Planning, Not Wishing: Part 4 — The Simple 3-Page Plan for Q1 [E238]
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Finish Strong Series: “Planning, Not Wishing — The Simple 3-Page Plan for Q1”
Presented by Shop Marketing Pros — your marketing engine for 2025 and beyond.
Episode Summary
In the final part of the Finish Strong Series, Coach Chris Cotton delivers the ultimate shop-owner reset: a simple, no-fluff, highly actionable 3 Page Plan to launch Q1 with focus, clarity, and momentum.
No corporate complexity.
No overstuffed binders.
No 27-goal “strategy lists.”
Just a tight, practical plan built around what ACTUALLY moves the needle in the first 90 days of the year.
If you want 2025 to be different — truly different — it starts with this.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Why Most Shop Plans Fail
The traps: too big, too confusing, too vague, not shared with the team.
✔️ Page 1 — The Reality Check
Chris walks through the exact questions and assessments needed to understand:
What worked
What failed
What must be fixed first
The ONE thing that will drive the biggest Q1 win
✔️ Page 2 — The Goals That Matter
A focused, data-driven list of goals every shop should set for Q1, including:
ARO
Car count
Tech productivity
Labor GP%
Parts margin %
Customer experience targets
The 3 behaviors that directly improve all of them
✔️ Page 3 — The Action Calendar
This is where the magic happens:
Who is responsible
What happens weekly
What gets tracked
How accountability works
How meetings tie it all together
How to create a 90-day cadence that keeps the team aligned
✔️ How to Turn This Into a Team Tool, Not an Owner Document
Because a plan that lives in your head doesn’t change your shop — only a plan your team understands and owns can do that.
Why This Episode Matters
Most shop owners “hope” January will be better.
Hope isn’t a plan.
A clear, simple, actionable plan is the difference between repeating another year… and creating a breakthrough one. This episode hands you the structure to do exactly that.
Sponsored By: Shop Marketing Pros
Special thanks to Shop Marketing Pros for supporting this episode. If you want stronger branding, better online visibility, and more cars in your bays, go to ShopMarketingPros.com — they’re the real deal.
Connect with Chris:
AutoFix-Auto Shop Coaching
www.aftermarketradionetwork.com
940-400-1008
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AutoFixAutoShopCoaching
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3ClX0ae
Email Chris: chris@autofixsos.com
The Automotive Repair Podcast Network: https://automotiverepairpodcastnetwork.com/
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Transcript
This is the Automotive Repair Podcast network.
Speaker B:It's your weekly blitz with Chris keeping.
Speaker A:You in the game.
Speaker A:All right, everybody, here we are for the last.
Speaker A:This is episode four in this series.
Speaker A:It's a couple of days before New Year's Eve.
Speaker A:This is the final thing for this year that I want you to think about planning, not wishing.
Speaker A:The simple three page plan for quarter one.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:January doesn't magically fix your shop.
Speaker A:A new calendar year doesn't wipe away old habits.
Speaker A:And hoping that next year will be better is like hoping alignments will do themselves.
Speaker A: If you want a different: Speaker A:Not a bigger one, not a prettier one, just one you're actually going to use.
Speaker A:So today I'm giving you the exact three page plan that top performing shops used to dominate.
Speaker A:Q1.
Speaker A:Simple, tactical, repeatable.
Speaker A:Let's get into it.
Speaker A:Why do most shop plans fail?
Speaker A:January's where most owners fall into the same trap.
Speaker A:Oh, January's always slow.
Speaker A:Bullshit.
Speaker A:They get excited, they get motivated.
Speaker A:Great.
Speaker A:And they set massive goals.
Speaker A:And by week number two, gone, forgotten dust.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Because their plan was either too big, too complicated, too too vague, not tied to behavior, not shared with the team, not measurable, not part of a weekly rhythm.
Speaker A:Again, January is always slow.
Speaker A:Eh, I don't believe it for a sec.
Speaker A:January is what you make of it.
Speaker A:Same as the rest of the year.
Speaker A:Most shop plans aren't really plans.
Speaker A:Their wish is written down in a notebook.
Speaker A:A good plan isn't about inspiration.
Speaker A:A good plan is about clarity, simplicity and execution.
Speaker A:That's why today's episode is built around the simplest, most effective framework I've ever used with shops.
Speaker A:The three page plan for Q1.
Speaker A:No 30 pages, not a binder, no corporate textbook, just three pages you're actually going to look at and actually follow.
Speaker A:Page one is going to be the hardest page because it requires honesty.
Speaker A:And here's what goes into it.
Speaker A:I want you to think about the current year you're in and I want you to think about what worked this year.
Speaker A:I want you to be specific, what actually produced results.
Speaker A:An example would be, you know, morning huddles, increased communication and lowered comebacks.
Speaker A:We raised our labor rate and saw no resistance.
Speaker A:We improved our DVI completion rate.
Speaker A:Our advisor training increased average repair order by $120.
Speaker A:If it worked, write it down.
Speaker A:This tells you what to keep next.
Speaker A:I want you to think about what didn't work.
Speaker A:This is where most owners want to lie to themselves.
Speaker A:You know, here's some things to think about.
Speaker A:We stopped doing follow up calls.
Speaker A:Our parts pricing was inconsistent.
Speaker A:We let scheduling get sloppy.
Speaker A:We didn't train enough.
Speaker A:We tolerated poor communication.
Speaker A:If it didn't work, you have to bring it from the background to the foreground and confront it.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Don't lie to yourselves.
Speaker A:Be truthful.
Speaker A:Think about what didn't work and how you're going to fix it.
Speaker A:You know, next, I want you to think about the one thing that has to be fixed in Q1.
Speaker A:It's not 15 things, not 10, not 5.
Speaker A:1.
Speaker A:Okay, maybe if you twist my arm around maybe 2, but 2 max.
Speaker A:Shops change faster when they fix one thing completely instead of 10 things halfway.
Speaker A:This is what happens when you go to a training and I talk about it.
Speaker A:Us as owners, we want to fit.
Speaker A:We come back from a training, we have a legal pad filled with a hundred things we want to do.
Speaker A:You come back, you talk about the first thing and then you talk about the other 20 things.
Speaker A:And then the next week, you look to the left to number 21 through 40, and then everybody in your organization looks with you.
Speaker A:That's called organizational whiplash.
Speaker A:Then you're like, oh, crap, I forgot about this.
Speaker A:And you look back, and then everybody looks back with you.
Speaker A:Everybody's two steps behind you because you're, you're whipping around.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:You fix one thing, maybe two things, and then when it's good and fixed, meaning like you focused on it for several weeks and it goes fine without you having to come back and hold people accountable to it, then it's fixed and you can move on.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:Again.
Speaker A:Shops change faster when they fix one thing completely instead of 10 things halfway.
Speaker A:I think that this is the key behavior that will move everything.
Speaker A:This is the secret behavior.
Speaker A:Drives action.
Speaker A:Action drives metrics.
Speaker A:Metrics drive profit.
Speaker A:So what is one behavior if everyone did it would transform Q1 for you?
Speaker A:Is it complete DVIs every time?
Speaker A:Is it complete Estimates every time?
Speaker A:Is it communication?
Speaker A:Updates three times daily?
Speaker A:Is it following up on every unsold job?
Speaker A:Is it tracking and adjusting the parts margin daily?
Speaker A:What is it?
Speaker A:What is one thing that would transform Q1 if we all did it?
Speaker A:And page one is your truth page.
Speaker A:And great leaders build from truth.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:This episode of the weekly blitz is brought to you by Shop Marketing Pros.
Speaker A:They are the marketing engine behind some of the most successful auto repair shops in the country.
Speaker A:If you want more customers, if you want more visibility, and you want more control over your brand, I want you to reach out to Shop marketing Pros.
Speaker A:Tell them Chris sent you Page Two.
Speaker A:These are goals that actually matter.
Speaker A:Page two is going to be your metrics page.
Speaker A:These are the only numbers you need to win Q1.
Speaker A:Everything else is noise.
Speaker A:I'm going to list some off of here.
Speaker A:It's up to you to decide how many of these you want and what you're going to do with them.
Speaker A:Maybe number one is average.
Speaker A:A pair order target.
Speaker A:This is your most powerful metric.
Speaker A:Set a number, build your behavior plan around it.
Speaker A:Goal number two could be car count.
Speaker A:I want you to be intentional, not accidental.
Speaker A:Don't chase volume.
Speaker A:Chase the right customers.
Speaker A:Define your ideal car count per day and per tech.
Speaker A:Maybe number three is technician productivity hours build per tech per day.
Speaker A:This metric alone can transform your gross profit like no other.
Speaker A:The next one could be labor gross profit.
Speaker A:You should know this number cold.
Speaker A:Raise it five points and you should.
Speaker A:You can change your whole business next parts gross profit.
Speaker A:This is where most shops bleed profit without realizing it.
Speaker A:And it's the touchiest Number six comeback rate.
Speaker A:You know you can't grow until you stop leaking profit.
Speaker A:Comebacks are just a profit leak.
Speaker A:Some shops do customer experience metrics.
Speaker A:You know this could be communication, cadence, first response time.
Speaker A:Google review goals, follow up goals.
Speaker A:In my mind, I think if you do everything else well, this will take care of itself.
Speaker A:If you were tanking as a shop and your average Google rating was 4.3 or less, then I would definitely put this on there.
Speaker A:If it seems like it's falling now, you need to pick three key behaviors.
Speaker A:This is magic.
Speaker A:So pick three behaviors that drive every number that we just talked about.
Speaker A:What are the example behaviors?
Speaker A:Every DVI complete and clear.
Speaker A:Every estimate, complete and delivered.
Speaker A:Advisors follow up on every deferred job, daily KPI check ins, end of day team alignment.
Speaker A:When you take behaviors and move them into actions and move them in into metrics and follow them up with the metrics, then, then you get results.
Speaker A:So don't set your goals without behaviors.
Speaker A:What are the behaviors you want to see to get the goals you want?
Speaker A:Page three is the action calendar.
Speaker A:Page three is where planning meets execution.
Speaker A:If page one is truth and page two is targets, then page three is traction.
Speaker A:This page answers who's responsible, what gets done, when it happens, how often it repeats, how it's tracked, what accountability looks like.
Speaker A:And so maybe if we were thinking about a weekly rhythm, what does it look like?
Speaker A:You know, Monday we have a KPI kickoff.
Speaker A:We review average repair order, car count, gross profit, productivity and behaviors and we set focus for the week.
Speaker A:Every day we have morning huddles 10 minutes equals clarity, energy and alignment.
Speaker A:Wednesday it's an advisor check in sales skills, estimate review, communication.
Speaker A:Friday, a tech meeting real quick.
Speaker A:Ten minutes or less.
Speaker A:What were some wins?
Speaker A:What were some fixes?
Speaker A:What do we need?
Speaker A:And then what does next week look like?
Speaker A:Every day you're going to do behavior reinforcement.
Speaker A:You know, your three behaviors that tie into this stuff are the heartbeat.
Speaker A:And every week you should be having accountability meetings, having accountability measures.
Speaker A:Did we do what we said we would do?
Speaker A:We either did or we didn't.
Speaker A:And then we have to execute.
Speaker A:You know, execution beats intensity.
Speaker A:Small steps equals big quarters.
Speaker A:Most shop owners start the year with excitement and hope and then excitement fades and hope isn't a strategy.
Speaker A:What wins quarter one is clarity, simplicity and consistency.
Speaker A:The three page plan that I just outlined becomes your compass.
Speaker A:It keeps you from drifting, keeps your team aligned.
Speaker A:It helps you replace chaos with confidence.
Speaker A:Don't wish for a better year?
Speaker A:I want you to go out and build one.
Speaker A:If you got a topic you want me to cover, hit me christofixsos.com Again, a huge thank you to our sponsor, Shop Marketing Pros for supporting this series and helping us move the industry forward.
Speaker A:And I also want you to remember go out, check out all the shows in the Automotive Repair Podcast Network, download the app and learn from the best in the business.
Speaker A:Have a great day everybody.
Speaker B:You've been listening to the weekly blitz with Chris Cotton on the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.
Speaker B:Download our exclusive podcast app at automotive repair podcastnetwork.com because the best conversations in the industry start here.
Speaker B:Want expert advice on running your shop?
Speaker A:Well?
Speaker B:Chris is listening.
Speaker B:Check the show notes for his email and send him your topics.
