The title of this article comes from the book “An Enemy Called Average” by John Mason. The purpose of his book is to get you from where you are currently to where you dream to be. Mr. Mason says “Break the chains of mediocrity and then live the life you dream of.” This of course can apply in your personal life as well as your professional one.
Far too often in our industry we have Dealers, General Managers, Service Directors, etc. who focus on and measure themselves in terms of the “average” dealer. Here are some examples:
“The average dealer is grossing $700 PRU in F&I income”
“The average salesperson sells 11 units per month”
“The average Service Advisor sells 1.4 HPRO”
“The average CSI for my region is…..”
“The average …….for my 20 Group is ………”
Does this sound familiar to you?
Additionally your manufacturers also provide composites and reports showing the average this and the average that so you can compare yourself to what’s average.
Here‘s a simple exercise for you complete after reading my article. When you get up tomorrow morning ask your family to sit at the kitchen table for a brief family meeting before you go off to work and before the kids are off to school.
Stand up in front of your family and say the following: “It looks like it’s going to be an average day here in Hometown, U.S.A., and your average Dad and your average husband is going to his average job to put forth an average effort to maintain my average paycheck so I can support my average kids and my lovely average wife.
By the way kids, at school I want you to focus on getting average grades and you don’t really need to put forth the effort to be a great student so a “C” will be just fine.”
Does that work for you? How’s that average wife comment going to work out for you? Are you excited about holding that meeting?
If you are a manager how about you ask to meet with the Dealer and say the following: “Boss I just wanted to let you know that I think you are an average Dealer, so I’m going to give you an average effort today so I can produce for you some average results and manage my average department.” I bet nobody is taking notes on this one!
Let’s not forget what average really is. It is nothing more than a reference point.
Average means you are the “Worst of the Best or the Best of the Worst!”
Is that where you really want to be? I hope you answered NO WAY!
Well if that is true then why is it that when I speak to hundreds of dealers across our country I hear comments like “Well Don the average HPRO for my 20 Group is 1.4 and I’m averaging 1.5 so I’m doing a pretty good job.” No Sir-you are still hanging around with that “Best of the Worst crowd! Why do so many of you use the word average like it is a good place to be? Do you really want to be a straight “C” Dealer? Does the term mediocre Dealer appeal to you? I think not.
So how do you go from being average to becoming a Top Performer?
It all starts with one word-Commitment.
Are you committed to change? Are you committed to leaving your comfort zone? Are you committed to achieving different results? Think of it this way—when it comes to making “Bacon & Eggs” the chicken was a participant but the pig was totally committed.
If you, the Dealer, are not totally committed then nothing is going to happen differently. As Zig Ziglar says “You have the perfect processes in place to get you exactly what you got last year.” Get committed to change.
Next you must establish SMART goals. Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Realistic-Time based.
Here is an example: “I want to increase my retail HPRO by .5 over the next 6 months”
Specific: Yes it is—retail Ro’s only—increase .5 HPRO (Don’t forget to calculate how much specific gross profit you will produce on parts as well as labor with that extra .5 HPRO)
Measurable: Yes it is—your DMS can print a Service Advisor Performance Report DAILY showing the HPRO for each Advisor
Achievable: Not sure—what are my Advisors going to do differently to achieve different results? If they could sell the extra .5 HPRO why haven’t they already done so? Do they have a good menu to sell from? Do they have the proper communication skills and processes to make a feature benefit presentation to your customers? Are they willing to leave their comfort zones? Are they committed to change? (Chickens or Pigs?)
Realistic: Yes it is—since the average dealer is averaging 1.4 that means a lot of dealers are doing much better than 1.4 and since there is a multitude of dealers out there averaging 2.0 to 2.5 HPRO then another .5 is very realistic.
Time Based: Yes it is—you have 6 months to decide what you are going to do differently, what new processes will you implement, how will you train everyone on new skills that will increase their sales performance and provide the customer with a higher level of service?
Once you achieve your SMART goal then move on to the next one. Long term success is a journey not just a destination. That first SMART goal is just the first leg of your journey. Do not allow yourself to become complacent because you will gravitate back toward mediocrity.
John Mason in his book ”An Enemy Called Average” states: “Mediocrity is a region bound on the north by compromise, on the south by indecision, on the east by past thinking and on the west by a lack of vision.”
Every department in your dealership must be a profit center for the dealer who wants to thrive and not just survive in this very competitive industry of ours. The aftermarket service providers currently have over 80% of all the parts and service business in America. Don’t you think it’s time we started taking it back?
Don Reed-CEO
DealerPro Training Solutions
Showing posts with label advisor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advisor. Show all posts
The one word every Advisor needs to hear...
There is one word every Service Advisor needs to hear.
This word is the key to their future...whether they become a top-notch superstar a middle of the road average Joe or a washout...they need this word.
It defines greatness as well as highlights deficiencies.
The word is...No.
Since our Company (DealerPro) trains in Dealerships all over the country, we are exposed to every level of Service Advisor imaginable.
From the greenpea who is day one in a new job to the old dog who knows every customer who has come in for the past 5 years!
In the Seattle area there is a Service Advisor named Chad who became a believer in the word No!
Chad did not come from an automotive background, unless you count driving a car, and had no more special skills than anybody else. He does not come to work wearing a cape and he does not have x-ray vision.
When we first started training in Chad's store and introduced Professional Selling Skills to the Advisors, Chad was skeptical just like everybody else.
After being trained on the 12 Step Process and ASR Presentation Skills he went to work in the service drive. At first, did some of the Write-up processes some of the time and followed the ASR Presentation process sometimes... and just like everybody else, he got what you might expect...some results.
But Chad was a little different.
He understood the value in presenting all of the recommended repairs and maintenance to the customers but didn't always follow through. Like many other Advisors, he didn't want to seem "pushy" or "sell them something they didn't need."
And he didn't like the word No.
What changed for Chad is referred to as a paradigm shift. His view of "what it means to be a Service Advisor" became radically different when he realized that the customers were having repairs done someplace else even though he had made the recommendations.
And other customers were coming in with the maintenance on their vehicle up to date because it was completed by other shops...his competition! He realized he was getting all of the "leftovers"...and the "warranty work."
He asked himself "Why are customers leaving my shop without having the work their vehicle needs completed right here at my Dealership?"
And then it hit him...it was because he NEVER ASKED!
He realized he was afraid to ask!
He made up his mind that his customers were going to be serviced at his Dealership! He started believing that the recommendations he was making were helpful to the customer in maintaining their vehicle and actually saved them money!
And he became a fan of the word No.
He started presenting recommended services...and repair recommendations ...and in the beginning he heard a No a lot. In fact, if you ask him, he will tell you that he almost gave up!
But he had decided that in order to be successful as an Advisor he needed to learn how to sell. And so, he heard even more No's.
And in his mind he decided that every No was a good thing because that led the next YES!
And because he stuck with it...more and more No's came his way... and still Chad kept going... and going... until finally one day...he started getting YES.
And soon the amount of YES'es doubled the N0's.
Can you guess what happened to Chad's HPRO?
Yep...it doubled as well... in fact...he became the number one Service Advisor in his store. Can you guess what happened to his income?
Yep...it nearly doubled as well.
Chad is still happily employed at that same Dealership...can you guess how his CSI is? Yep...it's better too!
All of us like to deal with a Trained Professional...someone who can guide us and help us make the right decision based on our needs and wants. Know what else is true?
We will gladly pay for it...and in some cases pay even more. It's because we all like to be taken care of.
Want to be succesful as a Service Advisor?
Be like Chad.
Get more No's!
This word is the key to their future...whether they become a top-notch superstar a middle of the road average Joe or a washout...they need this word.
It defines greatness as well as highlights deficiencies.
The word is...No.
Since our Company (DealerPro) trains in Dealerships all over the country, we are exposed to every level of Service Advisor imaginable.
From the greenpea who is day one in a new job to the old dog who knows every customer who has come in for the past 5 years!
In the Seattle area there is a Service Advisor named Chad who became a believer in the word No!
Chad did not come from an automotive background, unless you count driving a car, and had no more special skills than anybody else. He does not come to work wearing a cape and he does not have x-ray vision.
When we first started training in Chad's store and introduced Professional Selling Skills to the Advisors, Chad was skeptical just like everybody else.
After being trained on the 12 Step Process and ASR Presentation Skills he went to work in the service drive. At first, did some of the Write-up processes some of the time and followed the ASR Presentation process sometimes... and just like everybody else, he got what you might expect...some results.
But Chad was a little different.
He understood the value in presenting all of the recommended repairs and maintenance to the customers but didn't always follow through. Like many other Advisors, he didn't want to seem "pushy" or "sell them something they didn't need."
And he didn't like the word No.
What changed for Chad is referred to as a paradigm shift. His view of "what it means to be a Service Advisor" became radically different when he realized that the customers were having repairs done someplace else even though he had made the recommendations.
And other customers were coming in with the maintenance on their vehicle up to date because it was completed by other shops...his competition! He realized he was getting all of the "leftovers"...and the "warranty work."
He asked himself "Why are customers leaving my shop without having the work their vehicle needs completed right here at my Dealership?"
And then it hit him...it was because he NEVER ASKED!
He realized he was afraid to ask!
He made up his mind that his customers were going to be serviced at his Dealership! He started believing that the recommendations he was making were helpful to the customer in maintaining their vehicle and actually saved them money!
And he became a fan of the word No.
He started presenting recommended services...and repair recommendations ...and in the beginning he heard a No a lot. In fact, if you ask him, he will tell you that he almost gave up!
But he had decided that in order to be successful as an Advisor he needed to learn how to sell. And so, he heard even more No's.
And in his mind he decided that every No was a good thing because that led the next YES!
And because he stuck with it...more and more No's came his way... and still Chad kept going... and going... until finally one day...he started getting YES.
And soon the amount of YES'es doubled the N0's.
Can you guess what happened to Chad's HPRO?
Yep...it doubled as well... in fact...he became the number one Service Advisor in his store. Can you guess what happened to his income?
Yep...it nearly doubled as well.
Chad is still happily employed at that same Dealership...can you guess how his CSI is? Yep...it's better too!
All of us like to deal with a Trained Professional...someone who can guide us and help us make the right decision based on our needs and wants. Know what else is true?
We will gladly pay for it...and in some cases pay even more. It's because we all like to be taken care of.
Want to be succesful as a Service Advisor?
Be like Chad.
Get more No's!
Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep and Hyundai Advisors
needed immediately
for Dealership in Ft. Worth, TX
Forward resume to rheywood@dealerprotraining.com for immediate consideration.
DealerPro Announces NADA Convention Seminar Schedule
Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solution is scheduled to present “Implementing The Four Essentials To Service Absorption” at the NADA Convention in February 2011.
There are four seminars to choose from.
Friday February 4th@1:30pm in Room 2018 West.
Saturday February 5th@1:00pm in Room 303 South Esplanade.
Sunday February 6th@11:00am Room 2016 West.
Monday February 7th@8:30am Room 2016 West.
Don has been a Top 1o NADA Convention Speaker since 2007. He recently completed a seminar schedule in England where he delivered workshops and seminars on The Four Essentials To Service Absorption to Dealer Principals and Service Managers.
You will leave with Action Steps you can take to start increasing your Service Absorption right away.
There are four seminars to choose from.
Friday February 4th@1:30pm in Room 2018 West.
Saturday February 5th@1:00pm in Room 303 South Esplanade.
Sunday February 6th@11:00am Room 2016 West.
Monday February 7th@8:30am Room 2016 West.
Don has been a Top 1o NADA Convention Speaker since 2007. He recently completed a seminar schedule in England where he delivered workshops and seminars on The Four Essentials To Service Absorption to Dealer Principals and Service Managers.
You will leave with Action Steps you can take to start increasing your Service Absorption right away.
“The Cheapest Oil Change In Town”
In every market and at every dealer there is the perception in Fixed Operations that cheap oil changes will add profit.
While it is true that cheap oil changes will bring Customers to your door, it is up to you to do something with them when they arrive.
Here are 3 Ways you can maximize the cheap oil change.
■Be “Over The Top” with your Customer Service. Be clean and neat, be accomodating, be prompt, be courteous and be Thankful. Think of the Customer as someone who is test driving your Dealership to see if they like the ride. Give them the best ride possible.
■Do a Complete and Thorough Inspection of the vehicle. Instead of a “27 Point” how about a “Driveability Check” or a “Winter Safety Check” or a “Brake, Light and Fluid Check” in addition to your usual 27 Point Inspection. The object is to give the Customer something that they were not expecting when they came in for “just an oil change.”
■Give them a Reason to Complete Service Work with You. Hey, you advertise, you plan for, you spend money and you lose money on the oil change and then…you don’t give your Customer a compelling reason to have service work completed at your Dealership? What are you thinking?
Making money in Fixed Operations is difficult when you don’t plan for the Oil Change Customer who might or might not be your Customer. It is impossible if you do not maximize the Cheap Oil Change Customers visit.
While it is true that cheap oil changes will bring Customers to your door, it is up to you to do something with them when they arrive.
Here are 3 Ways you can maximize the cheap oil change.
■Be “Over The Top” with your Customer Service. Be clean and neat, be accomodating, be prompt, be courteous and be Thankful. Think of the Customer as someone who is test driving your Dealership to see if they like the ride. Give them the best ride possible.
■Do a Complete and Thorough Inspection of the vehicle. Instead of a “27 Point” how about a “Driveability Check” or a “Winter Safety Check” or a “Brake, Light and Fluid Check” in addition to your usual 27 Point Inspection. The object is to give the Customer something that they were not expecting when they came in for “just an oil change.”
■Give them a Reason to Complete Service Work with You. Hey, you advertise, you plan for, you spend money and you lose money on the oil change and then…you don’t give your Customer a compelling reason to have service work completed at your Dealership? What are you thinking?
Making money in Fixed Operations is difficult when you don’t plan for the Oil Change Customer who might or might not be your Customer. It is impossible if you do not maximize the Cheap Oil Change Customers visit.
Not Taking Action Has Consequences
Yesterday I had the privilege of addressing a room of Service Managers and Factory Personnel. And I have to believe that everyone in that room was there to find or gather some new information that would help them take action on something that might be causing them some problems at their Dealerships.
Why would you attend if you had no hope of getting something, right? I hope that everyone one of them got something that they can use right away at their Dealership this week, something they can take action on.
And because I had a long drive home afterwards I started thinking about the consequences of not taking action.
In the Service Department the consequences really multiply quickly.
Lets take a look at John Q. Advisor.
John Q. is a underachiever at ABC Motors. His HPRO is at .9 and his Gross Profit Margin is below 70%. Now, John Q. is not necessarily a bad guy. In fact, he is a likeable and hard-working employee. He comes to work on time and believes he contributing to the overall success of the Service Department.
Johns current performance level is not acceptable. And the consequence of not taking action has verifiable results. Take a look at Johns numbers.
His current HPRO at .9 at the national labor rate of $85.00 an hour equals $76.50 in Gross Labor Sales. His Parts Gross Sales are $61.20 at a 80% parts to labor ratio which adds up to a total of $137.70 per CP Repair Order written. John has been performing at this level for 3 months.
The national average HPRO is 1.5 and by accepting Johns performance it is costing the Dealership money.
How much money?
Adding .6 at $85.00 equals $51.00 in Gross Labor Sales. Factor in the Parts Gross of $40.80 and each RO that John Q. writes is costing the Dealership $91.80 in LOST SALES! John writes an average of 220 CP ROs a month.
That is $20,196.00 per month and over a 3 month period that adds up to $60,588.00! I have to ask you, would you pay any Advisor $20,196.00 extra a month? $252,352 a year?
By not taking action, YOU ARE!
Everyday that John is not Trained and not held Accountable for his performance there is a concrete and verifiable loss. Not only a monetary loss but a performance loss that affects the whole department as well.
Why?
Accepting Johns results sends a message to everyone in the Dealership that a lack of performance is ok and that continued performance at this level is not a concern that needs to be taken care of. In fact John and every employee in the Service Department need not worry about the future. It is secure at ABC Motors.
You know what is worse? John thinks that it’s ok. Should John go to another Dealership for whatever reason, he would soon find himself out of a job, again. Why? Because Underachievers are not tolerated everywhere!
So not only is the Service Manager at ABC Motors costing the Dealership money by not Taking Action, by not Training John, by not holding John Accountable, the Service Manager is perpetuating Poor Performance and Condoning it!
Do you have a John Q. in your store?
Are you suffering the consequences of not taking action? What are you going to do about it!
Why would you attend if you had no hope of getting something, right? I hope that everyone one of them got something that they can use right away at their Dealership this week, something they can take action on.
And because I had a long drive home afterwards I started thinking about the consequences of not taking action.
In the Service Department the consequences really multiply quickly.
Lets take a look at John Q. Advisor.
John Q. is a underachiever at ABC Motors. His HPRO is at .9 and his Gross Profit Margin is below 70%. Now, John Q. is not necessarily a bad guy. In fact, he is a likeable and hard-working employee. He comes to work on time and believes he contributing to the overall success of the Service Department.
Johns current performance level is not acceptable. And the consequence of not taking action has verifiable results. Take a look at Johns numbers.
His current HPRO at .9 at the national labor rate of $85.00 an hour equals $76.50 in Gross Labor Sales. His Parts Gross Sales are $61.20 at a 80% parts to labor ratio which adds up to a total of $137.70 per CP Repair Order written. John has been performing at this level for 3 months.
The national average HPRO is 1.5 and by accepting Johns performance it is costing the Dealership money.
How much money?
Adding .6 at $85.00 equals $51.00 in Gross Labor Sales. Factor in the Parts Gross of $40.80 and each RO that John Q. writes is costing the Dealership $91.80 in LOST SALES! John writes an average of 220 CP ROs a month.
That is $20,196.00 per month and over a 3 month period that adds up to $60,588.00! I have to ask you, would you pay any Advisor $20,196.00 extra a month? $252,352 a year?
By not taking action, YOU ARE!
Everyday that John is not Trained and not held Accountable for his performance there is a concrete and verifiable loss. Not only a monetary loss but a performance loss that affects the whole department as well.
Why?
Accepting Johns results sends a message to everyone in the Dealership that a lack of performance is ok and that continued performance at this level is not a concern that needs to be taken care of. In fact John and every employee in the Service Department need not worry about the future. It is secure at ABC Motors.
You know what is worse? John thinks that it’s ok. Should John go to another Dealership for whatever reason, he would soon find himself out of a job, again. Why? Because Underachievers are not tolerated everywhere!
So not only is the Service Manager at ABC Motors costing the Dealership money by not Taking Action, by not Training John, by not holding John Accountable, the Service Manager is perpetuating Poor Performance and Condoning it!
Do you have a John Q. in your store?
Are you suffering the consequences of not taking action? What are you going to do about it!
Increasing Sales and Gross Profits is all in the Plan.
“Your plan for achieving 100% Service Absorption should focus on what you are going to do differently to increase sales and gross profits. It’s not just about advertising and marketing, it’s about processes” says Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solutions.
Increasing Sales is the one of the core functions of the Management Team (read Service Manager). And quite frankly, is one area that most Service Managers have difficulty doing.
Why?
It’s not that they are incompetent or incapable, it’s that they have so many other duties piled on to them, that the time they allocate to increasing Sales is never enough or is sandwiched between everything else that happens in a Dealership every day. From light bulbs out in the showroom to sprinklers not working to counseling the Service Advisor who has “personal issues” there never seems to be time to do it properly.
If that describes you, you need a plan. And all plans are built on measurements.
1st step, measure how your Advisors are performing.
What do we measure?
Every Service Manager looks at different things because that’s how they learned. You might be a SM that focuses more on Profit Margins and your buddy down the street might look at HPRO. (Hours per Repair Order)
When you are looking to increase Sales though, your view must be very narrow and specific. The focus needs to be on how many ROs did the Advisor write and how many hours did the Advisor produce on those ROs. In other words, how effective is the Advisor in making Sales with the ROs he/she wrote?
If your Advisor wrote 11 ROs and sold 9 hours on those ROs, that would be something that would get your attention as a Service Manager. And, yes, there are ALWAYS extenuating circumstances…. “This Customer never buys anything” or “All I had was LOFs today” or “I don’t know what happened, I just had on off day.”
If you are the SM, you gotta dig into what is going on with your Advisor (and ignore the excuses) because if you don’t know WHY they are not Selling you sure as heck won’t be able to Coach them to Sell more. That’s why it is so important to measure, and when trying to diagnose why Sales are not happening, to measure the Advisors effectiveness by comparing Hours sold per RO vs how many ROs did the Advisor write.
Now that you have dug into the numbers, you can see what Processes are not being followed. Finding out what is wrong is only half the battle.
2nd step, install a Process that the Advisor can follow and will follow (even when the SM is not there).
Here are 5 Common Reasons Advisors have difficulty Selling more.
1.The Advisor does not do a pre-write history check and is unaware of previous recommendations.
2.The Advisor does not conduct a walk-a-round of the vehicle during the writeup.
3.The Advisor does not present a menu to the Customer offering maintenance and services.
4.The Advisor does not make recommendations to the Customer based on observations, the Customers description of concerns or from the vehicles prior history.
5.The Advisor is uncomfortable (in some cases incapable) of making a Sales presentation to the Customer.
These 5 are responsible for more Lost Sales than any other reason in most Dealerships. Did you see any Processes not being followed in the above common reasons Advisors do not Sell?
So, now that you have measured AND you know WHY they are not selling, you can make a plan to address those discrepancies. Before you start, there is one question that you must answer first.
How effective is the Service Manager in teaching the Advisor to Sell?
If the SM cannot teach or coach the Advisor to sell, then part of the Action Plan will be to bring in someone who can.
There is no shame in admitting this if you are the SM. There is shame in allowing poor performance and low Sales through not admitting that you need to have some help in that area. Not every SM has the ability to Coach or Teach someone to Sell. They may have expertise and ability in a completely different area that makes them a strong Manager and it’s this reason they are the Manager.
Different people have different strengths. You need to know what yours are. If you are not good at Coaching or Teaching Sales, then don’t. “If you fail to get the proper kind of instruction, no matter how much you practice, you’re going to get better at making yourself worse.” Bobby Jones, Golfer
Basically, if you need help, get help.
Once you have a plan, you need to set aside a specific amount of time everyday for Training and Followup.
What do you Train on?
Processes, processes and more processes. It needs to be an automatic thought for the Advisor and not one he/she needs to think about.
Do you see the difference? If they have to think about it, it will not get done.
If they automatically do the Process and there are no questions, no “This Customers does not need a walk-a-round ’cause they were in last week”, no do it differently this writeup from the last writeup, and your Advisors have received the proper instruction and coaching, then you will have an increase in Sales.
Why? As Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solutions likes to say “Processes lead to Consistency. Consistency leads to Results.”
Increasing Sales is the one of the core functions of the Management Team (read Service Manager). And quite frankly, is one area that most Service Managers have difficulty doing.
Why?
It’s not that they are incompetent or incapable, it’s that they have so many other duties piled on to them, that the time they allocate to increasing Sales is never enough or is sandwiched between everything else that happens in a Dealership every day. From light bulbs out in the showroom to sprinklers not working to counseling the Service Advisor who has “personal issues” there never seems to be time to do it properly.
If that describes you, you need a plan. And all plans are built on measurements.
1st step, measure how your Advisors are performing.
What do we measure?
Every Service Manager looks at different things because that’s how they learned. You might be a SM that focuses more on Profit Margins and your buddy down the street might look at HPRO. (Hours per Repair Order)
When you are looking to increase Sales though, your view must be very narrow and specific. The focus needs to be on how many ROs did the Advisor write and how many hours did the Advisor produce on those ROs. In other words, how effective is the Advisor in making Sales with the ROs he/she wrote?
If your Advisor wrote 11 ROs and sold 9 hours on those ROs, that would be something that would get your attention as a Service Manager. And, yes, there are ALWAYS extenuating circumstances…. “This Customer never buys anything” or “All I had was LOFs today” or “I don’t know what happened, I just had on off day.”
If you are the SM, you gotta dig into what is going on with your Advisor (and ignore the excuses) because if you don’t know WHY they are not Selling you sure as heck won’t be able to Coach them to Sell more. That’s why it is so important to measure, and when trying to diagnose why Sales are not happening, to measure the Advisors effectiveness by comparing Hours sold per RO vs how many ROs did the Advisor write.
Now that you have dug into the numbers, you can see what Processes are not being followed. Finding out what is wrong is only half the battle.
2nd step, install a Process that the Advisor can follow and will follow (even when the SM is not there).
Here are 5 Common Reasons Advisors have difficulty Selling more.
1.The Advisor does not do a pre-write history check and is unaware of previous recommendations.
2.The Advisor does not conduct a walk-a-round of the vehicle during the writeup.
3.The Advisor does not present a menu to the Customer offering maintenance and services.
4.The Advisor does not make recommendations to the Customer based on observations, the Customers description of concerns or from the vehicles prior history.
5.The Advisor is uncomfortable (in some cases incapable) of making a Sales presentation to the Customer.
These 5 are responsible for more Lost Sales than any other reason in most Dealerships. Did you see any Processes not being followed in the above common reasons Advisors do not Sell?
So, now that you have measured AND you know WHY they are not selling, you can make a plan to address those discrepancies. Before you start, there is one question that you must answer first.
How effective is the Service Manager in teaching the Advisor to Sell?
If the SM cannot teach or coach the Advisor to sell, then part of the Action Plan will be to bring in someone who can.
There is no shame in admitting this if you are the SM. There is shame in allowing poor performance and low Sales through not admitting that you need to have some help in that area. Not every SM has the ability to Coach or Teach someone to Sell. They may have expertise and ability in a completely different area that makes them a strong Manager and it’s this reason they are the Manager.
Different people have different strengths. You need to know what yours are. If you are not good at Coaching or Teaching Sales, then don’t. “If you fail to get the proper kind of instruction, no matter how much you practice, you’re going to get better at making yourself worse.” Bobby Jones, Golfer
Basically, if you need help, get help.
Once you have a plan, you need to set aside a specific amount of time everyday for Training and Followup.
What do you Train on?
Processes, processes and more processes. It needs to be an automatic thought for the Advisor and not one he/she needs to think about.
Do you see the difference? If they have to think about it, it will not get done.
If they automatically do the Process and there are no questions, no “This Customers does not need a walk-a-round ’cause they were in last week”, no do it differently this writeup from the last writeup, and your Advisors have received the proper instruction and coaching, then you will have an increase in Sales.
Why? As Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solutions likes to say “Processes lead to Consistency. Consistency leads to Results.”
Saving Newbie Advisor
In the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, an Army unit is sent to rescue the last surviving brother for a mother in waiting. The team is successful and Private Ryan returns home to live a life of fulfillment.
Nice story. Great plot. Excellent movie.
What has that got to do with Fixed Operations and Service Advisors?
Well, it is more about what you are not doing than what you are doing. And “Saving Newbie Advisor” could just as well be titled “Saving Every Advisor.” But I chose Newbie because it brings home that in every Service Manager there beats the heart of a Trainer and Coach (at least there should be) , and that last thing we want to do is put Newbie Advisor in a position to Fail.
So the question is, “If I am the Service Manager today, what 3 things would I need to teach my Newbie Advisor so that I could save him or her from the same mistakes that most every other Advisor makes in their respective careers?”
1st, lets teach them How to be Investigatory. In other words, how to ask good questions. Let me give you an example of a bad question. “Would you like fries with that?” Why is that a bad question?
Because everything preceding that question was order taking. Order taking is just that. Writing down what the person told you, putting that into the computer and waiting for the next request. Anybody can learn to do that. Heck, we taught a monkey to fly in space using the very same technique.
Advisors are investigatory. They ask questions that are investigative in nature. “Mr. Customer, I noticed that it’s been 6ooo miles since you had your tires rotated. Would you like for me to rotate them for you today?” or “Mr. Customer, during your last visit we recommended replacing the upper and lower radiator hoses. Has that been taken care of yet?”
2nd, lets teach them how to be Sell properly. A true Salesperson is the ultimate Professional. They study their craft by reading, training and role playing. They leave nothing to chance that is in their direct control. They always know how to respond even if they don’t know what they are going to say.
Too many times our Newbie Advisors are in the position to make a Sale and have no clue how to properly do it. They say the wrong thing or even worse, never say anything at all! They lack confidence to complete the transaction if there is anything outside of the ordinary because they haven’t been trained to deal with the unexpected. (Does Handling Objections sound familiar?)
Lastly, lets teach them how to Listen properly. Listening is a skill like any other. Stop practicing good Listening habits and watch the Sales tumble like BP’s stock after the oil spill. Straight down the Leader board.
Good Listening start with eye contact and paying attention. If you find your Advisors staring at the computer screen and answering the phone when the Customer is standing in front of them, it might be time for a “Saving.”
Saving Newbie and Every Advisor does not need to be a rescue mission if Training and Coaching are a priority and practiced daily. Take a look at your Advisors and see if they are in need of being saved. Teach and Coach How to ask Investigative Questions, How to Sell and How to Listen and watch your Service Sales increase.
Nice story. Great plot. Excellent movie.
What has that got to do with Fixed Operations and Service Advisors?
Well, it is more about what you are not doing than what you are doing. And “Saving Newbie Advisor” could just as well be titled “Saving Every Advisor.” But I chose Newbie because it brings home that in every Service Manager there beats the heart of a Trainer and Coach (at least there should be) , and that last thing we want to do is put Newbie Advisor in a position to Fail.
So the question is, “If I am the Service Manager today, what 3 things would I need to teach my Newbie Advisor so that I could save him or her from the same mistakes that most every other Advisor makes in their respective careers?”
1st, lets teach them How to be Investigatory. In other words, how to ask good questions. Let me give you an example of a bad question. “Would you like fries with that?” Why is that a bad question?
Because everything preceding that question was order taking. Order taking is just that. Writing down what the person told you, putting that into the computer and waiting for the next request. Anybody can learn to do that. Heck, we taught a monkey to fly in space using the very same technique.
Advisors are investigatory. They ask questions that are investigative in nature. “Mr. Customer, I noticed that it’s been 6ooo miles since you had your tires rotated. Would you like for me to rotate them for you today?” or “Mr. Customer, during your last visit we recommended replacing the upper and lower radiator hoses. Has that been taken care of yet?”
2nd, lets teach them how to be Sell properly. A true Salesperson is the ultimate Professional. They study their craft by reading, training and role playing. They leave nothing to chance that is in their direct control. They always know how to respond even if they don’t know what they are going to say.
Too many times our Newbie Advisors are in the position to make a Sale and have no clue how to properly do it. They say the wrong thing or even worse, never say anything at all! They lack confidence to complete the transaction if there is anything outside of the ordinary because they haven’t been trained to deal with the unexpected. (Does Handling Objections sound familiar?)
Lastly, lets teach them how to Listen properly. Listening is a skill like any other. Stop practicing good Listening habits and watch the Sales tumble like BP’s stock after the oil spill. Straight down the Leader board.
Good Listening start with eye contact and paying attention. If you find your Advisors staring at the computer screen and answering the phone when the Customer is standing in front of them, it might be time for a “Saving.”
Saving Newbie and Every Advisor does not need to be a rescue mission if Training and Coaching are a priority and practiced daily. Take a look at your Advisors and see if they are in need of being saved. Teach and Coach How to ask Investigative Questions, How to Sell and How to Listen and watch your Service Sales increase.
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