's entire ownership journey The team also breaks down leadership lessons from Hard Knocks, explains why attention reveals a leader's true priorities, and explores how great systems make exceptional performance repeatable. If your dealership has "tried selling from the service drive" before and it didn't work, this episode will show you what was probably missing. #ServiceDriveRevolution #FixedOps #AutomotiveLeadership #AutomotiveSales #ServiceDrive #DealershipTraining  🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/?=sdrpod 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com Service Drive Revolution - Episode #371 Transcript How to Sell Vehicles From the Service Drive Service Drive Revolution — Chris Collins, Inc. Hosts: Chris Collins, Hogi, Adam Craig Summary Chris Collins, Hogi, and Adam Craig explain how franchised car dealerships can consistently sell vehicles out of the service drive. The core argument: dealerships that succeed at this dedicate salespeople to service full-time rather than rotating them in occasionally. The episode covers compensation structures for advisors, equity mining inside the service scheduling process, using salespeople for appointment confirmation calls, and why Chris believes dealerships will eventually merge the service advisor and salesperson roles into a single "portfolio manager." The show also answers audience questions on new-vehicle maintenance packages and covers a fake forum post attacking the CCI program. Key topics: selling cars from the service drive · dedicated service-drive salespeople · advisor bird-dog compensation · equity mining · trade-in acquisition · new vehicle maintenance packages · the portfolio manager model Key Takeaways Dedicated salespeople are the single biggest factor. A salesperson assigned to service full-time — present at the 6:45 AM shift meeting before a 7:00 AM service open — works. Rotating salespeople through service a few days a month does not. Top-performing dealerships convert about 4–5% of RO count into vehicle sales. That's a handful of cars a day out of the drive. Compensate the advisor. An advisor loses the RO when a customer buys a vehicle. Without a bird-dog or bonus, they have no reason to want the sale. Lead with acquisition, not sales. "Your vehicle is in high demand and we need it on our used car lot" outperforms "do you want a new car." Have salespeople make the appointment confirmation call. It creates a warm, casual introduction rather than a predatory one. Stores that sell well from the drive also acquire well from the drive — sourcing used inventory outside the auction is a major competitive advantage in the current market. Maintenance packages aren't the enemy — the one-item RO is. Add declined multi-point items to those tickets before judging profitability. 50–60% of customers never use their free oil changes. Phone calls, not emails, are what get them in. How to Sell Vehicles From the Service Drive Service Drive Revolution — Chris Collins, Inc. Hosts: Chris Collins, Hogi, Adam Krey Summary Chris Collins, Hogi, and Adam Krey explain how franchised car dealerships can consistently sell vehicles out of the service drive. The core argument: dealerships that succeed at this dedicate salespeople to service full-time rather than rotating them in occasionally. The episode covers compensation structures for advisors, equity mining inside the service scheduling process, using salespeople for appointment confirmation calls, and why Chris believes dealerships will eventually merge the service advisor and salesperson roles into a single "portfolio manager." The show also answers audience questions on new-vehicle maintenance packages and covers a fake forum post attacking the CCI program. Key topics: selling cars from the service drive · dedicated service-drive salespeople · advisor bird-dog compensation · equity mining · trade-in acquisition · new vehicle maintenance packages · the portfolio manager model Key Takeaways Dedicated salespeople are the single biggest factor. A salesperson assigned to service full-time — present at the 6:45 AM shift meeting before a 7:00 AM service open — works. Rotating salespeople through service a few days a month does not. Top-performing dealerships convert about 4–5% of RO count into vehicle sales. That's a handful of cars a day out of the drive. Compensate the advisor. An advisor loses the RO when a customer buys a vehicle. Without a bird-dog or bonus, they have no reason to want the sale. Lead with acquisition, not sales. "Your vehicle is in high demand and we need it on our used car lot" outperforms "do you want a new car." Have salespeople make the appointment confirmation call. It creates a warm, casual introduction rather than a predatory one. Stores that sell well from the drive also acquire well from the drive — sourcing used inventory outside the auction is a major competitive advantage in the current market. Maintenance packages aren't the enemy — the one-item RO is. Add declined multi-point items to those tickets before judging profitability. 50–60% of customers never use their free oil changes. Phone calls, not emails, are what get them in. Opening: Hard Knocks as Leadership Training Chris Collins: Welcome everybody to Service Drive Revolution. Hope you're having a great morning. I'm Chris Collins. Hogi is here. Adam — what's up, everybody? We have a great show for you today. Should we start off talking about Hard Knocks? Anybody watch the greatest leadership training available today? Hogi: I did. I watched it on the plane last night. Chris: Adam, you hate leadership? Adam Krey: I don't hate leadership. I just missed the episode. Chris: It's good. Hard Knocks is really, really fun. It's the Seattle Seahawks this year. The NFL dropped the rule — they used to have a rule that if you made the playoffs you could pass on Hard Knocks. In the new collective bargaining agreement, I think they changed that, and they picked the Super Bowl champions. The Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl champions, on Hard Knocks. It's an interesting thing to see a team coming off winning the Super Bowl now trying to figure out how to get back there. I think it's harder to get back there than it is to get there, in a lot of ways. Don't you guys agree? Adam: Yeah, totally agree. Not too many do it. Chris: Your team, Hogi — the Chiefs have done it. But it's not common. Hogi: One of my favorite things with that episode was there's just a vibe coming off a Super Bowl win. Those rings are pretty awesome. Whoever designed their Super Bowl rings — they had some cool surprises with it. They hit that little button and it opens up into a stadium. Chris: When we go to Cut in the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, that jewelry store is in there — Jason of Beverly Hills. When Adam and I went there a few weeks ago, they didn't have it for sale yet. They have one they'll sell to fans. It's like $20,000 and it has real diamonds. It's not the one the players get, but you do get your name on it, and your number is 12, which is the number for the fans. Then they have another one with Swarovski crystal or something that's about $1,500, which doesn't look that cool. Adam: What's the reasoning that you don't get it, Chris? Chris: There are a bunch of reasons, Adam. I know you made the comment that if the Bears won it, you'd buy one — and then I think you kind of backtracked. I'm not going to spend $20,000 on a ring I didn't earn. I don't do anything as a fan. Adam: You were here at our Super Bowl party. Chris: I did nothing. I ate and smoked a cigar. I did nothing but yell at the screen. Football's the best. I'm so excited football's back. It's so nostalgic for me. Football reminds me of my grandpa. I was born a Seahawks fan — my grandpa was so excited when Seattle got a football team. They were an expansion team. I think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seahawks came in at the same time, and they never won through my whole youth. I played Pop Warner football and got to play at halftime at a Seahawks game, meet the team, sit on the sidelines. It was such a connection between my grandfather and me. He'd take me to the games, and Mariners games too. The Mariners have never won a World Series, but he would fall asleep listening to Dave Niehaus, a legendary broadcaster in Seattle who called the Mariners games. I still can't believe the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. I love our coach. Why leadership shows up on camera Chris: I'd recommend everybody watch Hard Knocks just from a leadership side. You can lo

Chris, Hogi, and Adam address a bizarre, viral forum post targeting Chris Collins Performance on a competitor's platform. The team breaks down the obvious inconsistencies in the post—from fake claims about techs quitting to misinformed takes on labor grids and parts pricing—and explains why real service advisors who understand business profitability actually thrive under proper operational systems. The guys also answer a direct hotline question comparing automotive parts departments to heavy-duty truck parts operations. They break down the fundamental differences between B2C car dealerships and B2B truck dealerships, how wholesale operations drive millions in outside revenue, and the exact process needed to stop special order parts bleeding before cleaning up obsolescence. Plus: Adam checks in live from his hot Florida vacation with 15 family members, detailing their annual family drink competition, fish boils, golfing in 106-degree heat, and the team's weekly workouts at Planet Fitness. (Note: SDR Live Academy returns next week on Zoom, where Hogi leads an interactive workshop on building and mapping high-performance service drive systems!) KEY TAKEAWAYS - Debunking Online Forum Drama: An unfiltered breakdown of a fake forum post, addressing why right-sizing labor rates and pricing matrices is essential for shop survival. - The "Mom Test" for Maintenance: Why advisor integrity means never selling a client something you wouldn't sell to your own mother. - B2C vs. B2B Parts Operations: How auto parts departments rely on internal service drive volume, while heavy-duty truck parts departments generate millions in outside fleet and municipality sales. - Stopping the Obsolescence Bleed: Why cleaning up old inventory fails if you haven't fixed your prepaid special order parts processes and technician returns first. - The Planet Fitness Business Model: A funny look at how low-cost gym memberships rely on members never showing up—and what happens when everyone actually does. - SDR Academy Systems Preview: A look at Hogi's upcoming workshop on outlining and executing a seamless operational blueprint. GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR — we answer on the show! Get special deals on our books and training at offers.chriscollinsinc.com #ServiceDriveRevolution #FixedOps #AutomotiveLeadership #ServiceManager #ServiceAdvisor #DealershipLife #CarBusiness #ChrisBulldogCollins #AutoIndustry #DealershipTraining #ServiceDirector #FixedOperations #BusinessStrategy #SDRAcademy #HeavyDutyTrucks #PartsDepartment #Obsolescence SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/ Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min Best-selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR  Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com Service Drive Revolution - Episode #370 Transcript Truck Parts vs. Auto Parts — and Answering a Fake Forum Attack Service Drive Revolution Hosts: Chris Collins, Hogi, Adam Krey In This Episode Why a heavy-truck parts department is a completely different business than an automotive one How wholesale drives truck parts volume — and why inventories run so much higher The right order of operations for killing obsolescence (stop the bleeding first) Special-order parts processes, prepay contingencies, and "just in case" tech orders Chris responds to an anonymous forum post attacking CCI's program Opening Chris Collins: Good morning everybody. Welcome to the big show, Service Drive Revolution. Happy Wednesday. I hope everybody's having as much fun as we are. We have a great show for you today. We're going to talk about a forum post from an advisor — it's a very negative post in a Jeff Cowan forum. I'm going to read it, and then we're going to talk about it. That'll be a lot of fun. We also have a question from the Service Drive Academy that we thought we'd answer here on this show. If you're not familiar with the Academy, every other week we get on and we teach how to maximize your potential in fixed ops. We've been going over financials recently. Last week Hogi went over mindset. What are you doing next week, Hogi? Hogi: We're doing systems — the importance of a system, and kind of outlining it. Letting everybody do an exercise where they outline what the overview of their system should be. Chris: Normally we'd answer questions live in there, but this one was called into the hotline, so we're going to play it and answer it here. The question is basically: what's the difference between parts in a truck dealership versus an automotive dealership? There are some big differences. Great question. Adam Krey: Yeah, really good question. Chris: We thought it would be better for the whole world — even though I think the intention was that we'd answer it in the Academy. So, I'm Chris Collins. You just heard from the Oklahoma Smoke Show, Hogi. And Adam Krey is here in beautiful Florida on vacation. We wanted him on the beach when he did this, but it was too noisy, so he's inside. Are you in an Airbnb? Adam: Yes. We rented a house. I'm actually in one of the bungalows for the kids — I commandeered it for now. It's almost naptime. Chris: Last week we were all together in Indiana having a blast working — we were doing a pilot in a heavy-duty truck group. There was a lot of drama leading up to this vacation for Adam, and it feels like there's no drama now that you're there. Adam: It's very anticlimactic, I think. You hit that climax and now you're just here and whatever happens happens. Roommates, Fish Boils, and Planet Fitness Chris: How many adults in the house? Adam: Like seven. Chris: How many kids? Adam: Eight. Chris: One thing that's funny — I won't stay in an Airbnb with our team. I want to stay in a hotel. I want my own room, my own bathroom. I don't want to wait for Adam to get done with his hour-long shower where he uses all the hot water. I figured this out very early. When I was 18 I moved into a house with my band. We all lived together, and I figured out very quickly that I don't like roommates. I was the only one in the band with a full-time job — I was a porter at a car dealership. So I had money, they didn't, clearly, because they didn't work. They'd eat all my food. It was a disaster. So it comes up all the time: "Hey, could we stay at an Airbnb in this city when I'm tagging along?" And I'm always like, you guys can, but I'm staying at the hotel. Seven adults in an Airbnb would be a nightmare for me. The kids are probably more fun. The adults would be the problem. What sort of events have happened so far? Adam: We had a fish boil last night. Crab, a bunch of seafood — and you know me and seafood, I'm a take-it-or-leave-it kind of guy. We had that with corn and potatoes. It was really good, though. The corn is the best. The corn takes that Creole spice and just locks it in. We went golfing yesterday. We did best ball — I always team up with my father-in-law, and we beat my two brothers-in-law. First win in many times of golfing. We shot about nine over par overall, so not too bad. Had a few decent shots, just enough to keep you going. We also started this last year — a drink competition. Whoever can make the best drink, and there's a rating scale to it. We haven't gone yet, but I think ours is going to be some sort of mojito. That Cosmopolitan we tried last year went horrible, so that's definitely not the choice this year. Chris: Does Bob participate in the drink competition? Adam: He did last year. Chris: Bob is Adam's father-in-law, who makes the incredible jerky. If he can put the jerky together and he understands mixology, I think he'd have a head start on the drinks. Tell him thank you again — when we were in Indiana, Adam brought a bunch and it doesn't last long. It goes quick. Adam: I definitely found the remnants of wrappers in the wagon. Chris: I offered to take it with me when I got out at the airport and you were like, "No, just leave it." Last week we went to Planet Fitness and worked out most days. Planet Fitness is funny — the whole business model is interesting. They charge $10 a month and they're counting on nobody coming. Their business strategy is to sell a lot of memberships on the understanding that people who buy a gym membership usually don't go. But unfortunately a lot of people do go, so it's always really crowded. It was fun, though. I felt better at the end of the week. Listener Question: Truck Parts vs. Auto Parts Caller: I'm calling because I have a question about the similarities and differences between the parts department and the parts operation in a car dealership versus the trucking business. I have in-laws — kind of family friends — who own a trucking company, and they're having some issues with their parts department that they told me about. I'm the parts director for my auto group, so I'm wanting to help them. I suggested they look into you guys, because I think you're really good at what you do. But in the meantime, I don't know how actively they're going to do that, so I was also going to look at it myself. For example, with obsolescence, I'm confident about all the exit strategies and preventative strategies and systems to put in place to prevent and remove obsolescence in a dealership. But I was hoping to get some insight from you all about how similar that is — not just obsolescence but the whole thing, even going into technicians, because I know they pay their technicians hourly. I'd like to get some more insight on what the trucking business looks like so I can help my friends. And hopefully they'll check you guys out too. Chris: Nice that he's saying that. Also, we've had so many referrals from factory guys lately, wh

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution #369, Chris, Hogi, and Adam take on one of the most widespread profit leaks in dealership service departments: the massive gap between your posted labor rate and your effective labor rate. The team pulls back the curtain on why so many shops posting a $200 door rate end up collecting an effective rate of barely $99 to $101—and why your effective labor rate should actually be higher than your posted door rate. The guys break down the silent revenue killers, including hyper-busy, heavily discounted quick lubes that drag down your entire mix, treating all labor like "competitive" labor, and letting service advisors discount repair orders willy-nilly just to cash out a customer. We also expose the danger of unbuilt op codes, inconsistent labor times, and giving away cheap labor on fleet accounts when those fleet managers actually care far more about turnaround time than price. Plus: The crew introduces "Robo-Hogi"—a hilarious, high-tech studio experiment to put Hogi in the room while he's remote—and discusses how shifting from struggle to strategy brings the fun back into running a dealership without destroying your personal life. (Note: While this episode is pre-recorded due to the team traveling to Indiana, Hogi is heading straight into the SDR Live Academy on Zoom immediately after this broadcast to teach mindset and leadership!) 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS - Effective Rate Mastery: Why your effective labor rate can and should exceed your posted door rate, and the exact mindset shift needed to achieve it. - The Quick Lube Trap: How high-volume oil change lanes at a zero or near-zero effective labor rate dilute your department's overall profitability. - Desking Their Own Deals: The shocking reality of letting service advisors freely adjust ticket prices without fixed op codes—and why no General Manager would ever let salespeople desk their own car sales. - The 4 Types of Labor: How mispricing competitive labor, maintenance, diagnosis, and repair labor forces your department to bleed gross profit. - The Fleet Relationship Myth: Why fleet accounts value rapid turnaround time and reliable communication far more than cheap, discounted labor rates. - Life Beyond the Drive: Overcoming the industry's high divorce rate and burnout by bringing strategy, systems, and shared family goals into your personal life. All that and more on Service Drive REVOLUUUUUTTTIOOON! #ServiceDriveRevolution #FixedOps #AutomotiveLeadership #ServiceManager #ServiceAdvisor #DealershipLife #CarBusiness #ChrisCollins #AutoIndustry #DealershipTraining #ServiceDirector #FixedOperations #BusinessStrategy #SDRAcademy #EffectiveLaborRate #LaborRates #RoboHogi 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution #368, Chris, Hogi, and Adam dig into one of the biggest and most expensive misconceptions plaguing dealership fixed operations today: the constant cry for "more traffic" and "advisor training." The team uncovers the real patterns behind hundreds of service departments and reveals a harsh disconnect—dealerships aren't running out of work; they are failing their technicians and losing their best producers. Chris and the crew break down why shoving more traffic into a shop running at 60% to 70% efficiency is an absolute recipe for disaster that tanks your customer satisfaction score. We unpack why service advisors secretly refuse to sell work when the shop is backed up, why the industry completely abandoned basic maintenance sales, and how to use the "Theory of Constraints" to treat your shop like a high-output factory. Plus: Adam talks about his $7,500 journey to becoming a certified master distiller, Chris debates the risks of blind-inducing backyard moonshine, and the guys try to figure out which "I" state they are traveling to next. 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS - The Advisor "Self-Preservation" Trap: Why your service advisors stop selling additional work the second your shop gets backed up with poor diagnosis turnaround times. - The 60% Efficiency Crisis: Why pouring marketing money into driving traffic to a flat-rate shop with low productivity is completely useless without fixing your technician mix first. - The Real Cost of Lost Traffic: The brutal math showing that it costs between $150 to $300 to acquire a single new customer, making retention the only profitable play. - The Flammable Flash Point of Grain: Adam shares what he learned at master distilling school, including why the first cuts of ethanol can blind you and how dry corn dust can explode. - Why "Gross is a State of Mind": How Chris took a BMW store from losing to its competitor by 20 cars a month to beating them by 150 a month, entirely by changing customer psychology and removing decision fatigue. - The 250-Year Cowboy Hat: Chris talks about hunting down his size for a special edition Stetson hat.  🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution #367, Chris, Hogi, and Adam count down the top 5 dumbest things service managers say on the drive. While this list is packed with humor, it exposes the exact blind spots, excuses, and circular logic that keep service departments trapped in perpetual chaos, losing money, and alienating their highest performers. The team breaks down why waiting for "staff buy-in" is actually the ultimate form of leadership procrastination, why letting a technician walk away over a $2 raise is a mathematical failure, and why stalling execution to get a process "dialed in" is costing you real gross profit. Plus: Chris breaks down his frustrating experience troubleshooting an aggressive high-end aftermarket stereo on his new royal blue Sea-Doo 325, the team contrasts the stagnant energy of Los Angeles with the thriving, patriotic community of downtown Indianapolis, and Hogi preps for a deep dive into live financial training. (Note: Chris is away filming an automated lineup for "Books That Changed My Life," but Hogi is heading straight into the SDR Academy for a live financial statement breakdown immediately following this episode!) 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS - "I Got to Get Buy-In From My People": Why running your shop like a consensus-driven democracy is the quickest way to attract the wrong talent and let the inmates run the asylum. - "I Just Want to Get It Dialed In": The polarity trap of artificial perfection, and why speed and execution will always beat sitting on a process measured twice but never cut. - The $2 Pay Dispute Blunder: Why middle managers get emotionally wrapped up in tech entitlement instead of realizing the customer pays for the technician's cost of sale. - "I Wish I Had More Time to Recruit": The hidden operational cost of reactive hiring, and why failing to recruit continuously guarantees a six-month backlog of shop chaos. - "I Need to Hold Myself Accountable to Hold My People Accountable": Unpacking the circular therapist logic that stalls active department management and tortures your top performers. - The Washington "Better Brakes" Trap: A real-world look at how state-level environmental regulations create sudden, low-competition vendor monopolies that decrease parts quality.  📞 GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR — we answer on the show! Get special deals on our books and training at offers.chriscollinsinc.com! #ServiceDriveRevolution  #FixedOps #AutomotiveLeadership #ServiceManager #ServiceAdvisor #DealershipLife #CarBusiness #ChrisCollins #AutoIndustry #DealershipTraining #ServiceDirector #FixedOperations #BusinessStrategy #SDRAcademy #TechnicianRecruiting #LeadershipSkills #Indianapolis  🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best-selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com

In this episode of Service Drive Revolution #366, Chris, Hogi, and Adam keep the energy rolling right out of America's historic 250th Fourth of July weekend by tackling a digital process that is completely taking over the industry—and failing miserably in most shops: video inspections. The team pulls no punches as they break down why so many dealerships are struggling with open rates, crashing hours per RO, and uncomfortable technicians. Chris shares why forcing veteran technicians to perform like social media influencers is killing your shop's momentum, and how standard digital video apps can actually destroy customer trust if your processes are fundamentally broken on paper first. We unpack the hidden psychology of video, what politics can teach us about camera angles and lighting, and why the person at the manufacturer who forced this software on your drive has likely never written a repair order in their life. 🔥 KEY TAKEAWAYS - The Myth of the Digital Magic Pill: Why automated software cannot save a service department that hasn't mastered a consistent inspection process on paper. - The Psychology of Trust: How messy stalls, bad audio, and visibly nervous technicians unconsciously signal to a customer that your shop isn't qualified to fix their brakes. - Stop Practicing on Live Games: The exact training blueprint you need to build technician confidence, handle intros and outros, and make it safe for your crew to fail before sending a video to a real client. - The Write-Up Hand-Off: The simple, no-cost communication shift at the service drive that solves low customer video open rates overnight. - Gamifying the Wrong Metric: Why paying technicians just to complete an inspection completely backfires, and how to correctly tie your incentives to actual upsold outcomes. - Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up: Why manufacturers value compliance over dealer profitability, and how the best operations build processes around what the customer actually experiences. 📞 GOT A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN? Call 833-3-ASK-SDR — we answer on the show! Get special deals on our books and training at offers.chriscollinsinc.com! #ServiceDriveRevolution #FixedOps #AutomotiveLeadership #ServiceManager #ServiceAdvisor #DealershipLife #CarBusiness #ChrisCollins #AutoIndustry #DealershipTraining #ServiceDirector #FixedOperations #BusinessStrategy #VideoInspections #SDRAcademy #TechnicianTraining #customertrust 🛑 SDR Live Academy Online Training For Huge Results: https://chriscollinsinc.com/op/sdr-live-weekly/ 🛑 Book your Profit Gap Analysis Now: https://calendly.com/byron-webster/30min 🛑 Best Selling books on making Fixed Ops a money printer: https://chriscollinsinc.com/shop/ 🛑 Got a question? Call us at 1-833-3-ASK-SDR 🛑 Want to work with the best? https://chriscollinsinc.com/careers/ 🛑 Grab Chris' New Leadership Book I AM LEADER: https://iamleader.com