We’ve all heard the advice: treat your customers right, and they will keep coming back. But it isn’t always as easy as it sounds. How do we encourage customer-oriented behavior in our employees? How do we keep prices low and service quality high? These questions are tough, but by following a couple simple principles, you can improve your customer service dramatically.

Under promise and over deliver.

The trick is to constantly exceed the expectations of your customers. Here’s an example: a customer comes into your shop in the morning with a pretty simple issue that shouldn’t take more than an hour to fix. Instead of telling them it will be done in an hour, ask when they need the car. If they say later that evening, set that as your deadline with the customer, and then when you call them and tell them that their car is done early they will be pleasantly surprised. Do the same with price estimates. Constantly wow your customers, and they will be sure to use your services again.

The Marriott Rule

This tip has to do with how you and your employees interact with your customers. The Marriott rule says that anytime an employee is within 20 feet of a customer, the employee should make eye contact and smile. Within ten feet? A smile and a greeting. Just simply acknowledging customers and making them feel welcome is a great way to keep customers happy.

Empower your employees.

You are one person. If you had to spend your entire day dealing with every little issue that came up, you would have no time to focus on the more important issues and opportunities for your auto shop. Instead, empower your employees to deal with little problems before they grow into huge issues.

Never stop serving.

Continually ask your customers if there is anything else you can help them with. Not only could this possibly lead to additional sales, but it also shows that you care about your customers and want to take every opportunity to help them out.

Never Forget

Follow up with your customers, and remember them: their names, their birthdays, their stories, details that they share about their lives. There’s no better way to show a customer that you care about them then asking about their kids or pets.

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