Service advisors are more likely to recommend and sell repairs they understand, making targeted sales training a powerful tool for shops and parts manufacturers, according to a repair and service leader.
The role of service writers has changed over time, observed Jeff Cox, executive director of the Automotive Maintenance & Repair Association (AMRA). While technicians or former techs may have once dealt directly with customers at the front desk, dedicated service advisors who come from customer service backgrounds are becoming more common, and they lack the deep technical background.
Speaking at the MEMA Aftermarket Technology Conference, he said service writer staff are often strong in soft skills, such as handling customers and communication, but may lack deep knowledge of vehicle systems and repair procedures.
“Service writers sell what they understand. And if they don’t understand a repair, they don’t try to sell it because they don’t have the confidence,” Cox said.
Customers can quickly sense that uncertainty, he added, and may decline the work. That contributes to what he described as a large amount of declined work that the industry talks about capturing every year.
Cox argued that better sales training, focused on helping advisors grasp the repairs and products they are presenting, can have a direct and measurable impact on what gets sold at the counter.
Drawing on his merchandising experience, Cox described a past initiative where his team partnered with a manufacturer on a specific product category. They delivered intensive training across several districts, concentrating on that category and how to present it to customers. Following the training blitz, Cox said they saw increases of 100 to 200 per cent in that category’s sales.
The lift held for a period of time, but as training efforts faded, sales began to fall back.
He said the pattern showed a clear link between focused training and sales performance. When training is active and targeted, advisors are more confident and more likely to recommend certain products or services. When training stops, that confidence erodes and sales follow.
Cox suggested that manufacturers and other industry partners could play a larger role in supporting this kind of sales-focused education, working with service providers to build programs that explain products and repair needs in practical terms for front-line staff.
He tied this need for sales training to broader efforts to help customers understand recommended repairs. If service advisors are not comfortable explaining why a repair is needed or what a product does, they may avoid bringing it up, even when it is appropriate.
Cox said that, by contrast, when they understand a repair and can describe its purpose and benefits, they are more likely to present it clearly, boosting both customer trust and approval rates.
He further encouraged greater involvement from industry partners, saying there are opportunities to collaborate on training materials and support that help service advisors confidently sell the right repairs and parts to customers
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