How To Hit The Play Button (Service Drive Revolution Drive By)

Foreign.

To service Drive Revolution. This is your Friday drive by. A little love going into the weekend to inspire and make you maybe think about things a little bit differently. I have chrisjone and Jeremy here, and what we want to talk about today is not hitting the pause button, but hitting the play button.

Chris, I think they should hit the fast forward button. Now is the time to run at four times our normal speed, not just hitting play. Look, let's face it. A lot of people out there have their hands tied. They've been told from upper management and ownership that we've got to cut back. Some dealerships are scaled back 70 to 80% of their normal working crew. And if you're a service manager out there, it is absolutely infuriating because you want to go out there and run. But they've got you, you know, cuffed at the ankles, cuffed at the hands, and you can only take in so many cars a day. So how do we help these guys and gals out there create momentum in this time of pause? What do you think about that?

I think that, you know, the thing that happens right now is we got people standing around. We have people sitting at home, but there's a lot of stuff we can do. The people sitting at home could be calling customers and making appointments for future visits. They could be creating a database of. Of customers that are due but don't want to come in right now. But ask the customer like, okay, when this lifts, when do you want to come in and what do you need? And having a list of once this, you know, frees up a little bit, we have a bunch of customers that are ready to come in that we can call and book and get them in right away to help in the transition process. There are tons of customers that have declined work that we could call, go pick up the car and get them in. Just think about what can we control. We can go after cars. We can go to the local hospitals and donate steering wheel covers and seat covers and, you know, offer oil changes. Any makes, any models. There's tons of stuff that we can do. But if. If the idea is to sit there with the pause button and wait for things to happen, we're gonna die. We're gonna come out of this, and it's just gonna be a slow death. Right. We need to think about what things can we do now to create activity to touch our customers, to load our shop when this lifts for customers that don't want to come in.

Absolutely. You know, we had a new spa delivered back in January, and there's a piece that they had to come out and put on. Well, we got put on hold. He said he can't come out and do that right now. And I would love it if they contacted me and said, hey, we've got a week 1 through 12. When this is lifted. Do you want to be serviced in week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 after the pause has been lifted? So I would love to create a list like that so these people that are sitting at home, let's create something to put people into. Do you want to come in in week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 after the lift is done, and then we'll schedule you in. So we don't know when that's going to be. It could be May, could be June, could be July. But let's create a system to get people in and systematize it so they have a target date and they're ready to come in and take action on it.

Yeah, there's lots of stuff we can do. But just think, if people are sitting around, what could they do to call, to go pick up? The rules are different right now. So the old system doesn't work. You gotta, you know, take off those chains that bind you and think differently, think a new way. How could we over deliver? How could we just call and check on customers and build rapport? Right.

Absolutely. For sure. And, you know, it's interesting, I look, you know, outside of our industry and can you imagine what real estate agents are going through right now? Their business has been majorly paused and they've got to stay in contact with their customer base. I would not want to be a realtor right now in Southern California. But for those of us who have a client base of people with vehicles when we communicate with them, please don't make it a sales call you don't want to lead with. Hey, last time you ran Christian, you declined the timing belt. Do you want to come in on Tuesday for the timing belt? That's not what customers want to hear. Let's offer them a helping hand, see what we can do to be a resource for them and make sure that their vehicle is ready for them. And if they have any questions, we want to help him with that.

Oh, yeah, and I would say too, I would say, Jeremy, like, hey, how, how are you doing? How are you handling everything? What's going on? Are you, are you working from home? Well, I was just thinking about you. I know that we, we recommended that timing belt. And when all this lifts up, you know, let me know if you want Me to call you and schedule that and just kind of leave it open ended. We don't always have to sell something. Let's make friends. We can't have enough friends. I always say that.

Can't have enough. Yeah. And Chris, I got a question. I have a question for you. Now, as far as the sales that are in front of them, as far as a team goes, how would you want your service advisors to really address objections? The number one thing that customers are going to say right now to anything that we try to have an upsell or recommendation or additional concerns is, well, I don't really want to spend the money right now or I don't have the money. And the way that the advisor responds to that can either make the relationship or break it. So how would you coach advisors right now in dealing with sales objections?

Well, I think, I think you got to play the long term game. You got to listen, you got to show empathy. And there's a big difference between safety items. Right. If a, if a water pump's leaking, you probably need to do that because it's, it's not, it's not going to go away. Right. But if it's just a maintenance item that they can hold off on, tell them the truth. I just, I think that the truth will set you free. I know for sure that I sold more work than anybody when I was an advisor because I told the truth and customers appreciated that I wasn't trying to sell them. I'm like here, you know, if they'd say, well, I don't have that much money, I'd say, well, this is what really needs to be done, what you brought it in for, or whatever. And then these things can wait and we could create a plan. But I don't know how many customers I had plans for. They would come in every month and do the next thing. Right?

So be honest. Tell the truth. It's not you. You got to understand, it's not your car. It's your job to tell them the truth.

The truth is the truth. Show empathy. Be, you know, be a human first and show empathy. But if they need it, they're going to need it. And so you, you know, you don't, you also don't want them to leave having false hope that the water pump isn't necessary and then they get stranded on the side of the road, you know.

Yeah. Then we've done them no favors. We have to act with purpose, intent and really deliver value to the client.

Yeah, totally. Awesome. Well, good job, you guys. Hope that you have A great weekend and we will see you again next Monday. And here's a little preview of what's coming up Monday.

Next week on Service Drive Revolution. Let's talk about how we can pet the dog in an environment where, where customers are dropping off their cars and running. We have dealerships building plastic barricades between the advisors and customers. It's all very off putting. Right. We don't want to skip the part of, you know, connecting with the customers.

Making eye contact is key right now.

Understanding that we're all human and this crisis brings us together. You can't get in trouble by asking questions and listening.

I'm in my third decade in this business. I'm still waiting for someone to call me from a customer and say, your people communicate way too much with me.

And the, the word that's sticking with me right now is a four letter word. It starts with, I mean H. I'm not overcording. Telephone sales are dead.

He is a soothsayer, prognosticator of all.

You couldn't see me. It was like a white aura. Wow.

I really thought it was because he.

Just got a bad fortune cookie. You said customers are just coming in and giving you a big old hug and a big old kiss on the lips.

I want you to pass your cigar through the screen, please.

You can't really tell, but that cigar is four feet long.

I don't know. That doesn't sound like a wolf, but.

I brought my, my face plate here, right?

So like the back of their seat is completely tattooed on the back of their body, right? Like they don't move at all.

Does that drop the mic like that was that was it. I put you guys to sleep.

What? What happened?

Wow.

Thanks for watching this episode of Service Drive Revolutions Drive By. I hope it gives you something to think about over the weekend and inspires some new ideas and hopefully some new results. If you have any questions for the big show, go ahead and post them below in the comments. We'll be looking out for them and we'll answer them on the show. 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 chrisbulldogcollins and I'll see you again on the next episode.

Sa.