STOP Fearing AI- Use it to Buy Back Your Time

**🎙️ Podcast Show Notes

Stop Fearing AI: Use It to Buy Back Your Time

What if the technology that makes a lot of shop owners want to hit pause is actually the technology that could help give you your life back?

In this episode, we take AI out of the hype and put it into the real world of collision repair. With ADAS, EVs, OEM procedures, parts delays, technician shortages and customer demands already filling your day, you don't need another complicated system. You need leverage.

AI is already being used in collision repair, and we look at practical ways shop owners and leaders can start using it today—from organizing messy thoughts and creating SOPs to building training materials, improving customer communication and getting a head start on marketing.

We also explore easy-to-use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Canva, Descript, ElevenLabs and HeyGen, including voice and video AI. More importantly, we talk about avoiding the trap of spending more time learning about AI than actually using it.

4 Key Takeaways

1. Start small. Pick one repetitive task that wastes your time and see if AI can make it easier.

2. AI doesn't replace your judgment. It helps you get from a blank page to a usable starting point faster.

3. Use AI responsibly. Verify important information, understand privacy settings and protect sensitive customer and business information.

4. The real payoff is time. Use AI to work smarter, run a smoother shop and buy back time for the things that matter outside the business.

If you're skeptical about AI, this episode is for you. You don't have to become an expert. You just have to be willing to try one thing.

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Transcript

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Time Back With AI

Rick 0:00

What if the thing you're most afraid of using in your business right now could actually give you back something you can't buy? I'm talking about time. Think about that for a second. What if AI could help you eliminate some of the repetitive work that's eating up your day, help your shop run smoother, and maybe even help you get home earlier? And here's the thing, AI isn't coming. It's already here. And some very successful collision repair businesses are already using it. So the question isn't, is AI going to affect my business? The question is, what am I going to do with it? And even more importantly, what am I going to do with the time it gives me back?

Welcome And Subscribe Requests

Rick 0:45

Welcome to the Mind Range 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 special improvements in business and personality that will make a major impact in our success. Next level growth and quality. Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to the Mind Method Podcast. I'm your host, Rick Siloma. 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. If you've been listening to the show for a while, or been on the receiving end of my daily quote of the day emails, or maybe just catch my posts on Facebook or LinkedIn, you know I'm all about the quotes, right? If you'd like to start receiving my quote of the day emails, there's a link in the show notes to sign up. It's free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

AI Anxiety And Industry Pressure

Rick 2:14

What if the thing you're most afraid of using in your business right now could actually give you back something you can't buy? I'm talking about time. Because if you're a shop owner or a leader listening to this, there's a pretty good chance you're already short on it. Short on time to work on the business instead of constantly working in the business. Short on time with your employees, short on time with your customers. And maybe the biggest one, short on time with the people you love and care about. And that's what I want to talk about today. Artificial intelligence. Now, I know, I know, for some people just hearing those two words makes them want to hit the pause button. Maybe you've thought, I'm not a technology person. I don't understand all this AI stuff. I know it's going to replace people. Hell, it's probably going to replace me. It's too complicated. I don't have the time to learn another system or another thing. Hey, I get it. I really do. Because the collision industry isn't exactly short on things we're already trying to keep up with. Aid S, EVs, OEM procedures, repair complexity, insurance pressure, parts delays, technician shortages, customer expectations. And then somebody like me comes along and says, Oh, by the way, you need to learn artificial intelligence. Seriously? I understand the reaction, I really do. But here's where I think we need to change the conversation. Because I'm not asking you to become an AI expert or a computer program, and I'm certainly not telling you to replace the people who make your business work. I'm talking about something much simpler. Using technology to eliminate some of the repetitive work that consumes your time. Because that's where AI gets really interesting and really useful. Here's

AI Use Cases In Collision Repair

Rick 3:58

the part I think every shop owner needs to understand. AI isn't some future technology that we're waiting for. It's already here, it's already being used in the collision repair industry right now. AI powered systems are being used for things like photo based damage assessment, estimating assistance, repair versus replace decisions, customer communications, and identifying information within the repair and claims processes. CCC, for example, reports AI solutions are being used across more than fifteen thousand collision repair facilities right now. So this isn't science fiction. It's happening right now. And it's going to continue. Question isn't really how's AI going to affect me. The question is how are you going to use it? And more importantly, what are you going to do with the time it gives you back? That's the part that gets me excited. Because I've been spending a lot more time learning about AI myself. I've been using the AI Advantage program from Dean Graziosi and Tony Robbins for quite some time now to help me learn what's available, how these tools work, and probably most importantly how to actually apply them.

Simple Ways To Start Using AI

Rick 5:03

And I've learned something pretty simple. You don't have to understand everything. You just have to start. Let's say you're a shop owner. You've got a meeting with an employee tomorrow. Maybe there's a performance issue. Maybe you're trying to explain a new process. Maybe you need to have a difficult conversation. You can sit down with an AI tool like ChatGTP and say, hey, here's the situation, here's what happened, help me think through how I should approach this conversation. That's it. It can help you organize your thoughts, give you questions to consider, help you see another perspective, help you write an outline. It doesn't make a decision for you. You make the decision. But you've got a thinking partner sitting right there with you. That's one of the simplest ways I use AI. I'll take something that's bouncing around my head and give it to AI. Sometimes it's messy, sometimes just a bunch of thoughts. I'll say, hey, help me organize this. Man, that's powerful. Because sometimes the biggest waste of time isn't actually doing the work, it's trying to figure out where to start. Now let's bring this right to the collision repair business. Thinking about all the repetitive communication happening every single day. Customer updates, internal communications, training documents, job descriptions, standard operating procedures or SOPs, meeting agendas, follow-up emails, marketing ideas, social media posts, customer questions, employee onboarding, process documentation, it just goes on and on, right? Don't have to start with some giant complicated AI system. Just start with one annoying repetitive task. Just one. If

Coaching Offer And Discovery Call

Rick 6:36

you're running a collision shop, whether second generation, third generation, or original owner, grinding every day, putting out fires, chasing KPIs, working in rather than on the business, and wondering why progress still feels slower than it should, let's take a little pause right here. As a longtime industry supplier, performance coach, and host of this podcast, I've worked inside this industry for over four decades, and I've learned a few things the hard way. Tools and tactics absolutely matter, but mindset drives everything. How you think shapes how you lead, how you hire, how you grow, and how you show up when things get messy. That's where one-on-one coaching makes a difference. You get focused conversations, real accountability, and guidance tailored to you in your shop, not generic cookie cutter advice. The collision repair business has changed dramatically in the last few years. The technology, the tools, the equipment needed to repair today's new vehicles, customer expectations that vary by generation, OEM certifications and repair procedures, ADAS calibrations, electric vehicles, and the ever-growing national technician shortage, it's a lot, isn't it? It can be absolutely overwhelming and very challenging on where to focus first, right? If only I had someone who could help me find clarity in all the chaos. If only there was someone that could help guide me through the changes I need to make so I could create a successful business and increase my net revenue. If only I had a coach that could help me without getting in my way or trying to run my business for me or costing me a fortune. This is where I can help. The goal is simple help you make consistent improvements, build sustainable culture, gain better profitability, and shave years off the learning curve. If you're open to adjusting how you think and how you lead, book a free 15-minute discovery call with me right now. No sales pitch, no blue sky promises, just an honest conversation to see if it's a fit. You have absolutely nothing to lose but everything to gain. Secure a spot now. Let's

AI For Communication And Marketing

Rick 8:34

say your front office spends time answering the same 10 customer questions over and over. AI can help you create standardized responses that your team can review, personalize, adjust, and use. Maybe you need to create an employee training document. Instead of starting with a blank page, give AI the information you already have and ask it to organize it into a training document. Maybe you want to create a standard operating procedure or an SOP. Same thing. Give it your process. Have it help you organize the steps. And then have your people review it. But here's something I want to make super clear. AI does not remove your judgment or your decisions. It should reduce the amount of time you spend over doing a repetitive work around your judgment and decisions. It's a huge difference. So what about marketing? Here's another area where I think shop owners can save a tremendous amount of time. Marketing. Now, you don't have to become a social media influencer, but let's just say you repaired a really complicated vehicle. Big wreck, right? Took some great before and after pictures and some in process pictures. You want to tell the story. Just give those pictures and some basic information to AI tool and say, help me create a Facebook post explaining what we repaired, why the repair mattered, and what the customer should know. Simple. And then you review it. Make it sound like a shop, add your personality, and then post it. That can turn a blank page into a usable piece of content in just minutes. And tools like Canva now have AI built into the design platform. Makes it super easy to create graphics, documents, social content, and other visual material without really having to be a professional designer. That's the theme I want you to hear is don't use AI because it's cool or fun, use it because it makes something easier.

Voice, Video, And Tool Shortlist

Rick 10:23

Because AI isn't just about text anymore. We're now seeing AI tools that can work with your voice or your video or your image, or even a digital version of you. For example, the script allows you to create an AI version of your voice that can generate speech from text and even be used to correct portions of an existing recording without going back into the studio. I've actually done these things. I have voice clones and video clones. It's crazy how authentic they look and sound too. So think about that for a minute. Imagine you're creating an employee training video. You record it, six months later, something in the procedure changes. Traditionally you'd have to reshoot the whole thing, right? Set up the camera, get the mic, all that. With a voice clone, you could potentially edit the script and regenerate that change section. That's a very different way of thinking about content. And there are tools, like I currently use, like 11 Labs, that specialize in highly realistic AI generated and cloned voices. The voice cloning tools require permission to clone a voice, and their professional cloning options are designed around your own voice. And then you've got video. HeyGen, for example, offers AI avatars and digital twin technology that can create videos using a cloned version of your appearance and your voice. Their current avatar V technology can use a short video reference to capture your movement and expressions and then generate new videos from just a text script. Crazy. Now, do I think every collision shop needs a digital clone of the owner? Absolutely not. But imagine this application. You want to create a couple short employee training videos. So instead of scheduling these separate filming sessions, you could write, review the scripts, and then use an AI avatar to deliver the content. Or you want to create customer educational videos, or explain a process, or create consistent social content. This is where that technology really becomes interesting. Now if you're sitting there thinking, okay, I get it, Rick, but where the heck do I even start? Here's my short list, okay? Number one, ChatGTP or Claude. Start here. Use it as a thinking partner, a writing assistant, a research assistant, a brainstorming partner, and an organizational tool. You can also talk to it. Chat GTP has voice conversations, so instead of sitting at a keyboard, you can literally talk through an idea and have a conversation with it. Just, you know, be careful, people, you're gonna think you're nuts talking to your computer. So number two, Google Gemini. And here's a hint, it's already on your phone and it's already on your computer. So if you're already invested in the Google ecosystem, Gemini's another major AI assistant worth looking at. Google has continued expanding Gemini into productivity and agent style workflows, including capabilities designed to work with information and tasks across Google's ecosystem. Number three, Canva. If you need graphics, presentations, social media content, or visual marketing materials, Canva's AI tools make a lot of that work much easier, much quicker. Number four, descript. Especially if you're doing podcasts, videos, or training content. It can transcribe your recordings, let you edit audio and video by editing the text, removing filler words, create clips, and use AI voice technology. Number five, Eleven Labs. If you're interested in specifically in AI voice generation and voice cloning, that's one of the best tools worth exploring. And number six, Hey Gen. If you're interested in AI video avatars and a digital version of yourself, that's another one to put on your list. Now there are hundreds of other tools, platforms, and systems. And that's actually part of the problem. You can spend so much time flip-flopping around learning about every AI platform that's out there that you actually never use it. So don't do that. Just pick one. Start with one. Pick one. Learn it. Use it. Find one problem it solves and then move on. You'll get comfortable with it pretty quick. Just start with one though. And here's where this gets even more powerful.

Personal Time, Learning, Privacy

Rick 14:30

We spend a lot of time talking about how much AI can help us make more money. That's important. I get it. What if the bigger opportunity is that it can help us get some of our life back? Thinking about your personal life. Things like planning a vacation, comparing options, creating a grocery list, organizing a project around the house, learning something new, researching a purchase. I do that one all the time. Planning a family event, writing a difficult letter, organizing your thoughts, or creating a workout plan. Instead of spending an hour searching through 10 websites and going in a hundred different rabbit trails, right? You can have one conversation with an AI assistant. I do this all the time now for every decision I need to make. Again, you'll still need to verify important information. AI can make mistakes, but it can dramatically speed up the process of getting from I have no idea how to start to, okay, now I have a plan. And that's time. That's your time back, right? So let's get back to the really the main core of this conversation. How do we avoid the fear of the unknown? I don't think the answer is pretending there's nothing to be afraid of. The answer is learning. So let's get back to the core of this conversation. How do we avoid the fear of the unknown? I don't think the answer is pretending there's nothing to be afraid of. The answer is learning. Because the unknown becomes a lot less intimidating once you understand it. Think about ADAS. A few years ago, a lot of shops were intimidated by ADIS because they just didn't know anything about it. It sounded scary. Same thing with EVs, aluminum repair, new OEM procedures. But the shops that started learning didn't necessarily become experts overnight. They didn't have it all figured out, but they started asking questions. They took training, they invested in equipment. They figured it out. AI is no different. You don't have to know where this technology is going to be in five years. Nobody does. But you can learn what's available today. And then you can make better decisions tomorrow. And here's another important point. Don't blindly put sensitive business or customer information into an AI tool. Understand the privacy settings and the terms of the platform you're using. Be thoughtful about customer personal information, financial information, passwords, proprietary business information, and anything else that could be shared casually. AI is just a tool. And like any other business tool, you need to learn how to use it responsibly. But I think there's something even bigger happening here. For years

Time As Your Hidden KPI

Rick 16:54

we've talked about improving efficiency, reducing waste, improving cycle time, increasing productivity, reducing rework. Those things absolutely matter. There's another metric that doesn't show up on your P ⁇ L, your time. You can make more money. You can buy another building. You can add another technician, you can buy another piece of equipment, but you can't manufacture another twenty four hours in a day. You can't manufacture one hour in a day. And eventually, I think most of us realize that time is a real asset. It's your most valuable asset. So when I talk about AI, that's where my mind really goes. I'm not thinking how can I make a computer to everything? I'm thinking what can I stop doing manually? What repetitive tasks can I eliminate? What can I delegate to technology? What can I accomplish in ten minutes that used to take an hour? And then what am I going to do with that extra time? Maybe it's growing the business. Maybe it's developing your people. Maybe it's taking your spouse out for a dinner on a Tuesday night. Or maybe it's going to your kids' game. Maybe it's just getting home before everybody else is already asleep. Or as simple as sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee and not having to think about work. And that's what it's really about. Buying back your time.

One-Task Challenge And Closing

Rick 18:10

So here's my challenge. Don't leave this episode thinking, I need to learn AI. That's way too big. Instead, pick one task this week that wastes your time consistently. Something repetitive, something administrative, something you don't enjoy, something that you keep putting off. And then ask yourself, could AI help me do this faster? And then just try it. That's it. You don't need ten subscriptions, you don't need a computer science degree, you don't need to understand every new AI model that comes out, and you definitely don't need to chase every shiny new AI tool that shows up in your social media feed either. Start small, learn, experiment, verify, and find what actually works for you. Because AI is going to continue evolving, that's a fact. And the tools available today are already substantially different from what was available just a year or two ago. So imagine where this goes next. But here's the good news. You don't have to know exactly where it's going. You don't. You just need to be willing to take the next step. Because the goal isn't to become an AI expert, the goal is to become a better business owner, a better leader, more efficient operator, and hopefully a person who has a little more time to enjoy the life they worked so hard to build. And that's the part I'm interested in. Not replacing people, not chasing technology, but using technology to give people more time to do the things that actually matter. So if you've been sitting on the sidelines because AI feels intimidating, I want you to reconsider. Don't fear the unknown. Explore it. Ask questions. Try something. Learn something. Find one way to make your day a little easier. Because you might just discover that the technology you're worried about is actually the technology that helps you get your time back. Around here, that's something I think is definitely worth paying attention to. Sometimes we just have to be willing to look for it. 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 www.rixilover.com, where you can find all my social media links, podcast episodes, blog posts, and much more.