It’s an inevitable fact that in any kind of business, there will always be customers who are more challenging to deal with than others. However, when providing a service, the most important thing to do is to keep the customer happy. If you’re seeking a career as an auto mechanic, you’ll be interacting with customers entering the repair shop on a daily basis. If their vehicle has been in an accident or requires extensive repairs, there’s a good chance they may be concerned, frustrated, worried, or even angry. Thus, it’s important to learn the skills necessary to keep customers happy and satisfied with your services, even when they’re having a bad day.
Your ability to interact with challenging customers will enhance your success in providing quality services, and will keep customers coming back to your shop. Below, discover a few tips for keeping customers happy when working at an auto repair shop.
Once You Become an Auto Mechanic, Have the Right Attitude When Talking to Customers
When interacting with challenging customers, it’s all about mind over matter. If you step into a conversation with the right attitude, there’s nothing that a customer can say that will affect your ability to respond to them in a polite and helpful manner. Before speaking to a customer who might be upset, take a few seconds to remind yourself that they probably aren’t upset with you, but rather the situation they’re in. Once you become an auto mechanic, being able to view an interaction from this perspective will help you to maintain a positive and understanding attitude when speaking to a customer.
Use Active Listening Techniques
Active listening is an approach to listening that involves using both verbal and non verbal cues to demonstrate that you’re following what someone is saying to you. When speaking to customers, be sure to make eye contact with them, repeat what they’ve said back to them to demonstrate clarification, and ask plenty of questions to ensure you’re grasping the problem they’ve described. Using these active listening techniques will help your customers to feel heard and understood, helping them to remain satisfied throughout the process.
Respond to Customers with Empathy
After graduating from a mechanic program, your ability to employ empathy when speaking to customers will help you to approach the situation from a place of understanding. When a customer comes into a repair shop, there’s a good chance that they’re having a bad day. They may be worried about the expense of the repair, when they’re going to be able to drive their vehicle again, or a number of other problems.
Empathy is about putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, and imagining how you would feel if you were in their situation. When speaking to customers, use phrases like “I understand why you might be upset,” to convey that you understand where they’re coming from. Responding to customers with empathy will humanize the interaction, leading them to see that you genuinely want to help them and are trying your best to come up with a solution.
Once you implement these techniques into your interactions with challenging customers, you’ll be able to succeed in ensuring that every customer leaves your shop satisfied.
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