90 - Embracing Change for the Better, Thomas Sciortino - Total Automotive

90 - Embracing Change for the Better, Thomas Sciortino - Total Automotive

February 6th, 2024 - 00:45:25

 

Show Summary:
Jimmy Lea sits down with Thomas Sciortino of Total Automotive, discussing how Thomas's 38 years of industry experience have shaped his unique business strategies. They delve into Total Automotive's growth, their speciality in complex auto repairs, and how they've become a diagnostic and programming leader. Listeners will also get an insider's view of the shop's operational structure and the adaptability that's crucial in today's automotive industry. Tune in for this masterclass in sustaining and innovating a business in an ever-evolving field.

 

Host(s):

Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development

 

Guest(s):

Thomas Sciortino , Owner of Total Automotive

 

Episode Highlights:
(00:00:00) - Introduction of Thomas Sciortino and the legacy of Total Automotive.
(00:02:45) - Discussion on the origins and evolution of Total Automotive's business model.
(00:06:30) - Insights into the specialization in complex repairs and how it sets Total Automotive apart.
(00:10:15) - The importance of staying ahead in diagnostics and programming within the automotive industry.
(00:16:00) - Strategies for business growth and the significance of adaptability.
(00:20:20) - The role of customer service and relationship management in business success.
(00:25:00) - A deep dive into the operational strategies that ensure efficiency and productivity at Total Automotive.
(00:31:30) - How Total Automotive handles training and education for their technicians.
(00:37:50) - Thomas Sciortino's perspective on the future of automotive service and technology.
(00:42:10) - Closing thoughts on maintaining a competitive edge in the automotive industry.

 

We want to hear from our listeners! After diving into Thomas Sciortino's journey and strategies for doubling business growth, what's one pivotal moment or strategy in your career that significantly impacted your success?

Share your insights and stories with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and your experience could be highlighted in a future episode.

 

 

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Episode Transcript:

 

Leading Edge Episode 90

Kent Bullard: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Institute's Leading Edge, a show dedicated to giving automotive professionals the tools and education needed to succeed. The topics we cover are all geared towards running a better business, leading a better life, and ultimately changing the industry for, well, the better. Here's what's coming up.

Thomas Sciortino: You know what though, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I mean, learn as you, as you go and, you know, biggest thing, adapt. I mean, I think about all the things I've had to adapt in this business over 38 years. It's been crazy. You have to do what works for you, what works for your staff, what works for your customer base.

You know? So, it's, that's what makes us unique is there's no one way to do things. The trades are coming back, so, you know, it's, it's good things, finally. That sure is.

Kent Bullard: We need your help by submitting questions or topics to info at we are the institute. com. We can continue to provide relevant content to you, the listener, but for now, what are we waiting for?

Let's get

Thomas Sciortino: into it. Total Automotive, Thomas Shortino. How are you doing, Tom? [00:01:00] I'm good. And where are you located at Thomas? Buffalo, New York. Uh, actually in a little suburb, just outside of Buffalo. Nice.

Jimmy Lea: I love Buffalo. It's a beautiful, beautiful area. I love flying in and out of there, especially to go see

Thomas Sciortino: Niagara.

Well, I'm hosting in July, so you can come down and come in July. When, when in July are you hosting? Uh, I think it's the 10th through the 13th or something like

Jimmy Lea: that. 10th through the 13th. Man, I might be able to do that. That would be

Thomas Sciortino: awesome. Yeah. Come down, catch the falls while you're here.

Jimmy Lea: Oh, yeah. And we're, we're talking about sending my son up to Alaska to work with some friends that own a, uh, uh, uh, not a fishery, but, uh, he's a fishing guide and he's looking for a deckhand, somebody that can help out.

So we're talking about sending him up there for a month or two. That might work. Perfect.

Thomas Sciortino: Oh, that'd be cool. That would be cool.

Jimmy Lea: So Tom, a question for you. When, when you got [00:02:00] where, let's talk about where your shop is today. What, what is your footprint look like today? What's the snapshot?

Thomas Sciortino: Uh, you know what?

We're, uh, we're in about a 7, 500 square foot building. We can fit, uh, get seven lifts. Uh, to drive on ramps, um, for alignment truck work. We're doing, uh, ADAS calibrations, which is a new adventure for us, but that's starting to build momentum. Um, we're located right on a corner of a very busy intersection.

We purchased the building about eight years ago, and, uh, since we've purchased the building, um, our business has really exploded.

Jimmy Lea: Wow. That's phenomenal. And so your shop, is it, uh, I mean, it's lucky you're on the corner of a busy intersection. Are you doing general auto repair, or are you doing fleet auto repair?

Thomas Sciortino: So we're doing, we're [00:03:00] doing general auto repair. Um, we're pretty heavy into diagnostic programming. Um, we do a considerable amount of programming and work for other shops around us. Um, so it's kind of, uh, our inside joke is all roads lead to total automotive. If they can't fix it, um, they give us a call and send it down here.

So, um. So we do a lot of work for shop to shop type business, um, which is set us up for the ADAS calibrations because we already had a lot of relationships built with other shops. So now they're calling us for calibration work. Um, so we're kind of, uh, we've always tried to set ourself aside. We have a fairly large open area in the middle of the shop.

We're set up similar to a dealership. So, um, it's. With calibration sizes, um, you know, open space is important. So, [00:04:00] uh, we have that. A lot of shops don't have that type of real estate to do calibrations. So it sets us aside. Uh, we found a niche area that we could utilize that area. So it's been good so far.

We've been in it about a year and it's building, you know. Nice.

Jimmy Lea: That's beautiful. And it's also a great location to be at where all roads

Thomas Sciortino: lead to Tom. Exactly. Exactly. Like I said, it's an inside joke between myself and the staff, but, uh, you know, it, it seems like, you know, other shops. We'll take a repair to a certain point and they can't get past that point.

So they bring it to us. And, you know, we're pretty fortunate. So that's

Jimmy Lea: super cool. And how many technicians do you have working for you right now? How many service advisors filling up that 7, 500 square

Thomas Sciortino: feet? So I've got two service advisors. I've got, uh, three full time techs. And then I've got two part time GS techs.

That fill out one GS per day. Um, so I always have a [00:05:00] GS tech on. Um, we just recently. Took one of our bays that's kind of sits all by itself and designed it around fast in fast out service GS type maintenance tires, oil changes, New York State inspections, that type of stuff. So we weren't using the back big shop.

Or that, you know, faster turnaround type stuff. Right. And it becomes a feeder now for the, for the, for the back shop, because, you know, they'll, they'll do an oil change. They'll find all kinds of maintenance services or other services on the vehicle. And then we just run it around into the other shop for the techs to work on.

So it's become a feeder for the techs. Gotta love it.

Jimmy Lea: Gotta love it. That's super cool. Well, congratulations on the success you're at now and the future is bright. So I'd love to go back a little bit to talk about when, Tom, did you start tinkering with engines, motors, cars? When did [00:06:00] you start?

Thomas Sciortino: So my father was a, a diesel truck mechanic.

So he, it was kind of always in my history. Um, so I always tinkered with him in the driveway back, uh, growing up. Um, when, uh, I turned 17, 18, when I was getting out of high school and going into college, um, I was faced with my two loves were automotive. Um, or construction. And if you remember back, uh, we're talking 80, 1980, the contract construction bust was going on at that point and there were no jobs.

And so my thought pattern was, why would I want to go to school for construction and come out with no jobs? So I changed my direction, went into automotive and I've never collected a day of unemployment in my entire life. So it's, it's been kind of rewarding for me. Um, I, uh, I went to [00:07:00] our local community college, um, Erie community college.

Um, they had just started a, um, associates in automotive technology. Um, and I was in the second graduating class out of that community college in 83. Oh, my word. Kind of the ironic part is flash forward 40 years later. Um, I now sit on the advisory board for the automotive, yeah, for the same college. So I'm given back to the college now, 40 years later for what they did for me a long time ago.

Jimmy Lea: That's so cool. And, and how, how has that program grown or contracted or what, what's been the process you've seen it go

Thomas Sciortino: through? Oh, it's grown. Yeah. I mean, literally when we, when I started, there was hardly any equipment in the shop. We were, we were, we had one cutaway chassis that we would work on. And, you know, the teachers would bring in their cars and, you know, so there was, there was virtually nothing when I [00:08:00] went to school there.

And, uh, now they've, they've got, uh, slightly under 200 students. I'm going through. They've got co op programs in the school. Um, they've got a general program that's going through a transformation right now. So it really has, um, grown. Um, they're talking expansion of the building. They're talking about expanding different programs in there.

So, you know, in the next 5 years are going to be pretty exciting times in the college locally here because it's moving. Yeah,

Jimmy Lea: that's beautiful. And when, when you work with these students, say you're on the board, I don't know if you work with them directly or not. Is there any indication of the, the, the, the stickiness of them coming into the automotive industry?

Are they all staying in the industry or do they find that they're busting out and going

Thomas Sciortino: somewhere else? You know what, it's, it's a mix, but we are seeing a lot of, uh, [00:09:00] kids that are using, um, the automotive program as a, a springboard to get into, uh, like, uh, Moog or engineering or elevator technician, or, you know, a lot of them are, are moving to other careers.

And that's one of the things we talk about on a regular basis. How do we keep these kids engaged in the program? Um, to go on and it's a real, it's a real problem. It definitely is. But, um, but you know what, there's a lot of good kids in the program. Um, uh, you know, I've got my two GS techs are literally right.

One I put in the program. And one was an intern that I took out of the program that now is working for me three days a week. So, um, so I'm using it as a recruiting tool also, um, not only am I, you know, on the board and giving my ideas and my, my, uh, my, uh, future. To it, but, uh, I'm, I'm also being able to use it as a recruiting tool.

Cause I'm making the connections with the kids, [00:10:00] you know, right at the

Kent Bullard: school. What if we told you that you could get quality training and education conveniently and without emptying your pockets? Our gear platform presents great education and resources for automotive shops, courses led by experts inside and outside our industry, a community of like minded people to engage with and a resource library at your fingertips.

With a monthly membership, you can gain access to every course we have in the library with the ability to watch.

Jimmy Lea: With 200 students there, I mean, the, the pool for you to, to choose from is huge.

Thomas Sciortino: Yeah. And, and, and you know what, there's. There's a certain amount of kids that are quality kids that you're going to get the top 10%, you know, are going to, you know, stick in it. Um, you know, one of our biggest pushes right now in the college is to, to move the program forward, um, and teach the high [00:11:00] tech stuff that's coming out, the programming, the electronics, the EVs, uh, you know, all the diagnostic skills.

That's where our focus is to try and, you know, get the program moving forward on those types of things.

Jimmy Lea: Nice. I love that. And I love that we're talking about the education, the college side of things that the, that preps them and helps them get there here. You are graduated from high school. You, you thought maybe construction switched gears, went into automotive full time, no pun intended there, switch gears to go automotive.

How many years did you turn a wrench? And at what point did you buy or start

Thomas Sciortino: your first location? I was way too young. I, uh, I, I turned wrenches from, well, probably 1980 until 86. Um, I, some of the local chain stores, uh, ended up at a Goodyear store. It was my final [00:12:00] stop at the chain store route and, um, basically said I could do it better.

And, um, at 23 years old. Um, I was just telling my staff a few minutes ago, my story, and, uh, I opened up my doors with a 10, 000 loan from my parents in 1986. And, you know, it was, you know, talk about, you know, operating on a shoestring, you know, it was, it was rough, but, you know, it was rewarding because I was able to open up.

Um, one of the day I opened up, I had 300 in my checking account, and that was enough to buy my first day's parts and, uh, let it roll from there. So, um, we made it work. 38 years later, I'm still in business. So

Jimmy Lea: you, here you are, you start, you've got a 10, 000 note from mom and dad. You've got, uh, the first couple of cars that roll in, you're buying the parts for them.

Is this a single bay shop, a two bay [00:13:00] shop? Are you working out of a storage unit?

Thomas Sciortino: No, it was four base. It was four base. Four base, one lift. Um, you know, tire machine, wheel balancer, um, some, you know, hand tools, a floor jack. Uh, I mean, we made it work. Um, you know, but it's, it was, it was, uh. You couldn't do that now, you know, there's no way you could do what I did At 23 years old nowadays.

Yeah. Wow

Jimmy Lea: Wow, you know, I I do hear of uh guys going out and starting that Um, certainly not in a four base shop but I do hear young guys that are going out and they're starting the mobile side or they're starting out of Mom and dad's garage or out of mom and dad's barn Or, um, you know, on the side of the house, what, what advice would you give to those people?

Like, you, I mean, you started at 23 and you're like saying, dang, dude, I was just [00:14:00] way too young. But that also gave you what you have today,

Thomas Sciortino: that drive, that, that

Jimmy Lea: hour, that, that industry knowledge information that, you know, no die experience. What, what advice would you give to somebody who was starting out in the industry?

Thomas Sciortino: You know what? There's a lot of advice. Um, things that I did wrong. Um, you know what? I, I thought I could do it by myself. Um, I, I didn't have the mentors that are around nowadays. Um, there just wasn't mentoring back then. Every, every shop was competition. Now, every shop is willing to work with every other shop and, and we work together, you know, I wish that was around 25 years ago.

It wasn't, um, but find a mentor, um, find somebody you're comfortable with. Take advice, um, training, I'm telling you, training, training, training, not, [00:15:00] not so much fixing cars, you know, we're all technicians, we can fix cars, but take the business training, um, you know, learn about your numbers, you know, numbers matter, um.

You know, there's a lot of stuff now available. The internet's a wonderful thing. You can find whatever you need on the internet now. Um, you know, just soak it all in because there's so much information out there. Don't think you can just do it on your own. Oh,

Jimmy Lea: yeah. So true. So when you first started out, um, uh, I'm guessing that the computer systems weren't really there available.

You're probably doing everything by hand. What point did you implement your first point of

Thomas Sciortino: sale system? Um, it was probably somewhere around early nineties. Um, as a matter of fact, the program was called, um, shop T. Oh, yeah. You know, it was a DOS based program and yeah, blue screen, blue screen [00:16:00] and uh, yeah, I mean, it was, you know, as basic as basic to get it, you know, but, but, you know, when I first started.

I didn't think computers were even a thing. I, you know, it was pen and paper, catalog racks and, you know, and phones, you know, that was how we did business. But yeah, so computers, uh, that's been a big learning curve for me. I mean, you know, I went from not knowing even how to boot up a computer to, you know, now I'm programming, programming them on cars.

So, you know, it's been a long learning curve on keeping up with technology. Yeah, isn't that super cool? Yeah, I wouldn't, you know what though, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I mean, learn as you, as you go and learn, you know, biggest thing adapt. I mean, I mean, I think about all the things I've had to adapt in this business over 38 years.

It's been crazy. No, for

Jimmy Lea: sure. For sure. For all my goodness, just to even look at the, the, the car changes that have [00:17:00] happened from the eighties to the nineties to the two thousands and the 2010s and the 2020s

Thomas Sciortino: carburetors, half carburetors, half electronic. No computers to computers, you know, it, you know, half of it didn't work.

It was, I always tell people it's surprising. We're able to get a car to run in the eighties because you know, they literally barely ran.

Jimmy Lea: No, that's so true. That's true. That that's funny. So let's look down the road. The future. What is the future hold for Tom and, uh, total your shop, total auto care.

Thomas Sciortino: Total Automotive.

Jimmy Lea: What is the future for Tom and Total

Thomas Sciortino: Automotive? So we're, we're in transition right now. I mean, Chris is my, uh, service manager who you met actually at the group meeting. Um, and, um, he is the heir apparent to the business. So, [00:18:00] um, we are right now in transition. He's taking a larger role. Um, he pretty much handles the day to day operations now.

Um, I'm still here every day, but he handles it. I do a lot of backend office work now. Um, and my new role is going to be, you know, slipping into the background and, and letting the ship, you know, sail out of port and I'm going to, uh, make sure that it gets where it needs to go. But he's, he's doing a great job and, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna move it into his hands more and more over the years.

Oh, that's

beautiful.

Jimmy Lea: Congratulations. So the, the process has started. When will the succession plan? When does that end? Where, where's the date that you finally hand over the keys and say,

Thomas Sciortino: I don't think, I don't think we've gotten there yet. Um, you know, that's pretty open ended. I mean, I just, I'll be 61 next month.

So, uh, so I'm, I'm, I still got a few years [00:19:00] left in me. Right. My wife says I'll never retire, but, uh, yeah, you know, you know, it's, it's going to be a slow transition that he takes over more and more and more. Um, you know, and, and hopefully I'll be able to enjoy some time. Out of the shop, which is a big change for me.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. You got to figure out what hobbies you want to start developing, like golfing or fishing or basket weaving. Who knows? I mean,

Thomas Sciortino: find something. Yeah. Oh, I'll always keep busy. I got stuff to do. Well,

Jimmy Lea: and so we talk about the changes in the automotive industry, where it started, where you were in the eighties and barely keeping cars running to where half was a computer.

Half was internal combustion. Now, it seems to all be computer driven. What do you see the future of the automotive

Thomas Sciortino: industry? You know, it's. It's, it's a weird time right now because there's so many different directions are [00:20:00] trying to go at once. Um, do I see autonomous? I think we're moving towards that, especially since I'm involved with the ADS so much.

Um, these cars are pretty much driving themselves almost now. Um, the EV side, I don't know that I'm confident that the EV is where everything lies. Um, I mean, my own personal opinion is my opinion is that, um, it's trying to be jammed down the consumer's throats, um, to buy EVs and I don't think they're adapting to it very well.

Um, I think we're, we're into hybrids I think are going to be still a big part of it. Um, and I, I, I truly think there's technology out there that hasn't even been released yet that's, that's coming down the pipe. So, you know, I think that EV may be a stepping stone to something else. A stepping

Jimmy Lea: stone. So some of the alternative fuels that I've seen is, uh, for example,

Thomas Sciortino: [00:21:00] hydrogen.

Yep. There's hydrogen, there's synthetic, uh, gasoline or synthetic fuel. Okay. That can take the place of gas. So I see those two things. You know, possibly coming up and sliding in there at some point in time. Nice. But I think we're just too early for that. I think they need to, to, to, uh, get the technology narrowed down a little bit more.

Yep.

Jimmy Lea: And no matter where the future of the industry goes, the automotive industry, uh, for maintenance, for repairs is strong. Cars are still going to break. They're still going to need attention.

Thomas Sciortino: They're still going to have tires. They're still going to have brakes. They're still going to have suspension.

They're still going to have electronics on them. So, I mean, there's, we may have to change what we, we do, but I mean, think about it. I mean, just brakes were barely around when I started in this business. So, you know, did we adapt to that? Did we adapt to fuel injection? Did we adapt [00:22:00] to, you know, computers and programming?

I mean, our business, we just adapt. That's how we do it.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. So that, that might be the biggest advice for anybody entering the industry is be willing to adapt, be willing to look at the new, be willing to look at change, be willing to look at what's coming next.

Thomas Sciortino: You've got to have an open mind. And, you know, you, you, if you're a business owner, you have to be a visionary.

You have to be able to, to envision where the future is and not look at. One year, look at five years. Where do you want to be five years from now? You know, that's, you know, that's where my vision, you know, with Chris, with changing over to having, uh, you know, Chris take a larger role. I'm looking five years down the road.

I'm not looking at next year. Right.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. What does five years down the road look like? The most

Kent Bullard: crucial interaction our customer has with us is with our service advisors. So [00:23:00] why not have it be with someone who's confident and capable? We train hundreds of top performing advisors, utilizing the latest technology, tactics, resources, and training methods.

Placing them in a group of their peers, our training keeps them accountable, engaged, and dynamic at the counter. We believe in developing career oriented advisors so that they have a place they can call home And you don't have to stress any more about turnover. If you're looking for the next sales training opportunity to provide your advisor with the best possible outcome, experience what it's like to have an Institute trained advisor.

Book a discovery call today at wearetheinstitute. com. There's a lot of sales training programs out there, so why not choose the right one?

Jimmy Lea: Yeah, there's so much to, uh, to adapt to so much change that's happening in the world. Alternative fuels, electric vehicles, still has brakes, still has brake pads, but who knows what's next?

Thomas Sciortino: Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, and, and training's a big part of that, you know? Yeah.

Jimmy Lea: Well, speaking [00:24:00] of training, so, uh, how much training did you get as a technician? And how much training do you give your technicians today? Two part question there.

Thomas Sciortino: So, when I first started out, You know, the training route was, you know, go to a three hour seminar or something held by a part supplier.

So we didn't get a lot of training back years ago. We learned a lot on our own. Um, but nowadays, I mean, I encourage my staff to take any training we possibly can. Um, I pay for it. Um, if I could hold something in house. And host other shops. Um, actually the room I'm sitting in right now, we created about a year ago, which is a training room, um, right above my office.

Um, and, you know, as far as, you know, I encourage my text to do ASE testing. [00:25:00] So, um, they, they get an incentive to do that. Um, so I encourage them to take testing. Um, we're going to, um, incentivize a training in our pay program in the near future, um, that component has been built into it. So at some point in time that will kick in where, uh, if they get a, uh, a, an amount of hours per quarter or poor year, they will get a pay incentive to have.

So we're encouraging training. It's a, it's a big component of what my future looks like.

Jimmy Lea: And a lot of automotive industry is a hands on industry. Um, how do you, how do your technicians adapt to the online learning versus the face to face learning?

Thomas Sciortino: They hate it. They don't like doing online. We have, um, we're a tech net shop.

So [00:26:00] we have. The ability to do CTI training and, um, they, they really don't utilize it the way they should, um, it's tough, you know, to have them do it technicians, you know, by nature, want to touch and feel things and, and have hands on and so if I can do a training in house, like when we brought the hotel, um, ADAS system in.

We had the trainer come in and spend an entire day with us so that they could set up the machine, you know, go through calibrations, ask questions, move the machine around, um, get familiar with the equipment. So it, it made a world of difference. One day of training and they were all able to do, you know, ADAS calibrations.

So it makes a huge difference. Yeah,

Jimmy Lea: it does. It does. I agree with you. I think that, um, a lot of. Our industry is hands on. Um, [00:27:00] we, we, we want to be, we have to have hands on. That's, that's the way we learn. We're very tactile. So I totally agree with you there. So with your, your, um, training room, you've got now, how many people can you fit in there?

How often are you doing trainings? What does that look like for

Thomas Sciortino: you? So, um, it's, it's a room. We could hold about 15 people. Um, so we put some classroom tables up here. Um, and the room doubles as a classroom, a meeting room, we hold our shop meetings up here. Um, it's also a lunchroom for the guys. Um, it's a conference room for me if I need to get away and come up here and be private.

So it's a multi use facility up here. Um, it literally was dead space, uh, that was collecting junk. And a year ago, about a year and a half ago, I came up with the vision of putting the training room up here. We cleaned all the junk out and within a month there were walls up and it was a [00:28:00] room. So, um, it's a, it's a great area for the guys to come up here.

Um, and, and just get away from the shop for a few minutes. Yeah, so what

Jimmy Lea: what does it cost to bring in a trainer for let's say a An evening training or a day's training or or what do you do? Do you do it for a full weekend training? What does that usually look

Thomas Sciortino: like? Well, it all depends on the class. I mean some classes are even available free um, you know, uh The local general motors dealership has classes that we host Um, you know if I do have to bring a trainer in it depends on the cost Um, and, and if we do do that, we'll, we'll split the cost up.

Um, and it'll either be a few shops will sponsor it and send their texts, or, you know, we'll come up with a number of 25, 50 bucks, whatever, and have them attend a class, but, um, you know, every, every situation is different.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. [00:29:00] Yeah. Yeah. Hard to, to broad brush that. And when you do technician, when you do do training, all of your technicians are in attendance, there's, there's generally breaking down the door to get in or do you have to

Thomas Sciortino: force it?

No, you know what? It's our guys attend. I mean, they know it's a required thing when we do it. So, um, so they're required to do it. Other shops. Um, it depends on the topic. Um, you know, sometimes you'll get a very basic topic, uh, you know, evap, let's say. Um, and a lot of the experienced techs are good at it, but there may be some newer techs in the business that need it.

So we try to do either, you know, something that's a little more advanced. Sometimes, and then some basic classes to catch some of the younger guys. Um, so it depends on the topic. What do you find

Jimmy Lea: is the most popular topics for your technicians? What do they request?

Thomas Sciortino: Um, I mean, springtime [00:30:00] AC seems to be a big one.

I mean, we get an AC season and, you know, only a short season early in the year here in Buffalo. Um, so we got to catch it the right time. Um, AC seems to be a big one. Uh, diagnostic is always, you know, one of those things. Electrical always seems to be a popular one. Um, there there's nobody that's really good at electrical.

You, you never ever say you're an expert. So, um, electrical classes always tend to be a good one too.

Jimmy Lea: Nice. And do you find that, uh, in Buffalo, you're still working with the internal combustion engines? There aren't a lot of electric

Thomas Sciortino: vehicles. Yeah, we don't see, we don't see very many EVs. It has not hit. I mean, we see them.

But not like if you were in California or some of the larger cities, you know, we're very, very limited. I mean, there's nobody in Buffalo specializing in EV yet. Nobody.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. I know that there's a couple of guys in Minneapolis, Minnesota that are [00:31:00] specialized in the EV side of things. And, um, that I find that interesting too, because it's so cold there, but you know, they're

Thomas Sciortino: able to do it.

Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, we're not seeing that specialization yet. Yeah. Um, but I mean, even the A DAS going back to that. Yeah. Um, I took it, when I was researching it, I took a trip to Philadelphia and I, and I visited some shops down there. Um, they were four to five years ahead of us on a DAS. They had already been doing it several years, and it hadn't even been an issue up here.

Um, so Buffalo tends to be three to five years behind the curve. On some of the trends in the industry. So, um, we always play catch up on that type of stuff

Jimmy Lea: And and is that from a viewpoint that people aren't buying the newer vehicles so they don't have those newer systems

Thomas Sciortino: Uh a lot of it a lot of it.

Yeah. Yeah, there just wasn't the the [00:32:00] need up here Um, and it will go back to training. I mean the education. I mean I do go out And visit other shops and one of the biggest responses when I walk in the door and say, Hey, you know, um, I'm here to, you know, let you know, we do a desk and they're like, what's that, you know, we don't, we don't see that.

And when I start educating them about, you know, yes, you are seeing it, you know, if you do an alignment, you are seeing it. If you take a bumper cover off, some cases you are seeing it and they're like, oh, we don't have a problem with it. And the thought is, is they don't have a light come on on their dash.

They pull the car out. There's no problem until that car runs into somebody. So, um, so it's a lot of education in this area. We don't, we just don't have the education, you know, up in this area to teach shops.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah, they don't know what they don't know and it's lucky that [00:33:00] they've got you to be able to come in and say, Hey, by the way, this is what we're looking at.

And this is why it's important. This is why you need to make sure you bring your cars to us because we'll calibrate them

Thomas Sciortino: properly. Well, and it's even educating not only the shops, but the consumers also. Yeah.

Jimmy Lea: Um, um, turn back the dial a little bit with me. Tell me about, uh, uh, inspection programs. Are you guys using a digital vehicle inspection program?

Thomas Sciortino: We are. Yeah, we, um, we have the digital inspections built right into our jobs. So our can jobs have. DVIs built right into them. So if we're, um, we're doing a maintenance service, which we call our maintenance services, total maintenance packages, um, you know, it will have, if it's an oil change, it will have a, um, DVI built into it.

If it's a brake inspection, it will have a DVI. Um, if it's a diagnostic, it [00:34:00] has a DVI. So anytime we put the job code in, it has those things built right into it.

Jimmy Lea: Nice, which makes it quicker and easier for your service

Thomas Sciortino: advisors as well. Oh yeah. And you know, we use DVIs for not only. You know, advising the customer what they need, but it's also documentation for us.

Um, we take pictures, we do videos, um, we attach TSBs into our work orders. Um, so all of our work orders now. We've gone to attaching PDF electronic files right into the notes fields. Um, all of our diagnostic pre scans, post scans, tire reports, um, all get attached, um, via PDF, and so it becomes a, uh, a great tool.

Or [00:35:00] not only a history on the vehicle, um, but also a, um, cover your ass type program where if somebody comes back and has a question down the road, we can call up those previous work orders to talk to them. Yeah.

Jimmy Lea: In a world that wants to sue you for anything, it's important to see why.

Thomas Sciortino: Well, it's, it's, uh, it's a shame, but we have to, we have to move towards that now.

Yeah.

Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And luckily for you, you've got a great system, a great program that not only educates the client, the customer, there is a huge element there that helps to protect you as, as the

Thomas Sciortino: business owner. Well, and I mean, I think COVID, you know, made us adapt. Um, you know, with, uh, digital payment. Now we can, you know, text to pay for our work orders.

We can transmit work for work orders, get approvals right over the, the, um, the [00:36:00] text of the work order. So we don't have to pick up the phone. Um, there's there's so many tools out there now. That uh, we can use nowadays. Oh, yeah makes

Jimmy Lea: it it makes uh, it's a convenience Super convenient super convenient Um at what point in your career Did you seek out a mentor a coach a trainer?

Uh a sounding board. When did you start with training?

Thomas Sciortino: This will blow your mind It'll be a year, April. Oh, wow. Well, congratulations. I said, I waited way too long. So, so to that point, number

Jimmy Lea: one, why did you wait so long? What have you found a value of it? What's coming around from it? I think I have so many questions for you, but, uh, the start, start with there with the first question is what was, what was your mindset that you didn't start

Thomas Sciortino: until April?[00:37:00]

I turned 60. So I knew. That I wanted to change and start transitioning to Chris and I knew I was going to do it by myself. Um, so it was kind of a light bulb went off and said, you know, all those excuses I had all those years. Didn't have enough money, didn't have any time, was too busy, you know, raising kids, raising family, you know, taking the kids to hockey.

You know, all those excuses I used all those years were gone. So I said, you know what, now's the time. Um, and, and I'm telling you, it was not easy. Um, the first three, four months, uh, John was my coach mentor and, um, you know, I, I had a lot to do, um, but you know what, now I'm rolling with it. And, and I'm telling you, it's the best thing I ever did was get involved with a coach, get involved with the group process.[00:38:00]

Um, and, uh, I got nothing bad to say about what has happened to my business in the last 10 months. So yeah, it's all good stuff.

Jimmy Lea: So what, what have you seen? What has happened since April, since you started with the coaching and training, since you started with a group environment, what have you seen in your business?

What are the tangibles that you can say

Thomas Sciortino: that, that, and that? So. Immediately, uh, the first thing, uh, John told me was to slow my car countdown and start to go with the 300 percent rule and he cut my schedule in half of what I was normally scheduling. And I'm telling you, my, my staff looked at me like I had jumped off the deep end and, and, you know, gone nuts, but, um, you know, they bought into it once.

The once the first [00:39:00] six weeks were done, um, they bought into it and in 10 months, um, I just looked at the numbers this morning. Our average tickets up 50%. Um, wow. Our, uh, our car count is down 12%. Um, our, uh, GP is up about 29%. Um, we're, we're, I mean, we are turning some really good numbers. We got a little bit more work to do, but, um, our numbers have gone way up.

Um, my staff has seen, um, their pay going up 30%. Um, we changed our pay plan. So they're, they're, they're making 30 percent more. Um, I, uh, I paid for new equipment. We just put a new alignment rack in while I told you we did the ADAS. Um, and, um, we've added, um, a second service writer. Um, so, you know, everything, and you know what?[00:40:00]

I'm sitting in an office now instead of turning wrenches, you know, so I've learned how to put the wrenches away. I barely go in my toolbox anymore. Um, so it's, it's a good thing. Everything's good. Man. That's beautiful.

Jimmy Lea: That's gorgeous here. Here you went 40 years. Before you hired a coach and trainer. Now that you've got a coach and trainer, your business is 50 percent

Thomas Sciortino: more than what it used to be.

Yep. And you know what? I, I'm involved with a, a local business, um, group that we've, we formed. Um, it was actually formed from a vendor. Um, eight years ago, and it started out as a couple of shops getting together for breakfast. Um, and I was invited to it about five years ago, and it's, we've grown to 15 shops.

We get together once a month on a Thursday [00:41:00] morning at 6. 15 in the morning. We have breakfast. Um, and we talk about. We're not competition. We leave our badges at the door. Um, and we're all work together and we take and through this group organization that we formed. Um, we do career fairs together at the college.

We do. Um, we, we share ideas. On everything from management systems to coaching, to mentoring, to, to insurance. I mean, you name it, the topics come up and we talk about them and, you know, we may start with the intention to talk about one topic and it moves to something else. And we spend an hour and a half talking about that topic.

So. It's been a great experience because we all work together. Um, and the

Jimmy Lea: next thing, you know, you guys are ordering

Thomas Sciortino: lunch because you've been there just chin wagging over all these

Jimmy Lea: conversations, all these different topics. [00:42:00] I mean,

Thomas Sciortino: we do shop tours where, uh, we'll do it at a restaurant most of the time, but like this past month, I hosted it here.

And, you know, everybody got here at 6. 15 in the morning. Nobody left before nine. So, um, you know, it's, it's great because you get to see how other shops operate and talk to, to the employees, talk to everybody together in a, in a shop experience. It's good things. Oh,

Jimmy Lea: it's, it's so cool. You know, I, I've had the privilege over the last 10 years of visiting shops all across North America.

And there's nothing better than going in and visiting these shops, seeing what makes them unique, what makes them special, what makes them different from every other shop that's in North America.

Thomas Sciortino: You know, everybody has their own way of running things. There's no one right way to do it. Oh, yeah. No. You know, it's all different.

It is. It is. Everybody has their own way. And it's beautiful and they're they're not wrong. [00:43:00] No, they you have to do what works for you what works for your staff What works for your customer base, you know, so Um, you know, it's it's that's what makes us unique is there's no one way to do things. Oh, man. I love

Jimmy Lea: it I love it.

I love it. So what advice would you give to? The shop owner that's been in the business for 10 years 20 years 30 years. What advice would you give them going

Thomas Sciortino: forward? Don't wait to get help. If you, if you think you're running a good business, just imagine how good it could be if you knew a little bit more.

And that's what I thought. I mean, I had a good business. I was able to function every day. Um, my business is twofold better than it was 10 months ago. Um, and if you're willing to put the work in and leave your ego at the door and come out and do [00:44:00] something. You will find results. I mean, that's the biggest thing is, uh, you know, be willing to look with an open mind and move forward because you're going to find out things you didn't even know.

Yeah.

Jimmy Lea: Cause there's, there's things, you know, you don't know, but how about that whole entire world of things, you know, don't know that

Thomas Sciortino: you don't know. Absolutely. Absolutely. Like I said, I'll go back to the. Cut your schedule in half and and everybody thought I was nuts and now they're saying holy mackerel.

They really they really worked so

Jimmy Lea: Well, congratulations Tom, you're just an inspiration. You're awesome. Thank you so much for what you're doing in the industry in the community You're helping out 200 students in their future they will have a similar experience to you that they will never have a day of unemployment in their lives because They have that skill to be able [00:45:00] to

Thomas Sciortino: provide the trades are coming back.

So, you know, it's, it's good things finally. Yeah, it sure is.

Jimmy Lea: Thank you very much, Tom. I appreciate it.

Thomas Sciortino: All right. Thanks.

Jimmy Lea: That's it for this

Kent Bullard: one. This episode was brought to you by gear for shops. com, the gear heads network and the Institute for a better business, a better life and a better industry visit, we are the institute.

com. Thanks for listening. And we'll catch you in the next one.