Brake Check 2010 Spring

Team Member News & Information For The Fast TrackSpring 2010

We Do It Right, For LESS!

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Culture Change is Necessary for Growth

For the past 40 some-odd years, Brake Check has been run successfully as a small to medium size business, providing expert auto repair services for local families in the central Texas region. In the evolution of a company, however, you can’t stay in a ‘business as usual’ state of mind if you want to continue to grow and prosper.

Our aspirations are as endless as our ability to dream, but in order to turn our dreams into reality, we need to reevaluate what we do and how we do business on almost every level. Are we providing value in our daily activities? Do we add waste? Or is it necessary waste for our given situation? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves in order to cull the waste and promote the valuable.

As a leader in this organization, I have looked at my own daily activities and posed these questions. But for a company to shift in any direction, each individual in the company must do the same. You may have seen some small signs of change already. We have implemented a new task at the store level for nightly procedures, oil tracking, and paperwork documentation.

And to be honest, these tactics aren’t going to solve any great mystery. In order for these tactics to be of value to the company and to us all individually, we need to change our understanding of the data they provide and shape our beliefs around the benefits this information brings.

For example, if I ask you to turn the coffee pot off each day precisely at 2 p.m., you are all very capable of completing this task. You may not do it exactly at 2 p.m. every day and it’s understandable that distractions may occur that keep you from fulfilling your obligation. A customer could come in right at that time and you’re not sure if they may want that last cup. You may be walking out on break and figure you’ll take care of it when you get back, etc. The point is, you’d do your job, to the best of your abilities, depending upon the difficulty of the task. Now, assume I told you that by shutting off the coffee pot and any other extraneous power hogging device at 2 p.m. would cut your energy costs by 40% and thus saving you on your bottom line each period, you might take that task a little more seriously. Some might even become fanatical supporters of this policy.

And what’s the difference in these two scenarios? Communication and understanding is the key. Once you know the why behind the what, you can appreciate the values that each tactic brings to the company.

We hold store operations to very high expectations day in and day out. And through a careful analysis of value vs. waste, leading to better understanding, I believe we can create a culture that leads to a more knowledgeable, strategic and empowered operations group, from the front lines on up.

Onward and upward.

David Peveto

From the desk ofDavid Peveto,

President & CEO

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The Value of Doing It Right

You hear leadership mention over and over about Doing It Right and the value of Doing It Right, but why? How does doing it right affect you at the store level? The leadership team as spent countless hours examining our customer experience from the drive through checkout. We believe that our processes, when followed, will provide the customer with the very best Brake Check experience and will provide the store with continued business from word-of-mouth referrals.

Doing it Right is not limited to the Inspection Process or Sales Procedure alone, although this is where the majority of customer interaction takes place – and therefore it is crucial that these two steps are done right each and every time you are with a customer. Make sure that you are knowledgeable about our procedures and

take the time to question the reasoning behind our procedures. If our procedure, in any way, does not make sense to you or you do not see the value to the customer, let us know. We love to hear your feedback! We support the stores; our job is to make life a little easier for you. And who else would know what is working and not working in our procedure?

Secondly, we must constantly evolve as our customers and industry evolves. Stay up to date with training. Make sure that you know exactly how to service any vehicle that may show up on your drive. Training, more than ever, is available to anyone who wants it. The first week of every period is Tech Week to keep our technicians up to date. And the last week of every period is Manager Training, where our store managers go through rigorous training on our policies and procedures. Take advantage of these weeks and get more training if you need it or you feel rusty in our processes.

Word-of-mouth referrals are extremely valuable to our business. Auto repair is something that people are not looking forward to and therefore usually talk about with their friends and family before getting any service done. This is how Doing It Right and making every customer a promoter of your business can help you. Brake Check customer and promoter Titus Smith submitted this to the Brake Check website after visiting Store 427 in February: “I wanted to take the time to let you know of a very positive experience that I had at this location today. Preston was great to work with on the phone and in person, setting up my appointment. Also the technician, Roland that performed the work on my car was very professional and helpful with decisions I needed to make. The way I was treated today was great. I will be returning in the future when I need my car serviced. I will also be recommending this location to family and friends.” You can tell that this guy is eager and willing to share his positive experience with anyone who wants to hear it!

Now that is Doing It Right!

John Peveto III

From the desk ofJohn Peveto, III, President & COO

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Brake Check Introduces the Quick Change Oil Bay

Over the next year, Brake Check plans to add a Quick Change Oil Bay to many of our locations. The Quick Change bay will be the furthest bay from the shop and will be used exclusively for Oil Changes. We will be

able to get Oil Change customers in and out much faster this way. An additional computer, with complete RO capabilities, will be set up in the bay for a faster check out process!

Having a Quick Change bay will allow you, the store, to see more cars in the day because an Oil Change customer will no longer have to wait for an open bay for a quick repair. This means that we will be

performing more Health Checks and Brake Inspections, allowing you more opportunity to up sell the customer, resulting in more revenue and continued service.

Take this opportunity to Do It Right and get these Oil Change customers on the Oil Loyalty Program so we can continue to service their vehicles, building trust and repeat customers.

Welcome MattMatt joined the Brake Check team after being a district sales manager for five years in the medical sales field having a territory that stretched from Temple to Brownsville, with a total of four different sites under his leadership. Prior to that, he worked in retail for about four years working his way up from an assistant manager’s position to an area manager’s position. Matt is currently attending to receive a Bachelors degree in business with about a year to go before completion. Upon completion of his current degree plan, Matt plans to pursue a Masters degree in business as well. In his free time Matt is an avid photographer, and enjoys designing and building guitars.

“Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.” – Dennis Waitley

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Technology:AT&T is offering Brake Check employees 9% off your monthly service plan. You will only need two things; a valid Brake Check email address (you can use your store email if you do not have a personal one), and this IRU FAN #2726659. This offer applies to any employee currently using AT&T as their cell phone provider or anyone wanting to activate a new service with AT&T.

Also, refer a co-worker, friend or family member who activates a new qualifying service and each of you will receive a $25 AT&T gift card. So it’s a win-win!

If you have any other questions about this program, please contact Tom Doebbler or Jon Greenwood. Also, if you would like to speak to someone at AT&T about this exclusive offer you can contact Sonya Reyes at 210-232-4144 or [email protected].

So sign up for this exclusive offer and start saving today!

- Tom Doebbler

Tools:WHAT DOeS SUPPORT MeAN AT BRAke CHeCk

You may not realize all the support services available to you from the Support Center. So, take a few minutes to read this article, if none other, and take advantage of what we can do for you!

• Special order requests direct from vendors to you or your store including rack and pinion, abs modules, master cylinders and other hydraulic components not readily available from the warehouse.

• Assist in catalog look-ups for part numbers that don’t populate, from brake pads, electronic wire sensors, interchange from previous outside purchases and the like.

• For a store that is seeing a rapid sell-through rate on a particular item or a select group of customers with unique parts needs, ken can adjust stock level requirements to ensure you have those parts on the shelf the next time those customers come in, instead of waiting for enough outside purchases to trigger the system to stock those items.

We need feedback from store operations about specialty tool needs that would enhance quality and efficiency on the front lines. The more input we get, the better stocked we are to serve you.

Save money on phone utility by utilizing the support center’s 1-800 number. Some of you may not realize that this number, 800-800-3315, is here for store use so that you’re not pinged on your bottom line for call expense to the support center.

Did you know the warehouse stocks parts for repairing brake lathes, lifts, alignment racks, sensor cables and more. Repairing your equipment through the support center is a cost-effective way to get you back up to full capacity in no-time.

So don’t delay. The support center really is here to support you all in store operations. Call ken or Nathan today and help us help you!

- Robert Garis

“Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.” – Dennis Waitley

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Training:Did you know when people call your business

they form an opinion about your company in the first few seconds. Businesses lose millions of dollars in potential sales through the phone lines every day.

How your employees answer the phone and talk with people affects your bottom line. First impressions on the phone really count! And many times the first several seconds determine whether the customer feels good enough about the person answering the phone and the company to do business with them. In a service business, the telephone is a life line. Remember customers buy where they are treated best. When you answer the phone, potential customers are seeing you and your business right through the phone line. What are they seeing?

Do they see?

• Someone who is experienced.

• A company that has trained, skilled, experienced individuals who can fix the problem right the first time and in a reasonable amount of time.

• Someone who is going to be fair and honest.

• Someone who really wants to help.

Make sure every time you answer the phone at Brake Check you give world class customer service over the phone. 50% of all customers call before they come into a Brake Check location so it is very important to make a good impression to each and every person calling your store.

Make sure that you know the Brake Check phone procedure and use it every time a customer calls in. You should have a laminated copy next to each of your phones for reference. Use the phones to your advantage and Do It Right starting with the first impression.

- John Matthews

Welcome MarisaThe marketing department welcomes Marisa Gutierrez, our Marketing Manager who joined us in December. She will assist the marketing department with general store needs and is in charge of Brake Check sponsorships including the Spurs and San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. From public relations to Brake Check promotions, Marisa will be here for you.

She comes to us from the San Antonio express-News where she held a similar position. Prior to that, Marisa handled public relations for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, some of her projects included; annual Regional Spelling Bee, medical and general job fairs, and the annual International Auto & Truck Show.

Marisa graduated from University of Texas in San Antonio in December of 2004 with a degree in Communications and has acquired 18 hours of a Masters in Business Administration degree at the University

of Incarnate Word. Born and raised in San Antonio, Marisa is excited to be a part of the local, family owned Brake Check team. When Marisa is not working she likes to attend concerts,

lectures at her church and hang out with friends.

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Marketing:WHAT IS THe VALUe OF A RePeAT CUSTOMeR?

The lifetime residual value of a repeat customer is exponential to the money they personally spend with you. A happy repeat customer will not only bring you years of business but will refer friends and family as well. These are the customers we want to find, foster and grow.

Recently, we started emailing our oil change customers information about the Oil Loyalty Program (OLP) and we have seen a pretty nice up-tick in fourth-time oil changes redemptions. The way it works, is everytime you conduct a two-minute drill with an oil customer, you inform them about the benefits of the OLP and ask them for an email address so you can send them a reminder email in about three months when it’s time for their next oil change.

When you enter their address in, we send out a Welcome email that thanks the customer for their recent visit and gives them an introduction to the benefits of the OLP. We batch the emails so they usually go out within a week to seven days from service. Additionally, we send out a reminder email three months from the first email to let them know it’s probably about time for their next oil change. Since we launched this program, we have sent out over 1,500 Welcome emails and over 750 Reminder emails.

And so far this year, we have seen a 11% increase in fourth-time oil redemptions in Period 1 alone. So what does that mean to you all in the stores? Are you just seeing more oil change business? Hopefully not. every oil customer is a potential recommended maintenance customer. There’s always time to run a Health Check while changing out the oil and letting customers know what you find, the good, the recommends and the needs. This is a perfect opportunity to get additional services or schedule a future appointment if the customer came in with only enough time for the oil change.

And when a customer redeems their fourth oil change free, that is a perfect time to recommend a free brake inspection (about once a year). A “free” customer is very valuable. They have been to you four times in about a year, probably have bought more services than just oil and have built a relationship with you and your store that keeps them coming back loyally.

To me, those are exactly the type of customers we want to grow.

- Lana Harris

PeRIOD 13 O2 SeNSOR PROMOTION WINNeR:

Store Director David Newton, store 544!

PeRIOD 1 FUeL INDUCTION PROMOTION WINNeR:

Store Director David Newton, store 544!

PeRIOD 2 WIPeR BLADe PROMOTION WINNeR:

Store Director Darroll Hardee, store 526!

each Store Director will receive 200 Brake Bucks while all other store personnel will receive 50 Brake Bucks each to be redeemed for prizes on the Brake Check Tool Store!

Congratulations!Period Promotion Winners (Period 13, 1, & 2 Winners)

Congratulations to all the winners! keep up the good work and who knows, you may be the next big winner!

Mission Statement: Unified and collaborative group of people

leveraging the collective power of being a non-franchised, family owned

and operated company to provide the best experience in the automotive

service business in relation to: TRUST, CONVENIENCE, & PRICE.

320 E. NakomaSan Antonio, TX 78216

ph 210-495-4977fx 210-495-0687

www.brakecheck.com

First-ClassU.S. Postage

PAIDThompson Mailing

Solutions78218

©2009 Brake Check, Inc.

• 2/3 cup milk• 1/3 cup flour• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth• 10 oz peas & carrots• 1/4 cup onions• 1/3 cup butter or margarine• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken• 2 deep dish pie crusts

1. Melt butter or margarine over medium heat2. Stir in flour and onions. Heat until bubbling.3. Add chicken broth, milk, salt, and pepper.4. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.5. Continue to boil and stir for one minute6. Remove from heat and add peas, carrots, and chicken.7. Place in pie crust and cover with second pie crust.8. Follow cooking directions for pie crust

AnnIvERSARIESFebruary, March,

April, & May

Vicki eckert - 35

Anthony Vrana- 33

Michael Ahlstrom - 12

ken Zimostrad - 11

Darroll Hardee - 7

Jaime Camacho - 6

Damian Hernandez - 6

Robert Borchers - 6

Marcus Rios - 5

Pot Pie by Shawna Niles

We Do It Right, For LESS.