{"id":5243,"date":"2024-06-27T21:47:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T21:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/partstech.com\/?post_type=resource-hub&p=5243"},"modified":"2024-07-01T17:19:46","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T17:19:46","slug":"webinar-recap-top-processes-every-auto-shop-needs","status":"publish","type":"resource-hub","link":"https:\/\/partstech.com\/resource\/blog\/webinar-recap-top-processes-every-auto-shop-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Webinar Recap: Top Processes Every Auto Shop Needs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We invited PartsTech customer, Lauralee (Lola) Schmidt, COO at Schmidt Auto Care, to share her expertise on the importance of processes in auto shops. Lola offered invaluable insights into why auto shops need to create processes for their business and tips for getting started. If you missed it, we encourage you to take the time to watch the on-demand version of the webinar<\/a> to hear Lola\u2019s story of why she chose to make extremely tough decisions for the sake of saving her and her husband\u2019s shop through process definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Bit About Lola<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lola entered the auto care industry nine years ago when she married her husband, Erich Schmidt, Owner of Schmidt Auto Care in Ohio. She previously had a successful career with Est\u00e9e Lauder\u2122, where she lived and breathed the creation, implementation, and adherence to processes. When she started working with her husband on their auto shop business, Lola openly admitted, \u201cI ignored all I knew, and we almost lost it all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until Lola and her husband nearly lost their auto repair business that Lola chose to take everything she knew about the power of processes in the cosmetic industry and apply it to their auto shop. A lot of time was spent, and hard decisions were made, but the payoff has been high. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through processes, Lola and Erich turned their shop into a thriving, healthy business in just one year. Because of this, Lola is passionate about encouraging shop owners, new and seasoned, to build processes for their shops and stand by them.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why Processes Matter <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you run a shop, Lola first encourages you to translate the word \u201cprocesses\u201d into \u201cbusiness practices and definitions.\u201d She also acknowledges that no one likes process, but everyone needs it because defining your business is critical. \u201cI would bet right now that a lot of you have opportunities inside of your shop to button up some processes,\u201d says Lola, \u201cand when you do that, it’s going to be painful in some way to your team or you, but in the long run, it will be better. You need processes in your shop because you need to define your day-to-day workability inside your shop \u2013 this removes all the chaos out of your shop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you define your business and put processes around everything, you create clarity for your entire team. Lola points out: \u201cWhen everyone knows what\u2019s expected of them, they\u2019re not just employees; they\u2019re team members who feel valued and empowered.\u201d On top of this, if you ever have difficult conversations with employees who are not performing, you can always point them back to the defined processes \u2014 the standards by which they agreed to when they signed the offer letter to work for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Started with Defining Your Shop Through Processes <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a high-level summary of the rich guidance that Lola provided to get you started in creating processes in your shop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Figure out what processes you need to define.<\/strong> <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    You should have a process for every nook and cranny of your business. Lola buckets the processes in her shop into these categories: <\/p>\n\n\n\n