Digital Dealer - January 2019 - 35

think emotionally. That is
why 'fix it right the first time'
and 'no problem found' are
such a big deal to customers-neither solves their
concern and only add to
their emotional discomfort.
Customers are only
interested in having their
concern resolved while minimizing cost and discomfort.
Typically, they don't care
about all the words that are
written about cause and
correction-not only are
those parts of the story often
written poorly, but in such
a way that you have to be
a technician to be able to
understand what is being
said.
Truth be known, customers view the second and
third C, cause and correction, merely as the dealer's
justification for the amount
charged. Therefore, it's
important to add a 4th C.

TRAILS OF EVIDENCE
AND THE 4TH C

The 4th C is confirmation.
Ronald Reagan was
known to say trust but verify. The benefit of verifying is
that it reduces the reliance
on trust, which is helpful
when trust is already in
short supply like it can be in
our industry.
Think about it. How
does the customer know
that the work was actually
done? Sure, they can see
when new tires have been
installed, but how do they
know their oil was actually
changed, especially if a
new oil change sticker was
not applied. Further, I have
heard of many technicians
who were fired for claiming
work they didn't actually

do. Every now and then
they are caught, and even
featured on shows like
2020, reinforcing customer
skepticism and distrust.
For this reason, a Texas
service manager shared
with me that he instructs his
technicians to leave "trails
of evidence." For example,
when it comes to an oil
change his technicians wipe
away the dirt around the oil
fill cap, whether they spilled
oil or not. If there's ever a
question as to whether the
work was actually done,
like when a new oil change
sticker is not applied, the
adviser can pop the hood
and show the cleanly wiped
area around the oil fill cap.
It is not foolproof, but it
shows that the technician
was there, and it is usually
sufficient to nip a customer's
skepticism in the bud. Either
way, the intentionality of a
trails of evidence approach
increases a customer's
sense of quality and confidence and eliminates any
sense of distrust that might
otherwise arise.
Another service manager
told me that his technicians always do a final
hand torquing of all four
wheels whenever wheels
are removed. This practice
virtually eliminates incidences of wheels falling off and
again increases a sense
of quality and confidence
while enhancing customer
experience.

INTENTIONALITY WITH
THE 4TH C

Great service departments not only leave trails
of evidence with all of their
repairs and maintenance

work but expand their repair
order stories to include
words of confirmation that
directly address the customer's concern. Further,
great service departments
ensure that the rest of the
repair order communicates
a consistent message-if
the story says the vehicle
was test driven the in/out
mileage reflects how far and
vice versa.
I estimate that repair
orders in 50% of service
departments show the same
in/out mileage regardless of
what work was done to the
vehicle. This is one of the
simplest confirmations of a
test drive, yet many service
departments demonstrate
laziness and arrogance
(suggesting that customers
will come back regardless
of what is done) when they
don't take the time to follow
through on this simple
element.
A best practice is that service advisers write customer
concerns in the customer's
own words. This not only
avoids pre-diagnostic errors,
but it also increases the
chances that the emotional
aspects of their concern are
also captured and conveyed
to the technician.
Another best practice
is for the adviser and/or
technician to add a few
easy to understand words of
confirmation that specifically
address the initial concern.
For example, if a customer states, "the driver's
side window goes down
slowly and makes a clicking
sound," the repair order
needs to go beyond normal
cause and correction
D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

statements, like "The power
window motor was faulty
and replaced," and say
something, like, "The power
window motor was faulty, so
it was replaced. The window
now goes up and down with
ease and without a clicking
sound."
I realize this sounds so
basic and obvious, but I
estimate that repair orders
in 90%+ of dealerships stop
at the 3rd C and neglect the
critical 4th C.

A 4C APPROACH LEADS
TO THE ALL-IMPORTANT
5TH C

Without the 4th C it is
difficult to get to the 5th C,
which is confidence.
Confidence is a feeling. In
fact, since feelings drive behaviors, it is a critical feeling
when it comes to customers
choosing whether or not to
come back in the future and
whether or not to advocate
in a positive manner for the
dealership. In other words,
confidence leading to retention and advocacy should
be the ultimate objective of
everything that is done-it is
incumbent therefore on service managers to help their
advisers and technicians
understand the importance
of adopting a 4C approach.
(1)
DigitalDealer.com/ResearchReveals-Caring-3x-Effective-Selling/

HERB MAST is president of
HealthyDEALER and is devoted
to helping car dealers engage
their ultimate potential and get
better results by doing things
with greater intentionality in the
areas of leadership, teamwork,
and organizational health.
Additional insights and practical
solutions are available at
HealthyDEALER.com.

JANUARY 2019

35
http://www.DigitalDealer.com/Research-Reveals-Caring-3x-Effective-Settng http://www.DigitalDealer.com/Research-Reveals-Caring-3x-Effective-Settng http://www.HealthyDEALER.com http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - January 2019
