Does Being Open 7 Days a Week Actually Make Your Shop Better? with Aniz Lavji - Ep. 177 Pt. 2

Aniz Lavji (0:08)

You can project the world opening 7 days a week is the right thing to do. It might be the right thing to do for your demographic, because you have such a huge following. You have insane amount of cars that you need that day. Fine, good for you. But I don't think it's appropriate to project to the industry, in my opinion, I'm not naming anyone, that 7 days a week is the right thing to do for everybody.

You're getting so much information that's, like the value. Okay, if anyone is thinking about ASTA, and you want to talk about value, the ticket price is nothing.

Jeff Compton (1:05)

Oh, we saw that in a conversation this week, Aniz, we saw that with a gentleman. I know, we're messaging. Yeah, back and forth about that, because the guy is like, oh my God, you know, it costs more than SEMA. I don't know if it does or not. Truthfully, I don't know.

If it does, I can tell you that the vibe, that I've been at SEMA, and I've been at Apex, and I've been at ASTA, the vibe is very different between those shows. So, you know, expensive or not, more expensive or not, it's not what it's about. Trust me, that gentleman in that particular situation that was posting about that, he needs to be at ASTA, if you're listening to me.

Aniz Lavji (1:39)

And I hope he takes that ticket that Chris was offering.

Jeff Compton (1:42)

Yes, I hope he does too, because, you know, I want to meet him. Yeah, me too. And it's not a situation of like, everybody's going to dogpile him and say, hey, you're all wrong for even thinking about it. You don't see the value. It's trust us, show up.

It will change your life. Just like it did for Aniz, just like it did for Frank when Frank came to Tools. He came out of there just like him and Marguerite.

Aniz Lavji (2:04)

I told Frank, when you go to Tools, you're gonna tell me that, holy crap, where have I been? Why have I not gone to any of these? And most of the conversation I've had with, I talk to Frank almost every day.

Jeff Compton (2:19)

Almost, yeah.

Aniz Lavji (2:20)

And he's like, it was great. And Marguerite had a blast.

And it's just the camaraderie. And it's a little bit of a smaller expo and it's very tight knit. But the organization and the people that were there, like you were there and everyone else, they're very welcoming. And you don't feel like an outsider at these kind of events.

Jeff Compton (2:43)

It was so funny to me because Frank was telling me, I can remember leading up to tools. He's like, well, I'm going to make tools, but I'm not going to be able to make ASTA. There's no possible way. And he comes home from tools and he says to me, well, I know you and Aniz are going to ASTA. I'm going to have to make that work now. And I mean, I'm so happy that he can join us, you know, and it's, we have to, we got to talk for a second. There isn't, it's not that we're in a wasteland of no training up here in Canada, because there are other events that happen in Canada, not at the numbers and the frequency that there is in the States.

But they don't get the kind of, you don't get the kind of vibe, you don't get the attraction. They do a terrible job of marketing themselves to-

Aniz Lavji (3:28)

That's an understatement.

Jeff Compton (3:29)

Yeah, right? And we're not here to throw shade at them. That's not what it's about. But I mean, you and I are essentially leaving Ontario to go to North Carolina to take an event at the same time that there's an event happening in Toronto.

Aniz Lavji (3:43)

Multiple times a year, like I did, and I know you go to multiple events, but it's not like it's just one event. There's multiple events that we're leaving the country to go to.

Jeff Compton (3:56)

Yeah, yeah.

Aniz Lavji (3:57)

And better ourselves.

Jeff Compton (3:58)

And you know, and it's not that the event in Toronto doesn't have good opportunities or good training. It's just, it does, like I said, it does a terrible job of marketing itself to people. There are so many people, you're two hours away from Montreal, or Montreal, there I am in Montreal. Toronto. I'm two hours away from Toronto, and yet we can go out our doors and we can talk to people and say, do you know about this event that's happening? And they go, huh? What? What event? Put on by who?