Dealership Service Advisor job
Discussion
I am, as they say, between jobs (marketing management) and accept that this could mean a few months without working, based on previous experience. I might be lucky and land a job this week or it may about much longer.
Although I don't need a £60K job, I do need to earn some money and having been in marketing for my entire career and worked for many types of businesses, both good and bad, I'm wondering if I want to stay in marketing and face the lottery of good vs. terrible employers again.
I'm setting up a business on the side which I have worked on for a long time and suits my skills but a new job would take me away from this again and so I am thinking of a 'no-brainer' job, i.e. one that I don't have to think about constantly, just go in, do the job, leave, forget until the next day.
So, a service advisor job came up on Indeed, a few in fact, and this seems ideal, about £40k, local, chat to customers about their cars, keep them informed etc. What's not to like?
In fact what's not to like? I imagine it's the early rush and end of the day rush and lull in between. Is anyone a Service Advisor on here, or does anyone else have any thoughts?
Although I don't need a £60K job, I do need to earn some money and having been in marketing for my entire career and worked for many types of businesses, both good and bad, I'm wondering if I want to stay in marketing and face the lottery of good vs. terrible employers again.
I'm setting up a business on the side which I have worked on for a long time and suits my skills but a new job would take me away from this again and so I am thinking of a 'no-brainer' job, i.e. one that I don't have to think about constantly, just go in, do the job, leave, forget until the next day.
So, a service advisor job came up on Indeed, a few in fact, and this seems ideal, about £40k, local, chat to customers about their cars, keep them informed etc. What's not to like?
In fact what's not to like? I imagine it's the early rush and end of the day rush and lull in between. Is anyone a Service Advisor on here, or does anyone else have any thoughts?
The service advisor job is considered the worst in the dealership if not the industry.
You are constantly giving bad news, and asking for large sums of money for repairs that may or may not be required depending on the techs needs for upsell.
Having said that it can be a job done well, and is rewarding if you can pull enough of the levers to assist customers with funding of expensive repairs.
The skill is in knowing
A - what OeM support there is for goodwill and warranty
B- recognising when a tech hasn’t done his job properly and says a car needs new brakes, but the service history says they were done last year
C- being organised. Not just for your day but the whole department.
D- on top of all this you have targets to meet, including red work conversion, fuel treatments , tyre insurance, finance and other stuff
Most service departments are fire fighting which is not a good place to be if you are trying to provide a good service
As for the pay - it might be 40k ote, but that’s unlikely, more like 22-25 base and 5-8 bonus
Also being tarred with the motor dealer brush can limit further career options
On a positive note, there are usually spaces for dealership marketing so you might be able to pivot into that.
You are constantly giving bad news, and asking for large sums of money for repairs that may or may not be required depending on the techs needs for upsell.
Having said that it can be a job done well, and is rewarding if you can pull enough of the levers to assist customers with funding of expensive repairs.
The skill is in knowing
A - what OeM support there is for goodwill and warranty
B- recognising when a tech hasn’t done his job properly and says a car needs new brakes, but the service history says they were done last year
C- being organised. Not just for your day but the whole department.
D- on top of all this you have targets to meet, including red work conversion, fuel treatments , tyre insurance, finance and other stuff
Most service departments are fire fighting which is not a good place to be if you are trying to provide a good service
As for the pay - it might be 40k ote, but that’s unlikely, more like 22-25 base and 5-8 bonus
Also being tarred with the motor dealer brush can limit further career options
On a positive note, there are usually spaces for dealership marketing so you might be able to pivot into that.
My personal experience as a customer is awful with service departments, not the bad news and the costs, I accept that but the actually trying to speak to someone, getting them to answer a phone, speaking to someone who actually knows what they are talking about and the blatant upselling they push.
I have been in a main dealer in the city I live in and seen numerous customers walk in and shout at the service advisors because they don't even return customer calls or answer the phone and this is not a one off. The staff turnover appears to be very high also.
It looks a pretty thankless job to me.
I have been in a main dealer in the city I live in and seen numerous customers walk in and shout at the service advisors because they don't even return customer calls or answer the phone and this is not a one off. The staff turnover appears to be very high also.
It looks a pretty thankless job to me.
If you're in your 20s I'd say give it a go.
If you're not, I'd say avoid and find something else to fill the time, because:
1) The aforementioned comments about dealing with customers and some large bills
2) Your Service Manager boss on your back asking why Mrs Miggins only give three stars for her MOT review, dragging the department's average score down for the manufacturer's prize of the quarter.
3) Your boss telling you to get more customers to fill in the email surveys re above-mentioned prize
4) Chasing the valeters to prioritise one of your customer's cars for a post service & MOT wash over a couple of new cars going out the next day, as your customer's coming in at lunchtime to pick up their car.
5) Weekly chasing of sales because one of their customers has had one of your loan cars for a month when it was meant to be two weeks.
6) Management of loan cars, ensuring who has what car when, so speeding tickets/damage can easily be traced to a particular user.
7) Daily chasing of sales because they keep parking their used cars awaiting test drive, in front of your cars that are waiting to go into the workshop.
8) All your drivers are out so you have to leave your desk to go and fill up the loan car that wasn't brought back with enough fuel to give to the next customer, but you have two customers coming in to pick up their cars from a service. Oh, and some bloke in sales and one of the valeters has just blocked them both in as they're in a hurry and took both the spaces you left for your customers to be able to drive their cars out without other cars having to be moved. Oops!
Source: Working in my 20s as a sales/service dogsbody (great, little pressure) and later six months in sale (not great, lots of pressure)
If you're not, I'd say avoid and find something else to fill the time, because:
1) The aforementioned comments about dealing with customers and some large bills
2) Your Service Manager boss on your back asking why Mrs Miggins only give three stars for her MOT review, dragging the department's average score down for the manufacturer's prize of the quarter.
3) Your boss telling you to get more customers to fill in the email surveys re above-mentioned prize
4) Chasing the valeters to prioritise one of your customer's cars for a post service & MOT wash over a couple of new cars going out the next day, as your customer's coming in at lunchtime to pick up their car.
5) Weekly chasing of sales because one of their customers has had one of your loan cars for a month when it was meant to be two weeks.
6) Management of loan cars, ensuring who has what car when, so speeding tickets/damage can easily be traced to a particular user.
7) Daily chasing of sales because they keep parking their used cars awaiting test drive, in front of your cars that are waiting to go into the workshop.
8) All your drivers are out so you have to leave your desk to go and fill up the loan car that wasn't brought back with enough fuel to give to the next customer, but you have two customers coming in to pick up their cars from a service. Oh, and some bloke in sales and one of the valeters has just blocked them both in as they're in a hurry and took both the spaces you left for your customers to be able to drive their cars out without other cars having to be moved. Oops!
Source: Working in my 20s as a sales/service dogsbody (great, little pressure) and later six months in sale (not great, lots of pressure)
ComoEstas said:
If you're in your 20s I'd say give it a go.
If you're not, I'd say avoid and find something else to fill the time, because:
1) The aforementioned comments about dealing with customers and some large bills
2) Your Service Manager boss on your back asking why Mrs Miggins only give three stars for her MOT review, dragging the department's average score down for the manufacturer's prize of the quarter.
3) Your boss telling you to get more customers to fill in the email surveys re above-mentioned prize
4) Chasing the valeters to prioritise one of your customer's cars for a post service & MOT wash over a couple of new cars going out the next day, as your customer's coming in at lunchtime to pick up their car.
5) Weekly chasing of sales because one of their customers has had one of your loan cars for a month when it was meant to be two weeks.
6) Management of loan cars, ensuring who has what car when, so speeding tickets/damage can easily be traced to a particular user.
7) Daily chasing of sales because they keep parking their used cars awaiting test drive, in front of your cars that are waiting to go into the workshop.
8) All your drivers are out so you have to leave your desk to go and fill up the loan car that wasn't brought back with enough fuel to give to the next customer, but you have two customers coming in to pick up their cars from a service. Oh, and some bloke in sales and one of the valeters has just blocked them both in as they're in a hurry and took both the spaces you left for your customers to be able to drive their cars out without other cars having to be moved. Oops!
Source: Working in my 20s as a sales/service dogsbody (great, little pressure) and later six months in sale (not great, lots of pressure)
Most (all) jobs can be a hassle, it's called work for a reason.If you're not, I'd say avoid and find something else to fill the time, because:
1) The aforementioned comments about dealing with customers and some large bills
2) Your Service Manager boss on your back asking why Mrs Miggins only give three stars for her MOT review, dragging the department's average score down for the manufacturer's prize of the quarter.
3) Your boss telling you to get more customers to fill in the email surveys re above-mentioned prize
4) Chasing the valeters to prioritise one of your customer's cars for a post service & MOT wash over a couple of new cars going out the next day, as your customer's coming in at lunchtime to pick up their car.
5) Weekly chasing of sales because one of their customers has had one of your loan cars for a month when it was meant to be two weeks.
6) Management of loan cars, ensuring who has what car when, so speeding tickets/damage can easily be traced to a particular user.
7) Daily chasing of sales because they keep parking their used cars awaiting test drive, in front of your cars that are waiting to go into the workshop.
8) All your drivers are out so you have to leave your desk to go and fill up the loan car that wasn't brought back with enough fuel to give to the next customer, but you have two customers coming in to pick up their cars from a service. Oh, and some bloke in sales and one of the valeters has just blocked them both in as they're in a hurry and took both the spaces you left for your customers to be able to drive their cars out without other cars having to be moved. Oops!
Source: Working in my 20s as a sales/service dogsbody (great, little pressure) and later six months in sale (not great, lots of pressure)
I've been working in main dealers for over 15 years.
Being a Service Advisor is not a "no brainer" job.
It's definitely the worst job in the dealership.
No one signs up to do a bad job, but as mentioned before, the set up and internal pressures don't provide the environment to provide an outstanding client experience.
Being a Service Advisor is not a "no brainer" job.
It's definitely the worst job in the dealership.
No one signs up to do a bad job, but as mentioned before, the set up and internal pressures don't provide the environment to provide an outstanding client experience.
Undirection said:
....
I'm setting up a business on the side which I have worked on for a long time and suits my skills but a new job would take me away from this again and so I am thinking of a 'no-brainer' job, i.e. one that I don't have to think about constantly, just go in, do the job, leave, forget until the next day.
So, a service advisor job came up on Indeed, a few in fact, and this seems ideal, about £40k, local, chat to customers about their cars, keep them informed etc. What's not to like?
In fact what's not to like? I imagine it's the early rush and end of the day rush and lull in between. Is anyone a Service Advisor on here, or does anyone else have any thoughts?
I can only imagine you've never dealt with a dealership service advisor - or, if you have, you've led a charmed life.I'm setting up a business on the side which I have worked on for a long time and suits my skills but a new job would take me away from this again and so I am thinking of a 'no-brainer' job, i.e. one that I don't have to think about constantly, just go in, do the job, leave, forget until the next day.
So, a service advisor job came up on Indeed, a few in fact, and this seems ideal, about £40k, local, chat to customers about their cars, keep them informed etc. What's not to like?
In fact what's not to like? I imagine it's the early rush and end of the day rush and lull in between. Is anyone a Service Advisor on here, or does anyone else have any thoughts?
The "no-brainer" job lots of people seem to do now is supermarket deliveries.
The motor trade for medium to large companies is w
k. Every department is trying to screw every other department for a bonus and in turn so the GM can get a fat cheque.
I worked parts and when I raised the fact service were up selling service plans with 10% parts discount, was my parts sales target going to be reduced? (No). Constantly being nagged about missing parts that were missing because a manager went over my head and just gave it away. I knew my job but had my hands tied and in the end when I was refused a pay rise I quit on the spot.
My previous job wasn't much better. A manager who acted like it was 1960 and a boss that took so much cream off the top we had no parts suppliers in the entire south East for vauxhall/PSA due to being on stop. Somehow he managed to get and run an RSQ8.
k. Every department is trying to screw every other department for a bonus and in turn so the GM can get a fat cheque. I worked parts and when I raised the fact service were up selling service plans with 10% parts discount, was my parts sales target going to be reduced? (No). Constantly being nagged about missing parts that were missing because a manager went over my head and just gave it away. I knew my job but had my hands tied and in the end when I was refused a pay rise I quit on the spot.
My previous job wasn't much better. A manager who acted like it was 1960 and a boss that took so much cream off the top we had no parts suppliers in the entire south East for vauxhall/PSA due to being on stop. Somehow he managed to get and run an RSQ8.
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