Author: rsmith

Oh the places we will grow

Where are you going, what defines you, and what will you choose to become? Are you stuck in a rut or caught in the cyclic challenges of market swings, lack of help or self sabotage? Or are you capitalizing on current trends and innovating your way towards profitability, sustainability and promotion? Does processing x amount of vehicles each year,  making y amount sales each month, or dismantling z amount parts each day make you successful? Or is the expansion of your customer base, reputation and confidence propelling you towards greatness. And what will you become? Will you keep dismantling the same amount of cars each day or will you elevate your game to process more and earn higher. Will you go from the grounder out roaming the yard, prepping parts and cleaning, or will you become one of the lead techs dismantling the top dollar drivelines? Are sales and an office position in your future or will you move into upper management showcasing your leadership? Wherever you are going and however you define yourself, you choose what you will become. Growing the business, whether you sign the checks, your name is on the door, or you are working your way up, even if you are just entering the company, it all starts and ends with you.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” Ralph Waldo Emerson. What if I told you that you have all the tools you need to succeed. What if I told you that each of us are all more powerful, capable and resilient than we can ever begin to imagine. Makes you start to feel invincible, does it not. Live it, love it and embrace it. Attitude adjustment is the first step towards growth. Realize your own limitations, faults and flaws and then embrace them. Deal with it, move forward and make it happen. If you want to grow your business, spend more time working on the business instead of inside of it. If you are on the inside of it, then earn and elevate yourself. Cultivate your craft, be the agent of change because no one else can do it for you nor should they, nor should any of it be given. You want something, go out there and earn it, every bit of it, every second of it.

Taking extreme accountability for what you do and how you go about your business is the ultimate way of controlling what is within your control. Sometimes the auto recycling industry seems out of touch with the ways of the rest of the world, for those in it have worked hard and expect those around them to continue to do the same. Sorry but no participation trophies here. If you think Everett’s Auto Parts started off processing the amazing feat of 30,000 vehicles a year or that prestigious ISO Certifications were just given to Pam’s Auto Parts, then you may be experiencing delusions of grandeur. These auto recyclers, just to name a few, pushed the ceiling and set the bar for what is the epitome of serious growth in the industry.  Many recyclers who have garnered growth and sustained success owe it to taking control of their circumstances. All have worked extremely hard and smart to achieve what they have attained. They have sown the seeds they hoped to reap, and if you feel otherwise, change your perception and add it to your motivation. We busted knuckles, breaking free bolts, pulled transmissions out on our backs, sold everything short of our souls, and picked up the yard until we thought we could not build character any longer. We earned it. We showed up to work each day, we were on time and worked past closing without expectations. So why is today any different in a time where evolution and innovation have progressed the industry to offer unique opportunities to all who may choose to reach out and grab it?

Everything has changed and continues to do so. For those in the business working and for those working on the business, the understanding of the business background is crucial to understanding the vision realized and the goals to come. Knowing our own histories and where we started, can remind and educate us on how the road to present has been paved. Auto Recyclers have struggled and suffered and have transitioned and thrived. Understanding how we made it thus far and realizing the expectations we have made and have been set upon us can allow our goals to materialize. If we can define where it is we want to go, as well as the metrics of how to evaluate how we get there, along with the plan it takes to reach our destination, then we are planning to succeed instead of succumbing to the failure to plan.

Even with the best plan in place, unforeseen and unexpected variables and challenges will arise and force us to make hard decisions. Growth is seldom linear in progression. ARA Past President and a leader in the Auto Recycling Industry, Shan Latham, had an excellent quote in a previous article entitled “Direction” Shan had to say, “As a second-generation auto recycler, it isn’t good enough to do things the way my parents did. I must keep up with the times, and that means heading into unknown territory”. How right she is. The success of others before us or amongst us, is not an indication that we will achieve the same. Nor are we the same people as our predecessors or face the same challenges that they once did. We can study how others operate, whether they be leaders above us, coworkers who occupied our position before us, or even other successful businesses. We can also analyze how they persevered and grew. But the responsibility lies within us to forge our own path. So, what may have worked well for others may not for us. Present challenges and variables may require going against intuition, doing something different or moving in a completely new direction.

Sometimes models for success or other’s path to success does not translate to what we do or how we operate. The future is a foreign land but as Shan goes on to say, “I need to grow my business the way I want to grow it, there is no manual as to how to run an auto recycling business and no two businesses are the same. Yet I know I have people to lean on, ask questions of, or just hang around to inspire me to make the necessary changes to grow my business”.  How you choose to move forward is as imperative to your growth as is your resiliency and vigilance in your pursuit of success. Setting goals, creating and communicating expectations, defining metrics with incentives and consequences, and working smart and hard while remaining creative and persistent throughout the process is a model to get you where you want to be. The implementation and execution of your plan and goals is where growth leads to success.

So how do you grow? I could say you eat the elephant one bite at a time or dismantle the vehicle one part at time. But let’s skip straight to the cheat sheet. The key is to invest. Invest your time, energy and resources into what you are trying to achieve or build. Invest in proven innovative technologies and practices. Invest and Implement. You cannot just subscribe to Vin Match Pro and expect your returns to no longer happen, just as you cannot buy into the YardSmart App  and think your yard is just going to manage itself. You have to apply the tools you have to fit your needs and operations. Invest in your equipment. You do not want to be seen as a junkyard, then step up your game and strengthen your infrastructure. Stop delivering in vehicles that would be better suited as part of your inventory. Cease to do junkyard or perceived sub quality things. Amp up your product presentation and stop pedaling junk or pay closer attention to the minor details to offer superior products and services. Sell smarter and buy better. Stop overpaying for cars that should be scraped and start paying up for quality inventory. Buy more vehicles, inventory more and sell more because of it. Do your research. Join supportive and leading organizations such as ARA, URG or PRP. Get involved. Even if it is just with your state auto recyclers association. But the best suggestion I can make is to invest in yourself and your people. For it is ourselves and our people and not our parts, that are our greatest asset and the most valuable catalyst that we have to achieving our mission.

Reach out, ask questions and do not be afraid to fail. Apply yourself to each task at hand and remain focused and determined to meet your goal. Put your name behind your work and take pride in what you do. You want to become the top dismantle tech, get disciplined and stop cutting corners. Exhibit consistency and become trustworthy. Work your way up. Play to your strengths and work with your weaknesses. Practice and Improve. Watch youtube videos about tips to removing stubborn airbags or Trailblazer front actuators. Looking for an edge for making sales, check out a Rob Rainwater training seminar like “Sales is just a game”. Or reach out to ARA to look into the mentorship program. Whatever your position within the company, realize your own potential and choose what you will become. Make a plan, move forward and make it happen. Your potential success and the growth of yourself and your business begins and ends with you. Take extreme accountability and determine how you will be defined and where you will go. And with that I will leave you with, “You’re off to great Places, Today is your Day! Your Mountain is waiting, So…get on your way”!

-Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go

Transitioning towards Transparency

By Brian Bachand

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, the epitome of perception being subjective and consequently divergent. Our inventory specialists have been trained to be detail oriented and accurate in their assessments and descriptions. Our sales people have been nuanced to listen to our customers’ needs in order to pitch our parts and sell our services accordingly. With this being said, can we find reason in this riddle? A body shop refuses our used door with a reported 5D1 damage code. A very nice door with a credit card size dent which our sales communicate to the shop. However the customer says it has 3 hours worth of clean up and will not use it. So we take it back and refund their money. But then a repair shop takes that same 5D1 damage code door the body shop refused and tells us, it is good to be bolted on their customer’s vehicle. Our perceptions are conditioned and are unique to the expectations in which we have formed from prior experience and situational understanding. With so many different and sometimes conflicting perceptions to account for, how do we find common ground? How do we standardize our processes and products, so that we may attempt to meet the vast and varying expectations of our customers? Our resolve may lie within the ARA Parts Grading System.

The ARA Parts Grading System is a great rule of thumb for your inventory. It should be the standard for the auto recycling industry and we would be wise to educate ourselves and our customers of the inner workings of this cipher. For those new to the scene, or in need of a great tutorial for your staff, may I suggest an immediate redirect to the ARA website. There you will find the ARA Damage Code Ethos. Print this out and distribute it to the masses. Learn it, live it, love it. A recycler’s Search for Everything Across Hollander, APU and Inventory Buddy. It might not be “Eat, Pray, Love” but this guide alone has the power to reshape and retool your entire inventory. The standard grading system ARA has assimilated, is the lens in which the responsible and exemplary recycler should view and inventory their parts with . ARA’s Parts Grading Module can be found at the ARA University Website. This easy and enjoyable video to watch and understand features ARA’s very own Executive Director Vince Edivan and ARA’s Emily Yancey of Yancey Auto Salvage. This dynamic duo provides us with  a hands-on, engaging and informative tutorial on best practices and perceptions on how to assess, apply and implement the ARA Damage Codes.

Vince and Emily show us that this standardization is not rocket science, yet neither is it the Rosetta Stone. They define the types of damage, how to determine each type of damage and the # of measured units of said damage. They also demonstrate the damage’s location designation according to the part type legend ARA has created. Viewers are able to understand how the amount of damage correlates with the tier of part condition. From there we are able to determine which market is targeted with each grade of part. After reviewing this module we are able to take a lot of uncertainty and risk out of our parts grading system. However, we are now left with the questions of how and where to market our own parts. How can we best implement the ARA Damage Codes and the parts grading system into our system of operations. And what types of customers are we looking to connect with each grade of parts based on the parts we do decide to inventory.

Parts with clear and concise descriptions that account for the accurate aforementioned damage codes, while having corresponding quality pictures is what we should be trying to standardize. The Gold Seal Standard the ARA has implemented and partnered with URG, is the ultimate goal that we are promoting to assure quality assurance. Though we can control what is within our control, such as our inventory control and product presentation, the perceptions and expectations of the customer vary and should not be assumed. Sometimes an enigma, oftentimes miscommunication, regardless of the logistics it can be difficult to align our parts with unknown or changing expectations.

Detailed parts descriptions and accurate damage codes are just as important as proper pricing. It is imperative to do your research and cover your costs when assessing your inventory. But even with flexibility built or room to adjust, there will always be those who do not want to pay our prices for used parts. We all have had experiences where some people just expect brand new OEM parts conditions and aesthetics out of our used auto parts.  How many times have we been wrong, looking at what we think is a good used body panel with maybe a ding or a dent. We account for and communicate these discrepancies and damages, only then have the part refused or passed on because it wasn’t triple zero (000) or because it did not meet the customer’s expectation? My personal favorite is when we think our customer is “a worker” and they will “make it fly” only to have the part come back because the shop “doesn’t do rust” anymore. Or the body person was looking to just bolt it on, and is actually not “the worker” we had assumed they were. These scenarios and assumptions continue to play out over time. We seemingly continue to roll the dice in hopes that we are good judges of other’s expectations and that we did right on our end with communicating clear and reasonable perceptions of our own parts’ conditions. So how do we combat these disagreements and differences in perceptions and expectations?

Shifting our paradigms to better meet the demands of our customers is a great place to start. Re-evaluating our own perceptions of our customers expectations can help us simplify our processes and can guide us to how we want to market our parts. We know Tom is very picky while Tina will work with the usable product. Amber won’t take anything with rust and Adam will take everything if the price is right. Knowing your customers and getting feedback on the parts you are sending out and are taking back,are keys to understanding how and what parts you should be promoting to each targeted market. Sell smarter not harder. This concept is easier said than done given the nature of our daily operations. We want to sell more parts and time management is priority numero uno. Constructive and efficient uses of time, focused on communicating our perceptions and understanding our customers expectations create continuous customer service that will translate into quality assurance and customer satisfaction. Sound sales strategies will reap you greater profits even when you find your parts are not triple zero (000) or bolt on ready. In order to capitalize on this concept we must make sure that we are transitioning our parts towards transparency.

Transparency is a key attribute coveted by our business and with all our customers. In the age of automation and speed, the humanity aspect has become a collateral casualty. You call your cable provider and it’s a menu of voice commands and responses. Mobile Banking, Internet Troubleshooting and online shopping, all carried out by the monotonous monotone of the digital sales entity. All this innovation has done well to increase sales and optimize production, but in the process of this evolution, we have suffered the loss of human empathy and problem solving. Should we be embracing the change and using these technological advances in our business? Absolutely we should be keeping with the cultural trends and market shifts. However, in light of this movement, it is imperative now more than ever that customer service keep the auto recycler relevant and viable. The reviews we earn and the perceptions we create of our business, our association and our industry is the moral fiber of our existence. How we relate to the customer, earn and keep their trust, while supplying them with a quality product and a positive memorable experience is the remedy to this rancorous riddle. Transitioning your inventory control and sales design towards transparency is good ethics worthy of a 5 start review and is also a proven revenue and reputation boost.

Changing your outlook on your parts starts with you. Reviewing the ARA Parts Grading Module with Vince and Emily is an energizing way to get yourself and your staff headed on the path to auto recycling reverie. Get your sales team and inventory department together to cross train and brainstorm the following ;  what is the best directive to take, what vehicles/ parts / part types should you inventory, how will you implement the grading system, and where and whom will you market and sell your product to. These are absolute essentials to optimizing your inventory control and quality assurance. Analyzing and strategizing your perceptions of your customers and their expectations will significantly enhance your sales potential while decreasing your return rates. The damage codes you correctly state, to the descriptions you use for each part,  paired with quality pictures of the part and or vehicle inventoried, are the foundation of all to follow. The sales team partners with the inventory specialists to determine the market for the parts based on year, make, model and demand versus supply. Those logistics compared with the parts grade and condition will determine how you inventory them, as well as how and to whom you target to sell those parts to.

Tapping into your business’s trajectory when it comes to inventory and sales is something everyone should be doing routinely. The times are changing and so is the nature of the industry and the needs of our customers. Make the time to make it happen before we find ourselves at the mercy of one of the hardest to shake adages of what we do.  We say we do not have the time, so basically we are saying we are not making the time to do it right. Yet there is and always will be time made to do it again? Failure to plan is planning to fail. Strategize how to alleviate risk. Otherwise we are dismantling vehicles only to put the should have been sold parts back on the shelf or in roll offs.

Consider the following. That rear suspension camber bolt is looking like it’s frozen and isn’t going to come out? New England problems, but still maybe we should not bother inventorying forty dollar rear control arms that won’t come apart. That 20 year old hundred dollar door has three plus hours worth of cleanup on it? Inventory it as a parts door instead of gambling on a desperate need. Or how about that good money 3.6 liter motor that is noisy upon start up and has higher miles? Get a video and keep it local or put it in under engine parts. Otherwise run the risk of eating shipping costs or refunding or replacing the motor.

It is time to turn the page and buy into the vision of a transparent and prepared future of the auto recycler. Implement ARA’s Parts Grading System and its Damage Codes into your inventory and work with your staff to strategize what is the best way for your business to inventory and sell parts. Together with well thought out inventory standards and procedures tailored to customer favorable sales strategies, our businesses can continue to evolve and shape the trajectory of our industry. Be a part of changing the public’s perception of your business and who we are as auto recyclers, by transitioning towards transparency. Altering our own expectations whilst analyzing and accommodating those of the customer, will blaze the path towards quality customer service, inventory assurance and hopefully renowned customer services. Behold the beauty of the beast and you will perceive the path to your next beneficial business endeavor.