Creating brand ambassadors within your auto repair shop is essential for aligning your team with the shop’s vision, shop coaches recently advised.
A key component of your shop is the mission statement, explained Sabrina Wilkerson, a former service advisor and now a trainer at training company Elite, and Tom Amero, director of operations at Elite.Wilkerson emphasized the importance of ensuring that service advisors understand and feel part of the shop’s mission and vision.
“When we’re creating these brand ambassadors, we have to make sure the vision is there. The vision alignment,” she said at the Midwest Auto Care Alliance Hi-Tech Training & Expo in Kansas City.
To create effective brand ambassadors, shop owners must ensure that their team members not only understand the mission statement but also embody it in their daily actions, the advisors said.
Wilkinson suggested that shop owners revisit their mission statement, especially if it was created a long time ago.
“Maybe you need to come together as a group, look at it, read it together. See if it’s still relevant. Do you need to make adjustments to it,” she advised.
Wilkerson shared her personal experience as a service advisor, noting that the mission statement was often overlooked.
“I can tell you, as a previous service advisor, the mission statement was right behind me — and I think I read it twice and that was it,” she recalled.
She urged shop owners to ensure their employees know and believe in the mission statement. That means regular communication and reinforcement of the shop’s values and goals. By fostering a sense of ownership and alignment with the mission, employees can become true ambassadors for the brand, enhancing customer trust and loyalty, they said.
“Do they own it? Do they really feel like that’s them, that it embodies them?” Wlkinson asked.
Amero expanded on Wilkerson’s points, stressing the importance of employees’ behaviour reflecting the shop’s vision and mission.
“Think about how they act in the day-to-day, how they show up, the behaviour that they have. Does it reflect what you stand for — your vision, your mission?” he asked.
He encouraged regular discussions and reviews of the mission statement to ensure it remains relevant and impactful in order to have strong brand ambassadors in your shop.
“Talk about it regularly. Review it regularly. Go back to the drawing board if you need to revamp your mission statement,” Amero advised.
Image credit: Depositphotos.com
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