It’s been said that teaching is the profession that teaches all of the other professions. That sentiment holds true when it comes to this year’s All-Star Awards winner in the Wild Card category.
Coming in with one-third of all nominations, Jen Monclus, a certified sales and leadership trainer at Elite, doesn’t know how to fix a car, and she hasn’t had to in order to make a difference in the repair industry.
Monclus came to the Elite team back in 2014 after working in staffing, sponsorships for big companies, and marketing for Fortune 500 companies 10 years prior.
She started off in internal sales, which eventually blossomed into her current sales training position. As a person, Monclus says she’s been passionate about any career she has been in—helping people is what she loves most.
“It’s cool because I can implement my background in sales in addition to what I have learned at Elite and help future or current advisors integrate that into their daily repertoire,” she says.
As a trainer, Monclus is a teacher for service advisors in the auto repair industry. Shop owners refer their advisors to her, where she then provides training courses pertaining to what they are looking for, including what Monclus likes to refer to as “her baby”: the Masters program.
In the master’s program, training is a committed six-month program. After a three-day, in-person class in San Diego, the class is then conducted online, where Monclus checks in weekly on their progress, checking their sales stats, and where they need to improve. She even mails them books to read, including the “sales bible” binder with tools, scripts, word tracts, and many other tools that will lead service advisors to success, she says.
But the program isn’t for just anyone. Monclus conducts interviews to see if the program will fill the shop owner’s and advisor’s needs. They look for someone with the right aptitude, attitude, and determination to learn, grow, and do the right thing by their customers, according to Monclus.
From her training help, many automotive repair shops have grown; one auto repair shop sent one of its service advisors to her course and has since doubled sales at that location. According to Elite, the average weekly sales of her students increases by $2,856 after completing her course. She has been so dedicated to her students that she has even forgone vacation in order to be there for her students. And the reviews are consistent in her dedication to her students and the results it has brought to many businesses.
“Jen has a unique ability to connect with people. This allows her to understand an individual's inner strengths and qualities while she instills confidence,” says Linc Lewis of Mezzio Auto. “Her success is evidenced by five-star reviews from people lucky enough to have been guided by her insight.”
Another auto repair shop, retired owner Jim Berberich of AI’s Automotive and Tire, says Monclus has taken her students’ sales to the next level and had dedicated herself to advancing the industry.
“You put people first, and that’s what this course is really built upon,” Monclus says. “This isn’t Disneyland they are working at. No one wants to pay to get their car fixed, so where we are successful is on the psychology in this class. They really understand the emotional side, understand how to connect with their customers, how to gain trust, and that helps them in all facets and helps them gain business.”
Monclus says being a customer herself has really helped; she knows exactly what the customer is feeling.
“I can be that devil’s advocate for them because I know what the customer has been through,” she says. “These advisors have the confidence and skillset to connect with them on a personal level and it’s not just transactional.”
Something Monclus constantly stresses to her students is trust. She says if they don’t have that, they won’t do very well in the long run. And in her teaching, her key to success is passion for helping people in the industry.
“You have to believe in what you are teaching, if you don’t believe in it, then how are you going to relay that thought process to someone else?” she says.
