Three Clues You Have a Service Advisor Problem

“It's easy to look back and see it, and it's easy to give the advice. But the sad fact is, most people don't look beneath the surface until it's too late.”  Wendelin Van Draanen

"Greg" and I were struggling to figure out why his car count wasn't improving. He had ten five star google reviews. When I Googled all of the primary automotive search terms for his area, I found him on the first page and in the top spot.

His website was so strong that I would send the link to my other clients as an example of what to do. "Steve," his service advisor, had been with him for seven years and had forgotten more about the automotive business than the average person knew.

The Easy Way to Hire Your Next Employee

“Hire character, train skill.” Peter Schutz

“Harry” is a hiring manager for a Fortune 500 company. One fateful morning, he’s driving into the crowded company parking lot to begin his day of scheduled interviews.

After several minutes of circling, he finally locates a space and pulls in. He doesn’t notice “Bruce,” sitting in a brown Buick, waiting for the same spot!

“Hey, Jerk!” Bruce yells. “Don’t you see me sitting here? Are you blind?” Harry’s running late, so he doesn’t take the time to reply.

How to Overcome Your Employee’s Resistance

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." - Voltaire 

Don’t try this at home! The year was 1999, and I was a new manager who was having a problem getting my people to embrace the courtesy checks.

During a shop meeting, I was explaining all the reasons why completing the forms was good for the car, the customer, and the company. Before I could finish, “Terry,” my ‘A’ technician, interrupted me by asking, “How does filling out these #$@! courtesy checks benefit me?”

The Hidden Secret to Growing Your Car Count

"You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." Charlie Tremendous Jones 

Hard work doesn’t pay off. I know Shop Owners who work around the clock but still have low car count. They arrive early, stay late, but have a low retention rate.

They work hard to fill their racks, but their customers don’t come back. These examples lead me to believe that hard work doesn’t pay off.

Now, before you work hard to close this post, allow me to clarify my point.

The One Thing You Never Hear from Employees

“Time is what we want most but use worst!” William Penn 

“Traffic was really bad!”
“There was a bad accident on the beltway!”
“I was pulled over by a state trooper!”

If I had a dollar for every time someone has made one of these statements, I’d have about 327 dollars!