Reply To: Be On the Look Out (BOLO)

To all Interior Techs and Owners,

We can’t always wow the sales managers with unbelievable repairs. What I mean by that is sometimes the repairs are good but not super impressive. Sometimes all we can do is stitch the tear, remove the stain, or disguise the scratch. That is fine. We are doing our job, but sometimes we just need to impress our customers and there just isn’t a repair that commands that amount of attention. Over the years I have felt this need to “impress”. What I have done from time to time is something very simple but something that definitely shows the manager we are on the dealership’s team.

The following are things I have found and shared with the manager.

1. Tech: I found these keys in a car that they don’t go to.
Manager: We’ve been looking for those keys all day.

2. Tech: The window sticker on this car has the wrong stock # or year printed on it.
Manager: Thank you. I will have the lot guy fix that.

3. Tech: The brakes on this car are not working properly. If someone test drives this car, they might get into an accident.
Manager: Can you take the keys to the service manager and tell him I need that fixed asap.

4. Tech: I found a dealer tag on / in a car.
Manager: Thanks. The salesmen are always losing those.

This week was kind of a new one.
5. Tech: I found two of your trucks on the lot that are the same make, model, year, and color and they also have the same stock # on the window!
Manager: When you go back out there can you pull all the stickers on the 2nd unit? Here is the stock number. Fix whatever is you see on that one.

No matter how small the find. I always tell the managers that are approving my work. This way they know I am trying to help them even if there is no charge.

Here is a one I do almost every week and the sales manager loves it:

I usually work on the outer fringe of the car lot. Sometimes there are customers looking at cars that the salesmen can’t or don’t see. I simply text the sales manager that there is a customer looking at trucks on the south side of the lot. He immediately sends someone out to catch that customer. I sometimes feel bad for texting him too many times in a day. He said, “You can text me ANYTIME, we just sold that customer who was looking at the trucks!”

None of these things are earth shattering repairs, but they all are very helpful to the dealership. They show the manager that you are trying to help him sell that car. These ideas are not things that can be written on an invoice, but they are invaluable to the manager. In reality you need the dealership to sell those cars quickly so they will bring more in for you to work on. Without new arrivals you don’t have more work to do. It is the circle of life on a car lot. These things are simple things you can do to help your customers out, especially, when there are fewer repairs to do that have the Wow Factor.

Be On the Look Out for small things you can do for your customers to help and impress.

Mitchell Reid
The Wandering Upholsterer
All Who Wander Are Not Lost