The Customer Service Basics

June 17, 2020

Training all of your employees is a win-win situation.

June 17, 2020—Customers are king, and it doesn't take a boatload of discounts to make them happy. At Quick Change Premier Lube and Maintenance in Van Wert, Ohio, owner Mark Nofer has a simple strategy on handling customers: treating customers with respect, making the customer a priority, and performing honest work. Here's how.

Train on Customer Service

For quick lubes, having a designated employee sitting at the front desk isn't common. Most of the time, it's just technicians dealing with customers as they come out of the bay. But should there be a designated employee whose sole purpose is to handle customers at the front desk? Nofer says employees reflect who you are as a business, and because of this, he makes sure each and every employee knows the ins and outs of customer service. Nofer says he teach all employees to treat customers with respect and to keep everything professional. With training, he goes over everything from the start to the end of the service and everything in between.

Make It Convenient

Convenience nowadays helps shops stand out. For Quick Change, the shop doesn’t take appointments, instead taking appointments on a first-come-first-served basis. This may seem like the opposite of being convenient, but it's more convenient than an online scheduling system. The shop is pretty flexible as far as taking appointments, which makes his shop stand out, and Nofer says it’s better for business overall.

Don't Sell Unneeded Extras

After much consideration, Nofer eliminated the items that aren’t deemed necessary, like air filters and lights, all together. Why? Because they were just extras. Nofer only wanted to sell what the customer needs, and only selling the essentials promotes an honest image for the shop.