When a customer drives up to your business, does their day get smoother or bumpier? Every shop owner knows what they want the answer to be. But the customer’s experience can depend on so many different factors.
Here’s a five-point customer service checklist from two quick lube owners—Shane Burton, a multi-location owner with three Jiffy Lube Twin Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho, and other locations in various states, and Damian Fox, owner of independent Foxy Fast Lube in Willimantic, Connecticut.
Their combined strategies can help ensure shops stay up to speed in the mission-critical component of exceptional customer service.
No. 1 Train by the book and the gut
Burton relies on Jiffy Lube International’s training resources, which include a computer-based module and in-person classes.
In-house customer service training at his stores is location-based, Burton notes. “We have dedicated customer service representatives in all our locations. And while it’s similar in all geographic areas, some of the strategies are based upon the region. Idaho customers are different than Oklahoma customers.”
Burton also relies on what he learned about how to treat a customer right, long before he owned a quick lube. “For 15 years I was a high school teacher and a coach. In this business, I’m still doing a ton of that -- teaching employees how to treat an 80-year-old lady versus a trucker.”
Fox tailors his customer service training to his personal experiences with how to treat people, as well.
“I grew up on a farm where everybody had their own businesses – my father, my grandfather. So, I learned customer service at the dinner table. At Foxy’s we tell and show all our employees to treat every car that comes in as if it’s their own mother’s, and each customer like their grandmother or grandfather,” he says. “It’s contagious between employee to employee.”
Fox’s brand of customer service also involves attention to the little things that make someone’s day unexpectedly more pleasant.
“We have a no-hands on policy: the customer should never touch a door—their car door, the front door, or the waiting room going in or out. The door is opened for you. Customers don’t expect that, but it’s the difference between us and (other) businesses,” he notes.
No. 2 Consider how trust affects profit
“Even though the goal overall is to make money, the true goal is to be the one they trust—the one they want to go to,” Burton says.
When trust is earned, even though a customer might try a new shop that opens in town, they’re likely to show up at your door again. “They always come back to us because of customer service,” as Burton puts it.
For Fox, making a profit is also achieved by putting solid customer service, and the trust it engenders, first.
“I learned something from reading about customer service at the Ritz-Carlton Hotels. So, all my employees are allowed to solve a problem without coming to me or a manager—up to a certain extent, which is $100 or less,” he notes. “So, whether it’s our fault or not, our employees know they can fix the customer’s problem, no questions asked.”
Fox adds, “Customers will assume any problem is you, and it may not be. But it’s a small price to pay to fix it, thank the customer, and they’ll come back. They don’t want to wait; they just want the problem fixed.”
No. 3 Realize that certain skills aren’t trainable
Some managers a shop owner could put at the counter just aren’t cut out for it. So, finding the right person—with the right personality—is key to ensuring excellent customer service.
“Some managers are good at a lot of things but not customer service. So, for us, it’s the only thing they have to be great at,” Fox says.
For Burton, a potential new manager that possesses the innate skills of a people person will stand out from the very start. “You can tell from the interview through the first few weeks how well they’ll do with customer service. Some can turn a wrench and are trustworthy but should not be in front of the customer.”
No. 4 Turn your senses to the physical environment
Use your eyes and your nose. Does your bathroom stink?
“When I pull into the lot, I know the flowers have already been watered, the waiting room is vacuumed and clean, and that both the women’s and men’s bathrooms are clean,” Fox says. “My employees know what to expect because they know what my mother or grandmother would expect.”
Basic amenities in the physical environment can also make customers feel well-served.
“We have a comfortable lobby, popcorn, and a TV for people who are old-school. The elderly are not on cell phones,” Burton says.
He can even see his stores when he’s not there, thanks to the cameras installed in each.
No. 5 Social media and goodwill cultivation
Positive online reviews are important for a quick maintenance shop’s success. And there are ways an owner can help manage what’s out on the internet.
Ninety-nine times out of 100, Fox finds that customers who leave a negative review will have approached a business before they gave that review. “So, you can fix that before it even starts,” he suggests.
Burton appreciates the power of Google reviews and of nipping bad ones in the bud. “When we greet drivers we ask for their email addresses and they’ll get a survey after service where they can hammer us or pat us on the back. If they hammer us, they’ll get a call to see how we can make it right. And it’s actually helpful, because if you handle a negative reaction the right way you can gain a customer for life.”
Both owners also say it’s important to stay connected with the local community by sponsoring events and being present. Bottom line, make sure you connect with the people you call customers.
“I once heard a guy say that everybody walking around has a big sign on their chest that says, ‘NOTICE ME.’ It’s a big deal in customer service,” Burton says.
When asked for parting thoughts, Fox notes, “If you treat your employees well, your employees will treat your customers well.”
And Burton adds, “When it comes to customer service, we really do care. We work hard to get people to come back. And in the end, they pay our salaries.”
