Investing In Customer Service

These are challenging times. With the tightening of the credit markets, rising unemployment and a shrinking economy people are cutting back on many things. They are cutting entertainment budgets, holding off on major, big-ticket purchases and family vacations — except if it is somewhere local and inexpensive — and curtailing personal, impulse purchases, from a Starbuck’s coffee to new clothing. Automotive service and repair, even that provided by dealership operations, are feeling the effects of people’s economic anxieties.

It is now common for a person to bring their vehicle and to question in great detail each recommendation from the service writer and technician. The customer will ask if the recommended work is necessary or whether it can be deferred safely; or if there is a way to have multiple quotes on the price of the part needed in order to save more money. Other customers are holding off on work which is not urgent or affecting the immediate safety of the vehicle, fearing continuing economic turmoil might well result in a job-ending layoff, and every penny will have to be pinched even more. One can hardly blame customers for this; these are tough times, with no clear end in sight right now.

The challenge for any service and repair business, independent and dealership- based both, is maintaining a level of service and quality in order to keep people and their vehicles coming into the bays. They expect their questions to be answered fully and will demand an explanation for each recommended piece work for their vehicle. To meet this challenge, investments have to be made in customer service training for service writers and technicians. One’s staff must be able to answer all customer questions and to explain the work to be done on the vehicle to maintain and keep it safe. If a customer arrives with an overheating engine and the technician produces a report outlining the problem, the repairs needed and the parts required, the service writer must be able to explain the report to the customer clearly, without a lot of technical jargon. The owner of the vehicle is looking to make sure they are getting full-value for the investment they are going to make, and the first thing they are looking for is excellence of customer service: are you answering their questions, are you explaining everything clearly, how do you handle the challenges they make about cost, parts needed and other such matters. Do all of those things right and business will continue to come into the shop, even during this recession.

The other big investment that needs to be made is hiring qualified technicians and their on-going training. Vehicles are becoming ever-more complex and technicians must have a high-degree of mechanical and computer expertise to work on them. Finding qualified technicians and apprentices right now is a challenge; keeping them is another. Once you have them, investments in ongoing training for the technicians will be essential to making sure they can keep up with the complexities of vehicles in order to maintain a high-level of customer service. Without this, it will be difficult, almost impossible, to keep people coming to your service operation. These tough times mean customers will be demanding a lot from their service providers, whether independent or dealership-based. Success will only come from those willing to make the investments needed.

SSGM