Digital Dealer - October 2019 - 48

S A L E S & VA RIA BL E OPS: Fixed Ops Continued from pg. 46

zy notion in the collective
fixed ops mindset that says
we have to get them out in
30-45 minutes.
This rush to push customers out the door is a
great excuse to squash
any service up sales. In
their quest for speed, many
advisers never discuss
needed maintenance with
the customer - or if they do,
it is discussed in terms of
"do it later." My friends, never put off until tomorrow the
labor that you need to sell
today! Strike while the iron
is hot - ask vehicle owners
to buy tech-recommended,
needed maintenance - right
now. Your shop can get any
fluid maintenance service,
filter exchange, or fuel
service done in an hour,
and the Cox study says the
consumers will give you the
time.
I realize this is an article
about value but indulge me
for a few more paragraphs
about time and convenience. If you review the
multi-point inspection with
customers no longer than
25 minutes into their wait
time, then odds are you can
buy more time. Most people
would rather spend an extra
hour at your dealership
today, than try to figure out
a time to come back, fight
traffic, and go through the
inconvenience later. For
heaven's sake, ask for the
additional tech-recommended maintenance and repair
business - ask for it today!
The reality is if you don't
sell it today, you never will.
Oh, and by the way,
the dealership will make
more money doing repairs
48

OCTOBER 2019

and maintenance services
than oil changes - and so
will managers, techs, and
advisers.
Remember, you do oil
changes to retain customers so you can sell maintenance services to make
money.
By the way, that's value.
Your dealership becomes
their one-stop service shop
for all their automotive
transportation needs.
Your labor rate is probably somewhere around

wheel-drive SUV so my wife
and I could access two of
our favorite fishing holes. It
was in great shape, but it
had a flutter, a stumble at
about 40 mph. It annoyed
me beyond measure. The
shop diagnosed it as a
transmission issue; yet
$400 later the problem
persisted. Then I went to
one of the most expensive
places in town. Ninety
seconds into the test drive
the technician diagnosed a
misfire. Problem solved.

STRIKE WHILE THE
IRON IS HOT - ASK
VEHICLE OWNERS TO BUY
TECH-RECOMMENDED,
NEEDED MAINTENANCE -
RIGHT NOW."
$125 per hour - wow, that's
a lot of money; or is it? Bob
Greenwood says shops are,
in reality, knowledge-based
businesses. Your shop
manages productivity
through billed hours, which
come as a result of selling
your knowledge. Greenwood, president and CEO
of Automotive Aftermarket
E-Learning Centre, LTD.,
goes on to say that the
automotive industry is all
about competency - and
competency is reflected in
the labor rate. That's value!
Doctors, lawyers, nutritionists, CPAs, college
professors, and automotive
technicians are all paid in
the same manner - according to their knowledge and
competency!
Earlier this summer, I
bought a 14-year-old four-

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

Additionally, they found
my alternator was on its
deathbed. I can't tell you
how much safer I feel taking
my sweet wife of 34 years
into these remote locations
to catch bass. (She usually
catches more than me.) I
paid more for the right diagnosis and cure - and it was
worth it. That's value.
Let me make one final
point. Value is not automatically perceived by vehicle
owners; it has to be sold.
It may well be your most
important sale.
Make sure your advisers
keep "telling your story" and
that they explain the credentials and certifications
your techs have earned.
That's how you build value.
Examples of this might
include:
 "Our techs have a

combined 10,500 hours of
training."
 "Collectively our guys
have over 295 years of experience working on Fords."
 "We've invested over
$150,000 in diagnostic
tools, equipment, technology and software to assist
our techs in quickly getting
to the cause and cure."
 "Our maintenance technicians are fully certified to
perform all necessary fluid
exchange services."
Customers demand
value, and your service department provides it! Happy
value sales to you!
(My special thanks to Jim
Phillips of Cox Automotive
for permitting me permission to quote from the
Service Industry Study.)
CHARLIE POLSTON is
an Automotive Customer
Retention and Profitability
Consultant with BG Products,
Inc. Charlie has been with BG's
Fixed Operations Division for
over 36 years. He has trained
over 7,500 dealers, managers,
and technicians - and has been
a frequent workshop leader at
NADA's annual convention.
A D V E R TI S E R S IN DEX

ADVERTISER
PAGE
AutoSpin..................................... 7
Construction SuperConference... 23
Dealer Specialties....................... 3
Kelley BlueBook.......................... C4
Payment Cloud............................35
Playback Now............................. 11
Manheim Inventory Solutions..... C2, 9
National Pavement Expo............. 47
RFID............................................ 17
SiriusXM Satelite........................ C3
VinSolutions................................ CW
The index to advertiser page numbers
is published for reader convenience.
Every effort is made to list page numbers
correctly. The listing is not part of the
advertising contract and the publisher is
not responsible for errors or omissions.
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