A technician working on vehicles is a nobrainer when it comes to operations at a service repair shop. But as a shopowner, what are you working on?

One of the most important jobs you have is tomake sure your customer is satisfied and that they return to your shop in thefuture for additional repairs or preventive maintenance.

In April 2012, Consumer Reports(CR) released its Annual Auto Survey that asks car owners how satisfied theywere with auto repairs performed by dealerships and independent shops in theprevious 12 months. The findings on repair service were based on more than67,000 reports on service visits to independent mechanics and 101,000 servicevisits to new car dealerships by CR subscribers.

As in past years, most car owners prefertaking their vehicles to independent shops rather than dealerships for repairwork. But for the first time, CR re-contacted 5,400 of the respondents andasked about their specific repair gripes. Of that group, about 75% said theywere either completely or very satisfied with their repair shop. That’s somegood news for our industry.

But, positive news about an industry doesn’t often generate interest, so themagazine highlighted the negative aspects of their survey.

Their data revealed that 27% weren’tsatisfied with the work on their vehicle. However, of that group, nearly 40%cited high prices as a reason for dissatisfaction. (It should be noted thatthis is a more common complaint for dealerships [42%] than for independentshops [32%], which also is good news for independent repair shops.)

Now, I don’t know about you, but these days, most consumers rarely boast howinexpensive the service was from a particular business. Routine medical billsare expensive, cable or Internet service costs too much, fuel prices remainhigh compared to what we would like to pay, and food costs have risen.

Even movie theaters have seen a reduction inpatrons, as a growing number of people are preferring to watch movies in theirhomes a handful of months later from a film’s release date in the theaters,where a couple of tickets, popcorn and drinks can cost close to $30 or more.

Americans are good at complaining abouttoday’s costs and they like to reflect upon the good old days when things werecheaper. So for me, customers taking issue with the price of vehicle service isjust part of the cost of doing business.

The second most-common complaint among the unsatisfied group (remember, only27% of those surveyed) was that about 25% said their car’s problem wasn’t fixedproperly. This complaint was reported at the same rate at dealers andindependent shops. To me, 25% of 27% is a small number of respondents.

And, respondents were “asked about theirspecific repair gripes.” So, without realizing, respondents were alreadythinking negatively about their vehicle repair experience.

So what can you do? Well, dissatisfaction will prompt a vehicle owner to switchshops.

Of the re-contacted subscribers, almost aquarter revealed that in the past five years, they’d had a vehicle repaired ata shop they no longer use because of problems with their service experience.

(That would also mean that in the past fiveyears, more than 75% of respondents continue to take their vehicle to the sameshop for service.)

Almost half of that group cited that negativeexperience was at a dealership, a third saying it was an independent shop, anda fifth citing a franchise chain similar to Midas or Sears.

So, your job is to help the customer understand the value they are receivingfor their vehicle repair.  

If you can’t allow customers in the work area, provide them a look at the wornparts your techs replaced. Also, have them contact you for approval if therepair will cost more than the estimate, eliminating any “surprise” repair billtotal.

And, if possible, have a tech or servicewriter go on a test drive with the customer following a repair.

By providing them improved customer service and making them feel that they aregetting more for their money than at other shops, soon they will be bragging onyou and in turn, help bring more loyal customers to your shop. And that is workthat really pays off.