-by Sally Whitesell for AutoSuccess Magazine. Terminating someone is never pleasant and not to be taken lightly. As a former service manager I only had to fire one service advisor -and I did not make that decision lightly. However, in most cases it is the employee’s choice to get fired. What do I mean? Certainly […]

-by Sally Whitesell for Fixed Ops Magazine. The biggest topic in our industry right now is Customer Retention. How do we get people who walked in our door to keep coming back and become loyal long-term clients? There are many reasons our customers defect: poor customer service, frequent employee turnover or even poor communication with […]

-by Sally Whitesell Who on our team is the best, and how do we get the rest of our group to reach their level? This is a question you may have heard or even asked when planning training events or making business projections. While this is a good place to start, you have to take […]

-by Sally Whitesell Have you stopped and considered how much money people are spending on their cars outside of the dealership? What if we could capture even a fraction of that number? There’s a race going on between manufacturers to create the lowest maintenance vehicles. While this is great for customers, it’s not so great […]

-by Sally Whitesell Customer service surveys are becoming more difficult to get our customers to fill out, and therefore, more difficult for us to receive. Let’s face it; we’re all over-surveyed these days. We’re usually not interested in wasting our time unless we are extremely irritated or extremely impressed. In an effort to increase the […]

-by Sally Whitesell for AutoSuccess Online The moment a woman enters your facility, she is looking for signals. Signals you may not even realize you are sending. What is your demeanor? What are your intentions? Do you take her seriously? Why should we care about what signals we’re sending to women in our store? Because […]

-by Sally Whitesell for AutoSuccess Magazine Are you having problems getting your Fixed Ops team to pay attention and retain the information from your training programs? Are you conducting training sessions without getting results from your trainees? Are they insubordinate, lazy or just plain bored? Believe it or not, most of your people have good […]

-by Sally Whitesell for AutoSuccess Magazine The glaring mistakes of a well-intentioned sales team. I was excited about buying a nice new car, but like many of your clients, I was dreading the process. As a service advisor trainer who specializes in teaching the differences between selling to women vs. men, I’m in car dealerships […]

-by Sally Whitesell Stand out on your drive in the morning and watch your customers. Do they appear to know where to go and what to do? Or are some of them parking and walking in while others are driving their cars into your service drive? When they do drive in, are they staying in […]

-by Sally Whitesell for AutoSuccess Magazine It’s hard to think about fall and winter when summer has just arrived. We have visions of backyard barbecues, family vacations and an ice cold…well you fill in the blank. But this is an awesome time of year; not only for fun in the sun, but for growing our […]

-by Sally Whitesell for Fixed Ops Magazine Leadership qualities are not as cut and dried as they used to be. Many leaders feel that being professional in their position means being organized, focused and strong. They never let their personal life or emotions enter into relationships with their employees. Although these qualities are important, being an […]

Practical methods that work for every Advisor! “Words That Sell Service” is packed with knowledge and wisdom that will help you sell smarter not harder. This book is a must-have for service advisors and managers in automotive dealerships and repair facilities. Many simple yet exceptional techniques are demonstrated in each of the selling word tracks provided. […]

It’s that time of year again where we look back at the resolutions we made on New Years only to find that we are struggling to keep them. Good goals become great when we fulfill them! So how do we recharge and then keep our team on track and focused on our goals throughout the year?  […]

Would you ever consider letting a member of your sales team on the floor to sell cars without any training? Could your sales team sell cars without knowing the features and benefits as well as your process? Most dealerships spend a lot of time and money consistently training their sales departments with strict guidelines and […]

Do you think a professional coach would be a great manager in the car industry? A truly great manager is not only able to manage their team effectively, but also coach individuals while leading by example. This may not include throwing chairs or stomping up and down the sidelines, although I have to admire their […]

What one person has the opportunity for an uninterrupted 10-20 minute conversation with your potential buyers and service customers? Your courtesy shuttle driver. Is this a person you trust to represent your store? The benefits of a friendly, professional shuttle driver can’t be overstated.  Their influence on your CSI and production can make an impact on the success of your […]

A Harvard Business Review shows that Boomers and Gen Ys are changing what constitutes a great place to work. (Keep in mind that each of these generations are roughly twice the size of Gen X which lies in the middle, so it is critical that we listen.) When a group of 50 multinational companies spearheaded […]

When someone picks up the phone to call a business they have just taken the first step toward buying.  If they lose confidence in your facility on the phone, chances are you will lose the sale. Poor phone skills could be costing you a lot more than you realize! Many stores request that we mystery shop their […]

Thank you for taking the time to research your largest demographic: women! Most service facilities now report that women make up over 60% of their clientele. Yet when a large research company performed surveys, over 80% of the women said they were unhappy with some part of the service experience. These results prove we have […]