The Right Way To Ask For Pre-Authorized Repairs

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Welcome everybody to Service Drive Revolution and your Friday drive by. This is where we answer your questions. Try to offer a little assistance. I'm Chris Collins. This is Chris Joan.

Hello, everyone.

Today is a very special day because we've been gone and so now we're back in the office filming the big show for you. But also something really important is happening. Today is it was Christian's birthday. In a kind of a thing we do around the office is when it's your birthday, you get to pick wherever you want lunch from. And we will have lunch brought in for everybody. It's kind of a fun thing. Anybody in the audience want to guess what Christian picked up is of all we're in Los Angeles of. I don't know, there's maybe if you, if you dropped a nuclear bomb, you might, I don't know, ruin a hundred good restaurants. At least tell everybody what you picked for your special lunch.

Experience.

I chose Ono's Hawaiian Barbecue.

Yeah.

Which I think is just wonderful. And I've gotten comments from the team that they're really grateful that that's what we're having.

Behind your back, the team is saying something else.

Maybe I should have picked something else.

Actually, I'm joking. Nobody said anything. I just think it's funny.

You just watch the smiles when we eat.

Okay. We'll see. I don't know that I've ever had it. Get a pen, get a pencil, something to write on. Open notes on your phone if you want. But you're going to want to write down this number. 8333 at Ask SDR. 8333, Ask STR. And remember, if you call in, we're going to send you some swag. Some service drive revolution swag. But also, you might be doing the community a favor because somebody out there might be scared to ask the question that you're asking. But they need, they need the help, they need the advice. Or you just are starting a conversation with everyone. So you're helping out. So please call in with your questions. Try to keep them more service related. But I'm down for a little marriage advice.

I think that there's so many things.

Don'T call them bitcoin. I'm not going to talk about that.

Oh, yeah.

Nft.

And NFT is no, but I've definitely heard the term. I probably own it.

Yeah, people keep saying it. Sooner or later I'll figure out what it is. Okay, let's go to the first caller today.

You know, I've worked in the automotive field for, you know, a little Bit over a decade now. I had interviewed last year in December for a service manager position for a auto dealership that the family owned and they own, like a Ford dealer and a Kia dealership. Long story short, like I said, I interviewed for a service manager position and I was basically offered a service advisor position. And then I was told that basically once I learned, like, their system, how they do things there, they would basically start training you to be service manager. My question is, you know, I have friends that are in the field too, and I'm just trying to, you know, figure out is this something that's legitimate, you know, in your experience, is this something that you've come across before?

Yeah.

So it's basically the question, though. Basically the path is learn how they do their system, learn how things work, and then I will be trained for that serious manager position. Sound like something you've encountered before? Do you have any feedback? Thank you so much for your time.

You can't really control what other people are going to do, right? So they might with, with all the best intentions, be leading you down the path of thinking you can be a manager in that business. But things can change. Like, I remember one time I took a gig with the intention that we were going to buy dealerships and I was going to be a partner. And I did my part, but that never happened because the situation changed. And it wasn't that their intentions were bad, it's just the situation changed because somebody passed away and no longer were they in the mode of buying more businesses, they were just in the mode of actually exiting and getting out. And so I wouldn't really worry too much about what they're promising you. What I would worry about is your performance, your ability to create value and what you bring to the table and get really, really good at that. Because the one thing I know.

Is that if you are really, really good with customers, you. You are somebody who brings a lot of energy and results and enthusiasm to the table. It won't matter if you're a porter, service advisor, manager, whatever it is, your trajectory is going to be, be up. So concentrate on the things that you can control. And so whatever, you know, job or position you take.

Create incredible results. Be, be the person that outshines, outworks out, hustles everybody else. And you can't put a jar on that. You just can't.

Yeah, I think the one thing that I would ask for if I was going into that situation and a contract, not a contract. Well, it's not a terrible idea. But the first imagine if you, like.

Were talking to an advisor and they're like, could I get that in writing?

Yeah, could we draw that out a little bit?

Could you talk to my lawyer?

I'd be impressed, actually. So I've seen this happen a lot where people come in with a promise of the next job and everything like that. So I would say that the way to approach it is that if you come in, and that's the premise, it's your job to lose. So if you don't get the job, it's because you didn't meet some expectations. But the mistake that I see a lot of people make when they go into this kind of situation is they don't ask for the measurables. They're like, okay, so you say that if I write service for this long, then I'll be ready for the manager job. What are those things that tell you that I'm ready for the job? So I'd want to know that kind of stuff and like, what are the things that I'll be measured on? What do I need to learn in order to be the manager? The other thing that's kind of confusing to me a little bit is that knowing how much turnover there is in the manager job, like, there's probably manager jobs out there that people get to give him a shot at so he doesn't have to do it this way. But it's weird that.

Well, I.

You took that route.

I just find over and over again.

That people concentrate too much on the title and not on actually building a case study of your habits and results.

Right.

And oftentimes, how often do we see that an advisor is making more than a manager?

Regularly.

And so why is being a manager more appealing than being an advisor? Like, what you want to do is you want to really shine where you're at, and then those opportunities come. But they will come on your terms, not somebody else's terms. I would rather take a manager's position when I have equity and I can dictate terms than falling in love with the title and the position. And I mean, how many times do we see it's just another guy going through there that's going to get burned up?

That's right.

You really, when you, when you accept something, I want to hedge my bets in every direction and I want to have as much control, as much influence as I can if I'm going to be the manager. The worst thing is to be a manager with no influencer control.

Oh, that's purgatory, isn't it?

But that's I don't know, what is that, 60% of the managers out there?

High percentage, for sure. Yeah. I think that that's probably a really important thing is to say that the system and the environment that you're working in is way more important than the title.

I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's a tribute to the people in our industry. And we've, we've said this for a long time. There's just so many great managers out there that just haven't been given the training.

And when dealers call us and they're like, hey, I want you guys to come in, but I want to get rid of my manager first. We're always like, why? Like let it. What training? You know, most of the time we can, we can save somebody. Like, let's give them a chance, you know? Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I, I think focusing on your own results and building a case will give you more, more control. But. Oh, the thing I was going to say is how many times do we see it that a manager is paying for our on demand, on their own and out of their own pocket. Like that blows me away that you would work for a company that won't invest in training, so you have to do it yourself. Now that's a tribute to you character, you're gonna do it. But also it does kind of bring into question.

Like, why are you working for somebody who doesn't believe in training and you gotta, you gotta pay for it yourself. Which is nuts. Yeah, Crazy. Good question. Okay, next one.

I just had a question regarding asking customers for money to work with on an estimate and how you went ahead and documented that on an ro. If a customer comes in, say, and they, you know, have a particular repair and you're guesstimating that's somewhere between 2 and 600 or something, depending on the variables. And you say, you know, can I have 600 to work with? How do you document that and have them sign it? But how do you make those notes ahead of time so that when they come in later and you say it came into 5, 20, they're not surprised that they told you that it was okay to work with 600 or maybe the other spouse notated it or something like that so you don't run into that trouble. And I would really appreciate your input. Thank you very much. Love the show.

So, Ron, the thing I've learned that works the best if you're looking for repair authorization for something like this, the device that I typically. I want customers to sign in blood.

Like, literally.

I mean, I keep, like, a little thing on my desk. Needle? Yeah. Just a little slicer. I got band aids, everything like that. But honestly, you get people that sign in blood, you never have issues when.

They come to pick up peroxide.

Yeah, the whole.

You got a whole first aid kit.

That you're signing blood.

Yes.

Super, super sterile. But blood works. There could be other ways, but blood's the only one I know of.

Yeah.

Our first episode on Pre authorization was in 1976.

So the way, Ron, that I would do it is when I'm picking the dollar amount, I'm kind of going with my best guess on my experience with that repair. So let's say somebody comes in and their air conditioning isn't working. And I know that on that model, most of the time, that's the EVAP Core. And I know that the EVAP Core is $1,600.

So that's what I would have them sign for, is the 1600, the worst case scenario.

And so.

I have them signed for that right up front. So I would put just like it was an estimate. I would type into the DMS, like, $1,600. I'd print the RO and I'd say, okay, I'm giving myself $1,600 to work with. In some places, you have them initial next to that or they just sign the ro. It depends on how you do it. But I'm having them sign the initial RO for the full amount up front.

I mean, you kind of. In your question, you were saying that in a sense, like, I feel like you almost answered your own question when you were going through it.

There's a good chance he's. Yeah, I think he's doing it right.

And then once again, like, when they. They say. Which this will rarely happen, but if it does, they say, oh, I don't want to spend sixteen hundred dollars on this clunker. They might not say clunker. They might say something else.

Yeah. Piece of poop.

Yeah. Then you don't want to have your technician spend an hour and a half diagnosing it. You know what I mean? So to me, that what others perceive as negativity or friction, I perceive as important information to save the tech's time and to know where I'm at. Also, like, somebody says at that point, like, oh, well, I just want you guys to look at it. I'm gonna take it to my tech.

I'm certainly not, you know.

In that situation, I'd probably ask them why.

And you know, what's funny, right? So if you're the other tech, why would you rather have the advice of another tech than your own? That never made sense to me.

Well, sometimes what happens is the other tech can't figure it out and they're like, take it to the dealer, have them figure it out and then I'll replace the part. Yeah, but they're basically part replacers.

Maybe, but it's so weird to me.

Yeah.

Most of the techs I know that are really good, they don't want someone else touching the car before they get to it. They trust their diagnosis best of all.

Good questions, though. I like it. So hopefully that helps. We're off now to have our Christian Hawaiian celebration of his birthday late.

Is it your fear of pineapple? Why you don't want Hawaiian? Sometimes I think my head looks like a pineapple. Like if I spike my hair.

Oh, yeah, I can see the resemblance. Totally. People say that you look like your dog. Maybe you look like your favorite fruit.

And pineapple is my favorite fruit. Really? I love pineapple. So good. Delicious. I have it almost every morning.

I feel like you're just saying that.

No, I've actually got. If I went and got my little lunch pail, there's a little thing of empty pineapple.

You know what our listeners would love is for you to at some point do a how to trim or do you call it trim or carve a pineapple?

Yeah. So I use a big knife.

Yeah. But they would love to see that. I mean, it's your favorite fruit. They would love to show you.

Do that on the set.

Yeah, yeah.

Leave that in the comments. You guys want to see my culinary skills? We can do that.

Culinary.

Is that the wrong charcuterie board? Don't you get me started on charcuterie boards.

Thanks, everybody. Have a great week and we'll see you next time on service Drive Revolution. Thanks for watching this week's Drive By. I hope we gave you something to think about over the weekend. 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 to offers.chriscollinsinc.com now that's offers.chriscollinsInc.com I'm Chris Collins and I'll see you in the next video.