On this week’s episode of the Weekly Tune-Up, Jim Fitzpatrick is once again joined by guest host Michael Roppo, President of Automotive Management Resources. The two wrap up their discussion on the 7 Customer Contact Selling Points with point number seven, the active delivery process.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Jim Fitzpatrick: Hi, everyone. Jim Fitzpatrick with the weekly tune-up right here at the CBT Automotive Network. Thanks so much for joining us once again, I’d like to introduce Mr. Michael Roppo, although you don’t need an introduction because you’re always on our show because you’re delivering great information to our dealers and service directors. So thank you once again for taking the time out of your busy schedule.
Michael Roppo: Invitations always greatly appreciated, Jim, you know that.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Absolutely. So we have gone through kind of a series here of the seven different contact points with customers and let’s talk about number seven, which is the active delivery process. Talk to us about that and the importance of that.
Michael Roppo: I’m going to talk about it in a little bit of a different way this time. I’m going to talk about the active delivery process as an active redelivery process.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Oh, okay.
Michael Roppo: That you need to hope that it happens over and over again, right? So the redelivery process is basically making sure that you’re solidifying your relationship with that customer.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Michael Roppo: And you’re kind of rebuilding that value that you thought you had questionable because of what we just sold them, okay?
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure, sure.
Michael Roppo: And now we’re rebuilding that value with the customers right in front of you that you’re going to communicate what it is that was done to that vehicle.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Michael Roppo: Keeping them informed about the status that you basically communicated and now you’re about to charge them.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Michael Roppo: Okay?
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: You’ve got to provide value in that conversation.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s for sure.
Michael Roppo: Absolutely.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: Absolutely.
Jim Fitzpatrick: So where does it go?
Michael Roppo: You explain the repair process to the customer.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: You expect the customer to always have questions, so you need to answer him properly. And believe me, most of the questions you’re going to find are not about the money.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: It’s about what you did.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: Okay, it’s that survey question that everybody fails, where you explain the types of services that you were informed. They say no.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: Okay. They’re answering honestly.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Michael Roppo: They need to be trained how to answer that survey properly. So I think people need to do a better job even in the redelivery process that they’re going to be surveyed.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: You want to pass a survey? Educate your customer.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: There’s a lot of people doing it precisely.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: And they see the benefits.
Jim Fitzpatrick: It’s probably also okay to even mention to the customer that in the event of the survey, you might be asked, “Did we explain this to you? Before you leave, are you fully aware of what we did do? Do you feel like you’ve been [crosstalk 00:02:18].”
Michael Roppo: That’s correct. We spoke before that the customer comes to do business with you in one of our previous sessions.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right.
Michael Roppo: So the thing is this, that’s exactly what they come to do, all right? You need to let them know that, that is your report card.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: Not necessarily what went on with the vehicle.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: All right, so if you explain to them that this is what happened here during this session of our service interval, this is what’s going to happen. This is what took place. Make sure that they understand what’s going on with the vehicle. Make sure what’s going to happen with the vehicle, is that something that they understand?
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Michael Roppo: What’s going down the road? The light may come back on. That doesn’t mean you need to panic. It’s not a panic light.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: It’s an informational light.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: Unless the car is shaking or whatever have you, don’t worry about. It’s just a checking process.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: All right, and some people feel that that’s an intimidating light when it comes on.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: There’s something about to go wrong.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Oh, sure.
Michael Roppo: That’s not necessarily the case. All right, so the thing is, I think you need to consider people making sure that they communicate to the customer on time.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: Okay?
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: And in that redelivery process, just making sure that the customer did understand everything that we did for that vehicle.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right. Right.
Michael Roppo: And taking their customer and inviting them back.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Before you’re actually able to deliver the car back to the customer, it’s important also that if the customer says, “I’m going to be in at four o’clock,” that the customer doesn’t have a one hour wait to get in his car.
Michael Roppo: No.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right?
Michael Roppo: Paperwork should be done in easy.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: Okay.
Jim Fitzpatrick: I mean, that car theoretically should be someplace at least relatively close.
Michael Roppo: In a wash bay, cleaned, ready to go.
Jim Fitzpatrick: There you go. That’s the best case scenario.
Michael Roppo: In a spot where it’s a delivery spot.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: Where the customer knows 25 is your spot.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right.
Michael Roppo: That’s where your vehicle is. Or you redeliver it to the vehicle in the service drive.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: Where they re-meet your service advisers.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yep.
Michael Roppo: That should be there at the time of pickup.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: And if they could do it themselves, I highly recommend that too.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Michael Roppo: Cashiers need to be retrained.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: There’s a lot of cashiers that are fantastic.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Who is the best case, who’s the best person in the dealership to greet the customer when they come back to take delivery of that vehicle?
Michael Roppo: Wow. Everybody that’s trained to do so.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Michael Roppo: Whether it’s the advisor, whether it’s the valet people.
Jim Fitzpatrick: You don’t have a specific one that you [crosstalk 00:04:31].
Michael Roppo: No, they just need to be done properly.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Michael Roppo: Okay?
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Michael Roppo: The redelivery, you could tell about what that customer’s feeling. When that customer looks at their bill and shaking their heads this way, somebody’s got to have an alert and a stop sign.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: Something’s wrong.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: You’ve got to invite that customer back. “How can I help you, Mr. Jones? I see you’re a little upset. How can I help you?” Not, can I help you? “How can I help you?”
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah, big difference.
Michael Roppo: Yeah, absolutely. If you say, “Can I help you?” He goes, “Of course, you can help me. This is service. I need your help.” Okay, so that’s really what it’s all about. The questions you ask are critical.
Jim Fitzpatrick: And that customer is making a determination at that time as to whether or not they’re going to come back and do business with your dealership.
Michael Roppo: 100%.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: That’s where also, again, Paul Cummings, my mentor, you ready? The customer sensitive language comes into play.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: Please allow me.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: I’d be happy to. All that beautiful stuff that he talked about is real.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Michael Roppo: Okay. It’s not robotic. It’s the customer sensitive language that he teaches over and over again until I think he said, “You never get it wrong. You can’t get this one wrong.”
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Michael Roppo: The redelivery process also starts the invitation back to the dealership.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right.
Michael Roppo: And it starts to serve us all over again.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right.
Michael Roppo: Look, I get excited about service because I know what kind of dollars are out there.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Michael Roppo: And the people that want it, we’re willing to help them.
Jim Fitzpatrick: And at the end of the day, it’s really so easy, isn’t it?
Michael Roppo: But that’s what you need to do.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right. If you just stick to the basics, the block and tackle that you’ve been trained …
Michael Roppo: 100%.
Jim Fitzpatrick: … you’re going to win the customer over every time.
Michael Roppo: Absolutely right, absolutely.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Whether it be to come back in the dealership or to give you a good survey or to recommend you to other customers in the area and in their sphere of influence.
Michael Roppo: When you really generate your customers, and I’ve seen a lot of great service advisors do this, the customers know their expectations and the advisers have expectations of those customers.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right, right.
Michael Roppo: It goes hand in hand. It’s a magical what can happen there.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Absolutely. Michael Roppo, thank you once again for coming into the Weekly Tune Up. We appreciate it. This is invaluable information that you’re sharing, and I know our dealers get a lot out of it. So thank you.
Michael Roppo: Thank you very much, Jim. Always a pleasure, man.
