When will the switch from gasoline and diesel happen? It is happening now. Do most technicians under 30 want to work on electric vehicles? One way to find out is to ask them — not during a group discussion in a meeting setting, but much better on a road test.
For over a century, the automobile cabin has been a private place to have a confidential chat. It still works.
On a road test, you can ask about the vehicle you just repaired and ask your tech how he or she is doing.
I have three questions I have been asking the great people who have worked with me since my first hire in 1978. I wish my boss had asked me these questions:
- What can we do to make your job less stressful?
- What can we do to streamline the operation so we can get more work done?
- What do you need to do to make your life and work better?
These questions only work if the person is willing to look for a solution. Some people are problem solvers and others are problem collectors. The former group is a lot easier to work with.
Once the culture of problem solving is the core of your business, you will see who is stepping up. Those are the ones who will help you grow into the future. Some will want to live in the past and not embrace the world we live in. Some will say no to high-voltage systems and will try to educate you on the myths they picked up on YouTube or online articles that proclaim that EVs are destroying the planet. Let them work in your dealership’s bays, but keep them away from your customers.
A personal story: I added a new EV to my company's fleet in February 2020. I found a 2019 Kia Niro EV Premium edition at a great price and bought it to use in class. But at 49,000 miles, the driver’s heated seat stopped working. I called the dealership that I bought it from and made an appointment. I arrived on time and dropped it off.
Matt, the service advisor at the dealership, was quite simply a jerk. He asked me where I bought the car.
I answered, “At this dealership.”
He went on explain to me what a bad choice I made and that the battery would cost me more than what the car was worth. He kept on talking as I picked up my key and walked away from the service desk. I asked the porter to open the overhead door and left.
I then called a Kia representative I knew, as we were on the advisory board at the local vocational high school. When I returned a month later, Matt was no longer employed. His disdain for EVs was obvious, but he did not need to express it.
How do you make sure that electric car customers are respected? I have a customer named Doug Voss, the owner of Neighborhood Wrench. He has been in the business a long time and has been coming to classes at my company, Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC), before hybrids were here. Currently, he has a Tesla Model Y, two Tesla Model 3s and a Ford Lightning Pickup truck.
Doug is back at ACDC taking our 10-day EV class. He doesn’t live in the past. As his customers migrate to new technologies, he is staying with them. Doug has been at this a long time. He is also looking to hire more help in his service bays. We visited after class last week. Here is some advice he shared with me:
- Have your staff drive an EV for a few days;
- Consider renting out EVs to make some extra profit;
- Go to car shows with your own EV to drum up business;
- Learn all you can about hybrid and EV repairs and preventive maintenance;
- Get involved with social media. You might find a good tech that way;
- Install an EV charger in front of your shop, and;
- Wrap your EV and use it to drop off customers, run errands and pick up parts.
Internal combustion engines have been good to us. I started working in the late-1960s at a Honda motorcycle shop and then Honda sold a car in the early 70s, the Civic. It was the start of my career. Today, I drive a Tesla and a Zero electric motorcycle. I don’t live in the past. It is 2024 and I am not going back. Your employees shouldn’t go back, either.
Once you know who is in and who is out at your dealership, make your plans to keep all your EV customers coming back. It took a lot of work to make your reputation a good one, so let’s keep it that way.
