Auto Concierge

If anyone is calling my cell you are calling Jon Lazarus at Performance Art, i will get this fixed by Monday afternoon or i will get a new cell number. I have had 925.785.2856 for over seven years and they are trying to keep my cell number, if they do not release the number i will take action accordingly so for the time being please leave a voice mail on my landline 925.600.0229.

Bob Willis
Auto Concierge

 

Wow... I guess we can all understand why you left. When the owners are showing their true colors like that it's easy to understand your decision....

 

In order to facilitate recieving messages i now have a new cell# 925.852.1962,this number flows pretty well and drama with my former company is avoided.

Bob Willis
Auto Concierge

 

Yes, they difficult to understand them
and see why you left

 

At this years SEMA show i was able to talk to Kevin and Dave,and of course i speak with Tony Ito on a regular basis.I ran into the crew at the Carlsson launch party as well as the owner Ed and the CEO Jon,it is really hard to see a place i put almost a YEAR and half into along with a nightmare commute from Pleasanton to Gilroy everyday!,but i was happy to do to build a facility that offered everything for the European car owner.Now from the very start i told the owner if he wanted to have location in Gilroy there were a few things that had to be done to counter act the long drive everyone would have to make down "south" first we needed a transport trailer and driver,as everyone knows Silicon Valley Auto Group,Ferrari of Silicon Valley ect... have them and they are in good locations much less thirty miles from Hellyer Ave exit on 101 south and that is in San Jose!!,second a big advertising campaign including opening television ads on comcast with specific spots on "blomberg and speed channel " during the F-1 races and last but not least hire top notch techs to work on the cars!, in this area he did get me the techs but he fought hard not to hire them at the pay they would require to make the move from Custom Alignment down to Performance Art and although he spent a ton of money on everything this what was needed to be a LONG term success, and compared to Brabus USA and CEC in Los Angeles the investment was not even close.

Long story short(lol)they are starting to realize the well maybe you do have to advertise ? after five months of my leaving(my choice)you could shoot a cannon of in the shop and not hit any cars,but that being said my cars will only be worked on by Kevin and Dave because i know thier knowledge and work ethic first hand and until Ed wakes up and gives the guys total support the long drive is worth it if you want top notch wheel and alignment work done.

 

Bob, if you were my partner on a venture like this I'd be taking your advice to the bank!

It's always frustrating when you know you're right, and those around you still don't listen.

I've made the changes in my address book; shoot me a PM when you get a chance, got a few questions for you.

Best!
Ben.

 

Well if you could tell i was a little worked up last night,the first thing i should have made clear is going into the post is i am not perfect and had not ever worked in a shop of this size and scope,so everything i did was done for the first time this is why for building the shop there was a lot of inexperience on my part in the admin areas,but i hired the right people so i could delegate the tasks i was not strong in until more experience was gathered on my part.

The areas that i knew what to do were VERY clear to me such as the techs i needed,how the shop was marketed,services offered and how clean and organized the place should look.The frustration i encountered came only two months into my hire as i realized that the person i knew that was one of my good clients at Auto Concierge who i now worked for turned out to be someone who micro-managed in areas he has no clue about, and of course i kept my mouth shut most of the time assuming that a guy with a big company would know the right way to go on the business side of things how wrong i turned out to be,on one hand i was very grateful for the opportunity because the owner did pull the trigger and spend lots of his own money but he spent money when he should have invested his money!.

There were times when a there was a fork in the road so to speak when on which direction the shop should go as it pertained to equipment purchases,he wanted to buy everything because "he does not carry any debt"however he tied up huge amounts of money we needed for people,product and marketing we could have leased many of the equipment purchases because alot of that equipment is obsolete in a few years and with the level of service our techs were providing we needed to stay current just as i do presently at Auto Concierge with the detailing chemicals,equipment and latest detailing techniques.My two biggest frustrations with owner was communication, we would have meetings with him in which i and the crew would just listen to him talk on what direction to go and this guy just would not listen to counsel, due to the micro and ego that because he is the "owner" he has to be right,and for a quite a long time(to long) i kept my mouth shut and did what i was told.Some examples of the crazy stuff i put up with,when i went to hire Kevin Patten from Custom Alignment and by the way if Joe Silva reads this post i did not go into your shop and steal him away,he was unhappy there and a third party let me know he was available.Back to the point as i tried to hire Kevin Ed fought me very hard to hire him at the salary he wanted because he could not believe a "wrench" his words could command a big salary which was not even six figures,anyway we went back and forth until Kevin finally had enough and told me in a nice way to pound sand,this was also a fork in the road situation but i stood my ground and told Ed we have to hire this guy now!! of course now Ed thinks Kevin is great and if he left Performance Art would be up s*** creek without a paddle.


Another example of incredible micro, i hired a guy that worked in the wheel and tire industry for a long time and he had all the componets to be a great Sales Manager, however he was selfish as****e and tried to be the General Manager and walk all over me, so i was told to make it work and play nice with the kids and after a trip to so-cal on a fact finding mission i made the call let this guy go when he should have been fired weeks before this but Ed kept him on in spite of Kevin and i telling him this guy was poison,also there were long term effects of this guys equipment purchases that i had to deal with long after he was gone that he convinced Ed to buy guess who was held accountable? moi that's who. There are MANY more episodes of B.S but this post has to end now thus endeth this rant.

 

Keep up the great work Bob. Things will happen when you least expect it!!!! Give us a buzz and we'll do lunch mid next week if possible. I know your schedule's pretty full these days.

 

hey bob sorry to hear/watch you go through that. I was very disappointed to see how things had turned out for you but I know you gave it your best despite have layer-upon-layer of BS to get through.