Fixed operations careers aren’t the most glamorous. Some days are rewarding while others are like repeatedly standing before a firing squad. Customer interaction can take its toll on your team and only the cream of the crop will stick around and thrive. You know you have to pay your staff competitively, and yet, you need to motivate towards production. Where do you walk on that fine line between commission, salary, or a blend of the two?

Speaking from personal experience, extra incentive draws out the best work. Providing a minimal base salary with a commission pay plan structured to be lucrative with top-notch performance hits home for me. To be fair, I’m someone with a penchant for laziness. The commission aspect drives me to do better for the store and, ultimately, myself.

But is a heavily commission-based pay plan best for your new fixed ops hires? Which positions might benefit from strictly salary and which favor a commission factor?

Dangle a Carrot

Some team members will chase any incentive you put before them while others will disregard it completely. Regardless of the position you’re hiring for, I encourage an incentive in the pay plan. Whether you base it on CSI survey results, customer comments, recognized dedication above and beyond their job role, or on their position’s measured performance, provide a reason for team members to put in their best effort.

No matter which position a staff member holds, they are integral to your dealership’s success. From parts desk personnel to detailing staff and technicians to service advisors, everyone plays a role in the customer’s experience. Reward them for a job well done.

Best as Salaried Positions

While a carrot is a nice treat, consistent salaried pay is best for certain positions. Essentially, anyone who doesn’t actively ‘sell’ should be a salary-based employee. That includes:

• Parts personnel (rarely are upsells necessary)
• Autobody staff
• Cash office and receptionist staff
• Valets
• Lube rack technicians

These staff members have little opportunity to influence their paycheck, and a commission aspect based on performance would be difficult to achieve.

Best as Commission-Based Positions

That leaves surprisingly few positions remaining: just technicians and service advisors. In the fixed operations world, these two positions hold the most responsibility for generating profits with their actions.

A technician’s role is to maintain and repair vehicles, and to provide the customer information on essential and recommended services to keep their vehicle operating properly. A service advisor’s role is to advise the customer on necessary repairs and services during write-up and ‘sell’ the technician’s recommendations.

Both roles directly affect your bottom line and are best paid based on the work generated.

That doesn’t cover the hiring process though…

Transition the Pay Plan

As a new hire, it takes months to settle into your environment. That steep learning curve impacts paychecks. What seems to be an effective method during a probationary period is a strictly salary pay plan, allowing the new staff to get up to speed without the stressful worries of their pay.

Keep the probationary pay plan brief for commission-based roles to prevent the new hire from becoming complacent. Once they achieve a level of skill and comfort that allows them to exceed the probationary pay, convert them to their long-term pay plan.

Make the Pay Plan Clear During the Hiring Process

Whichever direction you take, whether commission-based or salary, the pay structure should be clear to applicants during interviews. There don’t have to be concrete numbers attached but a general idea of the structure should be provided.

The last thing both you and the applicants want is to go through the whole process, discover an applicant is a good match to the dealership, then find out they won’t accept the role because of the pay structure. It wastes their time as an applicant and your valuable time during hiring.

I’m aware my thoughts aren’t shared by everyone. I’ve worked for dealer principals who want every position to be based on performance in some way while others try to ‘lock in’ pay plans at a steady salary. Feel free to share your thoughts on the best way to pay new hires in the fixed ops realm.

There’s a sales job in your dealership that earns much more than your salespeople to the bottom line. In fact, it’s many times what a salesperson earns. They arrive daily in your store, ready to work their butt off. At the end of the day, tired and frazzled, they’ve produced much more for your store than a salesperson who has just sold and delivered a brand new car.

Your service advisors are salespeople, even if it’s in the name of customer service. Their job is to inform the customers they serve why it’s important to part with their money, and how it will benefit them to do so. Seldom is there a noticeable improvement in the vehicle’s condition – it’s about maintenance more so than repairs in the modern era. Yet day after day, they come to work and earn more for your store than someone on the prestigious sales floor.

It’s Not Even Close

Just a quick recap of top salesperson earnings versus service advisor:

Sales

• An average salesperson makes a sale approximately every two to three working days, or roughly 10 cars per month. Some stores are higher and some lower, however the majority of dealers’ salespeople would be in this vicinity.
• Average gross on a car sale as reported by NADA in 2015 is $1088 for a new car and $1534 for a used unit. Let’s average that out to $1311 per unit.
• At that rate, a salesperson generates $13,110 in gross profit per month, or $157,320 per year.

Service

• An average service advisor sees 12 customers per day in a moderately busy dealership. That means in a 22-workday month, one advisor transacts with 264 customers.
• Each parts and labor work order averages a charge of $265 for customer-pay work orders and $273 for warranty work orders. Average it out at $269/RO.
• The gross profit average is 45.8%, meaning a gross profit of $123 per RO.
• In one month with 264 customers, a service advisor grosses your dealership $32,472. In a year, that’s just shy of $400,000.

The proof is there, and it’s hard to dispute.

Hiring Your Top Earners

If one of the highest earning positions in your dealership is at the service desk, shouldn’t you put serious effort into hiring the right caliber of people? That’s not to say you aren’t paying them sufficiently, because you may be. But wouldn’t you want the people that deal with more of your customers than anyone to be top-notch?

How Do You Vet Your Applicants?

Service advisors are anything but a dime-a-dozen. It takes a special kind of person to take the daily beat-down in customer service at this level. You want your service advisors to embody the good-natured, cool-tempered personality that YOU would want to interact with if you brought your vehicle in for service.

A few thoughts on vetting your applicants:

Do they have experience?

If they’re coming from another dealership, why are they looking for a new position? If a service advisor is moving on, check with their work references to see if there are performance issues. No matter how positive you are and whether you believe people deserve a second chance, the same issues are likely to pop up at your store soon after hiring.

Are they active in the community?

They don’t have to be involved in graffiti removal or the church choir, or sit on the board of a non-profit. What you want to know is that your service advisor applicant is outgoing and willing to interact on a real level with the general public. You need to know that they aren’t active in the wrong way, either, such as involved in illicit or criminal activity. Require personal references and actually follow up on them.

Are they willing to learn?

Very few dealerships do things the exact same way. Whether you’re hiring a ‘greenhorn’ with no experience and a steep learning curve or a novice with some experience already, test their willingness to learn. In the application process, implement a task that shows their willing to learn for the position (even if it has nothing to do with the role).

Require a criminal record check

Although everyone makes mistakes, there are certain issues you don’t want in your dealership. If someone has been convicted of burglary or theft, they are not a good candidate for a dealership position that deals with tens of thousands of dollars daily. If someone has assault charges, a stressful service advisor position might not mix well with those anger issues. And drug-related charges can indicate an unreliable person.

Undoubtedly, you understand how important service advisors are. Ensure your applicants will be well-suited for the position before signing them on. 

Those who are familiar with the realm of car sales can relate to this:

You drive into the car sales lot and see two or three sharply-dressed people hanging around the front door (you know them as ‘lot lizards’). They spot you rolling through the lot, checking out the inventory. Rain or shine, you know one of them will be walking up to you. They will strike up a conversation to discover what brings you to their store. Then, they’ll invite you inside to talk more about your needs or run to grab keys for the car you want to look at.

It’s step one in the sales process – the meet-and-greet. Its purpose is simple, and absolutely critical to the successful completion of a sale. It’s the foundation of the customer relationship where the salesperson begins to discover the customer’s needs and wants. Perhaps more importantly, it shows an eagerness to earn the customer’s business in a proactive, approachable manner.

On the flip side, think about coming up to the dealership and NOT being greeted in the lot. The onus is now on the customer to walk into the showroom and initiate the conversation. And even worse, if a salesperson isn’t at the door to greet the ‘up’, or looks up from their desk and back down without acknowledging the customer in the showroom, the visit is off to a rough start.

How does it look for the customer? Do they feel valued? Do they feel like you’re trying to earn their business? Probably not.

Now relate that to the service drive.

How is Your Meet-and-Greet?

A customer pulls their car into the service drive. They know they are there for vehicle maintenance or repairs, but the process is still much like the sales department. Ideally, a service advisor will walk over, greet the customer with a smile and a handshake, and begin the work order write-up. The customer immediately feels valued, and if there are any frustrations or misgivings, they quickly melt away with a prompt, friendly greeting (except for that person who always wants to be mad).

It’s Busy, I Know

I spent more than 10 years at the service desk, so I’m well aware that it’s a gong show more often than not. You’re either with a customer, making phone calls, reviewing an estimate with a tech, cashing out a different customer, or following up with CSI survey calls. You may not be available to help the customer who just pulled in and your cohorts could be tied up as well.

So what do you do? The initial reaction is to continue doing what you are doing, then deal with the new customer when you’re finished. But in the meantime, the customer is scanning the service drive for someone who can help them. They shift their weight, tap their toe, or show their growing impatience in other ways. Before long, they’re irate.

A Simple Phrase Goes a Long Way

On the sales floor, this situation would never fly. The intercom page that makes a sales manager go ape-**** is, “Available salesperson to the showroom for a customer please.” If it happens twice, heads will roll. A customer should NEVER be waiting to be addressed, even if there’s no one to help immediately.

In the service drive, the same rule should apply. Kill the customer’s impatience before it starts with a simple phrase. Say something like, “I’d love to help you, although I’ll be a few minutes yet. Would you like to wait or can one of my other associates give you a hand?”

Now you’ve just disarmed the customer. You’ve provided an indication that you value their business and their time. You’ve also given them a choice – wait for you to come available or visit another staff member. More often than not, they will choose to wait for you.

And If You Don’t…

If a customer is left to stew in frustration, their wallet closes up. When you appear not to care about their time, or if you don’t show interest or friendliness, you put a hurdle in the path of your sales. Why would a customer who doesn’t feel valued spend their money with you? Upsales and estimates will be price-shopped or flat-out refused.

Service advisors can take a page out of the sales handbook. Treat every customer as an ‘up’, paving the way to a smooth customer relationship that undoubtedly will also be profitable.

Walk into any big box store in any neighborhood near you. Stop in the middle of the store for a moment – it’s not about shopping right now. Take a look 360 degrees and remember what you see. Now walk into Whole Foods and do the same. Just take a mental snapshot of the store, noting each department.

What you’re bound to see, except for the very occasional store, is uniformity. In the department store, you’ll see the electronics department has the same general appearance as sporting goods, and pharmacy aisles look very much like the stationary and housewares. In the grocery store, you’ll see a consistent look between the bakery and deli, the produce and snack foods. 

Now do the same thing in your dealership. Stroll from the sales showroom to the service drive, then on to the parts counter and body shop. Is there consistency? Is there a common thread? Or is there a stark difference between the image you portray in the sales department versus the rest of the dealership?

The front of the store is usually thought to be the sales floor. In former generations, the ‘presentable’ salespeople in suits and ties and dress shoes would be the first impression. The grease monkeys were stashed away in the back of the dealership in the grimy shop. Over the past few decades, the service department has served a much more prominent role in the dealership environment, but the image hasn’t always followed suit.

A customer driving up to your dealership now probably sees an equal presence of showroom to service drive. A door separates the two, and it’s a Narnia-esque situation. A customer walking from the sales floor into the service drive may do a double-take. Are they in the same world?

Staff on opposite sides of the doors look different. Salespeople are dressed up, either in a dress shirt and tie with slacks, a suit, or a golf shirt and khakis. In the service drive, you’ll usually see jeans instead of slacks and sneakers instead of wingtips.

More strikingly, you’ll see a dingy, industrial look in the service environment. It’s a contrasting sight from the sales floor, and it’s something that can make a customer a little uneasy. Will the same professional atmosphere be expected in this grungy concrete room as it is in the brightly-lit, tiled showroom?

Be Consistent

Everywhere a customer can be expected to go in your building, the same atmosphere should carry through. If you have crisp LED lighting in the showroom, put it in your service drive and at the parts counter. If you use cream-colored tiles on the sales floor, use them in the customer lounge, the service drive, and the body shop reception area.

Like a department store, every part of your dealership has a different function. But there’s no reason it can’t be consistent in its appearance. Your parts and service reception staff and your product advisors should all look consistent in their appearance. If the sales department wears button-down logo-emblazoned shirts, so should your service advisors. Anyone who works directly with your customers should be immediately recognizable by their attire.

The Sales Department Has It Right!

On this topic, the variable operations departments have done a great job. First impressions are critical as well as acknowledging the customer’s importance in the dealership’s success. Professional attire is emphasized and the showroom is kept spotless. Everyone is aware that the customer’s impression of the dealership can make or break the sale.

When the customer crosses the threshold into the dealership’s fixed ops departments, there seems to be vast room for improvement. Even something as simple as a service introduction during the sales process can taint a customer’s opinion of the store as a whole.

Now, you’re not likely to renovate your service drive and parts counter quite yet. But strive to meet the standards as much as possible in your environment. Can you change your lighting to match the showroom? Can you brighten your service drive with a fresh coat of paint? A customer doesn’t see the service drive as an industrial environment, so it should be maintained like the sales floor.

This week, take a moment to assess how you can bring your fixed ops departments up to par with the sales floor.  

In the NFL, armchair quarterbacks and spectators in the stands are known as the ‘12th man’. The term pays homage to the contribution fans make to the game, especially in vocal support. Most often, that result is noise that disrupts the visiting team, but more importantly, encourages the home team.

The 12th man doesn’t have an official position on the roster. It’s an honorary role but one that is fundamental to a team’s success. At your dealership, that 12th-man position in the sales team is filled by staff from every other department, and your store’s sales success depends on their help.

A Team Game, But You’re Playing Against each Other?

More often than not - in my experience anyway – the sales and service departments don’t always ‘play nice’. There’s an attitude that one is more important than the other. With strong personalities in both departments, you’ll find that there’s a concentrated effort on being heard loudest rather than working together.

Unfortunately, the ones that suffer most are…you. You probably expected the answer to be ‘the customer’, but when it comes down to it, your position at the dealership is about you. It’s to support your family, earn a living, and do something you love while you’re at it. Playing the detrimental game of interdepartmental fighting creates stress on your relationships, sends you home in a bad mood, and ultimately hurts your position at the dealership.

At every level, you can see it. Service advisors slam salespeople. Sales managers have a beef with the service manager. Technicians get into it with F&I managers. Parts guys eat popcorn and watch the fireworks.

It’s like playing team sports, but the departments are all opposing teams.

That’s not how it works.

In a Different League

Shift that team mentality just a little. From the nosebleed seats high above, you can look down on the different departments in your store and see how different they are. The sales department is suit-and-tie while the service department is blue collar. The sales team is clean and professional while the service team has grease under their fingernails. It’s clear – they aren’t in the same league at all.

Think of it like professional sports. In New York, there are professional athletes that play in several different leagues: the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and more. Extremely few NHLers have the ability to hit the hardwood and compete in a Knicks basketball game at the NBA level. Baseball players aren’t going to play linebacker for the Giants.

They all play well in their own league. You wouldn’t pit the New York Islanders against the Yankees in a baseball game OR a hockey game. It’s not a level competition. But what you CAN expect is that they’ll cheer each other on.

Sales and service are different yet equal leagues. Both count on the support of the 12th man, helping them from the stands. The sales team is supportive of the service department’s efforts and encourages them onto success.  And the service team upholds the sales department, doing everything possible to ensure their successes as well.

It’s great to be competitive and to push to be the best. But in your dealership, you aren’t trying to better the other departments. You’re trying to win out above the other ‘teams in the same league’. Your sales department is in direct competition with the store across town like the Mets are vying against the Yankees. Your service department is trying to score more frequently than the dealership down the street, like the Islanders against the Rangers.

Be the 12th Man

Keep in mind who your competition is. Vocally support and encourage your dealership’s other departments onto greater success and achievements. From the service department, you aren’t actually selling cars and signing bills of sale, but like a fan in the stands, your words of inspiration can help drive them on. 

Tens of thousands of automotive professionals began gathering at NADA 100 January 26th, pumped up to drive growth in their dealerships for the future. The event is a spectacle to behold. A carnival along with concerts engaged the crowds and the Expo featured more than 600 exhibits that addressed every aspect of dealership life.

But you attended NADA 100 for YOU.

The lights, the fanfare, the pomp and circumstance – even the keynote addresses – they’re only an entertainment factor if you don’t plan to do anything about it. But because you attended NADA 100 for you, you’re going to put what you learned into action.

Start NOW

When you get home from a massive conference or event like this, you’re jacked up. Your blood is running hotter and the ideas are flowing like molten lava in your veins. Without the heat of the moment, the furnace of inspiring people around you, it starts to cool off quite quickly.

When you get back home, get right to work implementing what you’ve learned. The saying “strike while the iron is hot” applies in this situation exactly. Everything you’ve picked up at NADA is fresh in your mind are right now, you have a clarity of vision like none other.

Take the first hours of the time you get home to develop a plan for your store. If others from your dealership were along with you, sit down together for this process. If you went solo, it’s a job best done by yourself.

Nothing tempers your ambition and fervor like ‘the grind’. When you get back to work and slip into your routine, it’s all too easy to just keep doing the same things you were doing before NADA 100. Then, it’s not long until what you’ve picked up is just a distant fond memory.

Fail Often

Cartoonist Stephen McCranie originated the quote “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even started”. You want to be a master of the automotive industry, right? That means trying something new and trying often. Don’t be afraid of failure, because it’s through your failures that you’ll find something that is extremely effective.

Did you come across a marketing strategy at NADA that you hadn’t considered?  Give it a try. Is there a CRM tool for your service department that has sparked exponential growth in your competition? Give it serious thought. Are there suppliers or partners that just might save you money on expenses? Don’t be afraid to shake things up.

Some plans work great for one store and fail miserably for others. Demographics could be different or you may not have the support necessary from your staff. One thing is guaranteed (and you know this): if you don’t try, it has no chance of success.

Attend Again

You’ve picked up some great ideas from NADA 100 and you’ve met some really great people. And undoubtedly, you’ve renewed your passion for the automotive industry, whether it’s in the sales, service, parts, marketing, or collision department.

But with time, your excitement will start to ebb away. It becomes a job once again and your passion gets pushed deep down inside. You need people who will bring you up and challenge you personally and professionally. Getting together with like-minded individuals seems to have the desired effect, doesn’t it?

Plan to attend next year’s NADA event in Las Vegas, hosted from March 22nd to 25th, 2018. Like the convention this year, you’ll have the opportunity to renew your enthusiasm for your career and see the latest innovations in the industry.

Between now and then, seek out other opportunities to lift your spirits. DrivingSales hosts several events including the Presidents Club in Manhattan on April 9th and 10th, and the DrivingSales Executive Summit at the Bellagio in Las Vegas from October 22nd to 24th. And if you’re lucky enough to be close to a major car show, be sure to take it in.

New Orleans is ramping up for the 100th anniversary of NADA, and the convention promises to be outstanding. You’ll be entertained at the NADA100 Carnival Mardi Gras-style, featuring performances by Foreigner and Cowboy Mouth. But after the carnival, it’s down to business…mostly. Plan to attend keynote addresses by some well-known industry greats. And bring a stack of business cards, because the Expo is sure to hold value.

Which booths should grab the focus of your attention? That’s going to vary depending on your dealership role. If you’re fixed operations – parts, service, or autobody – these are some stops you won’t want to miss.

Hunter Engineering Company

Your shop almost definitely has Hunter equipment already but don’t pass this booth by. NADA is a perfect opportunity for Hunter to show you the latest and greatest innovations they’ve been working on, and you’ll want to be the first with their toys!

Hunter has vehicle lifts, wheel alignment technologies, brake lathes, and tire equipment just to touch on a few. Their equipment is bound to serve as an investment, saving your department time and money over the many years it will be of service.

AutoAlert Inc.

This service provider should be a destination for every department, including fixed ops staffers. You might think it’s a sales tool or marketing item, but AutoAlert is much more than that. They deliver marketing strategies for every department, keeping your dealerships name fresh on your customers’ lips. After all, you want to turn one-time customers into long-term clients.

Be on the scene for their live demonstrations, introducing One-to-One Intelligent Marketing. The innovation is a marketing platform that offers multiple streams and touchpoints, delivered in the most effective ways.

Service Operations Specialists, Inc.

Feel like your service department needs to be tweaked but don’t know where to start? These are your guys. Service Operations Specialists is a consulting firm that specializes in optimizing your opportunities. Today’s service department must meet the ever-changing customer demands and it’s tough to move in the right direction.

Sit down with Service Operations Specialists to see what they can offer your department – there’s going to be something! Their services include “strategic planning, business analysis, new business models, implementation, training, consulting, express service, brakes & tire service, high tech repair, facility design & planning, and network design”.

Piston Data

Looking for real-live leads to bring in new service customers? Take advantage of the growing number of recalls. Piston Data has the largest database of customers with open recalls by VIN in America. They’ll take you through from acquisition to marketing, bringing lost and inactive customers back to your dealership for another visit.

Tuscany Motor Company

They make big toys for big boys and girls. Tuscany Motor Company makes Ford vehicles even better as part of Ford’s Quality Vehicle Modifier program. Check out the Tonka truck, the Black Ops Edition F250, or the off-road focused FTX trucks. The stop might not be of much use to your dealership, but it can’t be all work and no play at NADA 100, right?

Service Lane EAdvisor

Increase your service advisors’ productivity with Service Lane EAdvisor. It’s a simple device that plugs into the customer’s vehicle dataport, capturing the VIN number, odometer reading, trouble codes, tire pressure readings, and oil life monitor percentage. It shaves minutes off check-in time and is reportedly 100 percent accurate.

For GM dealers especially, this is a stop you can’t miss! Service Lane EAdvisor integrates with GM Workbench and is eligible for co-op dollars in the GM iMR program.

Your Manufacturer’s Booth!

Most auto manufacturers in North America are represented at the NADA 100 Convention and EXPO. It’s a great opportunity to explore current and future models and the features they have in store. Let’s face it – in the service department, you rarely have the chance to experience the new products and innovations. Now’s your opportunity to get on the same level as your sales team members.

In just a few short weeks, the National Automobile Dealers Association will host their convention from New Orleans. This year is the 100th anniversary of NADA so you can be sure it’s going to be an outstanding event. If you’re a leader in your dealership or dealer group, you don’t want to miss this gathering of the automotive industry’s heaviest hitters.

Don’t underestimate its importance for you if you’re a service manager, parts manager or fixed ops director. It’s not all about the sales department. There’s plenty at NADA 2017 for you, for both your department and your professional development.

Mark Fields

Whether you’re a Ford aficionado or not, you’ll want to pay close attention to Ford Motor Company CEO, Mark Fields. Undoubtedly, the hot topics will come up, namely Trump’s promise of cross-border tariffs for importing vehicles. Along with the latest news, trends and developments from North America’s largest carmaker, you’ll learn heaps about the direction your department needs to go for the future.

As fixed ops personnel, you’ll be able to determine how you should navigate the next few years or so for the greatest success. Depending on the technology coming down the pipe, you can equip your store with the tools and technology to address the latest innovations. You can plan to train your technicians or onboard the right staff to meet the particular demands addressed in his talk.

Jim Gaffigan

Notorious funny man, Jim Gaffigan will lighten things up a touch on Friday. He’s a Grammy award-winning comedian who also has written a New York Times bestseller. You’re going to hear about his real-life struggles as a father of five, no doubt mixed with laughter deep from your belly.

Racing to Be the Best

You’ll get to experience an in-depth conversation between Automotive News editor-in-chief, Keith Crain, Penske Corporation chairman, Roger Penske, and famous racecar driver, Helio Castroneves. It won’t be all about the racetrack, though, as Penske is even more successful off the track than on – and that says a lot!

Roger Penske’s successes include truck leasing, retail automotive stores, professional racing teams, and much more. With staffing of more than 50,000 worldwide and revenues in excess of $26 billion annually, there’s bound to be something to learn from this heart-to-heart-to-heart session.

Amy Purdy

If you’ve felt like giving up, or just settling to for mediocrity, that will vaporize after you hear Amy Purdy speak. After winning a battle with bacterial meningitis at the age of 19 that took both her legs, Amy never quit. Instead, she overcame the impossible and is now the top-ranked adaptive snowboarder in the United States. She’s also made the New York Times’ bestseller list with her book, On My Own Two Feet.

Amy’s experiences will leave you speechless and on the edge of your seat. Her never-quit attitude will seep deep into your bones, invigorating you for the challenges you’ll face when you get back home and to work.

Workshops For Everyone

Between keynote addresses, you’ll have the pleasure of attending workshops intended to stretch your skills. Fixed Ops workshops touch on every aspect of your department, and there’s something for every position.

Parts managers and parts advisors will be poked, prodded, and stimulated on topics like inventory control, accessory sales techniques, and communication between the parts and service departments.

Service department personnel from service managers and service advisors to technicians – even collision repair center staff -  can benefit from training modules designed specifically for their position. Hot topics include technician retention, RO analysis, performance analysis and absorption.

Are you attending NADA 2017? Which keynote address are you looking forward to most? Is there one specific topic you want to address, or a problem you hope to solve by attending NADA? Or is it an opportunity to see what the future of the industry holds?

You’ve spent the past year coaching your team and tweaking your process to reach your year-end goals. Countless one-on-one sessions and opportunities for improvement have been discussed and implemented, some with success and some doomed to failure from the start. With the new year beginning, there’s just one thing left to do: forget it all.

The new year, 2017, is a blank slate. Whatever you accomplished in the past twelve months means nothing once you turn the page on your calendar. The successes you’ve experienced and the shortcomings you’ve made it through are just a distant memory, and you’ll have to start all over again.

Shift Your Focus

Your goal throughout the past year stays right there – in the past. Hopefully, you embraced the opportunity to celebrate your victories, because it’s time to get right back into the thick of things. Your focus needs to be on a year from now, working towards the targets you’ve set for 2017. And if you’ve done things well, your forecast for the next year predicts an increase.

No question, it’s tough to shift from the short game view (the year-end push) into the long game again. Like any situation where you’re starting from scratch, it’s about doing the little things right each and every time. Here are some of the basics you can emphasize for a bunch of your service staff.

Service Advisors

Your service advisors are professionals, but they need a refresher in the basics once in a while. It’s about doing what works with consistency; no cutting corners.

Stress the Importance of Customer Greeting

You’ve heard that nearly 2/3rds of your customers feel it takes too long to be greeted in the service drive. Make this year’s goal to drop that number way down. Have your service advisors monitor the service drive to greet customers within the first minute of arrival.

Emphasize Proper Selling Techniques

RO sales improve when sales techniques are properly used. It’s more than just reciting the maintenance schedule – it’s educating the customer on the benefits of the service. And “no” doesn’t mean not to try again.

Follow-up is Crucial

If your customers aren’t kept informed about their vehicle status, they aren’t satisfied. If they aren’t happy when they leave, you probably won’t see them back in your store. Regular customer contact and follow-up is more important than ever.

Support Staff

The unsung heroes of your service department, the cashiers and other support staff, have a critical function in your success.

Make Every Customer Feel Important

The job gets mundane because you see dozens of people every day. But you are the only person in your role the customer sees, so make them feel special. Look the customer in the eye, smile, and ask if there’s anything more you can do for them.

Last Point of Contact

When the customer is on their way out after their visit, you’re typically the last person they see. The last impression can be as important as the first one, so go out of your way to do your role fully. Book the next service appointment, ask how their visit was, and tell them how important the CSI survey is for your dealership’s success.

Technicians

Be Thorough Every Time

A customer won’t bring their car in for no reason – it’s an inconvenience that they don’t want in their life. Do your best to track down their complaint every time, and ask questions if the advisor doesn’t get enough information the first time around.

Walk the Straight and Narrow

The temptation is to sell the farm on every customer to pad your own wallet. That train only rides the track for a short time until your customers go elsewhere. Abide by the maintenance schedule and only sell the items that are needed immediately. Your customers will keep coming back if you’re consistently honest about it.

Service Manager/Fixed Operations Director

Be Consistent

Throughout your department, you need to enforce the same rules and procedures. What’s good for the goose must be good for the gander, so enforce the rules evenly. The temptation is to take it easy on someone who is pulling in the big dollars, even if their attitude or actions don’t abide by your code of conduct. It sets a bad example for everyone else, and you don’t need that negativity in your store.

They are People, Not Numbers

People have bad days, and people make mistakes. As a manager, your role often involves minimizing the mistakes so the good days outweigh the bad. But when mistakes happen, keep in mind that you’ve been guilty of making poor choices too. Acknowledge the mistake on a personal level, without making it about the money it may have cost your store.

As 2017 starts, there’s a long road ahead. Make the most of it by getting back to the basics and building off your successes from last year.

‘It isn't work if you love what you’re doing’. You’ve heard that phrase before, I’m sure. Whether you’ve been at your current job for a year, a decade, or for what feels like a lifetime, you know it’s not always the case. Sometimes, no matter how much you love what you do, there are days that feel like they are more work than you can handle.

The sentiment of the statement rings true. Time seems to go faster when you enjoy your career. Family situations seem more manageable. You tend to find joy in things that previously went unnoticed in your life. In general, you’re happier and increasingly satisfied with your life.

How can you make every day fun and enjoyable? Have you been working in your role so long that it’s always mundane, day in and day out? What about ‘the grind’ when nothing seems to go right and you feel trapped in a barren wasteland of a career? How can you honestly say you love your job once again?

Remember Why You Chose This Career

Fixed operations roles come down to customer service. Every day is packed with interactions between you and your customers, and you and your co-workers. Parts department, service department, and body shop roles are commonly filled with Alpha-type personalities like yourself or at least people who enjoy being around other people. It’s a steady job with fairly reliable income. And in most cases, the pay isn’t bad either.

What was your reason for choosing Fixed Ops? It might be the people you work with who push you to be better at your career. A good group of coworkers and employees – depending on your role – can be the support network to keep your spirits up when you’re having a down day. They can be the sum of the reason you get ready for work in the morning – to spend time with your friends.

It might be the challenging environment. Some people like myself tend to excel under pressure. In the service department and parts department, there’s plenty of pressure on a daily basis to help you thrive. Like they say, diamonds are formed under extreme pressure. If that’s what you love – the thrill of the chase or the opportunity to perform the impossible – you’ve found a forum for it.

Hey, it’s alright if you’re in it for the money. Paychecks can be lucrative at times, especially considering no formal education is required for most dealership employees. If you’re down in the dumps because your income is suffering, you have only one person to blame and who will help you succeed – yourself. Just be sure that if you’re in your current position because of the money, the ‘work’ aspects of your role, especially customer service, don’t fall to the wayside.

Get Your Head Back In It

If you can remember why you once loved your job, you can get back to that place. The work comes in keeping your attitude and motives in check. Once you get back into your groove, doing the things you truly love about your job, the enjoyment factor will fall into place.

• Find the turning point. Can you remember when you stopped enjoying your job? What circumstances unfolded? If you can identify the turning point, you can cut that poison apple out of your diet and get back into a healthy work environment.
• Create a routine. In plenty of cases (some I’ve gone through personally), you start to hate going to work in the morning because you’ve lost your ‘mojo’. You’re out of step. Structure and stability in a routine will help you regain your rhythm.
• Do something great every day. It doesn’t have to be work related either. Doing something great, whether it stretches your comfort zone, improves your life or the lives of others, or takes steps toward achieving a target or dream, will have a great impact on your career. It cultivates a ‘can-do’ attitude and jacks up your positivity. That most definitely will transfer into your work life.

It’s okay to have times of doubt, and it’s totally normal to question your sanity when you live the dealership life. You will have depressing days where you just want to quit. That’s in every job, I hear. The goal is to achieve an overall healthy work-life/home-life balance, and one where the good days outweigh the bad.

If you’ve never liked your job, why are you there? If you hang around for a paycheck but are miserable day in and day out, it’s time to move on. Find a career where, at the end of the day, you can say, “I love my job!”