I hope it caught your attention. The title certainly goes against the grain of every bit of training that you’ve endorsed or been a part of. Honestly, what could there possibly be about bad service that’s better than an average service experience?

But for the automotive service industry, it’s true! Let’s give you a little anecdote, using an experience with a client I’ve had the pleasure of serving in the past.

An Average Service Visit

A customer – let’s call her Lily – was someone that came in when it was convenient for her. Lily would call same day to see if our shop could accommodate her maintenance or minor issues. Usually we could, but if we couldn’t, she’d pop in at a different dealership that could. It was no problem for her.Usually we could, but if we couldn’t, she’d pop in at a different dealership that could. It was no problem for her.

When Lily came into the service drive, she was passive and non-committal for anything aside from the basic oil change. She trusted enough to know a dealership was the best place to service her vehicle, but didn’t really trust us, the staff.vehicle, but didn’t really trust us, the staff.non-committal for anything aside from the basic oil change. She trusted enough to know a dealership was the best place to service her vehicle, but didn’t really trust us, the staff.

So, every visit was average. No shining moments. While courteous and friendly, there wasn’t a connection with Lily.

The Day It Went Really Badly

Then one service visit, everything went wrong. Lily was told to come in that same day but when she arrived, the shop was suddenly overwhelmed. The maintenance her SUV required was more than she expected. Her service advisor (me) was disconnected and simply in sales mode, not service mode. Lily’s quick oil change turned into a nightmare. It was the perfect storm of horribleness that no service advisor wants in their day.

But that day is the best thing that happened between Lily and me, professionally speaking.

What Happened Through a Bad, Bad Service Experience

When it all went south, emotions bubbled over. Lily was super angry and was free with her expressive words. As someone at least partially responsible, I had to take it. I had failed Lily, even though it wasn’t all on me. But something amazing happened.

A dialog opened up.

Sure, it was an inopportune time for it, and certainly wasn’t fun. But now I had Lily’s full attention. The short form involves stepping up to the plate, taking ownership for the failure, and acknowledging the customer’s frustration and inconvenience. Moreover, and pivotally, it gave me an opportunity to FIX the situation and PROVE my trustworthiness.

How is Bad Better than Average?

The customers that come into your service drive just because of convenience are alright with just an average service experience. They don’t need to be committed or emotionally involved. And if you’re not able to service their vehicle when they want, they’ll go elsewhere without a second thought.

A bad service visit, on the other hand, has several impacts.

• It’s memorable. A snapshot of the moment is engrained in the customer’s brain.
• It involves emotion. When a customer is able to express their frustration or anger, that means something. An emotional response means there’s a specific concern or a need that hasn’t been met.
• There’s communication. Do you hear about average service visits? It’s unlikely. But you hear from the angry customers or those who hate your guts. That line of communication is unguarded and allows you to respond. HOW you respond is the most important item.
• It gives you an opportunity. When you KNOW about the problem, which you do from a bad service visit, it gives you an opportunity to correct it, or fight back. If it’s unclear, the right response is to find a resolution.

How Lily’s Situation Turned Out

I knocked Lily’s socks off with my opportunity to resolve her bad visit. It involved a financial hit with a rental car and a service credit for a future visit. But what I promised to do to resolve the concern happened to the letter, and I earned her loyal service business on absolutely everything.

I saw Lily every six weeks or so, for one thing or another. If I was busy, she’d wait. If I was off, she’d make an appointment. She followed every recommendation without question from then on. Her loyalty was earned through a response to a bad service visit, an opportunity you NEVER GET from an average customer’s visit.  

To Be Clear…

Don’t tick off your customers on purpose. That’s a horrible idea. And don’t settle for average in the service drive, because that’s a great way for another fantastic shop to steal your customers away.

When you see a frustrated, angry, annoyed, or otherwise disturbed customer, take it as your opportunity. Embrace the opportunity to astound that person with your care and concern, and your willingness to take responsibility and take action to correct their situation.

You arrive at the dealership in the morning, and you set down to your role. Whether it’s service advisor, cashier, service manager or even the lot attendant, it’s a job or career that’s going to cash in at the end of the pay period. Yet, if that’s your only focus, you’ve missed the bigger picture.

The service department is more than a name. It’s a place where customers bring their vehicles, and in exchange for an excellent job, they fork over fistfuls of cash that, partly, pay that healthy salary of yours. Between paydays, your number one purpose isn’t to show up on time, dress appropriately, take a lunch break, then head home at the end of your shift. It’s to provide expert service for each and every client that comes through your dealership’s door.

I Know, I’ve Been There

From more than a decade of experience behind the service desk, I know how easy it is to lose focus on your purpose. Your dealership promises customers that they’ll be cared for in the best possible way every time they visit. That job is why you have a paycheck coming in, and that promise is supposed to be the purpose.

I’d be a liar and a fool if I told you I had my priorities straight even half the time I worked at the service desk. I worked for myself, earning the fat check that would pay for my next vacation, a bigger TV, or a better car.

The other portion of my tenure as a service advisor, when I was focused on the customer, was the best part of my job overall. There were difficult customers to be certain, but there were many more pleasant or even happy people that I could sincerely help in their day. When I could give my honest advice about how best to complete a repair or what maintenance we could schedule for next month or next visit instead of today, I was the most satisfied as a service team member.

It's All About Service.

You can’t forget about dollars per RO, gross percentages, or CSI scores. But when your focus is on the right thing – the customer first – those other items fall into place. In the service department, it’s all about honest, helpful customer service.

Find the Bullseye Every Morning

In a short 18-month period that I worked on the sales floor, there’s one thing that I think the service department could mimic to stay focused. Saturday mornings always had a sales meeting, a rally to give salespeople an extra pep in their step. In the service department, a morning huddle is one of the greatest things we never did.

Think of it: everyone on the service front line gets together for a three to five-minute meeting every morning before the service drive doors open. The service manager gives a brief overview of the day – which technicians are off, which departments are scheduled heavy, current spiffs, etc. It’s the perfect time to tell team members of known picky customers coming in, and small adjustments that could be made to make the day better.

Aside from arriving five minutes earlier, is there a negative in this plan? Here’s what I see:

• Staff are more prepared for the day’s customers.
• The advisors can adjust sales approaches for upselling.
• The team can give feedback about how small problems could be smoothed out today.
• The customers get a better experience from a well-oiled machine.

Whether it’s a morning meeting every day or another type of interaction, I know from personal experience that employees need to be refocused frequently. When your eye is focused on the bullseye, you hit your mark more frequently. If you’ve lost your focus, looking elsewhere or your gaze is drifting off target, who knows where the dart will end up?

It is evident recalls aren’t going away. The scourge of the Takata airbag inflator recalls is just the tip of the iceberg. No manufacturer is exempt from the issue, whether it’s BMW or Mazda, Ford or Nissan. In the past, the plight of the service department was simply to grin and bear it, pushing through recall work to get to the profitable customer-pay repairs, like a light at the end of the tunnel. But in the recent months and years, the tunnel just hasn’t ended.

It looks like recalls are the new normal. And that means the service industry needs to find a way to turn recalls into an advantage. It’s no easy feat to make vehicle recalls a positive thing for your customers; the recall notice in the mail has soured their taste, sometimes creating a disconnect with the car they once loved and the manufacturer to which they’ve been loyal.

It’s possible to turn recalls into a profitable business, if you’re up to the challenge. While it’s no simple thing to spin recalls into a positive light, you can make the most of your situation. As they say, “Make hay while the sun shines”.

Bring On the Vehicle Recalls

It’s tempting to simply wait until the recalled cars show up at your door, or wait for the scheduled appointments. But at that point, you’re leaving the customer’s attitude to chance. Will they be frustrated and irate or complacent about the recall? They certainly won’t be singing your praises – in fact, you’ll be cannon fodder for their anger.

You should have the ability to print lists of recalls for vehicles retailed at your store. Print them; all of them. Then, begin piling you schedule high with recall work.

Carefully script the calls to emphasize your store’s role in correcting the issue. And even though it’s not anyone’s fault at your store, own the recall. Apologize that it affects the customer. Then offer the correction – an appointment at a convenient time.

The goal is to create never-ending work for your shop, filling any gaps that may have been open in the service bay. Make hay, my friend, make hay.

Provide a Complimentary Service

A customer can go to any franchised dealer for their brand for their recalls. You must set yourself apart to capture the appointment, especially the customers who have defected or haven’t entered your doors in years. What do customers appreciate more than anything? Freebies.

Offer a complimentary service that benefits your customer and you. A car wash isn’t enough because it doesn’t do anything for your future business – it needs to be in the shop. Provide a complimentary multi-point inspection, as an example. It’s a service that can identify deficiencies in the vehicle and a platform from which you can sell. Which bring us to…

Upsell in the Service Department

It’s the penultimate purpose for bringing in all those recall customers. Dealers have reported increases of 33 percent in customer-pay revenue on the backs of recalls. Capturing those dollars can’t be a passive thing. It must be actively sold, which is why a complimentary multi-point inspection is so beneficial. From the proof – a checklist or estimate sheet – you can demonstrate why you have earned their business, all from actively seeking out their recall appointment.

It’s fundamental that service staff understand the importance of these upsells. Converting recall-only appointments is hard work and often ends in a $0-dollar CP RO. But it’s the customer who bites the baited hook and drops their money at your dealership that you want. You’ve proven to that customer that you’re worthy of their business, and you should expect repeat business from them also.

Convert into New Car Sales

The summit of the recall visit, should your dealership be able to climb the mountain successfully, is a new car sale. It results when the service staff understand the purpose isn’t just to sell CP service work but to capture a client for life. And it’s why the service-to-sales handoff is so critical.

Opening a dialog with the customer at the service desk, planting ideas about the benefits of trading up, and even walking them over to your sales counterpart is the holy grail of vehicle recalls. If you can achieve this with just one or two percent of recall customers, you’re doing fantastic.

Seldom will a recall customer buy a new car on the same visit as their recall appointment. However, planting that seed, establishing friendly faces across multiple departments, and starting the conversation builds the relationship towards that ultimate goal of future sales.

The topic of working together as a single dealership is often beaten to death, covered more often than the blundering Trump administration. It’s great and all to act as a cohesive unit; a well-oiled machine, if you will. But in any complex machine, as in a dealership, there are different parts that perform very different roles. It’s important to recognize and value each part on its own while appreciating the function of the whole machine together.

Let me go out on a limb here, and feel free to disagree with me. Your service department and sales department should operate uniquely.

That’s NOT saying that they should be run independently. Not at all. It’s a recognition that what works for one department doesn’t necessarily work for the other. Here’s what I mean.

1. The team should look different

Walking through the dealership, there should be no question if an employee is working the sales floor or the service drive. A salesperson or product advisor is able to dress more formally without affecting their job performance. A shirt and tie is still functional work attire, although sometimes dressier than the brand requires. A service advisor should be recognizable by their appearance. Khakis and a logo’d golf shirt or even sharp-looking jeans gives the right impression for a service employee.

Allow service and sales staff to wear different colors for distinction. I’ve been a part of a team where service employees wore ties, and I believe it gives the customer a conflicting impression.

2. Advertise separately

I’m a proponent for the service department getting more ad spend, and it should be used on its own – not tied in with a sales ad. It’s both a focused approach and more authoritative. When the service department is simply an afterthought of a quick mention in an advertisement or commercial, it implies the company values the service department very little. It also devalues the original message, whether you’re building your sales brand or promoting a new product.

3. Set Custom-Tailored Goals

‘Ebb and flow’ is a great way to approach financial goals, but it’s critical to view the sales and service departments as separate entities. You can expect consistent and steady growth from the service department – it’s much mess affected by financial pressures than the sales floor.

On the sales floor, though, there’s higher peaks and deeper valleys. Have you ever projected a decline in sales? I mean, realistically, there’s a reason to do so when the economy is tanking.  Your team knows it, and it’s a good thing to show you’re aware of outside influences.

Dealer principals, you might have a habit of expecting growth from your store that isn’t in line with the economy. Keep that in check and allow your management to be optimistic yet realistic with the targets they set before you.

The machine needs to function precisely as the different parts perform their duties. If all the parts look the same, it’s easy to confuse what each one is supposed to be doing. If one part is given more attention than the other – well-oiled versus run dry – you’ll see breakdowns that could be avoided. And being realistic about what each part of the machine is able to produce is going to reduce frustration and anxiety for both you and the parts of the machine that aren’t meeting their goals.

You might think of your role in the dealership as just a job or a career. It’s a vehicle that you use to pay the bills, live a comfortable life, and spend your days until retirement age.

You might take it more seriously. You might be using your current position as a rung on the ladder to success, or you might strive to make the absolute most out of your position.

In either case, you are establishing a personal brand.

Wait… a PERSONAL Brand?

You don’t have a choice in the matter. No matter what you do, you’re developing your own brand image. It’s not a brand with a slogan (at least, not commonly), and it’s not a brand with a logo. It’s an unspoken image that you portray. It’s the reason customers submit their surveys after visiting you.

And while personality factors into the message you convey to each of your customers, it’s only a very small part of the equation. Your brand – the things you stand for – is about your choices.

You choose to get dressed in the morning and take good care of your personal hygiene and physique. You hit the gym regularly and get your mane of hair perfectly coifed. You’re could be the pretty one at the service desk or on the sales floor.

You choose to be on time in the morning, make all of your calls before you take your break, and you never over-promise and under-deliver. You take your professional role very seriously and follow the employee manual to a tee. You might be the reliable one that customers always come to.

You choose to learn about the product, even owning the latest model from the showroom floor. When someone wants technical information, you’re always ready to lend a hand without showing off. You’re the expert in the department, and everyone knows it.

You choose to serve, whether it’s the customers or your fellow employees. Whenever there’s a question or a need, when someone needs a hand, they turn to you for assistance. You do it with a smile on your face and a willing attitude. You’re the friendly one.

Your choices dictate your personal brand.

You Can Establish Your Brand or Let It Make You

If it’s more than just a job to you, then you care about what others think about you. You can establish your brand by making those conscious choices every day. But it’s not just one that you need to work on. It’s all of them.

Choose one thing that sets you apart – something that you can make a steadfast rule in your life – and stick to it. But don’t neglect all the other aspects of your role. If you are the technical expert, dedicate yourself to staying on the cutting edge, but don’t neglect your customer service skills. If you’re the reliable staff member, continue to learn about products and keep a clean-cut appearance.

When you’re aware of your personal brand, you can use it to empower your future. It can be your stepping stone to a promotion or a raise. It can be the reason your CSI scores are always on top.

Your Personal Brand Can Suck

You may not be the best employee, and your personal brand might be awful right now. You may have established yourself as the late one, the slob, or the frigid jerk who no one likes. If you’re realizing that you can’t go further in your career because you screwed up your brand, there’s a solution.

Start again. Right now.

I’ve been there and done that. I’ve tanked my career on more than one occasion because I didn’t realize I was creating a brand. But you can begin to recreate yourself – and your brand – starting right now. Commit to doing one thing better than the rest, and doing everything else exceptionally well. It’s a tough road to overcome your crappy brand, but it can be done.

We’re bombarded by advertisements all day, every day. Whether it’s Pepsi or Coca-Cola, McDonalds or Burger King, Geico or Progressive, or any other major player in any industry, they all have something in common. The mention of their name invokes a specific image. It’s their brand.

Branding your individual dealership is something that hasn’t been a priority until recently. As a cog in a franchised machine, it has been typically left up to the manufacturer to do the branding. But business models have changed, and now more than ever, it’s critical to differentiate your store.

You need to answer a question BEFORE your customer asks it: why should they choose your dealership?

Can You Answer Why Customers Should Choose Your Brand?

We aren’t talking about the car brand you sell. What is it about your store that sets you apart from the rest? If you’re a Chevy dealer, why should your customers choose you over the Chevy store ten minutes away?

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT

It’s an even playing field in so many ways, and most dealerships do the whole process extremely well. How do you set yourself apart by doing things better than the competition? You’ve been told for so long that the customers will come your way if you’re the best at what you do.

You don’t really have to be different - your message has to be.  That’s what branding is all about.

Think about the basis behind branding on a ranch. You look out over a field full of cows. They all look the same at first glance, don’t they? But even though they all have the same basic structure – a hide, hooves, udder, maybe horns – they’ve been physically branded differently to set them apart.

The same goes for your store’s brand. Without being recognizably different in composition, your customers need to know who you are immediately.

AN EXAMPLE FOR YOU…

Is Coca-Cola or Pepsi the best cola on the market? You have your reasons for your answer, but are either of them better than the rest of the competition? Is there a store-brand cola that tastes the same or even better? Is there a ‘boutique’ cola that outshines them all?

What we know is that Coca-Cola and Pepsi both have established their brand in the marketplace. And that’s the point of a brand – to be KNOWN above all the others, even if you aren’t necessarily better.

The Two Major Factors of YOUR Brand

It applies if you’re analyzing your brand or if you are establishing a brand for your dealership. Two important items absolutely must be addressed and checked off if you plan to have an efficient and established brand.

THE MESSAGE MUST BE CONSISTENT

Whatever you choose as your brand, it must permeate every facet of your business. It must be consistent throughout the sales department, the service department, the collision repair shop, and even your detail department.

Choose a message that is simple and effective:

• “Where customers come first”
• “The home of ...”
• “Ordinary people serving you extraordinarily well”

Okay, so those are pretty mundane and horrible. Whatever the message is, make it catchy and memorable. Use your slogan on every ad space you buy and integrate it into your dealership’s culture. It’s your long-term mission, and it’s summed up in a single phrase.  

THE MESSAGE MUST BE TRUE

Your message can’t contradict the customer’s experience. You can’t say you’re the only factory-authorized dealer in your city if it’s not true. You shouldn’t brand yourself as the ‘best’ of anything that can be statistically proven otherwise. And if you claim to excel in a specific area or offer a service that’s unique to your store, you better work hard to make your branding honest.

Your brand needs to be relatable, like “the only purple dealership on the strip” or “home of the free air filter”. And if you can establish your branding as timeless and evergreen, consistently and honestly, it will serve you well and pay you back with interest.

More than half of all sales customers will abandon your dealership’s service department in the first year. It’s a widely varying statistic – some say 50 percent, others say 70 percent. It doesn’t really matter the exact number, because never seeing half of your customers come back for service after the first year is abysmal.

Manufacturers know it too. That’s one of the reasons you see so many brands offering ‘two years of complimentary maintenance’ or business offices selling maintenance packages. It’s one way to draw at least a portion of your customer base back through your service doors. But why is it your customers don’t come back without an incentive?

It Isn’t Because of Expertise

Manufacturers have done an excellent job of emphasizing dealerships as the best place to service a vehicle, new or used. Terms like ‘factory-trained technicians’ and ‘service experts’ have been engrained into consumers’ brains. I encourage you to randomly ask someone who has the best technicians to service your car – it’s going to be the dealership almost every time.

And it’s true. Technicians at franchised dealerships are highly-trained, highly-qualified people who have access to diagnostic, service, and repair information that no independent has. Your technicians are the best people for the job, yet customers stop coming to your store.

It Isn’t Price

Sure, you get the occasional objection to service pricing, whether or not you’re higher than the shop down the street. For one service, you might be a little higher, and another might be a little lower. The typical customer won’t drive an extra ten minutes to save five dollars at a separate appointment on a different day – they’ll chock it up to the cost of doing business.

It's a Convenience Thing

Take your car and a small slice of your advertising budget and visit a local quick service shop. Pep Boys, Jiffy Lube, Midas – it doesn’t matter much which one. You’re there to do some research. After all, this is where your customers are defecting to.

An oil change is extremely quick, like ten to fifteen minutes usually. The fluids are checked, a Check Engine light can be scanned (for free), and tire services are completed while the oil is still draining. The typical maintenance visit takes mere minutes and doesn’t require an appointment, a long wait, or a shuttle ride.

Most of all, it’s available when at convenient hours, usually stretching well into the evening.

Be Extraordinary

If you’re honest about it, you know your service department – even your “quick lube” bay is less convenient than those other guys. If you want to keep your customers and possibly bring back a few defectors, there are lessons we can learn.

• Be available when customers want you. Shift outside of the norm with your service hours. Keep your quick lube bay open into the evenings – at least on the nights when the sales department is open late.
• Offer service above and beyond the usual. We all love to earn a paycheck, but nickel-and-diming customers will drive them away. Offer an express Check Engine light scan at no cost with any oil change. It’s an opportunity to set a valuable service appointment at a future date if there’s a problem.
• Make your service special. Pick one thing – anything – and do it better than anyone else. Offer free car washes for express oil changes, provide a loyalty oil change program, or let customers watch the work using a camera and a tablet. Whatever it is, be the only one who does it so well. Make it your brand.

You are losing your customers to quick lube shops at an alarming rate. Show your customers what they stand to gain by being loyal instead of just expecting that they should.

In all of manager-dom, there’s nothing as frustrating as someone discounting needlessly. It happens in several forms: making up for a mistake in the shop and missing a promised time for completion to name just a couple. By far, the worst is discounting a product or service because the customer thinks it’s not worth the money.

A Restaurant Example

Think about your favorite steakhouse for a second. You adore their bacon-wrapped sirloin and gladly pay the $39 a la carte whenever you go. A twice-baked potato and haricots verts pair nicely with it, as does a Chardonnay .

One day, you visit Chez Steakhouse and see a sign out front for half off the bacon-wrapped sirloin, and a free side to go with it. Your steakhouse is offering discounted pricing AND combo pricing. Suddenly, it’s almost the same as a supersized Double Whopper meal at Burger King. You almost order two, then settle on just one.

Eventually, Chez Steakhouse no longer offers their combo pricing. But do you go back for your favorite steak dinner? You might, but you no longer perceive the same value. What was once worth $39 in your eyes is now just a $20 steak. A discount has marred your perception.

Why It Matters

How is it that an item can be worth $20 one day and $39 the next? Its purpose was likely to increase sales, be a loss leader, and drive traffic from new customers. Unfortunately, it came at a great cost as value – the benefit of the product compared to its price – has been cut in half.

The same goes for discounts in your service department, parts department, and even on the sales floor. Granted, someone would be fired if a car was sold at half the MSRP, but discounting is a flawed method of making valuable sales. When a discount is applied, your customer no longer sees the product for what its original selling price is; its perceived value will never be more than the discounted price you once offered.

How Do You Deal with Discounts Then?

The approach to eliminate discounts and sales depends on the reason for the discount. These are not gospel, but rather solid ideas for keeping the perceived value in your product.

• Discounts due to your staff’s shortcomings can instead be offered loyalty dollars. We’ve all been there when mistakes are made and there’s no way around it except compensation. Instead of doing line discounts on the invoice itself, give the customer a loyalty card or points card that can be applied to the bottom line on immediate bill. In that way, the invoice lines never reflect a cost lower than your original price.
• Discounts due to poor selling should be eliminated altogether. A salesperson or advisor who is unable to communicate the value in a product needs additional training. Properly sold to the customer, there should be no question of its benefit or value. If the customer still refuses, let the sale pass by instead of dropping your pants on the price.
• Discounts as advertising techniques should be avoided completely. Leave the low prices to the corner stores and quick-lube shops. If you’re trying to undercut the low-ballers, you’ll bring in the gritty, hard-to-sell customers that frustrate your staff and only buy your loss leader. Instead, advertise your expertise, your professional service, your factory-trained staff. What you offer is worth more than the other guys.

The benefits are clear: higher gross profit, more total sales, satisfied staff and increased customer satisfaction in the long term.

Whenever you discount a service or product, you’re telling the customer it’s not worth its original price. And when you can sell at full price, you’ll enjoy the taste of your Chez Steakhouse bacon-wrapped sirloin even more.

You hear about labor rates, rising costs, and a ceiling for how high labor rates will reach. It’s all fine and dandy…unless you’re the front-line person, the service advisor, who has to sell it. And that’s the position I’m coming from.

I spent more than a decade at the service desk, selling maintenance and repairs to customers. I get the challenges – I faced them every day. And one of those challenges was dealing with pricing that I had a hard time justifying to myself, let alone the customer.

How It Started

When I started in the automotive industry in 1999, we sold oil changes for $29.99. That’s Canadian dollars, so approximately 25-30 percent higher than American pricing would be. Pricing steadily crept up, two or three dollars at a time, until it reached $40 for an oil and filter change in just a couple years. And that’s probably fine, but it’s not the only price increase that happened.

The labor rate jumped in the same period from $68 to $80, and that felt like it was overnight.

But time passed, and rates continued to climb. More than a decade later, working the service desk at a domestic store, the rate increased to $130, then higher yet. The same customers were paying nearly double the labor amount in just over 10 years, and it was nibbling away at my conscience.

That’s when I began to prequalify the estimates I’d get from technicians, and prequalify the customers before selling their maintenance at check-in.

• An older, assumedly fixed-income senior might not get a wholehearted effort to sell an oil pan leak.
• A fleet customer might not be recommended everything from the maintenance menu.
• A young mom with two kids in tow may not get the full effort to sell a brake fluid flush along with the brake job, or the leaking shocks might be soft-sold for the next visit instead of right now.

At times, I couldn’t justify the cost of the repairs and service. It’s not that I didn’t believe in the products, just the price tags associated with them. I couldn’t perceive their value. If you ask your staff, you’ll probably find at least one in the same position.

But It’s Not Up to You

It’s one thing that helped me get back my ability to sell. My perception doesn’t matter. It’s the customer’s perception that counts. And on that point, you don’t need to justify your labor rate to yourself. And not even to the customers.

Whatever your labor rate is, that’s what it is. It’s bound to climb higher yet. So here are three points that can help your front-line staff with their sales approach when labor rates and service pricing feel too high.

The Customer Won’t Do It If YOU Don’t Sell It

98 percent of your customers don’t know what they need to keep their vehicles properly maintained and in good repair. It’s your job to tell them. It’s an informative position as much as it is sales. You must ask for the sale because a customer won’t wave cash in your face and demand you spend it for them.

Whether it’s maintenance or repairs, dutifully explain a customer’s needs in full, not stopping short of asking for the sale. Give them the opportunity to say yes, even if you think the answer will be no.

Understand and Explain the Value in Your Service

Another shop might be a little cheaper but the customer is at your store. Part of the value is a time savings – is it worth it to your customer to drive home, make another appointment elsewhere and be without a vehicle again?

You can also explain that your warranty is better, the staff are reliable, the manufacturer stands behind their product… these are of perceived value with the customer sees them.

You Can Pay for the Best Staff to Stick Around

Anyone in the industry has seen the high rate of turnover. Good advisors and technicians are like nomads, going wherever the work happens to be. But when they’re paid well, they don’t look around; they stay put. And the gross profit from labor rates allows for employee retention.

Whether you use it to personally justify the rates or you explain it to customers, slightly higher labor rates mean the best possible staff and repairs can be hired and kept. And that means your own position. When you sell the labor rate, you’re selling your own value.

Notice one thing: there’s no contingency for discounting based on labor rates or high pricing in general. It shouldn’t be the reason for discounts – ever! We’ll get into discounting next time…

The automotive industry fell a little flat in certain areas throughout the first and second quarters, but that rarely applies to the service department stats. Unless there’s something seriously wrong with your shop, it’s a monster that keeps on moving no matter the challenges you throw its way. Ups and downs, sure. But it takes nuclear activity to derail the service department.

But as we all know, you can’t stay put. The only acceptable way to move is up, and that takes work. So, despite a good, solid first half amid challenging times around the industry, you’ll have to dig deep and make the second half even better.

Let’s make it real – actionable tips that you can use. These are ideas and tips that serve a direct purpose and push you toward your goals. Time to get busy.

Set a Six-Month Target, then Hit It

By now, you should know how your first two quarters look on the Doc. As well, you should know the areas that are good, just alright, and alarmingly low. Pick the one KPI that’s hurting the most – you’re going to develop a game plan to fix it. Then you’re going to accomplish it by the end of the year.

As an example, your shop supplies might be through the roof. It’s a direct impact on the net, so every dollar counts. Starting in July, require each technician to be accountable for their individual shop supplies. Or, for expenses over a cap number, require a manager’s signature (service or parts manager), so techs think twice about wasting. You may also want to consider sitting down with the parts manager and hashing out a lower price level for your shop supplies.

At the end of six months – even just the first month – you’ll see the changes you implement so long as you enforce the plan you’ve set.

Feed the Team

A morale boost has never hurt your team. Give your staff a few days’ notice, then feed them lunch or take them out for dinner. It’s a ‘just because’ meal and should be totally separate from any rewards they’ve earned.

A meal like this where there are no strings attached has the power to bond your team members together. The takeaway message is that they are valued. A close-knit team is one that is more productive in general, leads to a happier work environment, and benefits the staff, you, and the customer.

Resist the urge to make it a ‘business meeting’ or you’ll taint the atmosphere. Save business for another time. And make just-because activities part of your monthly or quarterly routine.

Clean Up the Shop

If one of your biggest challenges is housekeeping, then take this point literally. But mostly, remove the negatives from your service department.

It could be a process nobody likes. Although it’s one you support, it’s not a hill you want to die on. Maybe it’s extra time authorization by a manager – you can’t do away with it but you can enable others to authorize it, so tracking down someone for approval is faster.

It could be a bottleneck between customer check-ins and hitting the shop. It could require changing your appointment process, adding a technician or two, or implementing an express lube bay (or another one). Just because something has always been done one way doesn’t mean it’s the only way it can be done. Make a change for the better now, because we all know big changes are coming in the next few years.  

It may be an unproductive and poisonous person. It could be time to let go of that one person – your project, the disruptor, or the one person who absolutely never hits their goals or even tries to. As much as you may like someone personally, and as much as you see their potential, you need results. Consider cutting off their second chances – instead, cut them out. Encourage them to find a better fit elsewhere, or even help them make the change.

 Each of these three tips can be started right now. And all of them can make a positive impact within the following six months. It’s all about moving forward; steering your department’s course. And with that, you’re DrivingSales.