Attentive, Honest Service Providers Can Mean a Tangible Difference in Your Bottom Line
For automotive dealerships and service facilities, the service advisor is truly the face of the company for most customers. They are waiting when cars pull up in the service lane, and, oftentimes, they are the only person customers speak to before the bill is paid.
According to Forbes, about 40% of a dealership’s overall income can originate from the service department, and vehicle servicing accounts for more than $200 billion in revenue annually in the United States.
With that kind of potential impact, it’s essential that service advisors leave a positive impact on customers. Here are five ways the service advisors on your team can continue to help you build the type of customer loyalty you need for sustainable growth:
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Be Knowledgeable About the Products
A trusted, well informed service advisor will know how to provide customers with options best suited to their vehicle. That means if an SUV pulls up, he or she should know, for example, at least the basics on which type of oil type is best for that SUV and at least one brand recommendation. For example, if your facility keeps Petra in stock, your service advisor should know. Any information they can give to customers to help them make the best decisions will go a long way.
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Fully Understand the Failure First
Customers who bring their cars in for service are usually already operating at a higher level of stress than normal. Instead of simply relaying information from the service department to the customer, take the time to understand why a repair needs to take place. An explanation will go much further than an invoice when it comes to creating the trust a customer needs to do business.
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Be Willing to Take Extra Steps
A customer may not know what’s wrong with their vehicle or the best option when it comes to choosing a product, but they will know when their service advisor is faking it. Service advisors must be willing to search a vehicle’s service history, ask other advisors, speak with technicians, even search owner’s manuals to find answers for customers. If they don’t, those same customers will search for answers somewhere else.
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Make an Effort in Conversation
The best service advisors are not necessarily the men or women who know the most about the products; they’re the ones customers like. And in almost any industry, customers like people they can talk to and trust. It’s essential that service advisors deliver information confidently, kindly and in a language customers can understand. That could mean a few extra minutes to explain the benefits of performing a service, but it could also mean a returning customer.
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Meet the Customer Where They Are
Sometimes customers simply object off the bat to what service advisors tell them needs to be done with their vehicle. That may have to do with cost or it just may have to do with the day of the week. Either way, it’s important that service advisors put themselves in the customer’s shoes before they give up. What would he or she want to know if it was their vehicle? That same principle should be applied when schedules are pushed. If repairs are taking longer than expected, communicate the delay to the customer. Check on them, get them fresh coffee, keep them happy while they’re waiting.
Service advisors have the delicate job of not only having to know the ins and outs of vehicle maintenance but also having to explain those ins and outs to customers. When they can achieve that balance in a respectful manner, they will motivate customers to not only return when their vehicle needs service – they’ll keep them coming back when their next one needs service too.
Contact an SCL Consultant today
In a wide range of industrial sectors, SCL is committed to being the number one logistics and solutions provider for the products that protect and optimize the machines that keep our country moving. For more information on how we help automotive partners with services including monitoring delivery or managing inventory, contact an SCL expert today.
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