Keeping your Technicians productive is a challenge and will make the difference in bottom line profits. Many shops face challenges with parts department staffs allowing long waits at the counter. Technicians should be valued at a cost of $170 per hour with parts and labor sales. While they are waiting they lose income and customer satisfaction at the same time. Are you using advisors to prepare estimates and allowing Technicians to repair cars? Is the parts department delivering parts to the Technicians bay? What processes are in place at your shop that loses technician productivity every day? Lost Technician hours will never be regained and can not be banked for future use. We must get the most out of every day with proper scheduling and use of Technician time to maximize customer service. After all they need their car back.

The way we dispatch service repair orders can make the difference between being totally satisfied and losing a customer for life. Let's say our customer dropped off a car in the morning for a recall and because it fell through the cracks it never made it into service to be performed. This customer is rightfully upset and will not return in the future. Many shops bring in the vehicles in the order they were written up causing despair for many customers. Instead bring in first all of the quick easy jobs in the morning when the technicians are in their most productive hours. The technicians get into a grove feeling the hours clicking on a productive day making then more able to stomach the intermittent electrical job under warranty. If the technician receives a tough concern first thing the attitude drops that they will be able to turn good hours for themselves. Proper dispatch will improve the team results in service reducing carry over vehicles as well as increase customer satisfaction and retention. Never dispatch a job to a technician where their skill level doesn't match the need.