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Question: What’s the best investment you ever made in the service department?
Answer: Our best investments have always been in technology. Over the last few years, we have worked on phasing-in laptops in the service department. With seven locations and 50 technicians, we purchased many used on eBay and have continued to hand them down from management level to the shop.
Most of our techs have their own laptop at their workstation. However, there are three or four who mainly do equipment setup and don’t have laptops. Techs can use their laptops to clock in and out of jobs, add comments, order a parts package and have it delivered directly to their workstations, and visit manufacturer websites. They don’t have to leave their areas other than to go to the bathroom.
Before, when a tech would walk away from their workstation, they would end up running into and talking with another employee. We had a parts room with three or four computers and it always became a meeting room. Techs would get frustrated about having to wait to use the computer.
We also now have a tool database that they can access through their laptop that lists our tool inventories at all seven locations. They can search it by the service manual code or functionality. It helps them quickly locate the tool they need to get the job done.
Now our techs have access to more data and tools at a faster rate. Not only does it make their jobs easier, but it keep the customers happy. They can easily quote customers on pricing, and being quick to answer their questions often gets us a sale or service order.
Aaron Bogs
Parts & Service Department Manager
Finch Services Inc. in Westminster, MD
Question: Obviously, a good computer system can help retailers store and organize information on customers, track sales histories, etc. What’s the biggest way a good, industry-specific business management system can directly result in increased profits for the dealer?
Answer: There are many, many ways. But the biggest is probably with respect to managing equipment and parts inventories. Using a minimum/maximum stocking level feature for seasonal ordering levels is a huge benefit. Dealers can instantly create order level recommendations off of that data. You can also run a recommendation off of a percentage of sales history. In times like these, where some dealers are tracking a little behind what they’d budgeted, that’s very important.
~ Jeff Haefner of Ideal Computer Systems.
Question: What are the essential things you discuss with customers when closing a sale?
Answer: The first and most obvious thing we ask a customer is what they plan to use their equipment for. This is a good place to start so I know where to go with my follow-up questions.
Early in the conversation, I like to ask where else they have shopped and what products they have looked at. From there I ask what brought them to us. Most of the time, it’s a friend who told them about their experience here.
Without really asking the question, I try to see where the customer stands financially and what they are thinking of spending. To find this out I look at what they drove in on. This doesn’t necessarily tell me everything, but helps me to get an indication of whether they are buying for quality or if price is a big issue. I don’t like directly asking about that.
I also like to find out who exactly will be using the equipment. We want to know if the wife or teenage kids are going to be running the equipment and try to connect them with something suitable size- and power-wise for the likely operators.
I try to get some idea of what they expect out of the machine as far as life. I usually do that by asking what machines they have operated before and what they are working with currently. That helps me understand what they expect—and I decide from there what I can offer.
The challenge is getting the customer from where they are to where they ought to be. Many times, they are shopping for too little of a machine, or their idea of how much to spend is too low or in some cases too high. I have people who come in and think that in order to get a STIHL they have to spend $500. They are surprised when I tell them I can get them a STIHL for $300 that will do everything they want it to.
We also have a sheet that we go through with them and let them take home. It introduces our store and the people we have working here as well as their experience levels. We outline all of that and the service we give. Very often, that is the customer’s deciding factor. Many times, they narrow it down to the equipment or brand they want and then look at a couple different dealers. What I need to point out to them is that our service is different from other stores.
Through it all, I’ve learned that the direct questions in most cases don’t really work well. They typically give you the answer they want to give. I find it’s best to arrive at many of these things indirectly by spending time really talking to and getting to know the customer. Marvin Cowley
All Seasons Equipment in Eugene, OR
2003 Dealers in Excellence Award Winner To learn more about selling “service after the sale” read Volume 18 of the STIHL-Sponsored Dealer Success Guide.
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