14 minute read
Driven by excellence
from CCR May 21
How Christian Brothers Automotive continues to set the standard in auto repair
Interview by Michael J. Pallerino
— Dale Earnhardt Mark Carr opened his first Christian Brothers Automotive location in Houston in 1982. With the automobile as the driver to just about everything we do, Carr’s goal was to create an automotive repair facility driven by honesty, integrity and exceptional customer service.
His goal was pretty straightforward: Carr wanted his shops to provide repairs in a timely and trustworthy manner, embracing, what he calls, an “open shop” policy, designed to give customers the information they need to navigate repair-related decisions with confidence. In essence, Carr, founder and CEO, wanted to put the owner’s in the driver’s seat of their service experience. Today, with more than 240 locations in 30 states, Christian Brothers has not only become a standard of service excellence, but also one of the country’s leading automotive repair franchises. Since he opened his first shop 39 years ago, Carr has never had a franchisee close a location. We sat down with Director of Construction Derrick Rodgers to get his take on the trends shaping the new age of commercial construction and how Christian Brothers is adapting to the future.
Give us a snapshot of the project.
We oversee two types of projects currently: developing new Christian Brothers Automotive stores from the ground up and retrofitting some of our older stores to a more contemporary design.
What are some of the things Christian Brothers looks for in your facility’s design?
One of our core values is transparency and we wanted our store design to better reflect this. So, starting in late 2020, all new stores now offer guests a waiting area that is more open in design by providing a large window into the repair center enabling guests to watch firsthand as their vehicles are being serviced. In addition, Service Advisors are now more accessible with freestanding, movable desks that allow for better guest interaction. Since our team members’ comfort and ability to gather as a team are critical to us, we are now incorporating larger meeting spaces for them. The overall décor and design are more contemporary, which signals to guests that CBA is modern in its approach to vehicle care as well, which is why our existing stores are also starting to transition to this new layout.
What were the goals?
To help value engineer the phenomenal product that we have been building since 1982. Our building construction and design helps our franchisees grow their businesses and attract new owners to our franchise family.
How does the overall design of the Christian Brothers facilities cater to what facility managers are looking for?
Our managers are looking to convey to our guests the experience mentioned above—one that’s transparent and caring—and we think that our new design does a great job of signaling our values to guests. They can see clearly into the repair bays and watch how our team members lovingly and carefully take care of their vehicles.
What are today’s customers looking for?
Our guests want to know that they can trust that an auto technician has their, i.e., the guests’ best interests at heart and will take care of what their car needs to keep them and their loved ones safe. They don’t want to be sold services their vehicle doesn’t need and they want to know that the job is done right the first time.
What’s the brand’s short-term strategy? Long-term?
Our short-term and long-term strategies rest on our mission: to glorify God by providing ethical and excellent automotive repair service for our guests. All decisions we make at the Home Office- and Store-level must align with this mission. Our franchisees bring this to life each day by providing an unmatched auto repair experience and giving back to their communities as often as they can. At the Home Office, we are focused on researching and developing programs and implementing state-of-the art technology solutions to enable our franchisees to best serve guests, while donating both financial and human resources to our community as well.
What’s the biggest issue today related to the construction side of the business?
The construction sector is facing rising costs on material and labor like we have never seen before. It is forcing us to look at other avenues for our design and build process to keep our costs down, so that we can build state-of-the-art facilities for our franchisees that are not cost prohibitive to them.
From what you see out there, how is the industry handling construction in this new landscape?
In 2021, we are looking at value-engineering our buildings. We need to look at alternatives in order to build a state-of-the art facility that is not cost prohibitive to our Franchisees.
What type of challenges have you seen?
Our largest challenges have come in waves of material shortage and labor shortage, which leads to an overall increase in costs. The supply and demand for materials and labor is currently very tight. Finding skilled labor to construct our buildings has become very difficult.
What changes do you expect to see in 2021?
I don’t see our material costs reducing in 2021. I believe we will start to see some type of reduction in 2022. Unfortunately, I don’t believe we will see the material costs lowering to pre-pandemic costs. I think the demand is too great to see that type of reduction.
What do you expect to see when we get back to some sense of normalcy?
I hope to see the material and labor costs level off. Again, I don’t feel they will return to as we knew them pre-pandemic, although I have hopes. I also anticipate that the lead times which are extremely high currently will return to a normal lead time.
What are the brand’s plans moving forward?
We are looking to continue to grow at a rate of approximately 20 to 25 new stores each year. CCR
Describe a typical day. A typical day consists of managing a spectacular portfolio of projects in our timeline that include the permit phase, construction phase, and closeout phase. And I’m also involved in the redesign and remodeling of our older stores. What’s the most rewarding part of your job? Handing the keys to a new and completed location that helps change the lives of our franchisees. In a small way, we are helping our Franchisees achieve the American dream of owning their own business.
ONE-ON-ONE WITH...
Christian Brothers’ Derrick Rodgers
What’s the biggest item on your to-do list? Continuing to help value engineer a phenomenal product that we have created since 1982 to help our franchisees continue to grow their businesses, and to oversee the development of new stores, which attract new business owners to our fantastic company.
What was the best advice you ever received? In the world of construction, problems arise daily. The best advice I have received is around “control.” Someone told me once you cannot change things that are out of your control, but you can control your reaction. To me that helps remove some of the painful issues that arise in the construction world.
How do you like to spend your down time? I am an avid golfer and fisherman. I love spending time with my 3 great kids and my beautiful wife.
EST 2010
How to Make Your Advertising in CCR…
By Jim Nowakowski, President Accountability Information Management, Inc.
We do a lot of advertising research. And today, there’s a lot of confusing information about what advertising is and isn’t.
The Readership Circles chart on the right will help you cut through this confusion. Because today, an “ad” is just part of the equation: readers get information digitally. They go through Google to fi nd you (over 4-billion searches each day), so your ad investment in CCR is just part of the equation. This article explains how to maximize that investment.
Content is the Key
Your ad appears in the print and digital version of the media outlet. The publisher of CCR, David Corson, invests most of his time and money building his “overall audience” for your ad (you can see his audience in this auditing tool: http://intrln.com/ccr)
But he also has his website to handle the audience he can’t control: the Google audience. Therefore, you can help maximize your investment by sending in your company information for CCR's website. The more content you have on the internet, the more chances you have of being found and purchased. Simple, huh?
Your Product is Really Information
No matter what product or service you are selling, your real product is information. Thus, you are in an information war competing for the attention of buyers with not just your competitors, but with everyone on the internet. The more content you have that’s yours, the more opportunities for them to see you and go through the readership circles.
Why We Know This
AIM places a tracking code on CCR’s website and each month monitors visitors. Then, because you advertise, you receive 10 “dossiers” seen on the right on companies who have consumed data – companies that represent high-valued targets because their need is NOW for what you are selling. ACCOUNTABILITY WEBSITE AUDIT Accountability Information Management, Inc.
SEPTEMBER 2020
David Corson has us audit this activity. You receive this audit if you advertise, and it represents a rich fi eld of leads for you. Call David Corson 678.765.6550 today to fi nd out more details! Or, call us and we’ll help you understand the powerful information at your disposal.
Always Trusted Information Accountability Informati on Management, Inc. 553 N. North Court, Suite 160 Palati ne, Illinois 60067 847-358-8558 www.a-i-m.com
CCR-MAG.COM
IMPORTANT. This audit covers the above website for the period of September, 2020. It was conducted by allowing Accountability Information Management, Inc. (AIM) by placing a proprietary Code on the website to provide deeper analytics from the thousands of monthly visitors to the website to the publisher (i.e., the companies utilizing the website). AIM is in the business of auditing and verifying data. For information, contact: AIM, 553 N. North Court, Suite 160, Palatine, Illinois 60067. PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT. Commercial Construction & Renovation, CCR-MAG.COM, is a community of leading commercial construction professionals within the retail, restaurant, hospitality, health care, federal, multifamily and other commercial sectors. The website content spans the design, construction and facilities operations of major commercial construction segments to meet the information needs of today’s high level executives. Visitors will find information relevant to the collaborative management process required to complete projects on time and on budget, and to efficiently manage these facilities. PRIVACY. F&J Publications, LLC discloses the information we collect on this website and how it is used. This report is based on visitors to CCR-MAG.COM. Specifically, the information in this report is aggregated to provide our advertisers information on website usage. F&J Publications always reserves the right to release information about visitors, including non-personal information.
NUMBER OF COMPANIES XXX This is the number of companies that the Code identifies. This number is the monthly universe of companies that can be identified from the thousands of visitors to this website. NUMBER OF TIMES THESE X,XXX This is the number of times these companies visited the website. The average per company is 1.41. PAGE VIEWS BY X,XXX This is the number of page views that these companies viewed on the website. The average pages viewed by a company this month is 2.04. SEARCH TERMS USED BY XX This is the number of identifiable different search terms these companies used to arrive on the website. The search terms, for example, were put into a browser which delivered results. Among the results was a page on this website. For example, while many people find it by typing in “commercial construction and renovation” or “CCR” in a search engine like Google or Bing, other terms deliver specific pages from this website based on what users type into the search engine. These searches account for less than 5% of the total search terms used. The top ten (listed) account for 48% of the identified total (not counting CCR itself). INDUSTRIES XX This is the number of companies that the Code is able to classify. It represents 5% of the total companies that visited this website, and is supplied for reference only. See UNDERSTANDING THE DATA. FIRST PAGE VIEWED X,XXX The Code keeps track of the first page viewed by the companies, and is the same number of times the companies came to the website. The chart Key First Pages Viewed lists the top ten landing pages from this grouping (excluding CCR-MAG.com itself, which is among the top, but not more than 12%).
SEARCH TERMS USED TO REACH US
• “Christopher Bushnell” AND Social Security • gary falco architecture • hi macs color TERRAZZO LUNA • inverter eon model el3 10 watt pricing • metal work very essential tools • mulehide jts1 colors • penncolor uv dispersions • permeable pavement concerns • rampart yellow wallcovering • silicone molds
KEY FIRST PAGES VIEWED (other than CCR-MAG.com)
• 7-essential-tools-for-your-metalworkingprojects • what-is-soil-reinforcement-and-how-is-it-done • 8-important-safety-measures-forconstruction-sites • new-menards-store-in-paducah-ky • construction-procurement-101 • conversations-with-bennett-van-wert-dwm • conversation-withbobby-darnell-cmc • american-dream-mall-in-nj-to-reopen-onoctober-1 • cny-group-names-new-vp-of-people-andculture • the-impact-of-building-materials-inconstruction
COUNTRY BREAKDOWN OF COMPANIES
United States
India
Pakistan
Canada
United Kingdom
Other (64 countries)
UNDERSTANDING THE DATA
This report is provided to you from the publisher to help you understand the creation, distribution and consumption of information on the digital highways. The companies that are provided to you in this report have visited CCR-MAG.COM and consumed information. Knowing the name of the company gives you a “heads up” to pursue for your sales efforts. If you need to explore additional ideas, including ways to utilize this information, please contact the publisher or AIM directly. In addition to the INDUSTRY/COMPANY listings, you will see a list of companies that are not categorized by Code into industries. These are sometimes more valuable and should be considered carefully for your sales efforts. Finally, often a company will utilize a general channel (like Comcast), which does not provide the individual company’s IP. These visitors are often just as valuable in terms of “what” they consume on our website. We would happy to help you pursue this type of analysis.
No matter where you place your message, this is the pattern of what we call the “Readership Chain.” And the weakest link in the chain will break it. That’s why you need as much content as you can on the Internet. People, your buyers, get distracted easily. Your messages must be compelling.
...Pay Dividends.
The magazine or newsletter or website has a specifi c number of possibilities - the overall audience. possibilities - the overall audience. You must factor that into ROI.
Some convert into readers of your message.
Not all people will "see" what you are selling. You must know some of these basics.
Some also raise the hand and ask for information.
Accountability Tools from CCR
The audience audit tool (on the left) enables you to see CCR’s audience for yourself. The Company Dossier tool on the right highlights 10 companies who have consumed CCR content that month for your marketing purposes. Advertising in CCR gets you these dossiers. And there’s much more. Below are the highlights from the prior month for your review. Imagine being able to see who is consuming content like this, and then putting them in your marketing sights!
ACCOUNTABILITY WEBSITE AUDIT
Each month advertisers receive powerful information to help them market their products and services. Here is a taste. 98,819 pages were consumed by over 2,000 companies. Among them:
• Architectural fi rms like HDR Inc. and Smithgroup • Universities like Illinois Wesleyan, Yale or University of Massachusetts • Energy companies like BP America or Schlumberger • Financial companies like American Express, Mckinsey & Company and Wells Fargo • Materials companies like USG Corp and Carlisle • Industrial companies like Aecom, Eaton and General Dynamics
And thousands more like CBRE, Texas Instruments, Goodyear, St. Lukes Episcopal Hospital. All these companies have projects going on – projects you can access to sell your products and services.
Call the publisher, David Corson for a complete details. 678.765.6550. Or email him at: davidc@ccr-mag.com.
