In reference to this session, Steve Levetan, Executive Vice President, Pull-A-Part, LLC says, “This is a great opportunity for auto recyclers to get educated on the issue. Education is the first step to solutions. The first priority is recalls; getting the ability to identify parts recalled in order to comply with federal law that requires us to do so.”

ARA reports on lawsuit progress can be read in the bi-weekly Automotive Recycling E-Newsletter.

Motivational Insights

An ARA Convention always offers motivational moments and this year keynote speaker Jon O’Malley, founder of YouProfit business coaching, was the source. Since 2006, Jon has helped hundreds of small business owners increase revenue and profits, and regain their time, something Jon has lived out in his own professional career.

One downfall for many business owners, he noted first, “Your expertise can hold you back. It can be a handicap.” Often ‘experts’ chase the wrong things or fail to maximize the right thing. “You can’t change the results unless you change part of the equation.” He led the attendees through a Profit/Conversion table to illustrate how changing variables in the

equation affected the net profit bottom line. “Often, we chase the total instead of focusing the things that drive them.” He gave attendees seven drivers for suc- cess and suggested that focusing on changing one or more of the drivers, instead of focusing on bottom line, can lead to new net profits. (Read his article on page 47.)

He then suggested three areas of focus to increase the bottom line: • Put more effort into gaining referrals. “It’s the best lead you can get.” • Use a script. “Companies that use scripts convert at a higher rate.” • Increase current client activity. “On average, it costs 700% more to get a new customer than to have an old customer buy again.” In their session, Robert and Chad Counts encouraged managing the “Cost of Sales” when looking at the yearly sales. “Inventory has a 90-day cycle,” says Chad. “Expenses can outpace sales when you don’t manage cost of sales in certain months.” His suggestion, “Commit to a purchasing of at least five months. It doesn’t help to spend a lot in one month and nothing the next month. You need to be consistent.” (Read Dashboard, November/December 2015, for the start of a three-part series.)

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The ARA BBQ was a fun night on the property of Matlock’s expansive yard.