Back in the 1970's, I cut my teeth in the car business pumping gas and being a mechanics (yes we were called mechanics then) helper. I learned quite a bit and it set the foundation for a wonderful career in the automotive industry. 

One of my early lessons in customer service was provided by my old boss. Our oil change cost $9.95. A quart of oil cost about $1.10 back then. The store I worked at was an Exxon franchise. Now our customer could go into the chain supermarket right next door and buy Exxon Super-Flo motor oil for about $0.45 a quart. Occasionally we would have a customer come in and ask for an oil change and briing their own oil and filter in which they had purchased next door. They would ask my boss how much is an oil change to which he always replied, $9.95. The customer would comeback and say but I have my own oil and filter. The boss hung firm and stuck to his $9.95 pricing and then he would ask the customer if, when they go out to dinner, do they bring their own food and ask the chef to cook it for them at no charge? The obvious answer was no, that would be ridiculous. The boss would respond with, "well if that restaurant is allowed to make a profit, then so am I."

Profit has become a bad word in the car business. I cannot think of any other type of business where there is so much discussion and negotiation over price. Our customers come in knowing what we paid for the car and that's all they want to pay. Service customers are the best. A good service advisor now days has to be a trained negotiator in order to succeed. They have to look at the needs of the customer as well as the dealership. Customers come in with pockets full of coupons from all over, some expired years ago but they want that price. Is it worth the argument? Of course not.

In spite of this, the airwaves are full of auto-ripoff scams. Take a look at You Tube when you have the opportunity and look at some of them. There is a small minority of thieves out there looking to scam customers out of their hard earned money with fictitious repairs and the whole industry takes the blame. We created this monster so it is up to us to fix it. The car business doesn't just have to advertise for business but we also have to repair our image. 

Like my old gas station where customers would just toss you the keys and say, "fix it" and never complain about the bill. That's because a trust was built between us and the customer. How do we get that trust back from the customers?

Let's start with stability. If every time a customer comes into your store for service and they have to deal with different advisors, it will take a long time to build up trust. Give some thought about your service advisors. It's easier and quicker to just fire and replace someone then it is to coach them. Service Manager's and Directors are usually buried in reports and meetings. After their normal 12-14 hour day is probably not the best time to sit down and coach someone whose sales have dropped off or CSI has taken a dip.

You need to make the time. That is the life line of your business, that is the "face" of the dealership. A good Service Manager or Director has to have training and coaching skills.

Do you have those skills? Is your store a "warning & replace" type store. Look at it from your customers perspective. They want to see that friendly, smiling face of the only person they trust their new cars to. It is up to us as managers to make it happen.