Conducting an honest self-audit of your automotive business is one of the best ways to improve not only your day-to-day operations, but your entire shop.
The key word there is “honesty,” since it requires you to be critical of the decisions that you’ve been making up to that point. If you can examine your business through as unbiased of a lens as possible, you might be surprised what you discover—and how much better things can be with little more than a few small (but meaningful) changes.
In today’s post, we’ll go over some of the ways you can start your self-audit, including:
- The huge, ongoing benefits of continued employee education and training
- How to retain your best technicians
- How to honestly assess and restructure the services you offer
- The implementation of sales techniques which are honest and effective
- How certifications can boost your brand recognition and customer trust
The best part? None of these changes require sacrifice—only change. How far you’re willing to go (or need to go) is entirely up to you. Maybe once you self-audit your business you’ll be quite pleased with what you see, and that’s great. But if not, that’s all right too: the growing pains will be worth it.
Let’s start by discussing the core of your business, your staff:
How to Improve Your Employee Training and Employee Retention
For a great overview on how and why to train your technicians, hop over to our post How Successful Automotive Service Shops Train Their Employees. In it, you’ll learn why your most valuable assets are your employees and why it’s a great idea to invest in them. One of the most effective ways to do so is with the BG Certified program, which teaches your service advisers and technicians how to provide (and sell) excellent automotive maintenance services, all of which have the BG stamp of approval.
But, you might be thinking, what if after all that training your employees decide to move on to bigger and better things? This unwarranted fear is, in most cases, the reason that automotive shops don’t invest in their employees—which leads to something of a self fulfilling prophecy, in the sense that because the staff doesn’t feel valued, he or she moves on to greener pastures.
To avoid that, check out our post The Secret Auto Service Providers Use to Reduce Employee Turnover Rate, where you’ll gain expert tips on how successful automotive shops manage to keep their best technicians for years, if not the entire lifespan of their business. It’s worth a read because you’ll discover that (brutal) honesty really is the best policy. If you’re considering hiring any new techs, you’ll definitely want to check it out because we go over the best hiring practices to keep your staff interested from the get-go.
Honestly Assess Your Services, Products, and Equipment
Are you positive that you’re providing both your customers and your staff with the best possible products and equipment? It can make a huge difference in the level of satisfaction on both ends—and that’s why we recommend you use BG products. Our products are field-tested, tried-and-true automotive supplies that have been proven to provide serious business owners with results time and again.
Upon assessing your products, you may also wonder if you’re providing the best services you can. Many BG services are prepared with both the end consumer in mind as well as the automotive professional wanting to maximize their business potential.
Are You Using Ethical Sales Techniques to Maximize Sales and Customer Satisfaction?
Make sure to check out our guide to ethical upselling for tips on how to sell more without “taking advantage” of your customers. Because that’s what it’s really about—when you know you’re making an offer that will genuinely help your customers, you can present it to them with confidence. When you’re loyal to your customers, they’ll be loyal to you.
Learn More About BG Certification and How to Improve Your Automotive Business Starting Now
If you haven’t already, be sure to investigate the many benefits of BG Certification as well as the training opportunities at BG University.
If you’re looking for the best way to upgrade your products and equipment so that you can provide your customers with high end services that sell, give the BG Catalog a look and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Having said that, the best way to see BG products in action is to request a demo and we’ll show you how to keep your customers coming back for all of their maintenance needs.
