Our industry suffers from a perceived lack of trust, yet there are plenty of examples of service departments dealing with customers that seem to reinforce that stereotype rather than break it
This past summer I went for a physical checkup and was given news that no one wants to hear.
But from the doctors, specialists, anesthetist and surgeon they all took an amazing amount of time explaining what they were going to do and what my options were. I really felt like I was part of the decision making, which helped to reduce a stressful situation. One of the specialists asked what I did for a living. When I told her working as a consultant with automotive service departments, the comment was: “you must be busy as I have never found one which could be trusted.” This of course is not an unusual comment as the lack of trust is rampant in our industry. So what is the problem? Are we really that bad or is it just a poor communication challenge?
There is nothing like real life stories so here is one from one of my neighbours who took his four- wheel-drive SUV in for a routine service and was told by the service advisor, “Your vehicle is due for the big service,” which he agreed to. When he went to collect his vehicle the invoice was close to $2,000 and he was completely surprised. I asked him, “Did you sign the work order?” He said, “Yes but they never told me how much it was going to be and I had thought it would be around $500.”
You might think it was his own fault, but the end result was he sold the vehicle and will never buy that brand again so who really lost?
SUSPECT PRACTICES
We have a friend who drives an upmarket vehicle and takes it to a dealership that appeared to have a good reputation. But three visits back they told her that the tires had unusual tire wear and should be replaced. Her vehicle had around 40,000 km and has both winter and summer tires. I checked the tires and found no unusual tire wear and they were all in good condition. We returned to the dealership and I asked the service manager to check the tires and he concurred with my own findings — the tires were good!
The problem now is that she will never trust them again, and can anyone blame her? On the next service a report was made that the rear brakes would soon require replacing but no brake pad measurement was given. This was also interesting considering that most braking normally takes place on the front brakes not the rear. Needless to say they never got the brake work and their credibility was again suspect!
Now for the last visit to get winter wheels and tires installed, this time no mention was made on the rear brakes, but now there was another list. They called for a wheel alignment. Guess why? No, not for time and mileage, but for abnormal tire wear yet again! They must have better eyesight than me because on checking the tires I couldn’t see any unusual wear. The cost was $251.
The next recommendation was a coolant service, but it was not based on freezing point, time, or mileage. The description was “coolant diluted,” what the hell did that mean? If in fact that was the case, especially at that mileage, then the vehicle came that way from the factory.
Cost $162.30. Next, was a recommendation for a brake fluid flush. The reason given was discoloured fluid, not moisture content or based on time and mileage. Cost $154.60. The last recommendation was to perform an A/C heating system service. Cost $149.99.
If my friend had authorized all the work recommended the total cost with tax would have been $878.10, most of which was either not necessary, or if it was needed then the reasons for spending the money were less than professional. The estimated total on the previous visit was $916.89; now add four tires that were not needed and the grand total would probably be more than $3,000.
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE
Try putting yourself in the customers’ shoes most of whom will spend money maintaining their vehicles if you give them a good reason and they trust you! With the demise of major vehicle component failures and extended service intervals, basic maintenance and fluid changes have become a huge part of our business.
In fact, we teach appointment coordinators, service advisors and technicians on how to sell these services where you can make some money and the customers receive a real benefit. It is tough to have happy customers if we take money from them and they are not certain why they spent it. Have you ever seen a customer out on the lot looking at their invoice wondering what we did?
Here is one way to avoid this situation by using the following example: Present the features, advantages and benefits of a wheel alignment.
Features: Inspect suspension components. Inspect all four wheels. Inspect safety items, tires, drivetrain,
steering and suspension components.
Advantages: Service is performed by a qualified technician. Adjust setting to the manufacturer’s specifications. Prevent unusual tire wear.
Benefits: Improve fuel economy. Ensure safe and dependable vehicle control. Enhance overall driving performance. Longer tire life. Now the customer can understand the value of the service, but even with that, $251 would probably still seem a little steep!
Looking at this friend’s invoice, I see yet another recommendation for the following. Quote. “A complete intake silencer service as per CBS scope and brief test complete.” What is that? I have asked several experienced people in our industry and they had no idea, so how would the customer know? By the way it cost $96.76 dollars so it must be good!
