There are really only two types of Service Personnel: those who can sell and those who can't. Unfortunately, too many Service Managers are unable to tell the difference.

Identify which scenario best describes your Service staff:

SCENARIO 1

A customer arrives for Service with a concern that her Check Engine light is on; the vehicle has 45,000 miles on it, so you ask if she has an extended service plan, which unfortunately she doesn't. Your Service Advisor advises the customer that there will be a diagnostic charge to determine the cause of the Check Engine Light coming on. The vehicle goes into the shop; the technician diagnoses the cause as a faulty ECM. The Advisor then proceeds to call the customer and "sell" a rather expensive repair of ECM replacement. The customer agrees, the work is performed and the customer happily pays her bill and leaves, thanking the Advisor for getting her concern taken care of.

SCENARIO 2

Same customer concern, however once the Advisor determines the mileage, he doesn't just determine extended service plan eligibility and advise of the diagnostic charge, he offers the customer the maintenance menu, and advises of the Service departments ability to perform the maintenance on the vehicle while they are determining the cause of the Check Engine Light coming on. He also offers the customer the Accessory Special of a hood deflector installation, which the customer declines. The maintenance is performed as is the ECM replacement, the customer happily pays her bill and upon her departure, the advisor pre-schedules the customer for her next maintenance interval service to be performed at 48,000 miles. The customer thanks the advisor for getting her concern taken care of and for keeping her maintenance up to date.

Obviously the second scenario is the better Advisor, because he actually "advised". In the first scenario, the reality is, the Advisor is not an Advisor; he is nothing more than a conscientious and courteous Order-taker. Simply resolving a concern that a customer comes to your Service department for does not mean you can sell, regardless of how much that repair costs. The fact is, the customer came in to get that concern rectified anyway and did not require any "selling" to convince her to purchase.

To learn how you can take your Service operation from an Order-taking environment to one of true sales success, click here and read about our powerful service process training.