The automotive industry has been booming and flourishing from the very first day when cars rolled out into our lives and since then, the automotive industry has always reached new levels, achieving ground breaking records when it comes to car sales figures. And even today, the automotive industry has maintained its upward trend, mostly because of the new economic liberalization, on-the-spot finance schemes and tax benefits and increasing public income. However, as this pool of car manufacturers grow, competition to outdo each other has attained new levels. Apart from car designs, model, color and interiors, service factor plays a significant role in automotive industry.Buyers who have a variety of choices now in the market, cross-check and research more about every car company and the services they provide, before buying one. With the help of internet, TV, newspaper articles, buyers dig deeper to know what exactly they will get when they buy a car. With buyers focusing more on services, companies hire service managers to make sure their customers get a feel good service.
The role of the automotive service manager is very crucial in modern times, as the managers represent the company and are in frontline to face the customer’s wrath and love. The automotive service manager oversees all the operations under the service department, and makes sure that all the job done is in line with company’s policies and applicable standards and laws followed by the company. He has to maintain equilibrium between the customers and his support service staff. Apart from that, he has to have a thorough mechanical knowledge and soft skills to handle a range of customers.
The automotive service manager has to ensure customer satisfaction and retention by providing them exceptional repair and maintenance services and by communicating and creating good public relations. He also has to understand the dynamics of the automotive market, keep up with automotive industry news and identify market reports and ever-changing trends, to make sure the company is on par with other car dealerships. Hence, the service manager job profile nowadays is not only limited to good customer service, but also requires good leadership qualities, management skills, motivation and counseling skills.
However, at times, even the best service managers break down under the stupendous pressure to maintain and balance all his responsibilities simultaneously. Hence, companies seek out service consulting by hiring an experienced service consultant, who understands the mental and physical stress service managers go through and provides them best options to tackle their problems. Service consultants talk with service managers on how they can plan their schedules and meetings in a way that will make them more productive and less bogged down by pressure and stress which normally mounts due to work overload.
Service consultants arrange service advisor training for the service department. They guide service managers on how they can measure and boost the productivity of their service staff, provide them with new solutions and practices which will help them to think positively about their work and enable them to provide exceptional customer service.


