As mentioned in part 1 “How to Capture those lost sales in service”, we outlined the specific areas to address while reviewing repair orders. This article will address three specific steps to help your service operations capture potential lost sales.
This is a guided three-step outline that creates the pathway to performance improvement. These steps aren’t the cure-all philosophy but, they can better position the service department to deliver better results.
- Step 1: Make an “op” code for the service adviser for all work offered but not purchased. One suggested “op” code is ASR (Additional Service Recommended). The service manager must drill into the service advisor head that logging the “op” code is not optional and will bring incremental business back to the team.
- Step 2: Pull the “op” code report weekly to review the number of lost sales. All lost sale customers’ in that op code gets either (a) a phone call from your Service Manager (b) a follow-up phone call from your BDC or appointment setter (c)an email from the dealership.
- Step 3: Find out why the customer declined the work.
Many customers have time constraints and plan on returning at a later date for the repairs. Extend a free rental to them if they come in sooner.
Some clients will say the cost was too high so review the services offered and give them a good, better and best scenario. Sometimes,the best approach is to do the smaller repair today and delay the larger repair for another date. Make sure you’re scheduling the larger repair today once you have approval to delay.
Offer the customer a discount to perform those services by the end of the month. A common discount amount is 15% but the value should be commensurate with the services declined. Bigger services that bring in time and money will warrant a larger discount.
The decision to fix or repair has taken a back seat to larger problems in this economy. If the customer’s perception is they save money by using an aftermarket provider, they will bring it to the city garage. Competition for the customers’ attention has grown substantially over the past five years. Independent facilities have captured millions of dollars in revenues from the dealerships units in operations.