Finding a Service Advisor

"We are struggling to find a Service Advisor"

Very often talked about, but recruiting for a Service Advisor can be a bit of an enigma. I always get asked "where do I find one?" or "I employed a receptionist and they lasted two weeks." Expecting to find a great Service Advisor quickly, with lots of experience, is a big ask to say the least.

Why the challenges filling this role?

As an industry we have spent years under-training staff for our trade and now we are seeing the results. There are other reasons why we have a general lack of people, but that is a conversation for another day. Often there is an expectation for staff to just know the job from day one with little or no training. Adverts often include a long job description with little training on offer, is it any wonder people are not jumping at the chance to take up the role?

If we look at the Service Advisor role, there is very little specific training on offer and so we tend to rely on “on the job experience”. I have heard many stories of how new staff only lasted a short time. The “throw them in at the deep end” strategy only suits a certain type of person, but never works without some initial training. If I had been expected to carry out a full service in week one of my apprenticeship, I would not be here today.

How important is the role?

It has never ceased to amaze me at the lack of emphasis some business’s put on their front of house staff. Very often roles are advertised with a low salary as the perception is that they just answer the phone and sit at a desk.

Let’s just think about what we ask them to do for a moment;

Be the face of the business, stay calm in very busy times, be able to understand the basics of a car's anatomy, book in customers and have an idea of workshop loading, understand multiple parts and booking systems, build quotes, order parts, authorise extra work, invoice jobs, take payments, deal with happy and, err, not so happy customers, carry out warranty claims, return parts, book out loan cars, oh and when you are not busy do the filing! The list goes on.

What do we do when we need a Service Advisor?

Our choices seem to be, advertise for one who is experienced, move someone internally into the role, use a family member (as they are cheap), or train someone with no experience in the motor industry. The latter always seems to frighten most business owners as it can be extremely time intensive if not done correctly. Since the mid 90’s I have been involved with training Service Advisors in various garage environments. All with success of varying degrees. I have seen Technicians, Receptionists, Parts and Bodyshop Advisors, college leavers and people from other industries all make the jump.

I can say that a high number of success stories have been people with little or no vehicle experience. Yes, I did just say that. It worked because it all came down to them being the right fit for the role, having the desire to learn and the process by which they were taught. It's worth considering that staff with no trade experience also have no habits or "ways of doing things" from other garages. This means initially they will only do it the way you teach them. Then they introduce new and better ways, that you might not have thought of. It's a great way to develop your process, using experience from other industries and encourage staff to make their job their own.

Initially leaving them to fend for themselves can work to an extent for some tasks, but they must have some basic training. The sink or swim approach depends heavily on their personality. I have found that a dedicated mentored process has a much higher success rate.

Lets take a look and two real life examples

Example 1

First up my stepson, Billy. He left college not really knowing what he wanted to do. I had an opening at my specialist independent and we agreed a trial period with training. Now Billy works well under pressure and, as I found out, thrives in the sink or swim environment. After some basic training, with a method I have used for quite some time, he was able to carry out daily tasks that relieved immediate pressure on the business. Slowly he gained confidence and customers loved him. What’s not to like about a polite, smart young man? Shame he wasn’t like that at home! Sorry Billy. Some training was needed on customer liaison skills but that comes with the territory at the age of 20. We did in-house customer and technical training, plus he got Savva’d, as I like to call it, by The garage inspector. He came back buzzing from Andy Savva's training, as everyone does. If you have not experienced it then it needs to go on your list!

It did not take Billy long to develop to a very useful skill set. Fast forward 18 months he was running the front of house, the go to person for customers, a great team player, and the bonus was that I rarely had to intervene.

Example 2

Neil was a similar story, except he was in his previous job for 25 years working for a lighting company. He wanted a change of career and was keen to work in the motor industry. Neil had lots of customer experience. He could talk to people easily and was the friendly face they always wanted to see. Due to his experience, he was able to understand customers and had empathy when needed, he also was calm in difficult situations or when time was not on his side. (Which never happens in a garage!) All of these are desired and transferrable skills. Although Neil needed technical training, which again we did in-house, he went on to be a great asset to the business and is still in the industry today.

Incidentally, it is always hard when staff leave, but the reality is they do. Seeing all the customers get a little disappointed that their "go to" person is leaving is ironically a tribute to the success of the training and the people involved.

I have other examples, but the training all had the same core points. Spend time with them, make sure they understand their job role, the business and what it is about. Don’t forget they are the face of the business. Start with some repetitive tasks using your garage management system so the process gets learnt quickly. Then increase the knowledge base and responsibility as time goes on. There is a bit more to it, but you get the gist.

The summary

What I would like to show here is that by choosing the right person, using a good training process and understanding their personality you can be onto a real winner. All of this without the need for previous trade experience. With you giving time and investment to someone who really wants to do the role, they are more likely to stay for longer.

Choosing the right person can be a challenge, understanding their attributes is slightly different. There are tools you can use to help with the latter, such as colour profiling. Jennifer Webb at HR Vitals does exactly this. Jennifer explains the process here in the HR blog It is a useful tool for new and existing staff. After that, the training plan is all about a process and the dedication of the employer to follow it.

If you would like more information on mentoring front of house staff then use my contact form or email me at info@absolutelyautomotive.co.uk