Pub. 3 Issue 2

28 www.glancda.org Is Your Service Department like a Bad Date? New Technology Can Help Have you ever experienced this? A lady opens the door to your dealership’s service department and walks in. She’s a bit apprehensive, and looks around, uncomfortable. Gradually, she makes her way up to the counter. She explains that something seems to be wrong with her tire, but she doesn’t know what. Can you take a look? After scribbling down the mileage and the tread depth, your service writer walks over to the computer and punches in some numbers. The lady waits patiently as the printer clicks out the report. The service writer explains that two new front tires are needed, the tread being dangerously low. When bought together, it’s the best deal. Also, because of wear patterns, an alignment is recommended. In fact, there’s an alignment special running now! What does this lady do? If you can answer that, you might be a service writer. If you said, “She said she needed to think about it, walked out, and never came back,” you might be a frustrated service manager. The truth is, your employee may have given an A+ sales presentation: measurements, computerized printout, point-by-point explanation with recommendations— but completely failed to reach the customer. Why? Because for many people, walking into a dealership’s service department is a lot like a first date—when they’ve had several bad dates in the past. Like it or not, they’re jaded. As soon as the routine starts up—the quick gibberish overview of problems and measurements that mean nothing to them, topped off by one or more pricey recommendations—they start to feel like prey, purposely being disoriented before the kill. You could be the perfect gentleman, but to a confused customer, you still look like the bad last date. How can businesses overcome the I-just-need-to- think-about-it syndrome and assure that apprehensive lady (and her friends, worried retiree and argue-with- you-Joe) that you really are trying to serve, not scam? What makes your dealership’s service department a good first date? Show-and-tell. According to the Social Science Research Network, 65% of people are visual learners. Words and numbers mean little to them compared to pictures, especially in an unfamiliar context. In an image- saturated culture, showing instead of telling is both expected and understood by the majority. We speak in pictures and we listen in pictures. Translate that to tires, and you’ll find that the more you can show your customer the problem (and show them that a machine found it—not you), the more they understand and the less they have to take your word for it. Transparency offered. Trust built. Customer retention established or strengthened.