Fixed Ops Focus

Sending an email to your team is not training. In this episode of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers call out managers who lead from the inbox and mistake hitting “send” for actually coaching their people. Real leadership happens face-to-face — through training, feedback, accountability, and showing up for your team.

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers are back from the Automotive AI Summit in Boston with a look at what AI could really mean for dealerships and Fixed Ops. They break down Aaron Strout’s “Human at the Wheel” keynote, separating real opportunity from AI hype and discussing how automation can give employees more time to build stronger customer relationships. Plus, could the future be dealerships building th...

In this episode of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers sit down with Marcello Gloria, Fixed Operations Manager at Empire Auto Group, to talk about his journey from a CDK call center to leading Fixed Ops. Marcello shares how staying hungry, constantly learning, improving processes, and always doing the right thing for the customer helped shape his career. Never stop learning — no matter how...

In this episode of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers ask a simple question: Where did the WOW go? Customer service isn’t what it used to be, and dealerships aren’t immune. Steve and Dave dig into why service standards have slipped, how management’s attitude affects the entire team, and why “good enough” has become acceptable. If dealerships want to stand out again, it may be time to stop...

In this episode of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers sit down with Carm Capriotto, host of Remarkable Results Radio, to discuss The Rise of the Specialist and why it’s time to change how the automotive industry talks about technicians. From eliminating phrases like “just a tech” to elevating the skill, professionalism, and value of the people who fix the cars, this is a conversation abou...

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers tackle one of the biggest missed opportunities in the service drive: scheduled maintenance. Why are services listed right in the owner’s manual going unsold every day? The answer may have less to do with your advisors and more to do with management, expectations, and accountability. If your maintenance numbers are soft, it might be time to stop blaming the drive and star...

It takes a special kind of genius to call a customer at 10:06 PM on a Saturday night. In Episode 88 of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers are back on one of their favorite subjects: customer retention. But first, Steve has a story you really can't make up. Two weeks after buying a vehicle from a CDJR dealership, Steve's phone rings at 10:06 PM on a Saturday. It's the sales manager. Why? T...

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers make the case that once-a-year feedback simply doesn’t work anymore. As Steve puts it: “Pat me on the back every day, or I’m going away.” Employees want to know how they’re doing right now — not eleven months from now in an awkward meeting with a manager and a piece of paper. And there’s another problem in our business: we're pretty damn good at telling people when they...

Want customers for life? Start giving them reasons to come back. In Episode 85 of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers dig into customer retention through lifetime warranties — and why keeping customers may be a lot simpler than dealerships make it. The philosophy is pretty straightforward: Make it easy for the customer.

What happens when a Fixed Ops Director gets tired of the way service scheduling works? He builds something better. Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers sit down with Jimmy Powell, Fixed Operations Director of Horne Auto Group, for a conversation about AI, scheduling, profitability, and what happens when a dealership operator decides to build his own solutions. Jimmy developed Bay Sync, a scheduling platform...

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers are back from Las Vegas, where they attended the Mercedes-Benz After-Sales event — and Dave and his team managed to squeeze in The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere. Naturally, the two somehow became one conversation.

If you're not holding your people accountable, eventually YOU become the problem. Why are service advisors afraid to really connect with customers? Why are managers afraid of change? And why do general managers tolerate behaviors they know are costing the dealership money? Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers go straight at the questions dealership leaders don't always want to ask.

There’s money hiding in your repair orders. The question is: are you doing anything with it? Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers dig into RO marketing with two guys who actually live it: Jeff Thomas, Service Director at Matt Blatt Kia, Nissan & Infiniti, and Mark Payne of Total Dealer Solutions.

Nobody teaches you everything you need to know about the car business. Sometimes you learn by getting your ass kicked. Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers didn't get where they are because everything went according to plan. They learned from great mentors, hard lessons, mistakes, getting knocked down — and getting back up. In this episode of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve and Dave tell their own stories of how the...

Your customer might pay the fee. That doesn't mean they'll ever come back. Shop supply fees. Resort fees. Hospitality fees. Taxes. Add-ons. After 10 days on the road, Dave Rogers has had enough — and it leads Steve and Dave into a bigger conversation about something every dealership should be thinking about: What are all these fees doing to customer retention? Customers may accept a fee because th...

New Cars. Used Cars. Service. Parts. Same dealership — so why are they so often working against each other? When departments compete instead of collaborate, the entire dealership pays for it — in profitability, culture and the customer experience. In this episode of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers are joined by Jamie Powers of Rhythm CDJR to talk about breaking down the walls between d...

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers break down one of the oldest battles inside a dealership — Used Cars vs. Service — and why letting the two departments operate against each other can cost the entire dealership money. They dig into used car manager pay plans, reconditioning costs, internal labor, technician hours, and the incentives that can turn two departments that should be working together into rival...

In Episode 76 of Fixed Ops Focus, Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers ask a question that stings: do you really want to sell cars? Because here’s the truth most dealers don’t want to hear — fixed operations is the lifeblood of the new car department. When fixed ops blows, sales pays the price… and suddenly you’re discounting below invoice just to move metal. Steve and Dave get into why a strong service and...

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers are talking about selling again — and we brought in living proof it can be done. We interview Chrissie Bifulco, Service Manager of Piazza Mazda, on how she turned a sleepy Mazda store into an absolute powerhouse. Then our Profit Partner, Steve Schau of Fast Digital Signs, joins the show. Steve builds menus and menu programs for dealerships that help advisors present with...

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers get into what really makes a great service manager — and it starts with one word: passion. We talk passion for the job, the role of training, the KPIs that actually matter, and the real, day-to-day ins and outs of running a service department. Then we dig into the part nobody loves to talk about: the knowledge level of today’s managers, and their willingness to learn, gr...

This one is all about training — the real benefits, why to train, and (maybe most importantly) when NOT to. Because training isn’t checking a box. Training is improving. And Shaw puts it bluntly: if you just want to check the boxes, don’t hire him. In fact, don’t hire anyone — it’s a waste of money. But if you’re truly looking to improve yourself, your dealership, and your people, this one is for...

Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw sit down with special guest Joshua Taylor — host of Wrench Turner’s Podcast — for an honest and important conversation about the life of an auto technician.

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers tackle something every fixed ops manager and GM feels but rarely says out loud: vendor fatigue.

Steve Shaw and Dave Rogers are talking PARTS, and we brought in the heavy hitters to do it. Our parts expert today is the world-famous Armund Dezii, Parts Director of Mercedes-Benz of Westchester — and we are ALL going to learn a thing or two from this man. Joining him is Anthony Blubello, eCommerce Performance Specialist from Revolution Parts, whose mission is to disrupt and innovate the automoti...

Dave Rogers and Steve Shaw sit down with parts manager extraordinaire Jon Rondolone of Piazza Honda of Springfield — and today, we’re talking everything PARTS.