Defining What's Broken in Fixed Operations with John Traver

In this episode, Kaylee Felio welcomes John Traver of Traver Connect to discuss what “broken” looks like in automotive fixed ops—and more importantly, how leaders and teams can drive sustainable change. John shares frameworks from sports icons, legendary business thinkers like Peter Drucker, and dealership trailblazers such as Ed Roberts to highlight the power of questioning, mission clarity, and process improvement.

Tune in for real-world strategies to strengthen your parts and service department—whether it’s redefining your mission, zeroing in on your “primary customer,” or getting honest about what’s not working. As John puts it, “When you get your mission right, you have an unfair advantage.”

This episode is packed with actionable insights for parts managers, service leaders, and anyone passionate about moving the dealership world forward.

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This show is powered by PartsEdge: Your go-to solution for transforming dealership parts inventory into a powerhouse of profitability. Our strategies are proven to amp up parts sales by a whopping 20%, all while cutting down on idle inventory. If you're looking to optimize your parts management, visit 🔗 www.partsedge.com

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Takeaways

1. Start by asking “What’s broke?”

2. Define your mission—the simpler, the better.

3. Document and improve your core processes.

Chapters

00:00 "Slowing Down to Go Fast"

04:12 "Mission Before Plan in Business"

09:50 "Patience in Product Development"

11:58 Understanding Automotive Secondary Customers

16:13 Streamlining Appointment Scheduling

19:13 Ed Roberts: Solving Technician Shortage

22:40 Relentless Improvement Competitors

23:32 Embracing Growth and Improvement

26:38 Improving Process Efficiency

Kaylee Felio

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gotopartsgirl

Website: https://www.partsedge.com