What Every Customer Needs To Hear
When you are giving any service recommendation, it’s important to repeat any concerns that your customers have shared back to them. This will not only let your customers know that you were paying attention when they were speaking to you, but will communicate that you truly understand the positions that they are in.
Getting The Customer To Return
As business people, we often get too caught up in sales numbers, gross profit margins, car counts and average work order dollars. Those are the numbers of your business, but what is the heart of your business? What will drive your business for generations to come?
Why Does A First-Time Caller Choose Your Shop?
We do a lot of coaching and training in the auto repair industry and have had the privilege of working with some really amazing people and businesses. Often, we will ask folks we are working with, “Why does a first time caller decide to bring their car into your shop?” Inevitably, we will get a chorus of voices saying, “Price!”
Drive Up Your Service Sales! The #1 Tool For Service Advisors
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to employ some of the best service advisors in the industry, and our company has trained thousands of industry superstars. So, I can tell you from first-hand experience, one of the best tools you can provide your service advisors with is a digital voice recorder.
Using The Web To Enhance Your Customer Service Efforts
As you’ll remember from the January/February issue of Shop Owner, we spent some time talking about the importance of an effective web presence. To get your fair share of motorists using Google to find an auto repair shop, you’ll need to ensure you have an effective website and well-ranked business listings, and that you maximize the value of your shop reviews to enhance your reputation and get better search results.
Service Advisors Need To Be Salespeople
Anyone who has been selling service for any length of time will agree that there are two kinds of customers. The first is the customer who has a history of making good decisions, not just with auto repair, but with most decisions. And then we have the other type of customer: the kind of person who more often than not makes the wrong decisions.
The One Word Your Customers Want To Hear
I had the opportunity to interview more than 40 people for a panel of customers I moderated in Dallas, TX. In many cases, I spent well over an hour with each of these prospective panelists, so I had the opportunity to learn some amazing things. Here’s one you don’t want to miss.
Never Thank Your Customers For Their Business
It was decades ago when I stopped thanking my customers for their business, and here’s why …
Preventing Maintenance Service Sales Objections
In order to prevent maintenance service sales objections, you need to make sure that your customers fully understand the benefits of these valuable services.
Relationships, Not Salesmanship, Make The Sale
You need to understand the products you sell, the features and benefits of the service, and the importance of being honest. But if you really want to go to the top, you need to build relationships with your clientele. Customers must be greeted and treated as close friends or a family member.
Lessons Learned From Amazon.com: Best Practices To Improve Customer Retention And Sales
I love Amazon! Over the past five years or so, I’ve purchased countless items from Amazon: books, DVDs, office supplies, electronics, coffee, assorted gifts and a lot more. In fact, rarely does a week go by without at least one Amazon package arriving from UPS.
Improving Customer Service Beyond The Counter: Leveraging The Web To Generate Leads And Build Customer Relationships
If you’re like most shop owners, when you think about making better use of the Web, you’re likely thinking about things like your website, your Google ranking or maybe even your pay-per-click (PPC) ads. But if one of your business goals is to maximize results, then improving the quality of your interactions with prospective and existing customers becomes key and you’ll find that websites and PPC ads are just the beginning when it comes to what the Web has to offer.