Keller Bros. turns shop into training ground while keeping vehicles moving

Keller Bros. Auto Repair isn’t like the shop down the street. Instead of turning away other shops as potential competition, technicians, service writers and owners are welcomed into Keller Bros.’ bays to learn more about improving shop operations.

“We’re a little bit different than the average shop on the street. We’re actually a training facility that just happens to have operated as a shop for the last 38 years,” says David Rogers, COO of the Littleton, Colo., business. "For the last 10, we’ve been training other shops and their staffs right in our own business.”

Keller Bros. won the CARQUEST National Excellence Award in 1999, spring-boarding the idea of training owner Terry Keller and Rogers shared.

“What we struggled with for years was our own lack of understanding of how marketing, training and advertising all had to work together and be congruent,” Rogers explains. “We spent tens of thousands of dollars yearly trying to find solutions for our small family business. Some years were struggles and some years weren’t.”

The company now educates other shop owners, techs and service advisors about marketing, operations and more. Courses through Auto Profit Masters open the world of Internet marketing to shops, while Real Time Training™ allows other shops’ owners and key personnel to observe, train and learn from the Keller Bros. staff. Some of the classes also are AMI-accredited, like “People Power,” “Superior Service Advising,” “Getting Results from Relationships” and “Image is Everything.”

“We truly hope we can help those other small businesses and shops just like us stay alive and healthy and have a place to work together and clearly see what’s happening inside their own and each other’s shops,” Rogers says. “In this economy, it’s risky not to know what’s happening to every penny and how to fix that in your car count with the right kind of customers now.”

And he is quick to point out that the sharing of information isn’t a threat to the shop.

“There are plenty of cars for all of us to work on,” he says. “It’s not about that. It’s about learning how to develop great relationships with the right customers that are a fit for you. And you can’t do that until you develop those great relationships with some fantastic employees and develop those opportunities that they can’t have in other stores. That’s what we attempt to do.”

Servicing vehicles still is a key component to the business, as it strives to lead by example. Its services helped land the shop in the top 10 on Motor Age’s fourth annual Top Shops Contest.

Technical Training From the Ground Up
To work on the vehicles, the shop utilizes both OEM and aftermarket diagnostic equipment, as well as a 3D photo alignment system. Information also is drawn from Identifix, Mitchell and ALLDATA to repair vehicles, and from NAPA's Denver location for parts.

“We use so much today that wasn’t necessary years ago,” Rogers says. “We believe strongly in being able to diagnose and repair the vehicles in our shop no matter what’s going on.”

The technicians are trained on these tools and equipment pieces, as well as in going green – through aqueous parts washing and waste oil heaters – and in marketing to customers. Actually, some technicians and service advisors receive the bulk of their training through Keller Bros. While the shop hires from technical schools, many techs start out as parts and shuttle drivers.

“Oftentimes what happens is you find the right person that just appears one day and they maybe aren’t prepared for that technical job, but they have an interest,” says Rogers. “But if somebody wants to come in and really work hard and go through training, we find that the lack of turnover and the willingness of those employees who are receiving this kind of training and support to do whatever’s necessary to take care of our customers and protect the best interest of the shop, is at a level of which that just exceeds others.”

Those drivers become lube apprentices, lube managers and, eventually, technicians. By the time they are fully certified and ready to work on cars, they already are well aware of the shop’s methods and procedures. The same applies to service advisors, some of whom started as managers at fast food chains and grocery stores.

Moving Marketing
Keller Bros. has moved its marketing up the ranks like it has moved some technicians, starting with Yellow Pages and shifting to cable TV and now direct marketing and the Internet. Rogers says the company hired a couple of Internet experts to start them on their plan, which has paid dividends.

“We’ve turned this into very affordable plans that small businesses can actually participate in,” Rogers reports. “For us, we don’t compete with the dealerships and the chain stores, we exceed them online. We’re definitely on them on the organic rankings for searching auto repair in our town.”

By topping the list of organic searches of automotive repair in the Denver area, Keller Bros. has been able to focus more on its customer base.

Staff answers the phones at Keller Bros.

“We actually use that marketing to filter through the neighborhood and draw that cream of the crop customer into your shop. But it only works if the training is in place or if they’re executing,” Rogers explains. “Because you can spend all the money you want on advertising, but if your customer or your staff aren’t truly taking advantage of the opportunity and building that relationship with the customer from the get-go, you could possibly be wasting money.”

These customers don’t need free services, he adds, but rather want to focus on the quality of service the could receive at the shop. The quality also is shown in shop awards the facility has received, like the 2009 Colorado Ethics in Business award. The shop’s free services like glass chip repair help bolster the loyalty it shows customers and receives in return.

“I would say that it’s less of an issue of profit and more of an issue of convenience and service to our customers. I’d say that one of the greatest payoffs for something like that is getting the customer’s level of loyalty and getting them to depend on us for all of their automotive needs,” Rogers states.

And that’s the message the shop strives to pass on to others to improve the industry as a whole. “All we’re looking to do is see our industry thrive and see that ethical bar be raised year after year with the people who are willing to do things for the right reasons,” says Rogers.