Chris Collins presents a short training message for service managers and advisors about the "Pet the Dog" concept: connecting with customers on a meaningful level beyond small talk. He uses an anecdote (trainer who dislikes small talk and an Uber example) and a movie quote to show that genuine connection requires knowing customers' interests and circumstances; when done well it increases trust and customer retention.
Hi, Chris Collins here with the official service manager and service advisor training of the Westminster Dog Show. So I know a lot of you have seen my Pet the Dog video and you've played it for your advisors, but a couple things kind of really connected with me that I want to share with you. And there's a great line in the movie White Men Can't Jump, where Wesley Snipes says to Woody Harrelson, he says, you can listen to Jimmy, but you can't hear Jimmy. And I think our service advisors really kind of don't get what pet the dog is sometimes. And let's say as an industry, we're past the idea that customers come in and we greet them by, did you have an appointment? Or what brings you in today? And we're trying to connect with them. Petting the dog is a lot more than small talk. And I have a trainer that I go to in the mornings when I'm in town that I work out with. And sometimes I send him copies of the videos I record and tell him, you know, I look fat and tell him I'm not doing my job just to kind of poke him so he'll push me a little bit harder in my workouts. And one of the videos that he really likes is Pet the Dog. And he made the comment to me the other day. He said, you know, and he's a Latin guy and a huge fan of soccer and a great guy and really fun, but he said, you know, I don't always want people to pet the dog. He said, the other day, I got into an Uber, and. And the Uber driver's like, how are you today? And trying to make small talk. And he's like, just drive me where I want to go. Don't talk to me. And he said, I feel that way most of the time. I don't want people just to make small talk with me. And I said, you totally missed the point of the Pet the dog video. What it is in the Pet the dog video is that you want to connect with somebody on a deeper level. So I said to my trainer, I said, what if you got in the cab? And they said, who's the best soccer player alive right now? Ronaldo or Messier? And he goes, oh, yeah, I'd want to talk about that. And I said, well, see, I know that about you. I've taken the time to really get to know, you know, what a fan you are of soccer. And so if the Uber driver took the time to really get to know you and knew that, then he would be able to pet the dog. But you can't pet the dog until you really know somebody and know what their hobbies are, what they do for a living, how many people are in their family, what's really important to them. Only then can you really, really pet the dog. And that's what petting the dog is all about. So make sure that your service advis Understand that you can't just listen to Jimmy. You gotta hear Jimmy. And that's what makes a difference in customer retention and customers coming back to buy their next car with us, to buy maintenance and repairs from us, because they trust us and like us. And that's what happens when you really pet the dog.
