Can Service Advisors Survive Kiosks? (Service Drive Revolution)

What's your opinion about dealerships using a check in kiosk? We have one and the manager wants us to use it. Even knowing it takes more time and it can't check history.

What do we think about kiosks for service advisors? The first thing I think is.

If they're, I don't know if you run the danger of getting replaced by a kiosk. You might want to get into selling mortgages or something. What do you think Jeremy?

No, I don't think they could do that because you have to get a special license for that. These days it's not just easy to go do mortgages so that's probably too hard. I, you know, I welcome it, I say bring it on. And this ties in great to our topic today of you know, being a pro versus an amateur. Look, the kiosks are going to come, there's no question about it. The dollars and cents. It's going to help dealerships and service departments bring a higher net to gross and consumers. It's not about the kiosk. You got to wrap your head around this, it's around the process and if you're going to beat Kris. I would slay the kiosk dragon. I would come in every single day. I would pre print and get prepared for all the customers coming in the next day. I would contact them via text, email or phone call. I'd schedule their drop off appointment 15 minutes apart. I'd let them know that the check in process is going to take between 10 to 15 minutes so I could pet the dog properly, answer all their questions, get their ticket written up properly and just ensure that they have this magical personalized, customized experience that's tailor fit for them. And then after a month of that, two months, three months, four months, five months, my clientele is going to be lining up for me out the drive and, and they won't want to see the kiosk and consumers do want a faster experience. But you got to remember if you have ever seen a customer at a kiosk on their own, they get stuck and that's where they need a professional to come in and help. So I would, I welcome it, bring it on. I would use it as a tool. It's just another tool. Use it when it's appropriate but find out how to slay the kiosk dragon.

Good one.

This next question comes from Hector.

So hold on guys. I'm sorry, I don't usually interrupt you very often but I feel like it's important for everyone to know a thing or Two about you. I heard God.

Talking to Michael yesterday and he said to Michael, michael, come forth and receive eternal life. But Michael came fifth and won a toaster.

Oh, that's ridiculous.

God is speechless.

God does not award toasters.

God awards, participation, trophies. This next question comes from Hector. Hello, guys. I recently left a Japanese manufacturer after 15 years and my complete dealership experience at the same store. I switched to a Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler and Ram as a fixed ops director. What recommendations do you have to grow a store with a lot of potential and a lot of UI O's? I have many ideas but love to listen to opinions to better a store.

See, Chris, I told you the questions were going to get better if we just rewarded the behavior. That's a good question. I like that question.

I would. My first word of advice would be to get a coach. And you love listening to ideas and all that, but what's really going to separate you is your execution and how you create this remarkable service experience for your clientele. And a coach can help you get there faster and weed through the nonsense and the noise. So I would absolutely say grab one of our coaches and help them guide you along that path to, to success. And it's all right there. It's a remarkable service experience. How do you deliver that remarkable service experience?

Yeah, the customer experience has to be the first thing that you figure out. And then, and then mark, you know, market in a different way. Like don't marketing, that is.

You know, buy three tires, get one free and all that, like tell a story, be engaging, be a part of the community. You know, go, I don't know, go back to what this industry was about. Being a part of the community and interacting with the community is a good way to build your RO account too. But you have home field advantage. So if you're a dealership and you're selling the car, you have home field advantage. It's the experience and the customer's feeling about you or us in that scenario that keeps them coming back. So you need to manage their emotions and their, their perception of value needs to be managed.

Absolutely. Great points.

God rolled his eyes.

God did not roll his eyes.

This final question comes From Clarence on LinkedIn. Chris, I need help knowing if I should pursue being a service advisor, BDC call center agent or parts advisor, or. I've been in and out of positions at different dealerships but don't know which one is my passion.

Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. Did I hear the question correctly? Chris? Did he say that he actually has had A job. He did the parts department.

Yeah, well, yeah, that was one of the. That was one on the list.

So what do you think that experience did for him?

He's going to need some sort of exorcism from parts. Like you're going to have to remove the parts before.

Yeah.

This is why he doesn't know where his passion is. Cuz the parts department sucked his passion right out of him. Right. Work ethic.

You're going to have to go to a. You're going to have to go to a shaman or something and do some sort of hallucinogenic thing in the forest of Peru, something.

You could go to Sedona, Arizona and possibly do that as well.

So is that why you did it?

Who said I did that? I actually had not done that. Here's. Yeah, I think you have to look at, you know, where your passion lies. Do you really have a passion for helping people? If you do not have a passion for helping people, you don't belong in the service department. There's just. That's just a game changer right there. So if you like to help people, then I would say lean towards service. I never went in my career path to sales or finance. I just chose to stay in the service department. It was a great fit for me. It really helped me fulfill a lot of the things that I needed in my career was a lot more stable than working on the sales floor. So I would say look at the service department. You've got to pick one and then move forward with it. So find your.

For me, I just grew up really, really poor and so the job that was commissioned, that the harder I worked the more I could make and it was all on me. To perform.

Was the one that I wanted. So to me it was about the pay plan and investment of effort versus reward. That's how I thought. I didn't know any better.

Yeah. And I think long term service has a more stable future than being on the sales floor. We don't know how things are going to change with sales coming up in the next five to 10 years. So I think you can build a book of business. You know, like Chris, you talk about you, you know, in your training, which is to stay in one place, build your clientele, build your key throwers and create that trust fund that you deserve. Yeah.

Good question. Thank you so much for watching this clip of Service Drive Revolution. Now you can catch the full episode on YouTube, iTunes or Spotify or wherever you consume your podcast. If you have any questions, go ahead and post them in the comments below, make sure you subscribe and hit the bell icon so you're notified when we post new episodes. I'm Chris Collins and you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at Chris Bulldog Collins and I'll see you again on the next episode.