You learn a lot about yourself in the service drive. You quickly find out if you’re truly an extrovert or an introvert-in-disguise, you discover if you’re as hardworking as you think or if you’re lazy, and it takes no time at all to discover your motivations. As a service advisor, I believed I was going to make a difference; that I would be the one that worked with integrity (contrary to what I witnessed from others).

But very soon after starting the role of service advisor, I found my true motivator. One thing kept me in the service drive for years, and it was the paycheck.

Since I don’t think I’m a unique case, it’s safe to assume that getting a fat paycheck is a motivator for most service advisors, if not all. According to the Harvard Business Review, it’s competitive compensation that motivates 66 percent of the employees. I guess it isn’t rocket science that being financially rewarded for a job well done is what motivates most, especially for positions like service advisors that need a sales mentality.

But here’s a sobering statistic in stark contrast, and from the same HBR study. One in five high performing employees plans to leave their job in the next six months. For a medium to large service department with five service advisors, that means you should expect you’ll need to hire two service advisors per year.

The Cost of Turnover

We’ve talked about the cost of turnover on DrivingSales frequently. The true cost is hard to pin down but it’s at least $30,000 and up to $70,000 per employee. Yes, it sounds extreme but it’s true. Between unproductive training time and lost sales, it makes sense. So, looking at conservative numbers, the cost to replace two dissatisfied service advisors per year is $60,000 – probably more!

What You Should Do About It

If it sounds ridiculous to waste $60,000 and up on turnover for service advisors annually, that’s because it is. But you can do something about it, and it boils down to paying the position what it’s worth.

Service advisors perform one of the hardest roles in a dealership, dealing with angry and jaded customers, teaching customers about proper vehicle maintenance, training themselves in effective sales strategies, and often in a highly competitive, commission-based environment.

There’s one good way to keep them satisfied in their chosen career so they aren’t looking for greener pastures. Offer a pay plan that keeps their eyes in-house. It’s not as simple as adding a bonus to a paycheck – it has to be a reward for a job well done. Here are a few ideas.

• Change from a monthly commission structure to a rolling three-month commission structure. If it’s possible to eliminate droughts on the paycheck, you’ll have happier advisors, even if the peaks aren’t quite as high.
• Offer long-term CSI bonuses using achievable targets, not the lofty ones the OEMs set. This helps keep high customer service at the forefront.
• Provide opportunities for spontaneous earnings in the form of spiffs. They’re a challenge that can kick the achiever into high gear, especially when it seems to be a slow time in the store.
• Or, opt to simply add to the base pay or tack an extra few points to the commission structure. That works too.

The Worst Thing You Can Do

If your service advisors are consistently hitting their bonus levels and their paychecks seem inordinately high, DO NOT CHANGE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS! More than once in my career, after figuring out how to do my job well, the pay structure was changed. At one point, it was twice in one year because our store was at the top of our game. The minimums were upped. All it does is make it harder to take home a decent paycheck and tick off your advisors. That’s why a service advisor will look to leave their job – they can’t trust their pay structure will stay the same when they’re doing well.

If you’ve never been a service advisor or it’s been a long time since you’ve done it, hang out in the service drive for a while. See what they do, day in and day out. It’s a career deserving of great rewards. Make sure your advisors know they are appreciated where they’ll feel it the most – on their paychecks.