Service Advisor Performance

[mmotley]

Curious how other shops are tracking service advisor performance. With technicians, I typically see shops either tracking hours produced or efficiency, or both. For advisors, I've seen closing ratio (calculated 3 different ways), ARO, HPRO, and/or gross sales (usually with a GP% requirement attached). I'd love to hear what method shops are using on this forum to track their service advisors performance and how they go about calculating with, along with what their benchmarks/goals are for their advisors. Also any pros/cons on how they track the way they do.

[Waynes Garage]

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[TallmadgeTire]

I am looking for the same!

[mmotley]

From what I've gathered on another forum and talking to a few shop owners, there are a few different metrics you can use to gauge SA performance. It ultimately comes down to what you prefer. There is closing ratio, ARO, HPRO, lost leads, gross sales, and/or gross profit. I'd say that closing ratio is probably the most accurate representation of how effective a service advisor is, however I don't think any metric gives you the whole picture. Any of those numbers could be low and not be the fault of the advisor. Any of those numbers could be high and you could still have a problem. Ultimately, I think it comes to choosing a one or two of the metrics, tracking it, then evaluating the results. 

Closing ratio, from what I've seen, should be about 50%. ARO would depend on your shop, but I've been told the national average is around $350 for a general repair shop, so I wouldn't set a goal of any less than that. HPRO should be 3, more if you're a specialty shop. GP should be 60% of sales. At least this what I've gathered from talking with others. 

[newport5]

While I agree that SA numbers are important, there’s more to being a good service writer than hard numbers, without the interpretation that goes with them.

How are they on the phone with prospective customers?

          Can they convert a “price shopper” to a valued customer?

Can they sell additional work on trust versus the drawn-out, value, safety, etc., pitch?

Can they look out for the customer’s pocketbook, the technicians, as well as the shop's bottom line?

How are his/her online reviews?

Can he/she negotiate any customer/supplier issues?

         Or make sure they don’t happen in the first place.

Do they answer the phone in a cheerful manner?

Do they make the customer’s day better or worse?

Having said all that, I especially like Closing Ratio, because, “Nothing happens until the customer says, “Yes”.”

        Is your SA fast enough getting the OK (or get’s pre-approval) so that the technician will point out additional work, versus wasting time on the rack, waiting for approval?

Does your SA convey to the customer that you are the good guys in this transaction, not the bad guys finding extra work?

Are your customers satisfied enough to refer people?

Is your SA helpful beyond simply car repair?

 

I hope that helps.

Victor

[mmotley]

17 hours ago, newport5 said:

While I agree that SA numbers are important, there’s more to being a good service writer than hard numbers, without the interpretation that goes with them.

How are they on the phone with prospective customers?

          Can they convert a “price shopper” to a valued customer?

Can they sell additional work on trust versus the drawn-out, value, safety, etc., pitch?

Can they look out for the customer’s pocketbook, the technicians, as well as the shop's bottom line?

How are his/her online reviews?

Can he/she negotiate any customer/supplier issues?

         Or make sure they don’t happen in the first place.

Do they answer the phone in a cheerful manner?

Do they make the customer’s day better or worse?

Having said all that, I especially like Closing Ratio, because, “Nothing happens until the customer says, “Yes”.”

        Is your SA fast enough getting the OK (or get’s pre-approval) so that the technician will point out additional work, versus wasting time on the rack, waiting for approval?

Does your SA convey to the customer that you are the good guys in this transaction, not the bad guys finding extra work?

Are your customers satisfied enough to refer people?

Is your SA helpful beyond simply car repair?

 

I hope that helps.

Victor

I agree, however, I think most of the points you made can be tracked and converted into valuable data when trying to gauge overall performance vs just guessing at how they are doing.

I've come to the conclusion that, going forward in 2018, I will be using ARO and HPRO to track my advisor's performance. I will add that I am fully aware that factors outside of the advisors control can affect these numbers. I picked these two because they are they easiest and quickest numbers to monitor. If we fall short of our goals, me and my advisor can sit down and discuss why we think we are not reaching the goals and go from there.

I would like to add something to this thread however. I was checking out some advisor training coaches online this morning and noticed an individual claiming that top advisors can achieve a 70% closing ratio. I've heard this before from another source, but after sitting down and doing the math, I really don't see how a shop that is thoroughly inspecting every vehicle & making proper maintenance recommendations can CONSISTENTLY achieve 70% closing ratios. Without fudging the numbers, poor vehicle inspections, or simply working on newer cars that need absolutely no work or maintenance,  I sincerely don't think it's possible to achieve week after week. Just my 2 cents.

[newport5]

Re closing ratio, I agree. If you do a THOROUGH inspection, results would show an approximate 1/3 needs to be done now, 1/3 to do within 3 months (or now), and the last 1/3 after 6 months. So while you are thorough and honest, the last third affects your closing ratio, meaning you are instantly at 66%. Conversely, if you don’t report the last third, the 6-months-out ones, to improve your closing ratio, you short-change the customer.

Additionally, I believe if you are trying to sell the last third, the “6 month” third, to increase your closing ratio, you are doing the customer a disservice, potentially losing trust and adding to our bad reputation. That is, in this case, charging for work they don’t need now.

When you present the “third-third-third” approach, you build trust, so that in the future when you say, “Do this now,” they say yes without any convincing or selling “safety and value.”  My 2 cents to your 2 cents