Sep 24, 2014 Lee Harkin

Unduly pressuring customers doesn’t work, but a phone call can do the trick.
Chick-fli-A has a YouTube video called “Every Life Has a Story.” It’s a must-watch for everyone who is in a contact point with a customer.

We never know what customer baggage prevents them from buying certain maintenance or repairs from us. As we know, the challenges of life often cause us to have larger battles we must address first.

So, if a customer declines your recommended services, don’t take it personal. The key is to stay in touch.

First, never pressure a customer to buy any business from your fixed operations. The only pressure the customer should feel is the self-imposed pressure of making a decision. Trying to overcome their objections will make you appear like Herb Tarlek (search him on the web if he was before your time) and cheapen your brand.

A plan is required to close on additional sales that have been initially declined. It starts when the customer enters your service department for the first time. The sale your advisers must focus on is selling themselves and the dealership. It’s called building a relationship.

We can train all day about word tracks and ways to corral customers into buying, but in the long run you will lose customers by using these techniques. I have seen it so many times.

When you first use these methods, sales will jump, but what causes your sales to increase can cause them to decrease. Nobody wants to feel as if they have been put together.

Train advisers on selling the effort to conduct good business with and for your customers. I assure you, as long as you don’t pressure the customer, there will be another day. My explanation on selling declined services will make more sense once you understand my approach.

Scenario: Customer brings vehicle to your service department, and your technical staff finds additional work is necessary. An estimate is prepared. The phone call is made. The customer declines the work.

This is not a failure, just a bump in the road. Most dealerships have some type of follow-up service that sends a reminder based on labor op or key words used in the written description.

My recommendation is do not offer a discount on the repairs on your first reminder. This is a mistake many dealerships make. All we are doing is training customers to decline work in order to get discounts.

Instead, have someone call them and ask them to reconsider having the work done. The person calling should be the adviser who originally handled the customer’s transaction.

In a number of stores this is not possible, so business development center people make the call. Be sure they have a personality and enjoy interacting with customers. The right person calling customers can change their perception of your dealership. They may think maybe you really do care.

Remember, this customer’s vehicle needs work that your technical staff found. There’s no fishing here, just a real opportunity. Someone eventually will get this work; why not your service department? But, again, make sure the customer doesn’t disqualify you because you applied too much pressure.

Fixed-operations consultant Lee Harkins heads M5 Management Services based in Pelham, AL. He can be reached at 205-358-8717 and at [email protected].


The company makes the 4500 Xtreme model which has no internal or external O-ring or gaskets and is maintenance-free.
Sagola has been manufacturing spray guns since 1955 and today they are used in over 70 countries worldwide. 
When these guys talk about the quality of their product, they mean that every single gun is tested twice before it leaves the factory – that includes being sprayed by an experienced painter to check the spray pattern. This gives the company the confidence to offer a three year warranty on its guns. Sagola puts a great deal of energy into the technical engineering of its products. The Xtreme 4500 is made of lightweight anodized forged aluminium and involved seven patents in its development. It is a single piece with a self adjusting packing gland. The company says the 4500 delivers a fine, soft spray pattern with excellent atomization.
Another benefit of Sagola's gun design is that customers can use one gun for a variety of tasks, simply by changing the cap.
The Sagola range, which includes a mini 'touch-up' gun, air drying guns and air regulators, is being launched and distributed in Austin, Texas by Gemstone Auto Paint Supply. The Sagola range is mid-priced with the Xtreme 4500 costing between $550 and $850.

One of the most fascinating things about documentaries which examine the bizarre creatures populating our Earth's oceans is the concept of bioluminescence. Deep down in the drink, there are jellyfish and other creatures able to emit their own light – often in beautiful, strobing patterns. And now, it's apparently possible to give your car a very similar look thanks to an electroluminescent paint called LumiLor from Darkside Scientific.

As you can see on the Tesla Model S in the above video, the paint allows the driver to animate the vehicle's exterior when it's dark in quite bright colors, but it looks completely normal during the day. On its website, Darkside Scientific claims that LumiLor can be applied in a variety of colors with a standard paint gun, but does require some added electronics to apply the alternating current that makes the paint illuminate. It even works on plastic, vinyl, glass and other materials. However, the one potential downside is the that company admits that LumiLor's brightness fades with continued use, but it doesn't say how quickly this degradation takes place.

Autoblog has reached out to Darkside Scientific to learn more about LumiLor, and we'll update this story when we hear back. In the meantime, check out this Tesla that glows eerily like a jellyfish deep in the ocean.

By Chris BruceRSS feed

Posted Sep 11th 2014 12:45PM