Keeping Up with Customer Service: Adapting to Future Trends in Your Automotive Service Advisor Career
Customer service may seem like a fixed point in a changing age—after all, how many ways are there to make sure a customer is happy and your business is meeting their needs?
You may be surprised to learn, however, that customer service is just as subject to change as any other profession. Customer preferences, of course, have a significant influence on how professionals in the automotive industry approach their jobs. Just as the cars today, for example, are incredibly different from the cars people would buy thirty years ago, the customer service you provide will be different from what it was in the past, especially considering the influence of digital technology.
If you want to become an automotive service advisor and are interested in learning what you can expect from your future career, read on to find out how you can keep up with a few of these rising trends in customer service.
Automotive Service Advisors Know Demand for a Personalized Experience Is Growing
In today’s world, consumers are becoming more and more interested in getting a fast response that meets their individual needs. In fact, a recent survey indicated that, on average, 71% of customers are frustrated when their shopping experience feels impersonal.
The one-service-fits-all model won’t be of much use to you or your customers in your automotive service advisor career. Instead, you should aim to provide a more authentic experience, and connect with each customer on a personal basis. This can mean actively listening to customers so as to better understand their concerns, or asking detailed questions in order to find a working solution that’s right for their specific situation.
Self-Service Allows Automotive Service Advisors to Focus on Important Tasks
One of the more important trends currently on the rise in customer service is the customer’s desire to be more involved and have more autonomy in the problem-solving process so that their specific needs are being met and addressed. The digital transformation of the past few decades has led to consumers becoming more confident in using available resources to solve their own problems, which includes their growing use of self-service machines and kiosks.
While it may be easy to see these machines as simply a means of automating customer service, they actually are more of a help than a hindrance. Instead of spending half your work day addressing basic service demands, a self-service resource can help customers feel more empowered and involved in their experience, and let you focus on problems that may need more urgent or detailed attention. Self-service doesn’t have to be in the garage either—it can be as simple as including a FAQ page on your business’ website or providing a digital resource such as a self check-in option that allows customers to enrich their buying experience.
You May See More Artificial Intelligence After Automotive Service Advisor Training
Whether it’s between yourself and the technician or yourself and the customer, communication is an important part of your automotive service advisor training as well as your career. Sometimes this communication isn’t conducted in person, but rather over the phone or through email. Similarly to self-service stations, AI can help you facilitate these modes of communication more efficiently and quickly.
By using large amounts of data to better identify customer issues and behaviour patterns, AI can create a suitable, personal solution for each customer, which can answer any pressing questions they may have.
Although the use of AI may be growing, people still prefer face-to-face human interaction. Instead of staying stuck to the phone or computer all day, you can use AI’s automated responses to focus on more important assignments as well as help customers who are waiting for your help in-person.
Are you interested in getting the training you need to succeed at automotive school?
Contact Automotive Training Centres for more information!
