Hiring and retaining sales professionals and service advisors who possess great customer service skills and are also trainable for improving these relational skills—this is your goldmine. In order to stay competitive in the marketplace, you must constantly improve your associates’ skills. Yet, before you can help them improve their skills, you have to evaluate their current level of relational skills.
It is pointless to ask associates directly, “How are your relational skills?” What people say they do and what they actually do does not always match. If you ask your associates directly about their relational skills, they will tell you how wonderful they are. This is because they know their job stability and possible advancement opportunities depend on it. So, naturally they would try to protect themselves (you would too) and highlight their own strengths (sometimes unrealistically).
The goal is to ask questions indirectly, which will provide more accurate answers. Here are six questions to ask your sales professionals and service advisors.
1. What would make someone your friend? This question will let you know what relational skills a service advisor values in others. Typically, because people want to be liked, they will practice relational skills they like in others. For instance, if a service advisor said, “For me, the true friend is someone who will stand by my side, even when everyone else walks away.” Indirectly they tell you that they will not walk away from their friends (and their customers) in the moment of need. They will try to help customers with automotive repairs even when customers cannot help themselves.
2. How would your best friend describe you? This question will stimulate service advisors to analyze their relationships with friends and identify relational qualities that they actually possess. They may say, “My friends like me because I am fun,” which will usually reflect their relationships at work as well.
Note: the question is not necessarily related to their friend. For example, if you know that they are married, you can ask, “How would your spouse describe you?” Or, if they spoke about a wonderful connection they have with their brother, you can ask, “How would your brother describe you?” Any person who is of value or emotionally close to the service advisor will work because that person will know the advisor’s best qualities. It is not as important who would describe them as what would they describe.
3. How would your colleagues describe you? This question will help you understand the relational dynamic not only between a service advisor and customers but also among your associates.
Note: this question is open-ended; it does not ask about their positive or negative qualities, so the answers can take conversation in any direction.
A challenge you may face when asking this question is the common answer, “Well, I don’t know. Ask them!” or they may call in their colleague to answer for them. Don’t let them do that. The answer has to come from them. You may say, “I am more curious about what you think and how you see your relationships with colleagues. Your answer does not have to be accurate. Just give me your best guess. So, how would your colleagues describe you?”
4. How would your customers describe you? Yes, another ‘describe you’ question. Yet, this one is different because it is more specific to the service drive. This question will motivate service advisors to think about their relationships with customers.
Even if a service advisor exaggerates in their description, it leads them to self-reflect on how their customers feel and what they can do to improve those relationships.
5. When you made a purchase before, what stood out for you the most about your sales person? A service advisor may go into a story about a terrible shopping experience. For instance, “I was treated like I did not qualify for this kind of purchase, so the guy completely ignored me. I will never go back to that place again.” This will automatically highlight how not to treat customers at the service drive. You do not even have to tell your service advisor, “Make sure you don’t ignore your customers,” because they already know that, and it is being highlighted in their conversation with you.
A service advisor may share with you an exceptional shopping experience. “I got an amazing deal. The salesperson told me that if I buy two shirts, I would get the third one free!” In this answer, the service advisor highlights that they like getting a deal. This is something that motivates them to buy. Hence, even on an unconscious level, they think that this would motivate others to buy too. They would be motivated to talk to their customers about specials and offers as they think it would help them make a sale. When presenting numbers to their customers, they may begin with, “You are getting an incredible deal today,” and this sales tactic would sound natural and authentic from them.
6. How would you define your favorite salesperson? Whatever a service advisor answers, the person they described is the best service advisor you will ever get from them.
It should be a red flag for you if a service advisor answers, “I don’t like talking to other sales people, they are distrustful and annoying,” because this is how the service advisor thinks his or her customers see him or her. This service advisor will struggle to actively pursue customers because in his or her mind, “I am a salesperson, therefore I am distrustful, annoying, and people do not want to talk to me.” There will be many barriers to work through for this salesperson.
When you ask your service advisors those questions, do not rush to give your opinion or advice. It is not about you and your customer service skills; it is about trying to evaluate your service advisors’ relational skills, so you can have a better idea of how to help them grow.
Simply asking these questions helps associates to process and evaluate their own behavior and value as a salesperson. This self reflection stimulates growth and motivates them to be better. Let these questions motivate your service advisors to become more successful.
