All you want is a lube, oil, filter, right?

     My neighbor took his Jeep Cherokee to a “Quickie Lube” facility last week for an oil change.  I had told him about my previous experience the week earlier with the dealer so I said that I wanted to “tag along” and see how the folks at the “Quickie Lube” handled matters.
     When we arrived in the service lane, a young technician came out.  He asked my neighbor,”You been here before, right?”
     “Yes”, said my neighbor.  “OK, pull it up, I’ll drive it in” said the technician.
     We got out and watched as the Jeep was pulled into the service bay.  The service team rapidly drained the oil while technicians above opened the hood and took out the air cleaner.
     “You need a new air cleaner filter” said the technician to my neighbor.  “There was a lot of dust and dirt that came out when I removed it” said the technician.
     My neighbor said that the filter was fine, go ahead and put it back in!  I probably would have replaced the filter, however, the neighbor did not have the service records handy when he had last replaced it.  Well, OK, it is his Jeep, not mine!
     As I watched this whole process unfold, I was amazed at the number of lost service opportunities that were not addressed.  When the Jeep was finally ready to go, the technician came in and told my neighbor how much the bill was.  I asked what the condition was of the surpertine fan  belt.  The technician said, “No problems were found”.
     I asked my neighbor when the last time was when the belt was changed.  I know from past experience that the belt should be changed at 5 years or 100,000 miles, which ever come first.  I also knew that the Jeep was older than 5 years and had over 100,000 miles on it.
     When the technician said the belt was fine, I knew that he had not thoroughly checked it because I was watching him through the whole process.  Now, granted, we were separated by a window in the customer service area, however, I watched the entire process transpire.
     Here was another sales opportunity that was missed.  Now, replacing a serpentine belt has its own challenges, however, the profit potential is quite significant.  Did the technician not want to earn more profit, was he not properly incented or did he not know how to do the work?  These are all questions I wondered about as I watched the process.  However, if I was the store owner, I would want to insure that each technician was properly cross trained to be able to do all of these tasks.
     Are your technicians cross trained to do all tasks in your business?  Do your technicians/sales people check everything possible to increase customer satisfaction as well provide greater profit potential for your business?  If not, here are some opportunities that are worth consideration.
     Customer service is something that I blog about frequently.  Why?  Well, it is very important to have good customer service.  Professional customer service will allow for greater customer satisfaction as well as increased business profits.