WAITERS

[PARTICUS]

How do you deal with Waiters. I'm a PM just promoted to Fixed Ops Manager and I just don't understand how the shop gets bogged down with waiters everyday. We aren't that busy right now, about 30 R.O's per day with 2 Advisors,8 techs and a lube tech.
We use a "Reservation" system and try to keep waiters and walk-ins to a minimum.My
Service Manager also dispatches,he has control over the whole process but when I ask him how it went at the end of the day he just shakes his head and says "the advisors are killing me with waiters". He's been around a long time and he's old school. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him but he just can't seem to control the advisors or the techs.That is why I was put in charge of both departments.I've been in the parts business for 22 years and a manager for the past 15 years. I have a working knowledge of service operatons but I don't know enough about scheduling yet to get a handle on this.Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[69mach1]

particus,
always remember some one is always waiting
just because they are sitting there watching the price is right, the people that dropped of there veicle are doing the same thing, waiters = $$$$$ be glad,
you need to remind the the service manager,advisors,techs,parts guys,salesmen,
lot boy, f@i, who really pays your wages
the customer, the more waiters the more labor hours, and this is the best time to get to know the customer.
also this is what we have been doing for some time now, take a waiter to lunch you cant believe for a simple $5.00
what kind of hero you are

[PARTICUS]

I agree 100%. The problem is that we are not managing them correctly. My Service Manager and Advisors are not scheduling the work load effectively. I have LOF's waitng for 90 minutes that we are not upselling because they just want to get their oil changed and get the hell out at that point. As I have said before, my Service Manager is a great guy.Very pleasant with customers and is able take alot of abuse from them as well as the techs. But that is precisely why I was given control over both departments,to implement systems that will solve these problems.I consider myself a reasonably bright person who learns quickly, I'm sure I can do this,I'm just asking those of you wiser and more experienced than myself where to start.
Thanks for your reply.

[jazdale]

I've assisted dealers with this issue when installing ERO. It seems the dealer wants everyone to drop off the car and have it for the day, but the customer doesn't want to leave the premises.

I don't think you can effectively force the customer to do business in the way you want. You need to change the way you do business to accomodate your paying customer. Otherwise, they will find a service dept that will accomodate their wishes. I don't think I would return if I waited 90 minutes for an LOF.

If you are getting waiters on a consistent daily basis, maybe you should consider having techs that are never wrapped up in a job that takes more than a portion of an hour.

I must generalize here. But as an example, with 8 techs and 1 lube tech, maybe 1 or 2 of the less-skilled techs should be specifically assigned to these 'quick' jobs. They may only need to fall into this mode at peak times of the day.

I'm curious, whats the job breakdown on waiters. For example, is it 60% LOFs, 20% other maint and 20% repair? Whats the avg hours per RO of these waiters?

Maybe knowing these types of statistics will help you with a sound solution.

[slapenta]

jazdale-

At your convenience, can you drop me an e-mail at slapenta@bellsouth.net. I tried to contact you at dmacri@hoffman.ds.adp.com, it kicked back on me. Thanks!

[jazdale]

Thanks for telling me, I've fixed my profile with the correct email address.

[chrabo]

I've noticed that alot of places (franchised dealerships) don't like waiters. Your competition does! When taking an appointment, simply ask," Will you be dropping it off or will you be waiting for it" . A few great advantages of Waiters; you never have a problem getting a hold of them. You can show them something about their vehicle which makes whatever it is easier to sell. Their vehicles don't sit in your parking lot for days and then raise issue about "lot damage" when they do pick it up. It usually is "old school" that can't handle waiters because it shows the obvious flaws in their system if it take 45 minutes to change someones oil.