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Don't be fooled. While you may be able to talk to your customers about the weather or yesterday's football game, conversations that deal with auto service are hazardous territory. In all too many cases, the customer and the technician will end up talking past each other.
Use the following tips to effectively relate to your clientele.
Look, Listen, Learn
"Listening is the most important skill that a service technician or service writer can have," says Tony Molla, vice president of communications for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. "Typically, most problems [between a shop and customer] have to do with communication."
The problem is so great that many automakers have developed training programs that deal with conversing with customers. "Not only do [the people who talk to customers] need to be technically astute, they also have to be psychologists," says Dan Johnston, a spokesman for Volvo. "They need to read the customer's body language and tone as well as pay attention to what is being said."
Focus on the Problem, Not the Solution
If you're a technician, it is your job to troubleshoot and repair problems. It is the customer's job to notice the trouble in the first place and bring the car to you for service. Unfortunately, some customers -- and even some service writers -- leap from noting a problem to thinking that they also know the solution. Whenever a customer asks for a specific repair or service procedure, be sure to ask if problems with the car have prompted this request. For example, a customer who has noted poor fuel economy might ask for a tune-up, when the real problem is low tire pressure.
"Inadequate information can send a technician off in the wrong direction," Molla says. "You have to ask questions. When did the problem occur? What was the temperature? How long had you been driving?" Try to find out as much as you can from the customer.
Forget Acronyms
The letters EGR, TPS, ECM and IAC are all meaningful to you. To your customers, however, they are foreign.
"It's a real challenge not to use initials," said Robert Appleton, whose Appleton Resources in Cambridge, Massachusetts, prepares training programs for dealer service departments. "After six months in the business, you tend to use jargon rather than speaking to customers in clear English."
Appleton suggests that you show and tell by using books with good illustrations or props. "Most customers wouldn't recognize a brake caliper if it fell on their head," he says.
When dealing with customers, spell out what you have done and why as clearly as possible. Telling a customer whose car had stalled at stops that you have "replaced the IAC and [he] should be all set" is not really communicating. It would be better to take just a few extra seconds to say, "We replaced the idle air control motor, which is supposed to keep your car's engine idling at the proper speed. Yours had failed, so the engine idled too slowly and would stall." That little extra time could earn you a customer for life, especially if you keep up your end of the communication bargain in the future.
Take the Customer for a Ride
Perhaps the most time-consuming communication involves verifying a problem before starting any analysis or repairs. This will often require a test drive. Be sure the customer goes along to confirm that the problem you spot is the difficulty that has prompted this appointment. What technician has not made a needed repair, only to face an irate customer the next day complaining that nothing was done to fix the rea"l" problem?
The test drive may work best when the customer does the driving. "It often takes the customer to find that bump or turn that demonstrates the problem," Appleton says. Having the customer drive may also allow you to spot simple operational errors that have caused the difficulty.
Good communication between your shop and your customer is vital in forming a relationship built on trust -- and is an increasingly important prerequisite for you to do your job well.