Rena Rennebohm service advisor coach and the Chief Training Officer of ACT Group. When not gardening or cooking Rena is working her chosen trade, Coaching Service Advisors across the country.

With over a decade of Service Advisor experience, from the independent side of the business to the dealership side and back, Rena has seen and dealt with just about anything and everything! And after becoming proficient as a Service Advisor, she moved to the Coaching & Training side of the automotive industry. Her experience in Coaching and Training Service Advisors has allowed many, many facilities to not only build their total sales exponentially, it has helped build a stronger NET profits as well.

Listen to Rena’s previous episodes HERE.

Dave Nelson is the Manager at Antero’s Automotive. He shares the same passion for taking care of  customers. He has over 15 years of experience in the automotive field as well as some time in the motorcycle and power sports industry. Dave has new found love for the game of golf. When he’s not chasing the little white ball around, he’s spending time with his wife and 2 dogs.

RJ Milnes is the General Manager of D&K Auto Repair.

Key Talking Points:

Role Play #1
Brakes- the client knows what is wrong and the car has been inspected somewhere else. A Toyota Camry

• The contact number needs to be retrieved if you want to call the prospect back
  • Invest in time on the phone should generate some type of call to action
• Towing was brought up. Does customer have AAA. Do you pay for a tow?
• Dig into why the customer believes it is unsafe to drive because he needs a complete ‘everything’ brake jobs
• We could have presented to the customer that only X percent of customer who we service need ‘everything’ therefore convince the customer that a  second opinion is important when an estimate for ‘everything’ and the customer has price sticker shock
• Ask the customer to explain the symptoms of the vehicle that has led to an ‘evertying’ brake job quote

Role Play #2
Oil change- just looking for a price
Vehicle: 2015 BMW X6

•  This role-play was designed to show how to sell the value in an oil change and we are just not a ‘spill and fill’ shop.
• Always remove words that have a negative connotation
  • Fortunately for you, we do a Vehicle Inspection
• If you have a manufacture certified shop on staff that is a strong selling point as well as servicing up ASE certifications as an added value for the customer
• When customer objects to the price and sell value and they still don’t care about the ‘value’, you now have prequalified the customer if they are a good fit for your shop 

Role Play #3
Check engine light – how much to replace the catalytic converter?
Vehicle: Nissan Pathfinder

• A question asked, ‘What caused the converter to fail?’created doubt on the information she received from a scan device from a parts store.
• RJ offered a $150 inspection charge to look at the vehicle
  • If a deterrent, let me pull the code and start to test what is wrong with the vehicle. We can see codes that parts stores can’t.
• RJ does not like to give prices because things usually change once the vehicle is in the shop.

Overall notes:

• Many shops to not give prices on the phone.
• Renna has noticed that the Lead to Conversion Rate increases when prices are given.
•  Some shops offer an on-line price estimator
• Let features and benefits be the service advisors strong tools
• During a call, you are interviewing the customer and they are interviewing you, both looking for a good fit. If cheep is what they want and you can’t deliver you’ve learned.
• A call came in asking for a price on alternator and battery. The shop did not give a price. Lost the opportunity.
  • However, in that case with a customer requesting alternator and battery, will most like be competitive against the dealer and gain a new customer?
  • Dave asks what their objective for pushing for price. Are they looking for a good warranty, looking for a certified technician or a cheap price and will not take no for an answer.  This helps you qualify the customer.
• Dave like to send an itemized estimate through email

Link to Role Play Part 1 Town Hall Academy 069

Link to Role Play Part 2 Town Hall Academy 091

Resources:

• A special thanks to Rena Rennebohm, Dave Nelson, and RJ Milnes for their contribution to the aftermarket.
• Books Page HERE
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.