“The economy is down. Business is slow. Car count is dropping. What am I supposed to do?”

It’s a question auto repair shop owners are asking more often.

Coach Dave Schedin’s response starts with another question:

Who told you that?

In this episode of Auto Repair Profit Leaks, Dave and Mike challenge the idea that slower business automatically means the economy is the problem.

Outside conditions matter—but your shop still controls how it responds.

Dave shares how accepting “December is always slow” once became a self-fulfilling expectation in his own shop, until he changed his planning, sharpened his processes, and turned December into his best-performing month.

Then the conversation shifts from mindset to ACTION.

They dig into:

• Why your hours per repair order matter even more when car count drops
• Building stronger customer relationships before the economy shifts
• Turning Service Advisors into front-counter marketers
• Pre-booking the customer’s next appointment
• Preparing repair orders 7–14 days ahead
• Finding additional vehicles inside your current customer database
• Turning “declined work” into deferred work
• Creating urgency around deferred repairs
• Moving future appointments forward when openings appear
• Using local relationships to generate additional car count
• Why waiting until your bays are empty means you waited too long

One of Dave’s biggest challenges to shop owners:

Maybe it isn’t car count that went down first. Maybe the relationship went down.

If business feels slower right now, this episode will help you separate the things you cannot control from the opportunities already sitting inside your shop.

Stop reacting.

Start responding.

And start looking after YOUR economy.

Learn more about CompuTrek, the Auto Repair Profit Leak Challenge, and the Profit Leak Bootcamp at CompuTrekSystems.com.