Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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industry expert / service The Primary Mission of a Service Advisor Don Reed is the CEO of DealerPro Training Solutions. Reed has 26 years of success in the automobile business as a dealer, general manager, sales manager, parts and service manager, service advisor and salesperson. DealerPro Training specializes in dealership service and sales solutions. Don can be reached (888) 553-0100. DReed@AutoDealerMonthly.com service consultants and a host of other titles. I'm referring, of course, to the person who is supposed to be "serving the customer" in our service departments. I really don't care what title we give them, but I do believe it is imperative we have a clear understanding of what exactly their primary mission is. Simply put, the primary mission of a service advisor is to ensure that every customer is driving a safe and reliable vehicle. O When you finish reading this article, please hand each of your advisors a blank sheet of paper and ask them to write down the definition of their mission in dealing with each and every customer. Additionally, why not do the same with your service manager, parts manager and fixed operations director? Now, transfer their answers to a single sheet of paper and compare with my mission statement as outlined above and identify how many included the words "safe" and "reliable." I'm guessing you got several different answers that were not a match. If that's the case, then one must wonder why it is we have different mission statements given by employees who share the same job title and even their direct supervisors. Doesn't this mission statement also apply to technicians? Shouldn't they do their very best to make sure every customer 34 ver the last several decades, we have called them service advisors, service writers, ASMs, is driving a safe and reliable vehicle? Wouldn't you agree that every customer would like to know they are in fact driving a safe and reliable vehicle? I believe your answer is yes for all three questions. If so, then how do we accomplish our mission? With these seven simple processes: • Build customer relationships through a proper meet-and-greet • Train the customer on proper maintenance using maintenance menus (reliability) • Complete a thorough vehicle health check by doing a 27-point inspection (safety) • Communicate effectively with the customer by giving feature/benefit presentations • Let the customer decide, yes or no • Follow up on customer-declined repairs • Hold everyone accountable to the mission Let's take a closer look at those first three steps. Build Customer Relationships Have you trained your fixed operations team in both the service and parts departments on how to properly meet and greet a customer? It should be no different than your sales department. Here's an example: "Good morning. Welcome to ABC Motors. My name is Don. What brought you into our dealer- ship today?" Fewer than 20 simple words to memorize that will accommodate any customer, versus phrases like "Can I help you?" or "Do you have an appointment?" or "Need something?" or "What can I do for you?" The customer has to like us if we want to build their trust, so how about we give them our name along with a big wel- come? Give the customer a compliment regarding their vehicle, such as, "This is one of our most popular models," or "You really have a clean car." Also look for decals and bumper stickers that will provide topics that are obviously important to the customer like, "I see your son is an honor student—I'm sure you are very proud," or "I see you are a fan of State University." (Avoid commenting on political stickers.) Next, verify the primary item and review their service history or lack thereof, and go to the next step. Train the Customer on Proper Maintenance (Reliability) Having a maintenance menu is nothing new by any means, but actually present- ing one to a customer and explaining the manufacturer's requirements and recom- mendations is a totally foreign concept to far too many advisors. Have your advisors been trained on the OEM requirements and recommendations? Have you trained your advisors on local area driving conditions that warrant additional services? Do your advisors understand that these presentations are not optional and as such, must be presented and explained to every customer in order to maintain a safe and reliable vehicle? Here are some of the excuses I hear from advisors: