Getting the most out of servicing for your workshop business

Franchised dealers rely heavily on service activity when it comes to ensuring healthy levels of profit.

It’s important that service centres become more open to non-traditional servicing activity.

Even with an influx of more advanced electric vehicles, there is still opportunity for regular activity, albeit in a smaller package.

By providing seasonal health checks in lieu of the lost annual checks, you can help drive business back into servicing whilst giving motorists a reassurance that their vehicles is safe; especially in more unpredictable weather conditions.

On the plus side, the addition of new features, such as driver assistance systems and electric and hybrid vehicles makes specialist tooling and diagnostic equipment essential for repairs.

By ensuring a service team is trained in these repairs, it means a lot of issues can only be rectified at franchised service centres.

The ability to upsell is also a vital skill when dealing with consumers, most industries are focused on the personalisation of the customer journey, and after-sales should be no different.

By targeting products and services to a particular vehicle and owner, you are much more likely to have success with upselling.

The days of throwing every available service at a customer are long gone. Technology can be used to enable mechanics to show the motorist exactly what is needed, and give detailed health reports.

By breaking down complicated vehicle jargon and showing a customer exactly what is wrong with their car, it creates a much more transparent customer experience and in turn could offer better customer retention in the future.

Existing service centres who may be struggling with the offset in activity should ensure that they are future-proofing their business and creating windows of opportunity that help not only themselves, but also the motorist.

Paul Muers, Global BDM, Marketing & OEM Relations with AutoVHC