Positive: What should I do if I work for a great company with a bad service department?

[Matt RV Salesman]

Hello again my name is Matt and I am a new RV salesman. I started on June 1st and I love it.

So I work for a great company. The people are nice the hours are great and the product is great!
We sell Forest River / Coachman / Jayco / Tiffins
So as you can see all great companies.

My question is that we have a great sales team and product
But we don't have a good service department.

What would you tell your own family member to do. Knowing that I can't relocate or work for another dealership near by.

[Mtelkman]

NVM

[Night Stone]

Whether the service department is good or bad, you just cannot bad mouth the company you work for. The only thing I'd say to your clients, our service department is a bit behind on work or higher number of repair volume than usual or had a few turnovers as of late etc. Yes they may be white lies but you can always refer the customer to another service department other than yours for faster, quicker and better service.

The issue here is a 2 way street, when you start to refer clients to a different service department other than your own, your return clients and word of mouth to new potential clients about your service department will hurt you and your own dealership. They will shop elsewhere.

Dave

[northstar1960]

Originally Posted by Matt RV Salesman

Hello again my name is Matt and I am a new RV salesman. I started on June 1st and I love it.

So I work for a great company. The people are nice the hours are great and the product is great!
We sell Forest River / Coachman / Jayco / Tiffins
So as you can see all great companies.

My question is that we have a great sales team and product
But we don't have a good service department.

What would you tell your own family member to do. Knowing that I can't relocate or work for another dealership near by.

you seem to honest to be a rv salesman .

[stantyszka]

Originally Posted by Night Stone

Whether the service department is good or bad, you just cannot bad mouth the company you work for. The only thing I'd say to your clients, our service department is a bit behind on work or higher number of repair volume than usual or had a few turnovers as of late etc. Yes they may be white lies but you can always refer the customer to another service department other than yours for faster, quicker and better service.

The issue here is a 2 way street, when you start to refer clients to a different service department other than your own, your return clients and word of mouth to new potential clients about your service department will hurt you and your own dealership. They will shop elsewhere.

Dave

I'd agree with this. White lies may work in the beginning but they will get more cumbersome to maintain. It's pretty easy for potential customers to find out about your service dept reputation online. Have you ever thought of doing research similar to what a potential customer would do and see what the reviews are? You could then see if your service dept could brainstorm ways to improve? Other than that you can't badmouth your team - that wouldn't be good for anyone.

[Matt RV Salesman]

No I never bad mouthed my team.

I am just wondering should I tell them about the negative reviews they have online?

[stantyszka]

Originally Posted by Matt RV Salesman

No I never bad mouthed my team.

I am just wondering should I tell them about the negative reviews they have online?

I'm sure they already are aware of that unless they live under a rock.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Matt RV Salesman

No I never bad mouthed my team.

I am just wondering should I tell them about the negative reviews they have online?

Absolutely.

If they really want to have the reputation of being a top notch company and value at all what is being said about them, they will welcome the information.

You sound like you will approach it with respect towards your co-workers.

If they are not willing to sit down and listen to another employee's opinion, family or not, you need to rethink your future.

[mlong]

Do all of your fellow sales staff feel the same way you do? Do you stand around and discuss this issue? How does the ownership feel about the service dept? Do they even know there is a problem?

You should find as many people you can that agree there is a problem and go to management. After all, eventually bad service will lead to bad sales. A a salesman you are not only trying to sell a RV to the customer you need to sell the service aspect to. Obviously you are not comfortable trying to sell your service department work because it is not good.

Your repeat customers will most likely come to your dealership for service, that is until they get bad service.

You need to get a lot of people involved in this to make it work. If no one else in the dealership knows there is a problem with the service dept it won't be improved.

[rblake39]

I have the same problem. We are planning on a move to Florida in January. Going to be full timing in a fiver. Last visit down I was offered a job at a RV dealership as I new more than their salesman. Not going to mention the dealer but I politely refused. I would love to get into RV sales and I am looking into other dealers in the area. For me it's not all about the money. A lot more things in life way more important. Way more. I couldn't live with myself knowing I sold an RV and the customer was going to have a bad experience with service afterwards. Maybe you want to express your concerns with the service manager. Show him some of their service reviews. That's a tough one. Wish I could open my own dealership. I'd hire you in a second.

[Canadiancrew]

Since you are a salesman go sell your boss on the benifits of improving service.

[rblake39]

Hey Mr. Buffett, Warren or Jimmy, wanna invest in a RV dealership with a couple of honest salesman?

[itat]

Don't assume anything. Be a tam player. Respectfully tell them what you're seeing/hearing and send them a link to bad reviews so they can read it for themselves. It will eventually affect both your company's sales and your personal livelihood if the dealership has a bad reputation for after-sales service.

You say it's a great company. Hopefully your dealer principal will encourage a teamwork attitude and as a team (sales, service, and front office) you can figure out what's the problem and how to fix it.

[Stormrider151]

Matt, the truth is always the best way to go. Folks spend a ton of money on this and that's what they expect. What to do. Well, explain how service goes. High volume. Short staff extra. But what you can do is educate yourself in alternatives for service work. Like other venues to obtain warrenty work. Be the guy in the know. The go to guy. Build YOUR reputation. You don't have to down grade your employer to do this but you need to look after yourself, your career and your customer. Remember, there are dealers all over that are looking for great salesman. Just be honest and you will go far.

[hankpac]

I once worked for a company that was like this.
I knew that morally, I couldn't stand for this, but practically I could do little about it.
However i did come up with a solution that was elegant and actually worked until I could go elsewhere.
When a customer came to me with a complaint, I was polite, and understanding.
Then after hearing them out, I would say that while I understood their frustration, and while I was in no position to actually do anything, I knew someone who COULD. I would then lead them directly to the owner, and introduce them, then say "This gentleman has a concern with the service department, and I thought you should hear about it directly." Then excuse myself.

[Vern]

Originally Posted by Matt RV Salesman

Hello again my name is Matt and I am a new RV salesman. I started on June 1st and I love it.

So I work for a great company. The people are nice the hours are great and the product is great!
We sell Forest River / Coachman / Jayco / Tiffins
So as you can see all great companies.

My question is that we have a great sales team and product
But we don't have a good service department.

What would you tell your own family member to do. Knowing that I can't relocate or work for another dealership near by.

If my family member were not looking to relocate or work for another dealership, I would tell him to button his lip and apply his best efforts within the company where he works to try to improve his value to the company and, in time, all aspects of the business. I would warn first, however, that until he has proven himself as a producer who has credibility within the dealership, he can almost always learn more by minding his own business, gaining experience and skills, and leaving it to management to figure out what is working and what is not, than by critiquing others in the business or at his place of work. Being an excellent salesman is hard enough and should keep you busy for now. Blabbing it up online cannot help you achieve any desirable goal. Talk is cheap.

[BusyRetirees]

I agree with all the comments. If this is such a great company then they would welcome suggestions on how to improve their reputation. Anyone can complain and badmouth. Avoid the pointing finger. Study what the problems are and offer positive solutions along the lines of improving efficiency. If they are ignored, then the company does not care. If they are acted on, you then become an even more valuable employee. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Canadiancrew

Since you are a salesman go sell your boss on the benifits of improving service.

I would try to sell my boss (or in the case of a small dealership, I'd try to sell my owner) on the benefits of improving service.

Originally Posted by stantyszka

I'm sure they already are aware [of negative reviews] of that unless they live under a rock.

It is my experience that the DO live under a rock. I begged my dealership's service manager (now ex-SM along with the two after him) to join an RV owners' online forum so they could be aware of problems customers experience. They could even benefit from RV owners' FIXES... but they said, "That's probably a good idea" but they never joined.

[conceptumator]

OK - I'll be the bad guy and throw out a name. We bought our RV at Lazy Days Tampa. Fantastic sales department but worst service department I've ever seen! They lie through their teeth to the customer. Sooner or later, it catches up to sales. Not sure of a fix but management needs to listen up!

[rsdata]

work at your salesmanship where you are now, and talk to and get business cards from other service providers from those lines that you can refer customers to when they need some service and it comes back on you... and then work within the organization to make a better service department

never mention bad service during sales conversations with a potential client, saying something like "our service department will work with you when you need help as fast as they can... and if you are not satisfied then call me and maybe I can help"...