Service
The hardest call in the building happens in the service drive
An advisor with a full board calls to say the repair costs more and takes longer. How that call goes decides whether the customer trusts the next one.
Sales gets most of the attention when people talk about customer conversations, but some of the hardest calls at your store don’t come from the showroom. They come from the service drive, usually around 2 PM, when an advisor with a full board has to tell a customer the repair is going to cost more than they hoped, take longer than they planned, or both.
Nobody wants to make that call. Nobody wants to get it either.
Two advisors, same news
Start with an example, because the difference is easier to hear than to explain. The customer’s brakes need more work than the original quote.
The first advisor says: “Hi, this is service. Your car needs pads and rotors, it’s going to be more than we quoted. Do you want to approve it?” Technically fine. The customer feels ambushed.
The second advisor says: “Hi, it’s Sam. Quick update on your car. The tech found something on the brakes I want to show you before we do anything. I’m going to text you a photo. Got two minutes after you look at it?”
Same facts, same price. One customer feels handled and the other feels respected. And when the customer gets a little say in how the news arrives, they tend to trust it more.
Why these calls are so hard
The customer is already on edge. Their car is stuck at your store, and they’re getting rides or juggling a loaner. They want good news, and the advisor usually doesn’t have it.
The advisor is juggling too: a line at the drive, techs with questions, phones ringing and five more calls to make before close. So the calls get rushed. The advisor reads off what the tech found, gives a number and waits. The customer hears a stranger telling them they owe more money, and even when the work is real and needed, it can feel like a pitch.
There’s a people problem underneath this as well. Service advisor is a hard job to hold onto. NADA’s dealership workforce data put service advisor turnover at 43% for 2024. That means a lot of the people making these calls are newer than you’d like. Veteran advisors make it look easy because they know the regulars, they know who wants every detail and who just wants a yes or no, and they can explain a repair without sounding like they’re selling it. A newer advisor hasn’t built that up yet.
What the second advisor did right
Look back at Sam’s call and you’ll find most of what works.
Calm first, facts second. “Quick update on your car” sets the tone before the problem arrives.
Something they can see. A photo of what the tech found does more than a paragraph of explanation, and it lets the customer look on their own time.
A choice about timing. “Got two minutes after you look at it?” hands the customer a little control at the moment they feel like they have none.
A few more habits make the rest of the call go better. Explain the repair like a person: what’s wrong, why it matters and what happens if they wait, without part numbers. Separate the must-do from the can-wait, because customers trust advisors who tell them what can hold off, and it makes the urgent work more believable. Respect how they like to be reached. Some customers want a call, and some will ignore it and answer a text in two minutes. Then follow up after the visit. A quick text that the car is ready, or a check-in a few days later, makes the next tough call easier.
Service and sales are one story
A customer who has a good experience in service is someone your sales team will want to talk to someday. A customer who feels squeezed in service probably won’t come back to buy.
The best stores treat the service drive as part of one relationship. What a customer told sales matters in service, and what happened in service matters to sales. When those stories stay connected, every conversation gets better, including the 2 PM call nobody wants to make.
Bad news is part of the job. How it’s delivered is what customers remember.
