Maintenance Work is eclipsing Repair Work for Customer Pay visits, but it dims in contribution to Gross Profits. Express/Quick Service Teams can increase Tech Efficiency, leaving us more time to sell recommended work and to increase our profits – if we take advantage of this extra time. Consider the following profit opportunities:
Upselling in Express Service
Multi-Point Inspection (MPI)
Provide your Customers with laminated blank MPI forms. When you write-up your Customers, show them what visual inspections are being done on their vehicles while the vehicles are on the lifts. On the back of the MPI form, show the benefits of maintaining their vehicles or have a copy of your maintenance menu. Educate the Customers on the benefits of changing engine coolant, brake fluid and air filters, etc. to help sell the recommended maintenance that wasn’t sold during the vehicle write-up. Reinforce that maintenance is less costly than repairs or expensive breakdowns. (When your laminated copies get grungy, please replace them.)
Have a decision-tree in place for when Customers buy recommended work and it will take longer than an hour. Should we put the Customer in a loaner car or do we shuttle them to the mall/home/back work? Will the work be done by a Main Shop Tech or by the Express Techs? Do you have a Tech upsell bonus for work assigned to another Tech? To sell and install more tires, consider a dedicated tire-change Tech. Make the transition seamless to the Customer when a vehicle moves from the Express Shop to the Main Shop.
Have a maintenance menu which includes any additional time necessary to complete the work. This makes it easy for the Customer to say, “Yes!” When the Customer is expecting to get in and out in under an hour, the last thing he is thinking about is adding more time to the visit. “We can take care of the cabin air filter today and you’ll still be out in under an hour.” Your Express Service Team makes it easy to add services to the Repair Order without adding time.
Have a flyer available to promote your specials and your other departments. If you would like an example, email us at brooke@profits4dealers.com. This could also be printed in black and white and used on the back of Parts Counter Tickets or Repair Order Invoices – another opportunity to reach more Customers!
Add a Labor Operation Code for safety items found, but not taken care of at this visit. The Labor Op Code, in some fashion should say (you can always check with your attorney): “Customer was advised of severe concerns regarding the vehicle’s safety. I have declined the recommended work and will not hold the dealership liable should not completing this work lead to a system failure or an accident.”
X_________________________ (Customer’s Signature)
When Business is Slow
One of the killers to profit in the Express Service Center is paying Techs a clock hourly wage and not having any Customers for an hour or two. If you can define specific days of the week and/or hours of the day where your business is slow, consider Happy Hour Specials, After School Specials or Coffee Break Specials to attract Customers to fill those hours.
If the slow times vary, how about a sign to put in front of the dealership? (Oil Change – No Waiting. Free Tire Rotation) Cost of sign: less than $100. When you get busy, bring in the sign.
Still no Customers? Don’t waste the down time, use the time to refresh your
Techs and Advisors on inspection skills and selling skills. Make a list of things that can be done when there is a gap in work. Such as oil changes on company owned vehicles – loaner vehicles, demos and parts trucks. Oil changes for retail trade-ins, leave the inspection and repairs for the higher paid Techs. An Employee Perk! How about your Employees’ cars? You are already paying the hourly Techs; the Employees pay for the oil and filter(s).
To further discuss how to make your Express Service Center (from performance-based pay plans to Advisors’ scripts to best practices) a real profit center, call us at 877.316.7418.
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