How to Become an Automotive Service Advisor
When you go into an auto repair shop to get your vehicle repaired, the first person you will likely speak to is a graduate of service advisor training. A service advisor will work with customers to schedule repair work on their car, and give advice on any additional repairs that the car requires. A service advisor acts as an interpreter between the mechanic and the customer, relaying technical information to the customer in everyday language, while also relaying customer concerns to the mechanic. Being an automotive service advisor is a job of ethics, and though your job is partially to sell, a good service advisor never tries to cheat a customer. To obtain this job, it is required that you attend an automotive training college and have a good general knowledge of auto operations. Communication skills are also a must, because you will spend most of your career negotiating with and selling to customers.
Customer Service
An auto service advisor is a necessity to any body shop, as they are the first link between the customer and the shop. They greet customers, inspect the car and write out which repairs are necessary to the vehicle. The service advisor will then schedule service appointments for the mechanics to work on the vehicle. For a car that has been in the shop before, a service advisor will have to pull up the vehicle records so mechanics are notified of any previous changes. Although mechanics in a garage are certified by auto mechanic schools, cars are not an easy fix. A repair may take a day or a week, so the service advisor must estimate the time span of the repair for the customer. In order to update customers on the state of their vehicle and get their approval for certain repairs, their emails and phone numbers may be taken by the service advisor. In some auto body shops, a service advisor will send customers daily updates on the car’s progress through email so as to display a paper trail of progress.
Service Promotion
To ensure that customers leave with a high level of satisfaction to encourage repeat business, a service advisor will promote the shop’s service facilities and carry out after-sales follow-ups, developing a positive mutually beneficial relationship. Based on the mechanic’s input and training from service advisor courses, they might suggest additional repairs or upgrades to the customer’s vehicle. For example, if a customer comes in for a broken taillight, the service advisor may inspect the car and notice the brake pads are worn down to 25% efficiency. Therefore, the service advisor may suggest they add on a brake job, enhancing vehicle safety while increasing the shop’s sales. Since the service advisor’s compensation typically includes a bonus or commission structure on top of a guaranteed base salary, at the end of the day, exceptional customer service through integrity and clear communication is the name of the game.
