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Form for driveability concerns?
At our last technicians meeting, the techs brought up a concern that I am trying to figure out the best way to address. The techs feel that the service advisors are not doing a good job of getting all of the important info from the customer when they come in for a driveability issue.
I have to admit that I have witnessed some things being lost in translation between what the customer said and what the advisors put on the RO.
I was thinking about using a form or a checklist to try and make sure all of the right information is obtained.
Are any of you guys using a standard form when it comes to driveability?
Is it a checklist for the service advisor or a form that the customer fills out?
Obviously, a well trained service advisor would be the easy answer, but that is a process and I need a quick fix to get control of this immediately.
Thoughts?
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10 Replies
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A few quick thoughts since you are in a hurry 😉
We tell the advisers to type in whatever the customer says word for word no matter how strange it sounds or reads. Never try to interpret.Personally, I do not like any forms for the customer to fill out. That’s not “service” to me. A form for the advisor to complete is better.Have the techs make a list of questions related to driveability and narrow it down to the top 5 or so for the advisor to ask every time. -
I agree with Tom. I have tried forms for the customer and the customer seems to get irritated plus I found they usually are not really that thorough because they are in a hurry.
What I found to work the best is I would always ask my service advisor to repeat back to the customer like this “ok what I thought I heard you say was…” and after the customer agreed just get the customer to sign the technicians copy with the notes.If the customer reads over the notes on the sheet and realizes “o yea and…” just write it down or print out another copy before they sign it.I know having a rule like this means that now you have to enforce it but again what I would do is just collect all the tech sheets and see if all the drivability ones got signatures. You could make a little reward for everyone that has a signature or penalty for everyone that doesn’t.Hope this helps -
A tool that we have available in our shop management software is to record a voice message from the customer and attach it to a work order. Then the tech can play it back from any computer in the shop as often as needed. It is very difficult for a service writer to remember everything all the customers said and to writer it all down quickly. This tool helps especially for complex issues.
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Look at autoshopprocedures.com there is driveability and questionairs for the service writer and tech’s to use.
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Agree with repeating back what was heard (active listening validates the customer) & if the service writer is not great, then write verbatim what the customer said. If they are good they are the best to interpret the customer because they can do it first hand. Check off sheets generate more paper and then YOU MUST follow up. We try to reduce our amount of employee babysitting wherever we can. Often customers complain of an engine noise and really mean an exhaust sound. As our employees would say- It’s another day in paradise! ~Boss’ wife
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If you would like a form, email me at rick@180biz.com and I will send you what I used.
Have a SUPER day!Rick -
Look at autoshopprocedures.com they have driveability and customer questionaire forms for service writers and techs
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I use a form that we have developed over 23 years. We ask the customer to do some checking off of signs and symptoms and have multiple lines at the bottom to add parts and repairs already done and then more lines to tell the story in their own words. It takes only a moment or two. I believe that nothing is left to interpret this way and if the customer leaves out something it is on him/her. I do not believe it is fair to task the service writer with repeating or rewriting what the customer says, it leaves the door open to leaving things out or misinterprating what was said. My customers do not mind doing what they do at each visit to the Dr. Using the form means the service writer does not have to remember every question to ask, either. We are humans and we make mistakes. Having policies and procedures in place and in writing cuts down on errors. If a customer complains that we missed something they had a problem with, we have a document in the customer’s handwriting to refer to in order to confirm their complaint. Surprise….you never told us is the common finding and we can then get any additional information that was not provided. Paper trail. Every visit for a “tune up” or diag gets the “troubleshooting form” to “help the tech, save time and save money” is how we present it. We get zero push back. My customers, unlike some other comments here, are literate cooperative, not so rushed to leave and see the time spent as a way to save money. We trust them. It is a docx word document I am happy to share. robc@theperformanctune.com We have a much shorter form for brake work.
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A copy of our questionnaire is half way down this page:
http://www.precisionautoservice.com/services/make-an-appointment/
Although I like the idea of asking the questions in person, we use this and a paper copy of it at the counter all the time. People are in a hurry, but we need to take the time to get the answers, one way or another, or it costs us much more time and them more money.
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Thank you for all of the replies. There are several good suggestions offered. The quick fix appeared to be to have the advisors type the customers exact words and have the customer review them. Only twice, but I have seen instances where the customer says, “no, not this, but that…”
We also downloaded and printed the ATG forms to help the customer that has a hard time describing the issue. We have no intention of making every customer fill these out, but they are a tool available for situations that call for it.
Thanks guys!!
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