The service department tends to be the busiest place in a dealership, and service managers must stay in tune with what’s going on. While meetings and discussions can be useful, at times they only result in vague ideas the service staff never acts upon. Just like in any organization, a service department is only as good as its leader. Sometimes, you have to get in the trenches…

Today's market dictates that to succeed as a dealer, you have to create a great customer experience. You have to provide value and give the customer a reason to come back. A great customer experience is now one of the strongest value propositions any dealership can use to increase customer loyalty and retention.

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In a previous article, I provided two very real scenarios that occurred right before Memorial Day weekend and asked readers how they would have handled them. For convenience, I’ve repeated the scenarios again with the actual outcomes attached:

Scenario #1:

A customer…

No one doubts the average age of vehicles on the road has gone up. The current average vehicle is 11 years old and trends in consumer purchases indicate this statistic isn’t going to change any time soon. In fact, indicators suggest average vehicle age might increase.

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