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Basic stuff really... Making customers concerns a priority, addressing them, following up, etc.

We are a small business and I run both of our locations, but Im not able to be at the front desk of both locations, so our techs cover the front as well. They are awesome, just need some training on customer interactions.

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I would suggest you look into hiring a person to exclusively work the front end of your business. You'll see a big increase in technician efficiency without them having to answer phones and attend to customers.

 

Besides that I would look into an in person training course. What has been working very well for us is the Elite Masters Course. If you need more info you can contact me via email at [email protected]. It is not a cheap program, its rather expensive compared to other programs but if you are looking for lasting results and behavior change conducive to customer service then there are few to no substitutes at least in my experience and research.

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Carl Sewell's book 'Customers for Life' is an excellent read and would be a cheap place to start. I have taken a select few courses from Elite, and I would say the customer service aspect of Sewell's book is better (and much cheaper) than what I have seen from Elite. Elite does a great job at teach sales from what I saw, but Sewell literally wrote the book on customer service.

 

If your employees are paid based on commission, Sewell does a great job at explaining how much a customer is worth over their lifetime. That should give your employees a good idea at how much each customer is worth to them in terms of paychecks, and in turn, encourage them to really work for customer satisfaction.

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Carl Sewell's book 'Customers for Life' is an excellent read and would be a cheap place to start. I have taken a select few courses from Elite, and I would say the customer service aspect of Sewell's book is better (and much cheaper) than what I have seen from Elite. Elite does a great job at teach sales from what I saw, but Sewell literally wrote the book on customer service.

 

If your employees are paid based on commission, Sewell does a great job at explaining how much a customer is worth over their lifetime. That should give your employees a good idea at how much each customer is worth to them in terms of paychecks, and in turn, encourage them to really work for customer satisfaction.

 

 

Carl Sewell's book is very good. I am going through it now. Reinforcement is what is needed. Carl Sewell mentions why we go to church is to reinforce our faith, morals and values. The same has to happen with anything you want your employees to constantly stick to. If you want your shop and your people have a culture of premium customer service you have to have constant reinforcement and frequent meetings.

 

My mention of Elite's master course is that it is the only course that I see that sticks to the principles of reinforcement. Other courses, seminars, and classes are great and there is plenty of value there. I just think Elite takes it a step further with their program.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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