Let's start at the time of the write up. Ask yourself this question: "Do my service advisors dress the same as my salespeople?" If the answer is no, then ask yourself why not? I was recently in a full line GM store where the salespeople wore dress slacks and golf shirts with the dealership's logo embroidered on the chest. The advisors wore blue jeans with everything from tee shirts to flannel shirts with the shirttail out. Why do dealers allow this to happen? The average salesperson gets maybe three sales ups per day, whereas the average advisor gets 15 or more! Who do you think has the most impact on your dealership's image? Solution: All advisors dress the same as the salespeople!
Next, let's think about how our customers are greeted on the showroom floor: "Good morning, welcome to ABC Motors. What brings you into our dealership today?" Question: "How do your advisors greet their customers?" Do they ask questions that call for a "yes" or "no," or do they ask a question that gives them the answer to the first of the "three C's", called the CONCERN, such as "How may I help you?" or "What brings you into our service department today?" Solution: All advisors should meet and greet their customers the same as the salespeople do.
If "Fixed right the first time" is important to your CSI score, then your advisors must be very thorough in asking the right questions to gain all the necessary information that will enable the technician to properly diagnose the cause of the concern the first time he inspects the vehicle. Here are some examples of recent repair orders that I have personally reviewed: "Fix noise," "check A/C," "check for hard start." Repair orders like these do not provide the technicians with the kind of information that they need to perform an accurate and timely diagnosis of the vehicle's condition. Solution: All advisors must be trained to ask questions that begin with the words who, what, where, when, how and tell me about, in order to give the technician all the information he needs, which of course means the technician will then become more productive for the dealership and himself.
Implement the three solutions we have just reviewed and you're on your way to recession proofing your dealership as well as increasing your owner retention. Is this starting to sound like "The Road to a Sale?"
Vol 2, Issue 4