Broski: Why Service Advisors Should Focus on Explaining Instead of Selling

I rode my bike by a mattress store on a Monday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. The parking lot was empty and there was nobody in the store. If I walked in there, they would still have to “sell” me. Otherwise, they won’t make any money. In our business, if a customer is already in the shop, or they discovered us online and checked our reviews and website, they’re already partially sold.

In many cases, service advisors are judged like salespeople, without sales training. But I don’t think we need to be trained to sell, and here’s why.

If you walk onto a car lot, their job is to sell you a car. Well, almost. Their job is to sell you a car on their lot. If they don’t, you’re down the road and they’re out of a sale.

In my late 20s, I walked onto the lot of a Chevrolet dealership helping a friend buy a car. We couldn’t find a car on a lot she wanted, so I suggested the salesperson check the Chevy dealer several miles away and do some kind of dealer exchange. There was a noticeable change in the salesperson. He fumbled his next few sentences about doing that. He felt the sale slipping away. But to me, it felt like he was saying, “not a chance.” At that age, I thought Chevrolet owned all those dealerships versus private people owning them. Of course, a private person can buy into the franchise, but my point is they still have to sell us.

Find the Right Words

On the contrary, we as service advisors don’t need to sell, we need to explain. Ok, we do have to sell ourselves. It’s all a matter of what you talk about, what you don’t talk about, and what you do.

Here’s what you talk about with your customer friends: their family, their vacations, their job, the restaurants they go to, the movies they see, etc. And then you say something like, “Oh, by the way, your car needs X.” Here’s their reply to their friendly service advisor or shop owner: “OK, keep me posted.”

Here’s what you don’t talk about: objections. Because when you treat clients like family, they seldom have any opposition. And when they do, it’s real.

Earn a Solid Reputation

Instead of selling, try being honest and transparent. I promise the sentiment goes a lot further than you think. One time, a Porsche customer came in with his early 911 with a check engine light: the oxygen sensor heater. I explained how the system worked. He asked if he needed it. Darn. I didn’t want some amateur technician saying he didn’t actually need it, so I said no. So, he asked that I pass on it. Technically he needed it, but you could also say technically he didn’t. Early oxygen sensors relied on engine heat to warm them up before they cut emissions. The oxygen sensor heater shortened that time.

The next time he came in was with his other car. The engine mounts were so bad the engine was jumping up pretty high. I told him his car needed engine mounts because it was putting a strain on some coolant hoses and maybe the wiring. He said to go ahead and do them. The cost was three or four times the cost of the oxygen sensor. He now KNOWS I’m being honest with him. He wrote us a great review and has since referred two customers.
If your customer asks if they actually need something now and you say no, it can wait several months, you’ve just built enormous trust. The next time you recommend something, they know you’re being honest. The same goes for the next time and the next time and the next time. What is a customer worth over time?

You’re selling trust and honesty. That is done through a great relationship, not sales tactics.