Prepare The Next Customer Visit At Vehicle Pick-Up
Over the past few months, we’ve talked about how you can leverage web technologies to enhance customer service, increase customer satisfaction and improve your bottom line in the process.
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?
Looking To Drive Up Technician Productivity?
For decades management trainers have told shop owners that it’s good to have some “healthy competition” between their employees. Here at Elite, we agree. Competition can drive personal development, it can drive productivity, and there is no doubt that it can drive profits. Ironically, it can also take all three in the wrong direction.
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.
Are Your Techs Asking You For Recommendations?
When your techs come to you and tell you they’re stumped, if you give them a recommendation, you’ll lose regardless of the outcome. If you solve the problem, you’ve sent a message to your techs that you’re more knowledgeable than they are, which is not going to build confidence in your employees. But then it gets worse; you’ve also taught them to come to you when they’re up against a wall. This is a lose-lose situation, in that if your recommendation doesn’t solve the problem, the tech will come back to you looking for your next recommendation because you now own the problem.
Let’s Clean Up: Shop Appearance Speaks Volumes About Image And Professionalism To Your Customers
Let’s talk about cleanliness. And, I mean more than just surface cleaning. Ever walk into a business that looked clean initially, but really wasn’t? You could just tell. The next thing you know, you’re looking more closely under the tables and chairs, and then it’s pretty obvious that it’s not very clean at all.
What Does Shuttle Service Say About Your Business? Consider A Hybrid Or Electric Vehicle
Offering a shuttle service for your customers provides some great opportunities. Many times, customers drop by with an unexpected issue and have not planned for a ride back home or to work. By providing a shuttle service, you give your customer added value that may help them decide to leave the vehicle for repair and, hence, provides you with the opportunity for revenue.
Brand Building: Plan For The Future … Now!
The great thing about a strong brand is that it works very hard in portraying exactly who you are and what your unique offer is. Ideally, when customers quickly see your logo, they should get a quick take on who you are as a business. So, yes, a logo is a real workhorse. But it does not work by itself. Designed well into your marketing materials, it should complement your message.
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.