We all know what the snowball effect is, once the snowball is in motion down the hill it gets bigger and bigger.

The same thing happens when something goes wrong in a service department. What starts as a small problem usually escalates quickly to a looming disaster.

Why does this happen?

It usually starts with a breakdown in process. It then escalates as someone tries to dodge meeting the issue head on, early on. That doesn’t mean being confrontational, it means owning up quickly if a mistake has been made and dealing with it.

Let me give you a common example and see if you recognise this scenario.

We have a customer’s car in the work shop. We should have updated the customer before lunchtime that the repairs will not be completed the same day as originally agreed. The customer has now called in twice to leave messages for an update.

The customer is now getting irrate. The service advisor doesn’t want to deliver bad news so ducks the incoming calls again.

Now the problem escalates, the customer is finally made aware late in the day that their car isn’t ready. They are upset and need a car to get to work the next day. There are no spare loan cars.

The complaint gets escalated to the manager who already has a mountain of work to complete but has to stop and speak to an irate customer.

When you finally finish the customer wants a discount on the repairs to cover the cost of the taxi that they had to use.

Then the customer gives you a poor score on the satisfaction survey.

The manager who dealt with the complaint was supposed to be dealing with a customer issue but stopped to deal with this complaint however the other customer has now complained as the manager didn’t get back to them as agreed.

So not updating a customer early on has caused the following:

• The manager dealing with another compliant and having his time consumed.
• The manager dealing with this complaint and potentially another customer on their list doesn’t get an update.
• The repair being discounted.
• A poor customer satisfaction score.
• The customer being unlikely to return for future repairs.
• Potentially the customer leaving the brand when considering their next purchase.

Can you see how that escalated very quickly from not updating a customer?

It becomes a hot potato that no one wants to hold. If the customer does return again their next visit will make them anxious as they knew the last one went wrong. How many times do this happen in a service department? In my opinion it has to be the most common complaint, lack of updates.

The funny thing is that most customers are accepting of small delays, things do happen that cause delays and sometimes as a retailer you can try to plan for every outcome but there is still a problem. However what customers very rarely accept is poor communication.

This is where the challenges start to mount up. If the retailer is short of staff proactive customer updates become a lot more likely to be missed. However if you do have enough staff then the question of why communication is poor becomes one of will to do the job.

Choosing not to update a customer is a real problem.

The snowball effect happens quickly and can have a lasting impact. The customer may not be due another visit to you for a year and for that whole year they will have a negative view of your team. A year is a long time to hold a view like that.

If you are struggling to recruit the right people or engage and retain your best people get in touch, I can help you.

Info@tp-automotive.com

“It’s all about the people.”

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