A Service Driving Revolution YouTube video (hosted by Chris Collins) discussing strategic marketing collaboration between dealership parts and service departments. Key recommendations: coordinate quarterly joint specials (seasonal packages and accessory bundles), use social media storytelling over simple coupons, cross-train staff and managers to understand each department's customer emotional journey, and engage with industry shows (SEMA) to inspire accessory and modifier-focused sales. Closing includes a CTA to subscribe, a phone line for questions (8333 Ask SDR), and a promotional link (offers.chriscollinsinc.com).
Chapters
The, the marketing that I've seen coming out of dealerships. Parts does their own thing, service does their own thing. There's no reason those two things shouldn't be together. Why would we not be thinking strategically about how to. How to market from both departments?
Yeah. And so in market and the. The other part of that is come up with.
Quarterly.
Specials that parts and service are collaborating on. So, hey, we're going into winter. What is it we can sell as a package that we can advertise? We're going into summer. What is it we can sell in. In the summer? Like, great things come of those conversations because I've seen a few times where going into summer, we pack a detail into something and then there's a kit with wax and whatever that the parts department is selling to. That's a takeaway. So there's all kinds of things we can do where we can make things special and separate ourselves from everybody else. That, you know, if you're doing a get ready for a road trip in the summer and it comes with water bottles and just things to make cooler that's branded, you know, from the dealership or from the manufacturer, all of those things, luggage, whatever. You know, a lot of times the manufacturers make these accessories like luggage or coolers or things like that, and we don't really ever talk about them. But if you're thinking about it, you would. You would advertise that. And especially now that you can do that stuff on Facebook and Instagram and market in a way that's a little.
Easier to convey something more than just a coupon. You can tell a story and you can show pictures and be visual with what you're doing. You know, everybody's thinking about getting out of town and going somewhere this summer on a road trip. And so coming up with specials like that together, where both departments are winning but you're capturing the imagination of our customers is really powerful.
Yeah. I think that we've never, in the history of. Of marketing, I don't think we've ever been in a more time. A time to be more creative than we are right now. Like the way that we can reach our target, like through social media and everything, you hit them right where they're at. And it doesn't even. It doesn't even cost a lot of money. And it's really. You're only limited by your own imagination. So I think it's a great opportunity for the two to become together. So the next thing on my list, and there's probably a couple of different facets That I was thinking about with this is cross training. So like parts counter people maybe cross training as an advisor, advisors understanding what goes into the parts department. A little bit of a cross train thing. Managers cross training. So that a service manager would understand parts and parts manager would understand service. I think there's a lot to that too. So that the two departments become interchangeable.
Yeah, I think there's a couple things there for the leaders of the departments to do. Like I, I think it's really, really helpful for a service manager to go out and call on wholesale clients. With the parts manager, you're probably not gonna sell any labor. They're just buying wholesale parts. But just to understand that how in the parts department the door to door things still work. Showing up with a gift still works. And service has that for fleet. But you know, only some brands are. Is that applicable? In a sense. But then the same thing for the parts manager to actually work the drive, call some customers back, like do some of the things that the service manager does. You just kind of start to, to understand how the service department deals more with emotions and the parts department deals more with constraints and transactions. And they're, they're very different if you pay attention. And we should appreciate each other for that. Like let's understand it and embrace it. But it's a, it's a different kind of emotional journey for the customers. Like parts is kind of just an exchange. Right, right. I'm going to give you this for that. And services is way more people are emotional. They feel if their vehicle breaks down, they feel like their world is falling apart. Sometimes it's just different.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. A lot of times I think that the thing that can really create emotion and you already started to hit on this a little bit in parts working together is the whole accessory thing. For sure. I think that most parts departments are underselling accessories and with that comes a lot of emotion. Cause it's the fun part of owning a vehicle.
I think I've said it before, but all you have to do is go sit out in your service drive and count how many cars have some sort of accessory. Like they upgraded the stereo, they, they.
Wrapped the car, they got the wheels. The whole.
I know like some of you think right now like, oh, we can't do that stuff because we're the factory and warranty and this and that. One that isn't true. You can be creative and figure out ways not to compromise the warranty and do things. But two is it's gonna, for a little while it's gonna get harder and harder. And if we don't find creative ways to keep the customers there and create revenue, we're gonna have a hard time. So you almost need to start with a blank piece of paper and what we can and can't do and look at the opportunity and kind of keep your constraints or your judgments in check.
I love it. That's great.
How many times people are like, oh, you can't do that. It voids the warranty. You're like, really? Wheels void the warranty?
Yes.
What are you talking about?
So funny.
I mean, maybe if we're cutting into a wire harness, right?
But you put different lug nuts on a car, it doesn't make your AC compressor break.
Yeah. So I. I would suggest that every parts and service manager, once a year, go to SEMA together. I think that that's priceless. Like, go to SEMA for three days together and walk the floor and talk about what you can do. But you will be so inspired. And there's so many crazy things that, like, by the time you get back and you've seen, you know, gas caps that have TVs in them or whatever, or wheels that have, you know, TVs in them and lasers and, you know, I don't know, there's a. There'll be some F150 pickup that makes avocado toast. At the touch of a button, you're going to come back and you're going to be like, we could. We could sell wheels and tires.
It goes far beyond what happens at the dealership that you bring it back.
And, yeah, the body kits, you're gonna see. And then the other thing that it's gonna do is you're just going to realize that in every market out there, even, even I know you're. You might be saying, like, oh, well, you don't understand, Chris. The town I'm in is 20,000 people or whatever. Those smaller towns are more fanatical. But in just about every town, there's a core of younger, you know, mid-20s, early-30s that are modifiers of cars and they. They are the best customers to have.
And they're doing cool stuff to their.
Cars, for sure and all. Like, I think that we should be doing an event at SEMA and taking people, because I think that it would just be so inspiring for a lot of parts managers, because I think, you know, it's one thing for us to talk about. About it, but when they see it and they see how much money people are spending on that stuff, you, you know, and also just how tribal those people are. Like, people that are doing those sort of modifications or thinking that way are. Are like, you know, for lack of a better, better analogy, they're like Trekkies. Like.
Yeah. They're just looking for the next cooler thing.
Yeah.
There's no limit to what you're in.
You're in.
Yeah, exactly.
There's no there. The only barrier of entry is being a fan of it. That's it.
Yep.
There's no test.
Thanks so much for watching this clip.
Of Service Driving Revolution.
We're uploading new stuff every day, so make sure you subscribe and click the bell icon so you don't miss out. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show, call 8333 Ask SDR and we'll answer your.
Question on the show.
That's 8333 Ask SDR. For special deals on our books and training, head over to offers.chriscollinsinc.com now that's offers.chriscollinsInc.com I'm Chris Collins, and I'll see.
