Tektonic 2027 is coming up April 1-3, and if you missed year 1, you MUST NOT miss year 2. It's bigger, it's better, because is Tekmetric's conference. You know it's gonna be the best conference in the history of conferences. Get lower pricing now HERE

My marketing before and after signing up with Turnkey Marketing is pretty scary. In a good way. Get your marketing right today HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Make your techs happier with Detect Auto. They'll stop getting "check noise" or "check vibration" from advisors with the customer concern tool. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Book a demo HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike thought Carfix had a car-count problem. Then Matt Lofton started digging into the numbers and uncovered something much more interesting: a huge chunk of the shop’s volume was coming from state inspections that created almost no opportunity.

In this coaching call, Mike and Matt break down ARO, gross profit per hour, state-inspection-only tickets, customer retention and why simply getting more cars through the door doesn't necessarily make your shop healthier. They also get deep into pre-booking appointments, including why Matt believes it's one of the highest-return strategies a repair shop can implement without spending another dollar on marketing.

Plus: North Carolina State Fair economics, Mike's questionable relationship with fried food, SEMA/APEX, Matt's early days running what was basically a glorified lube shop, and why the piano tuner apparently has automotive repair shops beat at customer retention.

If your shop is busy but the numbers still aren't where you want them, this episode might make you look at your car count very differently.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Using AI to automatically pre-book customers
00:58 – Mike and Matt talk SEMA and AAPEX
04:35 – How automotive parts manufacturing really works
08:35 – Digging into Carfix's numbers
11:29 – Effective labor rate is going the wrong direction
13:20 – The NC State Fair is apparently hurting business
16:26 – Mike's current ARO and sales opportunity
18:53 – How much of the shop's car count is state inspections?
20:28 – About 40 state-inspection-only cars
22:56 – Why state inspections create limited opportunity
24:53 – Should shops limit inspection appointments?
26:29 – Calculating the gross profit target
27:51 – The next problem Mike needs to solve
29:13 – Why pre-booking takes months to pay off
31:57 – Treat pre-booking like compound interest
33:23 – Stop asking customers if they want another appointment
34:42 – Matt's shop was basically a lube shop
37:35 – What the checkout conversation should sound like
39:18 – Even Mike's piano tuner pre-books appointments
40:49 – Are state-inspection customers actually coming back?
41:21 – The $300 steakhouse analogy
44:10 – If there's no profit today or tomorrow, why do it?
45:23 – Replace bad car count with better car count
45:58 – Fly With the Eagles recap
49:11 – Elite Ignite 2027
53:19 – Mike's AAPEX invitation

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

Turnkey Marketing takes the stress of doing something I'm not good at off my plate. And gives it to someone who is. Click HERE for more.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen catches up with James Hornak and Nathan Ward roughly a year after their first appearance on Confessions of a Shop Owner—and a lot has changed. Their shop now has three full-time technicians, has been running roughly 180 cars a month at around a $955 ARO, and is pacing toward approximately $1.5 million in its first full year. They explain the strategy behind their controversial $29 oil changes, what happened when their first $100K month convinced them they could change roles too quickly, why finding the right service advisor has been harder than expected and how coaching and involvement in the industry accelerated their growth. Mike also opens up about the management mistake that wrecked his own shop culture, they discuss building strong DVIs without trying to sell every discovered item immediately, and Nathan casually declares that the goal for next year is $3 million. Oh—and James and Nathan finally reveal that they were behind the mystery Mike Allen shirts that had him accusing half of ASTA Expo of conspiring against him.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Mike Discovers the Mystery Shirt
01:26 – Martini Bar at ASTA 😂
02:24 – Is the Mustang STILL Broken?
04:19 – One Year of Insane Shop Growth
06:01 – Hiring Three Technicians in Year One
09:24 – 180 Cars a Month & $955 ARO
10:42 – The $29 Oil Change Strategy
12:25 – Pacing $1.5 Million in Year One
16:50 – Mike’s Shop Culture Fell Apart
18:59 – $100K Month → $60K Month
20:38 – Mike’s Best Service Advisor Was a Bartender
21:48 – Why Coaching Changed Everything
23:44 – Should They Buy a $2.5M Shop?
27:54 – Paying Off Debt & Building the “F You Fund”
28:30 – WHO MADE THE MIKE SHIRTS?! 😂
38:04 – Profitable Enough to Spend Money on a Joke
53:28 – The Free Diag Debate Returns
55:59 – $5,300 in Discovered Work
58:58 – The $3 Million Goal
1:03:03 – From Startup to $1.5M Through Community & Coaching

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

If you're like me and aren't good at marketing, don't do it on your own. Let the experts handle it. Touch HERE for more on Turnkey Marketing.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen and Bryan Pollock welcome Caleb McElmurry to talk about the realities of building a repair business when you’re still the technician, service advisor, estimator, parts department and owner all at once. Caleb started mobile, moved several hours away and essentially started over with a brick-and-mortar shop—and now he’s intentionally waiting until the business is consistently ready before hiring his first technician. They debate why hiring a cheap apprentice first can actually make a solo owner less productive, how many billable hours might signal that it’s time to hire, what types of jobs a startup shop should avoid and why some European cars can eat a new shop alive. Caleb also explains why his first major training event is focused almost entirely on business and service-advisor skills instead of technical classes, and the conversation turns into ASE certifications, technician licensing, customer communication, $1,000 AROs and why owners shouldn’t go home from training and try to change their entire business Monday morning. The bigger lesson: being great at fixing cars gets you started—but learning how to run the business is what determines what happens next.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Why Startup Shops Should Be Careful With European Cars
05:13 – Meet Caleb McElmurry
06:01 – From Mobile Mechanic to Brick-and-Mortar
07:09 – When Should Caleb Hire His First Technician?
09:22 – Why Your First Hire Shouldn’t Be Cheap Labor
10:05 – How Busy Should a Solo Shop Be?
13:00 – Tow Trucks, Winter & Small-Town Shop Life
16:00 – Stop Giving Jobs the “Go Away” Price
20:29 – First Training Event: Don’t Implement Everything
23:00 – Why Caleb Isn’t Taking Technical Classes
25:00 – Should Automotive Technicians Be Licensed?
30:00 – ASE, Apprenticeships & Industry Standards
33:00 – Just Get 1% Better
34:00 – Caleb’s Service Advisor Process
36:42 – Do Customers Need Prices Explained First?
38:00 – A $1,000 ARO in a One-Man Shop
39:00 – Caleb’s Plan for His First Technician
41:12 – The Difficulty of Turning the Business Off
43:13 – Late Nights at ASTA

Keep shop management, payments, marketing (all the things) all in one place with Tekmetric. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Click HERE

Turnkey Marketing has made my life SOOO much simpler, AND they've helped keep the phone ringing. Do you need these two things too? Learn more HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Trey and Sasha Holley, owners of a 10-bay repair shop in Thomaston, Georgia, for a conversation about growth, technician development, working with your spouse and building a business that can eventually survive without you. Trey and Sasha share how losing Sasha’s father suddenly forced them into the business side of automotive before they were ready—and why watching him work himself relentlessly shaped the kind of shop they want to build today. They also explain why struggling to find an experienced A-tech completely changed their hiring philosophy after they took a chance on a high-school student, bought him a toolbox and developed him into a productive young technician now learning diagnostics. The conversation gets into their 400-hour backlog, whether becoming a multi-shop operation is actually something they want, succession planning for their son and the uncomfortable question of what happens to your business if you die tomorrow. And in true Confessions fashion, Trey eventually admits that one of his shop’s biggest historical problems wasn’t employees, technicians or customers—it was his own attitude.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Do You Really Need an A-Tech?
01:29 – Meet Trey & Sasha Holley
03:59 – From Two Bays to a 10-Bay Shop
05:38 – Being Thrown Into Business Overnight
06:15 – Losing Sasha’s Dad at 51
08:57 – Starting Their Own Shop
11:02 – Running a Business With Your Spouse
13:03 – When Employees Play Husband vs. Wife
16:40 – Moving a Technician Into the Front Office
18:17 – 400 Hours of Approved Work
19:27 – Stop Looking for A-Techs—Build Them
20:50 – Teaching a Young Technician Diagnostics
22:49 – The Never-Ending Growth Problem
23:56 – How Much Growth Is Enough?
25:39 – Building a Shop Their Son Can Inherit
26:08 – What Happens If the Owners Die Tomorrow?
28:36 – Mike’s “Oh Shit, I’m Dead” Book
35:08 – What Happened to Sasha’s Dad’s Shop?
38:04 – Their First ASTA Expo
47:03 – Stop Making Excuses and Show Up
51:09 – Trey’s Confession: “The Problem Was Me”
52:44 – “I’ve Only Had Two Leave in Tears” 😂

Tektonic 2027 is coming up April 1-3, and if you missed year 1, you MUST NOT miss year 2. It's bigger, it's better, because is Tekmetric's conference. You know it's gonna be the best conference in the history of conferences. Get lower pricing now HERE

My marketing before and after signing up with Turnkey Marketing is pretty scary. In a good way. Get your marketing right today HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Make your techs happier with Detect Auto. They'll stop getting "check noise" or "check vibration" from advisors with the customer concern tool. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Book a demo HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Carry-Lynn Rodenberg of Turnkey Marketing for Marketing Call #2, and this time they dig into what happens after your marketing actually works. Mike shares the numbers from his shops—including nearly 2,700 inbound callers in September, roughly 550 unanswered calls and a call-to-car conversion rate of only about 33%—and they talk about how much revenue can disappear when advisors accidentally repel customers. They also discuss handling negative Google reviews, why customer retention may be more important than buying more leads, ways to fill an empty schedule, and why overwhelming customers with massive estimates can sometimes hurt long-term relationships. Carry-Lynn also explains how Google and other AI tools are changing local search, why shops need to be prepared for AI-generated phone calls and why lazy AI use may eventually make every business sound exactly the same. The big question throughout the episode: Do you actually need more marketing—or do you need to stop wasting the customers you already have?

Timestamps:
00:00 – How Advisors Accidentally Push Customers Away
01:08 – Mistakes Happen—Your Response Matters
09:34 – Google Reviews & Rebuilding Reputation
11:48 – How to Respond to a Bad Review
13:37 – What Mike Learned From His Negative Reviews
15:46 – You Paid to Make the Phone Ring—Now Convert It
18:44 – Measuring Call-to-Car Conversion
20:48 – Mike Missed 550 Calls in One Month
23:46 – Google’s AI Is Calling Repair Shops
28:46 – “Be Nice to the Robot” 😂
30:42 – Could AI Capture 100 More Cars a Month?
32:50 – Is a Huge ARO Destroying Customer Retention?
34:49 – Only 24% of New Customers Came Back
39:59 – How to Win Back Lost Customers
43:16 – What to Do When Next Week’s Schedule Is Empty
48:01 – Easy Customers Already Sitting in Your Database
49:35 – Marketing Priorities for a Smaller Shop
53:34 – The Most Alarming Thing About AI Marketing
57:10 – Bad Marketing Decisions & AI Slop

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

Turnkey Marketing takes the stress of doing something I'm not good at off my plate. And gives it to someone who is. Click HERE for more.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen sits down with Andrew Klement of Finley River Auto and Diesel to talk about what happens when a technician becomes a shop owner—but actually plans for it first. Andrew explains why he hired a coach and CPA before opening, started with a service advisor from day one, invested in systems immediately and surrounded himself with people who had already made the mistakes he wanted to avoid. The result? A greenfield startup with no existing customers that projected roughly $350,000–$360,000 in first-year revenue had already crossed $600,000 with three months left in the year. They also get into Andrew’s first employee quitting, why shop owners fail at training, how to sell repairs without high-pressure tactics, what a healthy shop culture can do for a technician’s career and the time 18-year-old Andrew invented a completely fictional “starter break-in noise” to cover up a mistake. And because it’s Confessions, Mike also gets to explain why releasing an $18,000 repair while still being owed $7,500 is probably a terrible business strategy.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Sell by Educating, Not Pressuring
00:45 – Mike & Andrew Live From ASTA
09:15 – Andrew Tried Free Diagnostics
10:03 – Finley River Auto & Diesel
15:38 – Andrew’s Technician Background
17:25 – Building a Shop the Smart Way
19:09 – $350K Projection → $600K+ Revenue
20:27 – Is the Startup Actually Profitable?
23:20 – Almost Leaving the Automotive Industry
25:15 – What a Great Shop Taught Andrew
29:44 – Can the Customer, Tech AND Shop All Win?
32:16 – Andrew’s First Employee Quit
34:07 – Selling Without High-Pressure Tactics
35:39 – “You Hired Him. It’s Your Responsibility.”
39:06 – The Infamous “Starter Break-In Noise” 😂
41:42 – A Local Podcast as Shop Marketing
44:20 – Andrew’s First ASTA Experience
45:33 – Don’t Try to Implement Everything
46:21 – The $18,000 Ticket He Still Hasn’t Collected
47:06 – Mike: “Don’t Do That Shit.”

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

If you're like me and aren't good at marketing, don't do it on your own. Let the experts handle it. Touch HERE for more on Turnkey Marketing.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen, Bryan Pollock, Jim Cokonis and Justin Allen sit down on the ASTA Expo floor for a conversation about one of the biggest problems in automotive repair: technicians and service advisors often don’t know what they don’t know. They dig into how bad information gets passed from technician to technician, why years of experience don’t automatically mean someone is doing the job correctly, and why training has to teach people how to think instead of simply memorize answers. The conversation covers tire sales, diagnostic strategy, technician education, young tech development, alignment and ADAS calibration, repair standards and some of the unbelievable things trainers still see happening inside real shops. They also debate whether shops are wasting technologically savvy young technicians by sticking them on oil changes for years instead of identifying their natural strengths early. And somewhere along the way, Mike takes a technical quiz, Bryan explains why someone can be wrong for 25 straight years, and everybody gets distracted by chicken wings.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Tire Sales Should Be This Simple
01:17 – Live From ASTA: How Good Are Shops, Really?
05:30 – How Bad Information Gets Passed Down
09:50 – Teaching Technicians How to Think
15:10 – Mike Takes the Technical Quiz
21:18 – Why Aftermarket Training Matters
28:05 – What Service Advisors Need to Know
29:41 – Stop Overcomplicating Tire Sales
34:14 – What Trainers Actually See Inside Shops
40:32 – “You’ve Been Doing It Wrong for 25 Years”
42:21 – Why Aren’t Technicians Training?
46:11 – Are We Wasting Young Technicians?
50:00 – Meet Justin Allen from Hunter
52:00 – Every Shop Needs an ADAS Strategy
57:38 – When a Customer Refuses Required Work
1:00:08 – How Do We Raise the Industry Standard?
1:03:40 – Can Five Minutes of Training Actually Work?
1:10:11 – Training the Next Generation of Trainers

Keep shop management, payments, marketing (all the things) all in one place with Tekmetric. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Click HERE

Turnkey Marketing has made my life SOOO much simpler, AND they've helped keep the phone ringing. Do you need these two things too? Learn more HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Stacia Aeschbach of Aeschbach Automotive and the Driven for More podcast to talk about leadership, growing a repair shop, raising five kids, women in automotive, and how her shop turned social media into a massive part of its brand. Stacia breaks down how Aeschbach Automotive grew an audience of tens of thousands of followers, generated nearly 100 million Meta views in a year, and started hearing from customers who discovered the shop through TikTok and other social platforms. They talk about why generic stock photos and boring repair content don’t work, how controversial content drives engagement, what shops should actually post, and why becoming more human may matter even more as AI-generated content becomes everywhere. Mike also realizes that an auto repair shop is basically a reality show full of misfit toys—which might actually be the best marketing opportunity in the industry.

Timestamps:
00:00 – How Social Media Keeps Your Shop Top of Mind
00:56 – Meet Stacia Aeschbach
03:15 – Leadership & Your “Emotional Wake”
07:39 – How Aeschbach Automotive Got Started
09:11 – From Tinder to a $3 Million Repair Shop
12:24 – Five Kids, Shop Ownership & No Excuses
14:48 – Women in the Automotive Industry
19:43 – Building a Massive Shop Social Media Following
23:18 – Nearly 100 Million Social Media Views
24:13 – Making Money From Shop Content
26:40 – How Often Should a Repair Shop Post?
31:38 – Does Social Media Actually Bring in Customers?
34:21 – Why Your Shop’s Social Media May Be Hurting Trust
36:52 – Controversy, Engagement Bait & Going Viral
39:15 – How Shops Can Start Creating Content
41:22 – Humanizing the People Behind Your Business
42:51 – Why AI Makes Being Human More Valuable
44:56 – Which Automotive Podcast Is the Worst? 😂