As a service department, your day is filled with serving customers. That’s your purpose for being there, after all. You see familiar faces that visit every three or four months, and there are new customers who are trying your store for the first time.

In customer service, the experience is a large chunk of what separates the good dealerships from the bad ones. But what also weighs in heavily, elevating the great service departments from the good ones, is beyond the in-store experience. It’s how you express your appreciation to your customers.

It’s More Than Just Follow-Up

Absolutely no one in their right mind would dispute the value of following up with customers after a service visit. It’s a valuable practice; one that tells you how your team is performing and ensures the customer is satisfied. Follow-up must be done, but there’s something to add to it.

Every customer MUST know their patronage is appreciated.

For some service department staff, there are times when you feel like you’re the hero of the story. It’s your helping actions that saved the day, and the customer should thank you for it. Sometimes they may, and that’s great. But it’s a business transaction for the customer and they are the ones paying the bill. It’s a payment for a service provided, and it’s a service that you don’t exclusively provide.

But for your dealership’s service department, there’s something at stake: future business from the customer. If it’s left as a simple business transaction by both the customer and the shop, it’s easy for the customer to take their business elsewhere.

‘Thank You’ as Positive Reinforcement

- “I know you have choices for your vehicle service. I just wanted to say thank you for choosing us to service your car. I appreciate it.”

- “Thanks for your feedback. We’ll check if there’s a way to make the shuttle service more efficient. Still, thank you for your patronage. It’s customers like you that make my day.”

- “I’m so glad everything went smoothly for your service visit. Thanks again for choosing me as your service advisor. See you again soon.”

These phrases are what you can expect when you call a customer simply to show your appreciation for their patronage. It’s nothing much to you, but it’s invaluable to the customer and their future visits.

You can’t honestly believe that your dealership’s service department is a customer’s only choice. Even for warranty work, very few customers live too far away from another dealer to make the switch. So, keeping your customers is a principle goal, or at least it should be.principle goal, or at least it should be.

When a simple thank-you call is what it takes to create positive reinforcement after a service visit, is there a good reason not to? You’re not honestly too busy, are you? It would be good if every customer received follow-up call from your call center, then a personal thank-you call from a front-line staff member.

Give it a Couple Days

It feels scripted or forced if the thank-you call is the day after the service. That’s a good time for a follow-up call, but not a thank-you call. Ideally, you want the customer’s memory of their visit to begin to fade. Then, when it’s no longer fresh, you call.

Your thank-you call reminds the customer who you are. It brings a positive spin after the service visit, whether it went perfectly well or not. And, it shows a caring attitude. These things should help retain your customers as your own. Why give them a reason to defect to a different shop?