The document provides advice to managers on how to improve their auto service business. It recommends answering phones promptly, providing good customer service, hiring more technicians and advisors to reduce wait times, introducing car buyers to the service department, offering competitive prices on common services like oil changes and tire rotations to drive more business, and prioritizing customer convenience by being open more hours and completing repairs quickly. The overall message is that managers need to make changes to provide a better customer experience, increase traffic in the service department, and grow their business.

2. Thank You for being here.

3. By being here, you have proven…

4. That someone believes in you...

5. That someone chose you to run their store...

6. Someone agreed to send you here today for a reason.

7. By being here, you have proven…

8. That you are a survivor…

9. That you made it through the bad times…

10. That you have what it takes to adapt and change and succeed.

11. I believe...

12. By being here, you have proven…

13. That you are interested and passionate about growing your business...

14. That you are open minded and willing to listen to new ideas...

15. And that you want to take your store to the next level.

16. By being here, you have proven…

17. You are the ones that are always looking for a better way.

18. Always looking to grow and improve and do just a little bit more.

19. That you are the managers that ‘really get it’.

20. I believe...

21. We all know the real key to success in service...

22. …is how well we can get and keep our customers.

23. I believe...

24. we all know how to get more customers in our stores...

25. but sometimes we need to look at things a different way to actually get us to go work.

26. Sometimes, we get complacent.

27. Sometimes, we get lazy.

28. Sometimes, we get distracted.

29. It happens.

30. Today, i want to talk about...

31. Focus.

32. Work.

33. Change.

34. Opportunity.

35. I want to talk about...

37. and what we need to do to keep them.

38. I love the car business.

39. I love the - enthusiasm- energy- creativity- opportunities- challenges

40. I love to talk to customers.

41. So, here’s what I did.

42. I wanted to know why your customers go somewhere else.

43. I wanted to hear it straight from them...

44. I wanted to know what makes them mad...

45. I wanted to know what makes them leave...

46. I wanted to know what makes them go to the competition...

47. I wanted to know why they never come back.

48. So, I asked.

49. I asked customers what they hate most about service departments.

50. I told them to be brutally honest...

51. I told them tonot hold back...

52. I told them I really wanted to know.

53. And thisis what they said…

54. called 4 timesno answeron hold forever – hung up

55. ask for batterytransferred to partstransferred to servicehung up

56. nobody cares1 ½ daysthey never calledI had to call

57. broke downcalled & got voicemailI needed helpcalled back – voicemail again

58. on hold forevercalled backhold again 5 minutes

59. 85% of service customers call first.

60. They want to do business with you.

61. They had hundreds of choices of places to call...

62. And they chose your store.

63. You can instantly increase the traffic in your service drive if you just...

64. Answer the Phone.

65. Go back to your store and take control.

66. Get out of your office and onto the service drive.

67. Turn off the voicemail feature for advisors.

68. Hold a Telephone Training Meeting.

69. Make Sure They Know…85% of your customers call first.

70. Make Sure They Know…Every time the phone rings it means money.

71. Make Sure They Know…Most customers hang up after just 1 minute of hold time.

72. Make Sure They Know…They need to give features, benefits & reasons to do business with you.

73. Make Sure They Know…They need to ask every customer for an appointment.

74. Make Sure They Know…Know how important it is to keep customers informed.

75. Make Sure They Know…That you spend hundreds of dollars in advertising to get the phone to ring...

76. Make Sure They Know…That their job is to get more customersinto your store...

77. Make Sure They Know…That you are serious and that you are watching.

78. You can instantly increase the traffic in your service drive if you just...

79. Answer the Phone.

80. Listen to this...

81. nobody greets metalking amongst themselves at least say hello

82. why do they take so longoil change took 2 hourswont be back

83. wife & I workclosed too earlyjust doesn’t work for us

84. brought back 3 timessame problemget involved right 1st time

85. nobody told me about servicedropped mehot potato

86. hate standing in linecashier nasty paperwork wrong

87. Be More Convenient

88. They told us we have to be…Open more.

89. They told us we have to be…Open evenings.Open weekends.Open when the competition is.

90. Both spouses work today.We have to be there when they need us.

91. They told us we have to be…Faster & Better.

92. They told us we have to be…Able to do an oil change in 30 minutes or less.And do it right.

93. They told us we have to be…Able to greet them as soon as they arrive and that we need more staff.

94. They told us we have to…Have enough technicians to get the work out quick and right first time.

95. You can fix 90% of your problems if you just hire 2 more techs and 1 more service advisor.

96. They told us we have to be…Introduce car buyers to the service department.

97. They told us we have to be…Fire our cashiers.

98. Cashiers are evil, wicked, mean & nasty...

99. Cashiers are serial customer killers living right in your store.

100. Cashiers have no vested interest in your future.

101. Cashiers create a bottleneck that makes customers mad.

102. Cashiers should not be the last person your customer sees.

103. Service Advisors should take care of the customer from beginning to end.

104. When they say they can't handle more work or they are too busy...

105. Hire another advisor.

106. If we are going to grow our business...

107. We have to be…More Convenient.

108. I asked if there was anything else...

109. They told us we have to be…More Competitive.

110. They said, they think we…Charge Too Much.

111. We have to…Have a competitive oil change price to drive more traffic.

112. An oil change is the number 1 most shopped and needed service.

113. We have to…Be competitive on what we charge for a tire rotation.

114. Most of the competition does it for free.

115. They have a reference point on these services.They know about what they are worth.

116. They know if it is a good deal or not.

117. We have to...Be competitive on check engine light diagnosis.

118. Think about your average repair order total for cars with check engine light diagnosis.

119. We have to…Be competitive on what we chargefor tires.

120. 75% of consumers will buy service where they buy tires.

121. We have to aggressively sell tires and there is not much markup.

122. I know you don’t make much money on these services...

123. But, how much do you make when they go somewhere else?

124. We have to start thinking like a customer.

125. Oil changes, tire rotations, check engine light diagnosis and tires are your traffic builders.

126. I wanted to know...

128. They told us.

129. Answer the phone

130. Turn off voicemail

131. Teach phone skills

132. 85% call 1st - $$$$

133. Give shopper reasons

134. Always ask for appt

135. Keep customer updated Be more convenient

136. Open more, closed less

137. Staff up for good svc

138. Be faster & better

139. Fix it right the 1st time

140. Introduce car buyers

141. Fire your cashier Be more competitive

142. Oil chg & rotate are low

143. Ck eng light entices

144. Aggressively sell tires

145. Don’t markup too much

146. 75% buy svc, buy tiresWe have to beat the competition...

147. We have to be more convincing...

148. We have to get more engaged...

149. We have to change.

150. My goalfor today was to make you think...

151. I wanted you to see what it feels like to be a customer...

152. I wanted you to see what you have to do to grow your businesss.

153. You have heard all of this before...

154. But this time can be different.

155. Go back to your store and take control.

156. Get out of your office and onto the drive.

157. Listen.Watch.Lead.Train.