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Service: Answer the Damn Phone!
Posted on Oct 16, 2009 - 02:58 PM
Ok, I am warning you – I am about to go on a rant here. Nothing bothers me as much as being in a dealership where no one in service understands the value of answering the phone. It is just plain stupid – if you think about it – that customers are calling trying to do business with a dealership and no body will answer the phone. I travel a lot and I get to spend a lot of my time in the service department of a ton of stores – and let me tell you – I have only found a few that get it when it comes to the value of the phone call.
Think about this in this way and maybe you too will get serious about the phone calls at your dealership. First, a couple of questions…what is your average dollars sold per repair order. Simple enough to figure – take your total customer pay parts (on repair orders), labor, oil and shop supply sales and divide it by the total number of customer pay repair orders – and the result is your average dollars sold per repair order. Let’s say for this example, it works out to $200.
That means that even including the small oil change only tickets and the large repair jobs – you averaged $200 in sales for every repair order you write. Now, take it a bit further – let’s say your average gross for parts and labor combined is 65% - that’s realistic – which results in $130 in pure gross profit for every repair order written. Wow - $130 and I am sure some of your numbers are a lot higher than that. Now, think about this – every time you hear the phone ring - on average you can expect $130 in gross if you answer the phone and get the customer to come in.
In this simple example…if your advisors could answer the phone and get just 2 more customers in each day…that would add an extra $400 in sales and $260 in gross per day…or $5980 a month in gross (based on 23 working days) per advisor – let me say that again - $5980 PER ADVISOR! How many advisors do you have? Do the math based on your average dollars per repair order and your advisor count – and tell me you aren’t excited about this simple concept!
And factor this in…on average 85% of all service customers that visit a dealership call first. They want to know how much it is, or what they need or maybe they need to be towed in…but again – every time the phone rings they are saying they want to spend $200 and you will gross $130 – or more and all we really want is to get just 2 more repair orders in each day per advisor. In a 23 day month – that means you will increase your repair order count by 46 per advisor…and all I hear from service managers everywhere is that they really need to do something to increase their repair order counts – well guys and gals – here is your answer and it doesn’t cost you anything. All you have to do is take advantage of all of the opportunities you already have! Does that make you want to answer the phone now?
I have said this before – I don’t think anyone listens – but I am going to keep on saying it until somebody gets it – “You can drastically increase your service sales and profits if you just answer the phone the right way.” I am hoping that someone, maybe you…will read this and change the way they are doing business. I am hoping someone – some strong service manager that has a brain will get it and that they will let their advisors know that they have got to answer the phone – that is a condition of employment.
Some stores I have visited have avoided the problem by adding people in a BDC to answer the phone or send all calls off-site to get them answered – and not only does that get costly it sends a bad message to your prospective customers. Usually people that staff the BDC are really only trying to set the appointment – they aren’t usually equipped to actually talk about features and benefits – they wont be the one that the customer is going to see when they come in and so – there is a huge disconnect. Granted it is better to at least have someone answer the phone but if they don’t handle it right and make the customer want to come in – then it was a tremendous waste of time. The times I have called stores that go to a BDC, I usually end up with them putting me on terminal hold waiting forever for a service advisor because I want to know some answer to a basic question – like how much is an oil change and a tire rotation. Again, BDC’s try to cut to the chase and set the appointment but that doesn’t work unless the customer calls and says I want to make an appointment – Wow…that shouldn’t be a difficult call to handle should it?
My answer is simple and much more cost effective. If your advisors can’t or won’t answer the phone then you may need more and better advisors – it is that simple. The phones are so important that they have to be answered by someone that understands how to get customers to come in…I mean after all, that is really the only goal of the phone call isn’t it? Service advisors on the right pay plan don’t cost you money – they make you money – just like vehicle sales people do. But BDC staff is a dead expense – and I mean that when it is used to answer service calls. I have however seen some large stores that have a shift type work week that has advisors on the phone one day building relationships, booking appointments and filling the shop with their customers for the next day – and because they are still service advisors the customers are treated better, the discussion is much more professional and the costs to the dealership is not increased because the advisor is paid on commission.
So, enough of my rant. Answering the phone the right way – no matter who you have do it is not rocket science. I have listed some quick, rules you can share with your service staff to improve the quality of your phone calls and increase traffic like we all want to do. All the advisors or BDC need to know about answering the phone ‘the right way’ falls into 4 simple categories.
- Answer the phone – it all starts there…answer the ‘damn’ phone!
- Get the customer’s name – you are trying to build a relationship – get their name for God’s sake.
- Give service shoppers features, benefits and advantages of why they should choose your store – give them reasons to do business with you!
- Ask for the appointment – This is so easy and so not done. Simply ask every caller if they would like to bring their car in today or tomorrow…and then what time. Book the appointment and give them a confirmation number (your service advisor number) so the customer feels committed to actually show up
There you have it – 4 things that will instantly increase your service traffic and not cost you a dime to do it. Your phone rings all day long and I have “ghost called” many stores pretending to be a service customer…and I am almost always disappointed. The phone will ring 5 or 6 times or get transferred and ring forever – I hang up. Advisors answer with quick, short borderline rude answers – no introduction, no features, benefits or advantages, no reasons to do business with them and no invitation to set up an appointment. Is it me here or what – I mean, I would think, especially in these challenging times, dealers and service managers would be interested in maximizing every single opportunity.
Call your store – go ahead – I dare you and I dare you to do it at least once a week. See how long it takes to get someone to answer or how long the transfer to service takes. See if your advisor introduces theirself or if they ask for your name – remember, in this case you are the customer. See if they give you features and benefits and reasons to do business with your store…and see if they try to set an appointment – I bet they don’t. And when they don’t I challenge you to get off you butt and get out in the service drive and change the way you do business- it is time to maximize every single opportunity folks! Let advisors know that you are serious and that you get this whole concept – and when they are all busy – set the right example and answer the damn phone yourself. Because remember, the prospective customer on the other end of the line will not call back – they will just call some place else.
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