Free Auto Repair Management Tips Blog

Why Celebrating Your Business Wins is Important

As an auto repair shop owner, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget to take time to celebrate your successes. But it’s important to take time to reflect on and celebrate your wins, both big and small. Here’s why celebrating business wins is important.

4 Reasons To Highlight Your Wins

1. It keeps you motivated. When you constantly see the results of your hard work, it’ll help motivate you to keep working hard, striving for even more success. The little business wins deserve celebration, because it helps build a head of momentum. It will protect you against the little losses over time.
2. It helps you attract and retain top talent. If your employees feel like their successes are being recognized and celebrated, they’re more likely to stick around. Furthermore, high-quality applicants will see your business wins on social media. Then, they will look to you as the type of shop they would want to work for. Let people see what you do so well, and let them come to check it out for themselves.
3. It makes your customers happy. When your customers see that you’re celebrating your business wins, they’ll be happy for you. They’ll also be more likely to continue doing business with you. Furthermore, customers want to know their money goes to the best of the best. Showing your wins is a great way to signal that.
4. It strengthens your brand identity. By taking the time to celebrate your successes, you’re reinforcing what your brand stands for. This will help it to become even more recognizable and iconic.

Here is a stimulating discussion from our You Net Results group about auto repair sales analogies. Most customers wouldn’t understand complicated automotive repair terms. Here are some great metaphors your service advisor can use to help them. Then, they can close the sale of needed repair in the process!

What if a customer asks why you cannot replace just one side of their brake system? Or maybe they are angry they had to bring their vehicle back in soon after their last visit? These sales analogies cover these situations and much more! This is a MUST WATCH for Auto Repair Shop Owners, General Managers, Service Advisors, and Service Writers!

Auto Repair Sales Analogies – Brian’s Prompt

As the clip opens, Brian is discussing phone scripts. He focuses in on the important topic of word analogies. Over the years, he asked the most successful service advisors he has met what their best analogies are.

Moving on, he encourages the callers to share their best examples and write them down. At first, they were not ready to share, so Brian recalled his own sales analogy. The customer’s car needs new brakes, and he explained that even though one side was like a worn out shoe, the other was in brand new condition. You can’t just replace the worn out shoe. Both need to be the same condition to work properly.

Group Member Examples of Sales Analogies

Each of our YNR members then provided their own great examples. Steve volunteered his comparison between error codes and Christmas tree lights.

In the case of mismatched tires binding up wheel bearings, Gene compared the failure to a pretzel being twisted up. The customer would always be best served to replace both rear or front tires, instead of just one.

Nick then offered up the analogy that coolant can conduct and store electricity as it ages, just like a battery. Over time, this can corrode the metal parts of your engine. This reminded Brian of another analogy. We may put liquor into the freezer, in order to serve it cold. Because of the alcohol, it will not solidify. Just like alcohol, the chemicals in engine coolant prohibit freezing, and it will stay a liquid, no matter how cold the temperature it is stored in is.

Denise used the analogy of blood work getting done when you go to the doctor. You have blood drawn and tested in order to diagnose any health issues that you may have. This is the same with the Check Engine light in your vehicle. Once the shop scans the code, they know what the vehicle’s health issues are. Denise never uses the word “diagnostics”, but uses “testing” instead. Customers tend to understand that term better.

Additional Samples Your Service Advisors Can Use

Frankie compares ball joints to kneecaps. Eli reiterated Brian’s earlier sales analogy about why we need to buy brakes and rotors in pairs, just like shoes.

Brian added a metaphor to the list about carbon buildup. He has explained the accumulation of carbon in engines to customers with a couple of analogies. When carbon builds up in an engine, it can be flaky like tar when it is cool. Just like cleaning the soot out of your chimney, you periodically need to have carbon cleaned out of your engine.

Rechecks, Milkshakes, and the Chattahoochee

Every automotive shop hates it when customers come back soon after their recent visits for rechecks. Let’s say your shop just completed a costly repair. The customer returns with a new issue, angrily stating that you had just fixed all the car’s problems a week ago!

This is where a simple analogy comes into play. You go to a friend’s house for dinner. You excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. When you step into the bathroom and flip the lightswitch, pop! The bulb goes out. There was no way to tell that the light bulb would soon go bad. Such is the case with many vehicle issues. Usually, we can tell when a part or system is wearing out, but not in all cases. Obviously, if we could have detected the problem, we would have informed the client.

Next, Brian compares intermixing of oil and coolant fluids to a milkshake. He also shared a regional analogy native to his former home in Georgia. The Chattahoochee River is well known as a muddy mess. Anytime that Service Advisors in the area need to make an analogy about something nasty mixing up in an engine, the Chattahoochee is an easy comparison.

Finally, Brian compares modern vehicles to smartphones. When you need to have your car or truck flashed or reprogrammed, it’s just like downloading a software update for your phone. It is a necessary update in order to ensure security and functionality.

Put These Sales Analogies In Your Toolbox!

What’s great about the automotive repair industry is that you learn something new every day. Once your service advisors memorize these sales analogies and put them into practice, you will see your sales go up. When your customers learn an important fact about their vehicles in plain English, they invariably respond, “Let’s get that repair done”.

Let’s talk about auto repair business ethics. Picture this: you are an auto repair service advisor. You present a necessary service to a customer. They tell you that they just can’t afford it right now. Do you let them go without fixing the issue, potentially letting them risk more harm to their vehicle? What about the other issues you haven’t even gotten to writing up for them yet? Automotive Service Writers have a professional obligation to tell customers about needed repairs, just like doctors are obligated to tell patients about illnesses they may not know about.

Group Discussion on Business Ethics in Auto Repair

In this video, Brian talks with shop owners in our You Net Results group about that obligation. Don’t let your worries about your client’s money troubles get in the way of your ethics. Whether you display integrity or not, the word gets around!

Brian then surveyed the group members on what they defined professional obligation as. Karen said business ethics means treating your customers with respect. It’s the only way to ensure they become repeat customers. Next, Bryce pointed out that auto repair shop owners should ensure that technicians watch their language around customers. Finally, Jared reiterated that we are all obligated as professionals to ensure each client a safe, reliable vehicle.

Each caller provided a correct answer. In conclusion, Brian provided the example that we must report everything wrong with the vehicle. Even if the customer is already hurting financially, we do not have the right to withhold that information from them. In short, that is business ethics.

Here is a clip from our Clear Counter Communications webinar, in which Brian and the class discussed the concept of the Black Dot. This is a method Service Advisors can use to mark lost customers.

Tracking Lost Customers

Brian opened the clip by asking the group what a “black dot” could mean in the context of auto repair. Kim correctly explained the concept. Lost customers are those who may have either ghosted their appointments, or have not returned after one visit. Through call reviews, we can often determine how that happened.

How did these prospects become lost customers? Could it be because our Service Writer team is not saying “yes” enough? The first step to finding out is giving their record the black dot mark. Next, you need to put your customer service under the microscope.

Poor Customer Service Causing Lost Customers

Brian stressed the point that poor customer service is often the cause of shops losing customers. For example, a customer receives a coupon in the mail, and responds by calling to request an oil change appointment. The service advisor, rather than trying to fit them in same day, suggests a next day appointment. Customers hate that. Before the service advisor knows it, the call is over, and the now lost customer is looking for an appointment elsewhere.

Brian and Jim recalled an experiment in which they called other shops in order to test their customer service. This proved their point, as the service writers were rude and cut them off. The obvious lack of phone scripts and systems were major turn offs. Nobody would want to do business with a shop exhibiting behavior like that. More lost customers, thus more black dots.