Episode #198- Why Your Shop Needs SOP's - REBOOT #140

Show Notes:

Does the way your CSRs answer the phone, communicate with & onboard your customers seem to be inconsistent?

Are the visual cues in your production areas as clear & concise as what you would find in a hospital ER or industrial plant?

Are your Google or CSI reviews suffering due to delayed deliveries, poor communications or inconsistent quality? 

The problem is simply the lack of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This episode unravels the critical role of SOPs in shaping up your business, impacting everyone from your technicians to your most valuable asset - your customers. Discover the massive difference standard procedures can make in controlling the quality in your repairs and how this minor, yet significant change can reap major benefits.

But it's not just about your collision repair business. SOPs are a game-changer across industries, from small enterprises to corporate juggernauts. Get practical insights on how to create and implement effective, easily understood SOPs that can streamline your operations and elevate customer satisfaction.

This week, I'm re-sharing a ton of resources, tips, and methods, from an earlier episode, to get your SOPs up and running. And most importantly, learn why it's essential to have your employees on board with your SOPs from the outset.

Let's switch gears and drive your business to its full potential. Grab pen & paper and take some notes... you're NOT going to want to miss this episode!

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Problem with Inconsistency
• 8:11 Understanding Standard Operating Procedures
• 14:35 Benefits of SOPs for Your Shop
• 16:09 Essential SOPs to Implement First
• 18:14 Creating Effective SOPs: Practical Steps

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

So what am I missing? How do I fix this? What your shop is missing is simple. It's something called standard operating procedures, or SOPs, as more commonly referred to. Sops can replace the chaos in your shop with consistency, quality and reliability in your repair process. The fix is fairly simple in concept, but it'll take some work and some commitment to create and implement in your shop environment, but absolutely worth the effort on many levels. This week, I want to help you through what this process will look like for you, what SOPs truly are, why they're important, whom does it impact in your business and what's involved in how to accomplish this necessary upgrade to your shop.

Speaker 2: 0:56

Welcome to the MindWrench Podcast with your host, rick Sellover, where minor adjustments produce major improvements in mindset, personal growth and success. This is the place to be every Monday, where we make small improvements and take positive actions in our business and personal lives that will make a major impact in our success, next-level growth and quality of life.

Speaker 1: 1:18

Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to the MindWrench Podcast. I'm your host, rick Salova. Thanks so much for stopping in. If you're a returning listener and haven't done so already, please take a minute and click the follow or subscribe button and then rate and review the show. When you rate and review the show, the algorithms for Apple, spotify, google Podcasts, iheartradio, amazon Music and all the other platforms will see that it's valuable and show it to more people that have never seen it before, and hopefully it can help them too. I would really, really, really appreciate your help, sharing this word with your friends and family as well, and if you're a brand new listener, welcome. I hope you find something of value here that helps you in your personal or professional life as well. Please make sure to click the subscribe or follow button so you never miss another episode.

Speaker 1: 2:02

All right, did you notice anything there at the beginning of the show? You know what I'm talking about, right? Yes, I changed the intro music. As a matter of fact, I changed the outro music on the last episode. Did you listen all the way to the end and catch that? Okay, be honest, did you love it, or at least like it, or did you hate it?

Speaker 1: 2:23

Please let me know, you can text me right in the episode or hit me up on social media, but your opinion matters. I'd really like to know Full transparency. A couple months back at the AASP Illinois event, I was talking with my buddy, mike Anderson, and he shows me this really cool app. He's been playing with that. You just give it a couple prompts and a couple personal facts. He's been playing with that. You just give it a couple prompts and a couple personal facts and AI will make a song in any style you want in probably less than 30 seconds. It was really cool. He showed me on it. He did a couple of them real quick. So of course I had to download the app and try it myself. So this is my first stab at it. So what do you think? If you're interested in trying your hand at it, download Suno. I'll leave a link for it in the show notes. It's a fun app to play with and you'd be surprised at the quality of the songs it'll make with just a couple little prompts.

Speaker 1: 3:16

Anyways, speaking of Mike Anderson, I'll be celebrating my 200th Mind Wrench episode very soon. That's right, 200. That's a big number for me. I still can't believe I was stuck with it this long. I mean, I started this way back in the beginning of COVID, but now I just love doing it so much there's probably no end in sight for me. Anyways, I had the chance to interview my hero in this industry, mr Mike Anderson, the founder of Collision Advice and the Spartan 300 Groups, for my 100th episode a few years ago. So then, when I called Mike and I asked him if we could do another interview for my 200th, there was absolutely no hesitation. He said of course, sir, I'd be honored, so make sure you don't miss this one coming up in a few weeks. You know it'll be great with Mike and full of great information.

Speaker 1: 4:09

So as I was thinking of what I wanted to share in this week's episode, it dawned on me that, for one reason or another, I've been involved in several conversations and discussions that revolved around SOPs, standard operating procedures, how crucial they are to a company's success, the importance of the role they play in the collision shops these days and how the best of the best shops all seem to have a very robust playbook of SOPs for all areas of their business, and then, sadly, how there's still a large sector of repair shops not utilizing these tools. So got me thinking hey, wait, I have addressed the subject before a while back. Now sounds like a great time to reshare the information for those who obviously missed it the first time around. So this week I want to reshare my episode 140, why your Shop Needs SOPs. So let's roll back to September 23 and really listen to this fact-packed message. And really listen to this fact-packed message.

Speaker 1: 5:08

How many different ways have you heard someone in your front office answer the phone? Jake's Body Shop how can I help you? Or Jake's Mary speaking, or this is Jake's. Or maybe even a simple hello, what can I do for you? Sound a little familiar.

Speaker 1: 5:25

Let's walk back to the metal department. Here we see one car partially disassembled with a mixture of removed and new parts inside and on top of the vehicle, no parts cart, while the vehicle in the next stall has parts on a cart but no spark deflection paper in the door opening as the tech is welding in a rocker. Hey, do you smell something burning? And maybe the SUV in the next stall has that freshly installed and cut in hatch being removed because no one bothered to check to see if it was the correct hatch before cutting it in. And now that job will sit while the correct hatch, hopefully, is ordered. I'm sure the painter will be jazzed about that. One right. And we're not even looking at the variations in panel repairs yet. Let's just skip past the paint department, where one painter waits until the car is in a booth with two coats of color on it before checking the color match, while the other painter has his sprayouts done before the job even gets taped up. Nope, we're skipping right past that. Let's head right back to the detail area, where some jobs get vacuumed while others just get blown out with an air blower. Certain cars get the painted areas wheeled and finished with an orbital polisher and some don't. No particular rhyme or reason just depends on how the detail guy feels that day.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Are you noticing something missing here, like consistency or quality control or any thoughts of customer satisfaction? Or maybe you're on a fence with a DRP that you don't want to lose? Does this sound even in the slightest bit like your shop, or maybe someone else you know's shop? It's okay to admit it. No judgment here. The fact is there are literally thousands of shops that operate in this fashion every single day and have for decades. But that doesn't make it right and it also doesn't make it sustainable in today's collision repair business model, nor in the all-important customer experience does it. So what am I missing? How do I fix this?

Speaker 1: 7:24

What your shop is missing is simple. It's something called standard operating procedures or SOPs, as more commonly referred to. Sops can replace the chaos in your shop with consistency, quality and reliability in your repair process. The fix is fairly simple in concept, but it'll take some work and some commitment to create and implement in your shop environment, but absolutely worth the effort on many levels. This week I want to help you through what this process will look like for you, what SOPs truly are, why they're important, whom does it impact in your business and what's involved in how to accomplish this necessary upgrade to your shop.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Standard operating procedures, or SOPs, are not something new. They've been used in most industries for decades, although not as common in the collision repair business as one would think. I could not find any hard data or any hard numbers on this, but based on my experience in the field over the past 20-30 years, I would venture to guess somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of non-MSO shops do not have any SOPs in place, which is somewhat alarming when compared to many other fields. If you want a great example of what SOPs look like. Just look at any medical facility that you enter, especially like an emergency room or a clinic. Every wall, every cart, every station and every room has multiple SOPs posted, and staff are trained extensively on how to follow these instructions to a T.

Speaker 1: 9:02

When you're dealing with people's health and safety, you can't afford randomness or inconsistency in procedures. Right, but wait, with all the technology, safety features and complexity of today's vehicles, are we not also dealing with people's potential health and safety concerns as well? So that leads to the question why aren't more shops putting a set of SOPs in place for their business? I mean, every fast food joint uses SOPs. Big box store chains like Home Depot, lowe's, walmart all have SOPs in place, and none of those have any bearing on your health or safety right.

Speaker 1: 9:38

At most manufacturing facilities, it's mandatory to have SOPs in place, and from my experiencing working with hundreds of shops, I witnessed all the benefits gained from making that change. There is absolutely no good reason to avoid creating and implementing your very own standard operating procedures for your shop. So let's dive in, shall we? Number one what are SOPs? Well, they are prescribed written methods to be followed routinely for designated operations and situations. They are documented methods to help ensure consistency and quality in work. They are written instructions to document, operationalize and communicate processes and best practices, and they are a list of essential tasks and how to do the tasks for business success. A well-thought-out SOP manual can be produced and shared with every employee as their own living document. If you're looking for a competitive edge for your business or a more effective jumpstart to your personal development, I'll make your first step super simple.

Speaker 1: 10:39

It is a fact that an incredible number of the most successful business owners, nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies, top-earning professional athletes, entertainers and industry leaders like Microsoft's Bill Gates, former President Bill Clinton, oprah Winfrey, richard Branson, amazon's Jeff Bezos and Salesforce's Mark Benioff all have one thing in common they all have at least one coach and some have several that they work with on a consistent basis, someone that helps guide, mentor and support them, challenge them, help them set and achieve goals that move them forward and then hold them accountable to follow through, driving personal and professional growth. Working with a coach has many substantial benefits. Just for an example, 80% of coaching clients report improved self-esteem or self-confidence thanks to coaching. 99% of individuals and companies that hire a coach report being very satisfied and 96% would do it again. If, deep down, you know it's time to make those improvements in your business, your personal life, that you've kicked down the road year after year. If you're tired of knowing there's a better version of you waiting to shine, but unsure of how to bring that version to light. If you're tired of wanting to enjoy a more successful business but not sure how to start. And if you don't want to go another 12 months without better results but you don't want to go another 12 months without better results, but you don't want to go it alone, then take the first step. It's super simple. Sometimes talking to the right person can make all the difference. Go to wwwrixelovercom contact and I'll set you up with a free consultation. Call with me to see if one-on-one coaching is right for you.

Speaker 1: 12:13

What can good standard operating procedures do for your shop? It can transform your shop from a world of chaos, missed deliveries, inconsistent repairs and upset customers and bad reviews online to a world of smooth operations, consistently high quality work, better CSI scores and Google ratings, reduce stress and on-time completed jobs delivered to your customers. They can ensure consistent results on each repair. They can minimize errors, reduce or eliminate rework. They can support quality goals, ensure better CSIs. They can save time and improve productivity. They can empower your workforce, reduce micromanaging and they can reduce training costs and reduce rework costs.

Speaker 1: 12:56

Well, who are they for? They're for everybody involved in your business, not just your techs. They're for management and ownership, to ensure proper repairs are done consistently, regardless of technician or location. They're for your technicians in all departments Helps, drive efficiency, productivity, reduces missed procedures, redos, quality issues resulting from a missed or needed step and accountability. They're for your customers. It ensures that their vehicles are fixed correctly, no quality concerns, no returns to the shop for missed operations or parts or re-dos, and increased CSI and customer experience. And they're therefore the manufacturers helps ensure proper repair methods are followed for customer safety, integrity of their brand, reduced loss of new sales due to poor CSX or CSI from inconsistent repairs.

Speaker 1: 13:49

So how many of these SOPs do I actually need? Well, while there's great arguments to have an SOP for every aspect of your business, like some industries do, I mean you can create an SOP for how the bathroom should be cleaned, how to handle a canceled or missed appointment or how to maintain every individual piece of equipment in your shop, but there are some basics that you should definitely have to start with. Number one customer communications. It would cover greetings, regular updates to customers, explaining repair processes, addressing customer concerns. Number two vehicle check-in or assessment. It would cover things like customer interaction, vehicle inspection and documentation, damage assessment, initial estimate and so on.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Number three disassembly and repair planning. It would on Number three, disassembly and repair planning. It would cover things like meticulous disassembly and define repair areas, other non-related damage, visual grids. Number four parts department. Define parts types. Define the ordering, receiving, mirror matching and how to handle returns. Number five the metal department. It would help explain process flow, metal, aluminum, plastic, repair processes, grit selections, sign-offs to paint, things like that. Number six paint department. It would include things like sign-offs from the metal department, prep, color matching, what an acceptable finish is defined, ppe.

Speaker 1: 15:16

Seven reassembly, and that could be separate or that be part of the metal or part of the disassembly. One, it's all up to you. Number eight detail department. I would define what the customer ready condition is, pre-accident condition, presets on all the radios and electronics, things like that. Number nine final delivery Well-defined outstanding handoff to customer follow-up and calls to action. Ten safety procedures. You can detail all the safety protocols and measures that must be followed in the body shop, things like personal protective equipment, ppe, handling, hazardous materials, fire safety, emergency response procedures.

Speaker 1: 15:58

There's many, many, many things that you could have an SOP for, but just covering the basics is a great place to start. All right, already I get it. So where do I even start? What would even be a good first step? I'm glad you asked.

Speaker 1: 16:12

You can start by having a team meeting with everyone involved in your organization. Let them in your organization, let them know your intentions, let them know the reasons why the benefits that everybody will realize, not just you, and ask them to be part of the process. That's probably the most important thing. You need their buy-in if you want them to follow this new set of instructions. Emphasize how much their expertise is valued in creating realistic working documents that make sense. Don't be the boss that forces these things down their throats and doesn't include input from those actually doing the work. It'll never fly and it'll be a total waste of time. And don't try to tackle this all by yourself. You will be most successful if you gain some assistance from someone who has access to the right resources, that's done these before, like your paint rep or your jobber rep or a coach or a consultant. They can add tremendous value to this process and help get it done right in a shorter amount of time to boot.

Speaker 1: 17:09

You can find some SOP templates if you search online. You can always start with someone else's and edit it as much as you need. Many of the product manufacturers have SOPs online on their websites, both in printed and in video formats. 3m has a vast amount of video SOPs for every aspect of the repair process. Most all paint companies do as well. A quick online search or YouTube search can help you find some. Feel free to reach out to me for help as well.

Speaker 1: 17:36

If you decide to just start from scratch or a very basic template, here's a few helpful hints 1. Describe the task in detail. 2. Use pictures if available, because they are helpful. 3. Stress safety is necessary. 4. Have some of your employees help in drafting those SOPs. 5. Get a buy-in from all your employees. 6. Make sure intended employees understand them. 7. Set up a system to monitor them. 8. Make sure to name the SOP accordingly. Also, I have a few suggestions to keep what you're writing effective, concise and easily digestible for your team.

Speaker 1: 18:15

Write procedures from the end user's perspective. Try to keep these practical from the point of view of those that will actually be using them. Keep them simple and on point. Write concisely, clearly and follow a step-by-step format. Keep sentences brief. Use simple or common terms. Don't get creative here. Don't confuse instructions with overly technical words KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. Use precise wording. Never use generalized terms that don't define your meeting Words like typical or general or usual or should. Do not enforce any consistent direction or execution of a directive.

Speaker 1: 18:55

Make smart use of formatting. If your SOPs consist of long, dense paragraphs, chances are there's probably a better format available to use. Bullet lists are very effective if there are several parts to a specific process and they are much easier to follow successfully in that format. Now, once you create a rough draft, with or without the help available through an outside resource, have several team members scrub through those SOPs to see if everything was caught and in the right order. Then make any edits necessary.

Speaker 1: 19:27

Before printing to a PDF, be sure to have those with your company name or logo on each one, the title, give it a designated document number and then add an index listing of all the documents and their numbers, and then assign it a revision date in the footer, as you'll need to revise these occasionally. Then all you need to do is build a binder to hold all your SOPs and produce enough of these so each employee has their very own. This is also a great tool to have when hiring new employees. They will have access to the exact operations and processes that you follow in your shop. This prevents seasoned techs from defaulting to how they worked at their last shop and provides the correct path for new-to-the-industry employees to follow.

Speaker 1: 20:14

A great visual cue you can use is to post some of these SOPs in a high-traffic area where they'll be seen on a consistent basis. Just print out your PDF, blow it up to poster size, laminate it and post it on a wall or at a certain station, or on the front of the booth or in the office for maximum effect. Lastly, as I mentioned, these will have to be updated on a regular basis so as processes evolve, products change, technology advances and your shop grows. I just went through this with one of my clients, updating his shop SOPs that we created a while ago. Sure, it took some time and effort, but the results will be a finer-tuned shop and an even better customer experience. Well, that's all I had for you today. Thanks again for tuning in. I really appreciate your support and I hope you have a great week. I can always be reached at wwwrickselovercom, where you can find all my social media links podcast episodes, blog posts and much more.