Service advisor training is essential to the success of your car dealership. This article outlines why and what to do to make sure your people get trained.
86% of customers are willing to pay more for excellent customer service. This statistic means you don’t have to cut costs; you have to cut negative attitudes.
It’s true. Customer service is more important now than ever, and your service advisors are your front line in the service department. Let’s get them trained.
When a customer calls to have their vehicle serviced, they reach a service advisor first. Even if they just have a question about a mechanical issue, yep, they get the service advisor. Your guys and gals who meet with and answer phone calls from your clients must be trained well. Why?
Well, Gretchen Seidel, an Automotive Consultant at Seidel & Co says:
“Service advisors help maintain the first car sold to a customer but are integral to whether or not a second car gets delivered. It’s all about retention and repeat sales. A Cox Automotive study says that 74% of car buyers who had their vehicle serviced at the dealership where they purchased their vehicle are more likely to buy their next car there.
When customers come in for service on their vehicle, it's generally for a problem or a recall, they aren't there for fun. Advisors who are properly trained in soft skills like active listening, problem solving, and empathy will make a difference in the customer service provided on the service drive.”
Here are more reasons training service advisors is essential:
People don’t want to deal with car problems. First, it’s a hassle. Second, they have to make phone calls, and they don’t know what they’ll get. In fact, they likely expect to get a rude service agent or someone who just doesn’t care.
When you train your service advisors to deliver top-quality customer service, you get to exceed customer expectations.
Now, from the moment they pick up the phone to call you or bring their car in, service advisors have the opportunity to enhance your customer’s experience. And if your service advisors provide an excellent experience, they’re more likely to have a good time moving forward.
They’re building a relationship with your dealership, and they have a good experience, those happy customers are then more likely to tell their friends about their experience and leave a stellar review.
Leaving your customer with a great experience takes proper guidance and training.
One factor businesses don’t consider when deciding whether to train service advisors is employee retention. Perhaps surprisingly, employees want to be trained. 66% of employees in a poll last year agreed that they needed more training.
They want to be successful in their jobs, and they’re willing to leave if they aren’t. This news means the more training you provide, the more likely your employees are to stay.
This last one is a no-brainer. With highly trained, happy service advisors, and happy customers, your profits will rise. It’s almost inevitable.
Happy employees who stay at work mean you’re not spending money on recruiting and hiring new people. And happy customers are eager to spend more money with you. Bring on the profits.
The service department is the key to the longevity of your dealership. So, how do you help your employees acquire the service advisor skills they need to be successful?
You’ll want to focus on what exactly you hope to get from your staff. Your overarching goals are to maintain satisfied customers and retain happy employees. To achieve those goals, you’ll need to help your staff acquire some specific skills.
There are some people who are just not that good at communicating. They find themselves always misunderstood, regularly in conflicts, and frequently frustrated. Fortunately, it’s often not a matter of personality but of training.
Some people just need to be trained on how to communicate with customers effectively. It’s a skill that can transfer to the rest of their lives. Once they’re trained, your service advisors should be able to speak clearly and in a way that is easily understood by your customers.
They also must be able to de-escalate an angry confrontation and resolve conflict quickly. Customers can call irate over an issue with their car, or they’re just upset that day.
It is critical that your employee learns to listen actively and help the customer find solutions. Great problem-solvers can turn an experience from bad to good with just a few words.
One piece of information that often gets lost among those in customer service is that they’re building relationships. 96% of customers say customer service impacts their loyalty to a brand.
You can’t have a service advisor in your service department without automotive knowledge. Sure, they may not be the techs working on cars. However, they need to both understand the mechanical issues and explain them. That way, they can translate what is happening between the tech and the customer.
Service advisors can get really busy. Managing customers onsite, fielding phone calls, and booking appointments alone can make a full day. Your staff must be able to juggle it all with grace and compassion.
The results of this kind of high-quality training that imparts all the necessary skills are measurable. Dealerships see marked improvement in their employee performance and in their customer satisfaction.
Service Director David Blackburn notes that the difference between his service techs and his service advisors is almost unnoticeable because of how well-trained his advisors are. “It’s a seamless transition from one department to the other.”
While service techs keep the mechanics going, service advisors keep your customers happy and coming back. The next time they need to buy a car, need service, or just have a question, they’ll think of your dealership first. That’s a big deal. Well-trained service advisors help guarantee a few things for your dealership:
Each of these factors leads to increased profits and happier employees overall. Excellent service advisor training creates a situation where everyone wins.
Still, you don’t want to go with just any old training program. You need an active, dynamic training program that engages your employees, allows them to perform role-playing and fix mistakes, and takes advantage of one-on-one coaching.
It should also be specific to the automotive industry so you don’t get a cookie-cutter approach. Here’s what a great service advisor training program should include.
From day one, your training program manager should be able to outline some measurable goals for you. If you’re looking at increasing customer satisfaction or improving employee retention, be sure to discuss that. Whatever you’re looking to get from the program, you must be able to see the change.
The classroom setting is great for certain types of learning, but when it comes to service, you also need one-on-one training. Your employees need direct feedback and they need individual time to ask questions.
Everyone learns differently, and each dealership is different. Your training program should reflect that and address specific issues to your staff, brand, and location.
While it’s lovely to support small, new businesses, you don’t want to place the fate of your dealership in an untried program. Your program manager should be able to give you testimonials, reviews, and a clear look at past successes. Quantum5 offers potential clients everything listed here and more, including a free demo when you call today.
No one learns well under pressure, with boring teachers, or with a lackluster program. You want your training program to be one that entices your staff to learn and grow.
Finally, you should always expect follow-up and outreach from any program you choose. Your employees will not be able to sustain their learning if they don’t get regular check-ins and updates on their development.
When you have each of these components in an automotive dealership service advisor training program, you can consider it an investment. The positive outcomes will just keep coming in.
Contact Quantum5 today for your free consultation.
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