We talk to a lot of auto repair shops across the country every day. One of the more common challenges that we have heard from shop owners in 2021 is that they would like to get more maintenance work.
To provide our customers with strategies and tactics to help them sell more maintenance work, we hosted a Peer Learning Group in early September and had a special expert presenter in Koole Bolina, a Performance Coach with ATI. Koole has been in the automotive industry since 1998 and he loves to positively influence those who want to do better and be better.
Koole provided a plethora of tips and insights for getting more maintenance work. You’ll have to ask him for all the secrets, but we’ll share five of the many here:
1. Walk out to the car with the customer.
Walk around the vehicle to check on its condition and reconfirm with the customer the details they shared when making the appointment. Establish rapport. Make a personal connection if you can. This is an opportunity for you to build trust and credibility. Don’t allow the drop off to just be transactional. If you stay behind the counter, customers will see you as a ticket agent at the airport.
2. Perform a courtesy check on fluids.
Use fluid test strips. For a waiting customer, “show and sell.” If it is a drop off, a picture is worth a thousand words. Point out the issues and talk to them about the levels. Help them understand why it is important to address the issue and what could happen if they don’t. Give them an estimate for any maintenance services. If they are not ready for the service today, see if they’d like to schedule an appointment to come back.
3. Tie maintenance sales to core repairs.
When you sell a brake job, sell a brake flush. If you are replacing a water pump, sell a coolant flush. These are natural combinations and good opportunities. In addition, if you don’t sell a coolant flush at the same time, you’ve left 50% of the old coolant in the system. That older fluid can ruin the part.
4. Put the flush bottles on the service advisor’s desk.
Tell them they can only be moved when they are emptied. Give them the challenge of getting rid of each bottle before the end of the day. This approach keeps those services right in front of them. On day two replace any of the bottles that are missing. Tell them that if they can show you that they can make those bottles move that you’ll keep them off their desk after a few weeks. If you remove the bottles and they stop selling the services, start all over again.
5. Show the customer that you care.
You are making maintenance recommendations because they are in their best interest, but you’ve got to establish a trusting relationship before you start throwing a bunch of additional services at them and they just see dollar signs. Listen well. Don’t allow distractions when you are talking to them. Show empathy. Take an extra step to serve them and let them know you did it. Don’t do this in a “pat yourself on the back” type of way, but in a “we are always going to be looking out for your best interests” type of way.
We thank Koole and ATI for providing such valuable guidance to our customers. ATI (The Automotive Training Institute) is the leading coaching and consulting automotive management company in the United States, with more than 1,600 active members. Since 1980, ATI has been helping independent auto repair and collision repair shop owners improve their businesses and their lives, with proven, measurable and field-tested strategies and practices.
If you’d like us to help you build a web presence to attract more maintenance work (and to connect with shop owners from across the country through our customers-only Peer Learning Groups), contact us today at 855-294-6397 or Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com.