What would it take to be a great service advisor? For starters, it’s one of the hardest, but most rewarding, positions. It’s an opportunity to make a difference in a lot of people’s lives, especially your customers and technicians.
It can never be understated to have strong communication with your service technicians. Not only about business, but on a personal level as well. The last thing you want them to feel is like a tech number at the back of the shop as they are real people that physically work extremely hard. It’s important to keep them busy because if they don’t have any work, they aren’t making any money – that causes problems. The best way for them to work smarter and not harder is to provide them with ample, accurate information from the customer, giving them the best opportunity for fixing that vehicle the first time. For example, any information about how and why the problem occurred, dramatically assists them in quickly diagnosing the car.
As efficient as your dealership is, it’s hard to resist the temptation of over-promising your customers – not to mention it overworks the technicians too. Understanding the skill level of your technicians allows you to set realistic promise times for specific jobs and work as a team. If not, it’s never going to work.
The single most important thing as a service advisor when working with clients is simple: be honest. They will see right through you if you do and the day you start to compromise those ideals, the line will inherently get pushed a little further each time. You want to make them your friends and develop personal relationships that will give you a lifelong customer.