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Jack Maddock joins M5 Management Services, Inc.
by: Tim Harkins
 We'd like to introduce our newest member to the M5 team: Jack Maddock!
Jack has been a professional consultant serving dealer clients in automotive and heavy truck dealerships for over 16 years. His expertise is in the Fixed Operations areas, assisting clients to maximize their success in their mechanical service, body repair, and parts department operations. He has worked for several nationally known and highly respected consulting firms such as Keith Ely & Associates, NCM Associates, MSX International, and Automotive Service Consultants. He is highly effective in the areas of profitability, productivity, expense control, process design/implementation, and selling skills. Prior to beginning his consulting career, he worked in dealerships for 25 years where he served as Fixed Operations Director and managed shops with staffs of up to 50 employees. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and has received numerous awards and national recognition for his performance both as a consultant and as a dealership director/manager.
Welcome to M5 Jack, from all the Team!
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Tom Walsh joins M5 Management Services, Inc.
by: Tim Harkins
 We'd like to introduce our newest member to the M5 team: Tom Walsh!
Tom began his retail automotive career as a porter at the largest Oldsmobile dealer in the US. During his time there, he advanced to dispatching, service writer and service cashier. Tom spent the next 9 years in both the fixed and sales side of the retail automotive business. In 1978, Tom went to work for Oldsmobile Division of General Motors. His 30 year career with GM was filled with a variety of field sales positions. The last 3 years were spent as a GM Service Development Manager. It was this job that not only gave him the most satisfaction, but also made him want to pursue a new career as a consultant/coach for M5 Management Services. Tom brings to M5 a vast knowledge of the automotive industry, and a passion for helping his clients.
Welcome to M5 Tom, from all the Team!
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Midas Touch
by: Tom Walsh
As the fairytale goes anything King Midas touched turned to Gold. I don’t know about you, but I have yet to meet anyone that can turn anything into Gold by touch. So, what is the next best thing? Maybe it’s having the ability to recognize an opportunity, adapt to change, and continue to grow your business.
Midas Muffler did just that. Midas Muffler was founded in 1956 on one promise. A product that was “guaranteed for as long as you own your car.” Midas Muffler shops also did something no one else did. They invited the customer into the shop to actually see what their vehicle needed. They also gave the customer a written estimate of the repair work to be done. All of this was to encourage the customers to return to Midas. As time went on Midas saw additional opportunities and in 1960 began installing shock absorbers. When the auto industry started switching to stainless steel mufflers Midas recognized another opportunity and started offering brake services in 1979.
Today Midas Muffler Auto Service is one of your strongest competitors. So what can we learn from Midas? That you need to continually reinvent in order to stay ahead of the competition.
A reinvention can be as little as making your customer lounge more comfortable and pleasant, or as big as extending your service hours for your customers’ convenience. Now it’s time to ask yourself this question. Do you have the Midas touch? I hope you can answer YES. Start today. Look around and see what you can touch that needs to be changed or updated. Start small. Maybe it’s a service advisor that needs a little coaching on how to properly greet that customer; or a technician that needs to understand the importance of getting to work on time. Little changes will add up. The big ones take time. The important thing is that you have the Midas touch. Maybe not everything you touch will turn to gold, but some will, and that will turn into more profits for your fixed operations department.
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Skid Marks
Skid Marks is an ongoing article series that shares the lighter side of working in a service department. All the stories are true. Brand names and real names have been removed.
customer who owned a landscaping business brought his personal bright-red fully loaded, customized new truck in for service. He proudly had the name of his landscaping company displayed on the sides of the truck.
He wasn’t going to be able to pick the truck up during business hours, so he asked the advisor to leave the vehicle outside and put the keys under the mat. Later that evening the owner came by to get his truck. It wasn’t there. Being a very loyal and understanding customer, he assumed that the advisor had forgotten. “No big deal, I’ll get it in the morning.”
Early the next morning, the customer wakes up, turns on the news, and what does he see on breaking news? Police have just busted an attempted theft of an ATM from a bank. The thieves had wrapped a chain around the ATM and attached it to, guess what? It was the beautiful bright-red pickup with his company name so proudly displayed on the side.
If you have a funny story that you'd like to share with your peers in the industry please send them to newsletter@m5ms.com and we will include them in a future Skid Marks article. Please remember that we will remove ALL brand names and real names.
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