Proper Training for Longevity

Training helps Retain Higher Quality Service Advisors, Saving Your Dealership $$$$

The recruiting, training, and retention process for service advisors is both time-consuming and expensive. The process begins with running a job vacancy ad, then comes the series of interviews to find the most qualified candidate. Once the best candidate is selected, there’s the contract overview and job expectations that need to be covered. The new service advisor is then trained for the task at hand. Every step of the process is expensive and time-consuming, compounding the value of training for new service advisor retention. If you aren’t able to retain service advisors, you just threw away thousands of dollars in advertising and training costs. However, if you are able to leverage the benefits of training to retain service advisors over the long run, then the partnership is a great investment opportunity that will translate into a higher sales volume for your dealership.

First Week of Initial Training

Jeff Cowan’s Pro Talk uses a strategic training approach that works. Every day of the first two weeks is meticulously planned to improve sales while retaining service advisors over the long run:‍

First Day – talk to new service advisors about training delivery; training starts the first day when job expectations are covered

‍Second Day – role play the job activities outlined on the first day

‍Third Day – role play again and show how to physically deliver a vehicle and complete data entry

Second Week of New Service Advisor Training

The first few days of the second week allow new advisors to start slow and gain confidence. They should be assigned no more than 5 sales to give time for practice and to develop more confidence. It is important to remember that training helps prevent poor sales practices while focusing on what sales strategies work best. Use a progressive stair-step approach to progressively add workload to new service advisors. The more time that is dedicated to training equates to better retention and sales performance for service advisors. Training increases confidence that translates into a higher conversion ratio.

Ongoing Training

Weekly – at least once per week schedule a 5 to 10-minute meeting for a brief training opportunity. This training happens forever.

‍Monthly – take the entire staff and schedule a 30-minute meeting to cover important training material specific to your dealership’s sales performance

‍Annual – once per year comprehensive refresher training that lasts several hours to an entire day