In most of the warranty policy manuals there are sections dedicated to compliance and who is responsible for which function. There are also numerous training materials that outline the responsibility of each department. In these training materials, it is stated that the service manager is the one that holds each position responsible for their own task lists. In many dealerships, I have witnessed that this portion of the service manager's position gets put on someone else's plate. Normally a clerk.

This is absolutely the most important task that should be maintained by service management and not a clerk.  

Let’s look at this for a minute. We are going to use a simple compliance issue as an example.

The advisor didn’t pull a VIN inquiry and the vehicle is out of warranty. Once notified of the issue the service manager gives it to a clerical person who then goes to the advisor and says, “This is out of warranty.”

The advisor decides to goodwill the claim and the clerk relays that message.

The service manager doesn’t want to goodwill it, there are no goodwill dollars left so he tells the clerical person to tell the advisor.

The advisor doesn’t know what to do so it just gets old like a moldy cheese.

When the service manager does not directly hold each person accountable for their responsibilities then the problems that are existing in the service department will continue to exist. The poor person who is trying to correct the issues will be out at the same person, again and again, getting the same result. Nothing gets resolved. The problems will be the same problem again tomorrow, but hey, at least the service manager doesn’t have to deal with it right?

The best system I have ever seen is when the service manager gets a list of repairs that are not compliant by department daily. The tech number is listed if it is a tech issue and the advisor number is there for advisors.

The service manager gathers the techs for a 5-minute meeting every day PRIOR to the open of business and hands out the compliance issues for the day. The technicians must fix their own mistakes and return to service management with a resolution by noon.

The same meeting is held with advisors PRIOR to opening for business with the same requirements.

This is a hassle because not only does the service manager have to get up early but so does everyone else. Everyone will continue to get up early until everyone can be responsible enough to do their own piece of the puzzle.

After a few days of this everyone will get the drift and start to do their own job themselves because they know they are going to be held accountable by someone who has the AUTHORITY to make it happen.

When management is involved with this process daily we see that write-offs are down, claims are being submitted and paid daily, the difficult repairs are explained well and fly through to payment, the schedule is clean, and the whole service department, management, and warranty department are working as a team. This is also evident to the manufacturer which means that they will not be in for a visit.

The takeaways:

1. Make sure everyone is properly trained. Stop, take the time to put advisors and technicians through warranty 101. Contact us if you need help with this.
2. Make sure everyone understands they will be held accountable for their own work.
3. Get daily feedback and examples from the warranty admin.
4. Hold daily meeting with management, advisors, and technicians for compliance deviations.
5. Make each person fix their own mistakes and return to management. Once approved, handoff to the warranty admin.

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