LAS VEGAS (Nov. 2, 2006) - Preventive maintenance can be the vehicle to capture loyal clients and sustained profitability in the automotive repair industry. Charlie Polston, customer retention and profitability consulting and senior instructor at BG University, a division of BG Products Inc., discussed how service professionals can impact their businesses through this unique opportunity at the recent Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) convention.
Citing industry figures on unperformed maintenance, Polston stresses that too many service providers simply don't ask the client for the business effectively. Nor do shops educate clients in a manner that builds trust and understanding, to move the client relationship needle forward. "We must educate our clients and ask for the order," says Polston.
He notes that being professional is dependent on the approach: Clients, not customers; a practice, not a shop or business; employing service advisors who not only have expertise in products and services, but trained in effective communication with clients and recognizing opportunities to build relationships.
SUGGESTIONS* Demonstrate your edge over the competition to your customers. Flexibility and the ability to provide more personal service are achieved through educating clients and continuing front desk sales training. The key is to convert unperformed needed work to profitability by enhancing client relationships, asking for the order, and communicating in ways that positively separate your business from others as being one that cares about not only customers, but the community, too.* Differentiate yourself. Give your clients reasons to do business with you, and give them reasons to come back.* Look clients and prospects in the eye. Being the professional they need to do business with requires confidence and a commitment to being more than just average. Try saying to a new customer: "I'm glad you came in. May I tell you a little about my practice here?" Pause and wait for the reply. Then continue: "You see, we do things differently here. We believe in educating our clients, so they understand what is truly important for the performance of their vehicles and the safety and welfare of their families. If you're the type of driver who cares about quality of work and service, who wants the convenience of a local service center that understands today's vehicles and the importance of preventive maintenance, we'd love to do business with you. -It's like being a medical doctor - a recognized professional - except you are an automotive doctor. You're a force for good, with a highly trained and equipped staff. And sometimes, like a medical doctor, you'll have good news for them; sometimes you’ll have bad news to tell. Either way, your job is to keep their vehicles healthy over the long term. Let them know preventive maintenance is just like preventive healthcare, and that it's the key to longer vehicle life and performance, as well as less expensive than buying a new car every few years. Explain your business’ philosophy to them, then add, "That's our job. We do it every day. You see, we're a shop with a conscience."Boomer vehicle demographicsPolston says that current statistics show that non-dealership service centers perform 82 percent of customer-pay transactions annually - and almost no warranty work. In the 10 years between 1995 and 2005, a number of trends have emerged that tilt the market in favor of independent service shops.
There are 50,000 less service bays today, yet 40 million more cars on the roads. Moreover, there are more than 100 million vehicles out-of-warranty today and a substantial number coming. Polston adds that, according to numerous consumer surveys, customers rate service quality and convenience factors over price when choosing a service provider.
Changes in vehicle technology, as well as regulatory changes, also bode well for independent service providers who realize where the wind is blowing and then act accordingly. Increased sensors and complex, inter-related vehicle systems require ever-increasing diagnostic capabilities. In addition, the maintaining of fluids inside vehicles is even more important than in years past.
The emergence of more diesel and hybrid powertrains is an established trend. Also, the rollout of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) in fuel stations across America has surpassed ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas and other alternate fuels. Together, this portends a changing mix of vehicles in tomorrow's bays.
Boiled down to its essence, the market is there for independent service centers to seize.
Selling preventive maintenance is a professionDeveloping and training a sales team capable of capitalizing on today's and emerging market conditions requires both awareness and commitment. For dealerships - where owners' manuals are not specific to location and cite the bare minimums for maintenance - Polston notes that long-term preventive maintenance is not their focus.
"Take 'lifetime fluids' for example," he notes. "Despite what owners perceive, one automaker told me that their definition of the term was that the fluids would last the term of the warranty, period.
"If we want to maximize consumer satisfaction and profitability, I believe they both intersect at preventive maintenance," Polston adds.
Establishing a cohesive team, comprised of a service "sales" manager, service "sales” advisors and maintenance awareness consultants, is essential. Uniform, professional dress and demeanor can set the table, but it is effective selling skills and the implementation of effective relationship programs and processes that really deliver. Polston adds that each position should have a clear job description.
Each member of the service team should focus on acting on opportunities to provide necessary maintenance. More importantly, these individuals must be equipped with the sales training tools to effectively communicate with and educate consumers and then make the sale. For service staff, having these tools - which span customer relations and sales skills, administration and more - can enable an independent service center to break away from the pack.
In addition, creating a preventative maintenance menu of services provided with a brief description explaining the benefits for vehicle owners, and posting it where it is readily seen, can improve awareness and even create business or questions that initiate education. For an independent service dealer, eliminating the "I didn't know you did that, too," perception can capture part of the maintenance business that drives out of bays every day.
Asking for the orderRather than just doing a multipoint vehicle inspection, seeking permission from a vehicle owner to take samples of all fluids creates several preventive maintenance catalysts. An owner may ask why; this is your an opportunity to educate. As well, asking establishes a dialogue so that if a fluid problem is found, follow-up discussion and education is welcomed. And if no problem is found, passing on good news builds credibility and trust, too.
"No vehicle should ever leave a shop without the service advisor ensuring the client is advised of repairs effected and needed, and the scheduling of an appointment to do so," says Polston. Likewise, rotating tires means checking brake wear and tire tread depth - just two of a host of opportunities that can lead to increased trust and loyalty.
Speaking in the client's language, rather than technical jargon, is essential, Polston asserts. He says that taking charge of one's destiny and asking for the order requires practice. Sales training includes learning to present solutions that not only point out features but are phrased in ways that speak in benefits that matter to the consumer.
Offering maintenance solutions requires a commitment by the sales team to dare to be respectfully bold. Consumers don't like to spend money if they can avoid it. Yet showing you care for their welfare and safety makes the difference between it being just a business relationship or a human relationship.
"If we educate, the public will make the right decision," Polson says. Simple phrases, such as "You car is telling us that ...." can be the difference between a meaningful understanding and building of relationship or not. Why? Because it makes the maintenance personal to the client – essentially, it's his car. Alternately, try saying, "Experience tells us that ...." or asking permission to do a needed service by asking, "May we perform this needed service today?"
Finally, a well-trained sales staff learns to take objections not as a rejection, but as an opportunity to educate and to schedule service based on the severity of the problem.
Knock three timesPolston says that there are three outstanding preventive maintenance opportunities today that independents can act on. These include checking fluids for service needs, fuel induction systems clean-up service and diesel injection service.
Fluids analysis can point to serious breakdown potential, or even certainty. For example, a brake fluid check can identify a risk of ABS malfunction. Alternately, a power steering fluid flush can correct hard, erratic steering or "morning sickness" - where a vehicle delivers a stiff response when the system is cold.
All gasoline is not equal. Fuel induction system service - a cleaning of the entire fuel delivery system from tank to exhaust - can increase overall performance and power, as well as improve fuel economy. Polston notes that a General Motors spokesperson told him, "It has become increasingly evident that port fuel injections systems are sensitive to variance in gasoline quality."
Finally, the advent of ULSD diesel and complaints of poor weather performance using biodiesel can combine to create service opportunities as well. Wax particles can pass through cold filter pumps, says Polston, and agglomerate and gum up the filter matrix. In addition, hydro-treatment, a process that scrubs the sulfur out of diesel, also removes lubricants and aromatics – a point many diesel owners are not aware of.
Polston points out the numerous preventive maintenance opportunities available, including diesel injector flushes to clean fuel injectors and combustion chambers; diesel performance oil changes to remove damaging sludge and deposits; and diesel fuel conditioners for fuel systems and engines that restore lubricity and stabilize diesel fuel.
In this race, urgency mattersPolston says there are three kinds of business strategies: There are "those who are proactive and make things happen; those who are reactive and watch things happen; and those who are clueless and wonder what happened."
The opportunities that exist today and those coming down the pipeline are much like a toss-up at the beginning of a basketball game. Shop owners who demonstrate vision and leadership and realize the role preventive maintenance can play in driving their businesses forward, says Polston, have clear advantages over dealerships, if they choose to capitalize on them.
