An auto repair sale is a popular topic with most shop owners. One million dollars seems like a magic number for a lot of shop owners. They're either struggling to hit it, or they've made it and now they want two million or three million. Whatever the goal, fantastic auto repair sales performance is really quite simple (not always easy, but simple). To achieve outstanding auto repair sales performance you have to consistently do four things.
1. Listen carefully to the customer and quickly build rapport and relationship.
2. Ask for the largest possible sale while offering the greatest perceived value.
3. Get the work done. Quickly and correctly.
4. Lock the customer into a long-term relationship with your shop; repeating steps one, two and three at least three times per year.
In step one the key is quickly. To sell one million dollars (or more) in a year, everything is going to have to happen FAST! The rapport building process doesn't have to take a long time. You can build a strong connection with a new client very quickly just by getting them talking about themselves.
Question: So, how long have you lived here?-What kind of work do you do?-How long have you owned the car?-Where's your favorite place to go on vacation?-Tell me about your kids/pets... All these questions get the customer talking about themselves and give you plenty of opportunity to identify and comment on common points of interest or experience. None of this takes more than a few minutes, but during this process the vital process of trust building is occurring.
In step two, the key is asking for the LARGEST possible sale. Fear stops most salespeople from asking for the large sale. Instead they convince themselves that the customer will only accept a much lower figure; a figure that they (the salesperson) are comfortable with. This is why I spend so much time in the Advanced Service Writer Sales Training Class working on the closing question. The closing question is the key to overcoming the fear. With it memorized and practiced the fear subsides and the service writer is able to ask for much bigger sales than ever before. I've seen this tool add more than $300 per RO to a shops RO average. It is that POWERFUL!
The first two steps are pure auto repair sales step. Step three is a management step. The first two steps are all about the service writer controlling their actions. Step three requires them to motivate and lead someone else to action. The best way to do this is MBA "Management By walking Around". It simply means you can't forget about a ticket once it's in the hands of the tech. You have to get out in the shop regularly (usually every 5-10 minutes on a busy day) and make sure that the work is moving forward. You have to quickly remove any obstacles to success such as parts problems, bad attitudes, or unexpected difficulties with the repair. This is a vital and often overlooked part of auto repair sales.
In step four we're back to sales. The biggest missed opportunity in most shops is the opportunity to commit the customer to their next visit while they are checking out from this visit. All you have to do is tell them when their next visit is and most people will say ok. Notice I didn't say ask them when they could make their next visit; I said tell them when their next appointment is. The key is assuming that they are going to return and doing them the favor of scheduling this. I teach several simple techniques in the Advanced Service Writer Sales Training Class that make getting this commitment very easy, simple and natural.
So, there you have it, the four simple (not necessarily easy) steps to selling one million dollars (or more) in service. If you consistently follow these steps the million bucks is yours! An auto repair sale isn't difficult if you know the steps and have the tools.
