Earn More By Creating a Positive Atmosphere In Your Dealership
Photo © by lumaxart
There’s no doubt that OPE dealers have it rough when it comes to their customer base.
Think about your average customer for a minute. He’s been out mowing grass, which he doesn’t like to do, when suddenly his mower breaks. Now he’s irritated because he’s got to stop what he’s doing to head up to your shop to see if you’ve got the part he needs to fix it. He’s in a hurry and already on edge before he even walks through the door.
You definitely want to create a great experience for everyone who walks in the door. And, this starts with treating your employees like you want to treat your customers.
Yeah, it’s a tough lot for OPE dealers. But by making a little effort, you can transform this cranky customer into a happy, long time fan of your business.
Here’s why: if your employees are angry, confused, and hostile because they don’t like working at your dealership, your customers are going to pick up on that tension immediately. It literally poisons the atmosphere of your shop, which is why going the extra mile to treat your team like family always pays off.
And, creating a great atmosphere for your team isn’t just about handing them a bigger paycheck. It’s about creating a great work experience and environment for them day in and day out. And, this starts with your attitude. If you come in with a bad attitude, then your team is going to have a bad attitude.
You’ve also got to get rid of the employees who constantly complain and contribute to the bad atmosphere. If they can’t stand their job, then they’re not going to treat your customers well.
Creating a profitable, organized shop is also vital to giving your customers a good experience. If your service department is chaotic, inefficient, unorganized, and dirty your customers are going to pick up on it. And, they’ll find another dealership.
So, your service department needs to be more efficient and profitable. And, this begins with your management.
To start, you have to have a real sense of where you’re at. This is where OPE business software can help. If you don’t have any idea what’s wrong with your service department right now, then you won’t know how to fix it to create a better customer experience. So, investing in OPE business software at the onset can really pay off.
You’ve also got to stop doing real-time billing. This is when you work on a piece for a half an hour, and then you charge that customer for half an hour’s worth of work. You’re never going to make money in your service department doing this. Instead, you need to think more like a car dealership and start doing flat-rate and menu-pricing on the bulk of the work your team does.
You can also improve your shop’s efficiency by offering your technicians a bonus when they reach 85% efficiency. This efficiency means higher profits for you as well as happier customers when their machine is fixed on time.
Creating happy customers starts with your team, and ends up with the dealership itself. When your team is happy and you’re running an organized, profitable dealership, your customers will keep coming back. Why? Because the overall atmosphere will be a positive one.
Store Operations | 
February 9, 2010 10:23 am
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February 11, 2010 @ 12:49 am
This is a pertinent post. A very interesting and well written article! I truly appreciate your effort to inform us. Many thanks for sharing this. Glad I came across this site.
- Jaime
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February 20, 2010 @ 12:40 am
This article was very useful for a paper I am writing for my thesis.
Thanks
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