Service Advisor Academy

27/08/2026

A brilliant first day delivering the LKQ One Day Training Course, Driving Profit Through Your Front of House 🙌

Today we welcomed 15 candidates for a full day looking at some of the key numbers that drive garage performance, including average invoice value, efficiency and utilisation, but more importantly, how we actually influence them.

Because KPIs are just numbers until we understand the daily actions that sit behind them.

We spent a lot of time looking at the role of the Service Advisor and the influence they have on all three. From how the diary is managed, to how work is identified, communicated and authorised, the front of house team really are one of the biggest players when it comes to driving these numbers.

Such a good group today, loads of energy, great conversations and plenty of ideas being shared throughout the room.

Thank you to all 15 candidates who joined us today, and thank you to LKQ for continuing to invest in the development of front of house teams across the industry.

Back at it tomorrow with another group! 💜

14/08/2026

🚨 FINAL CALL COHORT 5 🚨

The FINAL Service Advisor Academy cohort of 2026 starts 30th September! 🎓💜

And places are filling up 👀

If you’re ready to invest in your Service Advisor and help them become more confident, proactive and commercially aware, this is your last chance to join the Academy this year.

✨ 6 in-person training days
✨ 12 months of development
✨ Sales & customer experience
✨ Vehicle inspections & authorisations
✨ Parts profit & workshop efficiency
✨ Confidence, communication & MUCH more

📍 Nottingham
📅 Starts 30th September
🚨 Final cohort of 2026

Want one of the remaining places?

DM me “ACADEMY” and I’ll send you all the details 💜

12/08/2026

A great day spent with David Johnson , Megan Taylor , John and the team at DNA Automotive Solutions Ltd in Worcester 👏

The focus of the visit was getting underneath their current processes and looking at where we can make the day-to-day operation more efficient, particularly around vehicle inspections, online authorisations, workshop processes and making sure identified work is properly followed up.

We also started building out their service packages on garagehive to make pricing quicker and give the front of house team the tools they need to confidently manage the customer journey.

A special mention for Megan Taylor , who is an absolute star 🌟 She picked everything up incredibly quickly, asked great questions and was so receptive to everything we worked through. Once we get some of these processes working consistently around her, I think she’s going to be fantastic for the business.

Even better, Megan starts her Service Advisor Academy journey in September, so I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with her and seeing how she develops.

A really productive day with some clear actions to take forward. Small improvements to process can make a huge difference to efficiency, customer experience and profitability.

Thanks for having me, DNA Automotive Solutions!

11/08/2026

Last week I spent another fantastic day onsite with the team at PW Autos 🙌

Over the past year, I’ve built a great relationship with Diana Whetton , Aiden Johnson and Paul. They run a fantastic workshop and visits always feel like time spent with friends as much as industry peers.

One thing I absolutely love about pw autos is how organised they are, there’s a process for everything (even the car park! 😂) and a real focus on creating a happy, low-stress workplace whilst delivering a great customer experience.

With Zoe recently joining as Service Advisor, we spent the day looking at how we could build on what they already do well covering service plans, VHCs, workshop scheduling, online authorisations and proactive customer follow-up.

For me, onsite consultancy isn’t about walking in and changing everything. It’s about understanding how a garage works, recognising what’s already working well and finding those small improvements that make things simpler, quicker and more profitable.

Another brilliant day with the PW Autos team 🧡

07/08/2026

A pretty special moment today 💜

I popped into Lindleys Autocentres to hand-deliver some of the very first IMI certificates awarded to candidates who have completed my Driving Profit Through Your Front of House training course.

Seeing these certificates actually in the hands of the people who attended feels like a huge milestone.

When I created this course, I wanted it to be practical, relevant and focused on the real impact that a confident, proactive front-of-house team can have on a garage, from customer experience and retention to authorisation, efficiency and profitability.

Having the course recognised by the IMI was a massive achievement for me, but seeing the first candidates receiving their certificates makes it feel very real! 🥹

Huge congratulations to everyone who has completed the course so far and thank you for putting so much into the training.

Hopefully the first of many IMI certificates to be handed out! 🎓💜

24/07/2026

Sales Principle #1: Sales is Service.

The word sales often makes people uncomfortable, especially in the automotive industry.

But as service advisors, we are salespeople.

Not because we’re trying to “sell” customers things they don’t need, but because every day we’re selling something far more important… ourselves.

We’re building trust.
We’re educating customers.
We’re helping people make informed decisions about the safety, reliability and longevity of their vehicles.

When you stop thinking of sales as pressure and start thinking of it as service, everything changes.

The best service advisors don’t convince customers to buy. They give them the information, confidence and options to make the right decision for themselves.

That’s what professional selling looks like.

This is Principle #1 of my 10 Sales Principles for Service Advisors.

How do you define great customer service in your workshop?

21/07/2026

15/07/2026

Last week we delivered the first sessions of my new one-day course, Driving Profit Through Your Front of House at the Service Advisor Academy

The standout exercise of the day was one I created called Workshop Tetris.

Each team was given a workshop with five technician profiles, 20 customer jobs, one workshop controller and two service advisors. Some bookings contained excellent information, others were missing key details, and throughout the exercise they were hit with the same unexpected challenges we all experience in a busy workshop.

The objective? Build the most productive workshop possible, with upsell time identified and allocated.

Just like Tetris, you win by leaving no gaps. In a workshop, those gaps are lost utilisation.

Very quickly, the teams realised that success didn't just depend on moving jobs around a diary. It depended on the quality of the information gathered before the vehicle even arrived.

When a booking lacked information, they had to decide:
What questions should have been asked?
Could the job be accurately allocated?
What effect would this have on the technician, the customer and the rest of the day's schedule?

It sparked some fantastic discussions because the consequences became obvious. A two-minute conversation at the booking stage can save hours of disruption later in the day.

That's exactly what I wanted people to experience.

Rather than telling people why good booking processes matter, they felt the operational impact for themselves.

Watching teams debate, problem-solve, adapt and work together under pressure was brilliant, and the feedback afterwards confirmed it was one of the highlights of the day.

Thank you again Servicesure, it was fantastic to meeting some of the amazing garages on your network.

14/07/2026

🚗 Exciting News!

I'm delighted to be speaking at The Car Nerd Garage Summit this October in Newry!

I'll be joining an incredible group of industry experts to share practical ideas that help garages improve performance from the front of house.

My session will cover:
✅ Customer experience
✅ Increasing average invoice value
✅ Better workshop communication
✅ Helping service advisors become true profit centres

It's always exciting to get the opportunity to share what we're building at The Service Advisor Academy with more of the industry.

If you're coming along, please come and introduce yourself, I always enjoy meeting fellow garage owners, managers and service advisors.

See you there! 👋

13/07/2026