Pub. 14 2015-2016 Issue 3

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 4 , 2 0 1 5 new jersey auto retailer 20 Utilize multipoint inspections on each recalled vehicle. Don’t assume custom- ers only want to get their recall repairs done. Don’t assume the customer won’t appreciate the effort to ensure their ve- hicle is maintained properly. You don’t have to sell them service on the spot. But taking a little time can pay dividends in the long-run. How does a dealership best deal with situations (and customers) in the best way possible under potentially difficult and stressful circumstances particularly during a massive recall? 1. PREPARATION. Be prepared for the phone call. Create acceptable scripts for your call center, advisors, reception- ists or whoever answers your phone. The script should address the urgency of the customer to get their vehicle repaired, how happy the dealership is to perform the work for them, and how the process works. Empower your customers with options. “When you receive your recall in the mail, give us a call and we can make an appointment for you, or we can call you when we get more information.” 2. CHANGE YOUR MANAGE- MENT EXPECTATIONS. Don’t lower your bar because of the volume. Raise your bar to exceed the expecta- tions of your customers. Rushing a guest through the system is not a good solution for your technicians or advisors who are on commission, or for your customer. If a customer comes in and the brake read- ings are low, and the dealership didn’t in- spect the vehicle, they missed a possible sale and could have put a customer in harm’s way. Don’t miss an opportunity to serve your customer. 3. REV I EW OPTIONS WITH YOUR CUSTOMER. If pricing only original equipment drove the customer out the door and now the vehicle is older, the dealership has to consider other options to keep them in your Service Department. Rethink your strategy. The average age of a vehicle is now 11.3 years old. Walk through your Service Department. What is the average age of the vehicles sitting on your lifts? It might make sense to rethink your strategy for older vehicles. 4. TRAIN YOUR STAFF ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF NEW OP- PORTUNITIES. Have them review the vehicle history and ask the customer what their ownership intension is with their vehicle. Are they planning on holding on to the vehicle for an extended period of time or are they looking to trade it in in six months? Help them plan a mainte- nance strategy that will help reduce their repair bills and minimize the chances of breakdowns. Every customer should spend about four minutes in the service lane with an advisor. This should give the advisor enough time to build a relationship and review all of the essentials. 5. PLACE SPIFFS ON SELLING CONVERSIONS. If an advisor is able to sell a guest some service, let’s make a big deal about it. That’s what we want. If an advisor can schedule the NEXT service with the guest, let’s make a bigger deal about it. 6. CREATE A PROCESS. • All vehicles get an inspection. • Recommendations should happen on 50% of the vehicles. • Advisors MUST present the recom- mendations to the customer. • …and so on. 7. KEEP TRACK. How many recalls did you perform yesterday? What was the conversion or selling rate? Who sold the most? Who is not doing the process? 8. PROACTIVITY. Understand what number of recalls you can effectively perform while STILL building a great relationship with each customer in the service lane. Stick to that number, and assure that the process stays together. When the phones quit ringing as much, make outgoing calls to set up appoint- ments with those customers who haven’t responded to the recall. Greg Criss is President of Criss Consulting LLC. He can be reached at 724.971.6372 or via email at crissconsulting@gmail.com . RECALL  continued from page 19