Do you “Walk the Walk”?
by: Mark Sappington
 I was leading a group of Service Managers in a training session recently. At one point of the training we got on the discussion of performing a vehicle walk-around during service reception. It was interesting to hear the different processes. I also had the opportunity to discuss this topic with the service advisors from the same dealerships in the following sessions. Would you believe that the processes described by the managers were not the same as the processes described by the advisors from the same dealership? Shocking? Not really. I also asked how many of these same managers had a written vehicle walk-around process. You guessed it. Very few, if any, had a written process. I guess it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that the managers and advisors ideas and descriptions differed so much. What’s your process?
If you are having difficulty implementing this critical component in your service department, then perhaps these easy to follow steps will help. They are intended only as a guideline to take you from the basics to higher levels of competency.
Must have – “Define the Process”. The Process must have these basics:
- Beginner:
- Condition Inspection of Body, Paint, Glass, etc.
- Visual Check of tires and blades - LOOK AT THEM!!
- Customer INTERACTION
- Intermediate:
- All beginner items plus
- Customer PARTICIPATION
- Measure Tires and Record the Readings
- Wiper Check; Lift it up Off of the Glass and Inspect Them
- Advanced:
- All beginner and intermediate items plus
- Battery Test
- Check lights with customer
- Fill washer fluid
- Review open campaigns
- The sky’s the limit
Beginner
At the very least your advisors should be inspecting the vehicle for damage. When’s the last time you paid for a dent, scratch, or scrape that you could not prove already existed? Have the advisors turn the steering wheel so that the entire tread surface of the tire is visible. The wear pattern of a tire can open up the conversation for many opportunities. Look at the wiper blades or the pattern they leave on the glass.
Intermediate
Ask the customer to join you during the walk-around. Measure the tread depth of all tires in the customer’s presence. Lift the wiper arms up off of the glass and rub a finger along the edge of the blade. Discuss their condition, good or bad, with the customer. I was working with a young advisor recently who was amazed that the very first time he did this; the customer bought a set of wiper blades on the spot.
Advanced
Pop the hood. Test the battery whenever possible. I was visiting with the manager at a successful import store near Chicago that was at the top of his peer group in battery sales. The other members of the group weren’t even close to them. One of the other service managers from the group called and asked his buddy what in the world he was doing to sell so many batteries. His answer was simple. “We test them.” Check the exterior lights of the vehicle with the customer. Ask them to turn them on. Fill up the windshield washer reservoir while the customer is still with their vehicle. What else could you do? The sky’s the limit.
Your advisors can come up with as many excuses as you let them on why they can’t perform a quality walk-around. Define your process. Put it in writing. Review it with your advisors so that they know what your expectations are. Practice it with your advisors. Make it fun. I’ve seen the dealer or general manager pull into the drive and grab an advisor and role-play with them. That’s how important it was in those dealerships.
Do you have facility limitations? No service drive? No excuse! You know that idea I mentioned about filling the washer reservoir? There is an import store on Long Island where the customers have to pull into the parking lot to be waited on. No service drive. The advisors cannot even see the customers pull in. They have valets or porters meeting and greeting every customer. These employees walk around every vehicle and pop the hood and fill up the reservoir. Outside... Long Island, NY...no service drive... year round. That’s how important it is to them.
How important is it to you? Are you just “Talking the Talk” or are your employees actually “Walking the Walk”?
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