Welcome back. Last session we talked about the specific areas we communicate with customers during our daily job responsibilities. Today we are going to look at How we present our business, ourselves, technical capabilities and our facilities.
Let’s start with our own personal appearance. We have an expression here which I have always subscribed to. Look Sharp Be Sharp! If you have a dress code, follow it. If you have uniforms, be sure you are wearing a clean one and it looks fresh.
If you do not have a uniform decide how you are going to look. Be sure it is professional, clean and appropriate for your customer base.
Often overlooked when talking about appearance is attitude. You wear you most important item on your face.
A welcome smile and cheerful greeting goes along way to diffuse new or uncomfortable situation. A positive attitude is contagious.
Beyond your own appearance is that of the facility. Customers see more than you think they see. In many cases they may not know what they are looking at but they are forming an opinion. To the extent possible a clean and neat shop should be displayed. If you have no control over this, then limit the areas or time you have a customer exposed to it.
Your work area is within your control. Is it neat, organized?
Is there a place for the customer to sign a document?
Can they see a screen if you need to show it to them? What about your point-of-sale items? Are they current and do they look fresh? Do you have visuals to further explain repairs or part explanations?
If you have these great, be sure they look good and are not shop worn.
If you are lucky enough to work in an environment that is customer friendly, use it. Show them the benefits of all your equipment. Call out expensive items that the business owner has invested in to give them the best repair possible.
Talk about your technicians’ certifications and training.
Communicate your ability to source quality parts in quick time. Make them feel confident they have come to the right repair facility.
In general, make a list of all the positive things about your shop and if appropriate, find a reason to expose your customers to them.
Please join us next time when we dive into the customer write-up experience. This video series is presented by The Group Training Academy.
