I am touching on a very sensitive topic for me, and that is "What Benefits Our Customers Going To A Dealership For All There Vehicle Needs" The after market, such as Pep Boys, Firestone,NTB and other large 3rd party automotive repair repair facilities are making millions off our mistakes as dealers. They being what I call 3rd party vendors are no better or more itelligent than us as automotive professional, but they have one thing we do not have! Simple Process. Service managers, Directors need to take notice immediately.
When I have interviewed many well known service professionals they all say the same...YES WE DO MULTI POINT INSPECTIONS ON EVERY VEHICLE!! My response is, pull me 500 tickets and I will be the judge of that. Why do us as dealers have a chinese fire drill the last week of the month to try and hit our goals, why is it there are tons of special order parts on shelves for over 30+days, why do we as dealers put ourselves under so much stress at the end of every month. Its simple! We speculate our staffs are doing what we told them once and followed up for 1 maybe 2 weeks. After that you as managers speculate that its working. YOU FAIL! Speculation doesnt increase your bottom line numbers. Its your fault that your departments aren't profitable. You failed as a manager to hold your staff accountable for their actions and what you expect. Its not a democracy in the world of Process, Its a dictatorship. Teach others to be succesful, teach your service consultants to use the multi point..hold them accountable, show them the difference of a PENCIL WHIPPED multi point and a properly filled out multi point. Makes examples and reference guides for them to follow. When a customer is given a multi point thats all in the GREEN on every visit, if they get one...and then you hit them with $1500 in maintanence out of the blue. You Just Failed. Pep Boys just sent you a thank you letter. When you show a pattern of wear, you and the customer can put together a strategic game plan on how to take care of repairs, convienently and as cost effective as possible. If you feel good about CRUSHING a customer for $1500 in one shot because you failed to educate them throughout there visits, you are in the wrong business. We are relationship builders, not criminals. Most importantly you will never see that customer again.
Dealers!! What gives you the right to charge a customer $19.95+for a brake inspection and on top of that charge the inspection on top of the repair! Are you serious right now. What gives you the right to let your technicians dictate what they want to repair a vehicle. What gives you the right to charge a customer Diag in excess of $129.95+ on top of a mechanical repair on a repair order. If the repair is simple, uncomplicated and common...you have no right to do so. Once again Pep Boys just sent you a thank you letter. How powerful is it to retrieve codes and then call and or talk to ther person and let them know this is going to a intense procedure to determine your issue, but once we find the issue the Diag will be waived as we appreciate your business. All a customer has to do is pull into Auto Zone and a $8.00hr parts person will pull the codes for the customer for FREE, such as AAMCO and other large 3rd party vendors, then the Auto Zone rep speculates what it could be and they sell them a part, tell them where its located and wish them luck. Iam not painting a picture of working for free. Iam telling you to estimate properly, give alittle to get alot...that doesnt mean $$$$$ all the time..its loyalty and repeat business we strive for. Are they upset at Auto Zone... NOT AT ALL, why because they offered a service and gave them something we as dealers have forgot what to do. Treat people like our wives/husbands, before they where our wives/husbands. They where girlfriends/boyfriends and you had to work hard to make her/him your husband and or wife and then its even harder to maintain that relationship. You know why? We forgot how to treat them as the person you wanted to marry and now its just your legal mate. You have become complacent. When that happens you are running around trying to save your month.
The moral of the story is to lead by example..don't do it one day or 2 weeks. DO IT EVERYDAY YOU HAVE THE HONOR OF BEING IN A POSITION TO CHANGE PEOPLES LIVES.
Some quick tips to increasing your business in one week guranteed
- Eliminate voicemail systems and get your service consultants ear pieces, so as they can answer their phone from where ever they are. A potential customer won't be a customer if they get a voicemail, when they have a issue!
- Waive Diag fees on simple items and or incorporate into the bill accordingly
- Inspect your consultants special order books, Iam sure you gave them daily and ask when are they coming in for repair
- Have a meeting EVERY day on Open tickets and why?
- Look at your counsultants daily route sheets and make sure they touched all customers via telephone from the previous days repairs, make sure the customer is satisfied plus a fantastic time to remind them of the survey (which Iam sure you told them prior to leaving)
- A averge service consultant handles 20 people a day, if they can not find the time in a 8-10hr shift for follow up and closing tickets. You either have the wrong people in place or you didnt train them to be succesful
- Hire a $10.00 a hour car washer to not only service wash every vehicle but also remove the floor mat and seat cover and make sure the vehicle has no grease or marks from the technician, and you can double them as a valet
- Create a designated parking area in a well lit area as close to the building as possible for customer pick up
- Do Not charge to install Wipers, Bulbs, Tire plugs. You should have a tech apprentice hence hourly individual in your shop to handle such items.
- Do Not charge to test a customers battery
- Every morning give your consultants DAILY financial goals they need to hit, but don't just give them to them, use it as a training tool to show them how they can.
Ther is just so much more you can do to be better!!!! A few simple items can and will keep you in that position you earned and keep you from the dreaded chinese end of the month fire drill or possible unemployment!
COMING SOON: Service BDC...How to make it affordable and how it will help recapture potential lost sales.
Best Regards,
Richard A. Browne
Fixed Ops Guru/Subject Matter Expert
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