Tekmetric opened my eyes to just how much a good SMS will do for a shop. Their software is top of the line, and with them, so is my shop. Try them for yourself HERE

My marketing before and after signing up with Turnkey Marketing is pretty scary. In a good way. Get your marketing right today HERE

Tired of your shop’s social media looking like every other repair shop on the internet? Stand out with 47 Consulting. Learn more HERE

Make your techs happier with Detect Auto. They'll stop getting "check noise" or "check vibration" from advisors with the customer concern tool. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Book a demo HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Carry-Lynn Rodenberg of Turnkey Marketing for Marketing Call #2, and this time they dig into what happens after your marketing actually works. Mike shares the numbers from his shops—including nearly 2,700 inbound callers in September, roughly 550 unanswered calls and a call-to-car conversion rate of only about 33%—and they talk about how much revenue can disappear when advisors accidentally repel customers. They also discuss handling negative Google reviews, why customer retention may be more important than buying more leads, ways to fill an empty schedule, and why overwhelming customers with massive estimates can sometimes hurt long-term relationships. Carry-Lynn also explains how Google and other AI tools are changing local search, why shops need to be prepared for AI-generated phone calls and why lazy AI use may eventually make every business sound exactly the same. The big question throughout the episode: Do you actually need more marketing—or do you need to stop wasting the customers you already have?

Timestamps:
00:00 – How Advisors Accidentally Push Customers Away
01:08 – Mistakes Happen—Your Response Matters
09:34 – Google Reviews & Rebuilding Reputation
11:48 – How to Respond to a Bad Review
13:37 – What Mike Learned From His Negative Reviews
15:46 – You Paid to Make the Phone Ring—Now Convert It
18:44 – Measuring Call-to-Car Conversion
20:48 – Mike Missed 550 Calls in One Month
23:46 – Google’s AI Is Calling Repair Shops
28:46 – “Be Nice to the Robot” 😂
30:42 – Could AI Capture 100 More Cars a Month?
32:50 – Is a Huge ARO Destroying Customer Retention?
34:49 – Only 24% of New Customers Came Back
39:59 – How to Win Back Lost Customers
43:16 – What to Do When Next Week’s Schedule Is Empty
48:01 – Easy Customers Already Sitting in Your Database
49:35 – Marketing Priorities for a Smaller Shop
53:34 – The Most Alarming Thing About AI Marketing
57:10 – Bad Marketing Decisions & AI Slop

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

Turnkey Marketing takes the stress of doing something I'm not good at off my plate. And gives it to someone who is. Click HERE for more.

Tired of your shop’s social media looking like every other repair shop on the internet? Stand out with 47 Consulting. Learn more HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen sits down with Andrew Klement of Finley River Auto and Diesel to talk about what happens when a technician becomes a shop owner—but actually plans for it first. Andrew explains why he hired a coach and CPA before opening, started with a service advisor from day one, invested in systems immediately and surrounded himself with people who had already made the mistakes he wanted to avoid. The result? A greenfield startup with no existing customers that projected roughly $350,000–$360,000 in first-year revenue had already crossed $600,000 with three months left in the year. They also get into Andrew’s first employee quitting, why shop owners fail at training, how to sell repairs without high-pressure tactics, what a healthy shop culture can do for a technician’s career and the time 18-year-old Andrew invented a completely fictional “starter break-in noise” to cover up a mistake. And because it’s Confessions, Mike also gets to explain why releasing an $18,000 repair while still being owed $7,500 is probably a terrible business strategy.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Sell by Educating, Not Pressuring
00:45 – Mike & Andrew Live From ASTA
09:15 – Andrew Tried Free Diagnostics
10:03 – Finley River Auto & Diesel
15:38 – Andrew’s Technician Background
17:25 – Building a Shop the Smart Way
19:09 – $350K Projection → $600K+ Revenue
20:27 – Is the Startup Actually Profitable?
23:20 – Almost Leaving the Automotive Industry
25:15 – What a Great Shop Taught Andrew
29:44 – Can the Customer, Tech AND Shop All Win?
32:16 – Andrew’s First Employee Quit
34:07 – Selling Without High-Pressure Tactics
35:39 – “You Hired Him. It’s Your Responsibility.”
39:06 – The Infamous “Starter Break-In Noise” 😂
41:42 – A Local Podcast as Shop Marketing
44:20 – Andrew’s First ASTA Experience
45:33 – Don’t Try to Implement Everything
46:21 – The $18,000 Ticket He Still Hasn’t Collected
47:06 – Mike: “Don’t Do That Shit.”

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

If you're like me and aren't good at marketing, don't do it on your own. Let the experts handle it. Touch HERE for more on Turnkey Marketing.

Tired of your shop’s social media looking like every other repair shop on the internet? Stand out with 47 Consulting. Learn more HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen, Bryan Pollock, Jim Cokonis and Justin Allen sit down on the ASTA Expo floor for a conversation about one of the biggest problems in automotive repair: technicians and service advisors often don’t know what they don’t know. They dig into how bad information gets passed from technician to technician, why years of experience don’t automatically mean someone is doing the job correctly, and why training has to teach people how to think instead of simply memorize answers. The conversation covers tire sales, diagnostic strategy, technician education, young tech development, alignment and ADAS calibration, repair standards and some of the unbelievable things trainers still see happening inside real shops. They also debate whether shops are wasting technologically savvy young technicians by sticking them on oil changes for years instead of identifying their natural strengths early. And somewhere along the way, Mike takes a technical quiz, Bryan explains why someone can be wrong for 25 straight years, and everybody gets distracted by chicken wings.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Tire Sales Should Be This Simple
01:17 – Live From ASTA: How Good Are Shops, Really?
05:30 – How Bad Information Gets Passed Down
09:50 – Teaching Technicians How to Think
15:10 – Mike Takes the Technical Quiz
21:18 – Why Aftermarket Training Matters
28:05 – What Service Advisors Need to Know
29:41 – Stop Overcomplicating Tire Sales
34:14 – What Trainers Actually See Inside Shops
40:32 – “You’ve Been Doing It Wrong for 25 Years”
42:21 – Why Aren’t Technicians Training?
46:11 – Are We Wasting Young Technicians?
50:00 – Meet Justin Allen from Hunter
52:00 – Every Shop Needs an ADAS Strategy
57:38 – When a Customer Refuses Required Work
1:00:08 – How Do We Raise the Industry Standard?
1:03:40 – Can Five Minutes of Training Actually Work?
1:10:11 – Training the Next Generation of Trainers