By John Burkhauser, director of education, BOLT ON TECHNOLOGY

Every year, the global automotive world gathers in Las Vegas for the AAPEX event. It is indeed a planet-wide affair with companies and individuals gathering from the far reaches of the globe to show their wares, knowledge and more.

Then there was 2020. A year that will be pivotal to the future of our industry. Everything has changed. Nothing left untouched, not even AAPEX.

This year, AAPEX comes to the world. Welcome to the Virtual AAPEX Experience. The Virtual AAPEX Experience will be on a screen near you no matter where you are. The experience is giving back to the world community by sharing the training aspect of the show with those who sign up with no charge to attendees. This year’s AAPEX will be like none other.

It is all here, courses for the technical individuals covering topics from Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), scope use and even European diagnosis. Not to be left out, management also has their sessions that will cover how to create a culture that grows employees, expanding to a second shop and even going digital to automate the known and proven “best practices” that will make any shop operate more efficiently and build profits.

We are excited to be a part of this discussion by bringing our Bolt On University program to the AAPEX attendees. Bolt On University will cover the best practices that will help you Fast Track Your Shop’s Success to new levels. This BOT U, being presented from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST), on Nov. 4 during the Virtual AAPEX Experience, is a distillation of a longer two-day event into four information-filled hours that can change the future of your shop for a better tomorrow and beyond. 

Whether you are a current Bolt On user or not, the information being shared are digital best practices that can positively impact any shop. The most important aspects of these practices will be laid out and defined so that any person who works in a shop can understand the why and how they will improve the service experience for the customer thus making a shop more successful.

Some of the best practices covered during this session will include:

• Appointments: Setting and reminding customers today to come back in the future,
• Recommendations: Today’s findings and work; tomorrow’s filled bays,
• Communications: Texting appointment reminders, inspections, authorizations and getting paid,
• Inspections: Performing correctly, transparency and the education of customers while building a wear history,
• And much more. 

Industry expert, business trainer and Bolt On’s vice president of sales, Frank Dragoni, and I will share our knowledge that has been gained as we both have travelled across the country visiting many shops over the past few years. During each visit, we have observed the service processes used, identified the roadblocks, and have put in place new systems that have improved the Average Repair Order (ARO) of many of these shops using digital technology and inspections. We provide real world proven solutions that when used produce better results.

Believe it or not, recognizing and understanding how the best practices can help your business is the easy part. The hard part is putting these simple steps into your service processes and keeping them there no matter what the situation is. Not skipping them when things are flying fast and furious as they do day-to-day in the shop.

One of the reasons given for not changing is, “This is how we always have done it,” which is one of the most detrimental statements used in any type of business and this is because “change” is hard. Very few people can easily change. Most resist it. Problem is, if you do not change with the times, your business will become irrelevant and there is the good possibility that it will go out of business. Blockbuster video was offered to be a part of this company that became known as Netflix. They did not think that things would change and rejected the offer. Blockbuster went from worldwide domination to basically not existing today.

2020 has been and will be a year of great change for everyone. Even AAPEX has changed, not only by becoming the Virtual AAPEX Experience, but it is also coming to you instead of you going to it.  And watch as the AAPEX we all know continues to evolve until the next event in 2021.

So why not ride the inertia of change and change more? Sign up at the Virtual AAPEX Experience for as many classes as you can attend at no charge and use this time to change your shop for the better. Learn to scope and diagnose, get involved in social media, and attend Bolt On University to change the way you do business. A small investment of your time can change everything.

For more information, visit BOLT ON TECHNOLOGY.