Ever Wonder Why Service Customers Don’t Return?

I went to a dealership today to get my car’s oil changed. I always go to the dealerships. I guess because I believe they're better and because I worked in Fixed-Ops for so long and saw the abortions that came from some of the independents. So, I didn’t call for an appointment, I just drove in. It was just for an oil change, right? I drive up, some guy at the other end of the drive waves and yells at me, “All the Way Up!” I mean he screams it! I pull forward and get out of the car and I wait – and wait. While I wait, I overhear another customer ask one of the service advisors how long it will take for just an oil change. ”Oh god, it’s going to be at least an hour. Can you leave it?” she says. Oh boy, I am excited about being here today.

Finally, a service advisor walks over to me and says, “Do you have an appointment?” Doesn’t smile, doesn’t ask how I am doing, doesn’t say nice car (which it is) – nothing. I said, “No, I just need an oil change.” “You don’t have an appointment?" she asks again. “I have to tell you, it’s going to be a while.” “OK,” I say. “I'll get someone from work to pick me up.” Sound familiar so far? Go and spend an hour or so in your service drive and just listen. Listen to the negative tones, the negative answers and the inconvenience that just bubbles out from everyone there. Go ahead, I dare you.

OK, back to my story, next question she blasts, “Ever been here before?” Yes, I have I thought, but I don’t know why. “Yep,” I respond. “I can’t find any information in our computer that matches your VIN, you sure you were here?” she bellows. “Well, I was here about a year ago,” I start to tell her, when her phone rings, which she answers. After a few minutes, which seemed like an hour, she gets off the phone. Then a technician walks up to inform her that apparently the car he is working on won’t be ready until later in the day because he has a doctor’s appointment. Then another call comes in and she answers it. Finally, she tells me she can’t find my information in the computer – and again I tell her that I've been there before. I know I have. I remember these experiences, trust me.

Well, I won’t bore you with any more details; you get the picture, right? I will tell you that this experience takes place hundreds of times each day, and probably at your dealership, too. Most service advisors have no idea about what good customer service is. So my advice – get out of your office and get on the drive. Teach your service advisors how to be prompt and understanding about a customer’s point of view and of their time. Teach them how to listen and how to be nice and how to make customers feel welcome and how to make customers want to return in the future. Face it; you need every single customer you can get today. Warranty is down, maintenance intervals are stretched and cars just don’t break down as often as they used to, so the only way you can survive is to increase customer retention.