 Customer Paid Labor is the Cornerstone of Profitability
A dealership that sells 100 vehicles a month, typically has 5
times that number of customers come through the service department every month.
Most customers that come to the service department really don't want to be
there. They typically come in for 1 of 3 reasons:
- Warranty repair work
- Routine maintenance
- Major repair work, outside of warranty
Ensuring that each one of these customers is presented with
the manufacturer's suggested maintenance, as well as additional maintenance that
should be performed due to local conditions, is the cornerstone of increasing
customer paid labor, and profitability, in a service department.
Customer Benefits
- Improves the value and reliability of
their vehicle
- Reduces 'surprise' repair bills
- Improves the relationship with the dealership
Dealership Benefits
- Improve service department profit, both initially and over
the long term
- Increase customer loyalty over the long term
- Increase customer satisfaction
What's been Done
Most programs designed to sell these services in the service
drive, often produce poor, and inconsistent results. The typical program consists of:
- Sticking up 'ask me about' posters in the service drive
- Paying the service advisor a 'spiff' to sell the products
- Holding a meeting or two, 'to keep it in front of them'
When 'nobody asks', and service advisors are 'way too busy' to
make an elaborate presentation, the program staggers along.
The Challenge
The major constraints have been:
- Service drive is often a very busy sales environment
- Service advisor reluctance to present to an already unhappy
customer
- Service advisor doesn't know exactly what to say, or when, to
make the presentation
- Service advisor that doesn't want to be rejected by a
customer saying 'no'
- Customers that don't naturally know why they need these
products
- Service advisors unclear on exactly what options should be
presented to a particular customer
- Poorly executed pay plans and profit allocation
The Solution
The solution is to create a program specifically for the
service drive, that addresses the unique challenges of that sales environment.
Continue for details on the
Service Drive Sequence Routine Maintenance Sales. | 
