Myths are dangerous things. They are invented from misinformation and the unknown. For example, only a few thousand years ago it was generally believed that if you sailed too far out to sea, you would fall off the end of the earth. It was only when man dared to sail out beyond where they had previously sailed that they proved the myth wrong. There was a time when people actually believed that the moon was made of cheese. That was disproven with the aid of powerful telescopes. Or how about that myth that if your wife is happy, everyone is happy – wait a minute… that last one is not a myth, or at least that is what my wife tells me.
In the automotive industry, there are myths that exist today regarding service writing, even though they have been disproven many times over by actual service writers themselves. Although they have been disproven, many still hang on to these myths. Why? I believe it is because by allowing the myth to exist, it can remain an excuse not to change; an excuse that allows many to be lazy and not acknowledge problems (which may require change or simply some sweat equity), or it could be that the myth has such strong reasoning behind it, that we just accept it as truth.
Today I list some of the most common myths surrounding the writing of service and hopefully, once and for all, make the many believers of these myths see otherwise.
Myth 1: If you write service and have a high closing ratio and high customer paid repair order average, then it is impossible to have high survey scores and/or high customer retention.
Fact: I know hundreds of service writers who complete the trifecta month after month, year after year. The difference is how hard you are willing to train a person and hold them accountable. If you expect and allow the myth to come true, it will – but it doesn’t have to. Think high-end restaurant here. If you visit a five star restaurant like Ruth’s Chris, you will experience servers that please people, sell plenty of appetizers, desserts and drinks and have people return in the future requesting them. As a matter of fact, if they cannot do those things, their service will not be retained and they will be let go. They accomplish the trifecta because they are trained to, and then held accountable to.
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