Chris CollinsHelping Struggling Dealerships Build Profitable, High-Performing Service Departments | Automotive Coaching Expert | CEO

Stop "Overcoming Objections" When The Customer Can't Afford It

10 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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Chris Collins (speaker) advises service advisors and technicians that attempting to "overcome objections" with customers who explicitly cannot afford a repair is misguided and inhumane. He recommends getting a repair authorization up front and avoiding spending money on diagnostics for customers who likely cannot pay, arguing it's better to learn affordability constraints early rather than waste time and expense.

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I just have a hard time, like talking to advisors about overcoming objections with somebody who can't afford something. Like, you got to be human in the process and treat people how you would want to be treated. And if you can't afford something, overcoming objections doesn't really make sense right there. Like, you've already lost to me. So I would, I would do a repair authorization up front and not get in that situation. If somebody can't afford something, I'd rather know that before I spend a couple hundred dollars in diagnosis that they probably can't afford that either.