Repair Shop Advice

Have you ever had trouble with a product and tried to call customer service?  The phone only rings one time and the line is picked up – unfortunately, it’s a robot.  It presents a list of options, and none of them quite fit your problem, so you pick a number, and it gives you another menu.  None of those fit either, so you press 0 to speak to a customer service representative.  After 10 minutes of bad hold music, someone picks up, asks you a few questions, and tells you that you’ve called the wrong department.

What you’ve experienced is a company using technology to solve a problem (more customer calls than they can answer) that can’t be solved with technology.  Technology can help solve this problem when used properly, but technology can’t solve the problem by itself.

Many of the big dealership and franchise service centers try to do the same thing.  They invest tens of millions of dollars into technology to solve problems.  They buy televisions to advertise products in their waiting rooms, but don’t train their service writers on how to sell them.  They develop technician training videos but nobody watches them.  They use phone trees to reduce the time their employees spend routing calls, but don’t test the system to ensure that customers really get where they need to go.

Unfortunately, in the auto repair business, technology can’t fix much by itself.  That’s great for technicians and service writers, because it means their skills will be in demand for some time to come.  But if you’re trying to increase your close rate without increasing costs, technology alone isn’t going to fix your problem.  And if you’re hoping to reduce service costs without reducing service quality, the same holds true.

The good news is that independent repair shops are perfectly positioned to capitalize on this corporate deficiency.  So why give up the advantage?   When customers call, don’t let a robot pick up the call – let a human answer it.  If you’re advertising anything in your shop, make sure that your customer-facing employees can impress the customer with their knowledge about that product.  And if the customer does have a problem with their service, address it with a human touch.

That’s not to say that technology isn’t a part of the equation – we happen to be big fans of lead-generating websites.  But while technology is great at helping your shop find new customers, it’s ultimately your customer service that’s going to help close the sale.  So if you’ve got employees that believe that human interaction is more important to customer satisfaction than new technology, you can tell them that this technology company agrees with them.  In fact, we practice it ourselves; our websites deliver results, but it’s our customer service that separates us from our competitors.

To learn how Repair Shop Websites can bring more business to your shop, call us at 866-665-1605 or email us at Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com.

The following article is a guest post from Bob Cooper of Elite.  It originally appeared in Elite’s Auto Shop Idea Center.

One of the single greatest challenges shop owners face today is finding and hiring the superstars. Regardless of whether you are looking to hire technicians or service advisors, here are some tips that will help you hire the stars.

1. Accept the fact that with rare exception, the stars you are looking for are already working, and are reasonably satisfied. This doesn’t mean that they won’t be open to a conversation with you, because many of them will be. It’s your responsibility to identify those stars, and then reach out to them. Even if there is little or no interest on their part after speaking with you, you still win, because you have started a relationship. Not only may the time come when they reach back out to you, but I have learned over the years that the stars know the stars, so they may be able to provide you with the names of some other good candidates who would be interested in your offer.

2. You should never offer someone a job, but should instead offer them an opportunity to join a company like yours. Beyond just a competitive wage, you will need to provide a compensation and incentive package that includes paid vacations and holidays, paid sick days, uniforms and ongoing training. In addition, you will need to provide the opportunity for growth and income advancement, security, rewards for tenure (such as retirement programs), and of course, leadership. Bear in mind that anyone can offer them a wage; what you need to offer is a package that shows that you really do care about the people who work with you. The rule that I have lived by for decades is that if you put out peanuts, you’ll get monkeys. The stars produce profits, whereas the monkeys produce debt.

3. Whenever there is a shortage of skilled labor, you not only have to make the candidates an attractive offer, but you need to remove as many barriers as possible. Change is scary for most, especially if they have been with the same shop for years, so you need to be well aware of their fears. No matter how good a tech or an advisor is, one of the greatest concerns they’ll have is that you’ll be unable to deliver. A method I’ve used over the years is providing a really attractive guarantee for a number of months. Most shop owners are hesitant to do so because they fear that if the employee doesn’t produce, it will cost them a fortune. What they don’t realize is that if they do a better job of qualifying the candidates, and if they accept the fact that they can always terminate an underperformer, their concerns should diminish dramatically. As business owners, we need to both set our fears aside and reduce the fears of the candidates. At Elite we are open and upfront with all candidates by telling them that on a predetermined date the hefty guarantee will be reduced to $XXX, and that we have every expectation that by the predetermined date they will be earning well more than the guarantee.

4. We should never forget the rule that says, “When we hire Larry, we get Mary.” Simply put, if the candidate has a significant other in their life, with rare exception, they will be involved in the decision making process. This is why we strongly encourage you (whenever possible) to meet with the significant other as well as with the candidate. If Mary is sold on you and your company, then there is a really good chance that she will sell Larry on joining your team.

5. Last but not least, you should let the candidates know about the culture of your company. The stars you are looking for may have well-paying jobs, but there is a good probability there is a vacuum when it comes to the culture of the company they are working for. If you let them know that you are committed to ethics, and that you and your entire team live by a principle that you will never put money ahead of people, you will discover you are able to hire the superstar you’ve been looking for.

Since 1990, Bob Cooper has been the president of Elite (www.EliteWorldwide.com), a company that strives to help shop owners reach their goals and live happier lives, while elevating the industry at the same time. The company offers coaching and training from the industry’s top shop owners, service advisor training, peer groups, along with sales, marketing and shop management courses. You can contact Bob at contact@eliteworldwide.com, or at 800-204-3548.