The Sales Meeting Your Service Department Should Have

Dealership service department door rates are averaging beyond $175 per hour - or more.

A technician with 100% productivity generates $1,000 + of revenue per day in labor alone, and some technicians are capable of doubling that daily production. Service advisors typically average 12 work orders per day. As a service manager or fixed operations director, these numbers aren’t new. But for most service staff, any numbers beyond repair estimates and their paycheck totals are a mystery.

Understanding the numbers is part of a performance review, but it’s more than that.

Having a sales meeting in your service department is beneficial, and it should be held daily. At a minimum, it should be a weekly occurrence.

•    Holding a sales meeting is a progress report towards your monthly target. With your DOC, you have a snapshot of where you are currently and how far you need to go. When everyone knows it, there’s a focused effort to succeed.

•    It solidifies the team. There’s plenty of opportunity for disagreements, but this isn’t one. A sales meeting in the service department is a chance to build each other up. Congratulate those who have shown improvement or done something that stands out. It’s not the place to air grievances, that’s best-done one-on-one.

•    A sales meeting is a stepping stone for professional advancement. Team members who desire to move into management begin developing comprehensive knowledge about how a service department operates behind the scenes.

Sales Meetings, Who and When

Sales meetings should include service advisors, both senior and junior, along with service management and shop foremen. Obviously, timing is everything when these staff needs to meet together at once.

The perfect time to conduct a sales meeting in the service department is 10 minutes before the start of every day; before the service drive doors open.

Conducting regular sales meetings for the service department gives focus to everyone involved.