By its definition a “tool” should help you perform a job. Hammers drive nails, wrenches turn nuts and bolts, and computers can increase productivity (sometimes). It seems that lately the tools that are sold as “the next best thing” to improve service advisors sales or technician productivity, have become “tools of torture”!
Do not take this the wrong way. No one is advocating we stand in the way of progress or revert back to hand-written RO’s. Technology is good and in many ways has made the job of a manager or employee better. It is the layering of technology that turns an otherwise helpful tool into a torture device. In today’s service drive, it’s common for an advisor to be required to log into at least 5 applications. This includes:
DMS
Email
Texting
Appointment
Multi point inspection
Manufacture Warranty information
Valet service
Uber/Lyft
ETC…
At some point we may be asking too much of our employees. At the base level we want them to take care of our customers, offer any maintenance or repair items needed, and fix the car right the first time. How can we do that when we are managing a suite of software services!
On this episode of Hard Shop Life Coach J and the GMan discuss what can happen and how many dollars are wasted when tools end up holding us back.