What kind of business do you want to have one year from now? That is the question Don Walter asks in episode 59 of Maximum Octane. Don has worked across the automotive industry and now serves as a certified executive coach and Profit First Professional at ATI, mentoring shop owners to reach their full potential.
In this conversation with Kim Hickey, Don explains how to create goals that are ambitious yet achievable, what the “blanket mentality” is, why “we’ve always done it this way” holds shops back, the need for a retention plan, and why monthly excuses for slow sales have to stop.
What You Will Learn
- How to create a simple yet measurable, trackable, and ambitious plan for next year
- What is the blanket mentality, and how can we avoid having it
- Why it is crucial to challenge the “we’ve always done things this way” type of mentality
- What is your retention plan for next year?
- How to avoid falling into the monthly excuses for not making enough revenue
- Why the “I have enough money” statement is one of the silliest things a shop owner can say
A Simple, Measurable, Ambitious Plan
Don opens with how to create a plan for next year that is simple yet measurable, trackable, and ambitious. A good plan fits on a page, focuses on a few key numbers, and stretches the business beyond its comfort zone. If it is too complicated, no one will follow it. If it is too easy, it will not drive growth.
ATI’s Are Your Goals SMART? and Does Your Goal Have the Gulp Factor? provide frameworks for setting goals that are both realistic and challenging. The Plan Your Best Year Yet series walks through annual planning step by step.
A one-page plan might include a few key targets, such as annual revenue, gross profit percentage, car count, average repair order, and employee retention. It might also include major initiatives, such as hiring a service manager or launching a new service. Breaking annual targets into monthly or quarterly milestones makes progress easier to track and gives the team clear short-term goals.
A common mistake is building the plan alone in the office and announcing it to the team as a finished product. Plans tend to stick better when key people help shape them. Ask your service advisors what they think average repair order could realistically become, and ask technicians what would help them be more productive. Their input makes the targets more credible, and people work harder toward goals they helped set. The owner still makes the final call, but the plan becomes the shop’s plan, not just the owner’s.
What Is the Blanket Mentality?
Around the 7 minute mark, Don explains the “blanket mentality” and how to avoid it. Listen for his full explanation. The idea is about comfort: wrapping yourself in what feels safe and familiar rather than pushing toward something better. Comfort feels good, but it limits growth.
Comfort can be a quiet threat to growth. When things are going reasonably well, there is little urgency to change. But markets, technology, and customer expectations keep moving. Shops that stay comfortable may find themselves falling behind competitors who keep pushing forward. Regularly challenging yourself and your team to improve keeps the business from stagnating.
Challenge “We’ve Always Done It This Way”
Don stresses the importance of challenging the “we’ve always done things this way” mentality. Many shop practices continue simply because no one has questioned them. Pricing, scheduling, pay plans, and customer communication are all areas where old habits can quietly cost money. He also warns against the “we’ll never be able to do that” mindset, which caps a business before it even tries.
ATI’s Don’t Let Your Comfort Zone’s Walls Block Success addresses the same theme.
A simple exercise is to ask the team to list practices they think could be improved. Employees often have valuable insights into inefficiencies and outdated processes. Reviewing each practice with fresh eyes, and asking whether it still serves customers and the business, can uncover significant improvements.
What Is Your Retention Plan?
Around the 19 minute mark, Don asks a question many owners cannot answer: what is your retention plan for next year? Most shops have some idea of how they will hire, but few have a deliberate plan to keep the people they already have. Retention plans might include development opportunities, pay plan reviews, recognition, schedule flexibility, and regular one-on-ones.
ATI’s How to Keep Your “A” Players From Leaving You is a useful starting point.
A retention plan might include regular one-on-one meetings, clear career paths, competitive pay reviews, recognition programs, training opportunities, and attention to work-life balance. Tracking turnover and conducting stay interviews helps measure whether the plan is working.
A stay interview can be as simple as a relaxed conversation with three questions: What do you enjoy most about working here? What frustrates you? What would make you consider leaving? Asking these questions before someone is unhappy gives owners a chance to fix problems early. The answers often reveal issues that pay alone will not solve, such as scheduling, equipment, communication, or a lack of growth opportunities.
Stop Blaming the Calendar
Don explains how to avoid falling into monthly excuses for not making enough revenue. Every month has a reason it might be slow: a holiday, the weather, back-to-school, tax season. Top shops plan for those patterns instead of using them as excuses. ATI’s 5 Ways to Avoid the “Slump” Season in Business and Top 5 Tips to Avoid the Holiday Car Count Blues offer practical strategies.
Seasonal patterns are predictable, which means they can be planned for. Shops can schedule marketing campaigns ahead of slower months, promote seasonal services, use slower periods for training and maintenance, and build cash reserves during busy seasons. Treating seasons as planning opportunities rather than excuses changes how owners respond to them.
“I Have Enough Money” Is a Trap
Don closes by explaining why “I have enough money” is one of the silliest things a shop owner can say. Complacency about money ignores inflation, future investments, retirement, and the needs of the team. Growth is not just about the owner’s income. It funds better pay, better equipment, and a stronger business.
Growth also provides security. A business that is growing has more resources to weather downturns, invest in new technology, and reward employees. A business that stands still is vulnerable to rising costs and competition. Continuing to grow, even modestly, keeps the business healthy over the long term.
Schedule Training for Your Team
Don also emphasizes scheduling training for internal customers as part of the annual plan. Training that is not scheduled usually does not happen.
Training plans should cover technical skills, customer service, and leadership. Scheduling training in advance, with specific dates and topics, ensures it actually happens. Many shops use slower periods for training, turning potential downtime into productive development.
Making Goals Stick
Setting goals is only the first step. Making them stick requires regular review, accountability, and adjustment. Many successful shops review progress weekly in team meetings and monthly in leadership meetings. Celebrating milestones keeps motivation high, while discussing setbacks openly helps the team adjust course.
Sharing goals with the whole team also helps. When everyone understands what the shop is working toward, they can contribute ideas and effort. Don’s approach emphasizes simplicity, measurement, and ambition, a combination that helps goals move from paper to reality.
Your Planning Session Agenda
- Write three to five goals for next year with specific numbers.
- Identify one practice your shop does “because we always have” and question it.
- Draft a retention plan for each key employee.
- Look at last year’s slowest months and plan what you will do differently.
- Put training dates on the calendar now.
For more on goal setting and discipline, listen to Adam Kushner in Getting Into the IRONMAN Mindset to Run Our Business and Mike Bennett in Set Your Business in Front of the 2023 Automotive Industry’s Trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I set goals for my auto repair shop for next year?
Start by reviewing this year’s numbers, including revenue, gross profit, car count, average repair order, and employee turnover. Choose three to five goals that stretch the business but are still achievable, and give each one a specific number and deadline. Break the annual goals into monthly or quarterly targets, assign ownership, and review progress regularly with your team. Keep the plan simple enough to fit on one page.
What key numbers should a shop owner track?
Most shop owners benefit from tracking car count, average repair order, gross profit on parts and labor, technician productivity and efficiency, closing ratio, and net profit. Many also track customer retention and employee turnover. Reviewing these numbers weekly or monthly reveals trends early, so you can respond before small issues become big problems. Choose a manageable set and make sure everyone knows which ones they influence.
How do I keep good employees from leaving my shop?
Retention starts with knowing what each employee wants. Hold regular one-on-ones, conduct stay interviews, and build clear career paths. Review pay plans to make sure they are competitive and fair. Invest in training, recognize good work, and pay attention to schedules and work-life balance. Address frustrations with equipment or processes quickly. Employees who feel valued and see a future at the shop are far less likely to look elsewhere.
How can I avoid slow months at my auto repair shop?
Look at past years to identify predictable slow periods, then plan ahead. Schedule marketing campaigns and customer reminders several weeks before those months, promote seasonal services, and reach out to customers with deferred work. Use slower stretches for training, equipment maintenance, and process improvements. Building cash reserves during busy seasons also reduces pressure when car count dips.
Resources and Links From This Episode
Connect With the Guests
- Don: LinkedIn
