3 strategies dealers can use to improve customer service in the fixed-ops department

On this episode of Service Drive, celebrated trainer, speaker, and CEO of DealerPRO Training, Don Reed dives into three different strategies for dealers to consider developing a higher level of service for customers.

Reed dives right into the first strategy which is utilizing appointment coordinators. Appointment coordinators take the responsibility of taking and making calls for appointments off the shoulders of the advisors. Reed says that dealers will see an immediate increase in customer ROs and warranty ROs. A strong benefit in hiring an appointment coordinator is their ability to coordinate and schedule appointments for the entire day. Appointment coordinators will also improve scheduling for all advisors. The last advantage Reed gives is an appointment coordinator will schedule evenly among all advisors. Appointment coordinators will ultimately give service advisors more time to do their job right

The next strategy Reed covers is recruiting non-technical service advisors. Reed says these advisors are easier to train than old pros. Non-technical service advisors are easily moldable and can be trained quickly. Dealers who are struggling with hiring advisors shouldn’t use the term ‘Service Advisor’ in the messaging of their hiring ads. Reed says that changing the communication of hiring ads can go a long way in finding the right candidates. 

The third strategy from Reed is to train your service team for growth. Service teams need to know the goals and objectives of their position. Dealers should clearly define what is the primary mission for the service department. Reed says that every service department should have a goal to provide quality maintenance to every vehicle, putting customers in safer vehicles once they leave the dealership. The best way to implement these goals is through performance driven advisor training. 

Reed’s last strategy is for dealers to train customers for retention. Dealers should look to bring all customers back for their service needs even beyond the warranty period. Reed says dealers need to do a better job of teaching customers what they need to know about vehicle maintenance and how often they should come in for service appointments.

Be sure to watch the entire episode of Service Drive with Don Reed above for more expert insight and advice.

Did you enjoy this episode of Service Drive with Don Reed? Don’t forget to share your questions and comments with Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.