Sara Fraser joined the Amplify 2023 speaker list to answer one of the most commonly asked questions in the auto repair industry – how do you deliver an A+ customer experience?
Sara was the perfect person for the subject. She serves as the VP of Business Development and Client Services at Haas Performance Consulting. But that’s not all. She has over 15 years of experience in retail management and has also spent the last 10 years working in the auto repair industry.
Her Amplify 2023 session covered understanding customer needs in the auto repair industry and fine-tuning the complete experience, from the first visit to the after-care.
This article serves as a quick summary of “Delivering An A+ Customer Experience” by Sara Fraser. Let’s get started!
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Key takeaways
The session shared some critical takeaways that we’ve condensed for you. Sara spoke about:
- Starting off on the right foot – how to get your website in order.
- Always respond to all reviews, nicely!
- Take care of your employees if you want your customers to be taken care of.
How do you define “customer experience”?
Sara defined customer experience as:
“The sum of all the interactions a customer has with a company, whether that’s direct communication, face-to-face, over the phone or through other customer experiences, such as your website, online booking and social media.”
Why is there such an emphasis on these “interactions”? There’s inherently a lack of transparency in the repair experience. Most of the work happens in the absence of the customer.
Shop owners have a responsibility to offer transparent communication, great detail, and positive interactions. This is what builds trust, and trust is the backbone of an A+ customer experience.
Now, let’s take a look at the interactions Sara discussed.
It starts with your website
When did your clients make their first impression of you? It’s most likely when they first visited your website.
Did you groan at that? Many shop owners downplay their website’s role in delivering a seamless customer service. This leads to friction and makes it less likely for a sale to happen.
So how do you build a website that gets you more customers and enhances the customer experience?
Here is Sara’s 10-point website checklist:
- Feature a clean and user-friendly design that’s easy to navigate through and find key information.
- Share the kind of services you offer. Display real photos of the types of vehicles you work on.
- Show pictures of your storefront so it’s easier for first time visitors to spot your shop.
- Use real photos and never stock images.
- Make it mobile compatible, as most people will find you on their phones.
- Cross-check info available on the website every month and update if needed.
- Share your story and introduce yourself. It helps when customers can relate with you.
- Have an option to book appointments online.
- Add links to your social platforms (and make sure they contain relevant and up to date content!
- Add reviews to build credibility.
How should you respond to reviews?
No business is going to get a five-star rating every time a client walks out the door. It’s just not realistic. What we, as service providers, can do is give them a five-star response.
Sara discussed the importance of responding to all your reviews. And while you’re replying, remember to be personable and genuine. This shows you care about your clients and are committed to resolving their issues. Even thanking people for leaving feedback shows that your work matters to you.
Ultimately, all this presents your culture to new visitors. Negative reviewers may never read your replies, but it offers a great first impression to new leads.
What about your employees?
89% of companies now expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, per Gartner.
But how can you compete on customer experience if your employees are stressed out and underpaid?
Only happy employees make happy customers. That’s why you need to make sure your employees feel respected, cared for, and appreciated. And this shouldn’t need to be said, but you absolutely need to offer fair pay.
Employees also need to feel empowered and engaged in their work. That’s how they’ll bring their A game to the role every day.
Sara condenses this in her three-Ts: trust, train and think. Employees need to be trusted to do the job right, they must be trained adequately, and they must be taught how to think from the customer’s perspective. That’s how they’ll be able to identify their needs and offer the right solutions.
Going the extra mile
Car breakdowns are stressful. It’s up to shop owners to remove this stress from the client.
So, how do you accomplish that?
- Show empathy: Always start with empathy and patience. Don’t sound rushed or distracted in a customer interaction. Take the time to get to know your clients.
- Listen well: Be a great listener and identify customer needs.
- Offer personalized solutions: Not every customer is looking for the same answer to the same problem. Understand priorities.
- Understand customer perspective: Ask powerful questions that make customers think and answer subjectively.
- Make it easy to understand the diagnosis: Use language that your customer will understand. Once the conversation is over, email them the details and a proposed solution.
- Don’t make customers hold: Always call back if you need time. Respond to customers through their preferred form of communication.
- Solve problems fast & communicate faster: All customers are looking for a speedy response and quick resolution.
- Post-service follow-up: Ask for feedback and follow up for any further help. Thank the client for choosing you. Do this in a timely manner.
Feeling like stepping it up even more?
There’s no end to how much you can improve your customer service.
In Sara’s words, “customers are looking for the above and beyond treatment, the ‘roll out the red carpet’.”
She also shared a few tips to inspire you to go above and beyond:
- Leave donuts and coffee in the waiting room area.
- Clean the car before you deliver it.
- Offer to drop off the client when they come to drop off their car.
» Looking to transform your shop? Discover how our auto repair software can help.
Final thoughts
The customer experience is a vast business focus to analyze and improve upon. But gradual changes across the board will help you and your employees build the right perspective.
Just remember to be empathetic, available, and committed to helping. That’s really all it’s about!
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