Getting the phone shopper into your shop

The top job of a service advisor is to get a customer to come through the door when the auto shop’s phone rings, even if that customer is just trying to get the price of a repair.

Jay Huh, a business coach at Shop Fix Academy and owner of CarMedix in North Carolina, called it “curb selling” during the session How to Run your Shop Stress Free at the Midwest Auto Care Alliance’s Vision Hi-Tech Training & Expo in Kansas City.

The customer is calling to get a price on a job. But it can be impossible to offer a proper quote over the phone. The customer may think the water pump is the problem. What happens when you quote them the price for a water pump replacement, they bring the car in and it turns out to be an issue with the head gasket?

“And then the quote goes from being $800 over the phone and then suddenly it’s $4,000. You think the customer’s going to be happy?” Huh asked.

Or, say the problem is indeed the water pump. But the customer tried to work on it themselves and every single bolt is stripped. “What then? Are you still going to charge them $800?” Huh wondered.

So never price over the phone, he urged.

But never discount their value as a customer. Just because they asked for a price doesn’t mean they’re a bad customer. They’re not going to ask if your techs are Red Seal or ASE Certified.

“What’s the only question that our customers know how to ask? It’s the price,” Huh explained. “We automatically write them off” when they ask about price.

Rather than dismissing the customer outright, the service advisor should be asking follow-up questions to get the customer through the door. If they say it’s the water pump, ask them how they know that. Suggest to them to bring the vehicle in to make sure.

If they say another shop said so and they’re doing price comparisons, tell them to bring it in for a second opinion. Offer a free 15-minute inspection of the vehicle. Explain to them that you’ll have your master technician go through the vehicle to make sure the issue is with the water pump. Offer for them to come in at a specific time.

Tell the customer: We’ll give you an accurate price. I don’t want to just throw a price out there. I want to give you a price we can stand behind.

“Would that not get the customer in the door? Does that not build value for your shop?” Huh said.