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

[MilCop4523]

leadership by example...
Do you hold meetings on sales objectives, service stats and bragging rights to performance along with complaints.

perhaps suggest that as a team of Sales and service, who should strive to enhance the buying experience and end user servicing that regular meetings occur which could bring up positive and room for improvement exchanges.
in teh military we had AAR's or after action reviews where each department following an exercise would state 2 to 5 positive things seen and 2 to 5 less than what we strived to provide as positive things.
Room for enhancement matters.
Anyone who complained about the other groups or individuals observations very soon to the leadership seen as holding growth back which hurt units in the end.

Unfortunately until the CEO of the company determines that lost revenue is directly because of service woes and not sales nothing will be done.

You can't manage what you can't measure.
if no one has stats and complaints voiced its a lost battle.

[Ke5rbd]

I wonder if anyone on the Service team has been asked what they think of the sales department team. You maybe surprised at what you hear. Not just RV dealerships but this appears to be a problem in automotive dealerships and motorcycle dealerships also. To me a lot of the problem is the dealerships can afford to hire more salesmen as they are on commission usually and the service doesn't work that way. Salesmen make promises the service department has to keep. I think the salesman should be involved on the walk through with the customer when they take delivery of their unit. Some do some don't. Another attribute I have noticed with dealerships I have used repeatedly are the salesman will get with the service department if you have an issue and help you get it resolved. Unfortunately this salesman retired and now it is back to the dealing with the norm again. I am very impressed when sales brags on their service and will do it in front of the service personel too. The service writers are the ones I usually have the issues with. They maybe overworked, but usually have really bad attitudes and make me wonder who the customer is. Not just talking about the RV dealerships.

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by Vern

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.

If the ship is sinking and everyone thinks the water around their feet is from the sweat they have not produced in working for the company then someone MUST take control and start commanding that people bail.
My father a WW@ vet always said that
"those who are affraid to rock the boat have no excuse on being in the boat in the first place."

Merely putting in your time and watching that business be self degraded by piss poor service and stating nothing makes you part of the problem not part of the solution.

My Lt used to say that **** runs down hill. I promptly responded with "true that but when the **** pool gets full it has to run back up that same hill"

[Vern]

Understood MilCop4523, but with all due respect, Matt is a self-described "25-year-old" "new RV salesman" "as of June" of this year. There is no doubt he has much to learn and, while I agree that employees taking ownership is a good thing as a general matter, it is by no means a realistic expectation that a young man with no real background in the business (or to use your military metaphor, one who is still in basic training), is going to be able to "take control".

However, I did not mean to imply either that he is on a sinking ship or that he should merely accept drowning. Still, he did say also say he cannot relocate or take a job at another dealership, so I merely advised that he exercise discretion while building his understanding of the business. People who have labored in an industry for years are rarely open to receiving professional criticism from a newcomer who has not yet done so.

Therefore, IMO, Matt should be sure he learns the ins and outs of not only the product, but the challenges facing manufacturers and service departments, so that he can best evaluate the legitimacy of the rampant allegations of poor quality control, inadequate service, etc. All the finger pointing and scapegoating in the triangle between dealerships and manufacturers, sales departments and service departments, only hurts the customer by deflecting the conversation about the customer's real problems.

Finally, any criticism of others at the dealership, particularly in other departments, better be borne of concern for the common good and delivered in a manner which conveys that "team" concern (and one is perilously close to crossing that line when openly discussing such matters online, IMO).

[HESN22]

When we bought our current 5th wheel, we did not return to the dealeship where we bought our first trailer beause of their Service Dept; it was horrible ... nor we would recommend this dealership to anyone even though the sales person was very personable. beforewe bought our 5th wheel, we researched the dealership on line to see the comments from their customers ... wanted a service dept we could trust and rely on. service dept can make or break a dealership ... we went three hours further away because of the rave reviews our current dealership received from their customers for sales and most importantly service

[schrederman]

It's kind of like the dealership from which I bought my last pickup. The salesman was great... and I almost NEVER say stuff like that about salesmen. He knew the product from head to tail and it was a pleasant experience. However, I've had my truck back there 3 times for minor stuff and each time it turned into a major hassle. My salesman tried to get things to go right but then left and went to another dealership. I saw him at the grocery store... of all places... and he told me that they had a big turnover in their service group just before I bought my truck and he had to leave because their negative press was killing his sales. The dealership he went to is 25 miles further, but their service is good... so I go there for warranty and recalls.


I am having a bit of trouble with this thread... Yes he's young and has much to learn. I hope he doesn't learn to be just another dishonest salesman.

[tenttotrailer]

I may have missed it but what is the problem with the service department. Shoddy work, slow, incomplete?? Matt in your scenario or situation you pose a number of issues....how does the new, young and probably somewhat unproven address the issues within a dealership. Almost require the show "Undercover Boss" to stroll through the dealership as I am sure there are more issues than just the one. I wonder what would happen if Reps from the manufacturors got wind of this and did there own investigation on why their product is presumbably not moving. Very interesting problems to much bigger and complex business issues.

Kevin

[j free]

"Vern" I could not have said it any better. For the most part I have found that a majority of dealerships are lacking in the service department. And some of the reasons are the manufacturers falt and not the dealers falt. So do as Vern suggested learn learn and learn.

[MilCop4523]

I'm not sure what the OP's personal experience prior to the RV dealership is...
we are assuming that at 25 he has still got wetness behind the ears or still is cutting teeth in the real world.

leadership doesn't just hit us at age 40 or 50 - for some it never does.

My son was 19 and completing foot patrols in Afghanistan and later leading a section of soldiers on his second tour at 21 after returnign to the field following an injury on his first one.

if the company cares about its employees, and ris unaware or resistant in observing the real life returns its getting then the OP needs to evaluate the terms of his employment and cut and run or .... step up and diplomatically get the concerns opened for discussion. maybe they don'y even see an issue?

our Ford dealership just fired its Service Manager after several years of employment. he was a know it all and would make every excuse not to assist the vehicle owner. when i started researching issues i had with my vehicle and friends vehicles and the fixes were out on the internet... taking them into the manager got ugly.

taking them to the owner got results.
perhaps having the issue raised from within is not the answer... having buyers go directly to the Manufacturer and teh business owner with issues is...

But at least the OP is stating he see's a problem and wants to do something. So many people say nothing and for 40 yrs drag their arse out of bed and live for the day of retirement.

[AbdRahim]

Originally Posted by 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.

Excellent.

[AbdRahim]

Sometimes it is difficult to get the service one expects from a dealership with all great reviews. Sometimes it comes down to the initiative of the individual you are dealing with. My healer ship gets rave reviews, but if I need a part, I usually have to do the leg work with the manufacturer to find the part number. This has happened on multiple occasions. It is very difficult to get a response from the parts guy. I sometimes have to go directly to the service manager.

In terms of emergencies during busy season - forget it. I have to find a small RV service place out of town or a mobile repair guy ( only one in the area that I trust -others have bad reviews).

It it seems difficult to get quick reliable service on these things period.

[glsimms]

Holy thread resurrection.. Batman!! 2015??

[Keystone]

Originally Posted by glsimms

Holy thread resurrection.. Batman!! 2015??

Matt hasn't posted here in over 2 years! Wonder if he still sells RV's?