There was a time when you could depend on warranty work to make your service department profitable. There was a time when you could depend on customers coming in for service every three months or 3,000 miles for oil changes. There was a time when you didn’t have to get aggressive, sell tires, worry about the competition, or be open on Saturday. Those times are over.

Your competition is aggressive, competitive, convenient and convincing, and they are in prime locations with a mission to steal all of your customers. Count how many places you could go to have your car serviced on your way home tonight—I dare you.

The service business has changed. Warranty income is declining, because cars are built better; and with cars being built better and not needing as much warranty work we also see that customer pay repair work is declining, too. When was the last time you replaced a rusted out muffler or sold a set of shocks or struts? Now factor in that maintenance intervals are constantly being stretched. You see it every day, with 100,000 mile tune-ups and 50,000 mile coolant service recommendations from the factory. Synthetic oils and oil life monitors are pushing up oil change intervals as far as 10,000 miles or more. The result of all this maintenance-free driving is less service visits and declined service income.

The fact is, if you want to succeed in this business you have to beat the competition at their own game. You have to sell tires—you have to look, smell, and feel like a tire store. You have to have low prices on oil changes, like $17.95, that will get customers excited to do business with you. Finally, you have to be open late and open on weekends; look at how busy the competition is on the weekends, that’s your business! Give customers a reason to do business with you and they will.

The bottom line: Now more than ever, you need every single service customer you can get. You have to be aggressive with your offers and prices. You have to be open. You have to sell tires. And don’t stop there. Train your service advisors on how to be service sales people…that know how to answer the phone, know how to invite customers in, and know how to maximize opportunities by closing more deals on the drive. Become a service sales manager. It is the most fun you will ever have at your dealership and the payback is awesome!

Randy Johnson is president of Car People Marketing, a leading provider of customer retention and service marketing systems for auto dealers. He can be reached at 866-227-7337 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .