AutoFix AdvisorCast

Chris Cotton [00:00:00]:
This is the Autofix Advisor Cast, powered by worldpac. Hey everybody, welcome to the autofix Advisor Cast, the podcast where we help service advisors and shop owners elevate their game. I'm your temporary host, Chris Cotton, and today we're diving into an exciting topic. Why technicians can make fantastic service advisors, or talking about how they can. I gotta be honest with you, I'm a little old school and I always came from the fact that previously I really didn't think technicians made great service advisors, mainly because most technicians in the past 10, 15, 20 years ago were not typically really good people persons. And the reasons why they were technicians is because they were busy working on cars. Okay. And I'll also talk about some of the other reasons a little bit later.

Chris Cotton [00:01:02]:
But, you know, depending on what side of the fence you're on, the auto repair industry can have some staffing challenges for some of you. And moving a tech from the back of the shop up front might sound counterintuitive, but finding the right people for key roles is critical. We always want to have the people on the bus in the right seats. And so I really, really think that this can help out. And I've seen it firsthand. When I was looking at buying our current shop, we hired a really strong technician to come in and run the shop. And we just recently promoted and moved one of our technicians up to the counter for, for a second position. And so far it's, it's been fabulous.

Chris Cotton [00:01:59]:
Hopefully it, it keeps up. And just having witnessed that firsthand, I am a proponent for the right technician coming up and helping. You know, I think if we think about that, both of these guys are in there early 40s, so they've got plenty of years in the industry left. And both of them just realized, hey, if I continue working out in the shop for the next 15, 20 years, my body's just going to be broken and beaten and battered, which I think a lot of technicians are there, and they're not afraid to look for alternatives to doing other stuff. So what we're going to talk about in this is understanding the role of the advisor, why technicians are natural fit. We're going to address concerns and then we're going to give you some actionable tips. So if we look at understanding the role of the service advisor, you know, what are the core responsibilities? They're to serve as a communication bridge between customers and technicians. They educate customers about services, repairs and costs in an approachable way.

Chris Cotton [00:03:10]:
And, you know, that helps or their ability to explain an issue is a hundred times Greater than mine. I'm just really good at sales, I'm really good at building a relationship but the car knowledge is not there for me. And so this is where if you have somebody that has the car knowledge, the parts knowledge and you can make them a peaceful, a people person or teach them the skills they need to succeed up front. It just puts them at such a higher level than what somebody like myself could do. Under the core responsibilities, they educate customers about services, repairs and costs in an approachable way. They schedule appointments, manage workflow and oversee service timelines. They also build trust, foster loyalty and ensure customer satisfaction. So what are some of the key traits of successful advisors? You know, obviously empathy and active listening, problem solving and multitasking skills and being able to sale sale S A L E without being salesy.

Chris Cotton [00:04:22]:
And so why are advisors crucial to the shop? You know these, these people are the face of the shop. They're typically the first and last point of contact for customers. And a great advisor can boost retention, upsell services and improve the overall customer experience. I don't know how many shops we've had around the country where you've had service advisors that have been doing this for 30 years and they go to another shop and they kind of take some of their clientele with them. I know as owners we, we want those people to be loyal to us. And there are, you know, most of them are, but several of them are loyal to the advisor. So next, you know, why are technicians a natural fit? I just talked about it a minute ago. They have deep technical knowledge.

Chris Cotton [00:05:14]:
You know, technicians bring in insiders understanding of repairs and makes them better equipped to explain issues to customers. They have confidence in answering complex questions and that helps them build trust with the customer credibility. Customers are more likely to trust advice from someone with hands on experience, problem solving mindset. Technicians are trained to diagnose and fix problems and those skills transfer almost seamlessly to handling customer concerns, things at the front counter, things like that. Shop operations insight. You know, most technicians are familiar with your workflow, parts ordering, time management. And that makes technicians effective coordinators or service advisors. Here's maybe the biggest thing is the empathy for the back of shop staff.

Chris Cotton [00:06:09]:
Having been in the technician's shoes, they can bridge gaps between the front desk and the shop floor. I think most people, I think most technicians think it's easy run in the front. It is not like it's very difficult. And I think, I think when you have a technician that comes up there and does that, it shows them the other side of it. But Then again, it's like, hey, I used to do your job, now I know what I have to do here. How do I bridge that? How do I make it so it's better, easier for everybody involved? So next, what would be some common concerns with putting a technician up as a service advisor? Number one, lack of customer service experience. You know, we would need to emphasize the importance of training and mentorship to develop communication and some soft skills. The, the next concern is losing technical talent in the shop.

Chris Cotton [00:07:07]:
You know, there's a thing called talent drain and if you start pulling out really, really great technicians out of the shop and putting them up front, while that may be great in one area, it might hurt you in another. So you have to think about that. What am I getting by bringing them up here? What am I losing by not having them in the shop? Is this a plus? Is this a win win for everybody involved? You know, a well trained advisor increases overall shop efficiency and customer satisfaction, which benefits the entire team. So we also have some financial implications. You know, a technician's pay might go down for a little bit until they're, you know, able to, to get it. Depending on if you're doing, depending on how you're paying the technician and depending on how you're paying your staff, you're doing like a salary plus bonus or hourly plus bonus, there's all kinds of things that might affect that. So you need to make sure you set them up for success with their pay as well. And if they have a lower starting salary there or starting pay, you know, you need to teach them the math of the business.

Chris Cotton [00:08:28]:
You know, how increased revenue from better customer interactions and upselling, things like that, how that makes it a win for the customer, a win for them, and then a win for the shop. Kind of the last concern in this area is one of the reasons why I never really got on board with it is a lot of textions seem to be, excuse me. A lot of technicians seem to be price adverse because they know what it takes for them to do these jobs. They know that they can go to the part store, buy a part for this. They know that they can go in and do something in 30 minutes. Whereas when they go in and, and look at a price, when everything's been priced out, they're like, oh my gosh, I can do it for so much cheaper than that. And they're, they're not wrong. They can do it cheaper than that.

Chris Cotton [00:09:11]:
But that would be a true do it themselves or DIY project instead of a do it for me like that's what our customers are, are coming in for, is for the do it for me aspect of it. So next up we have, you know, how do we transition technicians into these roles? Number one, we gotta identify the right candidates. Not every technician in the shop's gonna be able to do this. You know, you have to look for technicians with strong communication skills and a desire to grow. We have to look at their personality traits like patience, empathy, make sure they have a positive attitude, make sure that they're showing up to work on time already, making sure that they're doing the things they need to do. You know, you have to get them training and support. Hopefully your shop's been training them really, really good and really, really well to be technicians. And now you need to send them to classes, you know, offer them training on customer service, sales techniques, time management.

Chris Cotton [00:10:18]:
Hopefully you have another experienced service advisor there for a shadowing opportunity. The next thing you need to do is you need to create a clear path for them. You need to lay out a structured roadmap for the transition, including benchmarks and goals. Again, offer incentives for taking on new responsibilities, make it work out in their pay plan. Also celebrate milestones. You need to recognize the progression and achievements and let that help build confidence and morale in, in these technicians turned service advisors. So if we look at what's the business case for promoting technicians, number one, improve customer trust and loyalty. You know, customers value transparency and knowledge, which technicians naturally provide.

Chris Cotton [00:11:09]:
Hopefully, if your technician hasn't been just hiding in the shop forever, most of your customers probably know or have heard the names of your technicians. And then whenever you bring them up front and introduce, you just introduce them like, hey, we promoted so and so to be a service advisor. And people will be like, oh, I remember David from when he worked in the back, like he worked on my car last time. And so that's going to help out a bunch, you know, talking about more about the business case for promoting technicians. Enhanced team dynamics. I bit my lip on the inside right before I started filming this and number one, it hurts. And number two, I think it's swelling up and it's making making all this worse anyway. Enhanced team dynamics.

Chris Cotton [00:12:01]:
A technician turned advisor strengthens the bond between the front and the back of the shop. Next, we have increased revenue potential. Advisors with technical expertise can upsell services more effectively by explaining the value and necessity of repairs. I 100% believe that as long as they'll do it last, we have future proofing your shop. You know, if we develop internal, internal talent pipelines in order to address our staffing shortages. I think it's a win win for us as well as them. So to kind of recap everything we talked about, you know, technicians bring unmatched value to the advisor role through their technical expertise, credibility and problem solving skill. And you know, they're able to address concerns with proper training and support and then also any other concerns you have with them, you give them training and support to make sure that we have a smooth transition.

Chris Cotton [00:13:02]:
Okay. Have you promoted a technician to a service advisor role? If so, I'd love to hear your stories about it. Maybe we can have you on and we'll talk. I want you to share your experiences on any social media channel or send me an email. Christofixsos.com and also we have three podcasts now kind of under the Autofix umbrella. We've got the autofix advisor cast, we've got the autofix technology cat clap ah, we've got the autofax technology cast and then I've also got the weekly blitz with Chris Cotton so you can go and listen to any of those and get all kinds of great information from for your business. We're also going to be training at the Tech Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Coming up we're going to have classes at Vision 2025 and all kinds of stuff going on all across the country.

Chris Cotton [00:13:56]:
So have a great day everybody. I hope to hear from you soon and make sure to like and subscribe. That's a wrap for this episode of the Autofix Advisor Cast. Thanks for tuning in and investing in yourself and your career as a service advisor. We hope you found the insights both valuable and are ready to apply them to your shop. Thanks to worldpac for sponsoring the show and the worldpac Training Institute. WTI is dedicated to providing advanced level training for independent automotive repair facilities offering everything from advanced diagnostics to OEM and business development programs. Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills or take your shop to the next level, WTI has you covered with online and in person classes to fit your schedule.

Chris Cotton [00:14:41]:
Check out WTI's offerings and invest in your future success. Thanks again to worldpac and WTI for supporting Autofix Advisor Cast.