Auto repair shop owners are likely familiar with the ‘Three C’s’ of the business: Concern, cause and correction. But a shop coach wants you give you three new ones.
Bill Haas’ proposed three new C’s, which he said are essential for service advisors to excel in their roles, are: Courage, confidence, and comfort
The first C, courage, is about having the strength to persevere through difficult situations.
“Courage is about having that strength to persevere, to deal with the danger, the fear, the difficulty,” said the president of Auto Ignite Management at the Midwest Auto Care Alliance Hi-Tech Training & Expo in Kansas City
He emphasized the importance of having the courage to make difficult calls, whether it’s discussing a costly repair with a customer or addressing a challenging situation.
“Do you have courage when you’re thinking about calling somebody and you think that might be a difficult conversation, or you might be fearful of how they respond, or fearful of whether they can afford the repair?” he asked.
The second C, confidence, is crucial for achieving positive results.
“Are you confident that this will have a favourable outcome? You have to have confidence to do this well,” Haas said.
Confidence allows service advisors to approach their tasks with ease, reducing stress and anxiety, he explained.
“I want you to be comfortable. And comfortable is about being able to be at ease; no stress, no anxiety,” Haas added.
The third C, comfort, ties the first two together. Service advisors must be comfortable asking for the sale, which requires both courage and confidence.
Haas illustrated this with a common scenario: “Anybody ever have an advisor working for him and we got this big job, we got this really important customer, and we kind of struggled through figuring out what was going on and why and how and what we’re going to do? And we finally figured it out and we finally got an estimate done. And at three o’clock in the afternoon, you ask your advisor, ‘Have you talked to so and so yet?’ And they say, ‘Not yet.’ What are they telling you? They’re not comfortable making that call.”
Discomfort often stems from a lack of courage or confidence, Haas observed.
“How many times do you ever know you need to call somebody, and you just kind of keep putting that call off — like it’s going to be the hardest conversation you have all day?” he asked.
He encouraged service advisors to embrace discomfort as part of the growth process. “Change is uncomfortable. So get used to being uncomfortable, because as you start to do some of these things and make changes, you’re going to be uncomfortable. In a little while, it’s a little less uncomfortable, and then in a little while, it’s like it’s just normal. It’s just how we do it. It’s just our routine,” he explained.
By developing these qualities, Hass pointed out, advisors can handle difficult conversations, ask for sales confidently, and ultimately improve their performance and customer satisfaction.
“Have the courage, have the confidence to be comfortable asking for the sale,” Haas advised.
Image credit: Depositphotos.com
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