#5 Increasing customer perceived value in your garage business, Chew the Fat - On The Ramp Podcast

[Music] right welcome to another episode of chew the fat and what are we chewing the fat on this time Leo customer expectations so it's we're going to talk about things we could do in the business to improve the customer journey and the and yeah the expectations customer value Leo that's what you're supposed to say value customer value build value into something without necessarily spending loads of money yeah and the inspiration for me was um if we just go straight into it was a chap called Ry suland I heard it on a different podcast who's a very famous marketer what's his book called Alchemy is one of his books alchem is one of his books yeah really interesting bloke um and he speaks about a a phrase or a term called psychological moonshot and he uses there's one really good case study which he uses which is Uber yeah um but I actually I prefer the dominant story so if you think about if you order a pizza and everybody's always as soon as you place order where's the pizza when's it coming how long is it going be hungry instantly you get hungry instantly yeah and you just get that like oh come on hurry up and then Domino's um introduced I don't know when it was 10 years ago or so they introduced an app didn't they and and the the idea behind this marketing psychological moonshot is to try and think of things that are low cost but incredibly high value so what happened in this Domino's example was everybody wanted their Pizza quicker although that's what they thought that they wanted and for Domino's to be able to cook the pizzas quicker and deliver the pizzas quicker is really expensive but what they actually wanted was to know where the pizza was and to remove the anxiety out of that out of that transaction and I feel like and Uber was exactly the same making a taxi arrive faster is very expensive but all very simple app to tell you where your taxi is I think is really thinking outside of the box to the problem because naturally the problem you're not fixing the problem is is in speeding up the pizza and it's the one there's another one that he mentioned about um waiting for a lift you push a button and there's a hotel that had slow lifts and the end they put mirrors and then people push a ballon yeah check themselves out in the mirror and then they all they forget foret how long long it's taken so yeah they haven't actually cured the problem but they have cured the problem and I I feel like it's a really interesting for and I've stewed on this so like you know it's one of the things that we really want to chew the fat on essentially is is there anything in our industry that you can get those same cheap as relatively cheap wins that really improve the customer's experience and really adds value to the customer because yeah and the other thing with Rory solid then the um the the app did is it stopped people phoning it reduced the complaints for Domin didn't it so they used to phone up to say when is my pizza going to be be ready well that takes away that and when they had to stop making the pizza to answer the phone it even further and I suppose so they actually ended up making the pizza faster yeah but that's actually quite transferable into our industry isn't it because if you think what's the what's the biggest thing that people worry about it's how much is it going to cost and when's it going to be ready and those are the sorts of things that not necessarily with an app but we can intervene to reduce that anxiety and it is yeah if you if you have to think about what does a bad experience in our industry look like it's one that's full of anxiety full of the unknown and I don't know about you guys but you know we survey every single customer and most if if we get a customer complaint I can guarantee somewhere along the line communication has failed and it's it's misalign misalignment of the customer's expectation if you think yourself whenever you're if you're dealing with something yourself it's often communication could be a solicitor or um you know anything you know that you're frustrated by yeah yeah it's often and it's like at the point if you ever ring somebody and they say I'll get them to call you back I'm going don't worry I'll I'll try again because I'm you know they're not going to call you back yeah and imagine if that's happening in your garage you know imagine if you've got customers ringing for an update I mean customers shouldn't be ringing I mean the ideal scenario is customers don't ring for an update because you've rang them you've given them an update you've text them you've rang them whatever it is they know where they are they know what the situation is and I think that with so when you look at what we've got control of within our within our businesses it's it's you've got the ability to influence how people see things and you've got the ability to influence how they feel about it and that's you know you you you can't see that a car has been serviced these days yeah you know because you can't tighten a handbreak like you used to before you know it doesn't it it has different effect was 10 mil span there it was it was it a really good point cuz that was one of the quickest parts of a service but it was like feels good and but that was a psychological wasn't it that that was a small act that you could do that made a big impact and and when you got in the car oh this feels different that's it is there anything that you've done in your business then as a as a actual example of this so I think um I I think we could go back to um looking at the fact that we've got Windows into our Workshop you know that's uh that's something that doesn't cost any money it doesn't change anything in terms of time but it changes a lot in terms of perception because it's transparent and it's viewable so where you've got the anxiety of oh I've got my second largest purchase going into this garage well I can see what's happening in there so it's absolutely fine and I think that's that's an example of something that we've done within our business that's made a big difference to be fair we've actually we built that into yeah into this new Branch as well same same sort of concept and and I suppose again the the other thing when you're talking about is customers waiting so you know I think we probably all got customers that that come into us so they do 300 miles a year they absolutely cannot coat their car for like one day it's in the workshop and they're phoning you like when's my car ready so you've got to try and build into your process um ways of making sure they understand what's going to happen and then follow up on making sure that that does happen and you just remove some of that anxiety and that stress and that weight so it's not an app but it's a it's a manual intervention coupled with using systems and so this is as opposed to them coming in dropping the keys off you take them thank you very much yeah problem these sort of things though they're often the things that will still fall down when people get extra busy or someone's off on holiday yeah so that's the biggest problem I find it's um you know it's like any processes only because the people that are delivering it so is there anything things that you can be have you done anything that's kind of more automated or streamlined or like religiously happens with every customer or is it product you kind of work on now or it's yeah it's something that it's you know obviously we use our management system to massively influence the process that that that we go and that that goes from the the stage of booking through to everything um obviously we use Garage hiive which which you all know but it it's it's automating those functions which are easily to fall down easy to fall down and then you need to intertwine that in my opinion with um the the customer service touch points that make the difference that you know we don't want to be sterile in our communication but the the automation of things that happen you know your car's in tomorrow um well that book the booking confirmation and the booking reminder yeah is the easiest way to remove anxiety from from this very anxiety riddled transaction isn't it it's so easy to do these days nearly every management system will do it yeah I think that's the thing though isn't it for me when I've been looking at this we called it um something been working on for a while but still not got there is um stratospheric customer service project and all these things like reminders here and there like almost everyone that we're at least competing with and dealers are doing that so it's what can you do in addition aren't doing it doesn't cost yeah but I I do think it's important that people do still consider the basics I think I think be a lot of garages out there not not even sending a booking reminder it's or even anot reminder you know yeah I said basic sometimes you get comments from people you know we've bought in a neighbor something I was impressed because I got a a reminder and then a phone call before I came in and then I got a survey and like things you take now for granted actually do look quite impressive to the customer one one of the things that we've really heavily worked on over the last year or so is um we do vehicle health checks which is a completely different topic to cover but it's something part of our process and it's as the customer arrives that that process is explained to the customer what we do and then we use a system to for online authorization essentially which sends the customer pictures and information and even videos on on any faults that are found on their vehicle of which that they can then just take their time to understand and perhaps send it to a part transparency as well complete transparency and again that that for me is one explaining so not blindsiding the customer with here you go here's a digital report that you've got to look at without giving them any foresight to it but explaining what their day is going to look like yeah and then providing real Clarity on what the fault is that's been found and again that's adding in my opinion that adds so much value to a garage's transaction as opposed to either just a phone call at any time could be any time during the day and then just explaining a list of issues which they may or may not understand and then they've got to make a decision reasonably quickly either on the phone or they've got to ring someone up and try and convey that information to somebody else that's just a really for me that just feels like a really harsh transaction to be part of as a customer yeah and and I think that you know having having the ability to show people what you're doing because as I said before you know you can't see a service anymore you can't feel a service anymore but if you could show bit of what you've done by using pictures you know Amber red green whatever it may be there's lots of systems that use that that it it really creates value and it helps to build value and that that's that's the important thing for me example of something we've just done and one of my ideas along along this again going back to the what can we do that's a bit different um so we have a driver that does infections and deliveries and obiously during the day he got a little bit of a a lull but one of our biggest issues is still car park you've got plenty of space in the morning mornings everyone parks and that's an issue so we um so Ron now first in the morning he spends the first hour and a half literally outside meeting greeting customers so they come in he takes the keys pars the car for him says a after you today side and all we and we' and we've just pushed back the collection delivery or we focus on getting it the day before so we've not impacted that service but was maximizing his time and that is an instant kind of like it just relaxes them doesn't it it's I think it's a surprise you not you don't expect it either you expect you get that from like a five star hotel but it's better than walking into a reception and you got eyes on you and yeah all not able to park yeah even worse yeah which is really common really common and where to park as well CU that's the that's the other thing I mean we're we're on an Enterprise Parks we've got businesses around us obviously where we are today hasn't got that and and you haven't got that on your and again not everybody can probably have that luxur of having that person but you might have someone that's washing cars and youve not thought about it so it's just for the first even it and again we're not doing it all day because we would need to employ somebody then yeah but I think the boo B's time is that first few hours of the morning so it's thinking about what resources you have got which might to kind of utilize in a different area or having someone cover reception for the first few hours a day to meet and great customers come through the door because if you got kind of one or two advisers and then once there with two customers on the phone rings some waiting yeah yeah and then the other thing we looked at doing is um which we haven't implemented yet but I still really want to do it is is a about coffees and drinks so when we booking customer in at the end of the phone call we randomly say oh while away a random question but how do you like your coffee how like you drink and they say I have a cappucino one sugar or whatever and then we put that as a customer note on the system and then when they come in and they get checked in sit down advisor someone goes and Mak some their coffee to their requirements and kind of there's your cappuccino one sugar yeah again that we've got a coffee machine it's so cheat they can get a coffee anyway yeah and like I think that'd be such an awesome thing to do which doesn't cost money but it's just managing that whole and process and actually you're saying about the notes side of it that that's a really important part of the using systems that you've got that you sort of update the notes to say you know this customer when they're booking in would normally have a courtesy car would normally have it collected would normally want it so so it helps to build rapport I mean with our size business it we know lots of our customers firstand but when you start to get to the size of of your businesses where you're not going to know every customer these these little things can make hug difference yeah it's the details that make the difference isn't it but for me it's more about again piing a car up having a little gift pack with some sweets in there or something or yeah there's Rebecca pollen at carmas she has a little T tub of branded sweets yeah amazing and the great sweets as well but she gives them to every single customer every customer Bar N gets yeah on them and there's another garage um ads who I believe an invoice of a certain value you get a bottle of wine yeah left in the car like a branded bottle of wine as well which again it SE yes we got like some little gift bags where we put the invoice in and like I don't know like an ice scraper or just a few things like that but yeah there's lots of things you can there there's lots of little added things but for me the most if if we think about the problem with this transaction is is the anxiety and I think that focusing on reducing customer anxiety is is the best win that is the best way to yeah add value you to a customer journey and and also um personalizing as much as you can cuz that's the the problem that is with you know gifts that you give out to people is it's not very personal and the first time they receive it it's good because it's something unexpected but the second time they receive it it's expected and then if it's no longer yeah um exciting or interesting washing the car we do car washing it now it's just an expected thing you end up just annoying someone because You' haven't done it yeah yeah yeah that's it yeah that's that's very true that's very yeah I I be very careful at starting something that you can't I almost wouldn't if I I wouldn't wash cars now if I could start again wouldn't bother I think worth going back to all the way back to basics as well because there's going to be all sorts of um people among along their Journey listening to this and that just as simple as a you need nice reception yeah you you need someone really approachable on that front counter because they their first and like you said one of their only touch points is actually the physical space that they end up walking into yeah to hand the key over mhm and often their only interaction is with the service advisor like you said they can't feel the car's been serviced they don't actually get to see the work that's completed they have to trust someone's telling them that same person's taking money from them so they almost based their entire experience based on a reception being quite clean actually a reception these days needs to be of a very high standard in my opinion yeah but it's also that person on the front counter they need to be approachable Smiley happy they need to like you said they need to be personable more and they need to relate to the customer smiling when you know we've think about 3 second acknowledgement so when someone walks through the door within 3 seconds and need toled walk into the car after when they're going out that's a really yeah so we've had at one branch we've got one of the managers doing that now so they literally the manager walks them out to their car and you've seen impact that prod score has gone up significantly yeah as well the response rate G costs very little that's that's the thing it's nothing really little bit of time that's I mentioned that if you have a a fairly standard experience customers only remember the first two things and last two things so the whole process of they had mer in the service they've almost forgotten about that but they'll remember the last couple of things that happened on that on that day yeah it's there I think that sand again he he mentions in in any experience you'll remember the peak which is the highlight of whatever it was and the end and the end can ruin everything it's like if you go for a great meal and and you know probably all experien yeah you go for a great meal it's the service is great all the way through but you have to wait an extra 5 minutes for the bill you could just get frustrated by it's it's very unreasonable but it's completely natural isn't it and you can almost ruin tarnish the experience by something so basic and you're looking for the server to come and give you the bill it's you know so you're sat at the table sort of glancing around to find you're making an effort to try there yeah yeah but we've all experienced that and that's they could have the best chefs that could serve the best most expensive same with us again we're busies at the end of the day so C collect their car and you're rushing them taking the money see you later you know you've ended that on a yeah well for you that might be the 20c transaction that day but for them that's their £500 so having that proc that we walk customers to the car slows it doesn't really matter if that payment process was a bit longer than it should have been or something was quite right there the fact that you're taking that time for 10 seconds to walk into the car is something that we could all we could all do that yeah and it and it make so we don't do that I mean occasions that we do but we point the customer into the direction and and actually it makes a lot of sense that why wouldn't you finish that that process with the you know almost opening the door for them you know it's the same as you're getting a good hotel isn't it yeah yeah and when you consider the focus like I said is like you said the the very last part of the transaction has a very big impact on how that customer feels for me it was trying to think of things that the goal is that when that customer goes home they go oh wow have a car in day and this happened yeah whether that's from getting that coffee or the attended parking in the morning or something you know it's thinking because that's what we have really good experience there has to be something that's above and beyond isn't there yeah yeah and I think lead just going back to that the sat at home I think another way to add value and it's it's it's got multiple benefits but surveying a customer and I'm not talking about surveys from a position of get getting feedback from the customer that's an obvious benefit but as a customer um and it refer to like the John Lewis effect is that if you buy a product from from John Lewis you know you're going to pay probably slightly more for the product but the returns process is so good that the trust is there and it doesn't really match if you pay an extra for quid because you know if it goes wrong at the end of the day they're going to look after you and I think that as a person visiting a garage who's got anxiety about the transaction if they know at the end of the transaction the business owner is going to reach out to them and say was everything okay today is there anything that I can do to help that is reducing anxiety and and adding value forget about all the other benefits I think that that that process alone is is part of a value added proposition yeah we added in on our booking confirmation so when someone books in that they will get a sub at the end asking how when and that booking comption comes from that's really clever so you're actually lowering the anxiety before the transaction a new customer we know about it that's really clever we don't do that so you're both in your booking confirmation you say you're going to get survey happen after that's really clever yeah I like that what do you two think about online booking as a value ad do you think that that's I think it's something that you need to have we don't have huge uptake on it to be fair I think um I think often people like just to pick up the phone and I think because a car can have quite a few different quirks it might be like I want to book a service but I've got this going on or that going on with the car or um but but I think it's definitely something you need to have we do get obviously bookings but uh yeah I mean and we do I suppose proportionately we do quite a lot of online bookings and I think it's the convenience so we we make sure that our reminders go out um lunchtime and they go out at I think 7:30 at night yeah um so it's when people are sort of got got through the rush of getting home and dealing with the kids and and those sort of things and they're sat and they can they can do that but I think online booking just provides convenience doesn't it I think we've all been you know I think we were talking off there about the interaction of backwards and forward of text messaging to book something it's it's a pain you know but if you can go and you can do it and uh and think about that making that process easy yes it must have because there be there that if you can't online they go you're going to lose that customer yeah we're up to over 30% of our overall work is booked online now that's good yeah which is quite significant and and it saves time to revises as well well coming back to the actually think about the Domino's thing where they built this up and actually they ended up making the pizzas quicker and there is a result of it there is obviously some of that going on but there is always bias in your own preference yeah but online booking would would probably persuade me if if I'm looking for a garage and they don't have online booking with some some sort of transparent pricing I know pricing is very difficult to make fully transparent because just the nature of the industry but that would really matter to me and again I see that as a value ad we we've introduced something where um KT does a lot of U our pre our pre-work before someone comes in and we online orth before they arrive yeah so so we we have um we have you know I I have a thing about surprises and you know I've had a chat with the team that you know if if someone comes in and they have a build that's a surprise don't expect me to stand there cuz I'm I'm gone yeah you know you've you've got to deal with that then so if you can take out you're talking about anxiety if you can make sure that people know what's happening you've got the process side of it you've got the cost side of it you've got the work that needs do inside of it and all how's that pre- working for you how are you so yeah pre pre-o is pretty good and and what's what happens I think is that people are conditioned to an expectation and that's the that's the key thing for me and what things are you putting on the pre off so if if someone's booking in for a service for example we don't leave that to surprise so we don't do fixed pricing um so we price up work on a ad hoc basis you know as it as it needs doing so we would pre-authorize anything that it's booked in forh and then they've seen it and if they haven't authorized it we normally ask them at that point you know so would you check things like CTS break flu change um we would plugs so yeah so we would do some of that yes um it obviously depending on our work volumes and and things we have to take that into account for what we're what we're booking in but yeah any anything that's due we're trying to check for it in advance so we can book it in or if we can't do it at the time we're talking about how we schedule that in do you make sure you get the mileage when you book the vehicle in a rough mileage it's not consistent but yeah we try to yeah but that that's something that would make a difference to that whole that whole process we do a preall to one or two days before just to confirm the booking and things like that but we want to do the pre off and we sort of tried it for a little bit and it worked quite well it works really well for us we do it every car so the day before we will go through we we either have the service history or we don't have the service history and that that process changes but let's say we don't we'll look at the mileage we'll look at the year and then we'll get the manufacturer service schedules and then essentially before they arrive we'll just say look these might be due yeah if you want them you can authorize them if not then we'll check on the date whether it's du or not yeah so what we've started to do is we built a service package which is obviously our our standard service offering and then we put it on as a an additional item so we have like a major service items which is the second line if you like so it just again conditions people we do get people saying oh I don't that done now because I've only done 3,000 miles this year um for the last 10 years um but but it's it's just the way of conditioning people and then we've got the chance to have a conversation about it when they come in you know we noticed you didn't authorize that it is due based on because that's that's the thing you've got to get across isn't it is why going back to the anxiety thing of customers not know how long the car is going to take I think that's such a hard thing to systemize because you can have in theory you know statuses which update from clockings and things but there's so many different moving parts that you can end up I think basically causing More Problems by I don't think you could automate it but I think you could manually change the status so so as a workshop controller let's say you think right that job I'm I'm happy to tell the customer that job's in the workshop now and you you changed the status I think automating it in our game is but the minute you're relying on a person yeah the process could fall down yeah but some things are worth persevering with aren't they and it's like if you if you look at the Domino story there's no doubt that's one than business yeah but it's it's quite an easy thing that they can just Implement as a as a piece of software which fixes that problem entirely doesn't it yeah yeah but I think one thing that I would sort of add to that is that you've got um when you're trying talking about building value one of the things that I'm very conscious of and whether it's just me is the how long stuff takes CU you know as businesses we don't just sell time we sell skill we sell parts we sell labor and if the automation of that process is your car is in the workshop and they're getting a phone call in an hour it actually negatively affects value in my op it could undervalue what you're doing yeah I think the only way is is phone phone calls or texts you know and I used to be a s devis that I'd even text or call AC customer say look there's no news but we've not forgotten about yeah we do that but I think so much of this then comes back around to there's lots of things you can systemize there's lots of you know these Moon shots that we can do but ultimately comes back down to a person a front of house service advisor doing a good job in a very good way communicating with the customer and I think that I think D is have there's a role like customer chasing role or something isn't there I think their job is literally just to kind of like update customers yeah progress Chaser well we you know in our Game reality is prob we probably don't have that luxury or the the amount of avilable the only way is to have more resources in the front of the house you know you want if you have less jobs per advisor you can then make sure that these things are going to happen yeah yeah you could do the cost on that though is huge but if if you do run a garage where you've got service advisers that may be ex technicians or they're not they're not necessarily people oriented and they've never had any training it's something to in my opinion seriously consider I mean all of our front of house have had multiple multiple training yeah it's question because often one of the questions you see online on Facebook groups and things is need a service advisor they'll go down there someone that's got I've got someone here that got technical experience parts and they seem okay or I've got this person that's really bubbly and entices doesn't know about cars and I always go the bubbly person cars could agree more because it's all about the experience isn't it you know as long as they got the team in the back to back them up yeah to back them up yeah and as long as they are aware of what they don't know because you don't want somebody who over promises and thinks that they know you know that that's a that's quite a bad trait to have on front of house but providing they're quite honest with the knowledge having a people person on that front counter is is a genuine Game Changer the if you're using the systems like you know gu systems to the real degree yeah then you can remove a lot of anyway yeah and and I think that's the critical thing isn't it is is you've got a bit you've got to have the capability of filling the technical gaps because we have got a technical product that some people need technical detail and you've got to be able to wield that in as necessary and and like you say it doesn't necessarily need it front to house person but they've got to have the ability to provide it and that might be a link to the workshop controller OR technician it might be explainer videos it might you know whatever whatever that is lots of options I think it all depends massively on the business if you've got one front of the house they probably need to be more technical yeah whereas if you've got more like we have one advisor which Ms all of that diagnostic work and we have one that MERS the sort of service work and things like that you just have a good point as well in a situation that people may be and that are listening to this in that there is quite a healthy ratio between advisor to Tech you know we we function about two to one so two technicians to one advisor we find is enough for the advisor to do a good enough job for the customers yeah and if you're if you're operating in a garage where you've got one front of house to four technicians or even three technicians yeah they just have to get through the day and actually their focus is just not letting the customer opportun would be huge missed opportunities would would be eyering but but it it becomes more about don't upset the customer instead of try and please the customer do you know I mean their priorities change and you've just got to get through the day it's just a battle yeah and you can be proactive if you've got that ratio right you really can be proactive and your front of house you should have a bit of time to actually be able to think ahead yeah not firefight not react to that can I have an update on my car actually they should be able to sit there and I'm just going to give them an update cuz if you're getting the update call it's too late isn't it if you're if you're getting the minute the C chases you you've lost yeah yeah you're chasing your tail probably for the rest of the day yeah yeah my manager that when I where I used to work was um yeah I used to say update the customers you get away murder well like I think I think if you overc communicate it's the same in any issue if you overc communicate you know you can solve a lot of problems I had a really bad experience buying a car recently the car was absolutely Dreadful and I'm not going to go into the details but it happens it's business right and you see the true colors of a business when when a transaction goes wrong to say the car was bad is an understatement but the salesperson was that good that I gave him another opportunity to find another car because he was overc communicating apologetic he was messaging me in the evenings he was just absolutely brilliant and if that's not evidence that like you said in a purchase that's that expensive and went that wrong yeah he managed to turn that around to the point where I'm happy with the business it's quite a common thing to say is it it's not about problems about how I deal with the problems you if you have a custom complaint you look problems will arise but it's how we go about it which makes us stand really does make It's actually an opportunity isn't it turn you can turn a a detractor or an angry customer into a raving fan really strong promoter by um by looking after them properly in those situations yeah and it's it's it's just it's just dealing with them properly isn't it that that's what it all boils down to and that that's the bit you can't automate is it that's you can set a set of procedures that if this happens but you've got to be prepared I think to experience isn't it really yeah down to the experience they they receive definitely so I guess to round up then it's there are you know we've spoken about various ideas and I've actually learned a couple of things from you guys which I really like but for anybody listening it's really about that we do a technical role that's really complicated and of extremely high value but unfortunately the customers don't see it appreciate it so you have to lean into the parts the customer feels and sees and the customer experience almost forget about the car and think about the customer yeah which is really hard to say as a technician it's like it's kind of hard to the car B should be a given you know getting the car fixed properly is a given that's what they're bring it to your customers going to assume that whatever garage they use for the first time they're going to fix the car yeah so we worked to that that logic is that car is going to be fixed so give a real heavy focus on every point the customer touches in your business are you happy with what that looks like and what that feels like it's like if a car comes to you because of a specialist repair that the normal garage can't do if you can do them touch points that above and beyond wi all the work yeah whereas if you just fix it it's like oh yeah well thanks go back to again go back to the other garage yeah cool cool good chat guys thanks for that I'm going to take couple couple of those tips quite like them actually they're patented oh okay you just them together okay sound right sorry guys sorry about that right anyway thanks for joining us and we'll see you on the next one cheers cheers bye [Music]

Channel: On The Ramp

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Id: YfThqelebfc

Length: 31min 58sec (1918 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 03 2024