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Steven Fafel, co-founder of AutoOps, has innovatively shaped the automotive service industry through his online scheduling tool, which integrates with most shop management systems. With a background in building software for rock climbing gyms with his brother, Steven pivoted to AutoOps to address a need for better customer engagement and streamlined scheduling in the auto repair space. Known for his commitment to excellence and deep understanding of customer behavior, Steven brings care and dedication to his field.
In this episode…
Has the traditional way of scheduling and customer engagement been eclipsed by modern technology? What does it take to redefine the dynamics of auto shop operations in a customer-centric economy? Can a change in the approach, integrated with the right tools, elevate service efficiency and customer satisfaction?
According to Steven Fafel of AutoOps, his company’s software presents a solution to a common problem — scheduling service appointments with ease. He emphasizes the necessity of connecting marketing efforts with scheduling tools to capture and retain customers effectively. With a strong focus on customer re-engagement and making the user’s journey seamless, Steven highlights the importance of IP targeting and using tools like AutoOps for online scheduling, which is crucial for optimizing a shop’s performance.
On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge chats with Steven about putting the customer first in automotive operations. The conversation reveals how paying close attention to client behavior and leveraging smart scheduling can transform the auto service experience. Steven not only shares his company’s advances in scheduling innovation but also delves into the importance of cultivating a customer-friendly environment, suggesting that shops can actually choose their clientele to foster better relationships.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [2:02] Why North Carolina is becoming an automotive hub
- [2:39] Steven Fafel shares his journey from Lancaster, Pa. to the forefront of automotive innovation
- [3:08] Why tire and auto repair shops are starting to choose their customers more carefully
- [7:53] How online scheduling with AutoOps can revolutionize a shop’s efficiency
- [8:35] The continual enhancements to the scheduling software for the evolving needs of auto shops
- [19:05] Why integrating marketing efforts with scheduling tools is crucial for business growth
- [33:36] Steven explains AutoOps’ customer-centric approach and focus on providing value
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “I keep trying to get my car into the shop, and I can never pick a time — that’s where AutoOps comes in.” – Steven Fafel
- “North Carolina is becoming the second automotive center of the world right now.” – Steven Fafel
- “It’s not just about getting customers to call, we can’t get your service advisors to be nice; we need both.” – Steven Fafel
- “All we do is online scheduling — that’s all we focus on.” – Steven Fafel
- “Whatever you do, be all there. It’s about being present and focusing on the task at hand.” – Steven Fafel
Action Steps:
- Implement online scheduling: Consider leveraging an online scheduling system like AutoOps for efficiency and customer convenience. It directly fosters ease of access, as Steven explained by sharing anecdotes from his own family’s experience.
- Customer reengagement programs: Steven described using IP targeting or other tools to reengage lost customers when discussing Tread Partners’ approach.
- Attend industry summits: Networking and learning at automotive events can provide valuable insights into industry trends and practices.
- Filter your clientele: Be selective about your customers to create a more positive and productive service environment.
- Continual improvement: Always look for ways to enhance your business, be it through software upgrades or customer service training, to keep up with evolving industry standards.
Transcript
Announcer:
Welcome to the Gain Traction podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts and share their inspiring stories. Now, let’s get started with the show.
Mike:
Hello, folks. Welcome to the Gain Traction podcast. I am Mike Edge, your host. Our guest today is Steven Fafel, with Auto Ops.
Before we get started, I want to tell you about Tread Partners and the Retread Marketing program. So what is the Retread Marketing program? It is a customer re-engagement program using IP targeting to win back your best, lost customers. It is a one-time, 120-day program that generates a ten-to-one return on investment. Tread Partners get your best, lost customers back to spend money with you. These are customers that are currently in your point-of-sale system right now.
So, for example, if you invest $5,000 today, going back after your best lost customers, you’ll see a return of $50,000 within 120 days from that very same target list. Tread Partners works only within the tire and auto repair industry. Tread Partners specializes for you. To learn more, visit Treadpartners.com.
Do any of you guys attend the Traction Summit? If not, I want to encourage you to learn more about it and possibly attend. The Traction Summit 2024 is hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is August 13th and 14th of this year. To learn more, visit TractionSummit.com.
As I mentioned, my guest today is Steven Fafel with Auto Ops. Steven, welcome to the Gain Traction podcast.
Steven:
I’m happy to be on here. I got to check out the summit too, the Traction Summit.
Mike:
It’s pretty cool. I was supposed to attend last year and I didn’t get a chance to because… It was going to be my first year, and we were promoting it. But unfortunately I had a funeral to attend, so I missed it. But I plan on being there this year, so I’m already booked and ready to go.
Steven:
And it looks like North Carolina is becoming the second automotive center of the world right now. I mean, there’s a ton of good shows. There’s a ton of good shops there. Mike, you have to [inaudible 00:02:15]. Good customer partners.
Mike:
Well, the other thing is too, you and I met down there at the ASTE Show.
Steven:
Yeah, another great show. Great training.
Mike:
There’s a lot of reputable dealers in North Carolina. They’ve got a lot of shows in North Carolina. Charlotte’s hosting this thing. Just recently, I did a podcast with the Veterans Trust. They were hosting an event at Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, for veterans, and it involved motor sports. So yeah, I’m like you, something’s in the water in North Carolina and the after auto market and everything else.
Steven:
And I heard you’re going to be moving there soon, right?
Mike:
No, that’s not me. I’m a Kentucky boy through and through and happy to be where I’m at. But I was one of those kids though, I said I’d never come back to my hometown and I did. And God has a mysterious way of working and I’m glad I’m here. But we do have one of our employees from Trade Partners, actually, who’s moving from Phoenix to Raleigh. They’re moving. They decided they’re all in. They like it.
Steven:
But yeah, there’s those places, I may be a little biased, Kentucky, North Carolina. I’m up in Lancaster, PA. Where you just feel like those companies, we do good business. We do good business with good people. So I like it.
Mike:
Well, I know our mindset is we… Look, life’s too short. I don’t need to have a bad customer. I don’t have any hard feelings firing a bad customer or letting them go. I mean, it’s one of those things where, yeah, life’s too short. We could both get along and we don’t need each other. So hey, I wish you well and that type of thing.
Steven:
Yeah, there are those customers for us, for you guys. But also shops. Shops are, we’re starting to hear more and more, shops having customers that they just say, you know what? It’s not worth doing business. It’s not worth you coming in, being mean to a service advisor. I don’t care about getting an RO. We actually recently added a feature where you can block customers from scheduling because some shops are just like, I don’t want to do business with certain people anymore.
Mike:
Well, it’s awesome. My dad used to take care of his employees that way. He wasn’t in the auto repair business, but he did own a convenience store. And if people were rude to him, he’d say, “Hey, you know what? We don’t act like that in here. Don’t want you treating my people that way.” And “Well, I’ll take my business elsewhere.” And he would be like, “Well, basically that’s what I’m asking you.” And he goes, “And those people down the street, I know them. They’re good friends of mine. They’ll take good care of you.” So it was…
Steven:
And I’m curious to hear your take on this perspective. There’s some coaches out there in the automotive industry who will actually recommend saying, “Hey, if you have a customer you don’t like, refer them to your competition.”
Mike:
Oh, my gosh.
Steven:
It’s a little cutthroat for me. Even if it’s not a bad customer, even if it’s just someone who is like, “Yeah, this person’s just going to keep coming in for oil changes. I’m never going to be make…” Referring them to your competition, which I guess it’s something to consider, but.
Mike:
It is. But I don’t know. I don’t even want to, it’s kind of like I don’t wish that upon my enemy type thing.
Steven:
I agree.
Mike:
Sometimes I just want to cut the cord as politely as possible. And what’s that terminology? My kids, they use this, refer to some people as Karens. That seems to be the…
Steven:
That’s the new kids terms.
Mike:
Yeah, you can’t please them and they just want to nag. And so it’s funny. But yeah. So let’s talk about you. You’re from originally Lancaster, Pennsylvania?
Steven:
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Went out to California a little bit, traveled around. But yeah, I got back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Home of the Amish. Where we have to get into buggy scheduling at some point. I don’t know if you guys are much in the buggy market. They don’t need much retreading. But yeah, born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Most [inaudible 00:06:15]-
Mike:
I bet you you guys have a lot of great furniture around you and great… Well, the food, something like the cakes, pies, jellies, jams, that stuff.
Steven:
Yep. You go to the local fair and there’ll be 700 jars that look the exact same, but they’re all judged on the way they look, of the jams. Like different jams, canned foods.
Mike:
Look, man, I’m a food man. I would eat that stuff up. I mean stuff like… They make things probably like apple butter, stuff like that. Yes.
Steven:
Shoe fly pie.
Mike:
What’s that?
Steven:
Shoe fly pie.
Mike:
What’s that? I don’t know that one.
Steven:
A molasses type of pie. But that’s like Lancaster’s dessert.
Mike:
Oh, I’ll have to check that out sometime. Yeah. But anyway, so how did you end up in automotive?
Steven:
Ended up in automotive. Sometimes I like to make fancy stories, but I saw a need, just personally. I saw my parents. My mom would call me all the time. “I keep trying to get my car into the shop and I can never pick a time and I always have to call them.” But my mom’s a teacher, she’s teaching during the middle of the day. It’s hard for her to call the shop during the middle of the day.
And so there was some people on our team that had experience in online scheduling the home services space. But we saw automotive as a place with the need. And then, honestly, it just fits our personality well. I mean, we like working with down to earth people. I have to say I’m happy I’m not in the financial tech world. So it matched our personalities and we luckily had some local shops in Lancaster who let us test some of it out, and we were off to the races.
Mike:
Man, that’s very cool. You just saw the hole in the market. So let’s talk about Auto Ops. Tell us how the product works as best as you can, just describing it, because our audience is audio.
Steven:
Sure, yeah. We try to keep it simple. And from the beginning we just said, and it’s kind of based on something my dad told me a while ago, which he said, “Whatever you do, be all there.” Whatever you do, be all there. And that’s kind of our approach to scheduling. All we do is online scheduling. That’s all we focus on.
And obviously we’ve expanded on that over time, but the basics is that a customer, if they want to, it’s all about engaging with customers, how they want to engage with you, can go to your website, could go to your Google business profile, could get a text or email. And what our scheduling tool allows them to do is select their service. It integrates with their shop management system to pull up all the customer’s information. Can even [inaudible 00:08:47]-
Mike:
Any shop management system?
Steven:
95% of the popular ones. We’re working on some of the tire ones. We’re getting better at some of our tire integrations. But Tech Metrics Shop, where Pro Tractor, Mitchell One [inaudible 00:09:01] or Napa Track, Stock Track. Shop Boss coming soon. So a lot of popular ones-
Mike:
Madden Co?
Steven:
Working on Madden Co. Tire Guru. We’re starting to see it pop up more. Tire Shop by Freedom Soft is one we’re starting to see more of. That one’s actually, probably, might be coming first. And the tire specific ones. But yeah, then it can pull there to client services. Can pull live availability. I mean, live availability was the original key of, how can I feel comfortable that a customer can go on my website and request service at a time that I actually have available, and the integration is how we make that work. So whether it’s looking at their shop [inaudible 00:09:40]-
Mike:
Because, I don’t mean to cut you off, but that’s the one thing everybody complains about. The shops are like, well, I mean, I may look open, but I know what’s going on in my shop and I’d rather them have to get a confirmation or something like that. So you’re saying you’re able to…
Steven:
Yeah. I always say… You’ll be in scheduling and you see a time slot, it says 8:00 AM. I always say there’s like 10,000 hours of development behind that 8:00 AM. We have so many schedule settings. And when we first launched it was not that good. It was not that good, and then we’d have a customer be like, “Hey, I could take a drop off at this time, but I can’t take a waiter.” Okay. So then we built all these settings out around drop-offs and waiters.
And then they would say something like, “Hey, you know what?” I try to have, when people call in, if it’s a new customer, I want to get them in the door sooner. So we’re not telling them, “Hey, two days.” So we said, okay, we’ll make a setting where, if it’s a new customer, it will allow them to schedule earlier. And then we have people say, “Hey, I can only do so many oil changes in a day.” Okay, we’ll limit this. So I mean we just kept iterating and building it out to where-
Mike:
Golly though, that’s awesome though that you guys went through that effort.
Steven:
And the honest part is we’re still not there. We’ll never be there. There’s always some setting you can build. Right now what we’re working on is matching up technician skills. So being able to understand, okay, I have an A tech and I have a B Tech and my A tech can do this many jobs. And my C tech can do this type. When does that technician actually have availability for that type of job? So I mean, we’re always constantly improving.
Mike:
Yeah, I don’t think software ever stops though, right? I mean it’s like you’re never… I’ve been on the software side before. Just something I’d come up with years ago, involved coupon distribution, and the guy that was programming it for me, he said, “Hey Mike, I got a really good idea for our relationship.” I said, “What’s that?” And he said, “Why don’t you sleep about 30 days on the changes and additions you want.” And he goes, “And then we’ll look at the end of each month.”
Because I was wearing him out. I was like, every week or every day I could come back and go, “Oh, I know what we need to do. I talked to so-and-so.” And you really do, because you have to have that pause period. Because some things you realize, okay, I don’t want that as bad as I thought I did. Or maybe we need to hear from more customers and get more feedback about that stuff. Or whatever the angle is. So you guys though, I can definitely see that process in place. And the benefit to the shop, especially the benefit to the shop owners today that are signing up for Auto Ops scheduler is you guys have gone through a ton of iterations now.
Steven:
Yeah. And there’s companies out there that have scheduling products. But we think it’s worth having a whole team just focused on scheduling, because that’s what actually gets customers in the door. They’re scheduling to come in the door.
What we basically saw was, hey, there’s a lot of fantastic marketing companies, like Tread. They’re doing a fantastic job at getting you all these viewers. Like you were talking about. Hey, following up with those customers, getting your best lost customers, getting them back in the door. Okay, great. They could call the shop, they can fill out a contact form. The whole reason Auto Ops, one of the holes we found was, there’s all this marketing, but how do we actually get them in the door in a way that helps the shop as well?
Mike:
Well, at the end of the day, what you guys have done is zeroed in on the major call to action. Even a phone call is ultimately to get them on the schedule. You’re really trying to zero in and make it as easy as possible. And I’ve told clients this for years, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you, but when you get somebody to your website, you’ve only got a certain limited time. Or not even your website, let’s just call it your Google business profile page.
You only have a limited amount of time to say, I am your answer to your question, I am your solution to your problem. And then we all know, in this industry, the call to action is, get them on the schedule. Well, why not have that right in their face right now and make it so easy… Obviously you guys have been conquering this, but it’s got to be easy for the shop, right? The shop has to like the tool.
And then you also have to make it easy for the customer. Just like your mom. My wife’s a teacher, so she never will make a phone call during the day because it’s chaotic. She teaches kindergarten. And even if she gets a break, it’s not like it’s a comfortable break where there’s not going to be any interruptions or anything like that. Unless she went out to the parking lot to her own car. So she’s always afraid to do anything during the day unless it’s an emergency. But when I’m at home, 10:00 at night and I want to get something on the calendar, I’m grateful that people have a scheduler.
Steven:
Yes. And something we’ve been really looking into and saying, okay, if someone wants to call the shop, great. We’re not trying to change that customer’s behavior. If someone wants to call the shop, great. But what we’ve been really, and this is what I want all shop owners to think through is, every single piece of marketing that you do should at least provide the option for a customer to schedule online.
So for example, great, your website, get a scheduling tool. But when you’re sending out a mailer, great, most people are going to call in, maybe they’ll drive and bring the mailer. But for, even if it’s 5% of people, put a QR code on that mailer. Take some directly to scheduling on your website. If you’re sending out a text blast, great. You can have the phone number, have a link, make sure it’s a trackable link. So then you could see, okay, if the customer gets this text and wants to schedule online, they could schedule online.
Mike:
Well, you and I both know, it’s all about making that call to action available anytime that customer wants to interact with you. So it doesn’t matter if it’s midnight. If you want to be open for business per se, to be able to allow that customer to think, “Crap, I need to schedule my car, I need to get my or my teenager’s car to get tires, oil change, whatever.” They can knock it off their list. It relieves their mind and they know that they’ve got it done. When they’ve thought about it. So if you’re part of that solution, I think it only enhances, not only your opportunity for new customers, but really the repeat customer.
Steven:
And another thing we’ve been encouraging people is, look at everything you’re doing in the shop as a conversion point. As a chance to convert a customer. For example, you have an after hours voicemail. A lot of people are like, oh, it’s my after hours voicemail, I’m closed. What if, in your after hours voicemail, someone calls in. “Hey, great, this is Steven’s Auto, we’re closed right now.” And instead of just saying leave a voicemail, “press one and we’ll text you a link to schedule.” So that’s a good example. Something people don’t even think about where it’s like… And you convert customers from that.
You have a sign. Once again, you have a sign behind you. Could you put a QR code on that? Could you put your phone number on that? Looking at everything you do in a shop, everything that a customer sees, looking as a conversion point. When someone’s leaving the door, when someone’s leaving your shop, great. They just got their service done. You have an opportunity for a conversion. Try to get their next appointment scheduled. Have the service advisor maybe collect a little better information next time. So everything that you’re doing in the shop [inaudible 00:16:52]-
Mike:
You’re nailing it, Steven. One of the first things I learned, I worked for a great guy years ago in the internet marketing sphere, and one of the things he used to say, he goes, “I know this may sound crazy, it may sound elementary,” he said, “but did you know that the more opportunities you give somebody to contact you from your website, the more contacts you get?” And it sounds so elementary, but back in the day, if you remember when people started designing websites in the late ’90s, early 2000s, well, everybody would just put their phone number in the “contact us” page. And his philosophy was, why wouldn’t you put it on every page so that they don’t have to go look for your phone number?
His business was directly involved with manufacturers. And manufacturers that made product for other people. But if they were calling… And then he created, he had little things like “have a question?” Well, they could have a question about anything, but put that on every page. So that way if it’s an engineer visiting a page or something, the idea was create the conversion, get them interacting with you. Don’t make them go look for the contact point when it could be in their face right now, whatever. And for you guys, I mean it’s offering that scheduler to the shop. And ultimately, again, the shop needs to get the customer on the schedule.
Steven:
Yes.
Mike:
I love your idea though, on everything. I mean on everything. Why wouldn’t you?
Steven:
Yeah, always give the option, even if it’s… People say, oh, what if… Okay, if two customers, two customers called after hours, if you could convert them, even if it’s two. People need to think. And something I was talking with someone recently about is dialing down on the numbers. Everything has a value to it. When someone calls your shop after hours, there’s a dollar value attached to that call. Great. Take the total amount of people that’s scheduled from calling after hours, divide it by how much revenue you made from those people. Every phone call is an opportunity. So think about your ARO. If you get two people schedule after hours, great. It’s a thousand bucks.
Mike:
Golly. And that’s not counting if you did a good job and the continuation of the customer.
Steven:
Yeah. Once again, online scheduling is cool and all, but I think one of the biggest retention points is having a friendly service advisor. We can get people in the door, but real retention and getting people back in the door starts with a good handshake, a warm welcome, [inaudible 00:19:18] waiting room.
Mike:
That’s what I tell people about the business that Tread’s in. I used to say, look, we’re not changing your business. You may think we’re techie, we’re not even techie. All we’re trying to do is make sure that you’re found where your customer’s looking for answers to their problems. And their problems involve auto repair or tires, you want to be there. And if you’re there, now your normal business practices all come into play. You still have to do everything you’ve always done, which is greet the customer, have great customer service, all those things. All we’re doing is making you exist in the digital space, basically.
Steven:
Yeah. And I can get your phone ringing and I’ve heard some marketing companies that will then listen to phone calls and look into this. If I can get your phone ringing and I can get you 100 calls, but if you have someone who’s, “Hey, this is Joe.” Okay, I can’t really help you. I can only get people to call. I can’t get your service advisors [inaudible 00:20:11], give them the proper information. Do you guys ever listen to phone calls?
Mike:
Oh yeah. Well, we used to actually want to… We were so interested in car count and revenue that we used to make that one of our metrics until we had a couple of those customers where they had such severe problems internally that we couldn’t control revenue and car count because we could see all the data and see the fact that you’re making the phone ring. But then you’d be like, oh, wow, you guys have deeper problems. You got a couple CSRs out there on the counters at different stores that, they’re killing you. And maybe they’re not intentional, maybe they’re not ugly people, but they’re missing opportunities and they just need to be trained better. They need the language. So yeah.
Steven:
100%.
Mike:
And we put people in touch with people that do the training for the language. I mean, there’s several really good groups out there, but that is huge.
Steven:
Yeah. And that’s something that is important in any industry. And that’s where I’ve heard great success with people saying, you know what? Automotive knowledge, when I’m bringing in a new service advisor, a new CSR, automotive knowledge is second. I’ll take someone who was at a restaurant that I met that was super friendly, that provided the best service, that always had a smile on their face, was always willing to help a customer. And I’ll train them up on some of the automotive knowledge and they’ll be better than someone who’s been working with cars for 20 years.
Mike:
I know an owner that prides himself on finding the diamonds in the rough. And even his employees will say, he found me at such and such, or he found me at a car wash, or he found me… And he prides himself on finding these diamonds in the rough that had no automotive experience. And then they come, it pays them well, and they’re loyal because he’s trained them. But they take it as a compliment because he says, “Hey, I see something in you and you’ve got what I want at our shops.”
And I think I love people like that, that they get people, but, I mean, they understand people is what I’m saying. And they can see that quality of that person. Because you and I both know, I’ve said this my whole career, the hardest thing to train any employee or really any person in your life, if you’re training anybody to do anything, is to have the “I care” attitude. Like, they really care. And you can’t really train that. I mean, you spot it in people and you go, “Man, that guy, look how he’s treated that person when he just went out of his way for something.” It’s different, and you know it when you see it.
Steven:
Yeah. And I think there’s also a lot of shops doing a great job on incentivizing caring. Doing profit sharing. There’s definitely some commission models which can actually incentivize them to care. But yeah, I think implementing things like that, I know there’s a lot of guys who do a great job at that. And yeah, financially incentivizing their employees on the overall wellbeing of the business.
Mike:
It helps. It helps. But even doing that, it cannot put that one little internal “it factor” in people that really care. You know what I’m saying? It’s like they just naturally care. And I mean, granted, they want the incentive. It’s nice to have the incentive financially. But I think there’s a lot of studies out there that show that you’re able to retain people through the money process and give them a stake in things and whatnot, but at the end of the day, money’s not the ultimate motivator for people to do the right thing all the time, if that makes sense.
Steven:
Yeah, no, 100%. It can just be used to, once you see that they’re carrying, “Hey, let’s add some financial incentives.”
Mike:
Absolutely. Yeah. Then they might pour it on a little bit more, right? I mean, what they’re already naturally good at.
Steven:
Yup. And just providing an awesome place to work is half the battle.
Mike:
All right, so let me ask you one of our tough questions we always ask our guest on this podcast. You ready?
Steven:
I think so.
Mike:
Make us laugh. You got a good funny story for us? Something in your career, something that you can be self-deprecating about, something that you maybe witnessed?
Steven:
A good old, old… Well, honestly, in the… I got on, originally, when I entered the automotive industry, I was learning. And I’ve always been open, “Hey, I’m learning, I’m learning, I’m learning.” I got on this one call with someone and I said, “Hey, how many mechanics do you have at the shop?” I got screamed at for like 20 minutes straight. An entire lesson on, it’s not mechanics, it’s technicians. How dare you ever say that? All this stuff. They went on for 20 minutes. And I left the call being like, I need to leave the automotive industry. I have no idea what is going on. And then, yeah, I’ve had plenty of faux pas. I got on with a big automotive organization and I got confused with their competitor, and for the entire meeting, I called their company the name of the competitor.
Mike:
Oh dude, you’re making my heart ache right now. I got heartburn for you.
Steven:
I’ve had plenty of embarrassing moments here.
Mike:
Oh, that’s brutal right there. You actually said the competition, their competitors.
Steven:
Oh yeah, I was saying it the entire time. I put the name of the meeting. Like, the invite, it said their competitor’s name. And I was like, oh my gosh. They were close in names, but it’s…
Mike:
Yeah, but that’s just one, you just got to, chalk it up to experience. Right? It’s just, oh, well, I messed up. That’s hilarious. That’s a good one. That’s why I love these stories, when people are willing to be self-deprecating and tell us something about themselves. That’s great though. So what about, what’s your favorite hobby? Basically, this is to let the audience know who you are and what you like to do.
Steven:
Sure. Well, and this is, it actually goes back into what I was doing before, on/off, so a large hobby of mine. It’s pretty interesting. People would go on Instagram and they’d be like, who’s Steven? Even people we do business with, they’d be like, who’s Steven? If you go on my Instagram, it’s all rock climbing. That’s all I did for… Yeah, basically at 18 I caught the bug, and for the next five years it was climbing in gyms six days a week, and then I would take two months and go travel, climb in Canada and South America. All over the US. So climbing was a huge part of my life.
Mike:
That’s cool. That’s very cool. Now did you do it, what do they call it, without ropes?
Steven:
Is my mom listening on this? Yes, a little bit. It’s very difficult to explain to people, because they’re just like, but yes, it’s very enjoyable. It’s called free soloing. And I wouldn’t do it on super difficult rock climbs. But on easier rock climbs, it’s very fun to try to do it without a rope. Yeah, very high. I have a couple hundred feet climbing without a rope. I would say the easiest way to explain to people why it’s enjoyable is it forces you to be perfect. You have no other option other than to be perfect.
Mike:
Yeah, but here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. I mean, look, I respect it. I tip my hat. I’m like, wow, that’s big. I guess it’s like this. I’ve read some of the stories of those guys. I don’t know their names. But did some of the, in the last 10 years, there’s been two major credible, like internationally well-known rock climbers that did the freestyle.
Steven:
Yeah, Alex Honnold is one of them, and then the other one passed away. He was climbing up in Canada. I had actually met him before he passed, which was kind of crazy.
Mike:
Wow. But both of them died falling correct?
Steven:
Alex Honnold’s still alive. But yeah, there’s plenty of people in the rock climbing space who have tragic, tragic accidents. Even doing things that are pretty standard and safe, roped up and climbing, there can just be a lot of accidents. Imagine if, as a shop owner, it’s like a customer comes in your door and if you don’t upsell them the service package, your business gets closed tomorrow. You’re like, “I have to be perfect. I have to explain it.” There’s something about it where you have no other option. You’re like, I’ll just give it my best. And there’s something a little addicting to it.
Mike:
Oh man, that’s wild. That’s cool though. It’s an interesting mindset. I like it. I mean, it’s intense.
Steven:
Yeah. Talking about… What were you saying?
Mike:
I said that’s intense. It’s an intense mindset of focus.
Steven:
Yeah. Most of my climbing was safe. But that is actually what I did, and sometimes when people ask me about my background, I say building companies with my brother. That’s my background. We built a software for rock climbing gyms that helped people find partners, that helped people find clubs. It was like community engagement software for rock climbing gyms, and that’s what my brother and I built. Long story, we had about 20 gyms using our software, but it was not enough to support me and my brother. I think we made 12K between the two of us for a year.
Mike:
Nice. Congratulations. Good job. Yeah, so you guys actually write it.
Steven:
So my brother, he does. I mean, it’s probably the luckiest thing in my life. My brother is one of the best software developers in the world. So he’s the one actually doing all the magic on the computers, all the coding. He’s a fantastic software engineer, so it’s…
Mike:
That’s awesome.
Steven:
It’s nice to have a family that can do a couple different things. My sister also works at Auto Ops. My father is part of Auto Ops. He’s one of the other co-founders.
Mike:
That’s cool.
Steven:
Family business.
Mike:
Well, I love that. Is there anything that you guys live by, words of wisdom? I always ask guests too that or something that’s kind of common in your, I don’t know, your daily life.
Steven:
Yeah, I mean it would definitely be what I said earlier, which is whatever you do, be all there. Everything we do, we get addicted on pretty quickly. I actually quit rock climbing. When I started Auto Ops, it’s like whatever, I do be all there. So I stopped my favorite hobby of five years. But I’ll get back to it someday.
Mike:
You said in the beginning, your dad said be present or completely in?
Steven:
Whatever you do, be all there.
Mike:
Yeah.
Steven:
Whatever you do, be all there. The other thing he always used to say, which I think we also live by in Auto Ops, is you never think of yourself. It’s not that you think less of yourself. It’s not that you think more of yourself. You try not to just think about yourself that much.
And obviously there’s times in life where you need to, but I think even when you’re building a business, you really try not to think much about the business. You just think about the value you’re providing to customers. You build good stuff and if good things happen with the business, good things happen with the business. But it’s like, you just do what you’re supposed to do and what you’re supposed to do is, for you guys, build good marketing and you try your best. And you don’t really, “oh, the company’s doing so well.” You build it, you try your best. You sell some good stuff to customers, you provide good support, and if it works out, it works out.
Mike:
No, you’re right. That’s it. I mean, that’s it. But I love being, like what your dad said. Say it again. Whatever you do, be all there.
Steven:
Whatever you do, be all there.
Mike:
Yeah. I like that. It goes along with something I like is just whatever you’re doing, be completely present. Be in the moment. Because it’s easy to be distracted all the time. You can be in one spot and thinking about something else and it’s not focused or it’s not as intense as you need to be and you’re not giving that person or that project it’s fair share. I think it’s easy to do in our day and age because we are very easily distracted in a lot of ways.
Steven:
And I think some people have to be honest about their goals. What is your goal in what you’re doing. I talked to some shop owners and they’ll be like, “Hey, I have a shop, but I also have this business where I sell canoes.” And you’re like, okay, well what’s your goal? If your goal is to, Hey, I want my shop to hit X number of revenue goal, then it doesn’t sound like you’re very focused. It doesn’t sound like you’re taking it serious. But some people are like, “Hey, my goal is to do both of these businesses successfully. I want grow them both equally.” Great. Then you’re succeeding at your goal.
Mike:
Sell a canoe to every one of my customers on one side, right?
Steven:
Yeah. So I think you just have to be honest about your goal and then, so whatever you do, be all there. You might be doing a couple things at one time, but you have to be honest with yourself. Hey, what’s my actual goal here? What do I actually want to put my time into? I mean, there’s some people who say, and that’s something else I see all the time is, is one of your goals to be present with your family? Okay, well then maybe your shop’s not going to hit 20 million. Maybe they’re not going to hit $6 million a year. You have to be honest about really what is your goal, and then putting all your effort there.
Mike:
I agree. Well, Steven, you’ve been a pleasure. Thanks for being on Gain Traction podcast.
Steven:
I appreciate it. And yeah, I mean, we’ve loved working with Tread, so.
Mike:
Hey, before we hang up, tell our listeners how they can reach you or contact you if they’re interested in finding out more.
Steven:
Sure. Autoops.com A-U-T-O-O-P-S.com. That will have all the information. I do this till the end of time. If you go on our website, my personal cell phone number’s still on there, give me a call, 717-440-7702. The amount of spam calls I get, I don’t care. It’s worth it to have my number, personal cell number, on the website.
Mike:
That’s fantastic.
Steven:
The last thing I’ll say is…
Mike:
Go ahead.
Steven:
I have to throw one thing out for Tread is there’s a lot of marketing companies we work with. Probably work with 100 different marketing companies. Every shop has different. There’s only probably three people in the entire world who actually take advantage of some of the marketing analytics and marketing attribution we do. And one of them is Tread Partners. I mean, you guys dive into the Google Analytics. You’ve used our Google Analytics integration where we’re firing over all these different conversion ads. Better than anyone to actually show shops where I’m spending all this money on marketing, where is it actually being most fruitful for me. So shout out to what you guys are doing and keep doing a good job.
Mike:
Thank you. We appreciate the tool.
Steven:
Anytime.
Mike:
To all our listeners out there, thank you as usual for being part of the podcast. We are grateful for you. If you would like to recommend a guest to me, please email me at [email protected]. Until next week be safe and have a great day.
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