RICHARD BALWANT
Ocoee
Summary
Results-driven Automotive Manager with over 28 years of leadership experience at Pep Boys, excelling in operations management, customer service, team development, and revenue growth. Proven ability to streamline shop operations, enhance productivity, and deliver superior client experience in a past paced automotive environment. Adept at motivating team, managing budgets, and ensuring compliance with safety and operational standards. Ready to bring deep industry expertise and a passion for excellence to a new leadership role in the automotive industry.
Leadership in automotive management with over 28 years of experience overseeing operations, sales, and customer service. Responsible for achieving sales goals, optimizing shop productivity, and maintaining high standards of customer interactions. Engaged in team development, compliance adherence, and fostering a collaborative work environment. Dedicated to enhancing operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
Overview
29
29
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager
Pep Boy
Apopka
01.1997 - 09.2025
- Lead daily operations in both service (back-shop) and sales (parts, tires) functions, ensuring reliability and high performance.
- Set and manage sales goals across service labor, parts, tires, and fleet business; monitor and drive profitability.
- Supervise, train, coach, and develop teams including service advisors, technicians, and support staff.
- Oversee work-order management, scheduling, inventory control, vendor relations, and facility maintenance.
- Maintain high standards of customer service; resolve escalated service issues, complaints, and ensure excellent customer interactions.
- Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and operational policies; enforce company procedures, loss prevention, and regulatory guidelines.
- Monitor shop productivity, workflow, and efficiency; identify process improvements to reduce downtime and increase throughput.
- Uphold quality assurance practices such as Courtesy Vehicle Inspections (CVIs), consistent work standards, and performance reviews.
- Recruit, hire, and schedule staff; ensure staffing levels are adequate to meet demand and maintain service levels.
- Maintain facility appearance, merchandising standards, cleanliness, and equipment maintenance.
- Build culture: promote teamwork, accountability, dependability, reliability, continuous learning, and a client/teammate-focused environment.
- Consistently met or exceeded monthly sales goals in service labor, parts, and tires, resulting in regular performance bonuses.
- Drove store profitability through effective upselling, cost control, and operational efficiency.
- Maintained top performance ranking within the district by achieving revenue and customer service benchmarks.
- Increased repeat business and client retention by delivering excellent customer service and follow-up care.
Education
Automotive Mechanics -
K.C.H.C.E.V.R.P
High School Diploma -
John Adams High School
Skills
- Leadership
- Customer Service
- Communication
- Automotive Service Operations
- Parts & Tires Knowledge
- Diagnostic and Repair Workflows
- Reliability
- Dependability
- Teachable
- Integrity
- Accountability
- Analytical Skills
- Metrics Analysis
- Sales Analysis
- Productivity Analysis
- Parts Usage Analysis
- Inventory Management
- Adaptability
- Prioritization
- Delegation
- Task Management
- Commitment to Safety
- Quality Assurance
- Regulatory Compliance
- Cultural Building
- Sales goal management
- Team development
- Customer service escalation
- Relationship management
- Problem solving
- Effective communication
Timeline
Manager
Pep Boy
01.1997 - 09.2025
Automotive Mechanics -
K.C.H.C.E.V.R.P
High School Diploma -
John Adams High School