The sum of fixed operations existence is after-sales service and it always has been. There’s literally NO customer that comes through your door that hasn’t purchased their car in some way, shape or fashion. That makes every customer an after-sales customer. If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, it’s to make one critical point: your service department is intrinsically tied to the sales department and everything they do.

The sales process is undergoing a revolution. When a customer now chooses a dealership, it’s forming a relationship. Gone are the days of just paying for a hunk of metal and never returning. The relationship – converting a customer to a life-long client – solely begins when the customer chooses to do business at your store.

A cornerstone in rebuilding the sales experience is keeping the process relevant to the consumer. That means providing a service not just a sales opportunity, communicating in the way they want, and meeting the consumer on their level. If you’re not doing these key items, your sales numbers will wither away while another dealer takes your customers.

Lowered Expectations?

Yet, when the service department is handed the ball, responsible the client’s care until their next vehicle purchase, the same standards aren’t held dear. It’s expected that the client will conform to the service department’s way of operating. Unfortunately, fixed operations has to be revolutionized. Clients have too many options to take their patronage for granted.

Take a look at the service customer check-in process at your dealership. Where is the focus? Who is the most important person in the room? It’s clear to see – it’s usually the service advisor.

• The client has to approach the service advisor.
• The service advisor dictates the services and repairs required.
• The service advisor quotes price and timeline.

It falls just short of kissing the ring. When the focus is on the service advisor, it’s no longer on providing client-focused service. That’s precisely what consumers won’t stand for anymore.

The service department realm has a God complex. It’s assumed that being the authority on your brand’s product repairs and service means you’re the best customer choice. But you can be the best at vehicle repairs WITHOUT being the customer’s choice.

They’ll go where they are comfortable, and where their needs are the focus of the visit.

Advise on Recommendations

Like in the sales department, your service customers don’t want to be ‘sold’. They want their service visit to be beneficial. To do that, you must present service and repair items as a benefit and not a requirement. Explain to the customer how each item will make their life easier, their car more reliable, and so on.

The minute shortcuts are taken and service is about selling as much as possible, you’ll see a productivity decline. It may have worked in the past, but it won’t work today or tomorrow.

Communicate, not Dictate

Your client base wants to be in touch with you on their terms, using the methods they are familiar with. For the sales department, smartphones have been recognized as a leading method of interacting WITHOUT a vocal conversation. Text messages, emails, Snapchats, videos, and photos are all media that can be used, and most of your clients prefer communication in these formats. Don’t force them to just call you or take your phone call – embrace the communication method they prefer.

Meet on the Customer’s Level

The sales department knows that technology is where it’s at. Formats of technology, from video, communication methods, and even advancing DMS systems are intent on creating an authoritative, forward-thinking approach. In the service department, processes devolve into the stone age.

You print everything – the work order has to be signed, estimates are printed, invoices are printed in triplicate. There’s paper everywhere. All this paper is put in your clients’ hands, then gets shoved into the glove box or console and never seen again.

Your clients want simplification. In an age of technology, there’s no reason these documents shouldn’t be available in digital format, at the touch of a button. Companies such as TriPAC have explored the topic of paper in the dealership. They recognize that digital access to documents, from F&I contracts, sales agreements, service contracts, and service invoices can greatly enhance the customer service experience.

Whether it’s shifting your service department’s focus from the staff to the client or seeking opportunities to simplify the service experience, you must find new ways of providing old-school customer-centric service. 

Just today, Bankrate.com issued a press release about credit card usage according to demographics. The results are rather intriguing, so here are a few of the key points:

• 33 percent of those aged 18 to 29 have credit cards
• 55 percent of those 30 to 49 use credit cards
• 62 percent of 50 to 64-year-olds have credit cards
• 68 percent of those over 65 years of age confirm they use a credit card

That’s pretty interesting, isn’t it? As age increases, so does the likelihood that your customer will pay with a credit card. Okay, so maybe you aren’t struck dumbfounded by this revelation. Maybe that’s because you don’t think it matters much to you.

HOW your customer pays is intrinsic to your service department, make no mistake.

Car repairs and maintenance are slotted into the same category as vehicle purchases, home-buying experiences, and student loans. You’ll remember just last decade the United States experienced a recession that lasted for years. Countless families lost their homes, gave up their cars, and defaulted on personal loans that will taint their consumer credit for years. Millennials were watching this all unfold before most of them were even eligible to apply for a credit card.

Now, those millennials are guarding themselves against the horrific experience of debt going bad. They pay for their purchases as they can afford them whether it’s consumer electronics, a condo, a car, or car repairs and maintenance. It also means that major purchases aren’t made on a whim – they are carefully planned out and budgeted ahead of time.

While your “older” clientele (sorry, I’m referring to those 30 and over) is more tolerant to work order add-ons like unexpected repairs and overdue maintenance, the younger generation won’t be as inclined. Moreover, they won’t be able to, and that’s a choice they make.

How it affects your approach

Although millennials are the smallest section of your customer base, they are the fastest-growing. They are the customers you target because you want to capture their business for future decades. You need to relate to their demographic on THEIR terms or they will simply go elsewhere.

A typical service visit at most dealerships involves an appointment, a write-up process, an upsell attempt at the service desk, and an inspection followed by another upsell. With baby boomers, and Gen-X and Yers, you can confidently try to sell additional work at each of these steps. If they can’t really afford the add-ons, no problem – charge it to the credit card.

With millennials, that approach isn’t likely to succeed and will quite possibly frustrate and upset your customer. A customer that pays cash for all their purchases is more apt to respond to pre-booking for future services and repairs. If repairs are urgent, that’s another matter altogether, but for services that can be postponed a week, a month, or until the next service visit, you’re much more likely to get the sale through planning a future visit.

That being said, you can maximize your current maintenance visits with your appointment process. When an appointment is set through either your service staff or your BDC, you have the opportunity to check your customer’s service history and pre-sell their due services. If that’s not done, you have the ability to try again when your appointment reminder calls are placed.

The same goes for recommended services and repairs from the last visit. If anything wasn’t completed last time around, it should be recommended once again during the appointment process.

Place an Emphasis on Maintenance

Because millennials are restricting their credit usage for financial responsibility purposes primarily, it would stand to reason that emphasizing regular maintenance would resonate with them. The idea that expensive future unplanned costs can be avoided with a bit of maintenance today is much more attractive to someone who knows where each dollar goes.

The principle is foundational in your service department but with other generations, you can often get soft on the pre-selling aspect without much consequence. It’s an excellent practice to use regardless of your customer.

Offer Discounts that Engage Millennials

If you know that one of the important financial factors for millennials is that “cash is king”, use that to your advantage. Offer a modest discount or rewards program that piques the interest of cash buyers.

Keep in mind that credit card transactions cost YOU money. It’s typically in the 2.5% of the total transaction charged. That means you save money by dealing in cash purchases, offsetting any discount you may offer your clientele. Keep it small, though, like five percent.

Space Out Expensive Services

Help your customers who don’t rely on credit by spacing out larger maintenance items instead of trying to hit the home run on one big visit. If a 60K service is typically $1,000, break out some of the services that may be performed on the previous visit so the pill isn’t so hard to swallow at one time. Your cash customers won’t have gobs of money on hand to spend at once, so two $500 visits instead of one $1,000 visit will ease the pain.

If you can capture the millennial market early, you’re going to reap the benefits for years to come. That’s not to say you should abandon what you’re doing with the older generations – if it’s successful, keep doing it. Just don’t let the future of your service department –the millennials – slip between your fingers in the process.