Who are some of the most important professionals that we deal with on a regular basis? Lawyers, accountants, doctors and dentists are a few that come to mind. Assuming we have no major ailments or legal problems, how often do we see these pros? Except for the dentist who we may see twice a year, we either see them yearly or not at all.

Now think of all the home care repair professionals that we deal with for the most expensive item most of us purchase in our lifetime…our home. There’s the AC repairman (who we only need on the hottest day of the year when the AC goes out), the plumbers, the appliance repairman and let’s not forget the cable guys who’ll show up sometime between 9am and next Tuesday.

Now who are the most important customer contact people at your dealership? If you said salespeople; they’re important, but they generally are the initial contact person and rarely follow-up with the customer more than once or maybe twice a year.

Think about this: of the most important professionals in your customer’s lifetime there’s not one they work with on a yearly basis more than a Service Advisor. How often should the average vehicle owner see their ASM? At least four times a year...and that’s when their vehicle has no problems. It’s even more often when something breaks down. None of the above professionals have as much regular contact with your customer as your Service Advisor.

By the way, remember the most important item we purchase in our lifetime? Maybe it’s not our home. When you add up all the vehicles your customer buys in their lifetime that dollar outlay is getting pretty close to a home purchase.

And who’s the most instrumental for the next vehicle purchase. Your Service Advisor… who will make or break the next vehicle sale for your dealership. There’s not one customer contact person within a dealership who is more important, who deals with the customer most and has an impact on total net dollars to the dealership than your Service Advisor!

If you still haven’t bought into this concept yet, think about this: the average salesperson may see one to three customers on any given day, and sell one customer every other day. Yet the ASM is not only selling as many as twenty-plus customers daily, but also making and receiving that many phone calls daily. And how many hours does it take to handle this job? For most successful Service Advisors it’s generally twelve plus hours each day.

Let’s not discount the importance of every other department in the dealership. A dealership couldn’t survive without salespeople. A dealership would be in total disarray without all of the office personnel. And how could a dealership operate without trained technicians and a well-stocked Parts Department? But again, the number one customer contact person in your dealership is your Service Advisor.

Yet of all these individuals, who receives the least amount of training? You got it…the Service Advisor! Your salespeople go to regular ride and drives every time a new vehicle hits the streets. And your technicians have regular training mandated by the manufacturer.

Why aren’t ASMs trained more often? The simple answer is because the dealership has so few of them and can’t be without them even for a few hours.

So here’s the conundrum: the individuals who are the most responsible for; and who have the largest impact on net dollars and repeat business are the same individuals who receive the least amount of training.

What’s the answer? Any dealership that invests both time and money in the development of Service Advisors will receive a larger return on their investment for a longer period of time. In addition, a well-trained Advisor who is happy, who treats their customers well and who makes the money they deserve; will not only stay with the dealership, but will also increase the dealership’s CSI.

We all know about the lack of well-trained available technicians. What we don’t talk about is the lack of well-trained Service Advisors. How does the average new ASM get trained? From watching their colleagues on the drive…and if those individuals haven’t been trained correctly, you’re simply aggravating the situation.

And let’s talk about CSI. A well trained Advisor, who understands how to deal with your customer, who is organized enough to stay in touch with your customer and who takes the customer’s problem from them; develops customers forever.

So what’s the bottom line? Invest in your Service Advisors. Not only with money, but also with time. Spend time with them on the drive, teach them the importance of true customer service and you’ll not only increase your lifetime customers, but you’ll have Service Advisors forever!