Episode Notes:
The difference between a good collision repair shop and a truly exceptional one often boils down to one critical factor: how people feel when they interact with your business.
Join us this week as Sheryl Driggers, former MSO owner and now lead CSR trainer for Mike Anderson's elite Spartan Groups, reveals the science and strategy behind creating meaningful connections that transform both customer experience and employee satisfaction.
Here are three effective actions collision shop leaders can take from Sheryl’s insights:
- Cultivate a Positive Environment: Focus on creating a positive workplace atmosphere. Encourage a culture where positivity is the norm, as it enhances decision-making, creativity, and productivity. This can be achieved by recognizing and celebrating small wins, offering support, and fostering open communication among team members.
- Enhance Emotional Connections: Train your staff to prioritize emotional intelligence in customer interactions. Encourage them to go beyond standard service protocols by making customers feel valued and understood. Simple gestures like personalized follow-ups or remembering customer preferences can create memorable experiences that enhance customer loyalty.
- Implement the "One Degree" Concept: Encourage your team to consistently perform small, thoughtful actions that exceed customer expectations. This could include personalized thank-you notes, unexpected discounts, or simply going the extra mile in service delivery. These minor enhancements can significantly impact customer satisfaction and lead to increased referrals and repeat business.
Taking these actions, rooted in positive human interactions, can transform both your customer service and employee engagement, driving long-term success for your business!
GUEST CONTACT
Sheryl Driggers - sheryl@collisionadvice.com
CollisionAdvice – www.collisionadvice.com
Shawn Achor Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/GXy__kBVq1M?si=robDiWbKpUVOTuaA
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: https://w
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rick (00:00):
There's a very famous quote from a well-known author
and civil rights activist, mayaAngelou, you may have heard
before that says people willforget what you said, people
will forget what you did, butpeople will never forget how you
made them feel.
Now, if you run a collisionbusiness or really any kind of
business where you're dealingdirectly with other people,
other humans, both internallyand externally, there is not any
(00:23):
other message that is moreimportant to remember than that
it applies to everyone in yourcompany.
Welcome to the MindWrenchPodcast with your host, rick
Sellover, where minoradjustments produce major
(00:44):
improvements in mindset,personal growth and success.
This is the place to be everyMonday, where we make small
improvements and take positiveactions in our business and
personal lives that will make amajor impact in our success,
next-level growth and quality oflife.
(01:04):
Hey, what's up everybody?
Welcome to the MindWrenchPodcast.
I'm your host, rick Salone.
Thanks so much for stopping in.
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(01:46):
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By the way, if you'd like tostart receiving my quote of the
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It's free and you canunsubscribe at any time.
(02:07):
Anyways, there's a very famousquote from a well-known author
and civil rights activist, mayaAngelou, you may have heard
before.
That says people will forgetwhat you said, people will
forget what you did, but peoplewill never forget how you made
them feel, will never forget howyou made them feel.
Now, if you run a collisionbusiness or really any kind of
(02:27):
business where you're dealingdirectly with other people,
other humans, both internallyand externally, there is not any
other message that is moreimportant to remember than that.
It applies to everyone in yourcompany, from your CSRs and
estimators all the way back toyour detail department at the
back of the shop, as well asevery customer that walks
through your front door orreaches out to your business via
(02:48):
email, text or a phone call.
This also applies to everyonein your personal life as well.
This little statement from Mayais not only 100% true every
single time, but it's somethingthat should be a culture within
your business culture withinyour business.
My guest this week is going toprovide some context, some
clarity and some science behindwhy the right kind of
(03:11):
communication, human connectionand the customer experience can
make or break your potential fora successful, thriving business
that not only attractscustomers but employees as well.
This week's conversation iswith Cheryl Driggers from Mike
Anderson's Collision Advice Team, where her expertise in the
soft skills side of business andcustomer experience helps her
train and coach the eliteSpartan 300 groups to
(03:32):
award-winning levels.
Let's get to that interview.
Hey, what's up everybody?
Welcome back to another episodeof the MindWrench Podcast.
I'm your host, rick Solover.
Thanks so much for stopping inand spending a few minutes with
me today.
So this week I'm your host,rick Solover.
Thanks so much for stopping inand spending a few minutes with
me today.
So this week I'm super excited.
I've got a great guest coming onthis week.
My special guest is not only aformer 3Shop MSO owner, but also
(03:56):
a dynamic keynote speaker, aperformance coach.
He's now the lead CSR trainercoach for Mike Anderson's
Spartan Groups.
I'm sure you've heard of theSpartan Groups, right, helping
some of the top performing shopsin the country excel at their
front office or front of houseoperations.
Now, don't be fooled by thegentle voice.
(04:17):
She is a true badass in thesoft skills arena.
So please join me in welcomingan amazing coach and customer
experience wizard, cherylDrager's, from Collision Advice,
to the MindWrench podcast.
Cheryl, welcome to the show.
Sheryl (04:30):
Rick, thank you so much for having me and such a
generous welcome.
Rick (04:35):
Oh, not a problem, I'm happy to do it.
I'm happy that you're here.
You know what's funny is, forthe longest time I'd seen your
name and I really didn't knowwho you are and what you did,
right, I just knew you were partof Mike Anderson's group.
But then I met you at hisSpartan conference and we got a
chance to talk and get to knoweach other a little bit and I'm
just blown away and amazed byhow much you know about this
(04:58):
particular and extremelyimportant piece of the collision
shops business.
Right, I mean, you can lose acustomer before they even get
halfway through the parking lot,let alone, you know, done
talking to your csr.
So excelling in that piece ofthe business, I think, is just
it's phenomenal and I'm excitedto share how you managed to do
(05:19):
this and how you're helpingchops today.
Sheryl (05:21):
So absolutely well, it is you, anyone who interacts
with our customers.
They are representing a brand.
I always say that we are thedirector of first impression If
you're the first person thatinteracts with the customer,
whether that is on a phone callor maybe they come into the shop
, and so really equippingeveryone you know not only the
(05:41):
customer service professionals,but everyone who's going to
interact with our customers tobe that extraordinary director
of first impressions.
Rick (05:50):
Absolutely.
That is probably job number onefor anybody sitting north of
the entrance to the actualproduction area, right.
Sheryl (05:59):
Absolutely.
Rick (06:00):
Good, well, listen, why don't you just for the guests
and so everybody knows?
I'd like a little bit of yourbackground, how you managed to
go from a shop co-owner, shopowner, to working for Mike
Anderson and Collision Adviceand being, you know, his main
coach and mentor and instructorand trainer in the soft skills
(06:23):
arena.
So how did you make thattransition?
Sheryl (06:28):
Absolutely Well.
So my story in the collisionindustry started back in 2001.
My husband and I had beenmarried for one year and our
first year of marriage.
We were just traveling indifferent directions and really
didn't see each other, and so wewere looking for a business
opportunity both of us, you know, we were in in our 20s, we both
(06:50):
had college degrees and we'relooking to be entrepreneurs, and
so we opened our first shop inTallahassee, florida, back in
2001.
Actually, it's one week afterthe 911.
It was September 17, 2001.
We opened our first shop with abusiness partner, and so we then
(07:10):
grew from one to two shops from2001 to 2004.
We opened our second locationand then also Jason my husband
and I, we had our first child,and so that was a busy year for
us had two kids, barrett andMadison.
They're both 19 and 20 now, butthen we waited a little bit
(07:32):
before we opened our thirdlocation, and we opened that in
2017.
So, did that?
We love this industry.
We absolutely loved our team.
I absolutely had a growingprocess, you know, in real time,
(07:54):
not only just learning a newindustry, but learning how to be
a leader, and we had theopportunity to sell in 2021.
And we did.
And you know, over the years wehad worked with Mike Anderson
right, we were part of hisbusiness council group and we
had worked with him, also as aconsultant, having him come into
(08:15):
our shops, and so once we sold,it was a natural transition for
me to join Mike and TracyDombrowski, tiffany Driggers and
the Collision Advice team, andthat's what I've been doing
since 2022 now, Wow, that'sawesome.
Rick (08:34):
That's awesome and it's cool the fact that he was
actually one of the people thathelped your business when you
were still a business owner.
So I think that'll be acontinuing trend with Mike.
Some of the best people he'sgained, I think he's gaining
from former shops that said, hey, this guy's really good.
I want to do what he does withhim every day, right.
Sheryl (08:53):
Absolutely.
He is.
He's amazing at what he does,but he is also, you know, just
one of the most humble andgenuine people that I know.
So great combination.
Rick (09:06):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
The people that haven't seenhis his true side, they just
think he's a very passionate andexcited and driving guy, you
know, in front of an audience.
But man, a dude is so humble,so nice, so laid back in in
person, it's just's just.
It's such a cool contrast.
(09:27):
So, anyway, so you joined hiscollision advice group and did
you come in as someone thatspecialized in the CSR or the
soft skills role, or did youjust come in as a general coach
and go, hey, where can I fit?
Sheryl (09:43):
So when I first started, I was doing weekly coaching
calls with Spartan members, sopart of the Spartan group.
One of the things thatCollision Advice offers is we do
one-on-one coaching with ourSpartan members, and so I had
taken on some of the Spartanclients doing weekly coaching
calls.
(10:03):
But my passion is around people, and so, whether it is the
customer experience or theemployee experience, one of the
things that Mike and the teamallowed me to do was work and
start creating.
Well, really, they had alreadyhad things created, but start
(10:24):
updating the customer experiencecontent, and so then we
launched a pilot class and thenI started doing all of the
customer experience trainingfrom there.
Rick (10:34):
Awesome.
So what was one of the firstthings you really grasped onto
and try to get the shop ownersto understand?
So I know there's a bigconnection between who's in the
back and who's in front, isn'tthere?
Sheryl (10:51):
Yeah.
So I think one of the mostimportant things as a shop owner
really is to understand thathow you are impacting your team
right, how you are impactingyour team right.
So when we walk into a room,you know, even without saying
(11:14):
anything, we are impacting thepeople around us.
You know whether we are comingin with this negative attitude
or we're coming in with apositive mindset of okay, here
is an opportunity for us to getbetter.
So, for me, one of the thingsthat I love to talk about is how
can we impact the people on ourteam in a way where they thrive
(11:35):
in their positions right?
How can we create thatenvironment?
How can we protect thatenvironment?
Right, it's the leader'sresponsibility to really protect
those cultures, these workenvironments where people are
spending more day at work youknow, more of their time at work
than they are with theirfamilies so, really working to
(11:56):
create that healthy culture.
Now, every single person on theteam impacts culture, but it
starts with leadership.
It starts with leadership whenwe have a healthy culture.
When we create that not onlycreating great relationships
with you know leadership andteam members, but also
facilitating that among the teamthat's when we're going to have
(12:17):
better results.
That's where we're going to.
We're going to see that on aprofit and loss statement.
That absolutely impacts, youknow, impacts our financials.
It impacts our performance, andso a lot of times, we separate
this.
Well, this is soft skills andthis is financials.
Yes, there is a separation, butone impacts the other.
Rick (12:38):
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for you.
Did you find you know first,starting out in this with Mike's
guys, mike's groups that youknow there was some disconnect
(14:28):
between you?
Know, let's say, how shopowners and upper management
treat their employees orinteract with them, versus how
they treat or interact withtheir customers?
Sheryl (14:48):
with their customers.
You know, mike has.
The people that are involved inSpartans are really the elite.
You know of the elite, right?
So I would say that there's,you know, there wasn't a huge
disconnect necessarily in howthey interacted with their
internal customers versus theirexternal.
I think all of us have blindspots and one of the things that
I love about working with allof our Spartan members is that
(15:09):
they want people to help them intheir blind spots.
Right, they are welcoming hey,if I have a blind spot, please
tell me, and they don't getdefensive.
And so being able to work withsome great Spartan members, you
know, having these conversationsgoing on site, doing employee
engagement sessions, you know,with their team members and then
(15:32):
facilitating some of those hardconversations right, maybe not
conversations we want you knowto hear, but then the impact
after we have theseconversations is just impacting
the business tremendously.
Rick (15:48):
Right, yeah, and the only reason I ask that and I've met
many of Mike's clients atdifferent events and stuff and
most everyone I've met has beenjust so high quality and so
laser focused on makingimprovements and stuff and it's
great.
But I come from a background ofbeing of service to hundreds of
(16:09):
collision shops for many yearsand I'd say the predominant
thing that I would see in thedysfunction of most any shop I
dealt with because I was alwaysthere trying to solve problems
and help where I could help butthat huge disconnect between you
know, the shop manager, shopowner going back yelling at his
employees you know, come on, getthat done, clean that up.
(16:31):
You know versus they would comeup and they treat their
customers almost the same wayuntil they would like catch it,
and then they, you know, orsomeone in the office would
catch it and kind of take overthe conversation.
And to me that just seemed likesuch, a such a gap that I
didn't know if anybody actuallytaught how to overcome that and
how to, how to transition thatRight.
(16:52):
So that's what I was really.
I was really drawn to ourconversation just with all that
in the back of my head from frommy experience.
Sheryl (16:59):
Well and and and complete transparency.
That was who I used to be at myshops.
You know when, as I mentioned,my husband and I when we opened
our first shop, we were both,you know, mid twenties and I,
you know, my experience withleadership at that point was
everyone I had ever worked underwas command and control.
(17:20):
I mean, that's what I knew andso that's what I thought
leadership was.
And you know, going back to,you know what you were talking
about of.
You know, I don't thinksometimes we realize the impact
that we have on people in thatstyle of leadership.
And you know, I had anawakening of the impact that I
was having on the people that Iworked with, and not only the
(17:43):
people that I worked with, butthen, you know, also my husband,
my kids.
I read the book Seven Habits ofHighly Effective People by
Stephen Covey.
One of the first things that heasked the readers to do at the
very beginning of the book iswrite out what people would say
about you at your funeral.
(18:04):
And when I did that exercise, Imean it wrecked me when I
realized the impact that I washaving on people.
See, because in my mind, youknow, I'm getting things done
right, I'm the one making thingshappen.
I go in and I bulldoze and Ifigure out a way, and then being
awakened to the impact thatthat was having on other people,
(18:26):
and that was really the startof, you know, my journey on this
is not who I want to be Right,this is not the kind of impact I
want to have on other people.
And really then you know,digging in whether into you know
John Maxwell books and otherleadership books that that
journey then took me to you know, the John Maxwell leadership
(18:47):
training and some otherleadership training, in order to
become that person who washaving a positive impact on the
people around around me insteadof just that negative.
Oh, I can't, you know.
Know, I can't do this anymore.
That's and that's awesome too.
Rick (19:06):
Uh, uh, cheryl, because I you know, I often refer to
mindset in in my episodes andwhat I talk about with people,
about and that's you know.
There's so many people I thinkthey're stuck in a mindset that
may be negative or fixed andthey just assume or they believe
that they can't change that.
Now you took a fixed or anegative mindset somewhat right,
(19:27):
recognized it and then madeproactive actions happen to get
past that and get into more of apositive mindset, and that's
just further proof thateverybody has that capability to
make those changes and changetheir life and change their
environment and how the worldreacts to them, and that's
(19:49):
awesome.
I'm glad to hear that.
Sheryl (19:52):
Yeah, absolutely, and we do so.
We all have a naturalcommunication style where we
feel comfortable, and so one ofthe things that I learned is
through the John Maxwellorganization about the
discommunication theory.
Right, it's just, thediscommunication theory was
developed by Americanpsychologist William Marston
(20:14):
back, you know, I think, 1920s,when he was writing his book the
Emotions of Normal People theemotions of normal people, and
in this what he found as he wasdoing his research is that as
humans, we're different, butwe're predictably different, and
there are a number of differentcommunication tools out there.
But this seems to be one of themost simple ways to learn to
(20:38):
understand number one, our owncommunication style, and then
start to understand thecommunication style of the
people around us.
And I was naturally what iscalled a dominant and
conscientious communicator.
So the dominant is veryaggressive, you know, they want
to win at all costs, they wantto be in control.
(21:00):
The conscientious communicatoris a perfectionist, very much
data, systems, processes, and somy natural communication style
is focused around task outcome,processes and people or not
people.
What I had to learn was is tobe intentional, to develop
(21:21):
relationships with the peoplearound me, versus just spewing
data and results and systems andprocesses at people.
Rick (21:29):
Right, yeah, disc assessment, that's an
interesting tool.
I've been through that a coupleof times and throughout my
career, so I know that, doingthe research for you before we
talked, I know that you know youfacilitated a lot of seminars,
you are a keynote speaker and Iknow I've seen you speak a
(21:50):
couple of times and which youknow.
Obviously that that takes a lotof training, it takes a lot of
confidence, it takes a lot ofthings to get up in front of a
group and and speak on a subject, to get up in front of a group
and speak on a subject, but tofurther that and go and do these
seminars that you've been doing, from what I understood, you
did seminars in CSR, in customerservice representative training
(22:12):
.
You've done leadership, you'vedone culture building and even
financial best practices.
So do you do those within justMike Anderson's collision advice
, or is that something youactually do in another part of
your own business?
Sheryl (22:29):
So, yeah, everything I do within collision repair is
with Mike, tiffany and Tracy andthe collision advice team.
I have had opportunities to,you know, do some nonprofit
speaking and some speakingoutside of our industry, and
because I love to talk aboutculture, about leadership and
(22:50):
about my faith, and so I've hadopportunities there also.
Rick (22:55):
Oh, that's awesome.
So if you really want to workwith Cheryl, then got to get on
Mike's team, so it's a smalllittle plug for collision advice
.
So anyways, I'm glad to hearthat.
I know you've been involved ina lot of stuff in your career
and you're making a bigdifference with the shops that
you're working with now.
(23:15):
So can you go through maybe acouple of things that you know,
those outside of the Spartan 300group, some of the things that
they should be aware of, somethings that you can help with,
some things that you think thatyou know shops kind of missed
the boat on, and a couple tweaksand they can be right back in
the game.
Sheryl (23:32):
Yeah, absolutely so.
You know customer experiencefor sure.
I think a lot of times we asshop owners and I was guilty of
this also is, you know, we sendour technicians to training or
we send our estimators totraining, but we're not sending
our customer serviceprofessionals to training to
help them be equipped witheverything that they need to
(23:56):
deliver extraordinary to ourcustomers and so really
equipping your entire team witheverything that they need to be
successful.
So I do the customer experiencetraining with Collision Advice.
We do virtual and we do it inperson.
I also do the employeeexperience where I will go into
(24:18):
a shop and I will facilitateemployee engagement sessions.
A shop and I will facilitateemployee engagement sessions.
I'll do surveys, sometimesbefore we go, where we are
giving the employees a surveythat they fill out beforehand,
and then I go in and Ifacilitate some conversations
around that, and then sometimesit's, you know, I'm just going
(24:38):
into the shop having theseconversations one-on-one with
each team member and not doing asurvey before, but really
working to fill in the gaps ofcommunication, really working to
identify.
Okay, do we have any blindspots?
Have we, as leaders, made anypromises to our team where you
(24:58):
know we have a lot of thingsgoing on and maybe something
fell through that we didn'tfollow up on and really that's
been eating away at someone.
Well, in these conversations,you know, some of that stuff has
come to light and we can havesome healthy conversations and
resolve those issues, Becauseone of the most important things
in any business, whethercollision repair or any business
(25:20):
, is a foundation of trust.
I mean you business is afoundation of trust.
I mean you have to have afoundation of trust within your
organization if you want to havea healthy workplace, and so
that's really some of the goalsthat we go into when I go into
shops is number one making surethat we fill in the gaps of
communication.
There is that foundation oftrust where we can have healthy
(25:42):
conflict.
You know, sometimes peoplethink that all conflict is bad
and it's not.
Conflict, if it's done in ahealthy way, is where growth
happens.
That's where we're going tocome up with ideas that we would
never come up with before if wedon't hear each other's
perspective in a healthy way.
Rick (26:01):
Yeah, it leads to growth on both sides of the
conversation too, doesn't it?
Sheryl (26:04):
Absolutely.
But so many times, as humanbeings, we avoid hard
conversations with the, whetherit's of you know, I don't want
to make them mad, or I don'tknow how they're going to
respond or react, or whateverthe reason is, and then we just
don't have the most productiveenvironment because we can't
(26:29):
have those conversations Right.
I mean, have you ever read thebook the Speed of Trust and this
is by Stephen Covey's son?
I think his name is alsoStephen.
Rick (26:40):
No, I don't think I've read that one.
I think I've seen it as I'mgoing through and looking at
books that I'm going to buy andI know I've seen it.
Just I don't think I've readthat one.
Sheryl (26:49):
Well, it's a great one also, and it talks about when
there is a foundation of trustin any relationship, whether a
working relationship or apersonal relationship, the speed
of what can get done is so muchfaster Because, if you think
about it, if there's not afoundation of trust in a
relationship, so let's just take.
You know, in a workrelationship, we're choosing our
(27:12):
words wisely it's taking longerto get things done because we
are not, you know, interactingin a way where I can just put an
idea out there without worryingif I'm going to offend somebody
or if somebody's going to getupset.
Instead, when there's thatlevel of trust, we have each
other's back.
I can have good, hardconversations and know that, hey
(27:33):
, when we walk away, we stillmight not 100% disagree, but we
have each other's and we stillhave the best of the team in
mind.
Rick (27:42):
Right, and boy, I completely agree with that.
And I know with the groups thatyou're working with and you
know ownership's at a greatlevel and the mentality and the
mindset of those folks runningthese shops is stellar.
But you bring in employees,right, that from came from other
(28:05):
shops and I will tell you, justbased on my own previous
experience, most of those peoplehave huge distrust for the
leadership of of any collisionshop.
Just based on previousexperience, right, I don't know
how many conversations I becauseI'd get back in every shop and
talk to painters and I'd talk tothe body guys and the porters
every time I was visiting shopsas a vendor and I'd always hear
(28:28):
that phrase well, I don't wantto piss him off, I don't want to
make him mad.
Boy, he's rough on us when he'smad and there was always that
type of dynamic going on in alot of the shops.
Or you know, they just theydidn't feel safe really to voice
their opinion for fear ofretribution, uh, or they didn't
(28:48):
trust what was going on up inthe front office, which is
horrible.
I mean, as an employee, youshould have great trust in
wherever you're at that.
Hey, they're taking care of me,they're looking out for me.
I'm going to be okay.
I should be able to say myopinion on something if it's
valid, right?
But the shop culture, as youprobably saw as a three shop MSO
(29:08):
, those employees, you knowthey're timid, they don't want
to say anything.
They got a lot to say, theybury a lot but they don't want
to say it, right?
Yeah?
Sheryl (29:17):
Well, and so a couple of things there.
Number one that's why I lovethe engagement surveys, because
then, when we did an engagementsurveys, we got more feedback
and those surveys than justsitting down with people one on
one or even, you know,communicating on a daily basis.
And we got this feedback frompeople that we were close to.
(29:44):
We had close relationships witha lot of our team members.
We had a number of team memberswho had been with us almost
since we opened, and so we feltthat we knew each other well.
We did things outside of workand I remember a specific survey
that we did where we gotfeedback on that survey that we
had blind spots, right, and so,yeah, and most people are going
(30:07):
to feel more comfortable givingyou feedback on a survey and
then having a conversation aboutit versus just coming and
having that conversation direct.
And so really looking for waysof you know how can I make sure
I have systems, not only justsystems and processes in place,
but looking for ways to fill inthe gaps of communication.
(30:28):
Looking for ways to fill in thegaps of communication.
So for us, that was one we alsoone of the things that we did
when we, you know, realized wehad gaps in communication.
Was we started a companynewsletter which sounds you know
, you know, a company newsletter, really.
Rick (30:43):
There's always three people in my shop.
Sheryl (30:45):
Well, but that really helped everyone feel like they
were part of what was going on.
Because one of the things thatwe found was, you know, our team
did not feel that they werekept informed of the direction
of the company.
And you know, for us we thoughtwe were doing a good job with
that.
But we were just doing a goodjob with that, for example, with
(31:07):
our location managers, and itwasn't always just naturally
getting to every team member.
So we really looked for ways of, okay, how can we fill gaps in
communication?
But then also, it can't just belip service that, hey, I want
you to.
You know, we have this opendoor policy and we want you to
give us feedback, Because howyou respond to someone when they
(31:30):
give you feedback is going todetermine if they're ever going
to give you that feedback again.
And I remember, you know, wewould have, you know, leadership
meetings with all of ourlocation managers, and we might,
let me preface this by myhusband and I are both what's
(31:50):
considered dominantcommunicators and so that
D-style communication.
And so we felt we were askingthe right questions, but no one
was necessarily giving usfeedback or saying they didn't
agree with us.
So we thought, okay, everyone'son board with whatever the
situation was, but what wereally found was we weren't
(32:13):
creating that safe place forpeople to give us that feedback
and us not be defensive or usnot correct them.
Yes, not critical of whatthey're saying to us.
Yeah, and so that was one ofthe things that we had to do,
just with our naturalcommunication style.
Number one is scale back theaggressiveness and really make
that safe place for people togive you feedback that they
(32:36):
disagree with you and then, whenthey do, make sure that how I
respond is, in a way that'snumber one, respectful and that
they'll want to give me feedbackagain.
Rick (32:46):
I think that's really important.
You know, in today's climate,there's a lot of talk about
culture and building bettercultures in the shop, because
the traditional body shopculture was never great, it just
wasn't.
(33:08):
Let's build a better culture forour shop and I see great
examples of that out there.
You know, working with all thefolks that I've met in this
industry that belong tosomething like you know, like
Mike's Collision Group, hisSpartan 300s and even the ones
before that that were part ofhis original performance groups
that he would do for Exalta andDuPont, that you know they
(33:31):
started understanding at ahigher level.
Yeah, we need to have bettercultures and I think that
message still needs to be driventoday because there's still a
lack of culture in a lot ofshops.
But with today's shortage oftechnicians and the ability to
get quality people man, listen,you can have the best equipment
in the world, you can have thenicest looking shop, you could
(33:53):
have the biggest, brightest signout there, but if you don't
treat your people right, you'regoing to end up with no
employees because everybody agedout or moved on to someplace
else.
Sheryl (34:03):
Right, yeah, so I was just reading a report that SCRS
did.
It's an industry report where Ibelieve they interviewed and
don't quote me because I wasjust reading it and I haven't
gotten through all 10 pages butthey had interviewed, I believe,
over 800 technicians in ourindustry and one of the things
(34:24):
that they found in this report,this survey, was that most
technicians when they leave ajob, it's because they don't
feel appreciated in a workenvironment, and those are
things that if we focus on, okay, how can I make sure my team
feels appreciated?
One of the things that Mike andthe Collision Advice team did
(34:47):
was brought in Dr Paul White,who is the co-author of the book
the Five Languages ofAppreciation in the Workplace,
brought him in December of lastyear where he did an all-day
seminar and then I was able tothen do some additional training
(35:08):
with him and be certified toteach that content.
And that's one of the thingsthat we offer at Collision
Advice, because what we havefound is that's part of the
culture piece, right, Is beingable to show appreciation, but
everyone receives appreciationdifferently.
Right, there's some people thatyou know they would be mortified
(35:29):
if you were to recognize thempublicly, versus someone who
would love that morning meetingshout out.
Some people want quality oftime, Some people want help.
They just want help.
They're overwhelmed and so justreally understanding that
showing appreciation to yourteam is not, you know, buying
(35:52):
lunch right, it's getting toknow them as individuals,
understanding their appreciationlanguage, how they receive
appreciation, and thencommunicating that authentically
.
Rick (36:03):
Nope, spot on, spot on.
And to your point about thesurvey I was talking with Jay
Gonan from Wrenchway and he haddone a technician survey the
past two years in a row and Ithink this last one he did in
association with ASA.
But pretty much the samesentiment was you know the real
(36:24):
reason.
You know these guys are leavingthe shops and stuff is it's not
just technician pay.
These guys are leaving theshops and stuff is it's not just
technician pay, but it's otherthings that you know how they're
treated, how they're, ifthey're appreciated or not, and
if they feel that the ownershiphas, you know, their best
interests in mind or reallycares about them.
Right?
I mean, we're emotional beings,people are emotional beings.
(36:52):
I think sometimes in theworkplace, people that run the
workplace forget that they justtreat them like, hey, you're
just here to get something done,please go get that done, right?
Not?
You know what's going on inyour life and I've seen it just
talking at the backside of shopsand dealing with people that
are going through, you know,divorces and breakups and their
kids are being pulled away from,and all these things that go on
(37:12):
in a human's life affects everyperson, right?
So it doesn't matter if that'syour A-Tech or that's your wash
guy.
There's going to be things thatgo on in their lives that are
going to affect them emotionally, that's going to affect their
performance.
You know, being a shop that atleast communicates and
understands that stuff will holdon to that guy once he pulls
his stuff together, once he getsthrough the hard time or
(37:33):
whatever, as opposed to the guythat just hey, I don't care what
your problems are, get to work,get that done.
I need that out by five.
You know those types of thingsdrive people out and they'll
look for someplace else.
Sheryl (37:46):
So absolutely 100%.
Rick (37:48):
All right, let's shift gears a little bit.
So, absolutely All right, let'sshift gears a little bit.
One of the things you said is,which I really love, this was
there science to being positive,science to positivity?
Can you explain that?
Sheryl (38:00):
Absolutely so.
I watched a TED Talk and ofcourse now my mind is going
blank right now, but thestatistic is and I learned this
from a TED TED talk, and I'llhave to try to remember his name
he is an author and Harvardprofessor and in this talk he
talked about that we are 31%smarter in a positive frame of
(38:24):
mind, and that's backed byneuroscience.
So if you think about it, whenyou are in a negative frame of
mind, you're not productive,you're not creative, you aren't
making good decisions.
Right, If you think about those, those high emotions, when
you're in that high pressuredsituation or you have these high
emotions, these negativeemotions whether it's anger,
(38:47):
stress, frustration you're notmaking good decisions, You're
not creative, You're notproductive.
But when we are, when we canreframe things and I'm not
talking about, you know,unicorns and rainbows right,
when we can reframe a situationand say, okay, here I have an
opportunity.
Number one and number two Ihave control to manage my
(39:08):
emotions.
Two I have control to manage myemotions.
My emotions do not control me,I manage my emotions.
And so, whether it is, you know, pausing to, you know in a
conversation, if it's, if it'sgetting heated for everyone just
to take a few breaths or, youknow, whatever the situation is,
it's when we can learn tomanage our emotions and remember
(39:29):
hey, we're 31% smarter in apositive frame of mind.
I don't know anyone who doesn'twant to make good decisions and
be creative and be productive.
And so it starts with one ofthe most important things that
anyone can do, no matter yourposition, is to manage your mind
and manage those emotions.
Rick (39:50):
You're talking right in my wheelhouse here, so I
appreciate that.
I know personally I makehorrible decisions when I'm mad.
There's not one single time Igo glad I did that when I was
pissed off because that workedout really well.
It doesn't work out inrelationships, your home life or
your work life ever.
It's tough to control thatstuff.
(40:12):
It really is, and there's somepeople that are kind of
hardwired to be hot-headed,quick draw on the angers or the
swear words or whatever.
But spending some time workingon your own self which I've been
promoting for yearsunderstanding why you work the
way you work and then findingways to manage that and control
that, can make a massivedifference.
(40:32):
You know, in how you treat youremployees, how you treat your
spouse, your kids, yourneighbors you know that jerk
that keeps letting his dog crapon your front lawn.
You know there's a lot ofbenefits to positivity and I
know, speaking of positivity, weboth know Dave Luer right and
his uh, his positivity summit hedoes every year, which is
(40:53):
freaking awesome.
I love that thing.
But you were on there a coupletimes, weren't you?
Sheryl (40:57):
yeah, I was.
It's been a number of years ago, but yeah, I believe I was on
two of the positivity summits,uh, back in the day of, because
this is something as I, as Imentioned.
So my natural communicationstyle part of that is a
perfectionist, and soperfectionists tend to be
negative, because nothing isever perfect and nothing will
(41:20):
ever be perfect on this side ofheaven.
So, like, we always see what iswrong, and so that's one of the
things that I have really beenintentional to work on over the
years is of okay, yes, I'm goingto strive for excellence, but
perfection doesn't exist, and soI have to work on, you know,
(41:41):
reframing, you know whether asituation, or working on making
sure that I'm keeping thatpositive frame of mind.
And what am I consuming?
Right?
Am I consuming things that arestirring up negativity in me or
am I putting into my brainthings that are going to help me
(42:03):
become the person who I want tobe?
Rick (42:06):
Right, and what Cheryl means by consuming.
If anybody didn't catch, thatis the things that and I've
studied this extensively thethings that you allow in.
So, through your eyes, throughyour ears, through your
surroundings, you know your bodyand your mind takes in.
You know senses from, you knowseveral areas, but the stuff
that you consume you know the TVthat you're watching, the news
(42:28):
that you listen to which I wouldsay if I could get anybody to
do anything, it'd be stopwatching the news 24-7, because
all that does is poison yourmind with negativity.
They thrive on that, right.
But, like I said, the music youlisten to, the shows you go
watch, you have control overthat and you can make a
difference just by changing yoursurroundings, changing what you
(42:51):
do.
Take in what you consume andstart making some positive
improvements, whether it'sstarting to read some self-help
books or personal developmentbooks, or watching a couple free
courses on YouTube or on theinternet, or just putting
yourself in a better surrounding, putting yourself outside,
where nature is, where it's niceand peaceful, take a walk, or
just, you know, putting yourselfin a better surrounding,
(43:12):
putting yourself outside, wherenature is, where it's nice and
peaceful, take a walk, orwhatever you know, stay out of
the high stress situations.
There's tons of things you cando to improve that.
Sorry, I didn't mean to hijackthe conversation on positivity.
Sheryl (43:23):
You're absolutely spot on.
I love it.
Rick (43:27):
You know you had a couple other things I was going to talk
to you about.
We've still got a few minuteshere.
So you had said something aboutnobody notices normal.
You know what.
I've heard that before but Inever really thought about that.
But do you want to expand onthat a little bit?
Sheryl (43:40):
Yeah.
So if you think about it, youknow, if you've been to a fast
food restaurant recently and youwent through the drive-thru a
fast food restaurant recentlyand you went through the
drive-thru and if you got whatyou ordered, you didn't go back
to work or go back home and justtell everybody oh my goodness,
they got the order right, right,you just don't go talk about
(44:00):
something that is normal.
And so one of the things that Italk about a lot is we have to
be extraordinary, we have to beremarkable.
Is we have to be extraordinary,we have to be remarkable?
And there was someone that Iworked with a number of years
ago at Universal Collision.
He was one of our estimators.
He gave me a small book called212, the One Extra Degree, and
(44:24):
in the book the premise is youhave 211 degrees of water.
That's just really hot, right,it's pretty much pointless.
And then you have 212 degreesof water.
That's just really hot, right,it's pretty much pointless.
And then you have 212 degreesof water.
Then is creating steam to powera massive machine because it's
boiling now, and so it's justthat one degree difference going
(44:44):
from useless to now we'repowering a massive machine.
And so if we give everythingthat we do, whether it's in
conversation, whether it's inour task, everything that we do,
with one more degree right.
One more degree that is goingto create all of these little
extraordinary moments, whetherit's for our internal customer
(45:06):
or our external customer.
Right, and we should.
I should want to deliverextraordinary to my internal
customer just as much as I do myexternal, and so when I start
looking for one more degrees,that is what is going to create
extraordinary and that's whatpeople talk about.
And so if you want to, you knowimprove, you know your.
(45:30):
If you're a collision repairshop and you want to improve
your customer experience, oryour customers who are referring
you to other people or who arecoming back to you you know
they've been into anotheraccident you want to create
extraordinary experiences allthroughout the journey, because
(45:50):
it's all of these little wows,it's all of these little one
degrees that, by we get to theend of the repair process, has
created this massive,extraordinary, remarkable
feeling for that customer of ohmy goodness, they have provided
this extraordinary service.
They made it radically easy forme to do business with them.
They always went above andbeyond, and then that's what the
(46:12):
customer remembers, even ifthere has been hiccups along the
way, because we all know thatwe live in the real world and
things are going to go wrong.
But it's, you know, it's how wehandle things when things do go
wrong.
Is that creates thatextraordinary?
Rick (46:27):
So, cheryl, give me a couple examples of what that one
degree would look like.
What's some things you've seenpeople do in the collision
center that are the equivalentof that one more degree for the
customer?
Sheryl (46:40):
Right.
So let's talk about externalcustomer first.
So one more degree for anexternal customer might be okay.
I have a customer who's callingand maybe they have.
Okay, I have a customer who'scalling and maybe they have.
Let's say, they have State Farminsurance and I need to have an
assignment sent over.
I'm not asking the customer toget State Farm to send that
(47:00):
assignment over.
I'm doing one more degree andsaying, ms Smith, if you can
give me your claim number, Iwill contact State Farm on your
behalf and I will ask them ifthey can send what's called an
assignment over to us and thenwe can get the process started.
But what I see most of the timeis shops are putting that back
on the customer's to-do list.
So that would be one moredegree Now internally.
(47:23):
Right, because I wanted todeliver that one more degree
internally just as much as I doexternally.
So maybe that is you know.
Maybe we have a customer comein and let's just say they're
coming back because their ACstopped working.
You know what one more degreeinternally is that I'm getting
(47:44):
as much as the information fromthe customer at the very
beginning with the customer.
So when I go back to talk to mytechnical person.
I'm not just dumping somethingon their lap.
I'm getting as much informationas I can to then provide them
with the information that theyneed to then take over versus
just what I see a lot of timesat shops is we have the front of
(48:08):
the shop and then the back ofthe shop, and usually I see
people pointing fingers.
Instead, what we should bedoing is collaborating together,
doing that one more degree ofokay, how can I make your life
better?
That should be my mindset andeverything that I do internally
and externally.
Rick (48:25):
Oh, that's awesome.
That's exactly what I waslooking for too, so thank you
for sharing that.
Listen as we get close towrapping up here.
Is there anything that you wantto share that I didn't ask
about yet, because I know youhave so much in your background,
cheryl, and so many things thatyou do, and I know you're parts
of a lot of different things,but is there something else you
(48:48):
wanted to make sure thelisteners knew?
Sheryl (48:54):
I think we covered most everything.
The thing that is mostimportant to me is just
communicating that we all makean impact on people, right?
It's either positive ornegative.
There's no neutral, and so myquestion to everyone would be
what kind of impact are youhaving on the people around you,
whether it's your family,whether it's your teammates,
(49:17):
whether it's the completestranger that you run into at
the store?
Because we all are making animpact.
So the question is what kind ofimpact are you making?
Rick (49:32):
what kind of impact are you making?
Excellent, excellent.
I ask myself that every day,that's part of my mantra in the
morning is making sure I'mmaking an impact, a positive
impact on the industry and onanybody I serve that day.
So I love that.
That's perfect.
I'll ask you one more questionbefore we go and I didn't prep
before this, but if you had totake two seconds and think about
it, what is the greatest lessonyou've ever learned?
(49:54):
One that sticks with you morethan anything else that you
refer back to?
Sheryl (49:58):
The greatest lesson I've ever learned is to listen more
than you speak.
I tend to react versus respond,and you know.
Going back to the impact thatyou have on people, I want
people to feel heard, valued andseen when they interact with me
, and so listen more than Ispeak.
Rick (50:20):
That's why God gave you two ears and one mouth right.
Sheryl (50:23):
Yes.
Rick (50:25):
I love that.
Well, listen, this has been sogood.
This is such good information.
I really appreciate youspending the time with me today,
really thankful that you're outthere doing what you're doing
and that our paths did cross.
I'm sure we'll talk a lot moreafter this but, cheryl, thank
you so much for coming in andspending the time and sharing a
(50:46):
little bit of your wisdom withus.
I really do appreciate it.
Sheryl (50:49):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was absolutely an honor.
Rick (50:52):
Well, I hope you enjoyed my interview with Cheryl
Driggers from Collision Adviceand learned a few things that
you didn't know before about theimportance of honest
communications and authenticallyconnecting with not only your
customers but your internal teamas well.
I'll leave Cheryl's contactinformation, as well as links to
the book Cheryl mentioned inthe show notes.
Well, that's all I had for youtoday.
(51:13):
Thanks again for tuning in.
I really appreciate yoursupport and I hope you have a
great week.
I can always be reached atwwwrixelovercom, where you can
find all my social media linkspodcast episodes, blog posts and
much more.
My wretch whispers truth, soclear Tits that drive away the
fear.
Rick.
Rick's voice cuts through thenoise.
(51:35):
Blog posts and much more.
There's a very famous quote from a well-known author
and civil rights activist, mayaAngelou, you may have heard
before that says people willforget what you said, people
will forget what you did, butpeople will never forget how you
made them feel.
Now, if you run a collisionbusiness or really any kind of
business where you're dealingdirectly with other people,
other humans, both internallyand externally, there is not any
(00:23):
other message that is moreimportant to remember than that
it applies to everyone in yourcompany.
Welcome to the MindWrenchPodcast with your host, rick
Sellover, where minoradjustments produce major
(00:44):
improvements in mindset,personal growth and success.
This is the place to be everyMonday, where we make small
improvements and take positiveactions in our business and
personal lives that will make amajor impact in our success,
next-level growth and quality oflife.
(01:04):
Hey, what's up everybody?
Welcome to the MindWrenchPodcast.
I'm your host, rick Salone.
Thanks so much for stopping in.
If you're a returning listenerand haven't done so already,
please take a minute and clickthe follow or subscribe button
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(01:24):
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hopefully it can help them too.
I would really really reallyappreciate your help, sharing
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brand new listener, welcome.
I hope you find something ofvalue here that helps you in
your personal or professionallife as well.
Please make sure to click thesubscribe or follow button so
(01:46):
you never miss another episode.
If you've been listening to theshow for a while or been on the
receiving end of my daily quoteof the day emails, or maybe
just catch my posts on Facebookor LinkedIn, you know I'm all
about the quotes, right.
By the way, if you'd like tostart receiving my quote of the
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It's free and you canunsubscribe at any time.
(02:07):
Anyways, there's a very famousquote from a well-known author
and civil rights activist, mayaAngelou, you may have heard
before.
That says people will forgetwhat you said, people will
forget what you did, but peoplewill never forget how you made
them feel, will never forget howyou made them feel.
Now, if you run a collisionbusiness or really any kind of
(02:27):
business where you're dealingdirectly with other people,
other humans, both internallyand externally, there is not any
other message that is moreimportant to remember than that.
It applies to everyone in yourcompany, from your CSRs and
estimators all the way back toyour detail department at the
back of the shop, as well asevery customer that walks
through your front door orreaches out to your business via
(02:48):
email, text or a phone call.
This also applies to everyonein your personal life as well.
This little statement from Mayais not only 100% true every
single time, but it's somethingthat should be a culture within
your business culture withinyour business.
My guest this week is going toprovide some context, some
clarity and some science behindwhy the right kind of
(03:11):
communication, human connectionand the customer experience can
make or break your potential fora successful, thriving business
that not only attractscustomers but employees as well.
This week's conversation iswith Cheryl Driggers from Mike
Anderson's Collision Advice Team, where her expertise in the
soft skills side of business andcustomer experience helps her
train and coach the eliteSpartan 300 groups to
(03:32):
award-winning levels.
Let's get to that interview.
Hey, what's up everybody?
Welcome back to another episodeof the MindWrench Podcast.
I'm your host, rick Solover.
Thanks so much for stopping inand spending a few minutes with
me today.
So this week I'm your host,rick Solover.
Thanks so much for stopping inand spending a few minutes with
me today.
So this week I'm super excited.
I've got a great guest coming onthis week.
My special guest is not only aformer 3Shop MSO owner, but also
(03:56):
a dynamic keynote speaker, aperformance coach.
He's now the lead CSR trainercoach for Mike Anderson's
Spartan Groups.
I'm sure you've heard of theSpartan Groups, right, helping
some of the top performing shopsin the country excel at their
front office or front of houseoperations.
Now, don't be fooled by thegentle voice.
(04:17):
She is a true badass in thesoft skills arena.
So please join me in welcomingan amazing coach and customer
experience wizard, cherylDrager's, from Collision Advice,
to the MindWrench podcast.
Cheryl, welcome to the show.
Sheryl (04:30):
Rick, thank you so much for having me and such a
generous welcome.
Rick (04:35):
Oh, not a problem, I'm happy to do it.
I'm happy that you're here.
You know what's funny is, forthe longest time I'd seen your
name and I really didn't knowwho you are and what you did,
right, I just knew you were partof Mike Anderson's group.
But then I met you at hisSpartan conference and we got a
chance to talk and get to knoweach other a little bit and I'm
just blown away and amazed byhow much you know about this
(04:58):
particular and extremelyimportant piece of the collision
shops business.
Right, I mean, you can lose acustomer before they even get
halfway through the parking lot,let alone, you know, done
talking to your csr.
So excelling in that piece ofthe business, I think, is just
it's phenomenal and I'm excitedto share how you managed to do
(05:19):
this and how you're helpingchops today.
Sheryl (05:21):
So absolutely well, it is you, anyone who interacts
with our customers.
They are representing a brand.
I always say that we are thedirector of first impression If
you're the first person thatinteracts with the customer,
whether that is on a phone callor maybe they come into the shop
, and so really equippingeveryone you know not only the
(05:41):
customer service professionals,but everyone who's going to
interact with our customers tobe that extraordinary director
of first impressions.
Rick (05:50):
Absolutely.
That is probably job number onefor anybody sitting north of
the entrance to the actualproduction area, right.
Sheryl (05:59):
Absolutely.
Rick (06:00):
Good, well, listen, why don't you just for the guests
and so everybody knows?
I'd like a little bit of yourbackground, how you managed to
go from a shop co-owner, shopowner, to working for Mike
Anderson and Collision Adviceand being, you know, his main
coach and mentor and instructorand trainer in the soft skills
(06:23):
arena.
So how did you make thattransition?
Sheryl (06:28):
Absolutely Well.
So my story in the collisionindustry started back in 2001.
My husband and I had beenmarried for one year and our
first year of marriage.
We were just traveling indifferent directions and really
didn't see each other, and so wewere looking for a business
opportunity both of us, you know, we were in in our 20s, we both
(06:50):
had college degrees and we'relooking to be entrepreneurs, and
so we opened our first shop inTallahassee, florida, back in
2001.
Actually, it's one week afterthe 911.
It was September 17, 2001.
We opened our first shop with abusiness partner, and so we then
(07:10):
grew from one to two shops from2001 to 2004.
We opened our second locationand then also Jason my husband
and I, we had our first child,and so that was a busy year for
us had two kids, barrett andMadison.
They're both 19 and 20 now, butthen we waited a little bit
(07:32):
before we opened our thirdlocation, and we opened that in
2017.
So, did that?
We love this industry.
We absolutely loved our team.
I absolutely had a growingprocess, you know, in real time,
(07:54):
not only just learning a newindustry, but learning how to be
a leader, and we had theopportunity to sell in 2021.
And we did.
And you know, over the years wehad worked with Mike Anderson
right, we were part of hisbusiness council group and we
had worked with him, also as aconsultant, having him come into
(08:15):
our shops, and so once we sold,it was a natural transition for
me to join Mike and TracyDombrowski, tiffany Driggers and
the Collision Advice team, andthat's what I've been doing
since 2022 now, Wow, that'sawesome.
Rick (08:34):
That's awesome and it's cool the fact that he was
actually one of the people thathelped your business when you
were still a business owner.
So I think that'll be acontinuing trend with Mike.
Some of the best people he'sgained, I think he's gaining
from former shops that said, hey, this guy's really good.
I want to do what he does withhim every day, right.
Sheryl (08:53):
Absolutely.
He is.
He's amazing at what he does,but he is also, you know, just
one of the most humble andgenuine people that I know.
So great combination.
Rick (09:06):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
The people that haven't seenhis his true side, they just
think he's a very passionate andexcited and driving guy, you
know, in front of an audience.
But man, a dude is so humble,so nice, so laid back in in
person, it's just's just.
It's such a cool contrast.
(09:27):
So, anyway, so you joined hiscollision advice group and did
you come in as someone thatspecialized in the CSR or the
soft skills role, or did youjust come in as a general coach
and go, hey, where can I fit?
Sheryl (09:43):
So when I first started, I was doing weekly coaching
calls with Spartan members, sopart of the Spartan group.
One of the things thatCollision Advice offers is we do
one-on-one coaching with ourSpartan members, and so I had
taken on some of the Spartanclients doing weekly coaching
calls.
(10:03):
But my passion is around people, and so, whether it is the
customer experience or theemployee experience, one of the
things that Mike and the teamallowed me to do was work and
start creating.
Well, really, they had alreadyhad things created, but start
(10:24):
updating the customer experiencecontent, and so then we
launched a pilot class and thenI started doing all of the
customer experience trainingfrom there.
Rick (10:34):
Awesome.
So what was one of the firstthings you really grasped onto
and try to get the shop ownersto understand?
So I know there's a bigconnection between who's in the
back and who's in front, isn'tthere?
Sheryl (10:51):
Yeah.
So I think one of the mostimportant things as a shop owner
really is to understand thathow you are impacting your team
right, how you are impactingyour team right.
So when we walk into a room,you know, even without saying
(11:14):
anything, we are impacting thepeople around us.
You know whether we are comingin with this negative attitude
or we're coming in with apositive mindset of okay, here
is an opportunity for us to getbetter.
So, for me, one of the thingsthat I love to talk about is how
can we impact the people on ourteam in a way where they thrive
(11:35):
in their positions right?
How can we create thatenvironment?
How can we protect thatenvironment?
Right, it's the leader'sresponsibility to really protect
those cultures, these workenvironments where people are
spending more day at work youknow, more of their time at work
than they are with theirfamilies so, really working to
(11:56):
create that healthy culture.
Now, every single person on theteam impacts culture, but it
starts with leadership.
It starts with leadership whenwe have a healthy culture.
When we create that not onlycreating great relationships
with you know leadership andteam members, but also
facilitating that among the teamthat's when we're going to have
(12:17):
better results.
That's where we're going to.
We're going to see that on aprofit and loss statement.
That absolutely impacts, youknow, impacts our financials.
It impacts our performance, andso a lot of times, we separate
this.
Well, this is soft skills andthis is financials.
Yes, there is a separation, butone impacts the other.
Rick (12:38):
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Did you find you know first,starting out in this with Mike's
guys, mike's groups that youknow there was some disconnect
(14:28):
between you?
Know, let's say, how shopowners and upper management
treat their employees orinteract with them, versus how
they treat or interact withtheir customers?
Sheryl (14:48):
with their customers.
You know, mike has.
The people that are involved inSpartans are really the elite.
You know of the elite, right?
So I would say that there's,you know, there wasn't a huge
disconnect necessarily in howthey interacted with their
internal customers versus theirexternal.
I think all of us have blindspots and one of the things that
I love about working with allof our Spartan members is that
(15:09):
they want people to help them intheir blind spots.
Right, they are welcoming hey,if I have a blind spot, please
tell me, and they don't getdefensive.
And so being able to work withsome great Spartan members, you
know, having these conversationsgoing on site, doing employee
engagement sessions, you know,with their team members and then
(15:32):
facilitating some of those hardconversations right, maybe not
conversations we want you knowto hear, but then the impact
after we have theseconversations is just impacting
the business tremendously.
Rick (15:48):
Right, yeah, and the only reason I ask that and I've met
many of Mike's clients atdifferent events and stuff and
most everyone I've met has beenjust so high quality and so
laser focused on makingimprovements and stuff and it's
great.
But I come from a background ofbeing of service to hundreds of
(16:09):
collision shops for many yearsand I'd say the predominant
thing that I would see in thedysfunction of most any shop I
dealt with because I was alwaysthere trying to solve problems
and help where I could help butthat huge disconnect between you
know, the shop manager, shopowner going back yelling at his
employees you know, come on, getthat done, clean that up.
(16:31):
You know versus they would comeup and they treat their
customers almost the same wayuntil they would like catch it,
and then they, you know, orsomeone in the office would
catch it and kind of take overthe conversation.
And to me that just seemed likesuch, a such a gap that I
didn't know if anybody actuallytaught how to overcome that and
how to, how to transition thatRight.
(16:52):
So that's what I was really.
I was really drawn to ourconversation just with all that
in the back of my head from frommy experience.
Sheryl (16:59):
Well and and and complete transparency.
That was who I used to be at myshops.
You know when, as I mentioned,my husband and I when we opened
our first shop, we were both,you know, mid twenties and I,
you know, my experience withleadership at that point was
everyone I had ever worked underwas command and control.
(17:20):
I mean, that's what I knew andso that's what I thought
leadership was.
And you know, going back to,you know what you were talking
about of.
You know, I don't thinksometimes we realize the impact
that we have on people in thatstyle of leadership.
And you know, I had anawakening of the impact that I
was having on the people that Iworked with, and not only the
(17:43):
people that I worked with, butthen, you know, also my husband,
my kids.
I read the book Seven Habits ofHighly Effective People by
Stephen Covey.
One of the first things that heasked the readers to do at the
very beginning of the book iswrite out what people would say
about you at your funeral.
(18:04):
And when I did that exercise, Imean it wrecked me when I
realized the impact that I washaving on people.
See, because in my mind, youknow, I'm getting things done
right, I'm the one making thingshappen.
I go in and I bulldoze and Ifigure out a way, and then being
awakened to the impact thatthat was having on other people,
(18:26):
and that was really the startof, you know, my journey on this
is not who I want to be Right,this is not the kind of impact I
want to have on other people.
And really then you know,digging in whether into you know
John Maxwell books and otherleadership books that that
journey then took me to you know, the John Maxwell leadership
(18:47):
training and some otherleadership training, in order to
become that person who washaving a positive impact on the
people around around me insteadof just that negative.
Oh, I can't, you know.
Know, I can't do this anymore.
That's and that's awesome too.
Rick (19:06):
Uh, uh, cheryl, because I you know, I often refer to
mindset in in my episodes andwhat I talk about with people,
about and that's you know.
There's so many people I thinkthey're stuck in a mindset that
may be negative or fixed andthey just assume or they believe
that they can't change that.
Now you took a fixed or anegative mindset somewhat right,
(19:27):
recognized it and then madeproactive actions happen to get
past that and get into more of apositive mindset, and that's
just further proof thateverybody has that capability to
make those changes and changetheir life and change their
environment and how the worldreacts to them, and that's
(19:49):
awesome.
I'm glad to hear that.
Sheryl (19:52):
Yeah, absolutely, and we do so.
We all have a naturalcommunication style where we
feel comfortable, and so one ofthe things that I learned is
through the John Maxwellorganization about the
discommunication theory.
Right, it's just, thediscommunication theory was
developed by Americanpsychologist William Marston
(20:14):
back, you know, I think, 1920s,when he was writing his book the
Emotions of Normal People theemotions of normal people, and
in this what he found as he wasdoing his research is that as
humans, we're different, butwe're predictably different, and
there are a number of differentcommunication tools out there.
But this seems to be one of themost simple ways to learn to
(20:38):
understand number one, our owncommunication style, and then
start to understand thecommunication style of the
people around us.
And I was naturally what iscalled a dominant and
conscientious communicator.
So the dominant is veryaggressive, you know, they want
to win at all costs, they wantto be in control.
(21:00):
The conscientious communicatoris a perfectionist, very much
data, systems, processes, and somy natural communication style
is focused around task outcome,processes and people or not
people.
What I had to learn was is tobe intentional, to develop
(21:21):
relationships with the peoplearound me, versus just spewing
data and results and systems andprocesses at people.
Rick (21:29):
Right, yeah, disc assessment, that's an
interesting tool.
I've been through that a coupleof times and throughout my
career, so I know that, doingthe research for you before we
talked, I know that you know youfacilitated a lot of seminars,
you are a keynote speaker and Iknow I've seen you speak a
(21:50):
couple of times and which youknow.
Obviously that that takes a lotof training, it takes a lot of
confidence, it takes a lot ofthings to get up in front of a
group and and speak on a subject, to get up in front of a group
and speak on a subject, but tofurther that and go and do these
seminars that you've been doing, from what I understood, you
did seminars in CSR, in customerservice representative training
(22:12):
.
You've done leadership, you'vedone culture building and even
financial best practices.
So do you do those within justMike Anderson's collision advice
, or is that something youactually do in another part of
your own business?
Sheryl (22:29):
So, yeah, everything I do within collision repair is
with Mike, tiffany and Tracy andthe collision advice team.
I have had opportunities to,you know, do some nonprofit
speaking and some speakingoutside of our industry, and
because I love to talk aboutculture, about leadership and
(22:50):
about my faith, and so I've hadopportunities there also.
Rick (22:55):
Oh, that's awesome.
So if you really want to workwith Cheryl, then got to get on
Mike's team, so it's a smalllittle plug for collision advice
.
So anyways, I'm glad to hearthat.
I know you've been involved ina lot of stuff in your career
and you're making a bigdifference with the shops that
you're working with now.
(23:15):
So can you go through maybe acouple of things that you know,
those outside of the Spartan 300group, some of the things that
they should be aware of, somethings that you can help with,
some things that you think thatyou know shops kind of missed
the boat on, and a couple tweaksand they can be right back in
the game.
Sheryl (23:32):
Yeah, absolutely so.
You know customer experiencefor sure.
I think a lot of times we asshop owners and I was guilty of
this also is, you know, we sendour technicians to training or
we send our estimators totraining, but we're not sending
our customer serviceprofessionals to training to
help them be equipped witheverything that they need to
(23:56):
deliver extraordinary to ourcustomers and so really
equipping your entire team witheverything that they need to be
successful.
So I do the customer experiencetraining with Collision Advice.
We do virtual and we do it inperson.
I also do the employeeexperience where I will go into
(24:18):
a shop and I will facilitateemployee engagement sessions.
A shop and I will facilitateemployee engagement sessions.
I'll do surveys, sometimesbefore we go, where we are
giving the employees a surveythat they fill out beforehand,
and then I go in and Ifacilitate some conversations
around that, and then sometimesit's, you know, I'm just going
(24:38):
into the shop having theseconversations one-on-one with
each team member and not doing asurvey before, but really
working to fill in the gaps ofcommunication, really working to
identify.
Okay, do we have any blindspots?
Have we, as leaders, made anypromises to our team where you
(24:58):
know we have a lot of thingsgoing on and maybe something
fell through that we didn'tfollow up on and really that's
been eating away at someone.
Well, in these conversations,you know, some of that stuff has
come to light and we can havesome healthy conversations and
resolve those issues, Becauseone of the most important things
in any business, whethercollision repair or any business
(25:20):
, is a foundation of trust.
I mean you business is afoundation of trust.
I mean you have to have afoundation of trust within your
organization if you want to havea healthy workplace, and so
that's really some of the goalsthat we go into when I go into
shops is number one making surethat we fill in the gaps of
communication.
There is that foundation oftrust where we can have healthy
(25:42):
conflict.
You know, sometimes peoplethink that all conflict is bad
and it's not.
Conflict, if it's done in ahealthy way, is where growth
happens.
That's where we're going tocome up with ideas that we would
never come up with before if wedon't hear each other's
perspective in a healthy way.
Rick (26:01):
Yeah, it leads to growth on both sides of the
conversation too, doesn't it?
Sheryl (26:04):
Absolutely.
But so many times, as humanbeings, we avoid hard
conversations with the, whetherit's of you know, I don't want
to make them mad, or I don'tknow how they're going to
respond or react, or whateverthe reason is, and then we just
don't have the most productiveenvironment because we can't
(26:29):
have those conversations Right.
I mean, have you ever read thebook the Speed of Trust and this
is by Stephen Covey's son?
I think his name is alsoStephen.
Rick (26:40):
No, I don't think I've read that one.
I think I've seen it as I'mgoing through and looking at
books that I'm going to buy andI know I've seen it.
Just I don't think I've readthat one.
Sheryl (26:49):
Well, it's a great one also, and it talks about when
there is a foundation of trustin any relationship, whether a
working relationship or apersonal relationship, the speed
of what can get done is so muchfaster Because, if you think
about it, if there's not afoundation of trust in a
relationship, so let's just take.
You know, in a workrelationship, we're choosing our
(27:12):
words wisely it's taking longerto get things done because we
are not, you know, interactingin a way where I can just put an
idea out there without worryingif I'm going to offend somebody
or if somebody's going to getupset.
Instead, when there's thatlevel of trust, we have each
other's back.
I can have good, hardconversations and know that, hey
(27:33):
, when we walk away, we stillmight not 100% disagree, but we
have each other's and we stillhave the best of the team in
mind.
Rick (27:42):
Right, and boy, I completely agree with that.
And I know with the groups thatyou're working with and you
know ownership's at a greatlevel and the mentality and the
mindset of those folks runningthese shops is stellar.
But you bring in employees,right, that from came from other
(28:05):
shops and I will tell you, justbased on my own previous
experience, most of those peoplehave huge distrust for the
leadership of of any collisionshop.
Just based on previousexperience, right, I don't know
how many conversations I becauseI'd get back in every shop and
talk to painters and I'd talk tothe body guys and the porters
every time I was visiting shopsas a vendor and I'd always hear
(28:28):
that phrase well, I don't wantto piss him off, I don't want to
make him mad.
Boy, he's rough on us when he'smad and there was always that
type of dynamic going on in alot of the shops.
Or you know, they just theydidn't feel safe really to voice
their opinion for fear ofretribution, uh, or they didn't
(28:48):
trust what was going on up inthe front office, which is
horrible.
I mean, as an employee, youshould have great trust in
wherever you're at that.
Hey, they're taking care of me,they're looking out for me.
I'm going to be okay.
I should be able to say myopinion on something if it's
valid, right?
But the shop culture, as youprobably saw as a three shop MSO
(29:08):
, those employees, you knowthey're timid, they don't want
to say anything.
They got a lot to say, theybury a lot but they don't want
to say it, right?
Yeah?
Sheryl (29:17):
Well, and so a couple of things there.
Number one that's why I lovethe engagement surveys, because
then, when we did an engagementsurveys, we got more feedback
and those surveys than justsitting down with people one on
one or even, you know,communicating on a daily basis.
And we got this feedback frompeople that we were close to.
(29:44):
We had close relationships witha lot of our team members.
We had a number of team memberswho had been with us almost
since we opened, and so we feltthat we knew each other well.
We did things outside of workand I remember a specific survey
that we did where we gotfeedback on that survey that we
had blind spots, right, and so,yeah, and most people are going
(30:07):
to feel more comfortable givingyou feedback on a survey and
then having a conversation aboutit versus just coming and
having that conversation direct.
And so really looking for waysof you know how can I make sure
I have systems, not only justsystems and processes in place,
but looking for ways to fill inthe gaps of communication.
(30:28):
Looking for ways to fill in thegaps of communication.
So for us, that was one we alsoone of the things that we did
when we, you know, realized wehad gaps in communication.
Was we started a companynewsletter which sounds you know
, you know, a company newsletter, really.
Rick (30:43):
There's always three people in my shop.
Sheryl (30:45):
Well, but that really helped everyone feel like they
were part of what was going on.
Because one of the things thatwe found was, you know, our team
did not feel that they werekept informed of the direction
of the company.
And you know, for us we thoughtwe were doing a good job with
that.
But we were just doing a goodjob with that, for example, with
(31:07):
our location managers, and itwasn't always just naturally
getting to every team member.
So we really looked for ways of, okay, how can we fill gaps in
communication?
But then also, it can't just belip service that, hey, I want
you to.
You know, we have this opendoor policy and we want you to
give us feedback, Because howyou respond to someone when they
(31:30):
give you feedback is going todetermine if they're ever going
to give you that feedback again.
And I remember, you know, wewould have, you know, leadership
meetings with all of ourlocation managers, and we might,
let me preface this by myhusband and I are both what's
(31:50):
considered dominantcommunicators and so that
D-style communication.
And so we felt we were askingthe right questions, but no one
was necessarily giving usfeedback or saying they didn't
agree with us.
So we thought, okay, everyone'son board with whatever the
situation was, but what wereally found was we weren't
(32:13):
creating that safe place forpeople to give us that feedback
and us not be defensive or usnot correct them.
Yes, not critical of whatthey're saying to us.
Yeah, and so that was one ofthe things that we had to do,
just with our naturalcommunication style.
Number one is scale back theaggressiveness and really make
that safe place for people togive you feedback that they
(32:36):
disagree with you and then, whenthey do, make sure that how I
respond is, in a way that'snumber one, respectful and that
they'll want to give me feedbackagain.
Rick (32:46):
I think that's really important.
You know, in today's climate,there's a lot of talk about
culture and building bettercultures in the shop, because
the traditional body shopculture was never great, it just
wasn't.
(33:08):
Let's build a better culture forour shop and I see great
examples of that out there.
You know, working with all thefolks that I've met in this
industry that belong tosomething like you know, like
Mike's Collision Group, hisSpartan 300s and even the ones
before that that were part ofhis original performance groups
that he would do for Exalta andDuPont, that you know they
(33:31):
started understanding at ahigher level.
Yeah, we need to have bettercultures and I think that
message still needs to be driventoday because there's still a
lack of culture in a lot ofshops.
But with today's shortage oftechnicians and the ability to
get quality people man, listen,you can have the best equipment
in the world, you can have thenicest looking shop, you could
(33:53):
have the biggest, brightest signout there, but if you don't
treat your people right, you'regoing to end up with no
employees because everybody agedout or moved on to someplace
else.
Sheryl (34:03):
Right, yeah, so I was just reading a report that SCRS
did.
It's an industry report where Ibelieve they interviewed and
don't quote me because I wasjust reading it and I haven't
gotten through all 10 pages butthey had interviewed, I believe,
over 800 technicians in ourindustry and one of the things
(34:24):
that they found in this report,this survey, was that most
technicians when they leave ajob, it's because they don't
feel appreciated in a workenvironment, and those are
things that if we focus on, okay, how can I make sure my team
feels appreciated?
One of the things that Mike andthe Collision Advice team did
(34:47):
was brought in Dr Paul White,who is the co-author of the book
the Five Languages ofAppreciation in the Workplace,
brought him in December of lastyear where he did an all-day
seminar and then I was able tothen do some additional training
(35:08):
with him and be certified toteach that content.
And that's one of the thingsthat we offer at Collision
Advice, because what we havefound is that's part of the
culture piece, right, Is beingable to show appreciation, but
everyone receives appreciationdifferently.
Right, there's some people thatyou know they would be mortified
(35:29):
if you were to recognize thempublicly, versus someone who
would love that morning meetingshout out.
Some people want quality oftime, Some people want help.
They just want help.
They're overwhelmed and so justreally understanding that
showing appreciation to yourteam is not, you know, buying
(35:52):
lunch right, it's getting toknow them as individuals,
understanding their appreciationlanguage, how they receive
appreciation, and thencommunicating that authentically
.
Rick (36:03):
Nope, spot on, spot on.
And to your point about thesurvey I was talking with Jay
Gonan from Wrenchway and he haddone a technician survey the
past two years in a row and Ithink this last one he did in
association with ASA.
But pretty much the samesentiment was you know the real
(36:24):
reason.
You know these guys are leavingthe shops and stuff is it's not
just technician pay.
These guys are leaving theshops and stuff is it's not just
technician pay, but it's otherthings that you know how they're
treated, how they're, ifthey're appreciated or not, and
if they feel that the ownershiphas, you know, their best
interests in mind or reallycares about them.
Right?
I mean, we're emotional beings,people are emotional beings.
(36:52):
I think sometimes in theworkplace, people that run the
workplace forget that they justtreat them like, hey, you're
just here to get something done,please go get that done, right?
Not?
You know what's going on inyour life and I've seen it just
talking at the backside of shopsand dealing with people that
are going through, you know,divorces and breakups and their
kids are being pulled away from,and all these things that go on
(37:12):
in a human's life affects everyperson, right?
So it doesn't matter if that'syour A-Tech or that's your wash
guy.
There's going to be things thatgo on in their lives that are
going to affect them emotionally, that's going to affect their
performance.
You know, being a shop that atleast communicates and
understands that stuff will holdon to that guy once he pulls
his stuff together, once he getsthrough the hard time or
(37:33):
whatever, as opposed to the guythat just hey, I don't care what
your problems are, get to work,get that done.
I need that out by five.
You know those types of thingsdrive people out and they'll
look for someplace else.
Sheryl (37:46):
So absolutely 100%.
Rick (37:48):
All right, let's shift gears a little bit.
So, absolutely All right, let'sshift gears a little bit.
One of the things you said is,which I really love, this was
there science to being positive,science to positivity?
Can you explain that?
Sheryl (38:00):
Absolutely so.
I watched a TED Talk and ofcourse now my mind is going
blank right now, but thestatistic is and I learned this
from a TED TED talk, and I'llhave to try to remember his name
he is an author and Harvardprofessor and in this talk he
talked about that we are 31%smarter in a positive frame of
(38:24):
mind, and that's backed byneuroscience.
So if you think about it, whenyou are in a negative frame of
mind, you're not productive,you're not creative, you aren't
making good decisions.
Right, If you think about those, those high emotions, when
you're in that high pressuredsituation or you have these high
emotions, these negativeemotions whether it's anger,
(38:47):
stress, frustration you're notmaking good decisions, You're
not creative, You're notproductive.
But when we are, when we canreframe things and I'm not
talking about, you know,unicorns and rainbows right,
when we can reframe a situationand say, okay, here I have an
opportunity.
Number one and number two Ihave control to manage my
(39:08):
emotions.
Two I have control to manage myemotions.
My emotions do not control me,I manage my emotions.
And so, whether it is, you know, pausing to, you know in a
conversation, if it's, if it'sgetting heated for everyone just
to take a few breaths or, youknow, whatever the situation is,
it's when we can learn tomanage our emotions and remember
(39:29):
hey, we're 31% smarter in apositive frame of mind.
I don't know anyone who doesn'twant to make good decisions and
be creative and be productive.
And so it starts with one ofthe most important things that
anyone can do, no matter yourposition, is to manage your mind
and manage those emotions.
Rick (39:50):
You're talking right in my wheelhouse here, so I
appreciate that.
I know personally I makehorrible decisions when I'm mad.
There's not one single time Igo glad I did that when I was
pissed off because that workedout really well.
It doesn't work out inrelationships, your home life or
your work life ever.
It's tough to control thatstuff.
(40:12):
It really is, and there's somepeople that are kind of
hardwired to be hot-headed,quick draw on the angers or the
swear words or whatever.
But spending some time workingon your own self which I've been
promoting for yearsunderstanding why you work the
way you work and then findingways to manage that and control
that, can make a massivedifference.
(40:32):
You know, in how you treat youremployees, how you treat your
spouse, your kids, yourneighbors you know that jerk
that keeps letting his dog crapon your front lawn.
You know there's a lot ofbenefits to positivity and I
know, speaking of positivity, weboth know Dave Luer right and
his uh, his positivity summit hedoes every year, which is
(40:53):
freaking awesome.
I love that thing.
But you were on there a coupletimes, weren't you?
Sheryl (40:57):
yeah, I was.
It's been a number of years ago, but yeah, I believe I was on
two of the positivity summits,uh, back in the day of, because
this is something as I, as Imentioned.
So my natural communicationstyle part of that is a
perfectionist, and soperfectionists tend to be
negative, because nothing isever perfect and nothing will
(41:20):
ever be perfect on this side ofheaven.
So, like, we always see what iswrong, and so that's one of the
things that I have really beenintentional to work on over the
years is of okay, yes, I'm goingto strive for excellence, but
perfection doesn't exist, and soI have to work on, you know,
(41:41):
reframing, you know whether asituation, or working on making
sure that I'm keeping thatpositive frame of mind.
And what am I consuming?
Right?
Am I consuming things that arestirring up negativity in me or
am I putting into my brainthings that are going to help me
(42:03):
become the person who I want tobe?
Rick (42:06):
Right, and what Cheryl means by consuming.
If anybody didn't catch, thatis the things that and I've
studied this extensively thethings that you allow in.
So, through your eyes, throughyour ears, through your
surroundings, you know your bodyand your mind takes in.
You know senses from, you knowseveral areas, but the stuff
that you consume you know the TVthat you're watching, the news
(42:28):
that you listen to which I wouldsay if I could get anybody to
do anything, it'd be stopwatching the news 24-7, because
all that does is poison yourmind with negativity.
They thrive on that, right.
But, like I said, the music youlisten to, the shows you go
watch, you have control overthat and you can make a
difference just by changing yoursurroundings, changing what you
(42:51):
do.
Take in what you consume andstart making some positive
improvements, whether it'sstarting to read some self-help
books or personal developmentbooks, or watching a couple free
courses on YouTube or on theinternet, or just putting
yourself in a better surrounding, putting yourself outside,
where nature is, where it's niceand peaceful, take a walk, or
just, you know, putting yourselfin a better surrounding,
(43:12):
putting yourself outside, wherenature is, where it's nice and
peaceful, take a walk, orwhatever you know, stay out of
the high stress situations.
There's tons of things you cando to improve that.
Sorry, I didn't mean to hijackthe conversation on positivity.
Sheryl (43:23):
You're absolutely spot on.
I love it.
Rick (43:27):
You know you had a couple other things I was going to talk
to you about.
We've still got a few minuteshere.
So you had said something aboutnobody notices normal.
You know what.
I've heard that before but Inever really thought about that.
But do you want to expand onthat a little bit?
Sheryl (43:40):
Yeah.
So if you think about it, youknow, if you've been to a fast
food restaurant recently and youwent through the drive-thru a
fast food restaurant recentlyand you went through the
drive-thru and if you got whatyou ordered, you didn't go back
to work or go back home and justtell everybody oh my goodness,
they got the order right, right,you just don't go talk about
(44:00):
something that is normal.
And so one of the things that Italk about a lot is we have to
be extraordinary, we have to beremarkable.
Is we have to be extraordinary,we have to be remarkable?
And there was someone that Iworked with a number of years
ago at Universal Collision.
He was one of our estimators.
He gave me a small book called212, the One Extra Degree, and
(44:24):
in the book the premise is youhave 211 degrees of water.
That's just really hot, right,it's pretty much pointless.
And then you have 212 degreesof water.
That's just really hot, right,it's pretty much pointless.
And then you have 212 degreesof water.
Then is creating steam to powera massive machine because it's
boiling now, and so it's justthat one degree difference going
(44:44):
from useless to now we'repowering a massive machine.
And so if we give everythingthat we do, whether it's in
conversation, whether it's inour task, everything that we do,
with one more degree right.
One more degree that is goingto create all of these little
extraordinary moments, whetherit's for our internal customer
(45:06):
or our external customer.
Right, and we should.
I should want to deliverextraordinary to my internal
customer just as much as I do myexternal, and so when I start
looking for one more degrees,that is what is going to create
extraordinary and that's whatpeople talk about.
And so if you want to, you knowimprove, you know your.
(45:30):
If you're a collision repairshop and you want to improve
your customer experience, oryour customers who are referring
you to other people or who arecoming back to you you know
they've been into anotheraccident you want to create
extraordinary experiences allthroughout the journey, because
(45:50):
it's all of these little wows,it's all of these little one
degrees that, by we get to theend of the repair process, has
created this massive,extraordinary, remarkable
feeling for that customer of ohmy goodness, they have provided
this extraordinary service.
They made it radically easy forme to do business with them.
They always went above andbeyond, and then that's what the
(46:12):
customer remembers, even ifthere has been hiccups along the
way, because we all know thatwe live in the real world and
things are going to go wrong.
But it's, you know, it's how wehandle things when things do go
wrong.
Is that creates thatextraordinary?
Rick (46:27):
So, cheryl, give me a couple examples of what that one
degree would look like.
What's some things you've seenpeople do in the collision
center that are the equivalentof that one more degree for the
customer?
Sheryl (46:40):
Right.
So let's talk about externalcustomer first.
So one more degree for anexternal customer might be okay.
I have a customer who's callingand maybe they have.
Okay, I have a customer who'scalling and maybe they have.
Let's say, they have State Farminsurance and I need to have an
assignment sent over.
I'm not asking the customer toget State Farm to send that
(47:00):
assignment over.
I'm doing one more degree andsaying, ms Smith, if you can
give me your claim number, Iwill contact State Farm on your
behalf and I will ask them ifthey can send what's called an
assignment over to us and thenwe can get the process started.
But what I see most of the timeis shops are putting that back
on the customer's to-do list.
So that would be one moredegree Now internally.
(47:23):
Right, because I wanted todeliver that one more degree
internally just as much as I doexternally.
So maybe that is you know.
Maybe we have a customer comein and let's just say they're
coming back because their ACstopped working.
You know what one more degreeinternally is that I'm getting
(47:44):
as much as the information fromthe customer at the very
beginning with the customer.
So when I go back to talk to mytechnical person.
I'm not just dumping somethingon their lap.
I'm getting as much informationas I can to then provide them
with the information that theyneed to then take over versus
just what I see a lot of timesat shops is we have the front of
(48:08):
the shop and then the back ofthe shop, and usually I see
people pointing fingers.
Instead, what we should bedoing is collaborating together,
doing that one more degree ofokay, how can I make your life
better?
That should be my mindset andeverything that I do internally
and externally.
Rick (48:25):
Oh, that's awesome.
That's exactly what I waslooking for too, so thank you
for sharing that.
Listen as we get close towrapping up here.
Is there anything that you wantto share that I didn't ask
about yet, because I know youhave so much in your background,
cheryl, and so many things thatyou do, and I know you're parts
of a lot of different things,but is there something else you
(48:48):
wanted to make sure thelisteners knew?
Sheryl (48:54):
I think we covered most everything.
The thing that is mostimportant to me is just
communicating that we all makean impact on people, right?
It's either positive ornegative.
There's no neutral, and so myquestion to everyone would be
what kind of impact are youhaving on the people around you,
whether it's your family,whether it's your teammates,
(49:17):
whether it's the completestranger that you run into at
the store?
Because we all are making animpact.
So the question is what kind ofimpact are you making?
Rick (49:32):
what kind of impact are you making?
Excellent, excellent.
I ask myself that every day,that's part of my mantra in the
morning is making sure I'mmaking an impact, a positive
impact on the industry and onanybody I serve that day.
So I love that.
That's perfect.
I'll ask you one more questionbefore we go and I didn't prep
before this, but if you had totake two seconds and think about
it, what is the greatest lessonyou've ever learned?
(49:54):
One that sticks with you morethan anything else that you
refer back to?
Sheryl (49:58):
The greatest lesson I've ever learned is to listen more
than you speak.
I tend to react versus respond,and you know.
Going back to the impact thatyou have on people, I want
people to feel heard, valued andseen when they interact with me
, and so listen more than Ispeak.
Rick (50:20):
That's why God gave you two ears and one mouth right.
Sheryl (50:23):
Yes.
Rick (50:25):
I love that.
Well, listen, this has been sogood.
This is such good information.
I really appreciate youspending the time with me today,
really thankful that you're outthere doing what you're doing
and that our paths did cross.
I'm sure we'll talk a lot moreafter this but, cheryl, thank
you so much for coming in andspending the time and sharing a
(50:46):
little bit of your wisdom withus.
I really do appreciate it.
Sheryl (50:49):
Thank you so much for having me.
It was absolutely an honor.
Rick (50:52):
Well, I hope you enjoyed my interview with Cheryl
Driggers from Collision Adviceand learned a few things that
you didn't know before about theimportance of honest
communications and authenticallyconnecting with not only your
customers but your internal teamas well.
I'll leave Cheryl's contactinformation, as well as links to
the book Cheryl mentioned inthe show notes.
Well, that's all I had for youtoday.
(51:13):
Thanks again for tuning in.
I really appreciate yoursupport and I hope you have a
great week.
I can always be reached atwwwrixelovercom, where you can
find all my social media linkspodcast episodes, blog posts and
much more.
My wretch whispers truth, soclear Tits that drive away the
fear.
Rick.
Rick's voice cuts through thenoise.
(51:35):
Blog posts and much more.
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