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I agree with above: it's not "a sell." (and certainly not an upsell - it either needs it or it doesn't)

The service ADVISOR educates the customer about the needed repair or maintenance. If you built up trust, they will say yes - or reschedule.

How can they say no? You aren't "selling" anything. They can't say not to the idea of repair, because it needs it (you're the expert). And your advice is coming from a trusted friend, you, the advisor. And everyone knows you have to make a profit -- just like their company.

They can say no to doing it now, for several reasons: they don't care enough about maintaining their car, they are cheap, or they really can't afford it now. Oh, the go-to, "I'm selling the car." (That's when I tell them, "OK, don't do that, but do this, this and this, to get more for your car or make it easier to sell.")

Re "trusted" advisor, the trade magazines don't tell you how, they just say do it.

And the same goes for the "amazing customer service" or the "exceed/shatter expectations."  The trade magazine just say do it.  Maybe you're supposed to hire the writer and their company to teach you. (And how do you shatter expectations the next time?)

Future article coming on the "how."

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2 hours ago, newport5 said:

I agree with above: it's not "a sell." (and certainly not an upsell - it either needs it or it doesn't)

The service ADVISOR educates the customer about the needed repair or maintenance. If you built up trust, they will say yes - or reschedule.

How can they say no? You aren't "selling" anything. They can't say not to the idea of repair, because it needs it (you're the expert). And your advice is coming from a trusted friend, you, the advisor. And everyone knows you have to make a profit -- just like their company.

They can say no to doing it now, for several reasons: they don't care enough about maintaining their car, they are cheap, or they really can't afford it now. Oh, the go-to, "I'm selling the car." (That's when I tell them, "OK, don't do that, but do this, this and this, to get more for your car or make it easier to sell.")

Re "trusted" advisor, the trade magazines don't tell you how, they just say do it.

And the same goes for the "amazing customer service" or the "exceed/shatter expectations."  The trade magazine just say do it.  Maybe you're supposed to hire the writer and their company to teach you. (And how do you shatter expectations the next time?)

Future article coming on the "how."

I've been able to sum it up to this:

 

If it were someone you cared about, how would you handle this?

 

This puts you in an advisor mentality, or maybe even friend.  As those lines blur at times.  As a friend, if you're just telling them what the facts are, you can't ever go wrong.

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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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