The Gearbox Podcast

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:13]:
Welcome to the Gearbox Podcast, where we dive deep into the dynamic world of automotive repair and ownership. I'm your host, Jimmy Purdy, an experienced technician turned shop owner with a passion for sharing insights, stories, and conversations with industry leaders. This is the Gearbox Podcast. The typical technician thing, you just start ripping stuff apart.

Joe Hyde [00:00:37]:
Exactly.

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:38]:
Turn up the sound. How's that sound?

Joe Hyde [00:00:40]:
Yeah, it sounds good. We're good.

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:41]:
Try to eliminate some of that background noise, but.

Joe Hyde [00:00:44]:
Well, we are in the dungeon, right?

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:47]:
The glass cage of emotions. It's like a fishbowl, huh? Everyone walking by and they're tapping on the window all day.

Joe Hyde [00:00:53]:
Do you ever feel like you just want to kind of just do this?

Jimmy Purdy [00:00:55]:
Just when they just start floating by.

Joe Hyde [00:00:59]:
Just start giving the fish.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:00]:
Do the fish mouth.

Joe Hyde [00:01:01]:
Yeah, we're here. Here we go.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:05]:
Well, cool. Joe, thanks for coming on.

Joe Hyde [00:01:07]:
Absolutely. Jimmy.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:08]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:01:08]:
Appreciate you having me, man.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:09]:
Yeah, I'm excited about what you got going on here, because the theme of. Of Apex 2024 for the gearbox podcast so far has been a lot of coaching, a lot of training, and I think that's all, like, that's what it needs to be because that's where we're at right now, right? We're here to have a good time. We're in Vegas. Right. You got to work, you got to play hard, you got to work hard. Right?

Joe Hyde [00:01:32]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:32]:
So I think. I think learning something new and, like, walking around in the booths and getting free swag. Yeah, of course. Like, there's got to be some fun stuff that we're doing. And I think, like, most shops need to be like that, too. Like, you need to train, you need to make money, you need to take time aside to have a barbecue, do fun stuff.

Joe Hyde [00:01:46]:
Yeah, yeah. Culture is important, I think, at any shop, right?

Jimmy Purdy [00:01:49]:
No, absolutely.

Joe Hyde [00:01:49]:
That's. I think that's what you're speaking to, is just the culture of it. You know, we can have a culture of, you know, hey, we're just here to make profits, earn a living, make money. But, man, we spend a lot of time at work with. With the people we work with.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:03]:
Right.

Joe Hyde [00:02:03]:
More so sometimes in our families.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:05]:
That's true. So one of the things is, like, that we have a lot of is. Is shop owner coaching. We have service advisor coaching. But you're like, you're coming up with something new here. Right. And it's basically therapy for technicians. Yeah, right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:21]:
For the ones that are making the money in the shop, the ones that are in the back grinding away. And it is. It is the job that you're just kind of shoved in the bottom of the boat. Right. And just keep the engine running. Right. Like, we're up here looking pretty in our whites. Right? Yeah, just keep fixing and just keep fixing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:36]:
Keep grinding. Right. And you're kind of shoved in the side and forgotten. And I mean, they're people too, right?

Joe Hyde [00:02:42]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:42]:
Not to go so like participation trophy on it, but I mean, at the same token, employee, technician in particular, turnover is huge right now.

Joe Hyde [00:02:52]:
Oh, yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:02:52]:
And not to mention just getting them into the field. And if you got someone that's in the field and you're not treating them right and they're doing the work right, they're the. It's like they're just going to go somewhere else. And sometimes it's like, well, they're just going to H Vac or they're just going to plumbing. It's like, well, wait a second, let's take a step back here. What is it that they're doing differently for those technicians going into those fields that keeps them there? Right.

Joe Hyde [00:03:14]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:03:14]:
And I like what you said, so I'll let you take the floor from there as far as far as what you're doing with it.

Joe Hyde [00:03:18]:
Well, I appreciate that. So, you know, at Limitless Leadership, we are, you know, a leadership company that tailors to the automotive. But I think more so that the gap that we kept seeing for automotive technicians in particular is, you know, everybody's trying to figure out a career path for them. You know, there's lots of different markets out there and different companies that are trying to show technicians the technology that, you know, the automotive industry usually explodes about every five years, Right. Five to ten years. There's usually a hit, a huge release of technology. And as we begin to kind of peel the layers of the onion, so to speak, we realized that there was a huge need for technician coaching. You know, I equate it back in the day, I think you and I talked earlier about, you know, life coaches.

Joe Hyde [00:04:07]:
Life coaches came out, and then you had business coaches and finance coaches. And it's like, why not technicians? You know, why. Why do the technicians need to be the forgotten ones, so to speak? And it's not like that everywhere. But I think we've really tried to start to turn the industry's mindset on what a technician is.

Jimmy Purdy [00:04:27]:
And this is. And this is beyond just what a P0 300 is, or what a, you know, how to do an evap or how to do AC diagnosis. That's not what we're talking about here.

Joe Hyde [00:04:36]:
No, that's. I mean, you know, diagnostics and training. For technology is certainly important. Right. But that's really not our core focus. Our core focus is to take these guys and basically, basically give them a platform. Right. Give them a voice.

Joe Hyde [00:04:50]:
A lot of times technicians just don't have a voice. They feel like they're in this void and they've got all these emotions and all these thoughts and ideas about maybe where they work or how things could work better. But in a lot of instances they really feel like their voice falls on deaf ears. And so basically we're trying to fill that gap. And the way that we're filling that gap is that we have a couple of different ways that we do it. We can certainly meet with them on a weekly basis, have a zoom call, and that's pretty effective. And we have several clients that we're doing that with. But I think what we've really kind of stumbled upon as we've kind of built this out is we've got like a 13 week coaching program for technicians where we introduce different resources for them to become that next level.

Joe Hyde [00:05:38]:
Right. So if you're a GS and you get involved with us and you want to be that a technician, we're really trying to carve out a path and give them some mentoring and some coaching in the technology field of the automotive industry to bring them along. Right. There's so many training opportunities, so many videos that you can watch and a lot of times it just becomes white noise. Right. And it's hard to discern really what is good training, what is adequate training, what is not so good training. Right. I mean, we've all sat in the three hour, you know, parched speech, give me some soda and a snack three hours after I've worked 12 hours a day.

Joe Hyde [00:06:20]:
And you know, and I'm going to be doing a webinar later today. And it is about training and the importance of it and more importantly, the importance of being a lifelong learner. A lot of business owners, I think, don't really realize that there's a lot of statistical data about continuing education for trade technicians. Right. And there's so much that a technician misses if they're not continuing to educate themselves about what's coming out next.

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:51]:
You think you're helping finding find their finding their why?

Joe Hyde [00:06:54]:
Right?

Jimmy Purdy [00:06:54]:
Because it's like with shop owners and shop coaching, like that's the biggest thing when you're trying to find a coach, you're trying to find help, what are you trying to do? Why? Why? And you think the pitfall for technicians is like, well, I can fix cars and I'M making a paycheck, so why would I go back to training?

Joe Hyde [00:07:09]:
Yeah. I think helping them discover their why is super important. Right. If you don't know why you're getting up every day and doing what you're doing, then why are you doing it? Right. If you don't have a passion for it and many guys lose their passion. I know a lot of technicians that have gotten out of the industry because of the culture of the shop they're in. Right?

Jimmy Purdy [00:07:30]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:07:31]:
Because that culture didn't foster any kind of clarity or direction. Right. It's just, hey, here's your stall, where's your tools? Here's your first three tickets. Right. One of the things that we are working with heavily with technicians is what does the onboarding look like for a technician? Right. I mean, think about it for a minute. I remember my first technician job. I went in, interviewed, they made me an offer, I accepted it.

Joe Hyde [00:07:56]:
And literally the day I rolled my box in, I started working. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:01]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:08:01]:
There was no, hey, here's the shop tour, here's the people in the shop you're going to be working with. These are our parts delivery people. This is where your parts are going to be. This is where, you know, the diagnostic equipment is, is kept. None of that happens in the automotive realm when it comes to technicians, for the majority, for the most part.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:21]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:08:21]:
For the most part, yeah. I don't want to talk exclusively because not every shop is like that, but the majority of shops and shop owners, they don't have an onboarding plan for a technician. And I think that in and of itself can set these technicians up for long term success. Right. We know there's huge turnover, there's a lack of technicians out there and so we can't keep beating the same drum and doing it the same way, expecting the same results. Right?

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:48]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:08:48]:
I think they have a word for that.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:49]:
Yeah. Insanity, right?

Joe Hyde [00:08:50]:
Yeah, I think it's insanity if you're.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:52]:
Expecting different results anyway.

Joe Hyde [00:08:53]:
Yeah, exactly.

Jimmy Purdy [00:08:54]:
I mean, you can expect the same damn results if you keep doing the same damn thing.

Joe Hyde [00:08:56]:
Right, right, right. But you're still going to get the same damn thing.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:00]:
Yeah, right, right, right, right. Yeah. And on the onboarding thought there too, one of the things that's missed, and I think we missed it too in our shop, is not just the shop tour where the tools are and where the bathroom is, but more of that, like more deeper than that. Hey, if you ever need to talk, the office is open, the door's open. Right. Hey, when we do these one on one meetings, Every week. It's not for us to tell you that you're doing something wrong. We're going to bring up things that are going to help you grow.

Jimmy Purdy [00:09:31]:
But it's really difficult to like to twist that aspect and say, hey, we're sitting down every week to help you grow when all you're doing is showing them negatives. Right? And that's what we want to do. Like we want to do or I want to do as the owner, because I'm. That's what we're good at. We're good at finding the inefficiencies and saying, hey, this is what we found. Everything else is great. And you kind of go right over the top of that and just dive in like, so what do we do to fix this? Right. And not being clear during the hiring process, like, this is what we're going to do.

Jimmy Purdy [00:10:00]:
We're going to do this for your own benefit to help you grow. And we've missed it. We missed the ball 100% on that.

Joe Hyde [00:10:06]:
I couldn't agree more. I think setting expectations early, right? Setting expectations and you know, that seems like a simple statement, right? Oh, it's a technician. The expectation is they're going to fix cars, right? Well, technicians do a lot more than just fix cars, right. They have interactions with the customers, they have interactions with the front counter staff, they have interactions with other technicians. And unless you are inherently built to where you can communicate effectively, that's where a lot of breakdowns in the shop happen immediately is because expectations are unknown. It's hard to sit down and have a one on one with a new team member. You know, 30, 60, 90 days in when the team member doesn't know what the expectations are. So you come at them with, hey, you're not meeting our expectations.

Joe Hyde [00:10:57]:
Well, if you never set clarity and direction of what those expectations were in the beginning, how can you hold them to a standard that they're not aware of?

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:05]:
That's very true.

Joe Hyde [00:11:07]:
And I think in many cases so far in my experience, that's been one of the single most important conversations that I've had with technicians.

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:17]:
Wow.

Joe Hyde [00:11:18]:
Hey, I don't even know what they expect of me. I mean, I know they want me to fix cars.

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:22]:
Well, it's a given, but it's a given, right? Yeah. It's like you got paid at the end of the week and the cars fixed it and come back. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:11:28]:
But what else? Right? And then when we have these, these rubs, if you want to call them that, in the shop where something happens now, we're trying to course correct something that they themselves didn't know that they did anything wrong in the first place.

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:42]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:11:43]:
Right. And so it's setting them up already right off the bat with this mentality of the front half of the shop versus the back half of the shop. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:11:53]:
Oh, man.

Joe Hyde [00:11:53]:
And I think. I think all of us in the industry know exactly what I'm talking about. Right. It's like that, that wall that, you know, is. It's. It's not visible, but it's definitely there. Right. And you're constantly hitting it between the front half and the back half.

Joe Hyde [00:12:08]:
And I think that's where onboarding can really help build trust between. You know, we're always talking about building trust with the customer. Right. Build trust. Build trust. But you mentioned something earlier, and I want, I want to circle back to it because it's. I think it's really important. And when we expect the technician to be able to do a dvi, do an inspection, do a diagnostics, and convey that and articulate it to the front counter staff so that they can sell the job.

Joe Hyde [00:12:41]:
Right. And so in the sales process, we're always teaching which technicians will overhear these conversations that, hey, you don't just want to give the consumer the bad stuff that's wrong with their car. You want to tell them that, hey, your air filter fluid looks great. Serpentine belt looks great. However, during that inspection, we also noticed that, you know, your fluids or XYZ part didn't look that great.

Jimmy Purdy [00:13:09]:
Right, Right.

Joe Hyde [00:13:09]:
So we teach that on the front half, but we don't teach that and instruct that or set that as an expectation on the back half.

Jimmy Purdy [00:13:18]:
Right.

Joe Hyde [00:13:18]:
And so they're constantly finding what's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong. But they're not really getting a chance to share what's right. And I know that might seem simple, but that kind of behavior carries over into how they feel about the voice they have to be able to share with the owner.

Jimmy Purdy [00:13:38]:
That's interesting of things. Yeah, that's interesting.

Joe Hyde [00:13:41]:
So we're ingraining this behavior that's counterintuitive to what we're expecting them to do in the back half.

Jimmy Purdy [00:13:48]:
That's some deep stuff. And that resonates with me because as of just recently, we, we've reset our expectations to make sure that the advisors have three good pictures of the vehicle. Right, right. And we're like, hey, guys, can you. When you're doing your dvi, let's keep. You know, we have a limit of pictures that we want to Do. So make sure at least three of those show a good serpentine belt, show something that looks like it's recently replaced or something that's still in good shape. And they say, why the hell would we do that? And it's like, well, it's part of, it's part of the sales process.

Jimmy Purdy [00:14:16]:
It's just psychological thing. But what you brought up is I hadn't even thought about that changes. That's a, that's a dynamic shift in the technician's mind as well. Right. They're not just looking at every car as a shitbox. Right. I wouldn't fix anything on this thing. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:14:28]:
Well, we'll try to find three good things on it and that'll change your perspective on when you repair the vehicle. And I never even thought about that from that standpoint.

Joe Hyde [00:14:37]:
I tell you, it really changes the technician's perspective on exactly what you said. Hey, hey.

Jimmy Purdy [00:14:44]:
That's a show at home too, right? Right. Like everywhere. Because they're going to go home, they're going to start, they're going to be looking for everything that's wrong.

Joe Hyde [00:14:50]:
Yep, exactly. Exactly. And I, you know, and I don't know, you know, we talked about there's a certain, certain characteristics I think that technicians, flat rate technicians exhibit. Right. So I'll give you an example for those who may not know. So I cook and I clean at the same time. Right. So I'm trying to be as efficient as possible.

Joe Hyde [00:15:13]:
And so basically I'm flat rate cooking and cleaning when I'm in the kitchen, because I can understand that because that's how I am at work when I was a technician. And so I think where it resonates and where shop owners need to understand is that technicians that truly understand and do flat rate, that is inherent in who they are. So when we can take lessons that they can take away from the shop and they can make them applicable at home. Now we're affecting change the person, not just the processes.

Jimmy Purdy [00:15:49]:
That's huge.

Joe Hyde [00:15:49]:
I think sometimes we're so focused on changing the processes that really what we need to do is not change the person, but we need to educate the person. We need to give them tools that are successful not only under the hood, but at home too. And I think that's where our technician coaching really comes in is because, you know, at the end of the day, I just want people to be better humans after I've had an interaction with them than before. Right. And you know, there's, there's a story about everybody carries around marbles, right. A bucket of marbles. And every interaction that, that you have with somebody, you're either taking some of their marbles or you're giving some of your marbles. And so if you're always giving and you're never receiving, it's going to get kind of weighty and you're going to run out.

Joe Hyde [00:16:41]:
And I think we think of technicians sometimes, at least this is my understanding. I don't want to assume for everybody, but I think we think of technicians as these guys that are in the back of the shop that are hardened, that, you know, they just grind it out and grind it out. But at the end of the day, their dads, their sons, you know, they, they have a personal life and a personal characteristic about them that needs to be fostered just as much as at work.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:13]:
And as a former technician. Right.

Joe Hyde [00:17:15]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:15]:
You can understand the amount of time you spend in your own head, right?

Joe Hyde [00:17:19]:
Oh, yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:19]:
You know, as an advisor and as you're talking to people every day, you get to vent a lot of stuff out. Right. And it's not all like a customer comes in, you just like all of a sudden tell them everything about what's going on last night with you and your wife. But as you're going through your sales process, and I don't know if you've worked the counter, but I assume you have.

Joe Hyde [00:17:35]:
I have.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:36]:
And you've gone through the process. Right. So you start talking to people and all of a sudden they say something. And then you use that to relate to something going on in your life. And you're not putting a fake leg on. Like you're, you're, you're being genuine with people because that's actually what works, right?

Joe Hyde [00:17:49]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:49]:
You realize over time, like, the more you fake it, the more people pick up on it. So you just start letting your life out to these random strangers, and all of a sudden you're venting, you don't even realize it.

Joe Hyde [00:17:59]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:17:59]:
And it's a lot of emotional burden that gets lifted off your shoulders as a technician. You're just in your head all day long. Right. You get in a fight with your wife, then you go to work, and then you use your heads buried for the next six, seven, eight hours. Maybe you would say hey to your. But then you're thinking, the tech next to you, he don't want to hear what you got going. Right. And you just assume no one wants to hear your problems.

Jimmy Purdy [00:18:21]:
And then a day goes by and no one wants to hear your problems. A week goes by, no one wants to hear your problems. Then there's more problems, like, yeah, but no one wants to hear it. And it's just that vicious cycle of being stuck in your head. No one cares about you, no one wants to hear what you're going through. I mean, I've been there.

Joe Hyde [00:18:34]:
Like, I think anybody that's turned wrenches for any length of time knows exactly what you're talking about.

Jimmy Purdy [00:18:40]:
Right.

Joe Hyde [00:18:40]:
They're like, yep, been there, done that. And really you hit, you touched on something there. That has really been shocking to me. I think I've gotten just as much out of my client interactions with technicians as they have, quite honestly. Yeah. And many of them, at the end of the conversation, it's like, wow, man, I'm just happy I had somebody to talk to. At the end of the day, it's like sometimes you just need somebody to talk to that, you know, doesn't I, I don't have any weight on either side of the conversation, if that makes sense. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:19:17]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:19:17]:
My opinions at the end of the day, to that person on the other end, they don't matter. My opinions don't matter. Right. But my empathy, my empathy and my understanding of the position they're in, that's what matters to them.

Jimmy Purdy [00:19:33]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:19:33]:
At the end of the day. Right. I can give them resources, I can tell them, yeah, that's a great training to go to. Or hey, if you want to become a shop foreman and this is where you're at currently, here's six steps to get to that place. Right. Here's the things. But at the end of the day, the most satisfying thing is when somebody says, man, I feel better, I feel better. Had a chance to unload that.

Joe Hyde [00:19:57]:
Right?

Jimmy Purdy [00:19:57]:
Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:19:58]:
And then it turns into almost. They feel like they have an advocate. Right. And the reason why that's important is because we're teaching those, you mentioned one on ones. We're teaching them how to embrace one on ones. Right. How to do a debrief, how to lead when they're not in charge. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:20:16]:
Because that's a big one. Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:20:18]:
I think, I think technicians don't understand the influence that they have sometimes in the shop. And if they are trained and coached to utilize that influence to the betterment of the culture of the shop, man, they're not going to want to go somewhere else and work. Why would you want to?

Jimmy Purdy [00:20:37]:
Right.

Joe Hyde [00:20:38]:
And so we're going to cover some of that. Hopefully people sign up for the webinar. I know we've had a bunch of sign ups, but it's, it's really, it's an exciting Time, but it really is different. It's getting guys that normally don't talk to open up and talk, but more importantly, to share. Where do you want to be in five years? Right. I can't tell you how many of the clients that I've talked to so far as you know, I've never even thought about where I want to be in five years, and nobody's ever asked me that question.

Jimmy Purdy [00:21:09]:
Yeah, it's.

Joe Hyde [00:21:09]:
Yeah, it's like as a shop owner and a former shop owner myself, I. Man, I missed. I missed a lot, you know, when it comes to helping my team members and, you know, former employees really grow themselves as a person and a professional. Right. Because it's not just single fold, it's. It's twofold. And now I think I have the opportunity and the growth to be able to pour back into a community that I took marbles from for so long. It's time for me to give some back.

Joe Hyde [00:21:45]:
And that's what we're trying to do.

Jimmy Purdy [00:21:46]:
Yeah. And I mean, I like that. Jocko says the same thing with the bank. Right. So you probably heard the thing that you gotta. You gotta make more. You know, you have more. What do you call it?

Joe Hyde [00:21:57]:
Emotional deposits.

Jimmy Purdy [00:21:58]:
Yeah, the deposits. But you got more expenses than deposits, right?

Joe Hyde [00:22:01]:
Exactly.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:02]:
You got to make sure the bank doesn't get too full, and you want to make sure that your expenses don't get too low either.

Joe Hyde [00:22:06]:
Exactly. You know, the, the analogies. And I love. I love Jocko, too. So, you know, it is a balance. And I think, you know, so many times, even us as, as men and ladies, you know, we. We deplete. We deplete our resources rather quickly and.

Joe Hyde [00:22:26]:
And we don't really get the opportunity or take the opportunity to refill them. Right. To re. Energize.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:33]:
Well, we don't know what to do.

Joe Hyde [00:22:34]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:34]:
And like. And I think you brought that up was you work as a tech, right. Every day. Every day. And all of a sudden years go by and you've become a great technician, but you're like, why am I doing this?

Joe Hyde [00:22:44]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:45]:
Right. And then like, well, what do I do? I used to really enjoy doing this. I don't really enjoy, you know, doing this job anymore.

Joe Hyde [00:22:51]:
Yeah, right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:52]:
You get burned out.

Joe Hyde [00:22:52]:
Yep.

Jimmy Purdy [00:22:53]:
And then like, the one thing that you used to go to work, to do, to vent, like, the one thing that was your thing is now not your thing because now it's your job and you're required to do it. And it's so hard to pull back and say, well, what the hell do I do now?

Joe Hyde [00:23:07]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:23:07]:
I hate now. I hate what I do. I'm burned out. I don't want to do this anymore. This used to be my escape, and now it's not. And that's. I feel like that's so far down the road, I don't know how you pull that back in.

Joe Hyde [00:23:18]:
Yeah. You know, I don't know that there's an easy answer, but I do know that if us in the industry, right, the influencers, the guys that have been doing it for a long time, if we don't pause and really look at what's coming down the line for the next generation, then we're just going to keep churning out the same thing that we've been doing, right? Which. Which is people that come into the industry work themselves basically, you know, to death, so to speak, wear their bodies out and don't have something to look forward to, right? And I think we, as influencers and leaders in the industry, I personally feel like we have a responsibility to the younger generation coming up in the current workforce to say, hey, don't follow the same path, right? Don't crawl in that hole. There's other opportunities, right? I remember making a promise to myself that I didn't want to be turned wrenches at 45, right? And I know we're not on film, but I'll describe it. There was a older gentleman in dealership, and his hands were knurled, right? He had been turning wrenches for, like, 30 years, and hands were all knurled. He. He was at the same dealership. His entire career went through, you know, technician, service writer, service director, and then full circle.

Joe Hyde [00:24:42]:
And when I met him, he was at the end of his career, and he was. He was the porter. He was the driver, right? Courtesy driver. And I remember thinking myself as a young technician, man, I. If I know I don't want to be doing this at 45 and not be able to enjoy my life and have my hands be like that, right? And it's like, you know, helping technicians understand you got to take care of yourself, you got to take care of your body, but more important, you got to take care of your mental health, right? And, you know, I know that some people are one way or the other, but, you know, mental health is what it is. The reason why we recognize it today is because people just didn't talk about it, right? And I think what we're doing at Limitless is we're giving these technicians a platform to talk about things that they need to talk about. But we're also giving them opportunity and resources to be able to grow themselves professionally and personally. And you know, at the end of the day, if one single person comes back, you know, five, ten, three years, whenever, and says, hey, the fact that I got to talk to you guys, the fact that I got some coaching and training from you guys, really made a difference.

Joe Hyde [00:25:59]:
It's worth it.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:00]:
Yeah. The buy in, the buy in is really tough. Right. So we try to do one on one meetings and I've talked about that before and, and that's a big thing culture that we're trying to drive. Right. But it's one thing to sit down with your employees or your techs, your advisors and have a conversation. It's a completely different one to actually make it beneficial. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:21]:
Because sometimes you just can't say things to your employer that you would like to say. Right. And I hate having the culture where I feel like that's not on the table. Right. And I, and I had a story about our recent hire and I said this before, but it helps to say it again. So she came in as a service advisor and we have a real a personality advisor as well that works with her. And then I'm kind of an a personality at work. I like to just get there, keep my head down.

Jimmy Purdy [00:26:50]:
I've done it for so long, like we had just talked about as a technician that I found my own coping mechanisms. I put my head down, I fix a car and that is enough self gratification to fix a car that I'm good. Problem is when I don't fix it and I'm wrong, then it just spirals out of control. And don't, don't talk, talk to me. Don't come near me. Like it's me against the car right now and it's toxic and it's bad and I know and I'm working on it.

Joe Hyde [00:27:11]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:11]:
Beyond that. Yeah, right.

Joe Hyde [00:27:12]:
You become the tiger in the shop.

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:14]:
Like, I understand, I understand I'm not good at it and I need to fix it. Okay. I'm not perfect. So that's my, that's one of my crutches. So we're kind of one and the same. And so with the new hire that came in, I'm very to the point. My wife's very nice. She, she likes to, you know, make sure everything's laid out, set expectations.

Jimmy Purdy [00:27:34]:
But she's gotten more straightforward as we've been together for so long that she's picked up on a lot of the way I am too. And so it was just Funny, because after about a week, she had come in, the new hire had come into the office, and she said, hey, I guess I gotta talk. And I was like, what's up? I'm not really, like, comfortable being here if we're not allowed to, like, have a. Just a simple conversation about our weekend. And I'm like, what? She says, well, just, just. It just feels like, like it's just all about work here and we can't just take a few minutes to have just a simple conversation. Right. You know, the other advisor's got his head down, he's writing quotes, he's kind of like, you know, don't, you know, just put the vibe off.

Jimmy Purdy [00:28:09]:
Like, you don't have to say anything. I'm doing the same thing. I'm in and out of the office. I'm trying to get stuff organized, keep stuff going. I'm making sure she has enough to do. Right. I'm trying to keep the text dispatch. So we're just all in our own little worlds, right? Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:28:21]:
And I didn't even realize, it didn't even, like, cross my mind that that was how she felt. And bless her heart for, like, bringing it up to us. Right. Because it was like, immediately after that, like, I'm so sorry that we made you feel like that's not the. The culture that we have.

Joe Hyde [00:28:36]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:28:36]:
And she, she laughed it off, you know, But I'm like, like, that's not really, like, funny though. Like. No, you know, because it was like, I'm not actively trying to be that person, but it just happens, you know, and it's just. It was just interesting. And it was an interesting story. It was an interesting interaction because, man, how many other people have come into our shop that we had to let go or they quit that had that same thought? And we didn't even, like, we're just blind to it. Right. It's just amazing, you know, and it just brings up the same point.

Jimmy Purdy [00:29:01]:
Like, we have an open door policy. And we told, like when we hired her, we say, if there's any problems, come in and talk to us. And that's just still not enough, like, saying those words. Luckily for us, she decided to come and tell us, right? So we could do something about it. But just because we said it's an open door policy doesn't mean that any of those other hires that we might have had years previous took advantage of that. They're just like, I'm not dealing with this crap. Like, I can't even have. I can't even talk to my Fellow employee, about what happened last weekend or about the game or about whatever, you know, so it's just interesting.

Jimmy Purdy [00:29:33]:
No, it's a mindset.

Joe Hyde [00:29:34]:
Yeah, it is a mindset. And I think it's funny you say that too, because I was just thinking in my head when you were telling that story. I was like, wow, that is. That is a prime example of something I say all the time, which is your perception is not my reality. Right. And so. And I say that because that is sometimes the. The whole set of a shop, right? Head down, doing what needs to be done.

Jimmy Purdy [00:30:00]:
And I think no radio.

Joe Hyde [00:30:01]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't turn on a radio. Definitely don't do that. That would just be disastrous. But, you know, and everybody's just, you know, and all you've got is just the buzz of the workday. Right. And I think it's important. And I think I've even seen some shops do this where I think two.

Joe Hyde [00:30:19]:
Two shops I've been in that I've toured over the last maybe three years, they have a bell and they'll ring it twice a day. And when that bell goes off, everybody stops. Everybody stops. Everybody meets in the middle of the shop and they'll do something funny. Like some of them will have Nerf guns and they'll pull out Nerf guns and start a Nerf gun fight. Right. Wow. And you're thinking, you know, oh, gosh, osha.

Joe Hyde [00:30:47]:
Right. But I think what those shop owners were trying to do is just establish a mindset of, hey, you gotta take a mental break at the end of the day. At some point during the day, you also need that mental break. I think it's, you know, I talked to, and you probably did this as a technician and as a shop owner, you probably still do it. You know, you don't take a lunch.

Jimmy Purdy [00:31:10]:
Right, right.

Joe Hyde [00:31:11]:
I encourage those guys and gals. Take your lunch. Even if it's 30 minutes, the shop is not going to burn to the ground. You need that break. You need to get away from it. You need to get the noise out of your head and get off the property for at least 30 minutes.

Jimmy Purdy [00:31:27]:
Yeah, right.

Joe Hyde [00:31:28]:
And all of these are things that we not only coach and teach and train, but we try to have that mindset of it's people first. People is what makes businesses run profits and things like that are result of the people. So we got to start putting the people first. If we put the people first, the processes and the profits, they'll take care of themselves. Right. People want to do good for other people. Most people, I think Inherently, we're not evil. Right.

Joe Hyde [00:32:09]:
And I think most people want to do a good job, but a lot of people just, all they need is just that little extra, that little extra hello in the morning, that little extra recognition, that little extra break in the afternoon, or that reminder that they need to take that break. And I think absolutely, that's, that's what our focus is really is, is teaching shop owners, technicians, managers, service managers, whoever, to be people first. You know, if a technician is person first, they're going to be more efficient, they're going to be more productive because they're going to start caring about not looking at that car as a car they have to repair, but they're going to start thinking about, hey, that's a, that's a family's car, that is a mother's car, that is my grandmother's car mindset. Right. I used to tell people, hey, look, when I work on your car, I treat it like my own. And we kind of say that for flippantly sometimes in the industry.

Jimmy Purdy [00:33:12]:
Right, Right.

Joe Hyde [00:33:13]:
But I really think that's the mindset we've got to get people to start thinking of on the technician side. But we train them on the sales side to treat customers not like customers, but guests. Right. We had that whole shift, you know, years ago where we're not going to call them customers anymore, we're going to call them guests. Right. It's the guest experience. And we did all these things front, forward, facing. Meanwhile, we left the shop alone just to fix cars.

Joe Hyde [00:33:43]:
But they are people fixing cars that belong to people. So if we start training them and teaching them and coaching them how to have that mindset of people first, your hours are going to take care of yourselves. You're going to get more productive, you're going to take less steps in the shop if you approach it from a people first mindset. And so that's, that's really what we're trying to do and what we're geared for.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:07]:
That's awesome. Yeah, it's, that's huge. And it's, and it's definitely beyond thinking as a family vehicle, but like really looking at, as an extension of that person. Right. Because. Because I think most technicians go in there and they understand the safety and they understand, I mean, if they don't, they need to get out of the industry.

Joe Hyde [00:34:25]:
Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:26]:
They understand it's a safety thing and someone's family in there, but really as an extension of the family. Right. I mean that. Because that's how most people look at their vehicle. Right. They have vehicles for 25, 30 years, I didn't know that. I've had, probably had 15 cars, you know, in my senior year, high school. Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:40]:
Like most of us text you, but when I met my wife, it's. I can still to this day, you know, her parents had the same car they've had for the last 20 years. And they make, It's a huge decision. They, they, they come together as a family and they're like, this might be the next. And they do the whole problem. They're like, all right, that's the vehicle.

Joe Hyde [00:34:55]:
We'Re going to get.

Jimmy Purdy [00:34:56]:
And he's like, the next one I get will be the last one I have for the rest of my life. I'm like, what, are you dying next year?

Joe Hyde [00:35:01]:
Like, yeah, exactly.

Jimmy Purdy [00:35:02]:
What are you talking about, man?

Joe Hyde [00:35:04]:
Yeah, it's funny you say that, because even statistically speaking, something over the last four years. Well, I guess since COVID that really hasn't happened in our industry. The average age of the vehicle on the road has gone up every year, every year, consistently since COVID And that means people are keeping their vehicles longer. Right. Which means we're gonna have more opportunities to have lifelong customers with the same vehicle. Yeah, right. And so help. I think that's even another sign, if you will, for lack of a better word, of why technicians need to be poured into.

Joe Hyde [00:35:45]:
Because they need to understand the importance of. I don't, you know, you go tell a technician, hey, 66% of the time after a guest visits my shop one time, 66% of the time, based on their experience, they won't be back a second time. And so I don't feel, I don't feel like, and I don't really like using that. But I don't want to say I don't think, because I think a lot, sometimes too much. I don't think technicians realize the role that they truly play in the guest experience because it's so underplayed, because we're so forward focused about the customer experience, if that makes sense.

Jimmy Purdy [00:36:27]:
It does make sense. It's like an advisor selling a job out of their back pocket. A technician's looking at a car as if it's their 15th one on their property.

Joe Hyde [00:36:34]:
Right.

Jimmy Purdy [00:36:34]:
Because every technician, as we just agreed, had 15 cars in their high school. Right. So we cycle through cars like people cycle through shoes or clothes or whatever. Right. It's just a second thought. So they don't, they don't see that, that, that aspect of it. Right. And it's the same thing as an advisor writing a quote Other back pocket.

Jimmy Purdy [00:36:52]:
Like, I couldn't spend that much money on a car. That's not your decision, man. You have no idea what their financial situation is. And it doesn't matter. They came here to get their car fixed. This is what it's going to cost to do it, right?

Joe Hyde [00:37:02]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:03]:
Yes or no? And I, I think bringing up that technician aspect is a huge, huge. That's a huge thing that's definitely missed in the shop. In our shop, I can tell you right now.

Joe Hyde [00:37:11]:
Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:12]:
So come bring this thing to a close here.

Joe Hyde [00:37:13]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:15]:
What does that process look like? So, in a nutshell, your elevator pitch. How do we. How does it work and how. And how do we get in touch with it? Yeah.

Joe Hyde [00:37:22]:
So. So obviously you can reach us on social media. Limitless leadership. You know, Joe Hyde, Josh Parnell, Brandon Jones. We. We've kind of got three legs of the stool, if you will. So, you know Josh, man, I can't talk enough about him.

Jimmy Purdy [00:37:38]:
He's.

Joe Hyde [00:37:38]:
He's a great leadership coach. Just absolutely fantastic. Brandon, when it comes to sales, I don't think I've even seen somebody that's, that's better in the industry. And then, you know, I'm not going to sit here and pat myself on the back. That's just not who I am. But, you know, I've been doing this a long time. I worked in the field for quite some time as a technician. I still like to turn wrenches.

Joe Hyde [00:38:03]:
Right. If my body let me do it, I'd probably still be doing it because I do love it. I love the fix it part. So you can, you can go on LinkedIn, you can go to the website. That's how you reach us. The process is, hey, it's a free call, right? Book a call with us. We'll go over your needs, your shop, we'll tell you all about us, what we do, what we have to offer, and then you make a decision. It's not a hard sales pitch.

Joe Hyde [00:38:29]:
It's, hey, we're gonna. We're gonna give you some of our time and we're gonna give you some invested information about your shop and what we can and can't do, and then we go from there. Right? It's just a conversation.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:46]:
It's awesome, man. Well, Joe, I really appreciate you taking.

Joe Hyde [00:38:48]:
I appreciate you having me, man.

Jimmy Purdy [00:38:49]:
Busy day at Apex. I know you have plenty of other things you probably want to be doing, but. No, this has been invaluable information.

Joe Hyde [00:38:55]:
Oh, no, this is good. This is good. And I appreciate you giving us a few minutes to be able to share kind of our vision and future of what we want to see the industry do.

Jimmy Purdy [00:39:03]:
It's awesome. Well, we might be in touch soon, so.

Joe Hyde [00:39:05]:
Absolutely. Sounds good, man. Thank you.