What’s going on in 2023 and how do you navigate the ups and downs of the service and repair aftermarket? In the short video below, the Aftermarket Radio Network team shares insights and advice on managing the challenges and embracing the opportunities facing the aftermarket in 2023. The speakers – all with many years of experience in the aftermarket – emphasize the need to focus on sales, cost of goods, margins, productivity, cash management, networking, hiring a coach and being optimistic.

They also discuss the potential impact of layoffs on businesses and customers, the importance of marketing and coaching even during slow times, and the need to provide excellent customer service to set oneself apart.

The speakers caution against making short-term decisions for long-term problems and emphasize the importance of wowing customers and employees.

Really look at it and determine what would the most amazing customer experience ever look like? Could we do that? And then ask yourself again, well, could we really do that?

Brian Walker, Shop Marketing Pros and the Auto Repair Marketing Podcast

Speakers:

• Hunt Demarest: Paar Melis and Associates, Business by the Numbers Podcast, podcast@paarmelis.com
• Chris Cotton, AutoFix, Auto Shop Coaching, Chris Cotton Weekly Blitz Podcast, www.autoshopcoaching.com
• Matt Fanslow, Lead Diagnostician, Red Wing Automotive, Diagnosing the Aftermarket A to Z, mattfanslowpodcast@gmail.com
• Kim and Brian Walker, Shop Marketing Pros, The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast, shopmarketingpros.com 
• Carm Capriotto, Moderator, Aftermarket’s Podcast Pioneer from Remarkable Results Radio, carm@remarkableresults.biz

To listen to more of my interviews with aftermarket professionals, visit Remarkable Results Radio. I’ll also be doing live podcasts from Joe’s Garage at AAPEX 2023 and covering the business management and technical training, as well as the hands-on product and equipment demos taking place in the real-world shop setup on Level 1 of The Venetian Expo. I hope to see you at AAPEX!

Carm Capriotto is a connector of aftermarket professionals and is the founder and host of Remarkable Results Radio, the premier automotive service repair podcast. Through interviews with the best in the business, he shares their unfiltered, honest and sincere stories with the goal of helping to advance the aftermarket. Carm created the Aftermarket Radio Network in 2021, featuring Remarkable Results Radio, The Town Hall Academy, Aftermarket Weekly, and new shows from Matt Fanslow, Hunt Demarest, Chris Cotton, and Kim and Brian Walker. The archives contain over 1,200 episodes, cataloged by series and subject. Carm has been honored with the Mort Schwartz Excellence In Education Award from the Auto Care Association, the ASA Communicator of the Year, and other industry honors.
May 22, 2023