#28: Your Job is To Help People Grow, with Dan Gilley

In this episode, we dive into the unique mentor-mentee relationship between Barry and his mentor, Dan Gilley. Over the course of four to five years, Dan imparted invaluable knowledge and life lessons that surpassed expectations. Barry reflects on their time together, the importance of tough love, and the enduring bond that goes beyond professional connections.

Highlights:

Unexpected Discoveries:

Dan's parental approach to mentoring helped Barry both personally and professionally.

Learning from Mistakes:

Barry appreciates Dan's willingness to say "no."

Treating Employees like Family:

Dan embraced a parental role when it came to his employees.

Maintaining Relationships through Change:

Barry and Dan exemplify a healthy partnership even after parting ways professionally.
Sharing their story serves as an example of how relationships can endure despite business challenges.

Outgrowing a Mentor:

Dan gracefully accepted Barry’s growth and recognized it as a positive outcome.
The importance of prioritizing relationships above all else became evident to both parties.

Conclusion:

This episode highlights the profound impact of mentorship. Their long lasting connection serves as a testament to the power of mutual respect, understanding, and growth in both personal and professional realms.

Books mentioned: E-myth by Michael Gerber

Episode Transcript

Dan Gilley
===

Barry: [00:00:00] welcome to the podcast, Dan Gilley. Dan Gilley has the, the honor, maybe it's not the honor, but of being my mentor. And so I worked for Dan for I think four or five years, and he taught me more than I thought I could learn.

And one of the things is I thought that he didn't know as much as he did at times, and then later it was then that I realized that I had learned more than I bargained for. So welcome to the show, Dan. Thank you for being here. How are you today?

Dan: I'm great, and thank you for having me. It's a, it's an honor to be here and, and, thank you for those kind words.

I'm not quite sure that, that I did all of those things, but, but I did enjoy working with you for. For the, five years, and I've certainly enjoyed knowing you for the last, what, 15?

Barry: Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. He was also my business coach. I hired, Dan's company to train us on the automotive [00:01:00] repair ins and outs.

And so I was a student in his class and I did take copious notes and I would learn something in his class and then implement it in our business. And immediately we got this huge impact, to our top line and then ultimately to our bottom line. So, I was, in, in the beginning a customer who became a, a part of his company, and that was a joy of my life too.

So That's good. So, te Dan, tell us how you got your start. I, I, I want you to go all the way back. I, I know you just graduated high school. What? What happened?

Dan: Well, I, I graduated from high school and I, I, wanted to work in automotive and so I, I went to a,community college and, took, took the, the automotive program and, and while I was there, went to work at a Toyota dealership.

And, I enjoyed it, a great deal. And then I, I [00:02:00] moved, back home from,that was over in eastern Washington, and I moved back to the, Seattle area and went to work at a Toyota dealership, near my home. And I was living, I was actually living at home. I was, I was, I was 22. I was, you know, I knew everything then, and, working at a Toyota dealership that it wasn't as much fun as the, as the other one because the, The management team and the culture was quite a bit different.

I, I know those things. I recognize those things now, but, but, at that time it just wasn't as much fun to work there. And, it was actually my mom who encouraged me, to, start my own shop. She, my mom got a picture of a, of somebody working on a car, stuck it on the refrigerator and, and, put a note on it, someone working for Dan in his shop.

And so I saw it every day because, you know, at 22 you're in the refrigerator a lot. but that was what she put that up there to,[00:03:00] help me set that goal. And so, so at the,

at the right age of 22,

. I bought a, a gas station, and and opened my own shop. I had,About three people working for me initially. And, and, I was very fortunate in that the, the gas station I ended up with was, right off a freeway exit. So I, it, it had a lot of, volume and, I, I did that for several years and then I, I was invited to a golf tournament and I know, especially since you're a big golfer, I had played golf about twice in my life, but I went to this golf tournament and I was partnered up with a, with a guy who, was looking to retire.

And, so he told me about his shop and I thought that was kind of interesting and didn't think anything more of it played, played around the golf. And then the next year I went back to the same tournament. And this time, instead of him being my, my partner, he was just in my foursome. And he, now, he is really serious about selling and he said, you ought to buy it.

And, since I, [00:04:00] I had a, a gas station where they. changed the rent and, and changed it. I mean, raised the rent, every year. You're right. and he had a, a, a re a shop that, that I could buy the real estate. So I ended up,working out a deal with him and buying his shop. And for a while I had, I had both of them.

And, that was just working twice as hard and, not making any more money. So I, I got rid of the gas station and, and just focused on the repair shop. And, that was my, that was my start. How did

Barry: you come to the realization that, cuz most people, they're, they're working on, you know, if, if one thing is good, then two things are great and you did, you just have an innate ability to understand that you should get rid of one.

How did you come to that decision?

Dan: I think that it was, and now, and, and I'm a big fan, a big believer in, in, in multi store, in the automotive world or any, in any world. Mm-hmm. but I also believe you gotta go with more than two. [00:05:00] And I wasn't mature enough or smart enough as a business person at that point to realize that the two was not a good number.

So I was, I just did the math. I was working twice as hard and not making any more money. So I thought, well, if I'm gonna work that hard, I might as well just work on one. so you were just paying

Barry: attention to the numbers to make that decision, and you were like, well, if the numbers don't work, then it's not gonna work.

Dan: Yeah. And again, I, you know, years later you go, oh, okay, well I really needed to grow some more. I really needed to grow some more people so I wouldn't have to work so much. but that, that, that realization didn't come till 10 years down the road. Yeah. But, but anyway, it, it started out, again at 22 and then you, when you make a mistake and it costs you a lot of money, I, I called it like, You know, paying for a master's degree in business administration at the university, because you really remember it.

Oh, yeah.

Now, I, I, I look for other ways to learn that weren't as [00:06:00] expensive. but that was how you start out.

Barry: I was, it's funny, making it expensive for people. I've got some people who work with me and, and they get paid on commission and things like that. And, and I often tell them, and this isn't bad to you.

I just think that, that, I'm not as good as you at business yet. This is actually good to you because I, I would say, you know, my mentor, Dan Gilley, would've never paid me for that. He would've said, tough luck, and you're lucky you're dealing with me right now. And maybe you might not get that lesson. But if you make that mistake again, I will do what Dan did to me and say Tough luck.

Dan: Was I, was I that hard? I not just thought I was, you was,

Barry: you were not hard. You, you, I think you, you, you loved me enough to have me make that lesson. And it's just, I think you're more parental and you know, I'm 46 and when I worked with you, I think you, you were a little older than that and I, I probably just haven't [00:07:00] learned my lesson yet, but when I look back, I appreciate the fact that you just said no.

And I'm like, well, I'm not doing that again because, It didn't cost me that much money. You still, I mean, I got paid, well, don't get me wrong. No one would feel sorry for me if they knew what you paid me, but it, when I made a mistake, you let me feel it. Now, I think if I would've made like a colossal mistake, I don't ever remember making a colossal mistake with you, you probably would've been a little less, you know, rigid on it.

Would I, am I wrong? Mm-hmm.

Dan: Probably. I think, I think parental is probably the right, word. And that was, and again, that took, took a while to figure out. But I, I, I think you have to look at, at the people that you work with, as your family and in that, you need to take care of them. And that means you need to, first of all, you need to compensate them.

Yeah. What I would call a, a livable wage. And then, you [00:08:00] need to care enough about 'em that, either. To let them feel some pain from time to time or to make sure that they get to feel the, the joy of the win. Yeah.

Barry: the, the irony in my statement is I use parental and in my mid thirties had you told me you were parental, I'd probably been offended.

But now I appreciate it. And so I think that's it. And, and you know, my, my kids are not adults yet. And when I worked for you, your kids were, were at least, they were early adults. And I think you just got it. And I did participate in the wins, right? No one would even think that I had a livable wage, what you were paying me.

They'd be like, that's more than a livable wage. And so it was a little, I mean, I might've lost a couple hundred bucks here and there, but, it, it, it, it more than compensated what you taught me, on how to make more money. Because, you know, at the beginning, and I'm the sales guy, which is ironic, but I was, I was trying to charge a lower [00:09:00] price and, and tell, tell, tell people how you helped me with that and help.

I'm sure you helped other people with that. I,

Dan: I think, there's, I look at it as if there's, there's the. Two kinds of stores out there, really. There's Nordstrom, who's the top quality. They, they stand behind all their work. They're all about service. And then there's Walmart, which is all about price. And very difficult to compete with Walmart because they've, they've figured some things out on how to, how to lower the price.

They've got the, the infrastructure in place to deliver the goods. They've negotiated the contracts. So instead it's easier to be Nordstrom and compete on service cuz service is an attitude. And, I know that you knew how to serve, I know that you knew how to deliver. And so we just had to get the attitude that we're going to be the best.

And so we need to get [00:10:00] compensated for it because the people in the middle try to offer the service and compete on price. And they get

Barry: squished. Yes. Tell us how they get squished.

Dan: Well, they're trying to offer the service, which, which is, which is expensive to do, and then compete on price. And so they lo they, they narrow their margins and there's, there's not enough gross profit left over.

Whereas again, Walmart, because they, they're not offering service, they're offering price. And so, you, you get what you pay for. I can't, I can't add service to that and compete. Right. I love that cuz it's

Barry: not, if it's not, if something goes wrong, isn't it really when

Dan: Right. It's, we, we deal with other humans which make, who make mistakes.

We deal with products that, that fail, you know? And in the automotive world, we used to, you know, talk about a manufacturer would make a part and, they'd have a 98%. build [00:11:00] success rate. Well that's great, unless you're the one that bought the 2% and you got a customer who's upset cause the part that you've, you installed failed.

so yeah, those things are gonna happen. So how do you respond? Well, if, if money, and, and I know how I responded when I was younger and money was really tight. It was like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna, how am I gonna squeeze this customer so I don't lose money on this deal? Instead of when you have a little bit of money in your, you look at the big picture, you just say, well, if I take really good care of this customer, they're gonna tell some other people what an outstanding job we did when, because nobody, when everything goes smoothly, nobody talks about you because everything went smoothly.

It's what happens when something goes wrong. How did you respond? How did you wow them? Or how did you. Show them that you care and that's when your time to shine is. And that's, you know, here's a rental car, we're taking care of this and oh, here's a gift certificate to go out to [00:12:00] dinner for your, for your trouble.

And, we're very sorry. This, you know. Yeah. Just, I love it, but it's totally different. But you have to have the gross profit to begin with.

Barry: How does, how does one, if somebody's starting a business, how does one figure out what they should be charging? Because that's the hardest thing for most people, I think, to figure out.

Dan: Yeah. I know that, that, in, in, in the automotive world, it's like, we'll call some other people and see what they charge and then we'll, and, and I really think you need to do the math the other way and say, okay, this is what it costs me to be in business and this is what I need to make. And if I sell this many widgets, I need to sell 'em at this amount of money in order to, to be profitable.

Right? Yeah. So you

Barry: take the cost of goods, which, you know, I know that, that you taught me, and, and most people will teach against this, but you take labor as a cost of goods sold.

Dan: Yes. You take if, yeah, go [00:13:00] ahead. Well, well, especially in the automotive world where we're actually charging for labor. I mean, in a lot of businesses it's rolled into the price of the, of the product, but it's still definitely a cost.

Cuz nobody that I know is gonna show up. And well, they might do it one day as a, as a volunteer, but Yeah. But the rest, but the rest of the week, they're probably gonna want to get paid. so, so yeah, labor is a, is a, is a cost of goods and I've gotta, I've gotta pay that person again, a livable wage. I've got their benefits, I've got all the taxes, and then I need to make some money on that as well.

Yeah. Even I, I think even if

Barry: they don't want to get paid, I guarantee you their spouse does. Yes.

Dan: Yeah. Yes, they do. You think what I I, I think that a lot of times when we start out in business, we're, we don't have the confidence to know what we're worth. That's good. I was there. That's it's, it is, it is.

Now, some of it, you, you mean you get, obviously you get [00:14:00] better the more you do something. And when they, you know, they talk about, you know, 8,000 hours, 10,000 hours of, in the, like, as an automotive technician, it's three or four years of working full-time to, to achieve that, kind of journey level skill.

and so some of those, some of those things, but I'm gonna suggest that probably most, for example, again, repair shop owners have already done, 20,000 hours before they, and then they get another 10,000 the first year. But when they open up their business, but, but, they've already done, they paid their dues.

They are skilled, they have the, the experience, but it's, it's the, am I really worth it? Or they're doing something that, first of all, they enjoy it or they're very good at it. Come, it's, it's, they're gifted in that area. So, you know, people would say, oh, well, Barry, you're very gifted as a salesman.

They don't realize that [00:15:00] yes, you have some talents and yes, you enjoy it, but they don't realize how much work you've put in behind the scenes. Yeah. You know, cause there's, there's a competence level and then there's an expertise level. A hundred

Barry: percent. You know, I was talking to, you know, Carm, Capto, I was talking to him yesterday and I was talking to, he was talking about a, b, C tech, and we've always had this A level, B level, C level, and, and no one comes up with a definition.

And in, in what I do, we have professionals, certified, and experts. Well, each one of 'em has a definition of what a professional is, what a certified is, and what an expert is. And, and, and he was talking about, you know, getting the industry to label this. And I'm like, well, that's never gonna happen. So when you have a, in a business, in an automotive repair shop, in your case in a business, we get to [00:16:00] label what those things mean and put definitions to them.

And when you do that, technicians. Want to move up the labels. Mm-hmm. And, and, and what's funny is if you made them a certified or an expert and they were to try to go to another place of business, they would lose their expert status because we defined it and we trained it. Right. So that's something I've been thinking about, but there's no real definition.

And I read, I reread the E-Myth, Michael Gerber. Mm-hmm. And what I found was, and I, I, I don't know why I missed this, but he said, he talks about technicians and he said, salespeople are technicians. And I never thought that. So it was easy for me to go from charging because I was a service advisor for automotive.

My brother, you know, Mike. And then mm-hmm. Before that I was in home improvement and, but I wasn't selling me as the product. [00:17:00] When I started working for you and I start, it started me selling myself. Right. And, and that's illegal in most states, but in, in, in, right, I was, I was selling my own training. It was very hard for me to price it as high as you wanted me to price it, because it was me and not you.

So what is that phenomenon about, and how does, how do people overcome it? Because as technician in the beginning, they are, they're selling them as the service, you know? Yeah.

Dan: And again, the confidence. And then the, the, the training. A and I do think a again, your confidence grew as you got more training.

Mm-hmm. And, your confidence grew as you sold something and had, and then had success. And maybe, maybe it was the testimonies where people would call and say, thank you, ever since I got your training. I mean, it's just, it's, it does kind of build, but I, I still, [00:18:00] yeah. I can, I can see that probably the, the first time we, we sell it, we just wanna, boy, we're just so happy.

We sold something that, the fact that we didn't make any money really wasn't the point. That was that somebody believed in enough to, to buy something. And we, we, I think we also, even salespeople, fewer than know.

Barry: Oh yeah. They, they, we all do. And we can say we don't, but we all do at some level. I fear it even today.

But I also know that no is the beginning of negotiation. Right? And so one of the things that I now teach, and, and it's a new teaching that, that I do, is I, I get people to say no first. So that does two things. Number one, it protects them, right? So when, when I ask you a no question, like, is now a bad time, you're likely to say no.

And so by saying no, you're saying that you're gonna have a meeting with me. Mm-hmm. If I say, it's now a good time, you're likely to say no because it's never a good time. And if it [00:19:00] were, you wouldn't wanna spend it with me. And so, and what I, what I also now understand is when I get them to say no, now, hey, they already said it.

Yeah, it's no big deal. They're gonna, they can say it again. And so at the end, I've changed my closing question to, is there any reason that you wouldn't wanna move forward with it, because that's likely to get a no. Mm-hmm. And if you said, would you like to move forward with it, that's likely to get a no.

So, which no. Would you

Dan: prefer, any reason why you wouldn't? Yeah, that's, that's, that's really good. And, and I do think cuz people are more comfortable, especially when they're talking to somebody, to say no or, or to do the stall question, well, I need to think about it. Or, let me go talk to my wife.

Let me, Let me go run some numbers and I'll get back to you. Yeah,

Barry: yeah, that's good. And then there's, you know, we have to have rebuttals for that, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that. That's good. [00:20:00] So, you know, when we were moving through the, the, the idea of, you know, I remember, matter of fact, I remember when, we, I sold my first class working for you and you were the, you were the main teacher.

And so it was, it was easier for me cuz I knew Dan's gonna do it, so I know it's gonna be good. And, and I went, it was in Cincinnati. You flew out here, you flew to Cincinnati, and you let me teach a segment of that class and I knew what I was doing, but I didn't know what I was doing. What, what gave you the ability to trust that, and I know you were trusting, but verifying and you were in the room, but how does someone start to let go of that and mentor somebody into success?

Well, I

Dan: think, so the, the hard thing that, that I had when I first started, in a shop was I was a technician. I thought I was the best technician. And, and I realized, so I, [00:21:00] every technician I wanted to hire, you know, had to be as good as I was. And of course, you know, the, they're hard to find because they're, they're so wonderful.

And I'm thinking your brother was a, a master technician. Yes. And he had to, to go, you know, nobody can do it as good as he can. And finally, I, I, I realized that first of all, I had to high, I couldn't do it all. And secondly, That, that there are a lot of other people that are just as good, in, in fact, I, I hired somebody who I thought would, would probably turn out okay at some point.

And it turned out he was much better than I ever was. and this, and so by the time I met you, that was what I was, I was just looking for somebody, looking for people that I knew were better than me. And after watching you, sell as a service advisor and watching you, or listening or hearing you talk about sales, I knew you were a better [00:22:00] salesperson than I was.

And so I wanted you to come work for me cuz you always want to find somebody better than you so you can, and, and so I, I guess, I guess I had, The only concern that I had when, when I turned you loose was, was I ever gonna get the, the reins back? You know, it was, yeah, here's your section, maybe I'm done for the day.

Barry: I do have the ability to do that. That's a unique ability. That's good. yeah, that, that, that is, that is good because that's hard for people to just let go because, and, and one of the things that, as you were talking, I remember, I mean, I studied so hard, I, I dove in as a, as a, as a young person and I just wanted to know every single thing about my trade.

And I think there's this idea out there that, that, you gotta find why you were born. And when I started selling, I mean, it did speak to me. I did enjoy it cuz I was working with people, but. I think by learning how to do it and [00:23:00] starting to master it, that's, I started to enjoy it and love it. Right. I couldn't say I inherently loved sales, but I loved people.

And so, you know, you have to grow those and, and learn. And, but I also learned a lot more from you about sales, as I was working through you, that things that I didn't know or didn't understand. So, you know, I was taking notes as well and implementing those things into the training. And, and I, I think the be the thing that made us work really well together is it, it, I, it really felt to me as a collaboration of two people who had different skill sets and respected those and we, we created and, and out out the other side, spit something, spit out something superb.

Right?

Dan: Well, yeah, again, I think two brains will always come up with more ideas than one. Yeah. And. And so that's, and again, that's, you know, there, there's a, there was a big difference working for me when I was 50 than working for me when [00:24:00] I was 25. Yeah. cuz you know, the, my way or the highway, which, which again was a, was a self-confidence thing.

Yeah. Okay. Lack, lack of self-confidence. because I've gotta be the boss. and, and I think, that, that once, I mean, everybody's got something to offer. we had, in fact you remember Roe who was administrative Yeah. And, and, and she would come up with an idea and I'd go, wow, that's, you know, that's terrific.

And it wasn't even her job to come up with an idea. She would just, because she would hear us talking and she'd throw something out and it was really good cuz she was a very smart, young lady. And so you'd, you know, There's, there's ideas everywhere. I mean, I think some of the best automotive ideas I got were from going to my dentist.

yeah, because cuz the dentist's business model is very similar. And they did, they did things with the setting, the appoint, you know, setting the next [00:25:00] appointment that we, that we worked really hard to bring into the automotive world. They, you know, the, the dental at the, at the hygienist, the one time I went in and she said, okay, what can we do today that will make this the best?

What, you know, to make this a wonderful visit for you? And I said, well, I, I'm scheduled for an hour. Can you get me outta here in less than an hour? And she says, I can do that. So asking, you know, about expectations mm-hmm. And what we can do to exceed your expectations, just all from the dentist's office.

Not that I like going to the dentist, right. But, hey, twice a year for, for, to learn some things is probably worthwhile.

Barry: It's funny, and I I, I remember you saying that when you were teaching me and you would teach me those practices, and now, I'm working with two dental companies. Oh,

Dan: right.

Barry: And you're right.

They're, they're processes and, and, and honestly anymore, it's really hard for me to work with higher companies because the expectations are higher [00:26:00] now that you've, you've been a business coach or a sales coach, you or worked with great businesses, and then you, you hire someone and if they don't meet those expectations, it's really a let down.

And you really start to understand as a, as a person doing the buying, that you would pay 20% more if they weren't messing this up right now.

Dan: It's interesting. I had a, I was on a, on the phone this morning to, a repair shop. My, one of my daughters, her, her car had a problem and she, she was trying to explain it to me, cuz it sounds like an expensive repair. And I said, can I call and ask? I don't wanna be a, you know, a a I don't want to be the father that butts into everything.

I, she says, sure. The, and so of course the service advisor answers the phone and immediately I start critiquing. He didn't answer the phone properly. yeah, a hundred percent. I, I, oh, okay. And I said, okay. Well, so I, I, I was trying to be gentle and I said, I, I, you know, I I I spent some time in the industry and I, I understand you have a very [00:27:00] difficult position.

I just wanted to, my daughter wasn't really good at telling me what exactly was going on with her car, and I hope that you could explain it to me and. So he did and he got pretty technical and it, I mean, that's why she couldn't explain it cuz he probably got technical with her. Yeah. Yeah. I said, okay, well thank you very much.

I'll let, I'll talk with her and she'll get back to you. It, it's funny, I

Barry: just wanna translate it. Yeah. It's funny. I understand the technical now bec I've never, you know, I can't work on 'em, you know that. But I understand the technical, but I, I always saw myself as the translator mm-hmm. Between the technician and the, and the everyday client.

And you know, I tell people when you're working with experts, you don't need a lot of that. You can just talk to 'em. But you know, when, you know, so there was a construction guy that, that was here and he, he said it was out of plum. And my wife goes, what's plum mean? And I'm like, well, it's, it's a, [00:28:00] and then I just started talking about it's a construction term and, and it just, we speak this way.

And, and you, it's shop talk. Right? It just confuses people to death. And it just, those are the small things that, that make a huge difference because if you confuse, you lose. Right. And so if you confuse your customer, they're not gonna, they're gonna get scared and not buy

Dan: it was, yeah. I work with, a, a, software company, just on the management side and occasionally a couple of the technical people will start talking and it is English, but it is another language.

Yes. And, and, and then I realize, oh yeah, we probably did that in automotive. Or you could do it in real estate, or you could do it in medical, you pick your, profession because there is a vocabulary that is very specific, to each field. Yeah. And if, if you're not careful, you can. Talk yourself or [00:29:00] talk a customer out of doing business with You

Barry: see it all the time.

Yeah. Yeah. I love it. So you're, you sold your shop, right? And then I sold my shop. And then what?

Dan: And then what happened? Well, well, I had actually, met a guy at a, at picking up parts, great guy Tom Smith, west Seattle Automotive. We are at the parts store together.

He said, you, hey, they're doing a class. You should come to it. And I, yeah, yeah. I'm too busy. I'm working, you know, 60 hours a week. He made it a point to come by my shop, pick me up, drive me to the class. It was a three hour evening class. Mm-hmm. I learned something, made a little bit more money. I said, Ooh, that's a good idea.

Anyway, he did that for. Probably a year not picking me up, just the first one. He picked me up, but he would call me and tell me there's a class in town. So I started going to classes and I noticed this. I, I saw this pattern. I'd go to a class and I'd make a little bit more money, or the business would run a little smoother, [00:30:00] or my headaches would, you know, stress would go down.

And so I, I was taking, quite a bit of training that was offered in the area. And then, then Tom said, Hey, you know, there's this, I'm in this thing called a bottom line impact group and you should join one. You know, what's that? Well, it's, you know, shop owners get together, 20 group mastermind group, whatever you wanna call it.

And, I said, oh, that, well, that sounds like fun. Well, fun's probably not the right word, but, yeah. But it is, it is growth and it is the growth fast, growth on steroids, whatever you might wanna call it when you, yeah. When you have your peers, People are doing exactly what you do, tell you something, probably is a good thing to

Barry: listen to.

Yeah. It's funny, I've got customers that use me as a business coach. As, as an e o s implementer. I teach EEO s mm-hmm. And they're also in a peer group. And I tell people, man, if you do both of those, you're gonna exponentially grow [00:31:00] because one is working with you, teaching you the ins and outs of your industry.

Mm-hmm. What we do is work with your leadership team so that you can be on the same page. That helps execute on a much faster rate because you're working with unique ability, teamwork, that executes on what they teach you in those peer groups. So if you can do both of those, they're similar, not the same.

I no longer consult, even when I work with an automotive repair shop, I don't tell them what I think about what they should do, because it's not what I do anymore. Because I'm like, I could tell you and, and I, I might be right, but I could ask you and we'll get to the right answer mm-hmm. With these fundamentals.

Right. So you

Dan: did that and that's Yep, go ahead. Yeah. The, the, the peer group. and, and the, and the good news is that there's peer [00:32:00] groups in pretty much every industry. Yes. And, and, but peer groups will really help you, grow. And, and the other thing is you make lifelong friends and you meet, yeah. You, you get ideas.

I mean, I, I joined, when, when, well, the next step out of that process was, I sold the business and,Went to work. I actually, I had a one year non-compete and I called up,Bob, who owned the bottom line impact groups and RLO training. And I, I said, Bob, my non-competes up. I'm thinking about buying another shop.

Do you know any of the, of them are available? And he said, I don't know of any shops available, but I got a position I'd like to talk to you about. Yeah. And, and so I went to work for Bob as a, as a trainer. And then, and then bought the, the company from him. but he, that was, that was the, the process.

And again, the, the, the peer group thing. I joined, I then joined a peer group. For people who own peer groups. [00:33:00]

Barry: Yeah, that's a, that's a, that's like a black hole. That's like a circular definition. Yeah. A peer group for people who, own peer groups.

Dan: Well, it's one of those things, if we really believe in the peer group process, then shouldn't we be involved in one?

And, there was, I mean, there was a guy that did, eye doctors. There was a guy that did, dentists, there was a woman who did remodelers. there was a, a group that did, these multimillion dollar, construction projects. one that worked with software companies. oh, a guy that worked with, fitness.

Clubs, which was, and, a landscaping group. a plumbing group. It was, I mean, we had, when we had about 15 members, the, the, the most fun one was this lady who did peer groups for the collision world. first of all, she was extremely smart lady. Well, a smart person, doesn't matter what, she was a very bright, you know, that, that saying about if you find yourself, [00:34:00] you're the smartest person in the room, you should, you're in the wrong room.

Yeah. well, I definitely was not the smartest person in this room, and, and I knew I was, that was where I was supposed to be cuz I was learning so much from these, these other folks. Yeah. But that's, anyway, that, that was, that's how I got to,to running, r l o and, and, got to meet you and,

Barry: Yeah, it's funny you, it was almost a similar story where, where I was just driving, I was in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.

I know that everybody's heard of it. but I was doing sales and, and you called me and you were like, Hey, you know, and how would you like to be a trainer? And I'm like, well, that's my dream job. And he, he said, I know. And, so very shortly after that, I was all in and, and, you know, it was an easy yes because you said there's no guarantee in pay and you're gonna get paid exactly what you're worth because you're gonna know what you're worth because, you're gonna get paid, by what you sell and you do.

And I said, okay, no guarantees. yeah, I'm in. [00:35:00] That sounds great. And because that's just right up my alley, you know? I love it. And I never have to worry about that. And, and, you know, we, we, we had a draw versus commission set up, which is, you know, helping protect me, you know, if I, but I, I never had to use the draw.

Right. And so it just, because it's R p r s, you hire the right person and put 'em in the right seat, and it should go really well as long as you mentor them well. Right. You had to do a level of mentoring with me, so I appreciate that. So you, so you bought that from Bob and then you started growing it and, and what was your, I guess your steps?

Dan: I think the, the steps, well, I'm a big believer in goal setting. Yep. And, So we, we set some goals as far as, members, dollar sales, gross profit kind of things. and then we, and of course to me more [00:36:00] importantly, we, we set some goals as to how much I would work and, and, and you're probably the same way.

You enjoy what you're doing and so you can get wrapped up in it and do it 12 hours a day. Yes. And, and, I, I was really fortunate, before I got married, I, I, I was actually, so part of my story is I was, I went to college on a wrestling scholarship. The only reason I really went to college and took automotive was cuz I could wrestle.

And, and so then after, I wanted to be an automotive teacher cuz I could be a coach. And then I realized I could, my mom was a teacher and I was a technician. I was making more than my mom. So that ended my coaching dreams. Well, yeah. I still could coach, I could have the, I had my shop and I could still coach.

Yeah. But I, I was coaching this one young man and his father, and I got to be friends and, so he knew I was getting married and he said, he said, Dan, nobody ever gets to be 65 [00:37:00] and says, I wished I worked more. Yes. And I said, oh wow. that's pretty powerful. And so that was kind of the thing when I got married, my, you know, with the shop being open, Saturdays is a very profitable day, but it's also a day when you could be spending time with your family.

So yeah.

Barry: Our, our business Auto Excel is not, wor is not open on Saturdays, Sundays. It's just that like, it's a family business. We want you to be with your family and that's it. One of the things that you taught me, you made me do one time, you said, listen, you need to go on a cruise because there is no cell phone service.

And I had never had a boss besides you make me go on vacation and make me not answer my phone or emails. And, and so what's funny is we have a cruise booked in a couple of weeks. That's nine days. Just for that reason because can [00:38:00] I check cell phones or he cannot check emails. And I learned that from you and it's been this huge because to ask me, go on vacation without that, it's just, I, I'm better at it now.

I can do it now, but back then it was impossible. Right. You was like, if I got an email, I'm gonna call.

Dan: Yes. That's, you know what? I think it's, it's not necessarily as how much time you spend with your family, it's, it's how engaged you are in that time. Yeah. And it's tough when you have a cell phone that's interrupts. So a and of course, listen. I mean, you've got, you've got two great kids. You've got a wonderful wife.

And, the other thing, if, if you remember, one of the things we stressed when we did our, our management training is the most expensive business mistake in the world is divorce. Yeah.

Barry: A hundred percent. And so I talk about it a lot and, and I say it a different way, but I, I say that, [00:39:00] the number one cause of, of business failure is your personal failure, your personal life.

Mm-hmm. And, and it's true every time. Is it not?

Dan: Yeah. Well, I, I think I, I think running a family and running a business are extremely, I mean, you have to be able to run a household. and if, if, if you have trouble doing that, then you can't run a business. Oh, wow. So you, you gotta get your household organized and systems and processes in place, then run the business.

Barry: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. It's, it, it's a lesson that, that's hard to learn, you know, and when I first started working for you, and you never said this, but I never even hinted at it. I thought if I don't, if I don't, you know, work on vacation or after hours or weekends and just always be on call, you know, maybe he might fire me.

You know? And you got that in your head because it's usually P T S D from other people [00:40:00] that you worked from before. And then I remember one time, And this was a big deal. Like I was just having a lot of, of, personal issues. And I called you and I thought, well, this is probably the end because he's not gonna, he's not gonna understand and he's probably gonna fire me.

And I said, Dan, I just can't travel for a while. I'm going through some things and I just, I can't travel. And, I remember it like it was yesterday because it's, it's probably one of the most, compassionate things anybody's ever said, boss or otherwise. You just said, okay, well let's figure it out. And I'm like, am I being punked?

Is this for real? But you did, and we got through that time and, you know, the world didn't fall apart. How did, how did you get to the point that you were able to be that kinda leader?

Dan: Well, I think, You have to care more about the people than you do about the money, whether they be your customers or your [00:41:00] employees. And that's really the, the, you know what the, I was, I, I can always go out and make more money. It's not easy to go out and make more friends. Yeah,

Barry: that's good. That's good.

Well, for me, I mean, and you're not that much older than me, but you are older than me. For me, you were, you were one of the father figures in my life that taught me how to be a better business person, how to be a better dad, how to be a better husband, be a better friend. And, and I think that's missing.

and, and, and I'm hoping that you are doing that, and I know you are with other men, other people. because that's, that's, to me, that's the gift that you bring to the world. So what, so you, you, you sold R l O, right? Yes. So tell me about that.

Dan: Well, it was, it was actually, it was, it was a lot of [00:42:00] fun.

We, I got a phone call, from a competitor. Mm-hmm. I was actually in the, in the Minneapolis airport. I remember it very clearly. I was sitting in the, in the Delta Sky Lounge in the Minneapolis airport. My phone rings and I didn't recognize the number and I answered it, and it was one of my competitors.

And, he said, I. I'm interested in buying your company. And I said, well, my first question is, how'd you get this number? Because unlike you, I don't get my cell phone number out to anybody. No,

Barry: I know.

Dan: and anyway, so I said, Hmm, well that's interesting. I'll, I, I'll, I'll think about it. And then I ran, actually went to a,an event and, Cecil, that Cecil was at.

Mm-hmm. and he and I went out, to dinner. Cuz for the most part, competitors are, are friendly in our industry. They respect each other. Right. you know, we're all trying to help the industry. and, Cecil, he, said the same kind of something, well have you, [00:43:00] have you thought about when you're gonna retire?

And I said, not really. I, I'm, I'm having, I mean, I enjoy this too much. And he says, well, I'd like to. You know, it talked to you about, you know, buying it from you. And then I got a third call from a third competitor and I said, said, what's going on? And it was like, who, who said, Brenda, these rumors said, I'm, am I gonna die or am I gonna retire?

And so my wife and I talked it over and I thought, okay, so we didn't really, and I, I won't throw you under the bus here, but you know, at one point you were my exit strategy. That's right. And, since, since you had left at that point, I was thinking, okay, I don't really have another exit strategy in place and I got three people now that are interested, even though I'd love to work for a couple more years.

so we, we talked with all three of them, and one of them kind of disqualified themselves fairly quickly and, and, and Cecil and I had, seemed, it seemed to me that his philosophy[00:44:00] and, My philosophy for automotive lined up. Yeah. And then of course, you might remember that I called you and asked for advice.

Oh, it was, it was the, it

Barry: was the best day of my life almost

Dan: because I wanted to make sure that I was Well, you, you know, seek wise, there's counsel, there's wisdom in, in seeking counsel. Yeah. And, so I wanted to seek counsel and, respected you as a, as a business mind. And so we, we decided that, that, working with Cecil was the way to go. And, it worked out really well for both of us.

He, I was, I, I was gonna stay on because I had the commitment to, to, train at the NAPA event. And then, he met with them and they liked him. They might like him more than me, I don't know. But they said, he could, he could do it. And it worked out well. He, he got new clients and, and, so. So that was, it was two years ago,

Barry: in March.

Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. You didn't throw me on the bus. I actually use, our story as an [00:45:00] example of what healthy looks like when you're in a, a partnership or you're in a business relationship and it doesn't work out the way you think it might and how you can maintain that relationship through that.

And I tell people, I'm like, I still love Dan. Dan loves me. He called me, to, to seek that. And, you know, it works out when you can say no to people and, and everybody is adults and no one really looks at the other person like. In, in, in a bad light because it didn't work out for them. I really appreciate, and I, I think it, it was the, the, the right move for me and ultimately you at this point, and, and it worked out well.

So I love it. That's a, that's a happy ending to me. But really we just maintained this relationship. Cause that's another hard thing for me is like, how do I tell the, the, this, this guy that I, that I really have grown to love, I see him as a mentor and a father [00:46:00] figure that I'm no longer going to be the person.

And that's hard. but you, you've always shown me like this over and over, like, you're listening to this podcast like Dan has shown me grace over and over.

Dan: Well, that's okay. But again, if as, and, and again, you can use the parenting or you're an employer Yeah. But, but your, your job is to help people grow.

And you just outgrew me. And that's, and that's a good thing actually. Yeah. so, I just still go back to relationships are more important Yeah. Than anything else. And, you know, the, the, when, when everything else, if I needed you, I could call you a hundred percent. You needed me. Yeah. You could call me.

Yeah. And, and so it's, the relationship didn't change. The working situation changed, but the relationship still. And that's, I think that's probably what business has taught me. [00:47:00] People do business with people they like. and the, it's not like you're trying to be the. The most likable person. You either, some people you connect with and some people you don't.

Yeah, and that's okay.

Barry: Yeah, so I think that's a good one to end on. I, I think right there is is an exclamation point. Dan, I'm so happy to have you on. It's an honor and a pleasure cuz you are my mentor even today and I appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, you bet.

#28: Your Job is To Help People Grow, with Dan Gilley

OPT-IN FOR UPDATES