The counter is where a shop is won or lost. A good repair that was explained badly feels like a bad repair. A customer who had to call three times for an update remembers the three calls, not the fix.
Service advisors have a hard job. They sit between a worried customer and a busy technician, with a phone ringing. I don't try to turn them into different people. I try to put what they need in front of them at the moment they need it.
What we can work on
Know who's calling. When a text or call comes in, match the number to the customer, their vehicles, their last visit and any work they put off. The advisor starts the conversation already knowing the story.
Write down the concern the way the customer said it. And ask the two or three questions the technician will need answered. When does it happen? Cold or warm? How long has it been doing it? That saves a phone call later and a guess in the bay.
Set expectations before the car is apart. What testing involves, why we test before we recommend anything, and when they'll hear from us. Most upset customers were surprised customers.
Nobody waits on a reply. A simple list of who's waiting to hear back, oldest first. And a status update that goes out before the customer asks.
Explain the findings. Turn the technician's notes and photos into something a customer can follow: what we found, how we know, what needs attention now and what can wait.
Don't lose the work they said no to. Record it with the reason, so the next visit starts from there instead of from scratch.
Listen to the calls. Record them, write them out, and compare them to the owner's own standard for a good call. Not to catch people out. To coach the same two or three habits that make the difference.
How it works
- Your standard first. You tell me what a good call, a good text and a good pickup sound like in your shop. That becomes the rule the tools follow.
- In the screen they already use. Advisors shouldn't have to open another tab. Help shows up next to the repair order or the message they're already looking at.
- Drafts, not autopilot. AI can draft a reply or a summary. A person reads it and sends it.
- One habit at a time. We pick one thing, like setting expectations at drop-off, and get it consistent before adding the next.
What this can look like
Real work, with names and details kept private.
- In my own shop, advisors see who a customer is and what's going on with their car next to the message they're answering.
- With another owner, a master technician who is also the only one who can diagnose the hard cars, I'm building coaching for his advisors into the repair order screen they already work in.
- With a third shop, we're setting up call recording and scoring against the owner's own checklist.
Who this is for
- Owners who keep hearing about a problem at the counter after it's too late.
- Advisors who are good with people and buried in tabs.
- Shops that want every customer to get the same clear explanation, whoever picks up the phone.