Repair Shop Advice

Three Ways to Improve Customer Service; and Why It Pays To Do So


January 28, 2020

Have you ever noticed that companies love to claim that their customer service is great?  One reason is that it’s not quantifiable.  Unlike claiming to be the cheapest, fastest or most experienced, it’s hard to point to a competitor’s quote and say ‘that’s a lie’.  Even Wells Fargo, who has been fined more than $17 billion since 2000 for various forms of customer fraud, has a section on their website about “Serving Customers and Communities”.


Another reason businesses try so hard to claim great service is that it’s a major draw for the best customers.  Fifty-seven percent of people said they’d pay more for great customer service according to a 2019 study, and 73% said they’d be more likely to be a repeat customer.  Most customers also indicated they’d buy more services from employees they find friendlier.

Consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers quantified the financial value of great customer service in a study one year earlier.   According to this study, consumers pay 16% more for great service on average.  Sixteen percent sounds like a pretty good boost, but when you consider that it might not cost anything at all to improve your service, it becomes a tremendously valuable sum of money.  A 16% higher price may even double your profit margins.

Here are a few ways you can improve your customer service and capture that added revenue.

  • Improve your customer interactions over the phone – many customers interact with your shop for the first time over the phone, and those first few seconds determine how likely they are to choose your shop.
  • Focus on the customer, not the car – it’s easy to think of yourself as fixing cars. But if repairs are unexpected, you’re helping the customer navigate a newly hectic schedule.  Figure out what the customer needs most, not the vehicle – and try to find a way to provide it.
  • Educate and empower customers – going out of your way to show customers what’s wrong with their vehicle makes many of them more comfortable with paying what it costs to have it repaired.

To learn how Repair Shop Websites can help your auto repair shop earn most customers and make those customers more profitable, call us at 855-294-6397 or email us at Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com