Many car dealerships consider the automotive service manager an integral part of their business. They are the responsible people who act as intermediaries between customers and service staff. They are also responsible for other duties within this department.
These managers are hiring for their department and must select the most qualified person for the job. They are responsible for supervising employees to ensure they meet dealership quality standards. You are directly responsible for teaching these to employees. Employee appraisals are also part of her tasks within her department.
You need to create a business plan and enforce the goals in order to achieve them. This makes them responsible for budgeting the department, making sure labor costs are kept under control, inventory levels are balanced, and they don’t incur additional costs from employee retention. This also includes a marketing campaign plan to attract new customers and keep old ones – through coupons, merchandising and staffing needs.
They have to keep up with changes in the industry by attending courses, seminars and reading literature. This includes understanding and implementing policy changes within the dealership and offering suggested changes to make the department’s operations run more smoothly. They also need to be able to schedule courses for other employees and themselves when offered by the automaker, so everyone has the most up-to-date information.
It is also the responsibility of the automotive service manager to keep track of the warranties and recalls offered by the manufacturer. You must send in the warranty work for payment and will be held accountable for write-offs to the department for non-compliance with the information. They are also the liaison between the factory representative and the dealer and may need to attend meetings and conferences to foster that relationship.
A manager’s main job is to deal with customer complaints quickly and efficiently and to keep customer service and department up and running. You must create a plan and act on it to keep customers coming back and find a way to compromise to ensure customer satisfaction. Attracting new customers is also a professional duty and they must ensure that the service turns them into regular customers.
Training for this position requires a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a complementary technical subject. You must have at least five years of industry experience, and many companies require an Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification. Some allow work experience to compensate for college education where the candidate has years of experience performing the duties.