SDR #320: From Quick Lube Tech to Master Tech: The Blueprint for Fixed Ops Success
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
Release Date: 08/21/2025
SDR #334: TOXIC SHOP CULTURE FIX: How to Reset Your Dealership & Win Back Your Technicians
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
Service Managers and Fixed Ops leaders: Are you losing control? If you're struggling with inconsistent productivity, low technician morale, and a shop where management has lost authority, you know the stakes are high. Your culture is toxic, and it's killing your business. In this episode of SDR #334, Chris Collins and Christian deliver the essential 6-STEP BLUEPRINT for service managers ready to stop the chaos, regain authority, and rebuild a high-performance team. This process is tough, but it's the ultimate cheat code for leadership success. This episode provides the actionable strategy to...
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SDR #333: Your Fixed Ops Questions Answered: Surviving Bad Bosses, Broken Systems & Service Drive Problems
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
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SDR #332: Top Dog 2025 Roundtable: Fixed Ops Leadership Lessons from the Service Drive
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
What’s really changed in the car dealership service drive—and what hasn’t? In this special roundtable edition of SDR #332, Chris Collins and the team break down decades of experience in Fixed Ops leadership, revealing the timeless lessons every service manager and advisor needs to know. From culture to communication, this episode uncovers why the fundamentals of great leadership haven’t changed—even as technology, customer expectations, and CSI metrics evolve. In this episode, you’ll learn: ✅What’s new (and what’s not) in today’s car dealership service drive ✅Why...
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SDR #331: Service Department Culture Mistakes: What’s Destroying Your Fixed Ops Team (and How to Fix It)
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
Your service department’s biggest problem might not be your advisors, your techs, or your customers—it’s your culture. In episode #331 of SDR, Chris Collins and Coach Christian expose the top seven service department culture killers that are quietly destroying dealership performance, morale, and profitability. If you’re a Service Manager or Fixed Ops Director, you’ll learn: Why unclear goals and weak leadership breed chaos How toxic and low performers destroy team morale Why most managers confuse effort with results How to rebuild your dealership culture from the...
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SDR #330: Top 7 Service Advisor Pay Plan Failures
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
In SDR #330, Chris Collins, Christian Lafferty, and Hogi expose the 7 biggest pay-plan mistakes that cost dealerships money, motivation, and top talent. From overcompensating mediocrity to confusing multi-page pay structures, this episode breaks down why most Service Advisor pay plans fail — and how to rebuild yours for higher performance, retention, and CSI. You’ll learn: Why rewarding average performance destroys culture The truth about “socialistic” pooled pay systems How to build pay plans that drive results, not resentment Why changing pay plans too often kills trust The...
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SDR #329: The Moneyball Secret Every Service Manager Needs to Know
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
What's running your service department: feelings, or facts? In this episode, #329, Chris, Christian, and Hogi break down what spells success in Fixed Operations. Here's a hint: it's not tradition, and it's not the blame game. It's all about tracking the RIGHT numbers. It's like Moneyball; scouts were worried about intangibles like how a player looked, acted, or "felt," when all they needed to know was whether or not that guy got on base. Tradition, vibes, and relationships can lie; numbers don't. In this episode, you'll learn: 1. Advisor Pay Caps Kill Performance 2. How to hire techs that "get...
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SDR #328: How Great Leaders Keep Technicians and Advisors from Quitting
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
Why do good technicians and advisors leave—and what makes them stay? In SDR #328, Chris Collins and Christian sit down with author of I Love It Here and the “Undercover Millennial,” who has interviewed over 11,000 employees undercover to find the truth about retention. Here’s what they discovered: it’s not just about money. In this episode, you’ll learn: - Why employees quit managers, not jobs - The status interview every Service Manager should run before an exit interview - How culture, mentorship, and recognition outperform pay raises - The leadership shift that turns churn...
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SDR #327: Are You Paying Your Techs Enough?
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
Are your technicians leaving for $2 more an hour—or is there a deeper reason? In SDR #327, Chris & Christian break down why tech retention has less to do with pay plans and everything to do with leadership, systems, and culture. Most dealerships ask the wrong question: “Am I paying my techs enough?” The real question is, “Have I built an environment where great techs want to stay?” In this episode, you’ll discover: - Why weak Service Advisors are the #1 reason techs quit - How broken systems (lost keys, bad dispatch, weak processes) drive top performers out - The role Parts...
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SDR #326: 7 Steps to Go from Service Manager to General Manager
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
How do you make the leap from Service Manager to General Manager? In SDR #326, Chris & Christian lay out the 7 key steps every ambitious Fixed Ops leader needs to follow if they want to run the whole dealership. Most Service Managers get stuck because they only think about their department. But the path to GM requires mastering leadership, profitability, culture, and dealership-wide strategy. In this episode, you’ll learn exactly what separates managers who stay in the service lane from those who rise to the top. We also cover: - The mindset shift every Service Manager needs before...
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SDR #325: Are YOU Ruining Your New Service Advisors?
Service Drive Revolution with Chris Collins
When is a new service advisor really ready? In SDR #325, Chris & Christian break down training timelines, feedback loops, and why rushing onboarding ruins more advisors than it helps. Plus, industry updates on Ford recalls, Nissan’s struggles, and more. We also tackle one of the most common questions in the service drive: how long does it actually take to get a new service advisor up to speed? Is it 6 months? A year? Or is there no set timeline at all? Chris & Christian also reveal why “one-size-fits-all” training doesn’t work—and how dealerships can create smarter onboarding...
info_outlineIn this episode of Service Drive Revolution, Chris and Christian dive deep into one of the challenges facing Service Departments today: How do you take a Quick Lube Tech and grow them into a Master Tech?
This isn’t just theory—we’re talking real, actionable strategies that can transform your technician pipeline. You’ll walk away with at least 3–4 powerful ideas that can immediately be implemented in your service department to reduce turnover, improve training, and build your bench.
💡 What You’ll Learn: Why it’s the Summer of Fixed Ops and how to capitalize on increased driving and travel The importance of creating a clear career path for your entry-level techs How to design systems where form equals function Why mentoring and career mapping matter more than ever How European-style vocational education might inspire new technician development models The real reason many Quick Lube Techs quit within two years—and how to stop it Plus, hear Chris and Christian talk about: Their hilarious road trip habits (spoiler: one loves RVs, one doesn’t 🚐✈️) Which cities top their global travel lists 🌍 The Automotive News list ranking dealership groups by service & parts revenue Why leasing, EVs, and midlife crises are reshaping car buying behaviors
👉 Whether you're a service manager, GM, or Fixed Ops leader—this episode is for YOU.
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