Have you ever had a computer glitch where you were stressed because you thought you would have to reenter days of info back into your computer? Remember how tech support had to play psychologist and walk you off the edge, lest you go nuts? Well, that‘s one of the lesser-known skills needed to be a great service advisor.
Some repairs come at bad times in our customers’ lives or with huge dollar amounts. This is when the psychologist should come out in us and we empathize with them.
One problem occurs when a customer has an objection or declines some work, and the advisor remembers the audio they heard on dealing with objections and starts reciting those lines to fix everything. When that doesn’t work, there’s no Plan B. It’s because Plan A wasn’t the best choice: they had launched into sell mode. And nobody likes to be sold.
That’s because many times, service advisors are coached by former technicians who worked on cars and who may not have had continuing education in psychology, influence, negotiation, conflict resolution, motivation, etc.
Service advisors can’t treat customers like owners treated cars when they were technicians. Cars don’t care how they’re treated. Customers do.
In addition, cars don’t have:
- Attitudes
- Bad days
- Feelings that get hurt
- Prior bad experiences at other shops
- Money problems
It’s as if the advisors forgot everything they knew about family dynamics and interpersonal communication. For example, when a customer declines a certain repair, some coaches suggest you ask the customer why. It makes sense on paper, but it instantly goes defensive. Try asking someone at work or one of your kids why questions and see what happens.
The problem is that “why” asks for a definitive answer—it's a challenge, not an invitation. The other person is now immediately on the defensive, having to explain themselves.
The advisor thinks they’ll get an honest answer that they can use to counter that declined job in the future and get the sale. Not so.
The ‘why’ question assumes that human beings are totally logical. The problem is, we are not. Sometimes people just do stuff without thinking it through. Many times we don’t know why. So when a customer declines a repair, asking why isn’t likely to yield much useful information. They don’t always know or don’t want to tell you. In fact, that question will probably make things worse. Instead of being a friend, you are now sounding like a parent or teacher from the past. “Why did you…”
Besides, by now you should have a pretty good idea as to why the customer declined since you’ve been talking to them, learning about them, and understanding them.
When an advisor tells the customer what the fix is for their car, they almost always ask, “How much is it going to cost?” Big surprise. Usually, it’s pretty straightforward, but if it’s not in the flat rate manual, the advisor will ask the tech or shop foreman for a labor estimate. I NEVER liked them saying, “I have no idea.” Customers don’t want to hear that you have no idea how much it will cost them. That’s Psychology 101.
The technician or service manager will have some idea of how long the fix will take. I ask, “Is it more than one hour but less than five?” “Yes.” I ask if it’s four hours. “No, it’s less than that.” “Two?” “No, more.” Now I know I can start with three hours, to give the customer an idea. Few customers just say, “Call me when it’s done,” with no estimate at all.
If the service advisor doesn’t have an update, many think it’s OK not to call. Psychology 201 tells us that’s not so. They are at work, distracted by not knowing about (the cost) of their repair. And their spouse knows nothing also. And if it goes into another day, home life that evening is less fun.
We all wish cars had ATM machines where we could insert the shop debit card and take out cash. Nope. The customers aren’t cars, they are people. So put on your psychologist hat and see the repair from the customer's point of view. And deal with them accordingly.
