"By the end of September, we will have three groups--in the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, and New Jersey," he said. 

"By the end of 2009, our goal is to have approximately 10 groups.  The overall goals for these groups are to help each member achieve a 70 percent gross profit (GP) on labor sales and a 50 percent GP on parts with their expenses at 40 percent and a 20 percent net profit before tax.  That's where we want our members to be, and we can help them get there."

Olson started WTI in 1997 and has run the management solutions part of the institute ever since, he said. In addition to the business management groups, WTI also has a comprehensive car line specific technician training program, he noted.

"I found that many service center owners, managers, and bookkeepers really enjoyed and learned a lot from our training," he said.  "The problem we ran into was that many found it difficult to implement the changes needed to take their business to the next level. 

 
"We needed a way to get them to focus on their business.  The best way to do that was get them away from their business, put them together with their peers, and put an experienced facilitator in place to guide them."

Olson said he has developed a program that encourages interaction and sharing of ideas with an emphasis on accountability and continual improvement.

"The program is run almost exactly like the well-known dealer 20 group concept, except that our groups are limited to 14 members," he said.  "We've learned over the years that 14 people are an ideal number for hands-on, one-on-one training. 

 
"Each member of the group submits the monthly sales numbers and ratios to a secure Web site every month.  A composite is automatically calculated from these numbers and an overview of the group is created.  Each member can compare how they measure up to industry standards. It's not a competition, but a way for each owner to see where they stand and where they need to improve."

Each group meets for two days at a time as many as five times per year, Olson said.  "During the two-day meetings, there is a portion of the day devoted to improving key indicators, some training, as well as on-site evaluations," he said.

At every meeting, a service center owned by one of the group's members is selected for evaluation, he said; the group meets in that particular service center for the session.

Then, during the morning session at the service center, each member goes through an evaluation of everything in the center, including shop software, repair orders, shop layout, and equipment, Olson said. 

 
The facilitator is the only one who interviews the center's employees about the tasks they perform and systems they use, Olson said.  When the group returns to the meeting, all of the evaluations are given to the owner, he said.  At that point, the owner decides which of the recommended changes he or she will commit to, and the progress is reported at the next meeting, he said. 

"There's obviously a little peer pressure involved in this system, but it works," Olson said.