I’ve talked in past blogs about how service departments, while the top revenue producers in most dealerships, are typically the least visible in marketing – whether that’s traditional, digital, or even on the dealership’s website.  

Well, while it is important to ensure a healthy online presence for your service department, there is one key component that needs further discussion as I have not yet mentioned it very much -- online review sites. It is of vital importance as they are in fact the largest consumer influencer in deciding where to service their vehicle.  

Would you hire a contractor to fix your roof without checking their reviews? What about something as small as buying a new toaster? These days, most consumers search the web for information about whatever it is they are looking for to see what other people have to say about it prior to making a final decision. And that holds true in the automotive industry both in sales AND service. Yet most dealerships focus review-building efforts on the sales side, even though their service drive sees anywhere from 4 to 10 times the number of customers every day.  

According to marketing agency, Vendasta, 92 percent of consumers now read online reviews – up from 88 percent in 2014. An ongoing review strategy is very important as 44 percent stated that a review must have been written within a month of their looking at it in order to be relevant!  

And, perhaps even more important, 23 percent will visit the business after reading positive reviews. Imagine if close to 25 percent of all people looking to get their car serviced in your area chose you… that would make for a pretty strong customer acquisition effort, wouldn’t you agree? 

Online reviews in general help your dealership’s overall reputation. By asking both sales and service customers for reviews you exponentially increase the number of reviews consumers can read. If a positive experience was had, your star rating on Google and other sites will increase, which benefits all departments in the dealership.  

When it comes to vehicle service, there are three primary concerns a consumer will have: 1) Are they going to spend more than at another shop; 2) Will the experience be good; and 3) Can they trust your dealership not to upsell unnecessary repairs? 

So, keep these in mind and work on these points. Cultivate positive experiences and then ask your customers to leave reviews about their service experiences. As a result, that anonymous customer seeking a place to service their vehicle will be more likely to see current reviews, trust them and bring their business to you, over a competitor.

Service customers frequently decline some, or all the recommended services, which can be very frustrating to advisors. While it shouldn’t be a service advisor’s job to “find” things to recommend, it’s certainly their job to notify and counsel customers about any areas identified by a multi-point inspection that need to be addressed. However, with the huge amount of money that is left on the table in service departments everywhere, we could certainly be doing a better job of handling these service declines.

In my experience, working with hundreds of service departments over the years, I have found three key reasons customers decline service and some simple handlings that can help, as follows:

• 1. Trust: Poor consumer perception continues to be a problem at dealerships, justified or not. A high percentage of consumers believe recommendations are simply the dealer (or repair shop) trying to sell them services or products they don’t really need.

Perhaps this is due to a lack of knowledge, or perhaps it’s a simple matter of believing old media reports and thus a poor perception. To overcome this, it helps to go above and beyond in your explanations of any needed service. Simply telling the customer isn’t always enough. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Seeing is believing.” Well, this applies to your service customers. Show the customer what is wrong through pictures or videos. You can easily do this with most smartphones and can then explain and show the customer so they can see it with their own eyes with a simple, “This is what yours looks like. And this is what it should look like.”

In addition, consider doing short videos that explain key repairs and Frequently Asked Questions and post them on your website. This type of content is also great for SEO. A 2013 Google study found that each month, 70 million searches on Google are for aftermarket services. Drivers are also looking online for help on changing oil filters and brake fluid, as well as fixing fuel pumps, and this will only have grown over the past few years.

And, as the study states that 43 percent of drivers perform a search online or on a smartphone when considering where to service their vehicle, it’s more important than ever to connect with drivers whenever and wherever they are searching for their next service.

• 2. Too Expensive: Many customers believe your prices are too high. They could trust you, and understand that they need the services, but are unsure of your pricing, want to price shop the services, or leave to get help from a relative or friend.

The perception that franchised dealer service is more expensive than independents is commonplace, yet there are many benefits for consumers in having their vehicle serviced at a dealership. Service advisors would be wise to have some way to prove value and that your prices are fair. Work out your service department value propositions: OEM parts, technicians trained by the OEM, etc. Some dealerships even take service pricing transparency to the next level and shop the competition for the customer and publish it on their website. Here’s an example:

This transparency certainly helps build consumer trust and could potentially handle any need or desire for the customer to decline simply because they want to shop prices. Note that this chart also clearly lists the dealer’s value propositions and benefits. It clearly illustrates why servicing the vehicle there is the right choice.

• 3. Financing and Payment Options: The customer may trust you and believe your price is fair, but simply doesn’t have the money to pay for the services. While it may seem to be the one objection that can’t be overcome, it can actually be the EASIEST of the three to handle. How? Ensure that every way a customer COULD choose to pay is available to them.

Whether that means cash, traditional credit cards, checks, service financing or Apple and Samsung Pay, the point is to provide your customers with every possible payment option. After all, today it is all about the customer experience, right?

A simple example would be if your dealership doesn’t take American Express, Diner Club or Discover. Perhaps those are the only methods of payment the customer likes to use or has available to pay for the repairs.

In addition, service-financing that breaks the amount down into affordable monthly payments, or perhaps offers 60-days interest-free, can be attractive to a customer who doesn’t want to max out their credit cards, or who lacks available credit.

The above three points do not take much to implement. Service advisors can quickly be trained to handle these situations effectively if you provide them with the resources and tools to do so. As a result, you should see happier customers, decreasing service declines and increasing service revenue.

According to an article in Tire Business, it is essential for automotive service repair facilities to adopt and embrace technology. Last year was the first year Millennials outnumbered Baby Boomers and GenX in the workplace, representing 35 percent of the workforce vs. GenX at 33 percent and Baby Boomers at 29 percent, and that percentage will only increase.

Millennials have grown up with technology that enables one-click ordering, instant access to information and just about any convenience you can imagine. They simply expect businesses to accommodate those wishes and give their loyalty to companies that do.

With five generations in the marketplace, it can be difficult for dealerships to tailor their advertising to everyone. However, a good commonality for all generations is convenience. It doesn’t matter which generation a consumer belongs to; time and convenience are important to them when choosing where to spend their money – and that’s especially true in the automotive service industry.

For instance, millennials are used to convenient payment methods including Apple and Samsung Pay. They like to be able to pay for items with their phones or watches. It is convenient, simple, and they don’t even need a wallet. Today, many consumers would rather load up their Starbucks account to pay via smartphone than open their wallets to slide a card. In fact, according to the Starbucks COO, 25 percent of all transactions at Starbucks are via mobile payment!

As technology and payment convenience become more important to consumers, those dealerships that fail to adapt and offer service customers all available payment options – cash, traditional credit, mobile payments and financing – will increasingly find consumers leaving with a less than satisfactory experience – and today it’s all about the customer experience.

Of course, payment options are only a small piece of customer convenience. It extends to every aspect of the transaction including ease of scheduling, speed of transaction, delivering the vehicle repair within the promised time-frame and the quality of work performed.

If you can master all of these things and provide a friction-less experience to your customers on THEIR terms, you should find that they appreciate your service and return. And that’s not all – they will also recommend you to others and bring family and friends. The younger generations are more in tune with the power of word-of-mouth and online reviews – they are more than willing to share their experiences with the world.

Technology exists that can decrease friction in every area of the sales and service end of the car-buying experience. Consider whether it’s better to gain the business at the convenience of the customer, or lose the business because you don’t have the technology or options in place that your customers need and demand.

While there are many different types of service repairs – warranty, recall, etc. –undoubtedly the king of them all, when it comes to profit, is customer pay repair orders.

Of course, getting a customer to pay for that oil change they came in for isn’t difficult at all. However, when that same customer is presented with unexpected service recommendations found during the multi-point inspection, the degree of acceptance all of a sudden declines with the increase in repair order costs.

Many service advisors are very knowledgeable about their trade. However, they still encounter resistance from customers. They tend to be one of, if not the busiest employees in the dealership. Wearing that sales hat to upsell any needed service recommendations can be tough, purely due to the pressures of time.

Here are five suggestions that can help get results and ease some of the pressure in the art of upselling. Yes, this might add a little time into the process for a very time-starved service advisor. But, once you get the hang of it, it will not be that much time. In fact, these processes tend to lead to a FASTER process as there should be less customer upsets due to any misunderstanding, happier customers and faster approval of recommendations.

1. Be Transparent – Many service advisors fail to get work accepted purely because the customer doesn’t understand the recommendations. What does 2/32 on a brake pad mean to the customer? Or what the heck is a ball joint or timing belt? It can sometimes seem to the customer that the advisor is speaking a foreign language. Visual presentations tend to work much better. Consider showing the customer what is wrong, either in person, or via photo or video. It’s much easier for a customer to comprehend the need for new brake pads when you can say “Mrs. Smith, here is your brake pad and here is a new brake pad. See the difference?”
2. Give Detailed Explanations – Showing the customer what’s wrong is only part of the process. After showing the customer the brake pad, explain how the pads embrace each side of the disc and, when the customer pushes on the brake pedal, the two pads apply force to the disc which slows the vehicle down.
3. Create Urgency – Continue by explaining why it is urgent to get the repair done. As those pads get worn the brakes get less effective and, if not replaced, can cause even more damage. Left as is, they will wear down completely and impact the disc, which would then also need replacement. This helps the customer recognize what the advisor recommends is a safety issue and that failure to repair the item could lead to more costly repairs in the future.
4. Offer Pricing and Payment Options – The second major reason service recommendations get declined is lack of available resources to pay. Whether the customer comes right out and says they cannot afford it or not, most people turn down work because they either can’t afford it at all, or can’t afford it RIGHT NOW. By offering your customers every payment method possible, you increase the likelihood the customer will accept more work on the spot, rather than walking out the door shopping your prices, or procrastinating until their next visit.
5. Follow up – Last, but certainly not least, follow up with all of your service customers after the visit, regardless of whether the service recommendations were completed or not. Why? The follow-up provides two opportunities: First, if the customer did accept the work and the repair was completed, you have the opportunity to check in with them on the status of their vehicle and thank them for their business. This continues the trust and rapport-building process and contributes to customer experience and loyalty. Second, if the customer declined the service, it gives you a second opportunity to check on the status of the customer’s vehicle and invite them back in for the declined service. This call will reinforce the need for and urgency of the repair, which could easily sway the customer and build trust.

Give these a try and see if your customer pay revenue increases while building trust and rapport with customers -- ultimately leading to a better customer experience and well-earned loyalty.

Sitting in the service department waiting room staring at the clock waiting for your vehicle to be repaired isn’t the most fun thing in the universe. It’s not quite like going to the dentist, but for some people it is a close second. Perhaps that’s the allure of the Jiffy Lubes of the world – the promise of the 30-minute oil change.

What is a dealer supposed to do to make a customer’s wait a little better? Dealers have tried many things, from installing cafes, televisions and, in some cases, movie theaters. These can be expensive investments and – unless someone is waiting a long time for service – they may not be interested, or have enough time to watch a whole movie.

I came across an interesting article on this topic that was recently carried by Automotive News. According to the article, one dealer may have found a novel answer -- pool tables, pinball machines and classic arcade games.

A New England dealer was moving house and had no place for his pool table and video arcade machines. So, he decided to put them in his dealerships. To his surprise, he found customers loved them, the wait for their vehicles seemed to pass faster, and it was a more pleasant experience.

When customers enjoy their experience in your service department, they’re more likely to tell their networks and recommend your dealership, which is important in this age of infinite customer choice for their service needs. A great customer experience can even overcome a slightly higher RO -- if value and trust has been built by that experience.

Maybe Pac-Man is all it takes to entertain a customer? Well, it’s perhaps not such a bad idea. According to the article, Dave & Buster’s is popular because the games entertain adults. The video game industry runs in the billions and the average age of a video gamer is 31.

This dealer stumbled upon an excellent way to engage customers. Whether you think this is a good idea or not, consider that the underlying problem this solved is one that’s similar at every dealership – boredom.

Simply having a television and free coffee is no longer enough to entertain today’s customers. Think outside-the-box and be a little creative – like this dealer did. Consider finding some fun and engaging activities for your waiting service customers. It could be just the thing your dealership service department needs to liven up the guests and transform their experience. And it does not have to cost a lot. In fact, it cost the New England dealer nothing at all.

It is at the very least something worth thinking about as it could result in additional profit and revenue through more service business and – potentially – due to happy customers -- some brand advocates.

According to a recent report from the JPMorgan Chase Institute, many Americans need more than a year to recover from a $1,500 financial hit.

That’s apparently the approximate amount nearly 40 percent of American families paid to cover what they describe as extraordinary medical, auto repair or tax bills annually — requiring more than a year to recover their financial footing, with potentially serious impact to their physical and emotional health.

 For this study, the JPMorgan Chase Institute examined anonymized data from about 250,000 Chase checking account customers (weighted for age and income to reflect national averages) from January 2013 to December 2015

I am sure you have seen many ROs that are $1,500 or more. So, what is that customer to do when faced with an unexpected auto repair bill, if they happen to be one of that 40 percent who simply cannot handle the financial burden? You could argue that they should simply use a credit card. However, thirty two percent of Americans already have high credit card debt and may not have the available credit to cover the expense.

The irony of traditional credit cards is that you can get credit when you don’t need it, but can’t when you do. Someone carrying high credit balances is less likely to be approved by that OEM credit card your dealership offers.

Consider offering more payment options. Many dealerships simply offer the normal cash, debit or major credit card (including OEM branded ones) to their customers. There are, however, other alternatives that exist for service financing. The more options provided to the customer, the more likely they will accept the repairs based on the terms that best suit their needs. This then relieves them of any anxiety due to unexpected repair costs, and provides your dealership with the service revenue.

It’s the same in car sales -- all that matters is to help that customer buy a car on terms that work for them, within their financial budget and constraints. Customers that are offered alternative payment methods – such as low or zero interest short-term financing – tend to perceive that offering as a helpful act by the dealership, which helps create a relationship and a loyal customer.

While dealers spend a lot of money on marketing, often, most of that spend is directed at the sales department. But what about service? The largest revenue source for the dealership should certainly be worthy of a decent percentage of that budget. However, sadly that’s not usually what happens.

How can service directors consistently get their message out to new customers while also staying top of mind with existing customers?

The answer for many service departments has been to include service specials as part of regular sales advertising, on their websites or, at times, through mailers. These offers are often loss leaders, designed to get a customer into the dealership for a chance to upsell them.

When that customer does come in on that $19.99 oil change coupon, and is presented with service recommendations that substantially increase the RO, I am sure you find many that decline. Frequently this is not because they don’t believe they need the repairs, but simply because they can’t afford them. What do you do with that customer then? Mostly, that money is simply left off the table and the customer walks out the door, with no way to pay for the service.

Imagine if financing didn’t exist for vehicle purchases. Chances are that very few would ever be able to own one, despite the desire to do so. The same situation applies to service repairs. I bet that a good number of your customers are declining service repairs not because they don’t want them, or think them unnecessary – but for the simple reason that they cannot afford them.

There’s nothing more frustrating than a customer declining service that really is necessary. Consider offering multiple ways for the customer to pay for service repairs. This opens the door for the customer to choose the method that works best for them. Integrate financing options into each process touchpoint: From the moment the customer sets the appointment online, to the moment the customer pulls into your service drive, train your advisors to inform customers that financing options are available to them. The customer is then primed with the knowledge and may not be quite so hasty to decline the recommendations, opting instead to explore financing as a viable option. Copy the successful practices of department stores. Whenever the customer is ready to pay for repairs, train your employees to ask whether they would like to pay with cash, check, credit card or financing. Department stores use this process for a simple reason, it works.

Many dealerships aren’t aware of just how effective multiple financing options are in decreasing service declines. While some OEMs have lines of credit available, these are typically reserved for tier one credit customers and may not be available to the majority. There are alternative financing options that extend credit to customers with less than perfect credit. Investigate and adopt those that work best for your dealership. A customer may not be able to pay a $1,500 repair bill all at once. But can probably afford $75 per month.

In this age of instant information, the single most neglected area for most dealership websites is the service department. Yet, in a 2013 Google study, “The Road to Winning Drivers: What Drivers Want in Automotive Aftermarket Service,” it was found that each month, 70 million searches on Google were for aftermarket services. And that is sure to have increased exponentially over the last couple of years.

Some dealerships have a “schedule an appointment” feature, along with current factory service specials. And, if the consumer is lucky, a few service coupons. However, other than that, most consumers have to turn to sources other than their local dealer’s website for information about their vehicle’s service needs.

This is where your competition is killing you! Look at many independent service facility websites and you will find robust information regarding the services they offer, along with some pricing for more basic maintenance services. Many offer blog articles and/or videos explaining the importance of different services as well.

Consider updating your website so that your service department presents online just as well as it does offline. Find a robust online appointment scheduling software that integrates well with your website, as well as internally in the shop. Have financing options highlighted. Feature some service specials.

And what about when you present the recommendations to the customer? This is a perfect time to include information about financing so the customer has an easy way to figure out how to pay for those repairs.

In sales advertising, low payments, low interest and low prices dominate most dealerships messaging, while service messaging is traditionally limited to low price loss-leader deals. Imagine reaching that customer that has just visited a competitor, received news that they need an $800 repair and simply can’t afford it. Then they see your dealership’s ad offering financing for repairs. Do you think that consumer might be interested?

Regardless of whether you offer financing for service, simply ensuring that service-related messaging hits your customers at every possible touchpoint can help keep your service department top-of-mind.

A recent study by Forrester quantified the monetary effect of increasing customer experience scores by a single percent. The results were quite astonishing.

A single one-point increase in customer experience can mean as much as an additional $873 million per year in revenue for auto manufacturers, and incremental revenue per customer of $48.50.

How many customers does your dealership see in a year? What if you could add an additional $48.50 in revenue to each and every one of them? Luxury brands make out slightly better with an increased per customer revenue of $104.16.

Let’s look at a modest store’s traffic and try to quantify that. If a store is selling 100 cars per month, that equals 1,200 cars per year. Add in service traffic and that dealership could easily be talking about 6,000 transactions per year (if you consider a ratio of service to sales customers of 4:1 -- and that’s probably on the conservative side). That equates to additional store revenue of $291,000 per year, without changing a thing. I’m sure you can imagine what those numbers would mean for your specific store, based on your sales and service volume.

Now that we know the potential financial implications of a SINGLE-point increase, imagine the exponential increase which could be created with a multiple point rise. You may be thinking, “This is all great, but how do I increase my customer experience scores without increasing staff or investing in building improvements?”

 Here are a few suggestions:

1. Be friendly - Take a page from one of the most popular companies with the most loyal brand followers in the world – Disney. Disney trains all employees to understand that when interacting with guests they are “on-stage,” which is why they name their employees “Cast Members.” The idea behind this is that every guest in the park is important, and each “Cast Member” should remember to always interact in a friendly, courteous manner and be as helpful as possible.
   
   Customers should feel welcomed and appreciated. If you do nothing else, this simple mindset – reinforced through training and accountability – could help increase your customer experience score. Employees should always have time to interact with customers in meaningful ways, without the customer feeling as if they are a nuisance, or that the employee has more important things to do. The only customer that matters at any point in time is the one standing in front of you.
    
2. Make it easy – It’s easy for customers to get frustrated with a dealership when there is friction between your goals and how you go about achieving them. Whether this means streamlining your processes, analyzing customer experiences, or assessing individual employee interactions, the goal should be to ensure each department and employee is able to perform their tasks in the most efficient and customer friendly way possible.
   
   Accomplishing this creates a better customer experience and makes your dealership more efficient, allowing for more productivity from everyone. This also creates less frustrated and more engaged employees, who then service your customers better – again improving the customer experience.
    
3. Technology – This could mean one of two things – learning to use the technology you already have more effectively through training and enforcement, or identifying pain points in your dealership’s processes and finding technology that can solve it for you. Technology is only effective if it is used properly and consistently. Make sure that all your staff are trained on each piece of technology your dealership uses and create processes and assessments so they use it effectively.
    
4. Options – In general, people like options when it comes to spending money. Whether you’re shopping for a television, a blender, or considering a larger purchase such as a house or new vehicle, every single retailer will make it as easy as possible for you to complete that financial transaction.

With the advent and adoption of technologies such as ApplePay, consumers want to pay in the way that’s most convenient for them. Checks and cash are not used as often as they were. In fact, many people don’t even carry cash, preferring to use debit or credit cards. And, there will be times when the customer wants to transact with you – especially for needed repairs – but may not have available credit or cash on hand. Having alternatives such as an OEM credit card or repair financing is simply another way to make it easy for customers to do business with you and increase revenue.

Increasing your customer experience by just one-point shouldn’t be out of the question. It will take effort, buy-in, training and, in some cases, enforcement. However, in the end, your dealership will see increased profits, customer retention and loyalty.

There are a lot of choices for consumers as far as where to take their vehicle for maintenance. And, while consumers are required to visit franchise dealerships for warranty and recall work, the majority of service revenue lies in regular maintenance. That is why a great and consistent customer experience is so important each and every visit. These days your dealership has to stay top of mind with your customers – and keep them happy.

I just read an interesting blog on the consumer site techfeatured.com, which reports that many service advisors are ill-equipped to advise consumers on what’s best for their vehicle. With a claimed (according to the blog) 80 percent turnover in advisors, the blog tells the story of a customer that visited a Honda dealership for their first oil change at 7,500 miles. The customer requested the tires be rotated since, per the manufacturer, that would be due at 10,000 miles, yet he wouldn’t need to come back for the next service until 15,000 miles. The service advisor simply brushed it off, telling the customer it was too early to rotate the tires. This caused the customer to become frustrated as he was simply trying to ensure that he maintained his vehicle per the manufacturer’s scheduled maintenance.

It doesn’t matter who was right or wrong, really. Perhaps the vehicle could go 7,500 more miles without a tire rotation – 5,000 more than the manufacturer recommended. And it probably could for a vehicle that new. The failure here resides in the service advisor’s inability to advise and communicate with the customer in a way that made the customer feel understood. The customer needed to be able to trust what the service advisor had to offer in terms of advice. By brushing the customer off, it simply left the customer confused and, potentially, untrusting of the advisor and, by default, the dealership.

Hey, I know that a service advisor has one of the busiest jobs on the planet and it is tough managing the time they can take with each customer. However, it would not have taken much time to simply explain tire tread along with wear and tear, visually inspect the tires and educate the customer.

The customer should be able to explain their vehicle’s problems in layman’s terms and the advisor should be able to know the questions to ask to get the “who, what, where and when” information out of the customer to properly document the repair order for the technician.

Can all of your advisors do that? Consider doing a mystery shop to see how your advisors do. And they perhaps some training is in order.

The holiday season is upon us. That means extra money is needed for things such as traveling, presents and decorations. This time of year is typically when an increasing number of consumers find themselves in a tight financial situation. And, when it comes to unexpected vehicle repairs, lack of funds can put a damper on their holiday spirit. Most customers aren’t going to forgo gifts for their children to accept service recommendations. It isn’t because they don’t think their vehicle should be maintained, it’s simply that they don’t have the disposable income available. Credit cards use rises more during the holidays than any other time which can leave little available credit for those vehicle repairs. This can mean a decrease in accepted service recommendations at this time of year as consumers put off any needed repairs until after the holidays.

If your dealership offers additional sources of financing it can provide consumers with a convenient way to keep their car well maintained without dipping into any cash or credit they need to celebrate the holidays with their families. But it is not enough to just have the financing available. At this time of year it is more important than ever to ensure that every customer is aware that your dealership has multiple payment options available.

1. Add messaging to your website on both the home page and on the service page informing customers that your dealership has financing options available for repairs. If available, post a link to the application for service financing to help expedite the process and help the customer to get pre-approved. You’d be surprised how many customers– even those not necessarily in a position of need – will take you up on a short-term, no interest loan, simply for convenience.
    
2. Include information about your payment options in your service appointment confirmation and service reminder emails.
    
3. The service manager should train each service advisor in how to inform customers that financing is available whenever service recommendations are presented. Ensure that the service advisors know not to prejudge any customer based on appearance, but that they should inform every customer. This could mean the difference between those service recommendations being accepted or declined.
    
4. Install signage in your service department waiting room and at the cashier informing customers that financing is available. In addition, train every cashier to include financing as a payment option upon checkout – cash, credit, debit or financing. Also train cashiers in how to help a customer apply and ensure they can answer typical questions the customer may ask.

Offering financing as an additional payment option for consumers is a simple way to increases service recommendation approvals. It provides your customers a way to keep their car maintained properly without sacrificing any of their holiday plans. Customers who do take you up on the financing will appreciate it and this extra option could cause them to choose you the next time they need new tires or funds to help cover some other auto repair bills for themselves or another family member. Keep the holidays the “most wonderful time of the year” for your customers. They will leave that much more satisfied – leading to increased loyalty and profitability – a win-win.