If I had a check made out with your flat rate Technician’s name on it for $10,000 payable in 12 months would you take the time to read this article? If your answer was yes then you will find the needed processes that form “The Professional Service Technician”.

• Keep the customers car clean. Never allow a foot print, greasy steering wheel or door handle to be noticed by your customer.
• Inspect the car for damage before you begin work. At least two times per year for every advisor a customer will claim the dealership damaged their car. I used to believe they were looking for free repairs however after interviewing several the cause was found. The customer never inspects the vehicle before the visit. The concerned customer inspects the vehicle after the repairs when they pick up the car. Advisors should find all damage during the walk around however the Technician should look for damage as well.
• Informs the advisor of all needed items to keep the vehicle in peak condition every time every car. Some Technicians develop a disease that reduces their income believing they do not get paid to inspect the vehicle for other needed maintenance or repairs. The fact is that it is the obligation of the company to inform and educate the customer of the vehicle needs. Believe me that the customer’s expiation that the vehicle has been looked over and any missed items should be performed free at the dealerships expense.
• Items often forgotten are fuel filters, Differential services, transfer case fluid changes, hood props, etc, etc, etc. Many Technicians invest in a hood prop tool to assist them when the cylinder is bad. These same Technicians will not inform the customer of the need believing the hood prop is for the Technician. I have a huge concern here. Picture your customer holding up the hood attempting to assist their neighbor on a jump start in the blowing snow wind or rain wondering how this was not mentioned during the visit last week to your shop. If your customer declined a repair the thought would be to never due that again. If the repair was not recommended the customer’s though would not be as pleasant and might involve profanity.

• Keeps focused on the work in their bay and not what another Technician is working on. My history in Management of fixed operations has noticed this as another Technician disease. It pays nothing to complain John has all the customer pay work while all I get is warranty garbage work. The shock is that this disease will cut a Technicians income by as much as 20%. They get angry and break a stud requiring a drill and tap. They might injure themselves and lose time waiting for stitches. The belief is the advisors have a plot against them or management doesn’t like them starving them out. One time a Technician complained to me about his fate only getting warranty. His disease was so advanced he brought up his car payment house payment and the work another Technician was working on. In his bay was a recall paying .3 for an inspection. The vehicle had over 100,000 miles and was on the lift for the inspection. I pointed out the transmission had never been touched. The differential was leaking with the fuel filter so rusted it might damage the line to remove. I had him drop down the van and found the intake leaking with original wires and plugs. Other needed items came to over 13 hours of customer pay work. His comment was “The customer will never buy that” They bought it all my friends. So this Technician was complaining with 13 hours of customer pay work in his bay.
• Check for directives after 10 minutes without diagnostic direction. Information is available on the web with toll free numbers for customer assistance. Vehicles break in patterns and the Professional understands the best tool in the box is the brain. Be informed of the patterns and spend your time repairing instead of looking. This will also provide needed information when additional time is needed on a warranty repair.
• Never allow yourself to say “they won’t buy that”.
• Never allow yourself to say “they won’t sell that”. The mission must be that every time every car I will inform the customer of every needed concern.
• Always keep current with training adding to your knowledge. The more you train the more you gain.

• Keep your work area clean and safe. Your tools should be in order with no time wasted looking for the needed tool.
•  Inspect your work with a road test to confirm the repair. I took my son’s car in for an intake gasket leaking. The dealership called informing me the EGR valve was clogged and should be replaced. I approved this additional repair and my bill came to $1,000. Five minutes after picking up the car the service engine soon light came on. Believe me the $1,000 bill was still on my mind. If the dealership hall called requesting replacement of an oxygen sensor this would also have been approved. In my view the Technician did not road this repair losing a cash customer for the dealership forever.
• Take pride in completing a quality repair. Think of a fuel gage. Empty would be the hack. This Technician found you don’t have to remove an intake to replace a gasket just loosen it up and squirt some RTV silicon in it. Full tank is the perfection master. They will find a corroded terminal and stop the repair to remove and seal with anti corrosive spray. This Technician will qualify for food stamps. The proper mix between production and quality is between ½ and ¾ tank. If you see corrosion inform the advisor you need .5 to correct and let the customer decide to approve or decline the repair.
• Take the time to make great Technician comments. This will protect the dealership in a warranty audit or court case. The Professional will look at the comments as if a team of three attorneys are reviewing them. If you are proud of them you have done well.   Today’s Technician must think in average hours per vehicle. An improvement of .5 with a car count per month of 80 will generate 40 addition Technician hours sold. For most Technicians this will exceed $10,000 additional income per year. Are you ready to be the Professional?

Rob Gehring is the President of Fixed Performance
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